Hello. I am homeschooling my only child, my 9th grade daughter. We live in an area in which most homeschoolers are YEC, many of whom teach that science and faith are incompatible. I stumbled across this site today; it looks like it is a good place to find reassurance that I’m not a complete freak. (Well, I’m probably mostly a freak, but not a complete one. 
)
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Glad you found us! You are not a complete freak, and partial freaks are totally welcome.
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@Homeschool_Forum Hi all! I am so glad to have discovered this site and forum and have been reading like crazy these past few days.
I’m a second-generation homeschooler (from Maine), and I grew up very YEC. I saw Kent Hovind speak when I was a kid and owned most of his VHS tapes (one I even bought with my own money). I just always enjoyed listening to him speak and hearing his stories. My family has been very invested in Answers in Genesis – we’ve been to the museum and my parents were five-year charter members (their name’s on a big wall of names at the museum – due to making a certain-sized donation, I’d assume).
I’ve been wrestling with my beliefs in this area for a while, and I know I still have more reading to do, but I’m about 1000% done with Answers in Genesis, after feeling pushed farther and farther away by Ken Ham’s antics over the years. I have come to realize (and I see I’m not alone!) that my faith was based much more on “proof” and “evidence” and one particular reading of Genesis 1-3 than on Jesus Christ. I was literally terrified to take a biology course in college, because I was afraid of how I’d respond to evolution without compromising my faith (but knew there was no way I could actually go toe-to-toe with a biology professor), and so ended up majoring in English since that seemed “safer.”
My issue now is what to do about homeschooling. Fortunately, we have some time since my oldest is only 4, but he has become a HUGE fan of dinosaurs (which helped spur my learning quest), and eventually he’s going to realize that his secular dinosaur books give him a different story from some of the Christian ones, or from the opinions of people at church,and I’m going to have to tell him something. I’m planning to use Sonlight and not stress about it for now, but I’m looking forward to reading the curriculum suggestions on this forum.
I’m also conflicted because my mom was pretty much my only teacher for 18 years of my life, and if she found out I am veering away from something she sees as so foundational to Christianity, I’m quite sure she’d be disappointed and possibly upset with me too.
Anyway, thanks for listening and thanks for creating a place where these things can be honestly discussed!
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What brought you to homeschooling?
We just kind of stumbled into it. We lived out in the country at the time and there were no good schools nearby. I hated the thought of my 5 year old spending two hours on the school bus every day (and honestly, I was not ready for him to leave period), so it seemed like homeschooling was our only option. When he was in the first grade we found out he was Gifted and didn’t fit into the regular school system anyways. So we’ve been homeschooling since the beginning and plan to continue through the end of high school.
What brought you to BioLogos?
I made the jump from YEC to Evolutionary Creationism a couple years ago. It was actually my son that started it all… he was born obsessed with Astronomy, something I knew next to nothing about. Through my own learning I realized there were things that did not add up with the YEC view. After a couple years of searching and studying I came across Hugh Ross and Reasons to Believe, then discovered Frances Collins. I read Collin’s books and found out about BioLogos that way.
How many kids do you have and what grades?
We have two kids, technically starting grade 6 and grade 3 but we don’t really follow grade levels for everything.
What is your “homeschool community” like?
We are lucky to live in an area now where there is a very vibrant and extensive homeschooling community. Unfortunately because my kids are “Gifted”, they don’t fit in with most of the co-ops or community courses. The one thing that has been a good match has been homeschool gymnastics. Besides that, we do random classes or short courses here and there but nothing year-long as it doesn’t suit where are kids are at academically or emotionally. We’ve met a lot of people through various events and field trips and it’s nice to have options available to us to choose from, when needed. We follow an eclectic/classical homeschool philosophy. There aren’t too many homeschoolers around here who are like that, so we definitely stick out. Most people around here just follow the regular school system curricula.
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I want to join in discussions. This intro tread seems like a great place to start.
I represent the Utah/Idaho part of the globe. I have two boys (7yrs&5yrs) who I homeschool… only because we think we can provide them more than the school systems (I will not speak against them, I think the systems make an excellent attempt and are needed).
For myself, I grew up in public school (k-5), then private christian (6-12). From church, it seems, I got enough of the YEC teachings that I didn’t notice if they taught any evolution in elementary, then of course, I got plenty in private school and entered college afraid to take any science classes. (When I finally had to, I managed just fine because I was “prepared” philosophically, and I took easy stuff just to get the credits.) I married a science lover who came to know the Lord in college (while majoring in Biology), so he was already convinced of evolution. He was gracious to my views and went easy on me. I came around to seeing all the real evidence for believing in a much older earth by watching cartoons with my oldest! (Dinosaur Train, especially.)
I have seen my son experiencing the conflict of teachings because of church, the homeschool group, and I think Awanas. I have addressed it head on by telling him Christians have different views, that some Christians even feel scared of evolution. Even though he is only in first grade, I wrote a couple of lessons for our science studies this year that described what we believe Genesis 1 teaches. I was to use them again for the next couple years to remind him solidly of what we believe, then hopefully, he has a way to reply to his teachers, especially if they get carried away and pointedly tell him he’s wrong. I told him he can say, “my parents told me…,” supposing maybe he can find neutral ground and blame any confusion on us. I pray and trust God to help him work out what/who to believe when he sees the views juxtaposed. His thinking is super literal, flavored with mild Autism.
One last thing, in my search for science curriculum, I decided that most of what is out there is equivalent to doing craft projects and calling it art. I wanted real science… google searched “chemistry for kids” and found the curriculum “Real Science-4-Kids.” I am pleased (reassured) to see it listed on BioLogos suggested curriculum page. It is REAL SCIENCE described at their level. When the author introduced Biology, she admitted that there must be a beginning and that there are differing views. This makes it possible for parents to add their philosophical opinion, then she gets right back to the facts and science. I, myself am no longer afraid of science and am loving leading my children to the many varied learning opportunities in God’s creation!
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Great to have you join us, Charlene! The homeschool forum isn’t always hopping, but the threads stay open indefinitely so anyone can pick up a conversation where it left off, even if it’s from a while ago. Feel free to jump in anywhere or start your own new thread anytime you like. I think several other people are here because of Dinosaur Train, so you are in good company.
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Welcome, Charlene! Thanks for the curriculum recommendation. I’m also glad to hear your thoughts on helping your child navigate conflicting views – my church uses AIG curriculum for Sunday School, and it hasn’t caused any issues yet, but I’m sure it will, and my kiddo can also be fairly “black and white” about things too. I guess they’re never too young to learn that Christians can hold different views on things and still (hopefully) get along with each other.
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A post was split to a new topic: AWANA and teaching about creation/Genesis
G’Day everyone.
I’m a transplanted Aussie now living in Canada and a new homeschooling dad.
I was a product of the public education system in Australia and it took a while for my Canuck wife to bring me round to the idea of homeschooling. In the end, I was won over by the freedom to choose the educational approach, methodologies and timing that best suit my child. We are two days into our homeschool journey.
I came to BioLogos via a post shared by a facebook friend. I was actually agnostic on the YEC-OEC issue until I watched some YEC videos in my early twenties that turned me pretty solidly against the YEC position.
I have 3 kids. Only the oldest is in school.
We live in a part of Canada that has a pretty solid homeschooling community. We are still exploring all the groups and resources out there (which BioLogos and this forum just became another of!)
I appreciate that this space exists. I anticipate that I will be doing more reading, observing and listening at first before jumping into the discussions.
I look forward to learning!
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Welcome @Alkemita Micheal, good to have you here! The homeschool forum could use a little more action, so don’t be shy about starting a new thread if you find something itching to be discussed in your perusal of BioLogos materials.
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Hi Michael,
Let me add another warm welcome to the forum! There are not a lot of homeschooling dads who have contributed here, so I was excited to see your note. I’m also one who does more reading than writing on this forum—more because of time constraints than anything else.
I gather from your message that you’ll be taking an active role in teaching your kids. If you’re willing to share, I’d love to learn how you and your wife are going to approach things. I sometimes ask dads from homeschooling families what role they take in their kids’ education, and quite often the answer is essentially “not much.” That’s not to be critical of such families, but only to say that I feel like I’ve found a kindred spirit when I come across a father who wants to be directly involved in educating his children.
This was one of the key things that steered my wife and me to homeschooling as well. In case you’re interested, there was also some discussion about reasons people chose homeschooling in this thread: Reasons to homeschool?.
May God guide, empower, and reward you and your family along this homeschooling journey.
Bruce
G’Day Bruce,
firstly apologies for the late reply. It’s the old cliche - life happens.
I gather from your message that you’ll be taking an active role in teaching your kids. If you’re willing to share, I’d love to learn how you and your wife are going to approach things. I sometimes ask dads from homeschooling families what role they take in their kids’ education, and quite often the answer is essentially “not much.” That’s not to be critical of such families, but only to say that I feel like I’ve found a kindred spirit when I come across a father who wants to be directly involved in educating his children.
To be honest, Bruce, I’m about as involved in the day-to-day teaching as those other fathers you’ve talked to. I’ve taught exactly one lesson in the past month.
What my wife and I did was to work out our strategy together, before the year started. That was (is) my main contribution. We’re still getting our act together big time. We didn’t get as much accomplished in our first month as we hoped, and we just had a discussion about ways I can help our daughter practice her math so that she gets more time there. Beyond that, every second night, I work through a devotions book with my daughter, and I try to make sure she understands the important lessons in that.
My personal plan is that as the kids get a bit older, I will contribute more by helping in the application of what they have learned. We’ve talked about summer projects that make use of what they’ve been taught during the year. I also hope to exercise their reasoning, debate and critical thinking skills when they are older by posing topics for discussion. I’m not good with kids this young - I need God’s grace and mercy daily to make it through.
At the last homeschooling convention we were at, they had a speaker named Israel Wayne who gave a talk for the men. He said that he tells people that “I homeschool, and my wife helps,” even though she does the bulk of the day-to-day teaching. His point, I believe, was that we fathers need to be actively supportive and set the overall direction, even if we can’t teach every lesson. I think he had a good point, even if I didn’t like the specific wording he used, which is why I say that “we” homeschool - perhaps that was what gave you the idea that I would be right in there in the classroom.
I hope that was a little clearer, and I feel I could ask the same questions of you - we are neophytes on this journey, and I am always on the look out for ways to do things better.
God Bless
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Hello everyone. My name is Cynthia and I live in Baton Rouge, LA with my husband and our 5 children whom I teach at home.
I decided to homeschool because I thought it would be the best way for me to disciple my children- teaching them wisdom in all areas of life. We take it one year at a time, but for now are content in the journey. Our children are 12, 11, 10, 7 and 4 and in grades 6, 5, 3, 2 and Pre-K respectively.
I discovered BioLogos through Tremper Longman, a theologian whom I deeply respect. My family attended the conference this past year in Houston.
I am on my 7th year homeschooling and we have been with Classical Conversations from the beginning. My background is in theology and psychology, but have since earned an honorary doctorate (given by mysself- ha!) in English grammar as I teach English and Writing at our co-op.
We have loved the classical conversations model up to this point; however, starting 7th grade (next year for us) the program uses Apologia literature for science- a posture of Science in which we strongly disagree! For now, the plan is to enroll our oldest while switching out the science material at home with Novare literature. Any encouragement or advice in this matter would be welcomed! We love our community but are not oblivious to our theological differences when it comes to evolution. It’s great to find a forum with like-minded people!
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Welcome, Cynthia!
I’ve linked some conversations specific to the CC question below. Feel free to continue any of these threads or start a new one. Or, you can use the PM system to send a private message to any user about something in particular. (Click on any avatar and then use the “send message” button, or click on your own avatar in the upper right and click on the envelope icon and type in the users you would like to contact.)
Glad you are here!
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Hi Cynthia,
Welcome to the Forum! I enjoyed learning a bit about your family and your homeschooling story.
There are several of us around here with similar tales of loving much about CC but being troubled by the anti-evolution ideology. I know that Lisa @Lstrite has been able to opt out of having her child read It Couldn’t Just Happen this year, but I expect there is a lot of variance in terms of how accommodating tutors are to such things.
My situation is complicated by the fact that my wife and I aren’t in accord on our thinking about science education. I’ve written a good bit about it on other threads, which you can read as you have time and interest.
Have you used any Novare texts yet? I bought the Earth Science text two years ago when it was first published, but my son hasn’t made much progress through it. I’m really going to push for him to do that this semester.
If you’ve never looked into Schole Groups, I recommend doing so. According to their Find a Group Near You page, there is someone in Baton Rogue looking to start a group.
I’ll try to write more before long, but I typically end up responding to about 10% of what I wish I had time to on this forum.
Best wishes to you and your family,
Bruce
Hello @Homeschool_Forum ! I can’t begin to explain how excited I am to be part of this forum! I believed in YEC for most of my life–that’s almost 50 years! I only recently had a drastic change of heart, mind, and faith that moved me toward evolutionary science, et. al. I have been home schooling my children since 2003 (I mean really since 1994 when my first child was born, but officially since 2003). I currently have 5 children. My oldest is a Staff Sergeant in the US Air Force, she will be 24 this May. My next is 19 and she has a full time job at the local Walmart. My soon-to-be 17 year old is attending public school (that’s another story all together, lol). Next, I have a dino-enthusiast 11, soon to be 12 year old daughter and boy can she tell you a thing or two about dinosaurs! My youngest is our only boy and he is 2 1/2. He is our foster son through a kinship placement (another story!). Can I ask if anyone else is “new” to evolution thinking? I’d like to ask if you struggled with the transformation of thought? I felt so overwhelmingly guilty for having taught my kids incorrectly for so many years–I asked their forgiveness, naturally they forgave me, but it’s a struggle to “undo” all that teaching. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Anyway, if anyone is interested in my other “stories”, I’d be glad to share–the one from YEC to evolution is a whopper too. Hello to all and I look forward to some amazing discussions!!
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We are in Mid-Missouri-literally. Warrensburg, MO, home of University of Central Missouri
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Thanks for stopping by, Melissa 
Your insights as to how you feel and how the transition is going are welcome, and I am sure would be helpful to others going through the same thought process. I would not be too hard on yourself for past lessons, after all my profs always said that half of what they were teaching was wrong, they just didn’t know which half.
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Welcome, Melissa. Glad you found us. I’m going to split your question off into it’s own thread because it’s a really good one.
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