Public, Private, or Home-School?
May 4th, 2007
Many Christian families struggle in determining what’s best for their children’s education. Here are just a few thoughts, by way of introduction, to this important issue.
The greatest pitfalls of public education are the humanistic philosophies taught at the expense of biblical truth, ungodly teachers and classmates seeking to influence our children, and the absence of spiritual or moral considerations within the educational process. However, those problems aren’t isolated to the public-school setting (as evidenced by just a few minutes of television-watching).
Within most of our neighborhoods—and even in some Christian schools—there are influences that tear at our desired spiritual standards. Christian schools, for instance, can sometimes be hotbeds for hypocrisy (when everyone claims to be “Christian”) and legalism (when an overemphasis is put on external moral standards).
Also, some Christian schools lack the quality and depth of education that public schools can offer—and that can apply even to the basics. Of course, that’s not always the case, even when the neighboring public school looks bigger and more impressive than the local Christian school. Many times the students of Christian schools have significantly higher scores in nationally standardized tests than do their counterparts in public schools. To make an accurate evaluation you’ll need to make inquiries about the curricula, programs, teacher training, and comparative test results of each school.
Is it wrong to put your children in a public school? Not necessarily. Is it right to put your children only in Christian schools—or home-school them? Not necessarily. It is a decision that must be made on a case-by-case basis, using biblical principles and prayerful wisdom to make a God-honoring choice. It involves knowing the Word, knowing the schools in your area, and knowing each of your children.
Remember that the ultimate responsibility for the proper education of your children rests upon you—the parents—not the school or the church (Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Ephesians 6:4). Those two institutions are vital to a child’s overall development, but standards, convictions, and moral strength should be implemented at home. Not everything is necessarily good or high quality because it is called “Christian,” nor is everything bad just because it is under the umbrella of public education. Parents need to be especially wise and discerning in that important area.
If high-quality Christian education is available and affordable, that’s usually preferable. However, carefully evaluate all the factors and options of your situation. Seek God’s will earnestly (Ephesians 5:17) and couple that with strong, biblical parenting (Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:20-21).
For an in-depth discussion of the pros and cons of public, private, and home-schooling please see the extended notes by Carey Hardy on this topic. (If you decide to comment, please read Carey’s notes first.) We also recommend the helpful series on home-schooling by Tim Challies (Part 1 and Part 2).
Thank you for such a balanced article and for the reference to Carey Hardy’s notes. My children attend public (state ) school in the UK.
Tim Challies has put up another related article today. It is definitely worth a read for those who are thinking through these isses.
We started homeschooling our seven (soon to be eight!) kids a few years ago, and while it is a struggle at times, it also is an enormous blessing both to them and to us. That is not to suggest that public school parents are evil, or that they are throwing their kids to the wolves, but I am saying that to homeschool our children is both a great blessing and a great responsibility.
It is not a decision to be made lightly. Neither side of our families have been very supportive. Ironically the most supportive member of our family has been my sister who has been a public school teacher for 20 years. Our last church had a pastor who was none to subtle in his condemnation of homeschoolers. As a pastor now, I am cautious to not make that same mistake by making parents who don’t homeschool their kids feel badly about it. This is an issue that is not going away.
I teach in a Christian High School that my children attend. Let me be the first to tell you that it is not what outsiders might believe.
I am also in the ministry, so I feel some of what my children are exposed to here is preparing them for dealing with an unsaved world, only in smaller, more controlled doses.
Christian Schools can become a catch all, last ditch altenative for some. We get kids who have no other option, they have been removed from the public school by the school. We have kids who are not being raised by their parents. We have many who are being brought here because their parents feel that we will “clean up” their children.
Society at large has forgotten who’s responsibilty it is to teach morals to their children. If the parents aren’t taking their children to church, teaching them to pray, or providing some Christian example in the home, how am I supposed to do that?
I appreciate the comments above. I think that all three have their own merits. I just wish kids came with a billboard attached that explained the parents obligation to raise their children in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Very true Chris, and not just from Christian schools. Our former church has a large (for our area) youth program and it was disheartening to watch parent after parent drop their kids off on Wednesday night and yet they never darkened the door of the church. It was always that church was important for the kids, never realizing that the reason it is important for the kids is true for the parent as well. Parents cannot abdicate responsibility for their kids, whether in general education or in Christian education. Parents who expect the church to teach their children everything they need to know are doing their children a great disservice.
It’s said that as the home goes, so goes the Church and as the Church goes, so goes the nation. That thought and a quote from 1679 ~ Most of the evils that abound among us proceed from defects in family government! ~ should cause one to take pause. The two clips from CrossTV.com(viewable by clicking the link below) on family worship are helpful in seeing what God desires for the home that so often is neglected for a different focus. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. He’ll sovereignly order what steps comes next(private, government, or home – school) for parents with children in their direct charge by His grace and mercy ~ and for His glory.
http://www.godtube.com/search_result.php?PHPSESSID=5a22ac9a6e991f196a31c9865db4e82f&search_id=family+worship&search_typ=search_videos
I have to disagree with Mr. Hardy’s con list on home schooling. When home school is done right those issues are never a problem. We use a Christian cover school. It has sports teams, proms, a yearly dive trip in the gulf. Our kids interact with other kids at church and in the neighbor hood. Like in the work place in the real world where you interact with people of all ages they also do that on field trips.
While in schools they are around the same ages all the time. There are also many more pro’s I could list. My wife and I feel parents should educate as their convictions dictate.
good article. I’m a single dad and i’ve been homeschooling my 4yr old daughter (and my son after that) to see how it goes. I have to decide what option to take next year. so far it’s going good. I have help from my neighbor who does childcare while I’m working. She has home schooled some of her eight children and enjoys doing it. We are also involved with youth group at church and have some other activities so they do get out and interact with other children and adults. That along with most of the family being non-Christian there are opportunities to teach values and apply biblical principle.
I have to say that in reading Challies post, I was very disappointed. He manages to lay an enormous amount of blame at the feet of homeschoolers, and the entire onus to “get along” with public school parents and “prove our point from Scripture” while referencing none of his own. Not at all what I expected from Tim Challies. Despite his claims to not focus on the negatives of home schooling, his entire post focuses on perceived dangers of homeschooling, with nary a mention of the very real dangers of public schools.