While Classical Education has its merits, we don’t need it. We have something higher and better that has become tried and true, and I’m not talking about the last 50 years or so of homeschooling.
I am speaking here of as system of learning that helped bring about the most free and flourishing nation the world has ever known.
This system of learning is not complicated. It is so simple it can easily be disregarded, but in its simplicity there is a genius that cannot be dismissed.
And it didn’t come from Charlotte Mason, or Dr. Raymond Moore, or John Taylor Gatto, or John Holt, or Dorothy Sayers, although each has touched on the idea (and some have grasped it more than others).
It comes from God.
Its basic principles can be listed easily:
- Observe
- Think
- Do
And the means are just as easily listed:
- Delight in God
- Delight in your child
- Enjoy learning together with your child with Him.
There. I’ve done. Now we can end this post and all go out to dinner.
Well, maybe. But it would be nice to explain, perhaps, if you have a bit of time. It might also be nice if I would share some of my thoughts on how exactly to pull such simplicity off in an age which is fraught with complexity.
So, I will attempt to explain.
First of all, let’s start with a scripture.
Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,
Proverbs 6:6
This is education in a nutshell.
This passage was written by King Solomon, the wisest man, besides Christ, to have ever existed. I think it’s important here to mention that, when God bestowed His wisdom on Solomon, it was not limited to matters of justice and state (including economics), but extended to knowledge of the natural world. Consider this:
And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.
1 Kings 4:29-34
This means when the Bible speaks of wisdom, it is not limited to spiritual understanding. This idea we have that the spiritual and the physical are not to touch each other is not according to God. He is a Spirit, but He created all things for us freely to enjoy. He came to us in a physical body, and even after His resurrection He made a fire and cooked fish for His disciples, who did not recognize Him at first (He wasn’t transparent or anything like we would assume a spirit would look like).
If we begin here, and we realize that we revere a God Who created everything, yet stooped to be part of His creation, our awe only increases.
This also corrects generations of foolishness over the idea that religion cannot have anything to do with our regular lives.
Both the knowledge of the Holy and the knowledge of how to fix a tire should be inter-twined.
Yes, we can certainly wash the dishes, and wash them well, mind you, without giving a thought to the Divine, but still an element is missing.
This is true with auto mechanics, home economics and all things up through world economics.
We can all get along without the wisdom of God, but as we move up to decisions encompassing larger and larger responsibility, the use of our own noodle to figure the cosmos out becomes more and more fraught with error. And the errors at the top can be magnificently destructive.
Now let’s look back at our first three foundational ideas of learning:
- Observe
- Think
- Do
And realize that, while all of education includes these elements, true wisdom only comes when these elements are submitted to the Sovereignty of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Consider this:
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Romans 8:5-8
And this:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Do you see it? God is not opposed to people knowing things, facts, procedures, etc. He gives us the ability to do everything, even to “make wealth.” But, if we are not mindful of Him, He warns us that it all becomes foolishness.
However, if we ARE mindful of Him, then we usher in the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven.
Are they starving in heaven?
Are they suffering in heaven?
The goal is to bring Heaven to earth, so this should be the focus of educating our children, not just being able to land a good job or create an interesting career.
Some people bring Heaven here by cleaning bedpans in hospice care. Others may dig a ditch or two to bring irrigation to grow food.
Still others may sit in a finance office and assure that people are getting their pay on time.
And what of the mother who spends hours soothing a disabled child and encouraging him to eat, or who has an elderly neighbor who needs help getting groceries.
Done as heartily unto the Lord, it all works together for good. This is the life we prepare our children for. I like to put it like this:
I don’t strive for well-trained minds in my children; I strive for the Mind of Christ.
With the mind of Christ, amazing things have happened. I am thinking specifically here about the life of George Washington Carver.
With a Kingdom heart, he prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to guide him so that he could find ways to bring the South out of abject poverty. He would lock himself in His laboratory and allow God to give him insight.
George Washington Carver is best known for developing over 300 products from peanuts, including cooking oil, soap, and ink, as well as numerous uses for sweet potatoes and soybeans. His work significantly contributed to sustainable agriculture and improved the economic conditions of farmers in the South.
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He was recognized as being brilliant by the shakers and movers of his day, but he never gave glory to anyone but God for his accomplishments.
This is the type of person I want to see leave my home bound for the wide, wide world.
Of course, all of what I have been saying is THEORETICAL. It doesn’t help you much if I don’t put it all in context. I hope that I can do that with the next few posts. Are you game?
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