k12, Historically Speaking

I am such a huge fan of the k12 curriculum. My favorite k12 subject by far has been history. Let me tell you why.

k12 is not a Christian curriculum. It is a public school curriculum that is also made available for purchase by homeschooling parents and private schools, although most public schools don't use k12 because it is one of the more expensive curricula.

The history course begins in Kindergarten, in place of the more common "Social Studies", which was a huge selling point for me. Social Studies should be what parents teach their kids every day. Social Studies is just living life. Don't waste time on it in the classroom.

In my opinion, a great start to a great education includes learning how to read and write at high levels, learning deductive reasoning, which for me begins with learning math and science at an early age, and developing a wealth of knowledge of historical facts and references. If that wealth of knowledge can also include a healthy use of another language, all the better. I believe all of these things can be accomplished by 5th or 6th grade, at which point advanced maths and sciences, and specific courses should be introduced, such as Economics and Politics.

(Music and Art and Physical Education I would group together under one category: The Arts. I don't think you need to delve deeply into all three all the time, but certainly having some form of the arts included in your education is beneficial.)

But I digress. Back to k12's history curriculum. I love how k12 handles the topic of religion. Religion is mentioned a great deal in the history course. And why shouldn't it be? A huge component to understanding a culture and their history is understanding their religion. Religion is why wars were fought and why new nations began. Religion has played such a huge role in the course of history, you cannot avoid it.

And yet most curricula dance around religion, especially the Christian religion. k12 addresses it head on. In history this year, Ava has and/or will be learning about Judaism, Egyptian gods and goddesses, Hinduism, and Buddhism. She's learning about how each religion began, and the basics of what the followers of each religion believe. Each religion is treated with respect and with equal time, and none of the religions are promoted as "right" or superior.

I had no interest in finding a Christian curriculum to use for my children. My goal was to find a curriculum that was academically challenging and technologically advanced. In my mind, while you can become a Christian at a young age, you need advanced deductive reasoning skills to really further your knowledge of God.

If you've taught your children how to reason from a young age, you can trust that they'll come to what is real and right on their own as adults. This is why a challenging education is so important. If young children were taught how to think and how to ask questions and how to challenge themselves and others, this country would become a much different place.

History reeks of God. Science reeks of God. Math reeks of God. Literature reeks of God. God is everywhere, in all of education. You can't escape it. So just teach your kids, teach them all of it. You don't need to send them to a religious school for them to learn religion, education IS religion. God shows himself through all of it. Just give them the skills to recognize Him.

Bror Saxberg, the CLO of k12, explains the concepts behind the k12 curriculum. His "Big Ideas" concept was another selling point for me.

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