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Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/22/2008 7:04:42 PM
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Sideways
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My in-laws both teach at a private Lutheran School. Please bear in mind, these teachers pray, read the Bible and worship with their students everyday. The Christian faith is actively practiced at this school.
But they do not used textbooks by any Christian publishers. All of their materials are from secular publishers, except of course, for the Bible and any other materials used in religion classes. Their reasons are that religion-based textbooks are of poorer academic quality and integrity. Basically, by trying to teach from a Christian world-view, the texts become so biased so as to compromise the academics, and that the texts simply aren't as acedemically rigorous as the teachers would like, and that many do not encourage any critical thinking skills, focusing more on route memorization and spitting back information.
The teachers would rather have religion-neutral textbooks, and then when teaching, put their own doctrine into it. I am not one of those who believes that simply because something is secular it is automatically anti-Christian, but I was a little surprised. My husband was raised in Lutheran and Catholic schools, and he said it was also like this. Now, is this only a Lutheran and Catholic thing? Are you aware of any other Christian schools that do not follow Abeka or BJU or the like?
When I asked my husband what he would want if we (hypothetically) home schooled our children, he said he would be strongly opposed to any history, social studies or science materials from a Christian publisher, because of his concern over academic quality and integrity.
Does anyone here have any experiences with this issue?
< Message edited by Sideways -- 11/22/2008 7:10:46 PM >
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/22/2008 7:21:19 PM
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csl7037
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My kids go to a Baptist school that is pretty ecclectic in it's curriculum. They use Abeka math (have used Saxon), some Bob Jones, and some HBJ and other "secular" texts. I like the approach. They're constantly evaluating and considering what they're using and what other options there are.
My undergrad degree is in history and I whole heartedly agree that Abeka History (the only one I'm familiar with) is no good at all. That's one that they're still using but I don't like it much.
I think Christian schools still need to offer quality. Especially right now. Parents have options and if you're going to fork over thousands of dollars, parents want to know they're getting what they're paying for. Parents don't want a one-dimensional education for their children - and rightfully so. I want my children at a school that teaches and reinforces Biblical principals. But they also need to be learning what they need to be learning and they need to be on par with their peers when they leave that school for HS or college.
I don't think what you're describing is unique to Lutheran or Catholic schools. I think it's unique to quality schools.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 9:14:51 AM
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iluvatar
Posts: 2031
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Sideways
My in-laws both teach at a private Lutheran School. Please bear in mind, these teachers pray, read the Bible and worship with their students everyday. The Christian faith is actively practiced at this school.
But they do not used textbooks by any Christian publishers. All of their materials are from secular publishers, except of course, for the Bible and any other materials used in religion classes. Their reasons are that religion-based textbooks are of poorer academic quality and integrity. Basically, by trying to teach from a Christian world-view, the texts become so biased so as to compromise the academics, and that the texts simply aren't as acedemically rigorous as the teachers would like, and that many do not encourage any critical thinking skills, focusing more on route memorization and spitting back information.
The teachers would rather have religion-neutral textbooks, and then when teaching, put their own doctrine into it. I am not one of those who believes that simply because something is secular it is automatically anti-Christian, but I was a little surprised. My husband was raised in Lutheran and Catholic schools, and he said it was also like this. Now, is this only a Lutheran and Catholic thing? Are you aware of any other Christian schools that do not follow Abeka or BJU or the like?
When I asked my husband what he would want if we (hypothetically) home schooled our children, he said he would be strongly opposed to any history, social studies or science materials from a Christian publisher, because of his concern over academic quality and integrity.
Does anyone here have any experiences with this issue?
First of all, good for them and good for you and your husband. It's encouraging to see other people who don't automatically buy into something because it mentions God a bunch of times or has "Christian" stamped on it.
I attended a couple small protestant schools through 11th grade and only ever had ABeka and/or Bob Jones books. Other small protestant schools I knew of in the area were all Christian-only curricula - either PACEs, videos, or some other mix. When I transferred to the local Catholic school my senior year (which was really only barely Catholic), the textbooks were secular. None of the schools were academically rigorous (neither was the local public school from what I'm told), though in hindsight, I can see some ways in which the Catholic school was better than the others. The protestant schools were a complete joke.
-Dan.
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Well, I've been to one world fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing I ever heard come over a set of earphones.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 9:34:46 AM
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JuliaHop
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All of my children used BJU and A Beka textbooks and they had excellent standardized test scores and my older children had excellent college entrance exam scores (far above the national average scores).
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For God so loved the World, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 11:11:58 AM
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iluvatar
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JuliaHop
All of my children used BJU and A Beka textbooks and they had excellent standardized test scores and my older children had excellent college entrance exam scores (far above the national average scores).
So did I, but standardized tests generally only cover math and some English skills like vocabulary and reading comprehension. As far as I can recall, the ABeka math textbooks were fine, though a bit on the easy side. Vocabulary, spelling, and grammar were covered heavily. The problems come more in sciences, humanities and in subjects that require critical & original thought. ABeka and BJU are good at prepping kids to memorize and recite facts, but not at interpreting and understanding events or literature and certainly not at understanding things that the publishers don't agree with.
BJU has the first ~20 pages of each textbook online and I'm looking at the 8th Grade Space & Earth Science textbook - their perspectives on the philosophy of science, their description of the Big Bang Theory, their claims regarding the evidenciary support of evolution, and their conflation of evolution with cosmology are just wrong. Even if you don't agree with that science, you can at least describe it accurately. At the beginning of the first chapter, they say that "anything that occurred without a person present cannot be studied as science," then later give inductive reasoning as an example of "right science." I expect the discussion of geology to be of equal merit.
The constant "Christian perspective" applied to historical figures and events also has a tendency to skew things in a particular way.
-Dan.
_____________________________
Well, I've been to one world fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing I ever heard come over a set of earphones.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 11:34:33 AM
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csl7037
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quote:
ORIGINAL: iluvatar
ABeka and BJU are good at prepping kids to memorize and recite facts, but not at interpreting and understanding events or literature and certainly not at understanding things that the publishers don't agree with.
quote:
ORIGINAL: iluvatar
The constant "Christian perspective" applied to historical figures and events also has a tendency to skew things in a particular way.
That's a very good assessment. And what ABeka, for instance, is good at, it's very good at. I like my kids getting the basics (spelling and math) and getting them nailed. What my friends' kids are doing on public and school and calling "math" is ridiculous, IMO!
But you're dead-on about the interpretation - they're not taught how to think with ABeka nearly as much as what to think. My kids' elementary text books are horrible, as I said. It's very skewed. I think it was the chapter on George Washington Carver in 3rd grade that annoyed me the most. Everything everyone in history has ever done was because they just loved God so much and wanted to spread the Gospel. Of course they mention the GOLD in the New World but it's trivialized. Very skewed, to the point of inaccurate, IMO.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 11:40:51 AM
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Sideways
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quote:
ORIGINAL: csl7037
But you're dead-on about the interpretation - they're not taught how to think with ABeka nearly as much as what to think. My kids' elementary text books are horrible, as I said. It's very skewed. I think it was the chapter on George Washington Carver in 3rd grade that annoyed me the most. Everything everyone in history has ever done was because they just loved God so much and wanted to spread the Gospel. Of course they mention the GOLD in the New World but it's trivialized. Very skewed, to the point of inaccurate, IMO.
And that's what would really bother dH (and me too), the need for critical thinking. Plus, let's face it, while Christians in history have done some things out of a love for God and His commandments, a lot was done out of greed and a lust for more and more power (like the lust for gold in the New World). I don't want the evils done in the name of Christianity minimalism in any way.
Like I said, I've talked with cyberschoolers who had texts that were respectful of religious faith, but pulled no punches when talking about the evil committed in the name of God by ALL religions, not just the Muslims. I do appreciate everyone's perspective. I was beginning to think that no child ever got a Christian education without paying money to ABeka or BJU and their kind.
Besides, I wouldn't pay one red cent to the Bob Jones Empire if they were the only publisher around, but that's for an different thread.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 11:43:36 AM
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JuliaHop
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My children were tested in science and social studies (they took the full test,not just the reading, language, and math portions. In college boards, unlike the SAT, the ACT also tests science and social studies.
I will hold to my opinion that academically these publishers are excellent.
(I believe that this discussion is concerning the academic standards.)
quote:
Their reasons are that religion-based textbooks are of poorer academic quality and integrity. Basically, by trying to teach from a Christian world-view, the texts become so biased so as to compromise the academics,
I will comment that non-religion based textbooks are so dedicated to teaching from a non-Christian worldview they tend to be extremely biased and do compromise academics in favor of anti-religion or political agendas.
_____________________________
For God so loved the World, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 11:53:16 AM
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Sideways
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JuliaHop
I will comment that non-religion based textbooks are so dedicated to teaching from a non-Christian worldview they tend to be extremely biased and do compromise academics in favor of anti-religion or political agendas.
I was raised in public schools from 3rd grade on, and I never saw anything that lead me to believe that publishers were biased against religion, just neutral to it. I think it's a fear commonly spread that just because something is secular it is therefore anti-Christian.
Certainly I never saw anything indicated that academics were compromised because the publishers had some sort of anti-Christian political agenda. Are some publishers superior to others? Certainly. But I really don't see evidence of any secular conspiracy.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 11:59:00 AM
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csl7037
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JuliaHop
I will hold to my opinion that academically these publishers are excellent.
I will agree that what they do well (spelling, language, math), they do very well.
quote:
ORIGINAL: Sideways
quote:
ORIGINAL: JuliaHop
I will comment that non-religion based textbooks are so dedicated to teaching from a non-Christian worldview they tend to be extremely biased and do compromise academics in favor of anti-religion or political agendas.
I was raised in public schools from 3rd grade on, and I never saw anything that lead me to believe that publishers were biased against religion, just neutral to it. I think it's a fear commonly spread that just because something is secular it is therefore anti-Christian.
Certainly I never saw anything indicated that academics were compromised because the publishers had some sort of anti-Christian political agenda. Are some publishers superior to others? Certainly. But I really don't see evidence of any secular conspiracy.
If you've been out of high school more than ten years or so, I'd say a lot has changed.
It's also human nature to skew history and it's not something started by or unique to Christian textbook publishers by any means. That's why, after about 4th grade, I think the only way to study history is from original sources or at least with a heavy reliance on original sources.
I'm not going to say that secular textbooks with an agenda (and more and more do have an agenda it seems) aren't just as bad. It's just one reason we desperately need school choice and for parents to get a clue and take the time to know what's in their kids textbooks!
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 12:11:16 PM
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Sideways
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I've been out of HS for almost 13 years, so I'm willing to concede that there's been change in our school systems.
I still can't see my father in law, who teaches Literature, History and Social Studies, using texts that have an anti-Christian agenda. He is dead serious that teaching is his ministry unto the Lord and has been for 30+ years.
So, it seems like everyone will have some sort of perspective, you've just got to decide who skews history the least, and who gives the best education (combining both teacher and materials) for the child, in your opinion. I can live with that.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 12:20:17 PM
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stellaluna
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Sideways
My in-laws both teach at a private Lutheran School. Please bear in mind, these teachers pray, read the Bible and worship with their students everyday. The Christian faith is actively practiced at this school.
But they do not used textbooks by any Christian publishers. All of their materials are from secular publishers, except of course, for the Bible and any other materials used in religion classes. Their reasons are that religion-based textbooks are of poorer academic quality and integrity. Basically, by trying to teach from a Christian world-view, the texts become so biased so as to compromise the academics, and that the texts simply aren't as acedemically rigorous as the teachers would like, and that many do not encourage any critical thinking skills, focusing more on route memorization and spitting back information.
The teachers would rather have religion-neutral textbooks, and then when teaching, put their own doctrine into it. I am not one of those who believes that simply because something is secular it is automatically anti-Christian, but I was a little surprised. My husband was raised in Lutheran and Catholic schools, and he said it was also like this. Now, is this only a Lutheran and Catholic thing? Are you aware of any other Christian schools that do not follow Abeka or BJU or the like?
When I asked my husband what he would want if we (hypothetically) home schooled our children, he said he would be strongly opposed to any history, social studies or science materials from a Christian publisher, because of his concern over academic quality and integrity.
Does anyone here have any experiences with this issue?
Wow, I really admire this thinking! I remember my private school days, when the curriculum (and I sincerely hope it has been changed) consisted of nothing but the old and new testaments. The old testament is not a substitute for world history, hate to tell them. Stories of missionaries in the jungles is not a substitute for Shakespeare, either.
quote:
Certainly I never saw anything indicated that academics were compromised because the publishers had some sort of anti-Christian political agenda. Are some publishers superior to others? Certainly. But I really don't see evidence of any secular conspiracy.
It's hard to have this conversation because textbook choices vary from district to district, even in the same state or region, but I think the idea that public school texts are anti-Christian is overstated. Religion-neutral is not a bad thing.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 6:01:16 PM
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zoebob
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I went to a Christian school K-12 and did not use very many textbooks from Christian publishers. I HS my kids and don't use things like Abeka or BJU. I work at a Christian school that does not use Christian textbooks.
In fact, when I was in high school we didn't entirely depend on the textbooks. The teachers wrote their lessons/curriculum based on the textbooks but did not "teach from the textbook" so to speak. We would use the book for review of concepts and such but much of what we did in science and social studies was not directly based on textbooks.
I did have a few Christian textbooks early on and I didn't like them. For one thing they made the subject feel like Bible class with some whatever thrown in. They felt very preachy to me.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 9:37:02 PM
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OneOfHisJewels
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I am a product of christian home and public schools.
I have been in 3 different christian schools...2 out of 3 used secular textbooks..one was an ABeka/BJU combination..I will say that I think BJU does a better job being academic then ABeka does, however, when I home-schooled, my geometry book, and my Biology book, were both A Beka, and very good. You have to realize too, that A Beka didn't write their own textbooks, they just recycled old public school curriculum...anyway, as far as the non christian textbooks in the other schools..I've seen the good and the bad..math, I'd rather have in non christian textbook, because I remember A beka claiming that they had a christian math book, simply because they had a Bible verse at the top of each page.  My 7th and 8th grade Science curriculum (secular curriculum, christian school) was horrible..the kids kind of had to fend for themselves..and we were too young for that..however, my secular English, History, and Spelling books that year were fine. I dunno, though, I think WHO is teaching and HOW a class is being taught has far more of an affect on kids then the textbook they used...and every single year of school, I loved my reading books, secular or christian (but I love reading and literature)...except that I was such a good reader (I'm not bragging, I was horrible at math), that I had usually read through the whole reading book by the first two weeks of school, so was somewhat bored with the rest of the book by the end of the year.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/23/2008 10:12:55 PM
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Auben
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All thoughtful schools, whether home, church or public school based, reevaluate their texts every few years because new materials and ideas are available.
Our public school does a district-wide (that doesn't say much since the district is a 1000 person town) evaluation on one subject every year. They contact parents, research curriculum, the whole thing. Then if they think they have something better, which greater fulfills the goals of teachers, parents, and staff then they make a change. The math change they made 3 years ago was really good. The 2 years after that they kept the same curriculum in Reading and Health.
In homeschooling I do the same thing, although perhaps more often. I'm very willing to look into Christian curriculum, but frankly after working at my brother's Christian school in the '90s I am careful about taking anything just because it is Christian. There is a lot of dreck out there (by Christian and secular publishers).
I do know there is a lot more available to thoughtful Christians now then there was 10 or even 5 years ago. It's a matter of building a network and doing some research. I personally wouldn't teach any subject from only 1 text, the more nuanced the more sources are usually necessary.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/24/2008 8:37:11 AM
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macokjc
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One of the greatest responsibilities of a parent is your child's education. I think that the textbooks that you approve or deem appropriate will probably be in line with your worldview of Christianity. Your goals for your children are yours and yours alone.
quote:
When I asked my husband what he would want if we (hypothetically) home schooled our children, he said he would be strongly opposed to any history, social studies or science materials from a Christian publisher, because of his concern over academic quality and integrity.
This was slightly surprising, and I think quality and integrity here largely depends on one's individual faith and beliefs. The whole science/evolution thing brought up by somebody else illustrates this. There are Christians out there that believe in God-assisted evolution. If that is your view, than you will think that Christian publisher are incorrect. BJU science and A Beka both believe that true science is that which can be observed, proved without a doubt, and repeated. Evolution and creation both do not fall into that category. However, taking the Bible as our guide, and pointing to those things in science that can be proved, there if more proof of creation than evolution.
As far as history - do you know that most people today cannot name the first president of the U.S. Most young people today think that the words "separation of church and state" are in the Constitution, they can't name the writer of the "Star Spangled Banner" or what war in which it was written, they have no clue that there actually was a first "Thanksgiving". Most secular history books have more mention of Martin Luther King than George Washington or other important founding fathers. They have taken out the religious implications of the the beginnings of our country in order to be more politically correct. The sad thing is, it is done in a very subtle way, so that unless you look and really think about it, one might not have a problem with it. The history books that I have used in a Christian school - both teaching and attending - and the ones I used in homeschooling - have consistently been extremely factual as well as error-free. Christian publishers look at history as not just a bunch of facts, but things that we can learn about the past so that we can make our future better. Than they take Biblical principles to evaluate situations.
After homeschooling - we have put our kids in a Christian school. Not to "protect" them, but because learning from a Godly world-view is very important to us as parents. A school with its textbooks will only be a good as the teachers, so excellence in education widely varies between private schools and school districts alone.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/24/2008 8:57:27 AM
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macokjc
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I didn't want to be too long winded, but there were other inconsistencies that I wanted to address:
quote:
My children were tested in science and social studies (they took the full test,not just the reading, language, and math portions. In college boards, unlike the SAT, the ACT also tests science and social studies.
Private schools across the country consistently test better than their public schools counterparts. Children learn to read earlier, to do basic math earlier, and basically to comprehend earlier. Most Christians schools have a high rate of SAT/ACT success and graduation rate. In my Christian school, about 90% of the kids are college bound.
quote:
You have to realize too, that A Beka didn't write their own textbooks, they just recycled old public school curriculum...
This is only partially true - A Beka researched the OLD 19th century textbooks and decided that sticking to basics seem to work better than all the "new-fangled" theories that people seemed to be coming up with. ("new math" and sight reading are just two examples). From that, they sat down are wrote their own currciulum.
quote:
Besides, I wouldn't pay one red cent to the Bob Jones Empire if they were the only publisher around, but that's for an different thread.
I'm sure you didn't mean it, but I found that to be offensive. Just because you don't agree with something is no reason to belittle a Christian organization that is doing the work of the Lord. However, it is perfectly in your right to not want to buy something from an institution that you don't support. That's why I don't buy secular textbooks. They have a long standing relationship with the NEA, which is extremely liberal in their core and go against almost everything I hold true. BJU has several thousand students every year, and while it is not the place for everybody, most are thankful to be there. They are good people who strive every day to provide a service and a product to other Christians. Nobody who works at the college is getting rich off of anything. Their graduates have gone on to be military officers, chaplains, doctors. lawyers, judges, politicians at the state and national level. Their business graduates are sought after by most of the fortune 500 companies because of the integrity and work ethic taught. I would much rather give my money to somebody who walks with the Lord and is doing a service for Him, but that's just me.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/24/2008 9:17:13 AM
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JuliaHop
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M...excellent posts!
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For God so loved the World, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/24/2008 9:18:46 AM
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Sideways
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quote:
ORIGINAL: macokjc
As far as history - do you know that most people today cannot name the first president of the U.S.
Well, you can't really blame the ignorance on today's students on textbooks (even thought I think your claims are slightly exaggerated). We've all said here that teachers are probably more important then texts anyways. And a lot of folks here have pointed out that it's almost impossible to judge all secular books (or even all religious texts) in one fell swoop because of the great differences between them. Some are total nonsense, some are extremely good - but more and more I'm convinced that simply being from a Christian publisher does not make a text inherently more accurate or unbiased.
I'm curious, do most Christian texts actually cop to the fact that many of our founding fathers were not born again Christians but in fact were deists? Their own first-hand writings often showed a great deal of skepticism towards religion, but saw it as a good way of keeping the masses in line.
And neither my husband nor I are Young Earth Creationists, though we firmly believe that everything exists by the will and design of God alone. To be honest, we both find the "science" behind YE to be highly questionable at best, although we certainly don't take evolution to be law, either.
We believe that science is not defined by first taking something as religious fact, then searching for a way to prove it; we believe that science is observing the world, then trying to come up with theories to understand the way the world works. Those theories should be constantly challenged and reevaluated, or else you get a really good scientist who is threatened with death because he challenged the church's religious belief that the Earth is the center of the universe.
I'm sorry if I offended you by the word Empire in describing Bob Jones, but I have personal reasons to object to my family supporting that organization in any way shape or form. Their way of working for the Lord is something I sometimes question. Like I said, it's probably for a different thread.
Are Private Schools generally churning out better students? Well probably yes, but that applies to both secular and religious schools and for a wide variety of reasons.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/24/2008 9:52:19 AM
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iluvatar
Posts: 2031
Joined: 4/12/2005
Status: online
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quote:
ORIGINAL: macokjc
One of the greatest responsibilities of a parent is your child's education. I think that the textbooks that you approve or deem appropriate will probably be in line with your worldview of Christianity. Your goals for your children are yours and yours alone.
quote:
When I asked my husband what he would want if we (hypothetically) home schooled our children, he said he would be strongly opposed to any history, social studies or science materials from a Christian publisher, because of his concern over academic quality and integrity.
This was slightly surprising, and I think quality and integrity here largely depends on one's individual faith and beliefs. The whole science/evolution thing brought up by somebody else illustrates this. There are Christians out there that believe in God-assisted evolution. If that is your view, than you will think that Christian publisher are incorrect. BJU science and A Beka both believe that true science is that which can be observed, proved without a doubt, and repeated. Evolution and creation both do not fall into that category. However, taking the Bible as our guide, and pointing to those things in science that can be proved, there if more proof of creation than evolution.
Actually, I brought up what I did because it should be clear to anybody with an understanding of the subject, regardless of their position on the issue, that what was said in that introduction was incorrect. Their description of the Big Bang Theory was incorrect - the BBT does not merely postulate "an explosion;" it describes an expansion of space itself, which is a big distinction (and the reason why the "entropy" arguments fail). The "big squeeze" they associated with it is a hypothesis - nobody claims to know what happened before the BB. Their conflation of evolution with the BBT is wrong: evolution is a theory of biology, not astronomy or physics. If science can only be legitimate when humans are present, why do they put forward inductive reasoning as an example of "right science." If inductive reasoning is ok, why do they describe uniformitarianism as a "false belief," despite it being the entire basis for inductive reasoning? The book claims that we believe things exist because we take someone else's word for it, without stating that the hallmark of good science is repeatability and the ability of others to double-check your work.
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Than they take Biblical principles to evaluate situations.
Sort of. They use their own interpretation of Biblical principles to evaluate situations. It's obvious through the few pages they've put online that they're willing to twist science and the philosophy of science to fit their agenda. I don't consider it a Biblical principle to promote half-truths and distortions.
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ORIGINAL: macokjc
As far as history - do you know that most people today cannot name the first president of the U.S. Most young people today think that the words "separation of church and state" are in the Constitution, they can't name the writer of the "Star Spangled Banner" or what war in which it was written, they have no clue that there actually was a first "Thanksgiving". Most secular history books have more mention of Martin Luther King than George Washington or other important founding fathers. They have taken out the religious implications of the the beginnings of our country in order to be more politically correct. The sad thing is, it is done in a very subtle way, so that unless you look and really think about it, one might not have a problem with it.
The textbooks I grew up with do just that, but in the opposite direction. It's just as biased (if not moreso) to promote our founding fathers and other historical figures as upright Christian men while glossing over the civil rights movement and the havoc we wrought on native populations. Manifest Destiny was never presented as anything bad; if anything, it was considered perfectly legitimate to believe that God ordained our westward expansion.
-Dan.
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Well, I've been to one world fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing I ever heard come over a set of earphones.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/24/2008 10:12:31 AM
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csl7037
Posts: 2071
Joined: 3/24/2008
Status: offline
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ORIGINAL: iluvatar
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ORIGINAL: macokjc
As far as history - do you know that most people today cannot name the first president of the U.S. Most young people today think that the words "separation of church and state" are in the Constitution, they can't name the writer of the "Star Spangled Banner" or what war in which it was written, they have no clue that there actually was a first "Thanksgiving". Most secular history books have more mention of Martin Luther King than George Washington or other important founding fathers. They have taken out the religious implications of the the beginnings of our country in order to be more politically correct. The sad thing is, it is done in a very subtle way, so that unless you look and really think about it, one might not have a problem with it.
The textbooks I grew up with do just that, but in the opposite direction. It's just as biased (if not moreso) to promote our founding fathers and other historical figures as upright Christian men while glossing over the civil rights movement and the havoc we wrought on native populations. Manifest Destiny was never presented as anything bad; if anything, it was considered perfectly legitimate to believe that God ordained our westward expansion.
-Dan.
There is no arguing that the average, or even well-educated, American has an abysmal understanding of American (much less Ancient and World) history. Dan is exactly right, though, that what I see in ABeka history books (we're only up to 4th grade) is propagandist, drastically skewed, and simply no better than the liberally skewed, agenda-heavy history being taught in many public schools.
I prefer my preaching to be in church and my educating to be in school - if a church decides to open a school, they need to be very careful to avoid this crossover. Bible classes can be a little more propaganda heavy, I guess, but even where propaganda is important, we can't willy nilly throw out all the facts. I want my children taught history from a Biblical world view - but it has to be FACTUAL as well. That's what seems hard to find.
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RE: Christian Schools and their Textbooks - 11/24/2008 10:14:36 AM
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kernsfamily
Posts: 1428
Joined: 4/26/2006
From: Dallas (originally Detroit)
Status: offline
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I will comment that non-religion based textbooks are so dedicated to teaching from a non-Christian worldview they tend to be extremely biased and do compromise academics in favor of anti-religion or political agendas.
I see nothing like that at all with my children's textbooks.
They go to a public school, they have "non religion" based textbooks....and, teach from a "religion neutral" view (which, to many, automatically equals "anti-Christian")....with no "bias" whatsover.....
In their social studies book, though, there is much mentioned about religion, and Christianity in America is written about quite favorably....
I have been out of school for many years, obviously....as I go through my 4th graders math and other textbooks....I can certainly recall being taught that material.....in the 7th and 8th grade!!!!!!
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Private schools across the country consistently test better than their public schools counterparts. Children learn to read earlier, to do basic math earlier, and basically to comprehend earlier. Most Christians schools have a high rate of SAT/ACT success and graduation rate. In my Christian school, about 90% of the kids are college bound.
Most private schools can say all of that....all because private schools have the luxury of "cherry picking" only the "best and brightest" students, while rejecting those who may only do "average" or is "academically challenged" for any number of reasons....At the Christian school at our church, 90%, or more, are college bound, as well. When you have families that can afford the $12,000+ a year tuition for high school, you bet they can afford college!....not to mention, again, these are the "best and brightest" students individually handpicked....they are going to college REGARDLESS....PLUS, Christian school lends itself to "college bound" kids....as there are a great number of parents actively involved in their children's education (homework, extra-curriculars, etc..etc..)....as they have a MUCH larger "financial stake" in their kids' future....
In public school, while there are a great number of outstanding students, their "achievements" are over shadowed by the relative few that dropout, don't care, have parents that could care less or have "issues" at home that result in poor academic achievement.....all these things don't typically have to be dealt with when parents are paying for private school, and their kids are "cherry picked" for acceptance, and not rejected.
If public schools could simply "turn away" low-performers...and under-achievers, their test scores would equal, or exceed, those of private schools.
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Proud dad of 3 great girls....Erin, Emilie and Elise
Blessed to have all of them in a "totally awesome" public elementary school!
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