http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2006/08/woes-of-pagan-homeschooler.html A modern Pagan perspective Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:46:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2006/08/woes-of-pagan-homeschooler.html#comment-552 Anonymous Sat, 05 Aug 2006 03:14:00 +0000 http://patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2006/08/woes-of-the-pagan-homeschooler.html#comment-552 We describe ourselves as Classical/Hellenic Neopagan UUs and we follow a neoclassical educational model(pretty much the opposite of unschooling, we are quite structured). For us, it's more of a bonus that we can put a heavier emphasis on areas that apply to our religious beliefs. When we made the decision to homeschool, we were in an area where schools were sliding sharply downward, with increasing amounts of violence, drug problems, etc. We have since moved to a much better area, but the situation is working well for us, so we don't see a need to change. Looking for religious homogeneity was not one of the factors *g*. Based on my participation in a number of online forums, I think you will find that Neopagans choose to homeschool for quite a wide variety of reasons, some very related to religion, some not. In response to Chas, if by anti-modernist you mean turning away from secular humanist culture, I would say that there may end up being some of that effect, but it was not the motivation for our choice in the same way that I see very fundamentalist Christian homeschoolers describing their motivations. We aren't hiding from the world to avoid contamination. A key to success for us has been finding a truly inclusive homeschool support group that welcomes Pagans, Buddhists, Christians, atheists, etc (as well as those of different races and abilities) without requiring us not to mention religion. We describe ourselves as Classical/Hellenic Neopagan UUs and we follow a neoclassical educational model(pretty much the opposite of unschooling, we are quite structured). For us, it’s more of a bonus that we can put a heavier emphasis on areas that apply to our religious beliefs. When we made the decision to homeschool, we were in an area where schools were sliding sharply downward, with increasing amounts of violence, drug problems, etc. We have since moved to a much better area, but the situation is working well for us, so we don’t see a need to change. Looking for religious homogeneity was not one of the factors *g*. Based on my participation in a number of online forums, I think you will find that Neopagans choose to homeschool for quite a wide variety of reasons, some very related to religion, some not. In response to Chas, if by anti-modernist you mean turning away from secular humanist culture, I would say that there may end up being some of that effect, but it was not the motivation for our choice in the same way that I see very fundamentalist Christian homeschoolers describing their motivations. We aren’t hiding from the world to avoid contamination. A key to success for us has been finding a truly inclusive homeschool support group that welcomes Pagans, Buddhists, Christians, atheists, etc (as well as those of different races and abilities) without requiring us not to mention religion.

]]> http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2006/08/woes-of-pagan-homeschooler.html#comment-551 Chas S. Clifton Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:15:00 +0000 http://patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2006/08/woes-of-the-pagan-homeschooler.html#comment-551 Of course they have something in common, at least in a tactical sense. Both are operating from something of an anti-modernist position here. Of course they have something in common, at least in a tactical sense. Both are operating from something of an anti-modernist position here.

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