No Common Ground To Start From, And We're Falling Apart

Can common ground truly be found between those who homeschool for religious reasons and those who homeschool for other reasons, such as academics? What about between those who use a curriculum-based approach, and those who are devotees of the unschooling lifestyle?

I've noticed a tendency in myself lately when I read the WTM boards. Unless it's a poster I can remember seeing previously, and I can recall some nugget of information, I find myself hesitant to post. My suggestions are always going to be secular in nature, and that's not always welcome. Further, I find when I read posts where they invite comments on what they have planned, I don't feel comfortable making suggestions depending on the obvious slant of what is already selected. Yes, there are some exceptions to this rule, but overall, I feel as if I don't have anything to contribute. Our worldviews seem too different, separated by a huge gulf.

It's funny, really - I don't remember ever seeing or hearing the term "worldview" until 2005, at the earliest. It seems like the last few years have seen a real explosion in its use. At first, I didn't understand the utility of the word. Eventually, I realized that I could, indeed, see my (theistic, for the record) evolutionary worldview influencing how I viewed things. I've been enamored by the elegant simplicity of evolution and genetics since I first understood what they were; it's little wonder I "see" evolution in nooks and crannies and little strange spaces.

And so, to be intellectually honest, to be true to my own moral perceptions, I cannot, in good conscience, tell someone that their use of Apologia is rigorous. I cannot tell them that it "looks good." I don't expect someone with a young earth creationist viewpoint is being really honest when they tell me my plans - complete with a focus on evolution! - look good!

Let's go with other secular homeschoolers.

Let me interject here. "Secular" homeschooler generally means "any homeschooler who is not a very conservative, creationist Christian." If you're a liberal, evolutionary Christian - you're secular. If you're an Orthodox Jew, guess where you will be lumped (unless you have a large community of other Orthodox Jews homeschooling near you) - yep, secular homeschooler! Pagan? Secular! Actual atheist? Secular! So "secular" may or may not mean anything in terms of a similarity of worldview, after all.

Still, then, you encounter the "unschooler." I don't know that I like the term any more than some unschoolers do, but I do have a picture in my mind. The mom who, at park day, disparages people who "use curriculum." The one who says to a friend that she doesn't understand how people who use curriculum can "get it all done" and still let their children have any time to play. The ones who look at me askance, as if I'm abusing my child by making her do, horror of horrors, math drills. Yes, these are all things I have observed in real life.

These are the homeschooling parents that appear to be the most similar to me! We may share similar approaches to parenting and life in general, but when school enters the picture, it all deviates sharply. Again, they don't really think my plans look good - they're actually horrified! It's not an unequal situation, though, because of course, I'm horrified, afraid their children will be like the twelve year old I met who was sadly resigned that she might not be able to catch up on math in time to apply to college to study engineering. An impasse.

Do I think it's really all so bleak? No. I think that many times, the divisions between groups of homeschoolers are artificial and imposed. Despite a few protestations to the contrary, math, for instance, is math. It should be possible to have a group form whose sole purpose is to prepare for and compete in math contests without religion or homeschooling style entering the discussion. There are an enormous number of clubs, events, and activities that should fall under this same rubric. EG attends a homeschool band group that is overtly conservative and quite Christian. Just ask the bumper stickers. (Don't ask me about the pink "Palin! 2012" stickers, because it takes me the full week between Fridays to recover from them.) But a trumpet is a trumpet, and band music is, well, band music. There's no statement of faith. Dd does know not to start discussing how much she loves Darwin and Obama while she's there, but that's okay. :) I see no reason why the vast majority of homeschool programs and groups could not be this way - organized by whomever, utilized by whomever.

Despite my thoughts, there are going to be gaps, and gulfs. When it comes to the aforementioned Darwin, homeschoolers will be sharply divided. It'd be hard to teach most science classes without choosing evolution or creation. And, in the end, I think that's okay, too. Homeschoolers do not compromise one big happy family, or even one cohesive movement. Calls from any corner to, essentially, play nice and sing Kumbaya are doomed to failure, in my opinion. And perhaps that's as it should be. Homeschooling, after all, is the very picture of individualistic expression.