Are You OK With That Question #1

Are you OK with a non-Christian secular view being taught and promoted in public schools?

This first question in my "Are you OK With That?" series is one that didn't even cross my mind before sending my kids into public school. I had simply accepted the fact long ago that the school would teach the basic academics and my husband and I would be instilling in my children the love of Christ and what it means to be a Christ follower.

Trying to separate these two areas in a person's life is pretty much impossible simply because who I am in Christ affects all areas of my life, at home and outside my home. If I'm teaching my children what we believe to be truth according to our faith at home and then they are being taught an entirely opposite agenda at school, how do we as Christian parents combat that? That's a big conflict we're asking kids to face every day when they enter the doors of public school.

Recently I listened to a talk by Andrew Pudewa titled "Conquering Corrupt Culture By Raising Christian Communicators" and I had a huge "Ah ha!" moment. I was finally able to put my finger on what exactly the conflict was. According to Pudewa, it's the non-gospel of "relativism" being taught in schools: the belief that there are no absolutes when it comes to truth; that people can define their own truth. In other words, every student can have their own "truth" and we have to agree that everyone's truth is equally valid. How can we have two contradictory truths and have them both be true?

Think about it this way - every discussion with the teacher, every interaction with peers, every textbook that is approved is based on this fundamental idea that truth doesn't really exist, it's all just a matter of opinion. 

Pudewa goes on to give some rather startling statistics based on the book Already Gone. According to the book,of the "self-professed, Bible-raising church-going Christian families, 60 to 80% of their kids within one year of leaving home will stop attending church and will leave their faith".

Interestingly enough the statistics are opposite of those who home school their children. 80% of these children are still practicing their faith and sometimes even involved in missions work of some kind.

What do you think is the difference between the two? It's the programming of the public schools.

Well meaning parents think (like I did), "I'll put them in public school but then teach them the truth at home." But did you know that if a child goes to public school from kindergarten through grade 12 they will have had 14,400 hours of this "relativism message" being taught?

That's 14,400 hours, in my opinion, of the wrong message. How could I possibly undo that message with just a few hours of Wednesday night activities and Sunday church service? We can't.

My husband and I were handing over our children and thousands of hours of their time (and our time) for programming we didn't even believe in. Oddly enough, we didn't even see it at first. 

When I first withdrew my son from school, my number #1 reason was because I was tired of the battle. After spending countless hours volunteering at the school, in meetings with the school teachers and administrators, in PTA meetings and such that it finally dawned on me - why am I wasting so much time and energy when I could have him home with me and spend quality one-on-one time with just him? What a revelation!  And, getting all those hours back to include teaching him to understand and appreciate our faith in Jesus Christ was a bonus!

Now, teaching our faith to my children is my #1 reason for having them at home with me. I want my children to do all things for the glory of God. Whether they're learning math, science, history or any other subject, it's all created by Him for Him. 

Our history books include Biblical stories. Bible stories are no longer disconnected from history but they are part of history. (You'll never find Bible stories in public school textbooks.)

Our science books include the book of Genesis and explains how the world was formed and the different theories on how the world was formed. The "Big Bang" being taught as a theory, not an absolute truth (it's being taught in many schools as truth).

So, the question still remains, "Are you OK with a non-Christian secular view being taught and promoted?"

I would be remiss to not ask you one other question as well: "Are you OK with giving thousands of hours of your child's life (and your time) to the public school for their programming?"

I found that answering these questions with a resounding, "No" was easy for me but finding the solution of what to do next was more challenging.

That's why I've started putting together a Database of Resources for other families that might be looking for better education solutions. There are SO many out there! Take a look and begin to discover the joy and freedom in making a choice - don't just accept that public school is all there is. You have a choice on how you spend your time and your child's time. You only raise them once and you'll never get those hours back. How do you want to spend them?

I welcome your comments and feedback. If you have questions about resources, specific curriculum, or if you just want to know how to get started in homeschooling, please let me know.

I hope you'll take the time to answer these tough questions and then plan a course that is best for you and your family.

Blessings,
Christi