Christianity Today Surveys Students

According to a recent survey by Christianity Today, where your children go to school is vitally important in determining their future.  Here is a summary:

New Survey found that Christian schooling makes a difference—and that different kinds of Christianeducation produce different results among their graduates. The large study from Cardus, a Hamilton,Ontario–based Christian thinktank (formerly the Work Research Foundation), examined the attitudes, beliefs, and behavior of Americans ages 23–40—that is, 6 to 21 years after high school graduation—and took into account more than 30 variables known to influence development (such as frequency of religious service attendance, race, and educational attainment).

Do you want your child to grow up to like new and exciting experiences, even if it means breaking the rules?  Send him to a non-religious private school.

Do you want your child to grow up to get divorced and lack clear goals or direction?  Home school him from a religious perspective.

Do you want your child to grow up to feel least prepared for a vibrant spiritual life?  Send her to public school.

Each option has its good points and its drawbacks.  You should learn which option has which positives and negatives and which option best fits your child.

Here is a link to a summary of the survey's findings.

Going Public

Tim Challies is a well known reformed Christian blogger who lives in Canada and who has his children in public school.  His blog, always worth reading, is promoting a new book, Going Public:  Your Child Can Thrive in Public Schools, by David and Kelli Pritchard.  In reviewing the book, Challies makes the following important point:

The most valuable lesson of all, at least in my view, is that public schooling is a family affair. The decision to place children in the public education system is a decision to have the whole family involved in this system. They say, “We should not think in terms of sending our child off by himself to ‘the mission field.’ We go there together. This is a family expedition. When we show up each August to enroll our kids for another school year, we are enrolling our family into the life of this institution. This is a joint venture.” This means that mom and dad are involved not just with the children, but with the school and teachers and leaders.

This echoes an observation Gordon Fuller, a public school teacher, made last year at our own Navigating the Education Maze event.  Gordon said that the most time-consuming option of all is public schooling, because Christian parents must make sure to know what was said and done throughout the school day every day and to be prepared to help children "unlearn" many things learned in school that do not match up with a biblical worldview.  This requires a tremendous investment.

You can read Challies' article here and find Going Public at Amazon.com.  

Distinguishing Principles and Methods

Sometimes, we Christians get caught up in the little things.  We classical Christian school parents recoil with horror at home school parents who don't teach their children Latin.  Home school parents shun Christian school parents who use Bob Jones University curriculum.  I don't like you because you send your child to, you know, that inferior school.  You don't like me because my kids' uniform has a button down collar and a string tie.

Silly, isn't it?

We get hung up on methods and lose sight of the fact that we agree on principles.  This article makes the point abundantly clear.  Here is an excerpt:

Principles are the things that God lays out for us. Love your children. Serve the Lord. Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Children are a blessing. Be fruitful. Methods are the tools we use to try to accomplish these things. 

Methods vary, even when the people involved are all following God. Do not get caught up in method camps and chisel away at the number of saints you can fellowship with every time you read a new article about that thing that has become the most important thing. Do not build for yourself an arsenal of inflammatory topics. Do not be quick to fire off heated comments.

The thing about principles and methods is that if you agree on the principle, the method is not such a big deal.

We who are "navigating" the education maze need to remember the difference.  If friends and family are educating their children from a Christian perspective, that is the main thing.  Whether it is through a home school or Christian school is a dispute about method.  Not principle. 

New Jersey Public School District Pulls Books Containing Descriptions of Lesbian Sex

Read the story on the Fox News website.  Peter Spriggs of Family Research Council says:  "This just illustrates why a lot of American parents are not willing to entrust their children to the public schools anymore."  The sad thing is that a committee of teachers and librarians didn't recognize that the books would be controversial.  The even sadder thing is that only a handful of parents complained.

New Beginnings And New Mercies

It's the beginning of a new school year.  Parents are anxious to get their little ones back to school.  Students are ready to see old friends and make new acquaintances.  Teachers are ready to impart wisdom and virtue.  Everyone is happy.

As you begin the year, now is a good time to take stock of where your children are, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.  Are they where you want them to be?  Is their school environment what you would have it to be?  Take a few minutes and read over the biblical principles under girding a parent's responsibility to educate his or her children and think about these things.

And if you find that, as the year goes along, you find your answers to these questions unsettling, make plans to attend the Idlewild Baptist Church Navigating the Education Maze this January.  Get your questions answered.

Thought Crime Comes To The Florida Public Schools

Do you have your kids in public school?  Do they have a Christian teacher?  They may not for long if this story turns into a trend.  A Christian teacher posted on Facebook his personal opinion about gay marriage.  Now he is being suspended and possibly fired for exercising his First Amendment right.

But this is in California or Massachusetts, you might ask.  Nope.  Right here in Florida.  See the story here.

Columbine Comes To Tampa ... Almost

Today's Tampa Tribune reports that a teenager has been arrested for attempting to set off a bomb at Freedom High School.  The former student (who was expelled last year) had wanted to set off an explosion that killed more people than the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado.  Yes, it can happen here.

Does Class Size Really Matter?

Research says ... maybe not.

Gallop Poll Reports Record Low In Public School Confidence

Read about it here.