“Why do you think home schooling works?” my educator-friend asked. “It shouldn’t work, you know. You moms don’t have teacher credentials; you don’t have expensive facilities; and you don’t have enough resources.”
“Well, it works,” I replied, “because it is based on biblical principles.”
“Like what?” she queried.
“Like togetherness,” I answered.
“Togetherness is a biblical principle?” she asked incredulously, waiting for a much more theologically sophisticated response.
As simple as it sounds, togetherness really is a biblical principle that unleashes a powerful force in the home. Jesus gives us the model of togetherness as He lived with His disciples for three years—training, teaching, exhorting, loving. Even His name—Emmanuel “God WITH us”—bespeaks of His passion for togetherness.
As we study, learn, worship, work, and play with our children, we are following Christ’s example. We should also employ this example as we teach our children to serve others. Serving others fulfills Jesus’ command, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” As in academic training, the most powerful way to teach our children to serve is one-on-one. We teach service best by taking our children with us as we serve others.
Service is featured this week on the HomeSchool Channel. Three different articles give unique perspectives: Deb Bell’s article Make Room for Volunteering, Mike Farris’ article Humility: An Attitude Worth Seeking, and my article Tutor—And Make Community Service a Family Affair.
Back to academics … As you prepare for standardized testing, I think you will be amazed and encouraged by the article, A Bright Idea for Learning. This one suggestion for raising test scores is very easy for home-schooling families to implement, but is costing millions for school districts around the country. Mike Farris also has a great article on teaching current events and media savvy, Why Christians Should Be Knowledgeable of Current Events.
May God bless our homes richly as we endeavor to follow His example in teaching and training our children.
Zan Tyler is co-author of the book Anyone Can Homeschool and senior education editor for Crosswalk.com . She and her husband have three children and have been home schooling since 1984.
