My Concerns About A Popular Reading Curriculum

I am a Christian who believes that Jesus died for us and the only way to heaven is through him. However, I have never considered myself a religious homeschooler, meaning that our religion is not one of the main reasons we chose to homeschool. We choose to homeschool because we want an education tailored to our children's strengths and weaknesses. Then something happened that made me reconsider my reasons. 

I'm what other homeschoolers, who care about homeschooling style, would refer to as an eclectic homeschooler. I don't adhere to any one style (ex: Charlotte Mason, unschooling, Classical) but instead have adopted a little bit of different styles. Like I said earlier, I chose homeschool so that we could cater to our children's needs and I learned pretty early on that sticking with one homeschooling method would actually go against my goal. I use a mix of Christian curricula, living books as well as secular textbooks. One of the secular books I chose to use this year is Pearson's Reading Street which is a commonly used text in public schools and in fact was adopted this year by our local school system. I spent a great deal of time deciding if the program would be a good fit for our homeschool but because I didn't have a hard copy to access, I could only flip through online samples and rely on reviews from fellow homeschoolers and public school teachers. Once I received our Reading Street Homeschool Bundle and began to dig into it, I was pleased with what I saw. Even though Reading Street is aligned to Common Core, as a homeschooler I am free to teach it however I choose and have been able to easily adapt it into our homeschool routine. Because we can tailor it to our needs, Saha has done incredible with Reading Street but I can see how it would be tough to expect every child to flourish, especially when they are all taught the same way.

In case you haven't figured it out, I love Reading Street for homeschool but there is something in the program that doesn't sit right with me at all and I think that public school parents who are raising their children to be Christians need to be aware of some of the material included in the texts, worksheets, and supplemental reading books. 

I am an open minded person who appreciates and embraces those differently from me because I believe that is what Jesus would want us to do. It's safe to say that I'm more of a liberal "crunchy" Christian than a conservative one. I do not see anything wrong with enjoying a fantasy or mythical story and in fact, I love Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. As a Christian parent though, I wouldn't give my child a copy of either of those books and not first talk to them about what is in it nor would I give them those books without them first having a good Christian foundation to understand the difference between fantasy and the truths in the Bible. I also would not appreciate, someone other than me or my husband presenting them with that sort of reading material. 

This brings me back to Reading Street, the 2nd grade curriculum in particular. Over the course of our studies in this book, I have discovered many worksheets, supplemental readers, and stories in the text that deal with legends, myths, and fantasies. I read through these before assigning them to Saha and if I feel the material is inappropriate for a young child, especially one we are raising to be a Christian, then I omit it. Typically, the ones I omit mention something about praying to a God. Not the one and only God but an idol. I don't feel like it's appropriate reading material for a young child who is beginning to become curious about salvation and Baptism but instead fear that it could actually confuse her. How can a child differentiate idols from God in the public school setting if the teacher is not allowed to talk about the ONE true God? And if religion is not allowed in schools, why are stories about praying to false gods being published for 2nd graders in the first place? 

Unit 4, week 5 of 2nd Grade Reading Street is the section in particular that has raised concerns for me. It includes the story The First Tortilla. In the story, a young girl named Jade prays to the mountain spirit to send rain for her crops. The story also talks about how not taking gifts to the mountain spirit has angered him and that is why there is no rain. I see nothing wrong with this story if you are presenting examples to a child about different cultures but without further explanations, it could be confusing to a 2nd grader being raised to be a Christian. Also during the 5th week portion of unit 4, one of the supplemental readers is Rainbow Crow Brings Fire To Earth which deals with a crow asking the great spirit in the sky to stop the snow. But what is most disturbing in this portion of the unit is one of the worksheet that was included in our Reading Street bundle. The worksheet is to be used to help students identify the main idea in the story. Included in the worksheet is A Flood Legend which is a twisted version of Noah's Ark. 

   "Through the years, storytellers in South America have passed down a legend about a great flood. In the story, some people lived at the bottom of a mountain range. These people began doing evil things. The gods did not like the way these people behaved. Other people lived up high in the mountains. These people did not do evil things. They were shepherds who took care of llamas. One day, two brothers noticed their llamas were behaving in a strange way. They asked their llamas what was wrong. The llamas said the stars had warned them that a great flood would soon cover the earth. Quickly the brothers took their families and llamas into a cave. Then it rained for four months! The flood never reached the cave because the mountains grew taller. These people and animals were saved, but the flood had destroyed all the rest of life on earth."

Christianity cannot be taught in schools BUT teaching kids legends about talking llamas predicting a great flood is acceptable? What happens to a Christian teacher or child who feels convicted by this and wants to tell their version? Would they get in trouble for that? I do not see how it's fair to share this version of the great flood and not include other versions, including the Christian one. 

I'm not writing all of this to promote Christianity in our schools. Like I said before, I'm all for embracing other cultures but I do not see how it is fair to teach kids how God's are worshiped in different cultures and not include Christianity. That is not a level playing field. I'm also writing this out of concern for my Christian friends with children in public schools. Parents, are you aware that what I mentioned above is being taught in a very popular reading curriculum? 

After seeing how heavily peppered the Reading Street curriculum is with myths, fantasies, and legends dealing with false gods, I am glad that I homeschool even if we do use the same curriculum. I can tailor the curriculum to fit our beliefs. Perhaps I am homeschooling for religious reasons after all...and I'm proud of it.

Note: I will keep comments on as long as they are respectful in nature.