Is there a non-christian curriculum for homeschooling?

Question

I am over the misconception that only Christians want a clean, healthy, & safe education for their children. In the school district that we live in I believe that it is almost irresponsible to send a child that you love to the public school system. I don't blame the teachers, they are overworked and underpaid and the children are undisciplined. I blame parents for not caring enough to make sure that their children act the way that the should. My husband do our best to give our 3 children a well rounded life and they do not deserve that kind of atmosphere.

Anyway, I would love to know of a Curriculum that doesn't try to brainwash my children by treating school like Sunday school. If I want that I will send them to a private christian school.

Answer 1

There are plenty of companies that sell resources you can use while homeschooling. Here is just a sample list:

ENGLISH

Writing Strands

Reading Strands

Writing Road to Reading

Sing, Spell, Read and Write

Easy Grammar

Winston Grammar

Five in a Row

Shurley Grammar

Any of the Spectrum series

Daily Grams

Wordly Wise

Handwriting Without Tears

MATH

Saxon Math

Singapore Math

Spectrum Math

Moving with Math

JUMP Math

MCP Math

Key to... Math

Math-U-See

Teaching Textbooks

SCIENCE

Science 4 Kids

TOPS Science

Individual books by various companies, like DK or Usborne or others

HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY

Don't know of any specific full curriculae there that would be completely secular.

ALL-IN-ONE CURRICULUM

K12--you can purchase their resources without signing up, or you may be able to sign up where you live

Oak Meadow

Atrium School

Core Knowledge Books--you'd have to find your own books, but it would be framework for you

Core Curriculum of America

Charlotte Mason--an approach rather than a curriculum, but there's a detailed book list and schedule at Ambleside Online. You would just leave out Bible study and all that.

Btw, you might want to watch the words that come out and the attitude that they convey. Since many, many homeschoolers are Christian, how do you think they feel reading those words?

Answer 2

Repeating a previous answer-"tons".

We use free resources at the library, online and  used text books that the school discards every year.

We use cheap  used books.  (Language arts, math and history are some things that you can get a book written 30 years ago and nothing should have changed except for the history of the last 30 years.)

We are Christians but cannot afford the curriculum that you are talking about so we use what is available to us- secular material.

Answer 3

There are many, many types of curriculum available including online "virtual schools."

There are also many Types of homeschooling, from unschooling to eclectic to single curriculum.

We used many different resources when homeschooling. We bought some books at flea markets, we have ordered tapes and DVD's online, used free lesson plans from internet sites and various books from people like McGraw Hill.

The Teaching Company has much to offer, and there is Teaching text books for math (starting with middle school). Also if you go to a large bookstore you will find books for all grade levels. Look up homeschool curriculum online and you will find many sites to point you in the right direction. Don't forget the great outdoors is also a classroom, and I do suggest Latin...try Vocabulary from Classic Roots. It will help tremendously with English Vocabulary. I wish we had started Latin in grade school.

Answer 4

There are a TON....here's a great website that has them all together, she's been homeschooling for longer than my kids have been alive. It's all secular, she won't list anything religious.

http://docsdomain.net/blog/?page_id=711

Answer 5

Well I'm not at all Christian, and we use a wide variety of materials for my schooling. We get most of our text books from Glencoe/McGraw Hill or Prentice Hall, but we certainly don't limit ourselves to working out of a textbook. Those are more like guides for us. We got a lot of hands on science materials from Home Science Tools.. Google it and it should be the first result. They're a christian based company, but the lab supplies and experiment kits they sell come from all over the place and don't mix religion into the lessons as long as you don't use them with a religious curriculum. Math U See is what we're using this coming year for Pre Cal, and yes, that is a Christian company as well. but again there is no religion mixed into the curriculum. For history, we use mostly nonfiction books from the library, again using the textbook we got from Glencoe as a guide. We also use community resources such as museums and historical sites as well as the internet and videos borrowed from the library for this. For French we've been using a combination of the Bon Voyage texts, another Glencoe product, and Rosetta Stone. We also use librar books and language learning CDs and DVDs for this. I could go on and list every subject and resource we've used, but that could take a while. Just google and shop around. There are plenty of resources out there for secular homeschooling. You may not find a boxed set of everything you need for a particular year like you will with A Beka or Alpha Omega or one of the Christian programs, but it really isn't that hard nor does it need to be very expensive to get the things you need for each subject seperately. Good luck

Answer 6

K12 is a great one that is not Christian based

Many online charter schools are popping up all over. Many of them are now using k12 products. k12 schoolsare good for many reasons. Each student is given a placement test and then given individualized curriculum based on his or her individual needs. With the help of online charter schools today, homeschooling can be much easier than it used to be. They provide you with everything you need, a computer, a printer, books, supplies, and teachers that you can both email and call for help and assistance. This is free and there are no charges. Online schools are definitely becoming a way of the future for the children in generations to come.

Going to an online school is no different than going to a traditional public school or a private school. They graduate with a real diploma the same as any school. My son graduated from an online charter school and now attends a private university (University Of Dayton) with scholarships. They will also help you with making sure that all state required tests are done yearly and proficiencies are completed for graduation.

There are many others as well .....

Answer 7

I've found the beauty of homeschooling is the ability to identify what you and your child want and need to learn, setting goals, and reaching them through finding the  materials that fit you.  Your child will likely exceed the educational goals of his public school peers with very little effort and those materials are easy to find in all forms.  Then, for example, we decided a "good" education included musical training (he chose a piano and music theory instructor who works WITH him and he's excitedly learning a ton), a second language (In addition to software we have a native speaker come to the house.), at least 30 min of exercise daily (he's the athlete of the month in gymnastics), and a focus on character development.  This is my 6 yo who tests years ahead on standardized testing.

I'm an athiest, but I respectfully urge you to express your beliefs without insulting others.  I have more respect for the noble, gracious, and couragous individual than the purely religious or non-religious one.

Answer 8

yes there are,   and there is always the eclectic way, you dont have to use a cirriculum,  i home schooled two, and i did it without the cirriculums, since most of them do appear to be very religious based,  

contact me if you want,  

good luck

Answer 9

K12 is secular:

http://www.k12.com

You can use it as part of a virtual public school, as an independent homeschooler, or through their online private academy.

It uses the Core Knowledge Foundation sequence as a spine (with a bit of variation) and throws in a bit of Classical education, and then a ton of research.  We've used it for over 5.5 years and love it!