Sometimes one of the HWTB team members comes across an article and we forward it to each other. The information contained therin being way to repugnant or ridiculhous to keep to ourselves. That is the case with the following article and a couple of us found that there was more to be said than just one post could hold. So we invite you to click over to the below blogs to see what more we felt compelled to expound on.
For my part I have to say that while I found the author's article about how homeschoolers should not receive a diploma unless they are taught science irritating, it also made me laugh. He claims that the only way to learn science is from an evolutionists point of view. He then goes on to give the example of Biology and trashes Apologia text books no end. The theory of evolution is only a small part of biology. I don't have to know about evolution to understand how a heart works, to understand the food chain, or how to classify plants and animals. I can understand all of that (and more) and learn it as science based on scientific prinicpals that are just as relevant to a Creationist as they are to someone who believes in evolution. Believing in God does not change HOW any of those things work. It only changes my perspective on WHY it works.
The author goes on to say that science should be taught with the same standards as history and math. As far as I know there is no other standard for math but the author is woefully ignorant if he believes there is only one standard for history. Today's history books are full of lies and propaganda as well as telling the "facts" from the unique perspective of the author's culture; the Crusades, the Civil War, whether or not the people of Columbus' day actually believed the world was flat--history is erased, forgotten, and changed in order to fit the political climate of the time. All that to say that the author backed up his science claims with a stack of red herrings.
If you haven't read the linked to article yet please do so now because that will make Deb Turner's post more fun to read. She offers her take on this article by turning the tables:
There are many, many things I find dubious about the practice of compulsory education in our public schools. I wonder how a teacher can possibly provide the individualized education in a mass student setting that a parent can give their own child at home. And I can´t help but think that these public schooled students, of whom there are several million in the United States, are being robbed of a crucial formative experience by not being taught home where they belong, by loving parents, with their options wide open for life, learning and academics. They are being robbed of a crucial formative experience by attending school with other people who are ONLY their age and being forced to interact with a diverse group of peers in a very negative social setting where bullying, drugs, violence and sexual harassment is a constant, not to mention the teachers who are lusting after their students.
You can read her full twist on the tale HERE.
Jacque Dixon also had plenty to say
In his article, Mr. Shives opens with a telling attitude about homeschooling: "There are many, many things I find dubious about the practice of parents homeschooling their children." He then proceeds to go on to prove he knows little about homeschooling and especially about the way children learn.
The entire rest of the article does not even address this 'concern' of his, so why does he say all of this? What could be so important for him to have to give this opinion about homeschoolers? Is he worried that we need to mix homeschoolers in with the other government-schooled kids as a giant science experiment to see what happens? No. I think the word "forced" is the tell-tale word here. He believes that homeschooled children should be forced to go to a government school and learn a government-based agenda. I think the word diverse is what he wants to force on homeschoolers. As in religious diversity.
Follow along as Jacque points out even more fallacies in the author's thinking HERE.
I hope you enjoyed this tag-team effort! Let us know what you think and if you post your thoughts about the article on your blog be sure to leave us a link here in the comments.
Remember, keep your children home where they belong! It's the best way to learn how to really back up what they believe with truth.
Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB