Articles on education, including curriculum recommendations, book reviews, resource reviews, and the case for Christian education.
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in America (3.2 million members). This large and powerful organization of teachers is known to have a strong affiliation with the Democratic Party. Most disturbing here is the NEA's support of abortion.
Read More"Non-Christian education is Godless education . . . Godless or nontheistic education is therefore also non- or anti-Christian education. Godless, non-Christian education naturally becomes humanistic, i.e., man-centered. If man does not need to live for God, he may live for himself."Read More
When people think of a Christian school, most think of a school that includes prayer, chapel, and required Bible courses. But a Christian school should be far more than that, as every subject should be taught in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, it is not always easy to see from the outside just how this plays out in the classroom. So let me take the subject of history and show why the teacher’s worldview matters.
Read MorePublic schools in early America were run by the local community. They were founded by Christians, and teachers prayed in class and used the Bible for instruction. But today, prayer and religious instruction are not allowed in public schools. So what happened? Local schools came under increased state control in the 1800s and were proclaimed to be religiously “neutral.”
Read MoreRon Paul is known by many as the libertarian congressman who ran for president twice in recent years. But Ron Paul is also an avid homeschooling advocate and offers a homeschool curriculum at his site RonPaulHomeschool.com
Read MoreWhere to educate children is a topic of debate among Christians today. But there is good reason people argue over this topic—where and how a child is educated has a significant impact on his or her life. Excused Absence: Should Christian Kids Leave Public Schools? by Douglas Wilson deals specifically with the subject of public schools. Wilson makes the case that Christian parents have the responsibility to provide their children with a Christian education, and he argues that this cannot be done by modern government (public) schools.
Read More"But nearly all public men and divines declare that the State schools are the glory of America, that they are a finality, and in no event to be surrendered. We have seen that their complete secularization is logically inevitable. Christians must prepare themselves then, for the following results: All prayer, catechisms, and Bibles will ultimately be driven out of the schools."Read More
Roman Roads Media publishes and sells homeschool curriculum from a classical and Christian perspective. Their signature product is Old Western Culture, a humanities curriculum taught by Wes Callihan that integrates literature, history, geography, philosophy, theology, and art. This curriculum is designed for 8th through 12th graders, and it is meant to be spread over four years—The Greeks (year one), The Romans (year two), Christendom (year three), and Early Moderns (year four).
Read MoreLogic is rarely studied in schools today, and its effects are evident. Even people with college degrees today cannot think critically or formulate good arguments. It is thus safe to say that individuals, and society as a whole, would benefit from the study of logic—the art of reasoning well.
Read MoreEveryone knows college is getting more expensive every year. The average cost of tuition and fees for 2014-15 was over $31,000 at private colleges and over $9,000 for in-state public colleges. (And this is low, as even a cheaper school like Central Michigan University is $12,000 per year.) You can then add another $10,000 per year for housing and food and $1,000 per year for books. This means even a student attending an in-state public university will spend $20,000 to $25,000 per year to attend college.
Read MoreGlenn Beck is mostly known as a radio and TV personality, but he has also written several books, including this 2014 work on public education. Conform: Exposing the Truth About Common Core and Public Education is a call to reform America’s public education system. Beck thinks this reform can best happen by the federal government leaving education to the states, states passing Right to Work laws to limit the power of teacher unions, states introducing a voucher system, and states reforming teacher certification. This book is an important and informative read for all Americans, whose tax dollars go to support this educational system.
Read MoreLogos Press is impressive. They publish homeschool material for 1st–6th grade, and they have an online school for 7th–12th grade. This is a classical Christian curriculum, meaning they follow the trivium and they focus on classical subjects (logic, Latin, ancient literature & history). Logos Press is a division of Canon Press and is associated with Douglas Wilson and Logos School in Moscow, Idaho.
Read MoreAn apologetics course is often reserved for seminary training. However, all Christians need to know how to defend their faith against the attacks of the unbelieving culture and provide a cogent critique of alternative worldviews. This is why Christian high schools should teach Apologetics & Worldview as a capstone course for graduating seniors.
Read MoreSystematic Theology (ST) is the systematic study of the major subjects in Scripture—God, man, Christ, salvation, church, and last things. (The more formal names for these subjects are theology proper, anthropology, Christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology.) Systematic Theology asks, “What does the Bible as a whole say about _______ ?” A teacher of ST must be a master of the Bible, but this way of studying theology helps Christians understand the Bible as a whole.
Read MoreThe study of the Bible should be central to Christian education. The Bible is the very Word of God, and it is shows us the way of salvation through Christ. Some people want to shy away from directly teaching Scripture because kids may find parts boring and difficult. But the Bible is full of stories that will grab the attention of children, and its study is well worth the challenges. Additionally, there is no better way for kids to learn to read than from reading the Bible.
Read MoreIn a previous post, I argued that many Christian schools have a weak theological curriculum because they do not value theology. Let me now make a positive case for why we should value theological education and why we should teach a theology course every year of high school.
Read MoreOne thing that has amazed me about modern Christian schools is how few theological classes most of them teach. As I have looked at school curricula online, I have noticed that the typical Christian school only has one or maybe two Bible classes at the high school level. The neglect of theology is not a surprise in our intellectually impoverished society. But it appears that even Christian schools today are catering to academic frivolity.
Read MoreThere are a lot of Latin curricula out there to choose from. Thanks to the help of my friend who is a college Latin professor, here are some recommendations.
Read MoreDouglas Wilson's The Case for Classical Christian Education is one of the best available books on Christian education. Wilson is a Presbyterian pastor and author of many books on family and education. He is considered one of the leaders of the classical Christian school movement, helping found the Logos School and the Association of Classical Christian Schools.
Read MoreThere is an odd trend among private Christian schools to require their teachers to possess state certification. This practice sounds entirely self-contradictory, for the very purpose of a private school is to be independent of the state. A private school is free from government regulation and thus has the freedom to educate as it sees fit, not as some secular ruling body demands.
Read MoreResources for Home, School, and Church
Math
Science
English
Economics
Government
Ancient History
Medieval History
Modern European History
American History
Church History
Bible
Systematic Theology
Apologetics & Worldview
Covenant Theology
Logic
Philosophy
Greek
Latin
Liberty Classroom
Ron Paul Homeschool
Tom Woods Homeschool
Khan Academy
Logos Press
Roman Roads Media
I Want to Homeschool—But Where Do I Start?
Top Five Christian Biographies
What is Classical Education?
Is College Worth the Cost?
Sphere Sovereignty and the Role of Education
Is Homeschool Affordable?
R.L. Dabney's Devastating Critique of Secular Education
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