I think there’s a lot of vague information out there about just what secular homeschooling is. I operate a secular homeschooling support group for my area and I get quite a few inquiries and I’ve also been told that some people are put off because our group’s description on our website says we’re secular.
First off, what secular is not:
1) secular does not mean athiest
2) secular does not mean agnostic
3) secular does not mean that religious or spiritual people are not allowed or that no one in the group is religious or spiritual
What it does mean is:
1) the group is inclusive to everyone, regardless of their beliefs (or lack thereof)
2) group activities aren’t based around any particular religion
3) we check our religious beliefs (or non-beliefs) at the door
Now, this is for the purposes of our support group. Additionally, “secular homeschooling” basically means that religion is not a core component of the curricula we ues or the things we study. It doesn’t mean that we don’t teach are children religion (or spirituality) in some capacity but it means that we prefer to keep it separate from our core study. In order to be comfortable in a secular group, I think it helps to be open-minded and not intimidated by people with beliefs that may not match your own–not that you’ll ever discuss this with fellow members. 😉
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