What is True Education?
True Education must come from a Godly perspective -with a Christian world vision. In the Bible, the apostle Paul says to fathersa bout their children: "... bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" Ephesians 6v4. We also read in the Old Testament: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 6v5-7
Ellen White wrote in 'Ministry of Healing' : "True education is missionary training." (see*1) "Education is not complete unless the body, mind, and the heart are equally educated." (*2) "True Education includes the whole being." (*3) "Heart education is of far more importance than mere book learning. It is well, even essential, to have a knowledge of the world in which we live; but if we leave eternity out of our reckoning, we shall make a failure from which we can never recover."(*4)
So True Education puts God in the most important place, and also educates the whole child -spiritual, intellectual, emotional, physical -to produce an all rounded, whole person for God's Kingdom.How can we achieve True Education in the home?There is no one way to educate a child -only the guiding principles from above. Each child and family is different and must find what style of education suits them best. Remember it is Home Education (a whole lifestyle) and not just Home Schooling (which can be seen as just academic).'Life is an education' is a very apt phrase.
Along with whatever structured educational resources you may choose to use, grab hold of the situations that come in your lives to teach your children about the world around us and how we should respond as Christians.There are many ways of home educating. Some choose a very structured approach of following one curriculum which covers everything, some mix and match from different curricula, while others just pick one or two (or none) and supplement with their own ideas. Talk to other home educators and see what they do; get feedback on resources they have used. Try and match resources to the child's interests and learning styles.For young ones, do lots of reading together -cuddle up together on the sofa and let the children listen to you read -this brings a love of books, learning, and together time.(Older ones like this too). Books can be borrowed from libraries(particularly good for non-fiction), and often bought cheaply in charity shops and on Amazon on the internet. Also do lots of learning through play and hands on activities.
“Supporting and enabling Adventist families in the practice of true education in the home”Page 4of 13All ages benefit from practical crafts, experiments and tasks at home. Again, buy resources in charity shops, car boot sales, and on Amazon; take outings to museums and other places of interest; watch good videos/TV together. Find other Christian home educators to spend time with, learning and playing together. Take advantage of local holiday activities run by museums and wildlife trusts and parks.Above all, enjoy the time you spend together and pray that God will guide you to find the right way of educating each of your children for His glory.Quotes from 'Ministry of Healing' (It is well worth reading the chapters from which these come). page numbers are approximate for the standard edition.
(I have a later edition with these numbers indicated in brackets) *1 -page 395 *2 -page398 *3 -page398 *4 -page450