[lit-ideas] Re: Comparative religion
- From: Eternitytime1@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 18:35:53 EST
Dear Julie,
What a fun <g> school your child attends! My son is in sixth grade and in
one of the very few places where they still have room for the sixth grade to
be in the elementary school rather than the middle school. I have an
'introductory session' on Thursday for soon-to-be middle school parents. I
will ask
if they offer such a class.
I kind of doubt it (anyone want to take odds on this <g>) as I think my
community is more conservative than yours. The 'health' film they show is
awfully tame and they do a parents-only viewing (first) then a
parents-and-child
together viewing and then, finally, an 'in school with the nurse and kids'
showing. Parents can opt out of the 'in school' showing...and lots of them do
without ever even viewing the 'parents-only' film. (and these are not even
the homeschooling parents...)
My son just got done doing a group report on Newfoundland--and part of his
section was to report on both the educational system there and also on
'religion'. Maybe some of the Canadians can better report on this--but their
whole
school system was quite fascinating (and a bit confusing to him at first <g>
as it was pretty alien to him) Seems like the public school system there
(even though tax funded) was run by various denominations...and the quality of
education was, from the reports we were reading, pretty poor. So, the
provincial administration tried for three years (I think it was) to get some
sort of
consensus from the religious worlds involved in running the schools to come
up with a plan to change things--and could not so the voters ended up voting
to make it so. There is now a K-12 curriculum for each grade--and parents
can, indeed, 'opt out' of it if they choose. (from what we read). I looked
at
several of the curriculums for various grades and really really liked them.
Have been thinking of using them just for 'home study' for my child (and
myself). I liked the questions alot--
I, too, believe that there is a whole group of people who believe that
'religion' should be taught at home, by parents, in my world. And, given the
people that surround ME, I'm not sure that it bothers me a lot for that to be
so.
I already feel that I have to do 'damage control' with what my child gets
in various other activities--which are simply so much a part of our culture
here that it just is part of it all. If the curriculum was emphasizing one
religion over the other, it would be difficult for me to deal with... (and I
do
try to introduce him to so much--because I feel that I better do it before
someone else does--so I have sympathy for those parents who 'opt out' --
though
if they were in charge of the curriculum, I suspect that they would probably
demand that MY child be a part of it...)
The *real* age to watch, though, is more the high school/college age. That
is when the kids really start to be open to so much...that was why the high
school curriculum in Newfoundland was particulary interesting to me...(is it
done in other parts of Canada, I wonder?)
Blessings in the light--and luck in the shadows,
Marlena (in a different part of Missouri--)
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