Articles on education, including curriculum recommendations, book reviews, resource reviews, and the case for Christian education.
Machen was also a great champion of both liberty and Christian education. In 1933, he gave a lecture at the Educational Convention in Chicago titled, “The Necessity of the Christian School.” In this lecture, Machen sounds as if he is addressing our educational problems today—yet he is speaking of America’s schools 80 years ago!
Read MoreRarely do people talk about an obvious problem in American education—the breakdown of the family. We are now living in a day when over 40% of children are born to unmarried women. Add to this America’s high divorce rate, and we see that less than half of Americans are raised by both their mom and dad. That’s right, only 46% of kids under 18 are living with two heterosexual parents in their first marriage. Compare that with 73% in 1960.
Read MoreThis concept is known by the Latin phrase in loco parentis, meaning “in the place of a parent.” Parents have a natural authority over their children, which is why God gives us the 5th commandment to “Honor your father and mother” (Ex 20:12). It’s also why the Apostle Paul tells fathers to bring their children up “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4).
Read MoreR.C. Sproul is known as a pastor and theologian, but he is also well versed in the field of philosophy. In The Consequences of Ideas, Sproul guides his readers through the most important thinkers of history. Some of them are Christians (Augustine, Aquinas, Kierkegaard), but many of them are not (Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Marx, Nietzsche, Darwin). Though only 200 pages and easy to read, Sproul successfully surveys 2,500 years of philosophy.
Read MoreThe study of Greek and Latin is both enjoyable and beneficial. Yet these classical languages have been traded in by most schools for modern languages such as Spanish or French. While modern languages are still good to study, Greek and Latin hold a special place in education.
Read MoreSome Christians are simply ignorant of what is going on in our nation's public schools. But there are many Christians who are aware of the situation. So why do they continue to send their children to government schools? The two most common reasons given are: (1) money and (2) missions. But these are bad arguments, so let me address them both.
Read MoreThe Foundation for Economic Education published an article in 1999 titled, “The Central Fallacy of Public Schooling.” The author, Daniel Hager, begins with the story of a publication distributed in public schools in the 1940s that justified America's 20% taxation rate at the time. Hager comments, “The article vividly illustrates the overriding intent of public schooling, which has always been indoctrination of the young.”
Read MoreDr. Sproul's ministry in a sense is all about Christian education, as he teaches the Christian worldview through his books and lessons. But here he provides a six-part audio series where he specifically teaches on the subject of education. Dr. Sproul shows that no education is "neutral" and we therefore ought to provide students with a Christian education.
Read MoreThe 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 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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