Top home-school texts dismiss Darwin, evolution

[democracy1st]

Home-school mom Susan Mule wishes she hadn't taken a friend's advice and tried a textbook from a popular Christian publisher for her 10-year-old's biology lessons.

Mule's precocious daughter Elizabeth excels at science and has been studying tarantulas since she was 5. But she watched Elizabeth's excitement turn to confusion when they reached the evolution section of the book from Apologia Educational Ministries, which disputed Charles Darwin's theory.


Christian-based materials dominate a growing home-school education market that encompasses more than 1.5 million students in the U.S. And for most home-school parents, a Bible-based version of the Earth's creation is exactly what they want. Federal statistics from 2007 show 83 percent of home-schooling parents want to give their children "religious or moral instruction."

"The majority of home-schoolers self-identify as evangelical Christians," said Ian Slatter, a spokesman for the Home School Legal Defense Association.


The textbook publishers defend their books as well-rounded lessons on evolution and its shortcomings. One of the books doesn't attempt to mask disdain for Darwin and evolutionary science.

"Those who do not believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God will find many points in this book puzzling," says the introduction to "Biology: Third Edition" from Bob Jones University Press. "This book was not written for them."

The textbook delivers a religious ultimatum to young readers and parents, warning in its "History of Life" chapter that a "Christian worldview ... is the only correct view of reality; anyone who rejects it will not only fail to reach heaven but also fail to see the world as it truly is."

When the AP asked about that passage, university spokesman Brian Scoles said the sentence made it into the book because of an editing error and will be removed from future editions.

The size of the business of home-school texts isn't clear because the textbook industry is fragmented and privately held publishers don't give out sales numbers. Slatter said home-school material sales reach about $1 billion annually in the U.S.

Publishers are well aware of the market, said Jay Wile, a former chemistry professor in Indianapolis who helped launch the Apologia curriculum in the early 1990s.

"If I'm planning to write a curriculum, and I want to write it in a way that will appeal to home-schoolers, I'm going to at least find out what my demographic is," Wile said.

In Kentucky, Lexington home-schooler Mia Perry remembers feeling disheartened while flipping through a home-school curriculum catalog and finding so many religious-themed textbooks.

"We're not religious home-schoolers, and there's somewhat of a feeling of being outnumbered," said Perry, who has home-schooled three of her four children after removing her oldest child from a public school because of a health condition.

Perry said she cobbled together her own curriculum after some mainstream publishers told her they would not sell directly to home-schooling parents.

Wendy Womack, another Lexington home-school mother, said the only scientifically credible curriculum she's found is from the Maryland-based Calvert School, which has been selling study-at-home materials for more than 100 years.

Apologia and Bob Jones University Press say their science books sell well. Apologia's "Exploring Creation" biology textbook retails for $65, while Bob Jones' "Biology" Third Edition lists at $52.

Coyne and Virginia Tech biology professor Duncan Porter reviewed excerpts from the Apologia and Bob Jones biology textbooks, which are equivalent to ninth- and 10th-grade biology lessons. Porter said he would give the books an F.

"If this is the way kids are home-schooled then they're being shortchanged, both rationally and in terms of biology," Coyne said. He argued that the books may steer students away from careers in biology or the study of the history of the earth.



Adam Brown's parents say their 16-year-old son's belief in the Bible's creation story isn't deterring him from pursuing a career in marine biology. His parents, Ken and Polly Brown, taught him at their Cedar Grove, Ind., home using the Apologia curriculum and other science texts.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100306/ap_on_re/us_rel_home_school_evolution

[stopbush]

1. Dupe. Posted about 4 times today already.

[hyphenate]

2. First, if all the evangelicals

are going to be the only ones going to heaven, I am sure grateful I won't be there.

2nd, if I were planning to staff McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's for the next twenty years or so, I would just have to look at these Xtian homeschoolers, and I'd have a staff for life.

3rd, these parents are short-changing their children to a point where they WILL be crippled for life, mentally. And yes, scientific fields will be largely closed off to them. I don't think I would want to risk my life with a creationist at the helm of any boat, or in charge of a diving expedition. Being proud of homeschooling for religious reasons is tantamount to child abuse, IMO, and there should be some consequence for doing so. It makes me sick to know that all these kids WILL likely end up being ignorant of the greatness of this world, and all the other worlds out there as well.

[Lionel Mandrake]

3. Biology without evolution makes no sense.

Evolution is a central organizing principle of biology. It explains homologies between bones of reptiles, mammals, and birds. It explains geographical distributions of organisms. It explains the origin of organelles like chloroplasts and mitochondria. And much more.

Kids who don't learn about evolution are being cheated out of an education. Kids who are told that evolution is only a theory, and that "intelligent design" or some other form of creationism is an equally valid theory, will be confused. Fundies want to keep kids confused and ignorant about all the good stuff, like evolution and sex.

[upi402]

4. Gravity is the next scientific theory they'll refute

The dumbing-down of America is being cemented.

[pepperbear]

5. I am shocked, I tell you, SHOCKED, that a Christian home school textbook would dismiss Darwin. n/t

[mzmolly]

6. I know many secular, liberal homeschoolers who know just what to avoid.

;)