When looking into science resources, I try to be careful to avoid dogma, be it evolutionary or creationist. Why does every Nature show have to mention the word evolution 500 times? It gets a little ridiculous. On the creationist side, I believe God created the world, but I don't believe he has told us exactly how he did it. I'm not going to buy my children textbooks that beat a steady drumbeat of "This is an apple seed/porpoise/moon/widget, and God created it out of absolutely nothing less than seven thousand years ago." Yes, I'm exaggerating both sides a little. Still, I don't want to instill dogmatic attitudes in my children when it comes to the hard sciences, and I exclude some science texts and shows from our curriculum for that reason.
In my opinion, science is about not having all the answers and being humble enough to realize that while searching for verifiable, physical truths. If along the way, we have theories that seem adequate, then we learn them and apply them, but we must be ready to discard those theories at a moment's notice once. History has shown us how many times scientific theories have been disproven--for example, geocentrism, phlogiston, Newton's laws of motion (they don't hold up when dealing with quantum physics or relativity), ether, and primordial soup. What? You didn't know about that last one. Yes, folks, after 80 years, now they tell us that life didn't begin with fermentation in a primordial soup but rather chemiosmosis. That's a lot of textbooks to update.
My favorite science resources for my young girls at this time are The Magic School Bus, the All About series for K-4th grade by Schlessinger Media, and miscellaneous children's science books from the public library. These resources present interesting, generally-accepted scientific facts but leave out "soapbox"-type commentary. We'll take the facts and shape our own worldviews, thank you!
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4 days ago
Im not sure what to think!?! Are you disagreeing with what the bible says or just searching for more answers within? The bible is all we need, all the truth is within his word.
ReplyDeleteIf your searching for answers then maybe you should seek his widsom and advice in what curriculm would be best to teach your little ones. I am sure he will lead you to what is best.
God gave us all the answers that he wanted us to know in the bible. I beleive that there are many great questions to be asked but I also believe that if he wanted us to know them he would of given them to us ahead of time. These questions are enough to atleast keep us thinking but if we are not careful we can question him to much and that can be dangerous in our walk with him. We should be careful on what questions to ask and what not to ask - God is not the author of confusion. He didnt have to create the earth or all of us within. But he did out of his love and desire to fellowship with us. He takes pride in his creations.
I would pray about what direction is best for you. Bless you friend!
Thank you for your comment. I know this is a topic that sometimes causes heated arguments in homeschool circles, so I appreciate your politeness. Rest assured I do pray daily for guidance and wisdom. I strongly feel that scripture is not a science text and that the science texts I choose at this time should objectively portray generally-accepted facts and theories without preaching a specific worldview. God knows a whole lot more about how he created the universe and life on our planet than he has seen fit to tell us at this time, and he gave us our brains to use in the pursuit of truth.
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