ONE question every
parent must ask is, "How can we best educate our children?" It
seems there are more options than ever these days, with the
promise of more on the horizon. Yet with all these choices, how
can a parent decide which is best for their child? As with
everything, we must look to God’s Word.
In the covenant of
marriage, God gave children to Adam and Eve. With the first
cries of their son came the first form of corporate government
on this earth. It wasn’t the civil government. It wasn’t the
church. It was the family, and the entire responsibility for
raising and training that child fell to the parents. With no
how-to books, no parenting seminars, and no support from other
people, they embarked upon the task of teaching their children.
I don’t suppose they felt strange about this new job. It was
natural and obvious.
As Dr. Tony Evans
explains, "As a parent, you are responsible for your children’s
science education, history education, and every other element of
their training. The Bible locates the comprehensive education of
children in the home and lays the charge at the feet of Mom and
Dad." [1]
Why do parents today feel
so incapable of teaching their own children? It seems education
has been turned over entirely to "experts," and parents feel
inadequate. Could it be that parents really have all the tools
they need to educate their own children in the context of the
home? History has proven this to be true —nearly everyone
homeschooled until recent times. It also seems modern research
is reaffirming the role of parents as teachers.
A 1997 study of 5,402
homeschooled students, conducted by Dr. Brian Ray of the
National Home Education Research Institute [2], reveals that
home educated children scored an average of 35% higher on
national standardized tests than their governmentally schooled
counterparts, even when their parents were non-certified
teachers. In fact there was less than 8% difference between
parents who were college grads, and those who merely finished
high school.
If a parent who has never
walked the "hallowed halls" of higher academia can teach a child
to score 35% higher than a child taught by a paid
"professional," perhaps we should consider that the old ways are
best. Of course, skeptics of
parent-based education will challenge the motives of any
apologist such as myself. What is my bias you may ask? My motive
for promoting home education is the fact that I am a grateful
homeschooled graduate. Because of the sacrifices of my mother, I
was able to receive a solid Christian education, and finish high
school at the age of fifteen. The most important aspect of all
of this, however, is not the academic successes. They are merely
added to us as we seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness. (Matt 6:33) The most valuable thing I gained as a
homeschooled student was godly character, a Biblical worldview,
and a close family bond, acquired through the close quarters of
family discipleship.
Looking toward the possibility of someday
raising children, there is no way I would pass up the privilege
of teaching my own children. It is a responsibility given to
fathers in Eph. 6: "Bring them up in the training and
instruction of the Lord." With well over 600,000 Christian
homeschooling families [3] in the United States today, God’s
people are returning to the patterns established in Scripture
and taking responsibility for their own children.
