Secular Homeschooling
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Secular homeschooling is a term that is used to define homeschoolers who are either non Christian, nonreligious or not teaching at home for religious reasons.
Many secular home educators are troubled by the stereotype that all homeschoolers are conservative Christians. They also face the added challenges of finding support in a community dominated by Christians and finding high quality home school materials. Here are some tips for overcoming those challenges.
Secular Homeschooling Support
Finding support can be a challenge for secular homeschoolers because many support groups and organizations are designed to meet the needs of Christians. As the number of nonreligious homeschoolers continues to grow, organizations will arise to meet their needs.
In the meantime, these families can consider joining an inclusive homeschool group, starting an inclusive homeschool group, and participating in religiously neutral community organizations.
Here is some additional information about secular homeschooling support.
Secular Homeschool Curriculum
Finding a secular homeschool curriculum is another major challenge faced by homeschoolers who don't want to combine religion and academics. Some home educators feel Christian programs contain bias and inaccuracies, and they want to choose a program that is more objective and does not conflict with their family's beliefs.
Here are some tips for finding a secular homeschool curriculum, along with a link to reviews of popular programs. The following is a list of nonreligious, all-in-one, home school curriculum publishers.
- Keystone High School
Earn your online high school diploma with Keystone High School, earn an accredited online high school diploma, earn your online High School diploma or home school your way to a high school diploma by taking online high school courses today! - Oak Meadow
Oak Meadow publishes homeschool curriculum materials and has an accredited distance education school. For over 30 years, Oak Meadow has created independent learning materials for families around the world. - Time4Learning
Educational teaching games are best home education program to teach reading, math, and language arts. Time4Learning is the best online home education program for home school or supplementary for preschool, elementary, and middle school. - K12 Inc.
K¹² offers the leading online curriculum and programs in the K-12 market. Our products are rooted in decades of educational research and specifically focused on unlocking the innate and unique potential in each child through individualized learning a - Connections Academy
Tuition free online public school providing a nationally certified K- grade 12 alternative to home schooling curriculum. - Calvert Homeschool Curriculum
Calvert School delivers the best home school curriculum combined with personal support that inspires students to realize their full potential. - e-Tutor.com
e-Tutor is the premier K-12 Internet education program for students, parents and educators, providing empowering tools and quality educational content, to create a customized learning community.
Here is some additional information about nonreligious homeschooling resources that includes suggested books and magazines.
Usborne Homeschool Books
One of the best resources for nonreligious homeschooling materials is Usborne Books at Home. Usborne sells over 2,900 titles for children ages infant through high school. The company's high-quality science, history and math resources come highly recommended from prominent publishers like Sonlight, Tapestry of Grace and The Well-Trained Mind.
Here's where you can view the entire catalog of Usborne Children's Books.
5 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Homeschool Curriculum
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I home-schooled our two daughters because the schools were failing the youngest. She didn't learn anything in school; by the age of nine, she still couldn't read the easiest chapter books.
I read to my daughters almost daily. Both of them loved the time we spent together, but the youngest was often in tears because she couldn't emulate her sister, who would take the book from my hand and read aloud for brief periods.
I talked to teachers, to principals, to child psychologists, and to special education instructors. Eventually, they agreed to provide her a one-on-one learning environment, for one hour a week.
I stopped working, and spent 3 -5 hours a day focused on her reading. I took the older sister out of school so that the younger wouldn't feel like she was being punished. It was rough, but after about 8 months something clicked, and my youngest daughter was suddenly (and proudly) reading books that would have been daunting to university graduates.
She graduated from university herself last year, with a very respectable GPA.
I had no religious motive, and I did find it frustrating that much of the curriculum had an evangelical slant, but the experience was definitely worthwhile.
I am a secular homeschooler and there are a lot more resources available to us now. Another challenge I feel that we face is the hostility toward homeschooling among the nonreligious.
I use k12.com through the California Virtual Academy. It is a wonderful program and it's free when used as a public school option. Online schooling is great for parents who want to homeschool but would prefer a lot of guidance.
i have chosen to home school my daughters. a one on one teaching to kids are more efficient than having the ratio of 20:1 right? they are home schooled for four years now and i dont have troubles with their relationship with others or they learning attitudes at all. credit to all the hubs i have read over the years who proved to me that i made the right choice.
thanks
Brian Lofgren 2 years ago
Wonderful home schooling cites Carletta! I hope that you and your subscribers will also use my short, but powerful online resource book for your homeschooling needs. See link for book description and preview. Thanks, Brian