Today's Christian Education Commentary
with Harold Naylor
Does Education Have a Purpose – what is the difference between public and Christian schools?
The public school has planned education as a benefit to the state or for the general welfare of society. If this societal welfare is purpose of education, then the state may collect taxes and mandate that all children attend. It is the state, not the parent, who controls all of the content as well.
In Romans 8, God instructs us to “be conformed to the image of His Son.” Christian education is primarily to benefit God, as well as the student. Jesus declared in Matthew, “He who is not with me is against me.”
To become more like Christ is the goal of Christian education.
Maybe it’s a good idea to start at the top – with the purpose. You can get some help in thinking through this by simply logging onto http://www.discoverchristianschools.com/.
Showing posts with label Public School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Public School. Show all posts
Monday, February 9, 2009
Monday, December 29, 2008
Discover Christian Schools
By Harold Naylor, Jr.,
Co-founder, DiscoverChristianSchools.com
Critical thinking, character education, safety and security, uncovering God-given talents and passions, and developing a Christian view of the world. These are some of the reasons Christian parents invest large sums of money for tuition in a local Christian school.
However, most (90% by some estimates) evangelical parents put their children in the local public school. They (fondly) remember their own school days and declare, "I went to public school and I turned OK."
These parents, and the ones that desire for their children to be "salt and light" in the local school are the reason for the launching of http://www.discoverchristianschools.com/ , a communications initiative to speak directly to parents about the total education of their children.
The initiative produces weekly radio spots, Christian Education Commentary, that are carried on 117 stations across the US. The web site has had over 300,000 unique visitors and still gets 4,000 hits per day. A Google search on "Christian schools" puts the site in the #2 position.
WORLD magazine's founder, Joel Belz, recently described www.DiscoverChristianSchools.com as “...a notable effort to help parents discover the good things happening on the school front.”
Schools need to band together to get the word out that the local Christian school is the best partner a parent can find for the training of their child. This communications effort also helps schools crystallize and amplify their message as they seek to put critical information on their on web site and into the hands of prospective parents.
Schools can join the effort at no cost, but the campaign is maintained by gifts. If you would like more information on how to bless children, parents, and schools, please contact John Fedele via email at jfedele@DiscoverChristianSchools.com .
Co-founder, DiscoverChristianSchools.com
Critical thinking, character education, safety and security, uncovering God-given talents and passions, and developing a Christian view of the world. These are some of the reasons Christian parents invest large sums of money for tuition in a local Christian school.
However, most (90% by some estimates) evangelical parents put their children in the local public school. They (fondly) remember their own school days and declare, "I went to public school and I turned OK."
These parents, and the ones that desire for their children to be "salt and light" in the local school are the reason for the launching of http://www.discoverchristianschools.com/ , a communications initiative to speak directly to parents about the total education of their children.
The initiative produces weekly radio spots, Christian Education Commentary, that are carried on 117 stations across the US. The web site has had over 300,000 unique visitors and still gets 4,000 hits per day. A Google search on "Christian schools" puts the site in the #2 position.
WORLD magazine's founder, Joel Belz, recently described www.DiscoverChristianSchools.com as “...a notable effort to help parents discover the good things happening on the school front.”
Schools need to band together to get the word out that the local Christian school is the best partner a parent can find for the training of their child. This communications effort also helps schools crystallize and amplify their message as they seek to put critical information on their on web site and into the hands of prospective parents.
Schools can join the effort at no cost, but the campaign is maintained by gifts. If you would like more information on how to bless children, parents, and schools, please contact John Fedele via email at jfedele@DiscoverChristianSchools.com .
Thursday, July 17, 2008
A Parent's Perspective - The Right Priorities
Elizabeth W.
Wilmington, DE
We are recent converts to Christian schooling who began as proponents of public schooling, mainly in order to be salt and light. While kindergarten was fine, first grade started off with a lack of peace, which never abated. As the year progressed, God gradually opened our eyes, changing our hearts and minds in the process.
No matter what administrators might tell you, children are NOT their priority. The public schools have all the problems inherent in a government bureaucracy: lack of accountability, political motivations, inefficiencies, unresponsiveness, etc. Moreover, the environment is often not nurturing, not to mention disorderly, which is clearly not conducive to learning. I imagine there are some exceptions somewhere, but why gamble?
Both the reading and math curricula were not rigorous, entailing a lot of busy work, little actual teaching and a lot of extraneous material and projects, versus a focus on critical fundamentals. There are a lot of new, experimental teaching methods being used for the sake of novelty. Who wants their child to be used as a guinea pig and be academically handicapped as a result?
Let me emphasize that I spent extraordinary amounts of time in the classroom and talking with parents, administrators and teachers. If you have not done this, trust me, you do not have an accurate idea of your child’s experience. Even at the first grade level, I was alarmed by the negative peer influences, which included age-inappropriate boy/girl interactions.
I should note that our child was in the only gifted program offered in the entire state. This is a highly regarded program by many, even some Christian parents, but as I spent more time in the classroom, I concluded that the “best” in public education is decidedly inadequate. The visit to WCS shed light on the deficiencies in public school; I should note that this was based solely on my observations, as school personnel did not even discuss public schools. Even if you feel public school is fine, I urge you to visit your local Christian school. God wants the best for our children, and so do parents. Wisdom demands we make decisions based on knowledge. Consequently, don’t we have an obligation to investigate all options, especially regarding the training of our children?
Wilmington, DE
We are recent converts to Christian schooling who began as proponents of public schooling, mainly in order to be salt and light. While kindergarten was fine, first grade started off with a lack of peace, which never abated. As the year progressed, God gradually opened our eyes, changing our hearts and minds in the process.
No matter what administrators might tell you, children are NOT their priority. The public schools have all the problems inherent in a government bureaucracy: lack of accountability, political motivations, inefficiencies, unresponsiveness, etc. Moreover, the environment is often not nurturing, not to mention disorderly, which is clearly not conducive to learning. I imagine there are some exceptions somewhere, but why gamble?
Both the reading and math curricula were not rigorous, entailing a lot of busy work, little actual teaching and a lot of extraneous material and projects, versus a focus on critical fundamentals. There are a lot of new, experimental teaching methods being used for the sake of novelty. Who wants their child to be used as a guinea pig and be academically handicapped as a result?
Let me emphasize that I spent extraordinary amounts of time in the classroom and talking with parents, administrators and teachers. If you have not done this, trust me, you do not have an accurate idea of your child’s experience. Even at the first grade level, I was alarmed by the negative peer influences, which included age-inappropriate boy/girl interactions.
I should note that our child was in the only gifted program offered in the entire state. This is a highly regarded program by many, even some Christian parents, but as I spent more time in the classroom, I concluded that the “best” in public education is decidedly inadequate. The visit to WCS shed light on the deficiencies in public school; I should note that this was based solely on my observations, as school personnel did not even discuss public schools. Even if you feel public school is fine, I urge you to visit your local Christian school. God wants the best for our children, and so do parents. Wisdom demands we make decisions based on knowledge. Consequently, don’t we have an obligation to investigate all options, especially regarding the training of our children?
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