Homeschooling Evolution

Do you homeschool for religious reasons or are you a secular homeschooler?

One of the key topics that seem to separate the two is science.  One side tends to teach Creationism and the other side tends to teach Evolution.  Because homeschooling had its beginnings with the religious homeschoolers much of the science curriculum out there teaches science from a Creation world view.

But what if you are a secular homeschooler?  Sometimes it is difficult to find curriculum that includes Evolution.  And keep in mind that Evolution does not always mean stating that man evolved from apes.  Sometimes it just embraces the idea that species mutate and adapt over time. 

I thought I would offer you an article and some resources if you homeschooling evolution.  Many of the “mainstream” homeschool curriculum companies can be used if you decide to homeschool science from a Creation standpoint. 

Some homeschoolers even teach Creationism and Evolutionary theory side by side, comparing and contrasting the two.  In our homeschool, though we identify as secular homeschoolers, we do teach both. 

Which worldview do you teach in your homeschool science?

 

 

Science Fair Project

Does your child need to do a science fair project?  Some people would answer that they homeschool and so they do not need to do a science fair project.  I don’t normally make my daughter do a science fair project, but the homeschool co-op that we belong to requires that all students who are enrolled in a science course participate in the science fair.

I walked through and was amazed that the range of projects students had chosen.  Some of the typical elementary science fair projects had to do with plants response to light.  One of the high school student’s science fair project was to build a solar power set up from scratch and compare the differences in performance between the home made solar panel and a commercially available solar panel.

We are not going to enter a science fair, but I do have a project my daughter will be doing.  She is going to be testing the difference between the four water sources on our property.  She will do tests on city water (tap water), well water, the creek water, and the pond water. She will test water chemistry as well as make slide to go under the microscope. 

Will your student be completing a science fair project this year?

Earth and Space Science

From the time she was old enough to pick one up; my daughter has been a rock collector.  No matter   where we went we would have rocks on the return trip.  Sometimes the rock would be gravel from the parking lot – no matter, the rock was interesting or cool or pretty and she collected it.  When we got ready to move, we found containers full of rocks – jars, boxes, bags, etc.  As she got older she continued to be interested in rocks but expanded that interest to the broader discipline of geology and after learning about the Earth expanded again to include the planets.

Earth and Space science is an exciting part of learning for middle school and high school students.  It offers both the tangible (rocks to hold in your hand) and the intangible (imaginings of the possible planets out there orbiting an alien sun).   You can make theory real when almost any creek bed can show the layers of soil eroded by water.   A lunar eclipse can be watched and studied on a clear night almost anywhere.