I had a similar experience – science curriculum was weird because while it was generally solid on the basics of physics and biology, the fundie taboo against evolution and/or acknowledging the age of the universe meant some topics had to be talked around, ignored, or handwaved away. Our curriculum of choice didn’t go as far as “the Devil buried dinosaur bones to trick scientists into atheism,” but I’ve heard stories.
Where things got more insidious, IMO, is in the softer subjects like history. Most of the available curricula are written from an explicitly right-wing perspective, and offer a perspective on world history that is often virulently jingoistic and bigoted. Our American History curriculum was from a popular publisher affiliated with a southern religious school that banned interracial dating until 2000, and only dropped the ban under legal pressure – as you might imagine, it was explicit in its support of the Lost Cause mythology of the Confederacy, among other distortions.
Worse still, though it’s the way that homeschooling can give cover to abuse and neglect. Like you I got a pretty good education in spite of all the above, but I know people from that community who experienced abuse at the hands of their parents and had no way to escape because their access to the outside works was carefully managed and controlled. There’s a reason why one of my closest friends from those days is now deeply involved with an advocacy group campaigning for tighter regulation and oversight of homeschooling families – she has some horror stories to tell.
I had a similar experience – science curriculum was weird because while it was generally solid on the basics of physics and biology, the fundie taboo against evolution and/or acknowledging the age of the universe meant some topics had to be talked around, ignored, or handwaved away. Our curriculum of choice didn’t go as far as “the Devil buried dinosaur bones to trick scientists into atheism,” but I’ve heard stories.
Where things got more insidious, IMO, is in the softer subjects like history. Most of the available curricula are written from an explicitly right-wing perspective, and offer a perspective on world history that is often virulently jingoistic and bigoted. Our American History curriculum was from a popular publisher affiliated with a southern religious school that banned interracial dating until 2000, and only dropped the ban under legal pressure – as you might imagine, it was explicit in its support of the Lost Cause mythology of the Confederacy, among other distortions.
Worse still, though it’s the way that homeschooling can give cover to abuse and neglect. Like you I got a pretty good education in spite of all the above, but I know people from that community who experienced abuse at the hands of their parents and had no way to escape because their access to the outside works was carefully managed and controlled. There’s a reason why one of my closest friends from those days is now deeply involved with an advocacy group campaigning for tighter regulation and oversight of homeschooling families – she has some horror stories to tell.