I will not be using any curriculum that changes it's stance or content to align with Common Core Standards. If the company already meets or accedes Common Core Standards and just lists where it meets those standards, that is ok with me; but, I don't want homeschool curriculum I use to dumb down to the public/government standards. Standards the government sets can trickle down to us homeschoolers.
The government has already changed a lot of things. The kids hardly study our history any more... let alone ancient history. They don't study the classics any more either... though some of those books I don't want my kids reading. They took out the reading of the Bible long ago. Besides reading the Bible, I want my kids to have a biblical worldview as well. To see the hand of God in history and science... to see God in every subject.
I can choose good, quality books for my children to read. It's one of the reasons I homeschool. Real books that teach the true facts about history. Books that look at history from different vantage points. Biographies of real people with strengths and flaws. Real books written by people who researched and loved the subjects they were writing about. Whole books... not bits and pieces of subjects in text books.
I am tired of the government dumbing down education. Homeschoolers and public school parents need to be aware of what is going on. Here are a bunch of links for more information for you. Keep informed. Contact your state officials and tell them how you feel.
http://www.benandme.com/2013/03/common-core-danger-to-homeschooling.html
http://homeschoolwise.com/2013/03/02/popular-home-school-curricula-and-common-core/
http://homeschoolwise.com/2013/03/05/more-from-michelle-malkin-on-common-core/
http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2013/03/01/rotten-to-the-core-part-iii-lessons-from-texas-and-the-growing-grassroots-revolt-n1523233/page/full/
http://michellemalkin.com/2013/01/23/rotten-to-the-core-obamas-war-on-academic-standards-part-1/
http://michellemalkin.com/2013/01/25/rotten-to-the-core-part-2-readin-writin-and-deconstructionism/
http://thatoddmom.com/blog/the-homeschool-community-divided-by-common-core-state-standards
Part 2 of 5 Stop the Common Core
Part 3 of 5 Stop the Common Core
Part 4 of 5 Stop the Common Core
Part 5 of 5 Stop the Common Core
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/2012/201212170.asp
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/13/former-education-commissioner-blasts-common-core-process/
http://www.janice-campbell.com/2013/04/02/what-does-the-common-core-mean-for-homeschoolers/
I hope you will take time to bookmark my page and check out these resources. We need to keep informed about these kinds of things. I will be checking with all the companies I order from and I will be checking each of the curricula I order. I want quality resources for my children and I will keep on top of this.
Just the other day I bought 2 more books from our public library. They have shelves of books they don't want, and sell real cheap. I bought (note: affiliate links to Amazon... I just get a tiny comission if you buy from my link) Luke's Story: The Jesus Chronicles
and John's Story: The Last Eyewitness
My daughter Rachel, my son Nathan and I have read all 4 of the books from this series and love them. When I brought the books home my son picked one up and said, "Did you buy these?" I told him I did. He said, "Great I love these books and these 2 are my favorites." Then he proceded to take one of the books and start reading it again. My hubby said my mission in life is to rescue lost books. YUP! That's what I like to do. Save good old (and some new) books for the next generation. I love my Nook, and my Kindle app, but you can't beat a good, old fashioned paper copy of a book.
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I do agree that many school's "dumb down" their curriculum, but i thought i'd mention that the school where i work actually does teach ancient history and the classics to the 6-8th graders, which i was happily surprised to see! Not all public schools are the same and I have found, in my case at least, that when my kids went back to public school, they learned many things that enhanced what i had already taught them! We should all be aware of what our children are learning, and children who are in public schools can enhance their leaning at home, after school. I don't think we need to fear the common core curriculum as long as we are willing to teach our kids things they may be missing at school. And homeschoolers need fear it even less since you choose what to teach!
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