Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by K fisk on July 24, 2009 at 10:52am

Hello- we're home/unschoolers. I'd love to hear those science book recommendations. I'd also like to recommend "Raising freethinkers" and "parenting beyond belief" for suggestions about how to answer all those questions. I have a lot of kids, and with my older kids, I'd answer "because they're crazy" and now I have some teens who can be a little more bitter & condescending than I'm comfortable with, in regards to christianity. Maybe they'll grow out of it, but I'd rather personally aim for ambivalence. So for my younger ones I'm answering these things a bit differently. We'll see.

Permalink Reply by jen o on July 24, 2009 at 5:55pm

Those are wonderful books!

yeah its hard to keep your own bitterness from being passed along to your children. i loved parenting beyond belief because it encouraged critical thinking. parents dont have all the answers to everything, so its good to say "well what do you think?" about things to encourage them to think about it. even if they are wrong they will eventually figure it out on their own.

and yes i think "because they're crazy" is a truthful answer lol, i really like how in PBB they mentioned just telling your children that some people do believe those kinds of things. i have said that to my daughter a few times and it really helps. it leaves them room to make up their mind about it instead of you doing it for them, which is what christians do ick!

its so nice to meet a fellow homeschooler/unschooler!!!! we need to keep in touch, i am new to it and its so hard to find support groups, books, coverings, etc...that aren't tainted with religion. do you have a covering that you use?

Permalink Reply by Bleacheddecay on November 20, 2009 at 12:06am

Hi!

I homeschool. We unschool certain subjects. My kids are 16 and 18. The oldest just started college!

Science books wise I'd really recommend going to your library and getting the books that appeal to you and your kids there. There are books there about every science topic. Also there are books about simple experiments you can do with things around the house. Perhaps our favorite series was The Magic School Bus series in both books and videos.

Cafe Mom has a secular homeschooling group, also an unschooling group btw.

A great book about raising kids with some good homeschooling resources is: Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief.

Permalink Reply by Kat Sullivan on November 30, 2009 at 10:17pm

hey, i'm an unschooling mom to my little henry, 3 and a half. good to know you guys are here! i really like the "read and let's find out" science book series...you can get them on tons of topics...i really like the one on turtles and on "spaceship earth". here is a link to one that explains what makes night and day! cool huh?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064450503/ref=s9_simz_gw_s0_p14_i...

Permalink Reply by jen o on December 1, 2009 at 7:19pm

Thanks Kat. I ended up going back to school myself so my daughter is in school now (kindergarten) : / sad to say, we just have to right now. but I still do things at home with her so this is awesome! thanks for sharing. anything i find I will pass along as well!

Permalink Reply by Rayven on December 9, 2009 at 11:06am

Hey Jen. We homeschool our two boys 5 and 2. I saw where you said your daughter is in school now, but if you ever get the chance to homeschool, homeschooling freethinkers *http://www.hsfreethinkers.com/* is a great website. They have various books,curriculums, ect. listed so you can see what is secular and what isn't. Great starting point when searching for things that will help promote freethinking.

Permalink Reply by jen o on December 11, 2009 at 7:04pm

Awesome thank you Rayven!

Permalink Reply by Kristy on December 21, 2009 at 2:54pm

We home school our 2 younger daughters (7 & 9). Our oldest was home schooled from 3rd to 7th grade. She is attending public school now.
As far as Science books go, I love the Usborne internet linked encyclopedias. They have nice short explanations, and then online activities you can use. We also have several nature centers here in the area, as well as the Fernback Science Center.

Permalink Reply by Serendipity Rose on September 18, 2010 at 6:48pm

Hello, we are unschoolers. Oldest decided to go to high school but is now almost through with college. Middle unschooled until 18 when he followed his dream of going to a game design school. Youngest has asperger's syndrome and may or may not go to college next year.

I run a local secular home school group.

Since we are almost finished with the homeschool scene, I also started a secular parenting group. Since the secular homeschool community is rather small, especially here in the bible belt and a military community to boot, I had always wished that my kids could have had more involvement with non-homeschool kids. I'm hoping to begin bridging that gap with the secular parenting group.