God creates a man and a woman in His image, makes them one in marriage, and commissions them to multiply and have children. God calls the father and mother to train, teach, and nurture their sons and daughters. When God calls, He equips. Moses questioned his own qualifications, but God knew His man. Moses’ unique background equipped him to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. Parents are uniquely designed to teach and train their children.

While every parent is a teacher, not every teacher is a parent.

Every parent wants his child to live a good, long life. Parents want their sons and daughters to develop skills that will enable them to succeed in life. No one is as motivated to give them these skills as is a parent. Being a mom or a dad is not a job; it is a life calling.

Parents do not need academic qualifications to teach their own children. If moms and dads are willing to learn along with their kids, they will make fine teachers. Even though I had a college diploma and had taught in a classroom setting, I knew that as my wife and I taught our own children, I would need to learn real phonics, a creation view of science, and a providential approach to history. All of this was new to both of us, but Sandi and I were willing to learn along with our boys.

Parents know how their students learn and much of what they know. I call this the Deuteronomy advantage. Since you are with your children when you rise up, walk by the way, and lie down, and since you have read most of the books and watched most of the movies they have, you know what they know.

On the way to a Fourth of July parade, my six-year-old asked why we were celebrating this day as a holiday. I was able to weave an account of the history of our nation that he could understand using movies I knew he had seen (The Story of a Patriot) and places I knew he had been (Bunker Hill and Williamsburg). Even David Barton could not have taught any better than I, because I knew my son.

Parents can adapt the curriculum to their student’s style of learning. Sandi began teaching our sons with traditional textbooks and worksheets. Eventually she saw that this one-dimensional form of teaching was not what her sons needed. Because my wife wanted her sons to love learning, she chose to teach with KONOS, a hands-on, unit study approach. They moved from the classroom desk to the woods, the garage, and the kitchen. All three boys have since graduated from college, and one has gone on to earn two master’s degrees. They are all accomplished lifelong learners, thanks to a mom who was willing to adapt and learn along with them.

The Efficacy of the Tutorial Method of Education

Parents tutor individuals instead of managing classrooms. A tutor has the freedom to teach a student based on what he knows and not by how old he is. A tutor also moves at the child’s pace and not at the pace of a textbook. Whether a student is gifted or challenged, a tutor can adapt the material for each individual child.

When you are with your children, you have unique opportunities to apply and reinforce what your children are learning. I received a call from an excited mom who had been baking cookies with her daughter. As they took the warm cookies out of the oven, they noticed they were placed in rows of three. They had been studying skip counting by three that morning, so they began counting the cookies:  “3-6-9-12-15.” Here is real-life application that only a parent who teaches math—and cooking—can make.

While good classroom teachers may possess many of these traits, their success will depend on the flexibility they are allowed, the number of students in each class, and their opportunities to spend a few minutes with each individual student during the course of the day. Most professional instructors are convinced of the superiority of the tutor model. Institutions of higher learning may boast about their teacher/student ratio being fifteen to one, but only parents have achieved the ideal ratio of one to one.

Conclusion

Parents are created, called, and equipped to teach and train their children.

Parents are specially qualified and incredibly motivated to see their children succeed.

Parents are tutors, not classroom managers.

Parents make wonderful teachers. Rejoice in your unique gifts and enjoy the journey!

The post Parents Make Wonderful Teachers appeared first on Texas Home School Coalition.

Most of my home educating friends are earnest believers who have chosen the path less trod in order to train up their children at God’s prompting. This query is particularly difficult because it strikes at the very heart of obedience to God’s direction. Have we not been led? Is the call to home educate our children in opposition to the command to be salt and light in the world?

When I was thus confronted, I went to God and asked if I had been led. Almost immediately two scriptures came to mind. One was in Matthew 5, in the Sermon on the Mount, and the other was in 1 Peter, quoting Leviticus 20:26:

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world.
Matthew 5:13-14

But like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, ye shall be holy; for I am holy.
1 Peter 1:15-16

These scriptures are often quoted along with the assumption that we are holy in Christ. When they are put together, the thought that emerges is that we are holy and are called to be salt and light. A careful reading of the scriptures reveals the exact opposite. We are salt and light and are called to be holy. In fact we are warned not to lose our saltiness!

The word “holy” means to be separate. The Bible often calls us to be holy–unto Him. This thought is beautifully expressed in 2 Corinthians:

Wherefore come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be to you a Father, and ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
2 Corinthians 6:17-18

As we respond to what He has put on our hearts, we are indeed raising up a godly seed unto Him. Our testimony enables us to point our needy neighbors to Christ. This is consistent with what my wife and I felt when God moved us to educate our four boys at home and not send them off in the big yellow bus to “be salt.”

It is an exceptional child who can affect a godless institution. Usually it is the institution that affects the child, which is consistent with the statements, “Evil companionships corrupt good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33) and “Walk with wise men, and thou shalt be wise; But the companion of fools shall smart for it.” (Proverbs 13:20)

Therefore BE encouraged, you who have responded to God’s call to raise a godly seed. You are on the right track. Be holy. Be obedient. By your obedience, you and your children are light in this dark world. As the Holy Spirit through Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord.”

All scripture passages are from the ASV.

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