Integrating Your Worldview and
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| Your Worldview and Truth |
Probably one of the most fundamental ways your worldview relates to teaching and home schooling is in the area of truth. Does your worldview lead you to believe that there are certain Truths that you want to pass on to your children? That these Truths are discernable? If so, you will naturally want to make them part of your child’s education. But how? There are really two basic approaches to the teaching of truth that I have seen in home school curriculum.
The first is the approach that Truth Is to Be Learned. You can see that in the textbook approach. Obviously, the textbooks take a lot of information, organize it according to someone’s opinion (or several people’s opinion) and present it to your child to understand. You can see this in). For people whose worldview or faith lead them to feel strongly that there are Truths that they want to pass on to their children, textbooks and complete home school curriculums from a religious viewpoint are an excellent choice for home schooling curriculum.
There is also another approach to the teaching of truth, that of Truths To Be Discovered. In this approach, you may well believe in absolute Truth, but you would rather use home school curriculum to discover it together with your child. In this case, rather than textbooks which are compiled by someone else, you and your child would read literature and discuss issues yourselves and determine yourselves what you see as truth. A good example of this literature-based approach is Sonlight Curriculum. You can read more about Sonlight's approach to other worldviews here.
| Your Worldview and Other Faiths |
Another area your worldview relates to home school curriculum is how you will teach about and interact with other faiths. Some people would find that they want to concentrate on the truths in their own faith, and not introduce other beliefs until their child is older. People who agree with this approach see their time home schooling (especially the early years) as a time of nurturing their child’s faith and liken home schooling to raising plants in a greenhouse: their children can grow strong in their faith and then later on, after they have grown strong, they are better equipped to deal with faiths other than their own.
It is impossible to single out a single home school curriculum method that espouses this view, since people choose from a wide variety of curricula. However, many Christians find that the Principle Approach or Delight Directed learning helps them live out their faith in this way. (I'll try to get some pages up describing these methods soon.)
On the other hand, you may find that your worldview leads you to want to understand those of other faiths early on in your home schooling experience. You may want to include books and stories that raise questions about how those with different values act. People who agree with this perspective – whether they are Christian or not -- often find Sonlight Home Schooling Curriculum, to be a very good choice for them. Though this is a Christian home school curriculum, it does an excellent job of raising honest questions about religion and trying to understand different faiths and practices around the world. Many people appreciate this perspective that includes other worldviews.
Congratulations! You are doing great to take time to consider how your worldview relates to your home schooling. With this as a background, you are well on your way to being able to choose your home school curriculum with confidence.
If you are ready, you can move on to the next level of the Home School Curriculum Pyramid: examining your core values and beliefs about how to home school, or bookmark it to come back when you have more time.
Or return to How to Choose Home School Curriculum.
I hope this information has been helpful to you in bringing joy and success to you in your home school adventure. If you have any comments, please feel free to drop me a note through our Contact Us form.
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