"And you shall teach (my Words) diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up...And you shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates".
Deuteronomy 6:8-9
Brian & I are constantly striving to improve our family. This past weekend we were in Illinois for a Reformation Faire. We gained some new knowledge but more about that in another post.
We have been doing devotions in the daily curriculum but have started our family devotions a few months ago. We also sing together as a family during devotions. I must say that I do enjoy this but it is hard work especially with a 3 year old.
If you are looking for some resources to help you try, The Family Bible Study Guide by Kevin Swanson at http://www.generationswithvision.com/ or A Commentary for Children books from Nancy E. Ganz. You can view her books here A classic book to read with your family is The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss. Brian is thoroughly enjoying this book on CD. It is a book that speaks volumes on how to instruct and admonish your child in the ways of God. Maybe, you would enjoy reading this book with your children too.
I am going to talk about The Core Curriculum, which was discussed this past weekend.
Here are words from Kevin Swanson that have ministered to me.
So how did we get to the point where discipleship in faith and character is so radically separated from education in "academic" subjects? Suffice it to say that it was men like Thomas Aquinas and other scholastics like Duns Scotus who first drew a hard and fast separation between reasoned faith (and natural revelation and special revelation) such that there were some area of study reserved for faith, and other areas reserved for reason. Effectively, what they were saying is that there were some areas of life to which the Word of God could not speak. Secular education would take care of secular subjects like science, history, and math, and the Bible could be used for learning about stuff like Trinity and redemption. This thinking worked powerfully to undermine a biblical worldview in the modern world and precipitated the downfall of Christianity in the west. Thus, Genesis was of little use in the science class. Even though Proverbs is God's textbook on the education of a child, it is hardly used by colleges, even those that bear a Christian name. Moreover, the fear of God is considered to be of little use for those learning about things like science or even the existence of God. This is a despite the fact that the Bible requires everyone to fear God before trying prove His existence, and one needs to fear Him if he is going to pick up any knowledge or wisdom in the area of scientific learning. Indeed, the fear of God is the very beginning of knowledge (Provers 1:7)
My thesis is this: not only is the Word of God part of the education of a child, it is the very core of it.
So why do we teach our children to read? I would guess that the average parent seeks a good education so as to guarantee their child a good salary and a respectable net worth later in life. But this reason is not important enough for me. Historically, Christans and Jews have had a special commitment to education for one simple reason---God prescribes reading and writing in Deuteronomy 6:8-9! We teach our children to read because God insists upon it, and we teach them to read so that they can read the Bible.
Our children need to know why they must learn academics, even the basic academics of reading and phonics. There is no more important or more practical application of reading in the life of a person than reading the Bible and teaching it to their families. (Think about leaving a legacy)
Martin Luther rightly aired his concerns about an education that does not retain the Scriptures as the core curriculum. He wrote, " I am greatly afraid that schools will prove to be great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures". And I am afraid that this is how Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, along with most of K-12 education, became the "great gates of hell" for a nation, not to mention for hundreds of millions of people. Most education today simply fails to teach the Bible as the core of the curriculum.
Sadly, even Christians have taken this view of education. A recent study conducted by George Barna found that only three out of ten born-again parents included the salvation of their children in the list of critical parental emphases. And the parents who included a "good education" in their emphases out numbered those who included " having a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ" by almost two to one. When asked a recent homeschooling leadership symposium whether Christian parents have family devotions with their children, Barna answered, "only one in ten has ever tried it". ( my input: "Wow, this is sad.)
It is interesting that the instruction to teach our children God's Word in Deuteronomy 6 follows the shema----the command to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. For families that do not consider their faith worth conveying to their children, I wonder if there is any faith there at all. If a parent is not willing to do this, one must conclude that they either do not love God or they do not love their children enough. Loving our children has a lot to do with loving God, and loving God involves sharing God with our children.
If we provide our children excellent academic instruction in mathematics, science, Latin, and grammar, but neglect to teach them the Psalms, Proverbs, and book of Genesis with equal diligence and thoroughness, then we have failed in the education of our children.
Our children should know every Proverb as they know their multiplication and addition tables. By the time they graduate from high school, they should be instantly familiar with every Bible story and illustration---from Jacob's striped sticks to the drinking water to Jephthah's vow in Judges. They should be able to understand the complexity of ethical questions, as well as draw biblical principles to bear on ethical issues as various as courtship, debt, fractional reserve banking systems, self defense, education, art, and music. They should have grappled with some of the most difficult paradoxes in scriptural doctrine (and of course, they should have been duly humbled in the process).
This sort of an education program will only come with thousands and thousands of hours of patient, loving discipleship in the Word of God on the part of fathers and mothers as they sit in their houses, as they walk by the way, as they rise up, and as they lie down.
A careful study of Deuteronomy 6:7-9 would find some specific directions concerning this sort of an education program. Here is a summary of the highlights.
--It must be thorough, covering ALL the commandments (Deut. 6:2, 2Tim. 3:16, 17)
--It must be daily, diligent, and consistent (Heb.3:13)
--It is primarily a parental responsibility (Deut. 6:7, Eph. 6:4, 1Thess. 2:11, Ex. 10:2, and the entire book of Proverbs).
--It must be pervasive and integrated into every area of life (Deut. 6:7-8)
--It is both prepared (on the posts of the house) and extemporaneously integrated in the everyday experiences of walking by the way or driving in the car (Deut. 6:7-8)
--It is personal, direct, and includes two-way communication (Deut. 6:20-22)
Deuteronomy 6:8-9
Brian & I are constantly striving to improve our family. This past weekend we were in Illinois for a Reformation Faire. We gained some new knowledge but more about that in another post.
We have been doing devotions in the daily curriculum but have started our family devotions a few months ago. We also sing together as a family during devotions. I must say that I do enjoy this but it is hard work especially with a 3 year old.
If you are looking for some resources to help you try, The Family Bible Study Guide by Kevin Swanson at http://www.generationswithvision.com/ or A Commentary for Children books from Nancy E. Ganz. You can view her books here A classic book to read with your family is The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss. Brian is thoroughly enjoying this book on CD. It is a book that speaks volumes on how to instruct and admonish your child in the ways of God. Maybe, you would enjoy reading this book with your children too.
I am going to talk about The Core Curriculum, which was discussed this past weekend.
Here are words from Kevin Swanson that have ministered to me.
So how did we get to the point where discipleship in faith and character is so radically separated from education in "academic" subjects? Suffice it to say that it was men like Thomas Aquinas and other scholastics like Duns Scotus who first drew a hard and fast separation between reasoned faith (and natural revelation and special revelation) such that there were some area of study reserved for faith, and other areas reserved for reason. Effectively, what they were saying is that there were some areas of life to which the Word of God could not speak. Secular education would take care of secular subjects like science, history, and math, and the Bible could be used for learning about stuff like Trinity and redemption. This thinking worked powerfully to undermine a biblical worldview in the modern world and precipitated the downfall of Christianity in the west. Thus, Genesis was of little use in the science class. Even though Proverbs is God's textbook on the education of a child, it is hardly used by colleges, even those that bear a Christian name. Moreover, the fear of God is considered to be of little use for those learning about things like science or even the existence of God. This is a despite the fact that the Bible requires everyone to fear God before trying prove His existence, and one needs to fear Him if he is going to pick up any knowledge or wisdom in the area of scientific learning. Indeed, the fear of God is the very beginning of knowledge (Provers 1:7)
My thesis is this: not only is the Word of God part of the education of a child, it is the very core of it.
So why do we teach our children to read? I would guess that the average parent seeks a good education so as to guarantee their child a good salary and a respectable net worth later in life. But this reason is not important enough for me. Historically, Christans and Jews have had a special commitment to education for one simple reason---God prescribes reading and writing in Deuteronomy 6:8-9! We teach our children to read because God insists upon it, and we teach them to read so that they can read the Bible.
Our children need to know why they must learn academics, even the basic academics of reading and phonics. There is no more important or more practical application of reading in the life of a person than reading the Bible and teaching it to their families. (Think about leaving a legacy)
Martin Luther rightly aired his concerns about an education that does not retain the Scriptures as the core curriculum. He wrote, " I am greatly afraid that schools will prove to be great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures". And I am afraid that this is how Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, along with most of K-12 education, became the "great gates of hell" for a nation, not to mention for hundreds of millions of people. Most education today simply fails to teach the Bible as the core of the curriculum.
Sadly, even Christians have taken this view of education. A recent study conducted by George Barna found that only three out of ten born-again parents included the salvation of their children in the list of critical parental emphases. And the parents who included a "good education" in their emphases out numbered those who included " having a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ" by almost two to one. When asked a recent homeschooling leadership symposium whether Christian parents have family devotions with their children, Barna answered, "only one in ten has ever tried it". ( my input: "Wow, this is sad.)
It is interesting that the instruction to teach our children God's Word in Deuteronomy 6 follows the shema----the command to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. For families that do not consider their faith worth conveying to their children, I wonder if there is any faith there at all. If a parent is not willing to do this, one must conclude that they either do not love God or they do not love their children enough. Loving our children has a lot to do with loving God, and loving God involves sharing God with our children.
If we provide our children excellent academic instruction in mathematics, science, Latin, and grammar, but neglect to teach them the Psalms, Proverbs, and book of Genesis with equal diligence and thoroughness, then we have failed in the education of our children.
Our children should know every Proverb as they know their multiplication and addition tables. By the time they graduate from high school, they should be instantly familiar with every Bible story and illustration---from Jacob's striped sticks to the drinking water to Jephthah's vow in Judges. They should be able to understand the complexity of ethical questions, as well as draw biblical principles to bear on ethical issues as various as courtship, debt, fractional reserve banking systems, self defense, education, art, and music. They should have grappled with some of the most difficult paradoxes in scriptural doctrine (and of course, they should have been duly humbled in the process).
This sort of an education program will only come with thousands and thousands of hours of patient, loving discipleship in the Word of God on the part of fathers and mothers as they sit in their houses, as they walk by the way, as they rise up, and as they lie down.
A careful study of Deuteronomy 6:7-9 would find some specific directions concerning this sort of an education program. Here is a summary of the highlights.
--It must be thorough, covering ALL the commandments (Deut. 6:2, 2Tim. 3:16, 17)
--It must be daily, diligent, and consistent (Heb.3:13)
--It is primarily a parental responsibility (Deut. 6:7, Eph. 6:4, 1Thess. 2:11, Ex. 10:2, and the entire book of Proverbs).
--It must be pervasive and integrated into every area of life (Deut. 6:7-8)
--It is both prepared (on the posts of the house) and extemporaneously integrated in the everyday experiences of walking by the way or driving in the car (Deut. 6:7-8)
--It is personal, direct, and includes two-way communication (Deut. 6:20-22)
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