The Importance of a Solid Christian Curriculum

When I began my homeschool journey, I wasn’t looking for anything super strict. I told myself that as long as the curriculum wasn’t secular and hit the points that I was interested in, then it didn’t matter if the curriculum took a stricter Christian worldview. Previously, we were using The Good and The Beautiful curriculum, and I loved it. I still love them, so this will be far from a bash post to talking about how TGTB is loosely Christian-based. We made the switch to BJUpress, though, and I got a taste for a deeply Christian curriculum. I now see how important it is to have a faith-based curriculum, whether you use a curriculum and add the faith parts yourself, or you use a curriculum that applies Christianity to every aspect of the courses.

I don’t make this post to tell anyone else what to do or what to use. I have seen people boldly sharing that “well, you SHOULD want a solid Christian curriculum!” and honestly, I can’t really subscribe to this mindset or feel the need to tell other people what they should be doing regarding their own faith. This is just my experience and my shift in views after using a curriculum that is loosely based on Christian values and then switching to one that asks my child why we use math-and answering with God centric answers. Like I said, whether you find a curriculum that ties in your faith with every subject or you do this yourself, the important part is including your faith. This is just my experience and realization that I prefer a curriculum that includes God in every aspect of our schooling.

Okay, so why is this important? Coming from someone who was sent to public school (no hate here, I did not have fun, but I have found memories with some aspects of my school career, mainly those teachers who were amazing and made my time enjoyable), I was constantly and consistently surrounded by things that directly opposed my views and my faith. As a child, I was still determining my worldview, still trying to figure things out and find out where I stood. Outside of my schooling, which took the bulk of my day, I also didn’t spend that much time learning about my faith. We didn’t have family prayer times until later. I don’t recall spending much time reading my bible, and the media we consumed was not always strictly Christian either. Again, this is not to condemn these things or say that they are bad, this is not to critic my childhood or say that anything about these points is strictly “bad” but I would like to point out that when you spend the bulk of your day being exposed to things that directly oppose your faith, it is a struggle to find your worldview and stick with it.

I recall being wishy washy in my faith, mostly going through the motions and not really feeling or believing. I remember a time in middle school when I began to question if I even wanted to follow the Christian faith. And many times after I confirmed this was my worldview, I would find myself influenced by those things around me. Children are working to build their worldview based on what is around them and the values that they are taught. By the age of 8, a child has begun to set in their ways and has begun to form their worldview. While this doesn’t mean they are set for life and will never change, this is when they begin to form who they will be and what they will think-based on what they experience and are exposed to.

This can seem scary! And honestly, I have begun to loathe the fear-mongering terms people share when talking about worldviews and homeschooling. Things like “If you aren’t raising your kids, someone else is!” or “You only have x amount of time before their worldview sets in!” because this puts a lot of shame on parents. We should be made aware that sending your child somewhere else has a risk of them picking up impressions and examples that go against your worldview as a parent but we can find ways to say this without bringing down another parent or bullying someone into homeschooling when they aren’t ready, can’t homeschool, or don’t feel as though this is what they are called to do. The truth i, though, if we do not spend the time teaching our faith and values, then someone else will come along and teach theirs. Whether you homeschool or attend public school, it is incredibly important to spend time reading the bible and praying together as a family.

For homeschool Christian families, though, especially if one of the reasons (or the reason) you chose to homeschool was so that you could have a say in what they learned and teach with a Christian worldview, it is imperative to use a curriculum that has a solid Christian worldview. I didn’t realize the extent of this truth until I actually made the switch. Like I said, I love The Good and The Beautiful curriculum. It has faith aspects, clean content, takes a neutral approach, and is incredibly affordable. The reason for switching was not actually the content, but rather my inability to teach multiple young children. However, after switching, I realized how great it is to have a curriculum that deeply ties in Christian values and a Christian worldview throughout every subject.

With The Good and The Beautiful, you will find references to God and a Christian lifestyle, feel-good values and morals, if you will. I really enjoyed this and felt this was a lovely curriculum. However, with BJUpress, as I was watching the lessons, and even in the math course, they find a way to tie God into things. Asking questions like “Why do we count?” and answering “Because God gave us a world in which we can count”. I began to realize the importance of living every aspect of our lives for God, for our Christian faith, and I realized that this was much easier to do if it was reinforced even in the subjects that didn’t really seem to be applicable to a Christian faith and worldview. The course even assigns work outside the lessons to review bible verses with the family, bringing in that family togetherness for faith-building blocks. This doesn’t mean that my job as a parent is done, that I don’t have to spend any time teaching faith values or reading the bible. But this greatly helps me when it does come time to do bible reading and when it comes to building up my child’s faith.

Because even though we homeschool, my kids still have influences in the world around them. They go to stores and see advertisements, see other people, see things through various media (because we can’t always catch everything, and honestly, sometimes I don’t want to limit things because the conversation and lesson from something they see or experience is a good lesson), and they will ask questions. I am not homeschooling to keep my kids in a bubble and protect them from every single thing I might not agree with. I homeschool because I want more time with my kids, because I want to be sure they are learning in a way that works for them, and to help build their faith and worldview to follow Christian values.

Having a solid Christian curriculum that aligns with your values as a Christian homeschool parent is really important because it helps to build that foundation. A parent’s job is to teach their worldview, faith, and values to their child. All parents do this, religious and secular parents alike. Some people act like it is a bad thing to teach your child your own worldview, to raise them with certain values and beliefs, but it is impossible to raise a child neutrally. There will be some influence, and it is far more confusing to a child to be constantly stuck in the middle and not be taught a certain way. Especially if they see their parents modeling something else from what they are trying to teach their kids.

A Christian curriculum allows parents to encourage their child to learn and grow, not only academically but also in their faith. There really is no question when it comes to picking a Christian curriculum for Christian homeschool families. This is something I didn’t really grasp until I saw a strong Christian curriculum in action. Again, I do love TGTB, and I will still utilize their books and unit studies, but once I saw Christian values being reinforced in all subjects, like math and science, but also reading and English, it was easy to see that finding a strong Christian curriculum was a good choice for our family.