I don’t like those programs that mix Bible verses and arithmetic, they tend to be really lame. But if I were getting a whole packaged curriculum it would either have a specific Christian worldview or it would not, and neither alternative appeal to me.
Most of the homeschoolers I knew growing up did not use packaged curriculum. Not sure what the percentages are but it can’t be too heavy a majority, or there wouldn’t be the sheer variety of materials out there that exist (needing a trip to a good curriculum fair before too long here...)
I don’t have close contact with most of the homeschoolers I knew growing up but I think most of them are planning to homeschool, unless they have other reasons for not wanting to, like some of the older daughters of large families that aren’t even so sure they want kids, let alone to homeschool them. I do know the dilemma of not wanting to take out loans but I think no woman should be without the ability to provide for her family if necessary; I was fortunate not to need to take debt in order to get my degrees and merely enjoyed my several years in the work force, but other women have different priorities.
My husband’s family also homeschooled; so far his two older siblings are homeschooling their children and we’re not sure about his youngest sister; her husband is a private school teacher so their future offspring might go that route. My own siblings aren’t married yet but I do expect they’ll homeschool too. And a lot of the “fence-sitters” I think will choose homeschooling when they realize just how bad the public schools are.
Worldview. I understand what you're saying, but my own experience with the Calvert curricula is this: In the early grades, the “worldview” that came through, in the few areas that it came through, was that of a promotion of western civilization, with an occasional generic, but noticeable Protestant tilt.
Thus, history was centered on western civilization. Art history revolved around European art. Etc.
We're Catholic, so when the history book started glorifying the wonders of the Reformation, we obviously added our own correctives. But hey, we're homeschoolers, we can do that.
In the middle school years, the curriculum became more forceful in presenting a worldview, and this was one of generic political and social liberalism.
By that point, we'd been homeschooling for half a dozen years and felt comfortable foregoing the box after that.
At least with the Calvert curricula, in the lower grades - when we needed a box the most - the curriculum was too much about teaching how to read, write, do arithmetic, learn geography, very basic science, very basic history, etc. to get heavy into a particular bias.
As to what most folks use - I suspect it's not all this or that. Even when we abandoned the Calvert curriculum as a whole, we still bought the math packages. I don't see that much of a difference between folks who buy one big box with everything in it and folks who buy a package for math, another for science, etc.
I think that folks who prepare most or all of their curriculum from scratch are likely relatively small in number.
“I do know the dilemma of not wanting to take out loans but I think no woman should be without the ability to provide for her family if necessary...”
It seems to me that this has the hidden premise that one needs a college education to support a family. But that aside, at the college level, I think that most folks live places where there are open enrollment state schools with very reasonable in-state tuition. I know that the University of Maryland, College Park, runs around $8K per year (although it's not quite open enrollment). That's something that someone could largely pay out of pocket if he worked his way through school.
And a degree in an employable field from a place like Maryland will certainly enable a person to obtain work that will enable someone to support his or her family.
But the two young ladies to which I referred earlier, being highly successful homeschoolers, were accepted to universities a bit pricier (and with better academic reputations) than Maryland. In both cases, tuition + room and board came to nearly $50K per year. But both received scholarships that basically precluded the necessity of taking out any loans at all.
“And a lot of the ‘fence-sitters’ I think will choose homeschooling when they realize just how bad the public schools are.”
Or even many private schools. We sent our older son to a Catholic Kindergarten. Before we sent him, I'd discussed homeschooling with my wife. She thought I was a nutjob. By Christmas of my son's Kindergarten year, her attitude was “I can do a better job than that!”
And for the next eight years, she vindicated that statement many times over.
We gave our guys the option of homeschooling for a couple of years of high school or of going to my high school alma mater. They both chose to go to my old high school, which is, in many ways, a very special place. But if my old high school hadn't been available, I'm not sure that we would have given them the choice of any regular school.
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