`DEUTERONOMY 6' SCHOOLING=+
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.=+
by =+
Wendell E. Miller=++

Q. We are planning to home school our children, but our
families are trying to dissuade us. What are some biblical
guidelines to follow? =++

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. =++

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. =++

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? =++

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. =++

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. =++

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). =++

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. =++

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." =++

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!" =++

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. =++

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. =++

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? =++

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. =++

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. =++

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. =++

"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. =++

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? =++

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. =++

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. =++

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. =++

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. =++

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. =++

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. =++

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. =++

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. =++

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. =++

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. =++

Tutoring produces students of excellence. Both history and the
ratings that home-schooled children are making in standardized
tests bear out this fact. =++

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.=++

Copyright 1987 by Wendell E. Miller=+
Downloaded from http://www.biblical-counsel.org=++

May be prerinted and distributed in quantities if distributed free or at cost, and if=+
copyright, download, and permission information is included.=+
Return to Home Page