`Deuteronomy 6' Schooling <TITLE> <META name= "xxx" content= "xxx"> <META name= "keywords"= "xxx"> </HEAD> <BODY> <CENTER><H3>`DEUTERONOMY 6' SCHOOLING</H3> <STRONG>Home school, Christian day school, public school? Where should parents educate their children? The answer is found by determining where parents can best follow biblical imperatives.</STRONG> <P>by<BR> Wendell E. Miller</CENTER> <P>Q. We are planning to home school our children, but our families are trying to dissuade us. What are some biblical guidelines to follow? <P>A. The Scriptures teach that man was created for God's glory (Isa.43:7). Therefore, education for Christians must have the standard of glorifying God and preparing children to live lives that glorify Him. <P>Three principles for educating children are found in Deuteronomy 6. One of these principles is that children be taught the Word of God diligently (v. 7). The words "teach diligently" come from a Hebrew word that means "to sharpen." "Teach diligently" faithfully translates the idea that teaching the Scriptures to children is to be a continuing, or repetitive, process. <P>Teaching children the Word of God is to be a process much like sharpening a spear or a scythe. It takes time and patience to sharpen their minds. This "sharpening" cannot be accomplished by the Sunday school and church one day a week. Who, then, will sharpen their minds, and in what? <P>A second principle of teaching children in Deuteronomy 6 is to "talk of them" (the Scriptures) throughout the day (v. 7). Most likely, the idea behind "talk of them" is to teach children how the Scriptures apply to every event in their lives. They are to learn to see everything in the world in the light of God--who He is, and what He says to do or to think. Thus, the goal of Christ-centered education should be developing a biblical philosophy of life, as opposed to developing a secular philosophy of life. <P>The third of the three principles of teaching children in Deuteronomy 6 is modelling. Parents are commanded to "be" (v. 5) before they are to "teach." Jesus taught this principle of modelling when He said, "The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect [fully trained] shall be as his master" (Luke 6:40). This teaching of Jesus is that a child usually will copy the person to whom he is looking as an example, and he will grow up to be like that person. <P>Our country needs the influence of Christians teaching in the public schools, but the Constitution of the United States has been interpreted in ways that make it very difficult for Christians to be effective in teaching things in the public schools that should be taught to every child. We can appreciate those Christians who attempt to make a ministry out of a difficult situation, but a Christian who is teaching in the public schools may be teaching, by implication, three important errors: 1) that there is no God, or that God is not important enough to mention; 2) that there is no basis for right or wrong; and/or 3) that the teacher is a good person without God (if he cannot, or does not, let the children know of his faith). <P>A Christian teaching in a public school may be doing a fantastic job of modelling morality and the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-24), but he may be doing a poor job of modelling his faith in God and the importance of his faith in his life. If so, he is not accomplishing the modelling of Deuteronomy 6. <P>Sometimes the one who is modelling for children is their teacher. The children may begin to think that their teacher is smarter than their parents. "After all," they reason, "my teacher knows about computers and things like that. My teacher does not talk about God; so God must not exist, or He is obsolete, or He is not important." <P>A Christian modeling in the public school may be doing his best to teach morality, but what is morality? Some in the world are saying that "true morality is accepting the moral choices of others." This is about as far from biblical morality as the depraved mind of man can go. An absolute morality is entirely dependent upon a God who is, who has spoken, who will judge sin, and who will punish sin. Teaching morality includes being able to say, "The Lord hath said!" <P>A Christian teacher in a public school may have a great desire to steer the children's minds to God's truth and away from godless humanism. However, one problem is that references to God, the Christian faith and Judaism have been taken out of many textbooks, according to a study by Paul C. Vitz, a noted psychologist who is a Christian. <P>Taking references to God from textbooks is a primary objective of humanism (the "faith" that "there is no God"). Judge Hand of the U.S. District Court in Mobile, Alabama, ruled that secular humanism is a religion, and that 49-state-approved textbooks had so obliterated references to God that these textbooks constitute the teaching of secular humanism. He then ruled that these textbooks are "establishing" a state religion in violation to the Constitution of the United States. <P>History and social science textbooks should, under laws of the land, present a balanced view of the faith of the founding fathers of our country. But even if they did, could public school teachers "teach them [children] diligently" from the Scriptures? <P>Secular humanism has much at stake in the teaching of evolution, because creationist teaching is totally incompatible with their religion (that there is no God). For Christians, part of man's glorifying God is in man's giving Him credit for His creative works and praising Him for His power and goodness. <P>Teaching that glorifies God cannot leave out the teaching of creationism. Teaching that is truly biblical is not "integrating the Bible into every subject," as some say. Teaching that is truly biblical includes: 1) teaching the Word diligently, and 2) "talking about them" (the Scriptures). To "talk about them," the teacher should take every occasion to relate what God says to whatever is being discussed. <P>If the children come in "buzzing" about something that has happened on the playground or somewhere in the world, then if the teacher is scheduled to teach math, he should put aside his math book long enough to lead a discussion about what God says about the subject that is uppermost in the children's minds at that moment. He will have plenty of time to teach math. His teaching schedule should not be inflexible. <P>"Talking about them" (the Scriptures) as they affect everyday life is the way to develop a biblical philosophy of life in the children. This is education for children that fulfills biblical requirements. <P>It is clear that the requirements of Deuteronomy 6 for teaching children cannot be met in the public schools, even by Christians who are dedicated to doing everything that is possible under present interpretations of federal laws. What choices, then, do Christian parents have? <P>Home schooling inherently provides the opportunity to meet the requirements of Deuteronomy 6. Of course, some parents may not feel intellectually or physically capable of home schooling. Christian day schools are a possibility for those who have a truly biblical one with high standards within reasonable distance and who can pay the tuition by giving up things of lesser value. <P>Perhaps a majority of the Christians believe that they have no other choice than the public school. If so, they should realize the seriousness of their children's being subject to the influences of secular humanism and to a world without moral foundations. <P>They should read and discuss all of the children's textbooks and workbooks. They should grant permission for their children to see special movies and videos only after reviewing them themselves, or receiving a favorable report from a trusted Christian who has reviewed them. They should use time in the evenings to teach the Word diligently to their children. Of equal importance, they should help their children interpret, and reinterpret, all of the material that has come into their minds during the day, so that their understanding of these things will agree with what God says about these things. <P>Now, with regard to home schooling, there are excellent materials and helps available, so most parents are much more capable of being teachers in a home school than many would think. <P>Dr. Raymond Moore probably is the most noted and capable of the leaders of the home school movement. While his beliefs vary somewhat from those of most readers of this column, his views on education of children are very close to being in biblical balance, and his Hewitt Research Foundation provides some of the best help, both educational and legal, that Christian parents can find. <P>Christian parents can combine their efforts in teaching some of the more technical subjects, or some that require special equipment, such as computer technology. Some Christian day schools enroll home schools as satellite schools and provide assistance to home schools. At least one Christian liberal arts college provides special classes for home-schooled children who are of grade school level. Assuredly, Christians may cooperate to increase the effectiveness of home schooling and to reduce the load on individual families, without departing from the biblical advantages. <P>Home schooling is a tutorial system, and tutoring is far more time efficient than conventional classroom teaching. Thus, it takes far less of a parent's time to teach than the children would spend in the classroom at either a public or a Christian school. <P>Because it is more time efficient, home schooling leaves time for the child to be a helper in the home. By being a helper in the home, the child can lighten the housework load, thus providing time for home schooling. <P>Of equal importance, biblical home schooling can provide biblical models for developing a biblical philosophy of life, for learning to work, for learning cheerfulness, for learning cooperation. and for learning to be concerned for the needs of others (as opposed to poor modelling by their peers). Further, children can learn many skills and practical truths from their parents. <P>A child benefits by "being socialized" by godly Christian parents more than by "being socialized" by his peers. As any parent has seen, "being socialized" by his peers often results in selfishness ("me first"), and an influx of many other sinful ideas and habits. <P>Tutoring produces students of excellence. Both history and the ratings that home-schooled children are making in standardized tests bear out this fact. <P>Home schooling is one way for Christian parents to fulfill the three rules of child rearing of Deuteronomy 6. All Christians should feel a oneness in their goals to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4), and all Christians should encourage each other to do whatever is best in their situation for their children. <CENTER><P>Copyright 1987 by Wendell E. Miller<BR> Downloaded from http://www.biblical-counsel.org<BR> <P>May be reprinted and distributed in quantities if distributed free or at cost, and if<BR> copyright, download, and permission information is included.</CENTER> </BODY> <P><A HREF="qa-index.htm">Return to Q&A Counseling Articles Index</A> <P><A HREF="index.htm">Return to Home Page</A> </HTML>