I recently read a well articulated blog about all the evils of home schooling. No socialization. . .students subjected to poorly trained teachers. . .and horror of all horrors, right winged fundamentalists raising an army of creationists. . .are all things that topped this guy’s list.
I have many aspirations and goals for my children’s education, however, being in an army of creationists is not one of them. On the other hand, this gentleman would probably classify our family as one of those ‘right winged fundamentalists’ and we do in fact teach creationism and so I decided the comment made good blog fodder. Should homeschoolers be required to teach evolution?
A Thought On Regulations. . .
In one of Chele’s recent blogs, she talks about how the public school system is not responsible for educating children. They do not have to be held accountable. If that is true, (and a judge says that it is) then by their own reasoning, schools are not responsible for making sure students learn evolution in science class. If they don’t have to learn evolution. . .I’m not sure why my kids do. Rather, I think it’s more important for children to begin studying science by asking questions and making observations than by learning facts.
The Importance of Asking Why
When you’re studying science of any type the question ‘why’ needs to always be in the back of your mind. Nothing in science is really certain. . .conclusions are based on theories that are based on pieced together evidence. We’re more sure of some evidence than we are of other evidence but nonetheless, it’s all about what we think happens.
I really think that the great fallacy of our generation in teaching science is that we’ve failed to teach this process of thinking through to the conclusion. In teaching my children creationism they are forced to think through both the scientific evidence for creation and the scientific evidence for evolution. They are forced to ask questions like, “How do we know?” It is this process of thinking that I’m interested in.
So teaching creation to me, is less about Christian values (although I will admit the two are intertwined) and much more about giving my children what I feel is lacking in the public schools.