Teaching Methods From Deuteronomy
One of the most frequently quoted portions of Holy Scripture among Christian home educators is Deuteronomy 6:4-9. In these verses, the Lord gives a clear command for parents to diligently teach their children the whole of God’s precepts and commandments throughout the course of each day. In particular, verses six and seven state: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
What is obvious from this passage, is that Almighty God desires for parents to diligently and regularly instruct their covenant children in the truth of God’s Word in order that they may be prepared to walk righteously as lights in a dark and fallen world. What is less obvious, however, is how God directs parents to accomplish the noble and vital task of biblical child training. The Lord simply directs parents to walk and talk with their children throughout the hours of each day in order that they may teach them how to apply the truth of God’s Word to the issues of life.
“Wait a minute!” you may say. “The greatest duty of parenting can’t be summed up that simply, … or can it?” Too often Christian parents, including those involved in home education, imagine that the process of imparting spiritual and moral truth must be accomplished in some sort of rigid manner, complete with plenty of formal classes and workbooks. Now, it is undoubtedly true that most parents will find that they can accomplish some aspects of their training more efficiently through the utilization of Bible study texts and supplemental resources such as maps, flashcards, charts, etc. The true issue or concern, however, is not about books or the value of formal class work. The point that parents need to grasp, regardless of whether they elect to use Bible study texts or classes, is that the most important aspect of biblical training was never designed by Almighty God to be limited to or governed by man-made books or study programs. The Lord, after all, gave children to parents, and it is His intention that they take an active and personal role in the spiritual development of their offspring.
Continue reading 'Teaching Methods From Deuteronomy'»
There are few subjects more important for younger Christian men and women to seek to master than the debate between creation vs. evolution. Our faith will certainly come under attack. We must stand humbly but confidently on the foundation of God’s Word as we seek to understand the issues and work through some of the very difficult questions that arise. This first post deals with the biblical evidence for a literal six-day creation.
In Gen. 1:5 we have the first use of the word day. The Hebrew word is yom. The word yom appears 2,304 times in the Old Testament and is the 5th most common noun. The majority of times that it is used is in reference to a normal day-night cycle. It can though at times be used to represent an extended period of time, but that is not its most common usage. How can we tell when it is not referring to a literal day? The context of the passage would indicate otherwise. When day is used to refer to something other than a 24-hour day it is always used with special linguistic and contextual connections. When these are absent as in Genesis 1, the normal meaning is always assumed. And we know this just from our own communication. When we ask other people, “How are you doing today?”, we are generally not asking them for their entire life story. The meaning is determined by the context, which in the case of Genesis 1 is quite obvious and clear.
Continue reading 'Creation, Part 1'»
“What about socialization?” It seems strange to me that we still hear this question regarding homeschooling. After decades of success and exponential growth, you would think some of the more remedial and uninformed questions would wither and die. I have several answers for the question when it is posited, each falling somewhere on the politeness scale, depending on my mood.
“Your right! How could anyone want their kids to miss out on group pressure for sex, drugs, violence and rebellion?” Ok, I never really said it out loud, but I have to admit it lurks in my mind somewhere.
I think the real reason people raise this question is that they remember their friends and times of fun when they were in school. Continue reading 'What About Socialization…Again?'»
Every time the Olympics come around again, I am struck by the unique spirit and drive of the Olympic athletes. They come from around the world, having spent the previous four years in rigorous training. That training often includes rising before the sun most every morning, and doing a great deal of preparation and work before most folks roll out of bed. It takes serious and sustained desire, ambition, self-denial, and just raw work, to maintain the peak of physical and mental fitness. Whole families, and even towns sometimes, become involved in the athlete’s training and support. All of this is done so that the athlete can travel to some distant corner of the globe to get one shot at gold—and perhaps miss it by a few hundredths of a second. Any little thing that goes wrong can throw the first place contender completely out of the medal running. Everyone knows that if you are out of the medals, you virtually cease to exist in terms of the glory of the Olympics. The journalists stop talking about you very quickly, and no one remembers your name. Continue reading 'Obtaining the Prize'»
Ehud ben Levi! You better get going, the school bus is about to come!
But, Mom, why do I have to keep going to the Philistine school?
Ehud, you know that they have the best Spear and Sword team.
But Mom, they only teach us about Dagon and that our God is nothing special.
Ehud, don’t listen to that stuff. You only need to pay attention when they teach you about math and science. You can also ignore most of their history stuff. You can learn about Torah when you go to Synagogue on Saturday.
Now quick, otherwise you’ll miss the bus. We love you, Ehud. See you tonight around 6.
Continue reading 'Ehud ben Levi'»
In response to the earthquake and suffering in Haiti, we are seeking to help a pastor in the Chicagoland area who will be leading a team that will be traveling to Haiti. Bob Allums and his wife Helen, a nurse, will be leaving for Haiti on February 19. It is difficult to assess the level of suffering and need in Haiti. Doug Phillips of Vision Forum ministries who also has been working in Haiti has noted that much of the American attention given to Haiti ended with distractions over the Super Bowl. We must not be so distracted. I would ask you to seek to help faithful ministries still working in Haiti. Please also pray for Bob and Helen Allums and those traveling with him. There may be opportunity to partner with them later in 2010.
They say that people who start out singing in the rain end up all wet.
Boy were we excited to start teaching our kids at home! This was going to be fun. We would see their little minds come alive with new found knowledge that would mold them into fine Christian gentlemen.
It turned out to be harder than we imagined. Continue reading 'Are We There Yet?'»
We periodically add a post that was published in a previous version of The Christian Educator, before it became a blog. The following article originally appeared in Volume 1, Issue 1 of The Christian Educator.
In early June, 2006, the United States Senate rejected a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that was designed to protect the institution of marriage by defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman. This legislative proposal was put forth by politicians who were seeking to raise a standard against the growing efforts of those that are intent on redefining marriage to include “same sex” partners. The mere fact that such a bill was even deemed necessary, reveals the extent of the current crisis and further clarifies just how intent the forces of darkness are in trying to undermine the God-ordained institution of marriage.
As a Christian home school dad, I have watched the intensity of the attack upon the foundation of the family in the U.S. and abroad increase significantly in recent years and have sought the Lord’s wisdom as to how to respond. As usual, the Lord reminded me to take direction and comfort from His Word. While I believe that I do have a duty as a citizen to support political or legislative efforts designed to protect the family, the Word of God makes it clear that the Lord Himself will ultimately defend the covenant of marriage. Continue reading 'The Family’s Sure Defense'»
My title is borrowed from Zechariah 4:10, a reference to the attitudes of certain Jews concerning the rebuilding of the temple. What was the source of their attitude? The rebuilding process was arduous at best and life-threatening at worst. And from where they stood, it didn’t look like it was ever going to be completed. Or, if completed, it would never measure up to the presumed goal of the enterprise, namely, replication of the original temple.
There is a similar undercurrent I sense when communicating with parents struggling to teach their students at home. The smallness of any single day’s work can seem insignificant when made to stand against the enormity of the grand task. Worse, at those points of real struggle – when the pace slows to barely a crawl and frustration is the primary theme of the day – the entire academic enterprise can seem in danger of capsizing. Do not despair!
Continue reading 'Do Not Despise the Day of Small Things – Taking the Long View'»
We periodically add a post that was published in a previous version of The Christian Educator, before it became a blog. The following article originally appeared in Volume 4, Issue 3 of The Christian Educator.
Before my pre-dawn alarm went off, I got the call: “MOM! Zeke threw up on the carpet!”
I bolted out of bed, grabbed my glasses, and found my 15-year-old son angrily pointing at the offending spot on his bedroom carpet as our 70-pound dog Zeke looked on sheepishly.
Yup. I was off and running on “one of those days.”
Continue reading 'Handling Homeschool Interruptions'»
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