parenting

Choosing a Christian Education

There is a cost, and there is a price – this is what I think when I am asked the value of Christian education, from homeschooling to private Christian schooling to Christian College. As parents seek the best “fit” for their children, each option (including “free” public education) has an associated cost; there is also a price paid when a child leaves their family’s faith in worldly pursuits. 

Christian education can bear tremendous fruit in the life of a child. Scripture is clear that the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake without wisdom and godly guidance has risks which could lead one off the path of righteousness (Genesis 3:6,7; Proverbs 1:7). This can be a frightening outcome for parents who are weighing educational options. What criteria should they apply when making the choices: Friends? Location? Budget? Are church programs enough to counterbalance the public school’s worldview? These questions periodically arise as finances and other life circumstances change but I ask parents to consider all the ways in which educational settings affect our children for the rest of their lives.

Scripture strongly cautions that teachers should consider their calling and the strength of their conviction before beginning the precious relationship to students: Titus 2:8 – “Teach the Truth”; Titus 2:7 – “You must be an example”; 2 Timothy 4:2 – “Preach the word of God. Be prepared… Patiently correct, rebuke…”. 1 Timothy 4:16 admonishes teachers to “Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.” 

Compare these instructions and qualifications to the majority of teachers found in “free” school, whether Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK), International Baccalaureate High School, or Community College courses where the worldview, lifestyle, and personal beliefs of the teachers are varied and diverse.  Are these people you want your child “sitting under”? Teaching is a very sacred trust. Consider carefully those under whom your child will sit, and the hours per day, week, and year that teaching will influence them. 

Rather than Christian Character being well formed by age eighteen (a long-serving mark of maturity), studies show that the adolescent mind remains heavily influenced and vulnerable through age twenty-five.

Exposure to the world’s values is unavoidable, but the tsunami of worldly values and thinking which permeates general education could cause your child to question and confuse what is truth as they are forced to choose sides on worldview, historical accuracy, life choices and goals. Instead of working towards content mastery and developing life skills of logical reasoning, public speaking and writing, our students may seek to fit into the “norm” and unknowingly adopt much of the worldliness that non-Christian education presents.

I believe that our children benefit from more time to mature and more exposure to loving, thoughtful, and well-educated teachers and professors who will guide them into truth as young adults. They benefit from having mentors who offer lifelong relationships with their students and take joy in their accomplishments as they begin to teach others:

“Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus.”
— 2 Timothy 1:13

PEP meets students social and academic needs by effectively combining responsibility and freedom, taking learning differences and needs into consideration in short- and long-term planning, and giving exposure to rich classical learning which supports higher learning. While the promise of Advanced Placement courses, Community College Dual Enrollment courses and other options can be attractive to parents while their children are still in High School, the trade-off for potential college credit may be the elimination of some core content learning in efforts to universalize the courses, and will certainly be absent of all Christian Worldview.  Students taking the International Baccalaureate curriculum know little of American History and Civics as these are not part of their diploma program.

No matter how the Lord leads Christian parents to steward the education of their children, they must include aspects which develop true accomplishment and wisdom from learning, not merely “checking boxes”.

While PEP students develop the logic, language skills, and responsibility which should accompany learning, we believe the Godly process of student discipleship is far more valuable than the GPA. I encourage parents considering PEP to meet with current students, their parents and PEP graduates. The maturity and courtesy we saw in such students impressed our family to choose homeschooling. With your student guided by the Word of God, the Truth of the Gospel, and with godly friends and instructors, you will find the cost was worth it, and the rewards far exceed the price.

Jill Dragiff earned her master’s degree from California State University – Dominguez Hills. She was a pioneer in the homeschool movement early on and also taught humanities in the private school sector over 20 years. She has been involved in curriculum development as well as advanced testing. We are excited to say that she now teaches histories at PEP East St. Johns where she is a well-loved tutor.

Preparing Minds for Action

Child Educational Choices: Christian Parents, Smile and Be Bold!

Way back in 1980, President Jimmy Carter, trying to make a salient point in the Presidential Debate with Ronald Reagan, remarked that he asked his 13-year-old daughter, Amy, what she thought was the most important issue of the day? She said, “Nuclear disarmament.”  I was only in college at the time, but I remember wondering, “Why is the President of the United States taking advice on governmental policy from his daughter?” That made me a little nervous; and it made Carter a bit of a laughing stock. He lost that re-election.

When I was homeschooling back in the olden days before everybody was doing it, people would stop my children and ask them if they like homeschooling. At age eight, one of my children would reply, “I really want to go to public school, but my mom won’t let me!” That was horribly embarrassing, but the truth is, God’s design is for parents to raise their children according to their own wisdom, not for children to raise themselves according to their limited knowledge.

 

Multiple choice (answer at end of article):
Prov. 20:29 The glory of young men is their ___________________.
a) wisdom
b) strength
c) knowledge

 

The frontal lobe of the brain is not fully developed until about the age of 22. The frontal lobe controls execution function, planning, reasoning, and impulse control. This is why juveniles usually cannot be tried as adults in courts of law. Research suggests that the decision-making capacity of youth is simply not equal to that of mature adults. Of course, we don’t need scientists to tell us that; the Word of God has already informed us of that in principle. So does common sense!

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
”Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
— Ephesians 6:1-4

The Scriptural order of the home requires that the parents, the oldest, wisest members of the family, make the decisions for the training of the children (which includes the training of the mind until full maturity.) It’s natural for a middle school or high schooler to want to follow the crowd and “fit in” to his culture, just as it is natural for a five-year-old to demand candy at the check out lane. Parents are tempted to let the teenager make the decision on whether to continue Christian education or be educated under a secular system. Now, if the parents prayerfully decide it is in the best interest of his child to attend a public school for reasons of their own, the child can trust this is God’s leading and submit to their decision in a supportive fashion; but if parents just want to “take the road of least resistance” because the teenager will be difficult to live with if he doesn’t get his way on the education decision, then the child has a character issue that must be dealt with before he leaves the home. It can be a growing opportunity for parents and teenager.

My son, keep your father’s command,
And do not forsake the law of your mother.
Bind them continually upon your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
When you roam, they will lead you;
When you sleep, they will keep you
— Proverbs 6:20-22

Loving parents do want to listen to and consider the desires of their children, but when it comes to the training and admonition of the mind and heart, it’s OK for parents to make the final decision for their teenager’s education, even if the child initially protests, for this is right.

By the way, Amy, we still have nuclear weapons which have proven an effective deterrent to nuclear attack so far. And my child mentioned above now has six children whom they are homeschooling!

 

Answer to multiple choice question:
b) The glory of young men is their strength.

 

Mom and Dad, let your son move the furniture and chop the wood, but you decide how to equip his mind with truth and bestow godly character training to his heart. You won’t regret this in the long run. I promise you.