Atheist Elementary School

Comment

Comment by Earther on October 14, 2010 at 5:34am

Thanks again Sicile.

Comment by Sicile on October 13, 2010 at 11:29pm

I teach in public school (bible belt) and I teach history. I actually had a parent email me upset that I sent home an assignment having the student list and describe several of the Egyptian gods. She apparently teaches her son that there is only one true god, and my class confuses him. ugh! So, if you do start that secular school - look me up. I teach math and history! :)

Comment by Earther on July 12, 2010 at 9:11pm

I agree being in a public school is an optimal choice for place and budget and diversity. All of those points of interests are very important for becoming a person who can function in our society. I do take caution of the possibility of distraction from living and learning normally by the adverse effects of bullying. Yes, bullying can be handled in the school system successfully to resolve problems. Sometimes it does not. I do not look at a secular private school as a place to tell children there is no god but a place that does not get merky with bible study, prayers, pledges, and that traditional sort of thing that can plague a freethinker.

Comment by Greta K. on July 11, 2010 at 1:28pm

I live in the Bible belt and though are public schools are suppposed to be secular, there is quite a great deal of religion, some overt and some subtle. That being said, I have taught both my children to think critically, and analyze information. I would not send my kids to a school that catered exclusively to atheists, because that is no better than sending kids to an all-christian school. In my opinion, one redeeming factor of a public school education is that you interact with all different types of people. You learn how to navigate through a wide array of opinions, thoughts, and beliefs.
However, I stay involved and if there were ever a situation where a teacher or supervisor were overtly pushing a religious agenda, I'd be the first to speak up.
Isolating our kids in a place where they spend a major portion of their time is counter productive. My children are quite capable of speaking up and resolving many of these issues. I think many parents rush in for every slight offense and do not give their kids the tools or the confidence to solve their own problems.

Comment by SecularBob on July 11, 2010 at 12:42am

I agree completely with Diego, get involved. For me in Illinois I find that the school is moderately secular, and mostly ignorance is the problem when they are not. I had an issue with my daughter and the pledge, she is free to think what she wants I am raising her to make her own mind up, but she does not believe in God so I told her that she can still say the pledge and that she just can leave out the words under God. I made sure to tell the teacher that this is what she was going to do, and we were able to come up with an understanding. Being involved has made what I feared being problems so much easier.

Comment by Diego on July 9, 2010 at 5:22pm

In theory, public schools should be secular. My only advice would be become very, very involved in school activities and become very influential there. It's hard and takes a long path, but that would be ideal. Children will need to know that there are different people with different point of views, so they will need to face that since they are very young.