Educating Your Kids: 4 Things You Can’t Afford to Miss
Date: May 11, 2018
By Kevin Swanson
Really fast before you read this page
- This article is geared towards Christian parents. If you’re not a parent, feel free to read anyway, but just realize that some of this might not be as relevant for you.
- There will be a downloadable PDF and a video resource at the bottom of this page. Click here to go straight to it.
“How do I fit everything into my schedule?”
This is one of the #1 biggest challenges for many Christian parents. Fitting in parenting, academics, work, family, church, etc. into one person’s schedule and doing them all well is not easy (some would ask if it’s even possible).
We get it. That’s why our teams at CHEC and Generations joined up to host our latest online summit (over 25 sessions) that helps parents overcome this specific challenge. Check it out here.
In a nutshell though, here is the answer to the question
You don’t fit everything into your schedule. You can’t. It’s not possible. God has only given us 24 hours in a day, so that means we have to make choices on how we spend time.
(If you missed my session from the Fitting-It-All-In Summit called Struggling to Fit It All In? Maybe You’ve Got the Wrong Box, take time to watch it at the bottom of this page.)
But right now I want to deal with an even bigger question:
How do you know if you’re spending time where it REALLY counts when it comes to the education of your children?
A horrible thought
As a parent, what if one day you woke up to realize that all the time and effort you had put into the education of your children was focused on the wrong things? And now your kids are grown up, aren’t ready to engage in “real life,” and aren’t heading towards an eternity with Jesus Christ in Heaven?
It gets worse…this is actually happening for many Christian parents. The Barna Group reports that 95% of teens from American, Christian homes abandon a biblical worldview.1 Considering that America is labeled as a “Christian nation,” this is quite an alarming statistic. Are you kids going to be ready to persevere in the faith? What can you do as a parent to help them?
If you’re getting disturbed…good! Now is when we get to the good part.
Preparing our kids for life and eternity is more than we can accomplish as parents. It’s a miracle. It’s an act of God. The first step to seeing your kids become a counter-statistic is to cry out to God to do what He’s so good at…working miracles.
But God has also called you as a parent to be purposeful in the education of your children. That means we need to ask, “How can I get on board with what He is doing and make sure that I’m focusing on what’s truly the most important every day?”
Below I’ve outlined four “pillars” of a Christian education, based on the Word of God, that I believe are keys to “successful kids.” If these pillars aren’t in place, the whole thing comes down.
(If you’d like a way to get a fast refresher of these four pillars every day and stay on track with what’s most important, download this 1-page, PDF summary. Perfect for posting on your fridge.)
Pillar #1 – Family Discipleship
“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)
Fathers and mothers are responsible for raising their children in the atmosphere of the Lord’s nurture (Deuteronomy 6:7, Ephesians 6:4). Fathers and mothers should teach God’s words in the context of daily life. God calls fathers as leaders of their homes, to be involved in this discipleship at key, strategic points.
“Family discipleship” must involve the consistent and diligent teaching of God’s recommended curriculum: the Bible. Teaching your children the Psalms, Proverbs, and Gospels is essential and basic to a Christian education.
Fathers and mothers must keep a careful eye on their children’s spiritual condition, faith, and character.
Pillar #2 – Biblical Worldview
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)
What will it look like to teach our children with a biblical worldview? First, Jesus Christ must be preeminent in history, literature, and science (Colossians 1:18). Christ’s kingdom and His church must become more important in the student’s mind than the work of men’s hands in building their own kingdoms.
Secondly, the most essential building block of knowledge (above and beyond every other component) is the fear of God (Proverbs 1:7). The materialism and anti-supernaturalism assumed in modern evolutionary science cannot be tolerated by any Christian family.
Thirdly, our children must be prepared with strong biblical foundations and a robust apologetics methodology (2 Corinthians 10:4-6).
Pillar #3 – Best Teachers, Best Books
“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:40)
Our students will become like their teachers (Luke 6:40). Therefore, we should always prefer faithful Christian teachers and their writings over non-Christian teachers and their writings. The great Christian writings are the compendium of the pastors and teachers God has given the church over 2000 years (Ephesians 4:11). These are the teachers that God has given us.
Abiding and enduring books are a thousand times worth reading over the books that come and go through the centuries. The pagan teachers and writers have become one of the most influential tools of the devil to cause Christian students to stumble. It is wise to set your children at the feet of the best teachers by reading the greatest Christian books.
Pillar #4 – Worship and Life Application
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” (James 1:22-24)
Without life application, knowledge is fleeting and becomes an exercise in pride and self-deception. Discipleship and mentorship must include life application.
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and real reverence will result in worship. Our children must be trained to praise and worship God in the chemistry laboratory. Worship is the great purpose and end of all of life for the Christian.
Post these pillars on your refrigerator
The team at Generations has created a downloadable summary version of these 4 pillars that we just walked through that you can print off and post on your fridge or somewhere handy so you can review these on a daily basis. Click here to download.
Also, here’s my first session from the Homeschool Fitting-It-All-In Summit: Struggling to Fit It All In? Maybe You’ve Got the Wrong Box. Enjoy!
A time-sensitive announcement
Next week, Generations is going to be releasing a video mini-course on how to give your children a Christian education and specifically how to evaluate curriculum. Click here to sign up and we’ll send you an email when it goes live.
This is a fantastic resource to get to the root of it all, to help make sense of a massive amount of resources that can be helpful but potentially overwhelming. Also, once in the fray, to help us keep the first things first, since its so easy to get distracted by the wind and the waves of academic standards based on the traditions of men. Rather, we can walk on these waters by keeping our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith!
Thank you for this generous ministry. Your story about grammar was a micro-summary of what many of us are trying to do at home. I very much appreciate your commitment to shepherd and support homeschool families striving to glorify God in how we raise our kids.
Thank you for this encouragement and downloadable page. I’m wondering if you have a black and white version that would use less ink? I’d like to print it, but the color (even in grayscale) will use up a great deal of ink. Thanks for considering!
Thank you for putting this up again, I had missed it the first time. This makes so much sense, and I wish I could start homeschooling all over again! I love the insight that God has given you.