Do We Need An Orthodox Homeschool Curriculum?......Yes....It Would Be Nice.
We became Orthodox Christians when we had already been homeschooling for 7-8 years.
It's now another 8 years after that. A total of 15-16 years we have been homeschooling. Back in the day as new converts, I was very anxious to get this " Orthodox Thing" right, for myself and my children. I was quite disappointed I couldn't just buy an Orthodox curriculum. Even now I do think it would have really helped me. I was so lost and overwhelmed with the liturgical year and all the church teachings and traditions. People kept telling me that it takes several years to learn the basics and while that is somewhat true, I also know how I learn. I learn by reading and by having some sort of map or broad overview laid out before me. For some, experiencing the church as it happens, as the liturgical year plays out and as the traditions and teachings are slowly engaged, can be exactly what they need or want. For me, it's like walking in a fog. My experience first coming to the church was just wondering around aimlessly in a fog for several years. There were lots of pleasant experiences as I discovered beautiful and wonderful things, but also lots of confusion and frustration. To be fair, I don't think it would be possible to become a convert to the Orthodox church and not experience some confusion or frustration. Many things in life have a learning curve. But, I would have liked some sort of map, some sort of help. I did read lots of books, but many times that would just lead to more questions and a thicker fog. I recently discovered a book called Blue Prints for the Little Church. This book would have been quite helpful and a good overview of the church and what it looks like in our home and Christian life when we first started out. I highly recommend it. I also recommend to digest it slowly. If you read this and feel you need to do all these things next month you will get overwhelmed. But, the book gives that broad overview that I was always searching for early on as an Orthodox Christian. This book is also a great basis for the homeschool. By homeschooling we have the time to nurture and make our church traditions a lifestyle. We are creating our own daily routines and making our own schedules. This book gives a gentle and informative look at how to do that in your home.
I still believe an Orthodox homeschool curriculum is needed and I would have benefited from it greatly. For one, it's been a challenge finding history books. So many Protestant history books have a strong dislike for the early church and also a very different view on what happened during that time. As a convert to Orthodoxy I had a huge struggle with learning the truth myself and trying to find resources to learn from and also teach my children. Secondly, having Saints and church traditions included with a history curriculum would be so nice! Lastly, there are lots of great Orthodox books out there for youth, some of them stories, some informational, but it's not organized in anyway that could be helpful for teaching in a homeschool.
So what do we do? As this post is getting long, I will discuss in another post how for the past 8 years we have homeschooled and some of the resources we have used.
It's now another 8 years after that. A total of 15-16 years we have been homeschooling. Back in the day as new converts, I was very anxious to get this " Orthodox Thing" right, for myself and my children. I was quite disappointed I couldn't just buy an Orthodox curriculum. Even now I do think it would have really helped me. I was so lost and overwhelmed with the liturgical year and all the church teachings and traditions. People kept telling me that it takes several years to learn the basics and while that is somewhat true, I also know how I learn. I learn by reading and by having some sort of map or broad overview laid out before me. For some, experiencing the church as it happens, as the liturgical year plays out and as the traditions and teachings are slowly engaged, can be exactly what they need or want. For me, it's like walking in a fog. My experience first coming to the church was just wondering around aimlessly in a fog for several years. There were lots of pleasant experiences as I discovered beautiful and wonderful things, but also lots of confusion and frustration. To be fair, I don't think it would be possible to become a convert to the Orthodox church and not experience some confusion or frustration. Many things in life have a learning curve. But, I would have liked some sort of map, some sort of help. I did read lots of books, but many times that would just lead to more questions and a thicker fog. I recently discovered a book called Blue Prints for the Little Church. This book would have been quite helpful and a good overview of the church and what it looks like in our home and Christian life when we first started out. I highly recommend it. I also recommend to digest it slowly. If you read this and feel you need to do all these things next month you will get overwhelmed. But, the book gives that broad overview that I was always searching for early on as an Orthodox Christian. This book is also a great basis for the homeschool. By homeschooling we have the time to nurture and make our church traditions a lifestyle. We are creating our own daily routines and making our own schedules. This book gives a gentle and informative look at how to do that in your home.
I still believe an Orthodox homeschool curriculum is needed and I would have benefited from it greatly. For one, it's been a challenge finding history books. So many Protestant history books have a strong dislike for the early church and also a very different view on what happened during that time. As a convert to Orthodoxy I had a huge struggle with learning the truth myself and trying to find resources to learn from and also teach my children. Secondly, having Saints and church traditions included with a history curriculum would be so nice! Lastly, there are lots of great Orthodox books out there for youth, some of them stories, some informational, but it's not organized in anyway that could be helpful for teaching in a homeschool.
So what do we do? As this post is getting long, I will discuss in another post how for the past 8 years we have homeschooled and some of the resources we have used.
