So I directly questioned the home schooled graduating senior about some of the stuff in this thread. First off, she is very happy having been home schooled and feels it was a great experience. It turns out her mother taught for years before home schooling her, so that was something I did not know. It was definitely a Conservative/Christian influenced education, including not only criticisms of evolution, but also global warming (which is a conservative issue, not a religious one). We talked some about micro versus macro evolution, but she admitted that the teacher who taught on this subject (I don't know what that means, but apparently at least some subjects were taught outside the home) was not very strong in her presentation (likely the teacher was actually an evolutionist teaching material she didn't quite agree with). She also said that Biblical creation was taught, but she did not remember if this was part of a science class or religious teaching. I also asked what the Christian objection to theistic evoltion was and got a deer in the headlights response, and then proceeded to get much the same response from the rest of our worship team (I was asking questions while rehearsing). This of course I found discouraging, but it seems to be a larger problem of the church, not just home school education.

Now, if this sounds like she didn't have a good education, let me assure you that is definitely not the case. Her standardized testing scores are very high, she is an excellent communicator, and she is placing out of college courses. However, it does sound as if some of the criticism of religious based teaching are somewhat valid, which would undoubtably be true in a private Christian school as well. It is not surprising (nor does it bother me) that she would be taught about evolution from an assumed standpoint that man was not evolved, but it does bother me that if the objection to evolution is based on faith, those reasons should be clearly taught. At least at that point you have a clear line of thinking that can be examined and questioned or strengthened. The global warming stuff was surprising to me, but that kind of underscores that this isn't purly religious influence.

What was encouraging, however, is that when I began to dive a little deeper and ask questions about this stuff she was not afraid to engage and even question the material. At the end of the day, I am still very impressed with the quality of her education and believe she is set up well to enter into the college world. She has strong convictions, but also is thoughtful and open to new and challenging ideas. I can honestly say that I wish I'd had been as prepared for college when I was her age.

Just one person's story, but I thought it might be interesting to thos ewho don't get much of a chance to see the effects of a Christian based home schooling experience. It doesn't sound perfect, but it does sound like her experience was overall very positive and educational.