A Recent Question

Here at the PHEA office we are in the thick of printing transcripts and sending out notices regarding the Senior class ranking.  Not surprisingly we receive a lot of questions about which categories certain classes might fall under.  Below is Martha’s response to a question about how a Christian Worldview Course might be categorized.

Question:  Can Christian Worldview count as a history credit?

Answer:   When I answer questions like this, I keep in mind the freedom we have as home schoolers to direct the education of our children according to their gifts and needs.  I also keep in mind that the children will need to be able to function in the world as adults and this probably means further education beyond high school.  I try to advise parents with both of these points in mind.  Parents can choose to cover history on a totally different scope and sequence than the public school starting with ancient history and covering all areas of the world (including Biblical history) simultaneously so that the various histories are integrated.  These kids will likely walk away with a much more integrated knowledge of history than their public school (and home school) peers.  As long as the parents are covering the subject, they have that freedom.

The home school law only states that each of the subjects must be covered each year.  I have always told parents that this part means that they need to cover some of each subject but they are not required to complete a credit in it.  For some families this means doing a math class for two years then assigning the credit when they finish.  For others it may mean reading histories of a time period they are interested in or biographies of scientists or outside reading on a particular part of science with no plans for it ever be on the transcript or part of a credit.  (For my daughter in law, this took the form of studying how medieval people used herbs as medicine - research she needed to know for a novel she was writing.  I am pretty sure she has learned more science since she graduated in doing this sort of research than she did in high school!)

I also encourage families to use the public school requirements as a guideline.  For example, they only have to do 3 histories - two credits of which are specified. We do not have to do ANY of the requirements yet if the home school student is going on to college, they will be competing with all the other students for a spot at the university they want to attend.  If they do not meet the requirements that the universities set, their student will not be accepted.  The public school requirements codify what the majority of the universities require so that the majority of public school kids will be accepted into college.  So it is wise to follow those requirements as a MINIMUM of what should be covered.

At that point though we have to loop back around to the needs of the student.  You may have a student who is exceptional in music and is totally lost in math.  For this student, the parent needs to continue to cover math but at a pace that the student can actually grasp the concepts.  In the end, there may be only one or two high school math classes on the high school transcript.  For this student, if they do want to go on to college, there are ways to do that - either being accepted by a college that wants the talent of the musician so will do remedial classes in the math, or doing the same thing themselves at one of the community colleges.

The Christian Worldview class is actually a philosophy course so on the transcript it would either go under electives or under religion. Because it covers history within its scope and sequence, the parent is fulfilling the law as far as teaching history, but the class itself is not a history.

To Teach or Not to Teach - Thoughts on Handling Controversial Subjects

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  It seems that we live in a world full of controversial topics. From the continuing Creation vs. Evolution debate to newer debates on marriage and legalized drug use we certainly live in an age where maintaining a clear understanding of our own beliefs and passing them on to our children can be difficult.
  Many of us have chosen to homeschool in part because we can shield our children from the influences of the world and teach them the principles that we would have them follow as they grow from youth to adulthood.  We like having the freedom to teach from a Christian perspective.  We like having the freedom to leave behind all the baffling array of arguments against our beliefs and just teach our children what we know - and believe.
  But should we only offer our students one perspective?  Should we, for example, only teach that God created the earth in six literal days without ever mentioning the opposing viewpoint?  Many parents choose not to for fear of upsetting their children's budding faith and leading them astray.  Other parents may choose to present each argument with equal weight and leave the decision as to which is right entirely up to the child.
  With our children my husband and I take a middle ground approach.  From a young age we have taught them our beliefs and we have raised them on the principles that flow from those beliefs.  I may not always explain it to my kids, but there is usually a reason behind the things we do and don't do and the standards of behavior we hold them to.  We are continually reaffirming our beliefs and theology to them, sometimes in explicit statement and sometimes by way of principle.  So we are making sure they are well grounded as, Lord willing, they come to faith and begin to mature.
  Using our own beliefs as a backdrop, we then venture into the world of the controversial.  We do not spend a lot of time talking about these things, but as they come up we discuss each topic presenting what the world believes in contrast to what we believe, limiting the discussion, of course, to the level of the child's understanding.  In doing so, we are not only affirming our beliefs, but we are giving them a defense against the attacks of the world's philosophy.
  Why do we do this?  Part of the process of passing along our beliefs to a younger generation is teaching them not only what we believe, but why we believe it.  If our children must "take it on faith" that certain things are true, they are much more likely to be swayed by the world when a more compelling argument comes along. 
  Take for example the evolution and creation debate.  In a secular setting, the debate is all but over.  College professors no longer debate the merits of evolution against creation, they simply accept that the world is a random process of evolution formed over billons of years - and they build their entire philosophy on that structure.  A student who has only been taught on the "The Bible says it so I believe it" system will suffer major shock coming into such a hostile setting is sure to have his faith shaken if not destroyed.
  A better solution would be to teach creation and affirm the faith while simultaneously teaching the student now to rationally present a defense of his beliefs.  And there are many rational, scientific proofs for creation!  One has only to look at the second law of thermodynamics: "Things tend to greater disorder" to discover that the very laws governing how nature works are opposed to a system where time produces greater order. 
  In Romans 12 Paul exhorts us to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind".  I believe that Paul is urging us to strengthen our minds in the truth, both by learning the truth and by learning to defend the truth against opposing viewpoints.  I believe that he would have us do as the Bereans did, and "find out if these things be so".  And I believe that we should guide our children to do the same thing. 

  How about you?  How does your family handle controversial topics?