children, education, schoolI attended multiple private Catholic schools from Preschool through 8th grade.
The only real benefit I noticed from attending such a school was their extremely advanced English program. The things we were learning in the 8th grade (gerrund phrases come to mind) weren’t even touched upon until the second or third year of college.
Are there any Atheist schools? I haven’t seen or heard of any. Why not?
There is no need to teach atheism. Teach critical thinking, and that conclusion is reached by one’s self.
Yes. They are to numerous to count. Try searching for Secular schools. Also, Montessori schools tend to not push religion, however they do teach religion as an aspect of cultural awareness.
If by your question do you mean, are their schools that actively teach against following a religion, then you may find there are less schools. But if you mean, schools that do not teach religion, then you are in luck.
It would make little sense to have an atheist school. The answer to why not is that we haven’t had enough time to build them. Even now, they may get firebombed. Fifty years ago, they wouldn’t have lasted very long at all. Plus, who would want an atheist school?
What would make sense is a secular private or charter school. Those do exist, and the right search terms will find them for you.
I don’t know if that would necessarily be a good idea. I went to a private Christian school as well, and experienced many of the same benefits - namely, superior education. Given that, what possible value would there be in mimicking the religious by excluding those who don’t think the same as us? They do it out of fear, because their position is on fragile ground. We have nothing to fear, no faith to lose; and having honest intellectual discussions with our children at night about other people’s real beliefs, put on display is much more valuable than creating an artificial environment where the religious are “those other people we don’t talk to”.
You’re looking for the wrong term. You can’t teach atheism, it is a lack of belief in a single positive claim. You should be looking for a school which is secular, that is, not concerned with gods or religions.
Yes.
The public schools in most European countries are secular. Similarly, Uruguay has a reputation for secular public education.
I live in the Southern US, where all the private schools are religious. Well all except the Montessori schools, which teach from a secular perspective. So yes, non-religous public schools do exist. As mentioned elsewhere, “atheism” need no be taught, but arrived at individually. It’s a journey after all.
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