I respectfully disgree. We've hs for 10 years using primarily Christian resources with a few secular books to supplement. I couldn't imagine using only secular and was going to give the example of studying true money to be able to spot the counterfeit as in other comment. There are ample opportunities to discuss secular viewpoints in newspapers, TV, movies, songs, etc.
Elizabeth, I understand your reason for including secular material in the home-schooling journey. I do not believe that it is the best method or right for every family. I was home-schooled my entire life. Only Christian curriculum was used in my education. We had no television, and I was not even allowed to listen to secular music or read any secular literature... even Winnie the Pooh. I am past forty now and deeply devoted to Christ. I have not struggled in my faith in Christ and do not have any difficulty discerning truth from fiction. But this is not my own doing. I humbly give credit to the Lord for every working in my heart and life. I thank the Lord for the foundation my parents gave me. But it wasn't home-schooling, or the Christian curriculum, or the sheltering methods of my upbringing that gave me the ability to navigate the lies of the world and worldly ideas. I have many friends raised similarly, who no do not follow Christ and fully embrace the lies and ideology of the world today. Home-schooling does not a soul save. Nothing could be more obvious to me, that it is Christ alone who does the work in the heart of each child. I know you would completely agree. As parents, we absolutely must lean deeply and heavily into the urgency of prayer for our children. We must utterly depend on God... not ourselves...not curriculum...not church...nothing has power to redeem and guard the hearts of our children against the devices of evil, except Christ. James 1:5 tells us that "if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who generously gives to all without reproach." As a parent, I lean into that passage over and over. I can rest in God to direct my curriculum choices for what is best for each of my children as we home-school. I can rest in God to work in their little hearts through His Word, through books, through nature, through what I say (Or don't say), through relationships...I do not think there is a black and white issue to how to best educate a child. But I do firmly believe that my greatest role as a mother is to pray, pray, pray and even pray and fast that God will draw the hearts of my children to Himself, and that I will have wisdom as their primary discipler along with my husband, to choose what is best for them in that journey. I guess I am saying all that to encourage parents to spend more time in prayer for their children and cease from stressing concerning about what God has led them to do. Ps. 37: 23-24
Elizabeth, I greatly respect you and watch your podcasts and webnars all the time. I have learned so much! However, I do have to disagree with you on this topic. I have homeschooled for 19 years and graduated 3 with 4 kiddos to go. We have used primarily Christian worldview curriculum, with a few secular books carefully weaved in. What we have used has been very vigorous; classical conversations, memoria press, heart of Dakota, Apologia and Generations. We have intentionally and carefully exposed our kids to cultural Worldviews, but we feel that it is essential to learn primarily a christian worldview and for our kids to see the glory of God in everything.
I do agree with you on the point of children needing to be exposed to the thoughts of the world and its culture to learn discretion and critical thinking. I find it difficult to fully embrace secular school curriculum though. Those trying to expose counterfeit money must deeply study the real thing in order to discern what is real and what is falsely manufactured. In the same vein, I would argue that it is more important to study subjects like science and history among others through the correct, Christian worldview, rather than through an incorrect worldview. This, of course, requires the purposed attention of the parent or teacher, but children can still learn of the dangers of the world's thoughts on evolution and the affirmation of sin without being subjected entirely to a curriculum with purpose behind these false concepts. I am a product of *mostly* Christian curriculum, though with purposed Christian school teachers that did not ignore the state of the world. An experiential argument is never strongest, but it would be difficult for me to believe that there is more value in using a resource that is, from its heart, scripturally incorrect. Would love to hear your thoughts on this! Appreciate your work.
I surprisingly disagree with you on this. My brother, cousins and I all are products of secluar education and we were definitely not writing essays or reading at our grade level. There was so much I had to learn and unlearn as an adult. (I praise God for opening my eyes.) I actually find that Christian homeschool curriculums are much more vigorous. I am currently looking at Classical Conversations. My 4 year old will be learning latin and history facts that i never learn in secular schools!
I am going to agree with you when we are referring to the kids need exposure to the secular world. And I believe they get that easy, especially with all of the technology or through entertainment, books, and our local communities. But not using God’s word for “knowledge”? I have to disagree with that. I homeschool my three children and His Words throughout the school day has caused my children to gain His Word strongly. The kids need strong foundation of his Word, before they are tested and ready to enter the world. I agree, secular information needs to also be continuous mentioned, but that to prepare the children to know how others think in the world. And I’ve studied homeschooling curriculums beyond curriculums (Christian-based and some secular), and most are vigorous. Way beyond anything I was taught in the public school. Anyways, I get your point, but don’t agree with it all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts I love anything you share with us!
Hi Elizabeth!! I love your podcast and have learned so much, but I respectfully disagree with you about using secular curriculum. You can use really rich Christian curriculum and discuss with your child the secular counterfeit for example creation versus evolution. Laying a Christian foundation is important especially while they are young and when they are older they will have time to learn different worldviews.
Question #1- What third grader in public school is writing a paragraph, let alone five paragraph essays. From what I’ve seen, they can barely write a sentence. #2- Have you looked into these Christian homeschool curriculums, and do you know many homeschoolers using Christian curriculums yourself? #3- Why in the world would you compare a child in Sunday School doing arts and crafts to a public school child being better off education wise? That analogy makes no sense…and is also false. My daughter, who is in her Junior year at college, works as a tutor and is mortified at the writing abilities of these high schoolers being sent to her. Most of them can’t even form a paragraph, and misspell every other word. Most Christian homeschool curriculums are very rigorous. Some of them ridiculously so. I love most of Foundation Worldview content, but this time I completely disagree. Keep on using that Christian curriculum mamas! You can teach your children other worldviews, and educate them in the ways of the LORD, and provide a rich, fulfilling education for them without falling into the “Let’s do it just like public schools so our children don’t get left behind” trap. And it most definitely is a trap that a lot of homeschool parents fall into. Trust in God to lead the way for your homeschool, not the world 🙏🏼✝❤
Requiring 3rd graders to write 5 paragraph essays is foolish, tedious, formulaic and a waste of time that does not honor the personhood of each child (cottonball crafts fit some of these same disappointing descriptions). Sorry but I loathe that example. This will lead to them writing without their own sense of style, and it’s just too much at that age. I’m giving my child an education better than government schools or private schools Christian or not, and we are not requiring that kind of “rigor” (rigor mortis more like 😂). Charlotte Mason is better than rigor, it is a feast. We use the best books, including some written by non Christians, but don’t pick secular things on purpose that are lower quality. Here’s a not-fun stat: “In 2023, there were 67 Illinois schools where not a single student tested was proficient in math and 32 schools where no student tested was proficient in reading. What’s worse, officials in those schools graduated nearly 70% of their students.”
Thank you for answering this question. We are starting homeschooling this fall and I have been struggling with choosing curriculum for my son. I value your opinion and wisdom and appreciate your answer. I agree with you on the importance of giving our kids the exposure to secular worldviews. Christian or secular curriculum the most important thing is to give our kids a solid education while also offering them the strongest biblical foundation. Also allowing God to lead the way and give us peace with what each of our individual kids need is very important.
We use ACE curriculum and found the math, english, word building, and literature to be pretty rigorous. Science and social studies are so-so but the geography portions are good. We currently supplement those subjects with secular material that helps the kids to challenge their critical thinking. We also participate in a secular homeschool group for field trips etc. I am hoping it helps to build up a good spiritual immune system by not putting my kids in a bubble and having meaningful discussions after exposure to secular theories etc. Please come to NCHE sometime in NC. They have THRIVE conference every year to support the Christian homeschool communities. Keep up the great work.
Great points, can't really disagree with you! I prefer more neutral curriculum, which I guess you could say is secular. For language arts and math I don't feel like it matters much...I've struggled with history and science the most. I feel like most Christian science and history curriculums are pretty biased or one-sided, sadly.
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I respectfully disgree. We've hs for 10 years using primarily Christian resources with a few secular books to supplement. I couldn't imagine using only secular and was going to give the example of studying true money to be able to spot the counterfeit as in other comment. There are ample opportunities to discuss secular viewpoints in newspapers, TV, movies, songs, etc.
Elizabeth, I understand your reason for including secular material in the home-schooling journey. I do not believe that it is the best method or right for every family. I was home-schooled my entire life. Only Christian curriculum was used in my education. We had no television, and I was not even allowed to listen to secular music or read any secular literature... even Winnie the Pooh. I am past forty now and deeply devoted to Christ. I have not struggled in my faith in Christ and do not have any difficulty discerning truth from fiction. But this is not my own doing. I humbly give credit to the Lord for every working in my heart and life. I thank the Lord for the foundation my parents gave me. But it wasn't home-schooling, or the Christian curriculum, or the sheltering methods of my upbringing that gave me the ability to navigate the lies of the world and worldly ideas. I have many friends raised similarly, who no do not follow Christ and fully embrace the lies and ideology of the world today. Home-schooling does not a soul save. Nothing could be more obvious to me, that it is Christ alone who does the work in the heart of each child. I know you would completely agree. As parents, we absolutely must lean deeply and heavily into the urgency of prayer for our children. We must utterly depend on God... not ourselves...not curriculum...not church...nothing has power to redeem and guard the hearts of our children against the devices of evil, except Christ. James 1:5 tells us that "if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who generously gives to all without reproach." As a parent, I lean into that passage over and over. I can rest in God to direct my curriculum choices for what is best for each of my children as we home-school. I can rest in God to work in their little hearts through His Word, through books, through nature, through what I say (Or don't say), through relationships...I do not think there is a black and white issue to how to best educate a child. But I do firmly believe that my greatest role as a mother is to pray, pray, pray and even pray and fast that God will draw the hearts of my children to Himself, and that I will have wisdom as their primary discipler along with my husband, to choose what is best for them in that journey. I guess I am saying all that to encourage parents to spend more time in prayer for their children and cease from stressing concerning about what God has led them to do. Ps. 37: 23-24
Elizabeth, I greatly respect you and watch your podcasts and webnars all the time. I have learned so much! However, I do have to disagree with you on this topic. I have homeschooled for 19 years and graduated 3 with 4 kiddos to go. We have used primarily Christian worldview curriculum, with a few secular books carefully weaved in. What we have used has been very vigorous; classical conversations, memoria press, heart of Dakota, Apologia and Generations. We have intentionally and carefully exposed our kids to cultural Worldviews, but we feel that it is essential to learn primarily a christian worldview and for our kids to see the glory of God in everything.
I do agree with you on the point of children needing to be exposed to the thoughts of the world and its culture to learn discretion and critical thinking. I find it difficult to fully embrace secular school curriculum though. Those trying to expose counterfeit money must deeply study the real thing in order to discern what is real and what is falsely manufactured. In the same vein, I would argue that it is more important to study subjects like science and history among others through the correct, Christian worldview, rather than through an incorrect worldview. This, of course, requires the purposed attention of the parent or teacher, but children can still learn of the dangers of the world's thoughts on evolution and the affirmation of sin without being subjected entirely to a curriculum with purpose behind these false concepts.
I am a product of *mostly* Christian curriculum, though with purposed Christian school teachers that did not ignore the state of the world. An experiential argument is never strongest, but it would be difficult for me to believe that there is more value in using a resource that is, from its heart, scripturally incorrect.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this! Appreciate your work.
I surprisingly disagree with you on this. My brother, cousins and I all are products of secluar education and we were definitely not writing essays or reading at our grade level. There was so much I had to learn and unlearn as an adult. (I praise God for opening my eyes.) I actually find that Christian homeschool curriculums are much more vigorous. I am currently looking at Classical Conversations. My 4 year old will be learning latin and history facts that i never learn in secular schools!
I am going to agree with you when we are referring to the kids need exposure to the secular world. And I believe they get that easy, especially with all of the technology or through entertainment, books, and our local communities. But not using God’s word for “knowledge”? I have to disagree with that. I homeschool my three children and His Words throughout the school day has caused my children to gain His Word strongly. The kids need strong foundation of his Word, before they are tested and ready to enter the world. I agree, secular information needs to also be continuous mentioned, but that to prepare the children to know how others think in the world. And I’ve studied homeschooling curriculums beyond curriculums (Christian-based and some secular), and most are vigorous. Way beyond anything I was taught in the public school. Anyways, I get your point, but don’t agree with it all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts I love anything you share with us!
Hi Elizabeth!! I love your podcast and have learned so much, but I respectfully disagree with you about using secular curriculum. You can use really rich Christian curriculum and discuss with your child the secular counterfeit for example creation versus evolution. Laying a Christian foundation is important especially while they are young and when they are older they will have time to learn different worldviews.
Question #1- What third grader in public school is writing a paragraph, let alone five paragraph essays. From what I’ve seen, they can barely write a sentence.
#2- Have you looked into these Christian homeschool curriculums, and do you know many homeschoolers using Christian curriculums yourself?
#3- Why in the world would you compare a child in Sunday School doing arts and crafts to a public school child being better off education wise? That analogy makes no sense…and is also false.
My daughter, who is in her Junior year at college, works as a tutor and is mortified at the writing abilities of these high schoolers being sent to her. Most of them can’t even form a paragraph, and misspell every other word.
Most Christian homeschool curriculums are very rigorous. Some of them ridiculously so.
I love most of Foundation Worldview content, but this time I completely disagree.
Keep on using that Christian curriculum mamas! You can teach your children other worldviews, and educate them in the ways of the LORD, and provide a rich, fulfilling education for them without falling into the “Let’s do it just like public schools so our children don’t get left behind” trap. And it most definitely is a trap that a lot of homeschool parents fall into. Trust in God to lead the way for your homeschool, not the world 🙏🏼✝❤
Requiring 3rd graders to write 5 paragraph essays is foolish, tedious, formulaic and a waste of time that does not honor the personhood of each child (cottonball crafts fit some of these same disappointing descriptions). Sorry but I loathe that example. This will lead to them writing without their own sense of style, and it’s just too much at that age.
I’m giving my child an education better than government schools or private schools Christian or not, and we are not requiring that kind of “rigor” (rigor mortis more like 😂). Charlotte Mason is better than rigor, it is a feast. We use the best books, including some written by non Christians, but don’t pick secular things on purpose that are lower quality.
Here’s a not-fun stat:
“In 2023, there were 67 Illinois schools where not a single student tested was proficient in math and 32 schools where no student tested was proficient in reading. What’s worse, officials in those schools graduated nearly 70% of their students.”
Thank you for answering this question. We are starting homeschooling this fall and I have been struggling with choosing curriculum for my son. I value your opinion and wisdom and appreciate your answer. I agree with you on the importance of giving our kids the exposure to secular worldviews. Christian or secular curriculum the most important thing is to give our kids a solid education while also offering them the strongest biblical foundation. Also allowing God to lead the way and give us peace with what each of our individual kids need is very important.
We use ACE curriculum and found the math, english, word building, and literature to be pretty rigorous. Science and social studies are so-so but the geography portions are good. We currently supplement those subjects with secular material that helps the kids to challenge their critical thinking. We also participate in a secular homeschool group for field trips etc. I am hoping it helps to build up a good spiritual immune system by not putting my kids in a bubble and having meaningful discussions after exposure to secular theories etc. Please come to NCHE sometime in NC. They have THRIVE conference every year to support the Christian homeschool communities. Keep up the great work.
Great points, can't really disagree with you! I prefer more neutral curriculum, which I guess you could say is secular. For language arts and math I don't feel like it matters much...I've struggled with history and science the most. I feel like most Christian science and history curriculums are pretty biased or one-sided, sadly.