November 28, 2000 - Ancient Greek Photos

Regarding the nudity in the library books on Ancient Greece . . . it is
disturbing isn't it? I must say that the comments I have seen within the
group have been very "healthy" in my opinion. By that I mean, that I think
you are all trying to keep a good perspective on the whole thing. (The
same thing is going to happen when we study some of the paintings of the
Renaissance period, by the way . . . ) If we want our children to learn
about other cultures, sometimes we have to expose them (hopefully, gently)
to some things that we would not choose to otherwise. I think you DO have
to select your books very carefully for this unit, and then try to always
look at them WITH your children - then you can monitor and edit certain
parts by just reading aloud to them on those questionable pages without
having them look at the pictures.

I love your ideas on discussing how God made our bodies wonderfully and
beautifully - that we should not be "ashamed" of them. This IS an
excellent time to discuss what the Bible says about the whole thing and to
delve into issues of modesty. What is appropriate and what is not - what
does the Bible say about how we should dress, behave, etc. The Greek unit
is probably the toughest, because we get hit twice - once with exposing our
children to other gods, and then again with the nudity issue. We can
completely ignore both - and/or never study this period at all, but it is
in learning about the way they lived that helps us understand the Greeks
better, and as Christian parents we always must turn things around and use
them to our advantage! (Remember Joseph's story . . . God meant it for
good!) Just as we try to use the exposure to the Greek gods to learn more
about our own Heavenly Father, to appreciate our own faith more, and to
understand that ALL people do not believe in God - that we need to share
God's love and plan with them! So, too, should we try to use anything that
might be (even inadvertantly) seen so that we can help our children form
healthy opinions of their own bodies. By choosing books carefully, not
dwelling on the questionable photos, and/or reading aloud (without showing
them the pictures) you should be able to avoid much of the problem.

Perhaps some of you will want to share with the rest which books (if any)
did NOT contain these types of pictures - those that your children could
read without supervision. If the more offensive books were strictly read
aloud by mom and pictures were only shown according to mom's discretion
(just like you would when reading a fiction book - stopping when you came
to a picture, then showing the kids) you could still get the information
across without all the rest of the stuff you didn't want your children to see.

In a group this size there will always be MANY different opinions. Some of
you follow the more structured classical approach and others follow the
more flexible Charlotte Mason approach, still others adhere to a special
philosophy of your very own (often a mix of a lot of different methods),
but you ALL manage to follow along in A World of Adventure with your own
unique modifications! Each of you will also have to decide how to handle
other issues that might present themselves in our adventure together this
year. It is so much fun to hear the ideas and opinions of the others!
Just remember, that what you decide to do in the end should be what feels
right for you and your family - not necessarily what worked for someone else.

You guys are GREAT!

Dorian