Late to the party here but I agree 100% with everything you have said. We too have struggled to find curriculum that is religiously neutral. HIstory curriculum as well as science is tough, as there is a slant in Christian teachings of US history too that are actually false and less than honest as they try to portray our founding fathers as pious, the US’s actions as always virtuous, and our nation as sheer perfection. I love America, but I am not blind to our faults or our history of failure in certain areas.

Finding content is very tough, and sometimes a lot of work to piece together. I do think it will improve over time, as secular homeschoolers are growing in numbers and looking for something non-Christian, and non-public ed oriented. But it will definitely take time.

My company, Thinkwell, produces online curriculum in math and science that are completely secular. Instead our focus is getting the best teachers we can to teach our courses. I think this is what should be the focus. Our math teacher is nationally recognized and whenever I read over the comments on our math videos on YouTube, the most common one is “I wish he could be my teacher!” And we want to hear that because teachers are important and when it comes to these more difficult subjects, they can be the difference between a child succeeding and failing.

I believe that education means having an open mind and studying all sides of every subject. No science book should ignore evolution or creationism – they should all teach both so that the person who is learning can draw their own conclusions.

Recently, my friends and I read your article and we thought it very well written. We are glad you have chosen to homeschool your children. We are homeschooled ourselves!

We agree information should be updated regularly as new information comes to light. And that things that are proven wrong should be taken out of the text books. That is very important! And also we think Creation and Evolution should be held to that standard!

We were just wondering why they still keep things in the textbooks like the peppered moths (which are a example of micro evolution, adaptions within a kind. Not macro evolution.) Haeckel’s embryo drawings (which have been known to be a fraud for a long time but are still in the textbooks as fact. It would be fine if they were there for history purposes, but they shouldn’t be used as proof for evolution.)

We also agree that evolution should be included in the text books. Since it has been a formative theory in our culture, we should all be aware of it’s premises.

The scientific method is very useful in figuring out how this world works! However, we don’t think it will solve all these sort of problems, because all of us look at the world through a “world view” (a set of beliefs, ideas, convictions etc.that answer the big questions in life. Such as: How did I get here? What is the purpose of life? Is there a God? Who is He? What happens when you die? Is there right and wrong? etc.) Therefore each one of us is influenced by our beliefs. They affect every area of life. So we can’t really separate science and religion.

When we talk about how life began, neither of us can scientifically prove, without a doubt, that God created the world or that life came from non-living chemical reactions, because we were not there and we cannot repeat either in a controlled environment.

We definitely don’t know everything, but these are some things we’ve learned and wanted to pass them on to you.

Anyway, we hope this at least gave you something to think about. Hope you have a great day!

Hannah,
for Jonathan, Miss Carol, Brianna, Brandon, Josiah, Mr Tom, Nathan, Matt, Carissa and others!