This month, I read the book When You Rise Up: A Covenantal Approach to Homeschooling by R.C. Sproul Jr. I was encouraged and motivated by this book to make God my reference point when it comes to educating my children.
Most of the book is based on the passage from Deuteronomy 6:1-9. As Christian homeschoolers, most of us look to this passage to give a reason for our homeschooling choice. However, it is much more than that. This passage tells us what we should be teaching, when we should be teaching and how we should be teaching it. The Bible should be our curriculum! Our number one priority is the educate our children in what Mr. Sproul calls the "Three G's": Who is God? What has God done? What does God require?
In this book, Mr. Sproul answers such questions as: What is the goal of education? What is the standard for measuring the success of our children's education? Who should be teaching our children?
Do we homeschool our children just so that THEY will have a superior edcation or be sheltered from the world? Are we teaching God's truths to our children AND teaching them that they are to be taught to their children and their children and their children for generations to come?
Our job as Christian parents is to give our children a firm grasp of the "Three G's" as mentioned above. Does that mean that academics are secondary? Not necessarily. Why do we teach our children to read? Is is so that they can read great classic literature? So that they can read street signs? So that they can function in society? No, we teach them to read so that they can read God's word for themselves! Why do we teach them to write? So they can fill out job applications? No, it's so that they can write words of encouragement to their sons and daughters and brothers and sisters. Why do we teach science and math? So that they will be culturally literate or be able to balance their checkbook? No we teach these subjects because God created them, and they give us a better picture of the "Three G's".
This is a somewhat unconventional homeschooling book. Most books on the subject focus on the academic aspect, however, our most important task is raising godly children. Part of fufilling the role that God has called them to is being literate in the 3 R's as well as history and science, but the attainment of knowledge is not an end in itself! The attainment of knowledge makes them better equipped to to God's will!
If you get a chance to read this book, I hope you will. It will help you put a new perspective on your homeschool. And hopefully, it will help you prioritize!
Until next time,
~Linda~
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