Ready for a Revolution?

Sometimes books are like stepping-stones in a significant journey. I wouldn’t be surprised if, someday, I describe my life as B.D. and A.D.

B.D. refers to before I was convicted that Deuteronomy 6:1-7 could be the trumpet call of a revolution to claim our land for God’s glory. A.D describes the excitement I had after realizing that this same passage of Scripture continues to offer God’s promise to stake His claim in a land whose families take His Word seriously.

Deuteronomy 6:1-7 promises that God’s people will successfully possess a land that He blesses in which parents love God with their entire beings, obey Him in all things and accept the responsibility for teaching this to their own children as a way of life.

When You Rise Up, by R.C. Sproul Jr., and Critique of Modern Youth Ministry, by Christopher Schlect, both cite Deuteronomy 6:1-7 as God’s idea of true education. Mr. Sproul admits that the Bible is the primary curriculum for his home-schooled children. As I meditated on this idea, several questions arose in my mind: If the Bible is God’s Word – Truth with a capital T – why on earth do so many Christian parents send their children to schools that teach everything but the Truth? 

In the face of so many indications of the failure of the public school system, why do our churches imitate it by segregating ages and employing a youth minister to do our job? Mr. Schlect makes me wonder how we got to the point in history when we accept and encourage our children to attend humiliating games at the church every Wednesday evening in order to bribe them to listen to scriptural teaching from recent seminary graduates or Young Life leaders, instead of studying the Word together under the direction of the spiritual head of the Christian home – the father.

The revolution I envision would be a quiet, calm one, consisting of millions of Christian fathers pulling their children out of schools and youth ministries to educate their own children in righteousness at home, with the enthusiastic encouragement of their wives. Only then, I believe, will our nation and world enjoy the abundant blessings God longs to pour out on every land.

In 1998, the small Christian private school my daughter, Ellen, was attending announced that they would be closing. My daughter's teacher pulled me aside and encouraged me to transition to homeschooling. I had been an active volunteer and had proved my commitment to engaged education. 

My son, being over 10 years older, had graduated from a private Christian school we enrolled him in when we moved to Texas in 1986. Homeschooling was unchartered territory for me, so I followed the prescribed path: purchasing pre-packaged curriculum from Bob Jones University Press. Ellen had tested above 4th grade at age 9, so when the 5th grade package arrived, we were all excited. 

It didn't take long, though, for my daughter to ask, "Mom, why do I have to learn stuff that strangers think are important?" Um... Since I didn't have a logical answer to that, I compromised - convincing my husband that I could easily design appropriate curriculum for our daughter without the added cost.

Imagine my chagrin when, after a few weeks, Ellen asked, "Mom, why do I have to learn stuff that you think is important?" Oy. I could see that I was raising a rebel. But it didn't have to be a bad thing. I investigated the concept of Unschooling, which some of the families in our Homeschool Co-op were doing. With encouragement from others who had gone before, I plunged in with both feet - actually 6 feet: mine, my doubtful husband's, and my daughter's.

First, came Deschooling. My unschooling friends recommended it with gusto. So, I told my daughter that she would be responsible for directing her own education. She had become a baptized believer at age 7, and shown obvious indication of the influence of the Holy Spirit. The decision to begin unschooling coincided with a conviction that by controlling her lessons, I was usurping the direct influence of the Spirit.

Ellen spent the next few weeks watching a lot of television. I spent the next few weeks doing a lot of praying. And my husband spent the next few weeks doing a lot of worrying.

Then, one day, my daughter came to me and said, "TV is boring. The stories are all the same." Breakthrough! Thankfully, I believe that those weeks of prayer had prepared me to answer her questions with another: "So, what would you like to do now, Honey?" She answered, "I want my own library card." And we were off!

Ellen spent her days researching topics that interested her, keeping a Learning Journal (amazingly every topic fit neatly into a schooling subject - sarcasm intended), and sharing her discoveries with me over our shared lunch. I was doing my own studies and our luncheon conversations were a pleasure. Of course, we also had plenty of time for volunteer community service and recreation. 

Ellen, separated from her grandparents by many hundreds of miles, hungered for a relationship with an elder. It didn't take long to find an opportunity to teach English to recently immigrated Eastern European elder Jews at our local synagogue. When the director invited us to join the community program, I admitted to her that we were Christians. She said that was no problem at all. For the next 6 years, my daughter and I visited the synagogues at least once a week. Before long, Ellen had her own group to tutor. I still recall the way these senior citizens' eyes would light up every time Ellen walked in the room. We were invited to all of their celebrations, including their Jewish festivals. Once, Ellen was the youngest in the room during the Pesach service, so the Rabbi asked her to participate in the response ceremony, in which a child will ask questions of the Jewish elders to retell the story of Passover. One of Ellen's good friends was a sweet Jewish man in his 90s, known as Shuggie Cohen (he has since passed on).

When Ellen was 15, I recommended that she study the T.A.S.P. (Texas Academic Skills Program) used by our local community college to determine acceptance and placement. She did fine in all subjects (excelling in Language Arts), except for Math. Her counselor admitted, "Don't worry - everyone fails the Math part," (making me wonder why they didn't change the test). After obtaining her Associate's Degree, Ellen decided against pursuing a B.A., afraid that the curriculum would stunt her learning. She was hired as one of the first employees at a Texas Trader Joe's, and still works for that company. 

I raised a rebel. And I'm proud of it.