Science & Math in the Catholic Home School

Much of the material that is available for teaching science has a strong evolutionary atheistic bias. The first set of articles below are very readable and will arm the parent with a knowledge of the Catholic view of science.

Catholic Science Links

Our Approach to Science	Catholic View of Science Documents & Articles	Famous Catholics in Science
Science Links for the Educator	Catholics in Math	Math Links for the Educator

Our Approach to Science

When we first began homeschooling I had several discussions with other homeschoolers about the importance of science. The general consonance was that it took a lot of time, the kids found it boring and they didn't remember what they learned from one year to the next. Pulling together the ideas of many homeschoolers who had success with science I came to the conclusion that God's world was very exciting to children and when they could explore it, rather than just read about meaningless facts, they would come to understand how it worked.

The program we use with our children is based on both the Classical approach and the ideas found in Charlotte Mason's writings. In Grades K-2 we help the children construct an informal nature notebooks We also read from children's science books and allow the children to watch "The Magic Schoolbus" and "Bill Nye". These shows can have an evolutionary bias. We explain this to the children and have an ongoing contest to see who can find this bias in each show. Then we refute the bias. The children also have their own magnifying glass and are encouraged to collect bugs, leaves etc. which we read about together. Our younger children's thematic studies are usually science based. Right now the under 8 crowd are studying habitats using parts of a free unit study. This study is for the fun of learning and is kept seperate from fact learning.

Around third or fourth grade we begin a more formal study of science using "Considering God's Creation". This Christian program provides lectures and reproducible activity sheet with which the children create a science notebook. One of the many positive aspects of this program is that it can be used with many different ages. In fifth grade we use Seton Science VI and the living book "The Fairy Land of Science" by Arabella Buckley. This is an out of print book which we are in the process of editing and updating. We hope to have it in the archives by September of 1998. Mrs Buckley was friends with Darwin, but this influence did not creep into this earlier book in which she maintains a strong Christian stance. In 6th grade we use "Magic Mirror", another book by Mrs. Buckley.

Before Grade 6 we have the children memorize science facts (ARCHIVES) a little at a time.
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