Christians...what are your thoughts about reading and teaching mythology?

[profmom]

Do you include mythology, specifically learning about Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, in your homeschool?

[Sue G in PA]

Diana Waring spoke on this topic once at a homeschool conf. I attended. She brought up some good points. How to phrase this? Younger children are especially impressionable and smarter than we think. :) Her point, I think, was that at this age the dc are still learning the basics of their Christian faith. Why risk confusing them by teaching the gods of some other religion? Personally, what we do is talk about the fact that these specific groups of people believed in more than one god. Period. I'd much rather my dc learn the details of our own faith than the false gods of some other religion, KWIM? As my dc get older and IF they are interested, we go into it more. For example: we did a project on the 10 plagues of Egypt. Each plague had specific relation/significance to each of the gods the Egypitans worshipped. I had my dd11 research this significance and how each plague basically "showed them up". Ex/ plague of darkness showed God's power of the Egyptian sun god, Ra. Anyway, you'll get a ton of different responses, but really...pray about it. God will show you what HE wants in this situation.

[OneRoomHomeSchool]

at this age the dc are still learning the basics of their Christian faith. Why risk confusing them by teaching the gods of some other religion? .....I'd much rather my dc learn the details of our own faith than the false gods of some other religion, KWIM? As my dc get older and IF they are interested, we go into it more.

Ditto!

[Daisy]

Not in what classical education calls the "grammar stage" and for the same reasons mentioned above. It is one of the reasons we do not follow a chronological history before 4th grade.

[Carol in Cal.]

I had been taking DD to church since she was born, and to Sunday School starting when she was 3. I started reading to her from the NIV Bible rather than Bible story books when she was about 4, and we talked about the stories and the truths of God's Word.

I also read to her a lot from story books and fairy tale books. So we had already been talking a lot about what is true and what isn't before we started studying world history.

Then, when we studied SOTW1, we interspersed it with Biblical history. That meant that we put the Bible stories into the SOTW sequence, right where they belonged. (It did take us about 1 1/2 years to get through the whole thing, but it was well worth it!)

So, by the time we hit the Greek and Roman myths, the groundwork in distinguishing fact from fiction had been well laid. And a great deal of Bible study work demonstrating over and over how following false gods got Israel into trouble had been done. Plus, God looks so awesome compared to the petty squabbles of the Greek and Roman pantheon--the contrast was really quite startling, one following directly on the heels of the other. So it was very easy to keep the myths straight from the truth, and in fact, the myths made the truth look much 'true-er'.

Also, the Biblical history 'bookended' the Roman and Greek studies. So DD got 'God' history just before and just after the mythology.

No worries at all. Frankly, when we read about Paul preaching in Athens and when he talked about the unknown god and when we read about the Dianic controversy in Ephesus, we understood the Bible much better because of the Greek and Roman background; and again, the background just made Acts look better.

[AudreyTN]

I do.

To me it's the same as telling them about different modern faiths. I always add, "Some people believe... but we believe...."

My kids understand that these aren't real stories. They know that Santa, the Easter bunny, and the Tooth Fairy aren't real either.

I would rather my kids be faced with it head on, than shield them from it and have to "work it out" later.

... but that's me...

[nestof3]

Yes, I am teaching my 6 and 8 year olds this right now. We learn about the historical time period, we learn about their religion, and we read their folktales and myths.

It's kind of hard to read the Old Testament to them without encountering this. Just tonight, my husband was reading about a king who sacrificed their children to Molech. Well, to me it's far better to explain the religion behind this than to just gloss it over.

I also find opportunities to contrast God or Jesus when reading these. For creation stories, we often compare to the Genesis account. We discuss why these similarities might exist. When we read about Siddhartha, many of his parables and teachings were so very similar to Jesus, but them some were so contradictory. For example, Jesus says He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Siddhartha taught a lot about this being within the individual.

I have never had this confuse our Biblical teaching or our training in biblical ways, but I would say you would have to make that call yourself. For us, it has proved to be a fabulous springboard for discussion. Of course, the reading of these things very much pales in comparison to how much of our daily conversation centers on Jesus' ways.

I approach evolution in the same manner. I am not at all worried that they encounter the theory. We discuss this a lot too.

[nestof3]

No worries at all. Frankly, when we read about Paul preaching in Athens and when he talked about the unknown god and when we read about the Dianic controversy in Ephesus, we understood the Bible much better because of the Greek and Roman background; and again, the background just made Acts look better.

Exactly. In fact, I forgot about this, but when we were reading about Athens, my 8 year old actually mentioned that precise scripture (after he described it to me, I was able to use the concordance to locate it). He read it aloud to Ben and me and shared a little bit about what he thought. I was pretty impressed to say the least. :)

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I had no problem with confusion, or idol worship, or anything of that sort when we studied the ancients. My dc were then 5 and 6. If anything, it helped them to understand the ancient Israelites better. They knew the Egyptian gods, and the Greek/Roman gods, so they understood the polytheism that surrounded the Israelites better than if they had never heard of another god.

They're now 10 and 11. Their faith is strong in their one true God. They have never been impressed with Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, or even the Tooth Fairy -- the icons they see every day. They certainly weren't the least impressed with Ra, or Baal, or any other god that they only heard of once upon a time, in a picture book.

[Friederike in Persia]

We've just gone through the Roman and Greek gods and read lots of the stories. My dds are 7&8. They seem to be more than able to distinguish that those gods aren't real. It's like fairy stories to them. (Not that I actually do fairy stories, though they do know the common fairy tales.)
We do other religions, too. Like we had a visitor who's converted from Sikhism, who did a few lessons on what she used to believe and then why she chose to leave that behind. Living in a Muslim country I want them to know about Islam, treat it with respect, but also be rock solid on why we don't follow Muhammad.

[Trivium Academy]

I'm not saying anything against anyone else's choices and I hope sharing this doesn't open the door in my direction either but ultimately I feel that learning about mythology is the same as learning about fairy tales and folklore.

My dd7 hasn't been confused at all about gods and goddesses, on the other hand, she is a little confused about the Trinity, but who isn't. I'd rather my children learn from a young age about other religions and understand there are many ideas in this world (and of this world) but there is ultimately one God. While we could forgo talking about mythology at all, why miss fabulous stories with morals to learn? That is what I teach my children, that mythology and polytheism is just that, stories. Gain what you can from them and realize they are not of God, they are of this world.

Every time we talk about a polytheistic religion or faith, I draw Earth on our dry erase board. I put GOD in capital letters outside of the sphere of the Earth at the top and inside I draw little stick figures to represent the gods and goddesses that others believe(d) in. Where is God? He's above the world. Where are the gods and goddesses? They are in the world and of the world. I'm looking forward to the next cycle when we can discuss how un-Godlike the polytheistic deities actually are and until then we'll just enjoy the stories.

[Mrs Mungo]

I had no problem with confusion, or idol worship, or anything of that sort when we studied the ancients. My dc were then 5 and 6. If anything, it helped them to understand the ancient Israelites better. They knew the Egyptian gods, and the Greek/Roman gods, so they understood the polytheism that surrounded the Israelites better than if they had never heard of another god.

They're now 10 and 11. Their faith is strong in their one true God. They have never been impressed with Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, or even the Tooth Fairy -- the icons they see every day. They certainly weren't the least impressed with Ra, or Baal, or any other god that they only heard of once upon a time, in a picture book.

I agree with this and the others who teach ancient religions. How can you understand the Israelites were doing something totally different and potentially dangerous to the dominant culture if you don't understand there were other religious that were polytheistic?

[profmom]

Thanks for the posts so far! I'm needing to make some decisions about this -- dh is fine with the kids learning it and feels that their Christian background is strong enough.

We're on our 2nd history cycle and on Ancients this year. We're getting very close to our focus on Greece, and I've read several chapters into The Children's Homer. So far, our Ancients years have had a Biblical focus, which does bring up idol worship and gods of the cultures around Israel. We've discussed this, but we haven't spent time learning much about the gods and goddesses.

Now, though, I'm finding that mythology and studying the gods and goddesses comes up in many (most?) Latin programs (after the elementary series). Dd is finishing LCII this year, and I just looked at the new Latin Alive samples. I noticed a page with a list of gods and goddesses for the student to learn. I've heard that mythology is part of the National Latin Exam (right?), and I know that Latin in the Christian Trivium purposely omits mythology from their program.

So that's a bit of background. Dd will be in 6th grade in the fall. I appreciate the help in thinking this through and will also pray about it.

(Anyone else?)

[Carol in Cal.]

This is what I do every year with the Sunday School kids on Trinity Sunday.

I get them very, very confused. I say, "OK. There is only 1 God." Everybody nods. "But there are all these different names for God--can you think of some?" Jesus--Son of God--Lord--Christ--Savior--Father--Spirit--Comforter--King--it goes on and on. "How can there be only 1 God with all these names?" Usually someone will say that he has several names. One year a very young child speculated that most of these were nicknames.

I guide them into talking about the fact that some of these are names, and some are titles, and some are attributes. We boil it down until we have Jesus, Father, and Spirit.

Then I say, "Wait a minute. So God has 3 names? Are there 3 Gods?" Nope, there is only one. "Wait a minute, in the creed we say "God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And they do different things! And Jesus prays to the Father! Are there actually more Gods than just 1?"

We all think about this.

Then I say, "OK. Here is what we know. There is only 1 God. But that 1 God has 3 persons. Woah. This is complicated. Do you understand it?" Everyone shakes their heads.

And then I really blow them away by telling them that I don't understand it either, (kids always think that adults know everything) and that that is an example that tells us how cool God is. "God is SO cool, and SO big, and SO awesome, that we can't completely even understand Him! But one day we will in heaven. For now, though, we just thank Him for being SO awesome and for still being our Friend."

There is also a great book explaining the Trinity concept to young children called "3 in 1--A Picture of God" by the Marxhausens that you might like.

[Mamagistra]

I include mythology in our studies, and it's never been a problem for our family. There are always wonderful discussions that come from comparing Truth to untruth, and I am prayerfully deliberate in my teaching of God as opposed to man-made gods.

I have never detected any confusion in my dc whatsoever. I have sensed some amazement from them that people actually believed in flying chariots, shape-shifting, and the like. ;) The Goodness and Beauty that come from such stories (any stories!) are products of God himself, not the fallible men who created them. To focus on mythology above and beyond our walk with Him would be another matter entirely, IMHO.

By all means, do what you feel led to do for your own family. :001_smile:

[Carol in Cal.]

She thought it was awesome, and she wished that the Egyptians had known the true God because they would have been such great advocates for Him with all their cool remains.

Around that same age she developed a working theory that the reason that the Greeks and Romans had so many gods is that all the names and titles of God were passed down to them but they got confused and decided that there were a whole bunch of different gods, and that they were more like people than like mighty beings. So that's why having the actual Bible is so important.

I thought these reactions were very cool, and it made me feel really good about having covered all of this stuff sooner rather than later or never. I always want to get there first with my version of everything!

[Brenda in FL]

Yes, I did teach mythology with my grammar age kids. I think it was very positive, in that it helped to reinforce the teachings they were already receiving about God being the one true God.

It is so easy to point out all the flaws in greek and roman mythology. "Aren't you glad that God isn't like that!" types of comments abounded.

Also - when we got to the end of the year and read about Paul being asked by the Greeks to speak at Mars Hill - It was like a wonderful climax to the whole story - here they were asking to hear more about our one true God!!

My first grader and 4 year old at the time were not confused at all.

[Eliana]

I'm Jewish not Xtian, but we too have strong prohibitions about avodah zarah (idol worship), and we have given the issue very careful consideration.

We have chosen to teach our children about other faiths as they come up in the history we study, including some of their myths and legends, but we do it in a very clear context, and with an eye on our long term goals. We want our children to be well grounded in our faith and traditions, to have absolute certainty in them, and to not be vulnerable to proselytizing or grass-is-greener syndrome, but we also want them to respect people with different faiths and different traditions. How do we do that when we are certain the things they believe so fervently are wrong?

We start when they are very young - this is a lesson, imho, kids should get very, very early on. With some of our kids, Peter Spier's "People" has been a good starting place for talking about differences. We talk about physical differences - and the underlying shared humanity. We talk about cultural differences: how people dress, eat, play, what they think is beautiful or yummy or fun - with an older child we might talk about where those culinary choices or styles of dress might have originated. Everyone needs shelter, but look at all the different ways people have met that need, depending on their circumstances and available resources...

Now all of those are easy, because very few involve any value judgments. (Two that do come to mind are modesty issues and our reaction to the idea of someone eating a puppy...)

To discuss religion we start with the universal: regardless of culture, country, clothing, race, or anything else human hearts have yearned toward the Divine... like plants growing toward the light. Each culture has tried to understand G-d through the lens of its own experience, and has tried to serve G-d, though the mechanisms may at times horrify us.

We talk about Avraham Avinu and his search for G-d, and the way the medrash about it shows some of the different approaches peoples have taken in their search - deifying the sun, for example.

Each time we encounter a new religion in our history study, we look at its central stories and see how those came out of the time and place and culture they did (on a very general level with the littler ones, in more detail with the older kids.)

Perhaps my viewpoint is colored by raising children in a country and culture in which our faith is the minority. Unless we moved to Crown Heights, my children have to learn about another religion, and I'd rather they did it in context...

..but, no, I think I'd do it this way in any case. I think it has helped my children be both strong in their own belief and respectful of others.

The Ancient Greeks were not fools, they were not childish, they were as mature and as intelligent and as human as we are. Within their culture, they had the same needs and drives that we do. Their worldview is far different than mine, but I respect the faith and conviction they brought to their lives, even while believing it to be wrong.

I can still remember the moment during a college seminar on the Iliad when, as we were discussing the role of religious faith in the Ancient Greek world, when we began to really connect the dots (it was a purely discussion based class), and I could get a little glimpse of how the world might have looked to them. (I felt some of that during the big religious discussions here the other week - that tiny flash of understanding of a foreign worldview.) It made the history, the art, the literature, the politics all make so much more sense. It didn't seem any less misguided, but I could understand better where they might have been coming from.

I want my children to learn how to do that too. How to see the common humanity. How to speak with, learn from, and read about others while holding firmly onto who they are.

And I believe that it starts when they are young, that that is when we plant the seeds about how we respond to other faiths/cultures/philosophies.


:o I'm sorry. Not only have I barged into a thread specifically not for me, but I have rambled on and on at you!


If you'd rather I took this down, if it feels like an intrusion, PM me, okay? And I'll delete it. I'll just slink away quietly now...

:leaving:

[Friederike in Persia]

I love reading your posts and I believe that this particular one didn't distract from the tread (not that your other posts do).
Apart from not believing in Jesus as the messiah (that one is quite big though:001_smile:), your worldview is rather close to the Chrisitan one. Or better phrased, ours is close to your's, since it is based on it.
That wasn't too eloquent:001_huh:, but I hope you get what I meant.

[gandpsmommy]

truly differentiate mythology from truth. I do plan to expose my dc to Greek and Roman mythology, but I will be careful in the timing of it's inclusion in our studies. Dd6.5 is capable of making the distinction now between Bible stories and myths. And ds4 is well on the way, but he is still very impressionable and is enjoying the Old Testament Bible stories so much now, that I don't want to risk confusing him. We have read about false gods and myths in SOTW, a bit, which hasn't been an issue at all, but I am holding off on the D'Aulaires' book until they're a bit older.

[Michelle in MO]

detected any confusion over the issue regarding who the real God is. Now, my children were a bit older when we started homeschooling: my oldest was in 4th grade, my middle daughter was in 2nd grade, and we incorporated the youngest into homeschooling after she finished kindergarten at the local private school.

I do recognize that this issue is up to each individual family and their personal beliefs. Coupled with the fact that children are indeed unique and different---some more impressionable than others---I respect parents who wish to hold off teaching on Greek and Roman mythology to their children.

[Closeacademy]

I teach it.

With mythology we just talk about this is what these people believed at this point in history. I also talk about how they didn't know about God or Jesus.

Basically, I teach about it just like I do about Hinduism, Buddahism or any other religion that is out there.

[angela in ohio]

I had no problem with confusion, or idol worship, or anything of that sort when we studied the ancients. My dc were then 5 and 6. If anything, it helped them to understand the ancient Israelites better. They knew the Egyptian gods, and the Greek/Roman gods, so they understood the polytheism that surrounded the Israelites better than if they had never heard of another god.

They're now 10 and 11. Their faith is strong in their one true God. They have never been impressed with Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, or even the Tooth Fairy -- the icons they see every day. They certainly weren't the least impressed with Ra, or Baal, or any other god that they only heard of once upon a time, in a picture book.

:iagree:

[Trivium Academy]

"Mom, how can Jesus be God who created everything when He hadn't been born yet?"

"How did the world exist before Jesus' birth?"

and it goes on, any time we read about the Trinity...I'll look for the book you mentioned. I've even tried with neopolitian ice cream- it's all ice cream but the three have different flavors but together they make up what we call neopolitian.

:001_huh:

[Dixie]

Jessica,

Another example that I have seen used to explain the Trinity is the egg.

HTH.

Dixie

[Chris in VA]

We teach it, too. We started early and just continue. Like one of the posters, we point out the Plagues and how they reflected the gods of Egypt (only we did this in first grade). We love the story of Odysseus, and have read Mary Pope Osborne's Odyssey thru twice--and this time, dd really noticed how unreliable and downright mean the gods depicted were. She was able to contrast their mercurial nature with that of our God. I was wondering if she truly thought there were other Gods, and just that ours was the Best, but when I asked her, that was not the case. She told me she was glad God isn't the same as the Greek gods (or the Vikings, or the Romans, or the Egyptians!).

We have devotions every day, and she is beginning to delve deeper into the bible than just learning the main stories, making a bible lap book to help. It has been very interesting to see her develop. Learning that not everyone believes the same has helped her feel compassion for others.

[Danestress]

Do you include mythology, specifically learning about Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, in your homeschool?

I teach it all. My children learned a lot of the stories in first grade. I think without a familiarity with myth, you can't understand western art. I don't teach them as truth - I teach them as story - as fiction.

[Plaid Dad]

I consider a knowledge of mythology a fundamental part of cultural literacy, so I teach it, and from an early age. I do choose materials that tone down some of the more intense aspects of the myths, just as I don't read certain Bible stories to dd in their entirety (e.g., what Potiphar's wife wanted). But my dd has been reading and enjoying these stories since she was small, alongside fables, fairy tales, and folk tales.

I am not worried about my dd confusing information about the ancient gods with our own religious faith. She knows that the ancients believed in and worshipped these gods, and she knows some people do today (including some close friends of our family), but she also knows what our family believes. There has never been a problem with this. Since I am a former pagan who converted to Christianity, I feel confident that I could explain my reasons for that decision in a way that would be both credible and convincing to her.

[Beth in Central TX]

In his introduction to A Guide to the Great Books, Wes Callihan addresses the concerns of Christians who are hesitant to teach pagan literature. He gives the following reasons to teach such literature:

"So we need some answers. One is that Christians must be familiar to some degree with their culture and what formed it, in order to communicate, to evangelize, and to participate in culture in a beneficial way, and the model for this is the apostle Paul, who not only quotes pagan poets and philosophers several times in the New Testament, but alludes indirectly to them in many other places, showing his own familiarity with the cultural background of his audience, and his understanding that he could use that background for the advancement of Christ's cause...A second answer, closely related, is the biblical teaching that we may not leave any area of knowledge unconquered...Yet a third answer is that we are to approve, admire, and love beauty, goodness, and truth wherever it is found, and it is often found in pagan writings."

[OneRoomHomeSchool]

How can you understand the Israelites were doing something totally different and potentially dangerous to the dominant culture if you don't understand there were other religious that were polytheistic?

Hi Mrs Mungo! :seeya:

I would like to answer this, simply to expound on the stance that *our* family takes. I don't mean to make an argument at all (I believe that every family must do what they feel best, so I will not even reply to anyone who replies to *my* reply as I am not asking opinions) but simply to honestly give *our* family answer what your asking. :D

Ok, we read the Bible to our young children, so they DO know that the Isrealites worshipped false gods. We have no problem with that at all.

What we have issue with is the actual teaching of 'mythology' in the sense of:

It's ok to teach MY children how mythology explains some of our modern culture/history, but it's a different thing *for us* to have them come to know each 'god' on a more personal level by making mythology a seperate and central study, or to teach little children to ENJOY and receive PLEASURE from reading the mythological 'stories' the same way one might a fairy tale...they are not simply fairy tale stories, in *our* opinion.

Now, I realize most of the moms here who DO teach mythology to younger kids are not going to agree with me, and that is OK. Really....I just wanted to explain MY stance on why *I* don't teach it based on MY beliefs and in order to answer your question.

That's it! :tongue_smilie:

Now, when my children are older, I probably WILL have them read Bullfinches book for 'cultural literacy', however not before age 14 or so...depending on the particular child's spiritual maturity around that time.

Anyway, hope that helps answer your question to some degree, IF you really wanted to know that is! lol

[elegantlion]

I am on the other side of the coin, I wish I had taught mythology at a younger age. :confused1: My ds will be starting ancients for the first time in 5th grade. We moved away from a curriculum in the last year that spends the grammar ages focused mainly on US history.

I believe it would have added depth to our Astronomy study this year. So I feel like we missed out in the richness of some cultural history.

[Julie in GA]

those Greek gods aren't at all like the Creator God they worship! (Sometimes they act like children!) We point out the differences between Greek/Roman/Norse gods and the God of the Universe as revealed to us in Scripture. We point out how ancient pagan cultures gave their gods attributes that were important to their culture.

This is something we begin around 3rd grade or so. I don't read mythology to my itty-biity ones, though, for reasons already mentioned here.

Let me say, though, that if anyone is uncomfortable with this, I would counsel them to "err" on the side of caution. It certainly won't hurt your children to wait on mythology, but it could hurt them if you begin too early.

Blessings,

[Excelsior! Academy]

I'm not saying anything against anyone else's choices and I hope sharing this doesn't open the door in my direction either but ultimately I feel that learning about mythology is the same as learning about fairy tales and folklore.

My dd7 hasn't been confused at all about gods and goddesses, on the other hand, she is a little confused about the Trinity, but who isn't. I'd rather my children learn from a young age about other religions and understand there are many ideas in this world (and of this world) but there is ultimately one God. While we could forgo talking about mythology at all, why miss fabulous stories with morals to learn? That is what I teach my children, that mythology and polytheism is just that, stories. Gain what you can from them and realize they are not of God, they are of this world.

Every time we talk about a polytheistic religion or faith, I draw Earth on our dry erase board. I put GOD in capital letters outside of the sphere of the Earth at the top and inside I draw little stick figures to represent the gods and goddesses that others believe(d) in. Where is God? He's above the world. Where are the gods and goddesses? They are in the world and of the world. I'm looking forward to the next cycle when we can discuss how un-Godlike the polytheistic deities actually are and until then we'll just enjoy the stories.

Jessica,

I have not read the other posts, so if I repeat forgive me. I have always had trouble explaining the trinity too until I heard/saw this demonstration. You take an apple and cut it down the middle. You show the core and how it is a separate part of the apple. The skin is also a specific part, but distintly part of the apple. The same with the flesh of the apple. Each has its specific role, but each is also part of the whole, and the apple would not be complete without any of them.

Excelsior!

[Krista in LA]

They loved the stories. We always talked about them as being stories that they made up to try to explain the world they lived in. There was never any confusion on their part and the stories helped them understand life back then. Never did they show any doubt in our religion.

[Excelsior! Academy]

We did/do teach mythology to the youngers. We use Veritas Press for history and like how they approach it. I am very careful about showing the end result and making coorilations (spelling?) to today's society and immorality in our world today. We do dicuss how they did not follow God and how they were punished because of it.

I don't divulge all information, just as I would not read them Song of Solomon at these ages. While I do believe it is important to know, we will wait until mental maturity to discuss some of the details.

[Holly IN]

Do you include mythology, specifically learning about Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, in your homeschool?

For elementary to middle school, no I do not.

For high school I do just to get them awareness of what it is in order to give them enough knowledge about it before they leave home. I do not want them to be ignorant if somebody mentiones one of the myths. I will only be scratching the surface. I will not devote alot of time to it. Just the basic information.

Holly

[King Alfred Academy]

I had been taking DD to church since she was born, and to Sunday School starting when she was 3. I started reading to her from the NIV Bible rather than Bible story books when she was about 4, and we talked about the stories and the truths of God's Word.

I also read to her a lot from story books and fairy tale books. So we had already been talking a lot about what is true and what isn't before we started studying world history.

Then, when we studied SOTW1, we interspersed it with Biblical history. That meant that we put the Bible stories into the SOTW sequence, right where they belonged. (It did take us about 1 1/2 years to get through the whole thing, but it was well worth it!)

So, by the time we hit the Greek and Roman myths, the groundwork in distinguishing fact from fiction had been well laid. And a great deal of Bible study work demonstrating over and over how following false gods got Israel into trouble had been done. Plus, God looks so awesome compared to the petty squabbles of the Greek and Roman pantheon--the contrast was really quite startling, one following directly on the heels of the other. So it was very easy to keep the myths straight from the truth, and in fact, the myths made the truth look much 'true-er'.

Also, the Biblical history 'bookended' the Roman and Greek studies. So DD got 'God' history just before and just after the mythology.

No worries at all. Frankly, when we read about Paul preaching in Athens and when he talked about the unknown god and when we read about the Dianic controversy in Ephesus, we understood the Bible much better because of the Greek and Roman background; and again, the background just made Acts look better.
This is EXACTLY how we approached/approach it. (reading them directly from the Bible and not story books, lots of fairy tales/stories here, and distinguishing between what is fact and what is fiction...although, how do we know fairies aren't real?...not opening another can of worms though...seriously...I'm not) My boys know the difference between our God (big G) and the other gods (little g). They LOVE mythology and really can not get enough of it. It's interesting and I have had a lot of "teaching moments" about our faith because of it.

[JuJuBee]

My overall parenting philosophy has been to have, as much as possible, open discourse on a wide variety of topics (with age-appropriate sensitivity, obviously), such that we are always in conversation about the realities of God and fallen man. I want my children, as soon as they are able to make these types of connections, to have a solid grasp on the distinctions of the Christian faith, to understand that it really isn't surprising that we see similarities between it and other faiths, but where the differences lie and why we believe Christianity to be not just relative truth for us (i.e., they believe this, but we believe that), but Truth regardless of who believes it.

The ancient Greek and Roman myths are incredibly fun and interesting, and they are an important point of cultural literacy to boot. They also serve, at least to my mind, as a wonderful example of what humans groping around for understanding -- absent God's revelation -- can come up with. If anything, the capricious, volatile, *flawed* nature of these gods and goddesses highlights the wonderful unchanging nature of God, who has always moved towards his people with love and grace. I think we have a wonderful example of "god in the image of man" in these figures, and it's a teaching opportunity not to be missed. I suppose the risk in studying other religions is that the child would conclude that Christianity is just 'one amongst many' and that the whole religious impulse is man-made/search for father/fear of death/etc. Yet we can't hide from these philosophies for ever. And regardless, I don't think that a faith that has never been exposed to anything else could be very strong. In today's culture, we have to know what we believe and why, and we cannot suppose to keep The World out of our lives. Of course, our sin natures are such that The World is always with us, anyway. We are The World (cue cheesy 80's song ;) ).

Bottom lining it, I believe that my children's salvation is in God's hands, not mine. I'm not afraid of Zeus or Diana or Harry Potter threatening their security in the Father's hand. At the same time, I take my responsibility to train them in the fear and admonition of the Lord seriously, which is why I want to be there to point them towards Christ whatever the context. If the impulse is saying "we need to wait on this until they are more spiritually mature" I think that's cool. If the impulse is "we need to hide them away from anything that could make them question their belief in Christ," then I think that's quite problematic. They cannot be equipped for service if they don't know what they will be facing.

all that being said, I always believe in being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and if it was on someone's heart to delay exposure to ancient mythologies, then by all means, delay, provided it isn't a way of avoiding any challenges to the faith. Some children may not be ready, and there's nothing wrong with being sensitive to that. I guess what I am saying is I try to introduce these types of things (whatever it is, differing worldviews, abortion, sex before marriage, etc) at age-appropriate points. I do think it's problematic and ultimately not to a child's advantage to try to avoid any and all challenging views to the faith.

[WTMindy]

as many others have said far more elequently. I'll never forget the day we were studying some afterlife myth, and my dd (in K, at the time) said, "They believe that, but we believe that Christian's go to heaven when they die." It was such a great moment for me because I could watch her recognize and articulate what she believes and how it fits in with other cultures. I also loved that she was seeing that not everything that is written in a book is true. It is necessary to filter everything you read through your world view. I think that is better the younger you start, with careful guidance and conversations.

[Raders Fan]

Like Plaid Dad and others have commented, knowledge of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology is a fundamental component of our cultural literacy. References to the Greek and Roman gods abound in classical literature.

In the scriptures we are admonished to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We need to be educated. We shouldn’t ignore our cultural history or pretend it doesn’t exist. We need to know what others believe/believed, and be able to teach our children why others are the way they are, without compromising our own standards or beliefs. We may be doing them a disservice if we withhold essential elements of cultural history from them.

Of course, the debate seems to be turning on what is age-appropriate, and each family will have a different opinion on the matter. We prefer to cover mythology well while they are young so that in high middle school and high school they have the time necessary to spend on classical rhetoric, philosophy, and deeper scripture study. I fear my children’s inability to understand and discuss the flawed philosophies and rhetoric of men far more than stories from classical mythology.

Jennifer

[kellycbr]

This is a fascinating discussion. We are using SOTW with our ds(7), and are currently studying the Egyptians. Would anyone have a list of stories or sections out of the Bible that they used with each chapter of SOTW? That may be a tall order, but if someone has it, I'd love to add that to our lesson/discussion as we go through SOTW without having to stumble about trying to find the relevant passage. For the record, I plan on exposing my dc to mythology in our homeschooling. I love the saying "To question is to bring you closer to God."

[Old Dominion Heather]

My boys know the difference between our God (big G) and the other gods (little g). They LOVE mythology and really can not get enough of it. It's interesting and I have had a lot of "teaching moments" about our faith because of it.:iagree:

This is what we have done and it has really strengthened their faith, I think...

We have lots of discussion about "Aren't you glad THAT god isn't real?!"
They could understand why Christ and the apostles' teachings were so, so different from the gentile status quo.

[fishnoises]

I don't see the difference between The Iliad, Star Wars, Chronicles of Narnia and Spiderman, when it comes to humans with superhuman strength, supernatural beings or talking animals. I think children are smart enough to know what is real, myth and God. They have to be able to do this and the only way they can is to be exposed to Greek and Roman mythology and fairy tales. They liove in this world and they need the tools to be able to decide what is truth and also to know what other people believe. How will they be able to witness and share the gosple to people who have a completely different belief system. We have to be relatable.
I highly recommend reading "Epic" by John Eldridge. He discusses the importance of the "story" and why humans find meaning in popular stories (in film).

[chai]

My question isn't so much whether to study the ancient gods, but in how much depth?

I totally agree that we need to have some understanding to be culturally literate. I didn't have that training and I wish that I had. Before teaching my dd's 1st grade history, I didn't know anything about them except for a few things I picked up here or there. We did much of the same type of study as others have mentioned, combining the OT with ancient history. It was a fantastic study.

But does dd need to know ancient mythology in even more depth? What is the benefit of that?

[AudreyTN]

My question isn't so much whether to study the ancient gods, but in how much depth?

We study it merely as a story. I don't require any memorization or anything like that. Just as I wouldn't for any other fantasy that we read about.

We do the activities, color some pages, write some narrations, and that's about it. :hat:

[sweetTN]

We discussed mythology and all the gods the Romans and Greeks believed in with our dd (8) during SOTW. She had no trouble understanding the difference between what they believed in vs what our beliefs are, commenting often on how their beliefs sounded more like fairy tales. Beliefs are such a big part of any culture, just look a the Middle East.

[ELaurie]

Elaina,

Thank you for posting : ) I always appreciate your respectful, informative, and thoughtfully considered replies.

I would add to your reputation, but apparently I have done so recently (as I often do when I read your posts), and I am informed that I cannot do so again until I spread some reputation around a bit.

BTW, I would be interested in knowing which threads you were referring to when you mentioned a discussion of religion here in recent weeks?

[Chris in CA]

we do, but didn't until about 4th grade, then they just associated the myths with fairy tales, etc. and knew they were make-believe.

[Robin Hood]

I went ahead with it and it turned out good. Mythology actually strengthed my own Christian faith and is easy to debunk once you jump in and get a look. Debunk meaning there is no comparison or that it might mean something other than religious. My dds both know they are just stories. So many of our friends chose either to wait or not go there, but we have no regrets. If you're nervous about it, educate yourself first, then dive in.

I found these at our library http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=243 and got a better understanding of what it's about. They are not Christain, but neither to they detract from Christianity.

[Verena]

Yes, but we don't dwell on it all that much. We're going through Ancients right now, dss are 6 and 9.
They are not at all confused about what our family believes vs. what the ancient greeks/romans believed.
So far it hasn't been a problem at all.

[frogpond1]

we do let our children that many people worship false gods even today. Our children have been memorizing the Bible since age 3 and don't seem to have trouble in elementary understanding the idea of truth and a lie. False gods are a lie from Satan and they understand that completely.

[Eliana]

Elaina,

Thank you for posting : ) I always appreciate your respectful, informative, and thoughtfully considered replies.

I would add to your reputation, but apparently I have done so recently (as I often do when I read your posts), and I am informed that I cannot do so again until I spread some reputation around a bit.

BTW, I would be interested in knowing which threads you were referring to when you mentioned a discussion of religion here in recent weeks?

:o You are so sweet! Thank you.

Here are some of the threads I was thinking of:

The quiverful thread:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8825
(and the follow-up about public assistance)

The at-times-very-distressing thread about Catholicism:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9834

The secular humanism thread:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10142

Some of the evolution threads and clothing choice threads have been eyeopening as well. I think there were others as well, but I can't remember the specifics well enough to track down the threads....

[Plaid Dad]

I just wanted to share an article (http://www.latincentered.com/node/256) I wrote about teaching mythology. Thought it might be helpful to some here. :)

[ELaurie]

Thank you Eliana.

Shabbat Shalom!

[TracyR]

We do . My daughters love the stories and it was explained to them before that this was something that people believed along time ago . That they didn't know about God .

[Twinmom]

We do teach mythology, etc. here at home and have had no problem with it. We began by teaching/memorizing the 10 commandments (ie. You shall have no other gods before Me!) and relate that back to whatever we are learning about other "gods." My 6 yr old son has really internalized this well, and he usually reminds us that we are talking "gods with a little g!"

I, too, find it very helpful for the kids to see that others believe differently than we do and to learn about what this means for their own lives. Often, it is a great contrast to Christianity and a forgiving, loving Creator/Savior and my kids will end the discussion commenting on the fact that they are lucky to know the real God (with a big G!).

Jennifer

[StephanieZ]

I have no problems with it at all. I teach as much as I can about world religions, historical and current.

[AudreyTN]

I just wanted to share an article (http://www.latincentered.com/node/256) I wrote about teaching mythology. Thought it might be helpful to some here. :)

Thank You! That put a whole new perspective on this for me. AND now I feel that I need to add Greek Myths to our studies. :glare: (do you see me glaring at you? :D)

:thumbup: Thanks again, that was great!

[PariSarah]

Christianity isn't just a set of concepts that we teach dc--it permeates everything we do, and we try to make those connections as explicit as possible. We talk a lot more about "following Jesus" rather than "what we believe."

This is especially important in the early years, because kids learn by doing, not thinking. I'm far less worried about them being exposed to unchristian thoughts than about them developing unchristian habits. If they are in the habit of ignoring the homeless, hungry guy, if they are in the habit of screaming to get their way, if they are in the habit of going to church only with people who look just like them, then they are being trained in denying the gospel. And that's far more serious than being taught the idea that there are people who don't believe the gospel. Heck, they already knew that.

So we train dc in following Christ. We make it part of every facet of their lives--what they do with their bodies, how they treat their friends, what we let into the house, everything. Doing it, living it out, making it happen in their little muscles and bones, gets all sorts of synapses firing. Muscle memory is a whole different region of the brain than conceptual memory. (Did you know that people with anterograde amnesia can still learn new tasks?) We use everything at our disposal, and we make it as explicit as possible: "This is what people who follow Jesus do."

A couple of storybooks about Zeus and Hera just aren't going to compete.

(This is not universally true, I suppose, and I like what JuJuBee said about being sensitive to the Spirit's leading. Very important, that.)

So, yeah, I'm fine with reading and teaching mythology, in the sense of teaching about mythology. "They didn't know about Jesus yet" or "Well, that's what people who don't follow Jesus believe" has always been a more than adequate explanation for any questions that arise.

[Kelli in TN]

We study other beliefs as we come to them in our studies. We are on year 3 of our second history cycle now and the study of mythology has not had any adverse affects on any of my children.
:iagree:

[profmom]

Thank you all so much! Thanks for your article too, Plaid Dad.

One of you said something like you didn't want to pretend they didn't exist. If I had been homeschooled, my mom probably would have limited my reading to only Christian authors and texts with scripture at the bottom of the pages, and I wouldn't have known about Greek & Roman gods. She disagreed with our reading and discussing Chronicles of Narnia with our kids a couple of years ago because there are witches and unicorns. (P.S. I don't have a problem with those who homeschool the way my mom would have, but I do want to include selected secular books and have world view-type discussions with my kids over the issues that arise.)

Anytime the kids and I have discussed gods (in Bible stories and in The Children's Homer), they have had no problems. I've stopped and commented, but they always act like, "Of course, Mom! We know they aren't real!" I also really like the comments & reminders (like PariSarah's) about how our faith permeates our lives. Thanks also for the reminders to led by the Spirit -- definitely "important, that!" :iagree: In my case, I think my concerns have been more fear-based, which is why I wanted to discuss it with you guys.

Thanks again for all your contributions! There are so many great posts here, and I appreciate them all!