In the article My Thoughts on the Science Standards, I mention that when I began preparing science curriculum, it was for a public Charlotte Mason style charter school, and in the article Must We Read Only Christian Authors for Science, I mentioned that for that school I remove any Bible verses I include in the regular copies. I have every hope and expectation that the children there will be exposed to God’s power and beauty without my spelling it out in so many words — kind of like the whole book of Esther, which doesn’t speak of God once but has his hand all over it.
“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20)
Many people across the country use charter schools to pay for their homeschool curriculum and, after making those comments, I have been asked several times for copies of the guides without any scripture references included.
In the early years (Form 2), Charlotte Mason was clear in her book Home Education that parents should be the ones to introduce religious ideas to their children. For that reason, I do not include religious material at that level.
In the upper years (Form 3–6), both young earth and old earth ideas are introduced, primarily in the earth sciences. One of the biggest markers of a Charlotte Mason education is that students are not told what to think. They are even taught how to challenge their own opinions in her book Ourselves, written to teens. This is not intended to shake them, but to help them learn to form opinions and become strong in them. Charlotte Mason explains that any opinion gathered from someone else can as quickly be dropped for some other by-the-way opinion — therefore it is the duty of each of us to form our own opinions. In this way, she notes, students are more likely to hold their parents’ views rather than substituting the opinions of a professor later on.
For this reason, in the upper years I allow books that present an old-earth creation narrative and then follow it up with research on a young earth creation narrative. If you choose a guide with the Christian content removed, your child will only be presented with one side of the story, and you may want to supplement with discussion or research at home.
For example, in HS Anatomy, Part 2, the author explains how we became upright walkers. In that lesson, I include a quote from a different book that briefly outlines the four interpretations (comprising six models) on the origin of humans. I think it is helpful for all students to recognize that there are not just two schools of thought — a seven-day material interpretation of Genesis 1 or a Darwinistic evolution after a big bang — but four additional models that both religious and nonreligious people hold. That is the kind of material I remove in the secular version, but it is worth a conversation at home.
The table below shows at a glance which guides contain religious material and which do not.
Key
| Guide | Secular version | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomy | ||
| F2 Astronomy | No religious content | |
| F3 Astronomy | Both versions available | |
| Geology | ||
| F2 Geology | No religious content | Old-earth spine sections are skipped in the assigned reading |
| F3 Geology | Both versions available | |
| HS Geology | Both versions available | |
| Weather | ||
| F2 Weather | No religious content | |
| F3 Weather | Both versions available | |
| HS Weather | No religious content | |
| Botany | ||
| F2 Botany | No religious content | |
| F3 Botany | No religious content | |
| Biology | ||
| F3 Biology | Both versions available | |
| HS Biology: Anatomy 1 | Both versions available | |
| HS Biology: Anatomy 2 | Both versions available | |
| HS Biology: Ecology | Faith-based only | Does not take a YEC or old-earth position |
| HS Biology: Origins | Faith-based only | Does not take a YEC or old-earth position |
| Physics | ||
| F2 Physics: Waves | No religious content | |
| F2 Physics: Magnets | No religious content | |
| F2 Physics: Energy | No religious content | |
| F3 Physics | Both versions available | |
| HS Physics 1 | Both versions available | |
| HS Physics 2 | Both versions available | |
| HS Physics 3: Astrophysics | Both versions available | |
| HS Physics: Theoretical Physics | No religious content | |
| Chemistry | ||
| F2 Chemistry | No religious content | |
| F3 Chemistry | Both versions available | |
| HS Chemistry 1 | No religious content | |
| HS Chemistry 2 | No religious content | |
| HS Chemistry 3 | No religious content | |
| Technology & Engineering | ||
| F2 Tech & Engineering | No religious content | |
| F3 Electronics | No religious content | |
| Nature Study | ||
| Nature Explorers | No religious content | |
| Nature Investigators | No religious content | |
| Junior Naturalists | No religious content | |
| Understanding Biomes | No religious content | |
| Form 1, Rotation A: *Bundle* | No religious content | |
To order a secular version, select “Secular Version” at the bottom of the product page. Note that if both versions are available, only the faith-based version will be offered as a paperback on Amazon. Please let me know if you have any questions by emailing me at [email protected].