Ben

Following the Wise Men to Raise Wise Children

December 26, 2017 by Ben

As a homeschool dad, I love seeing my girls put aside their rivalries to put on a Christmas pageant. Last Christmas, our first grader organized a Christmas Eve pageant that she and her sisters put on for us and their grandparents. Of course, one of the cutest parts was when three little “wise” girls presented gifts to their baby doll.

We often meditate on the symbolic nature the wise men’s gifts but may not realize that their presentation of gifts to the King plays a significant role in the unfolding story of creation, fall, and redemption. Their acts of worship before the Christ child are a pattern for what Christian parents are trying to accomplish in homeschooling. Let’s meditate together on the wise men, their role in “the old redemption story,” and how we can use it to inspire our homeschooling all year round.

The Past Worship of the Wise Men

Their Story

The wise men are mentioned in the Bible only in Matthew 2:1–12. Since they’re called wise men or magi (from the Greek magos), it is clear that they had wisdom in their work that was respected by their community. It was probably because of this wisdom that they had prospered enough to be able to afford gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

In some way, they also had a heart toward God. As scholars, they were familiar with the Scriptures and apparently knew the messianic prophecy of Numbers 24:17. Since they were watching the heavens for a sign of God’s Messiah, they saw the star when it appeared and immediately set out to find the child. When they arrived in Bethlehem, their hearts rejoiced—not that they had found a new source of earthly treasure but that they had found the child.

The wise men went in and humbly bowed down in worship. They opened their treasures and presented their gifts to the King.

Their Part in God’s Story

In the unfolding of God’s redemptive story, the wise men’s worship of Jesus was a sign that He was the King of the Jews. Jesus was the Christ, the Chosen One, who was coming to break the power of the fall and redeem people and the creation.

Part of that redemption involves how men and women use God’s blessing of dominion over creation (Genesis 1:26–28). Fallen people pursue wealth through dominion to be independent of God. Redeemed people use the prosperity produced by their wise dominion to accomplish God’s purposes and give Him glory.

This is exactly what the wise men did. They had grown in wisdom by observing God’s creation in the fear of the Lord. Their exercise of that wisdom in dominion over creation led to prosperity. And they took that prosperity and offered it to their God in worship.

The Future Worship of the Wise Men

The wise men of that first Christmas were prototypes of future wise men. At the end of story of Scripture, the Father and Son rule from the new Jerusalem. There “the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into [the new Jerusalem]” (Revelation 22:24). These kings of the saved nations are exercising dominion in the restored earth and bringing their treasures to the King in worship. Notice how the unique treasures of the kings are called “their glory.”

In the eternal state, redeemed men and women will still use math, science, social studies, and language arts. And the end of their labor will be God’s glory.

Homeschooling Wise Men (and Women!) Today

So what does this have to do with homeschooling? Everything! It demonstrates the redeemed purpose for learning history, math, science, and language arts. Here are three steps our children can take to follow the example of the wise men in the past and in the future.

Grow in Wisdom

The wise men didn’t become wise by being lazy in their study of God’s creation. Remember, when we study how God’s world works, we’re learning His wisdom.

Prosper in God’s Calling

Exercising God’s wisdom in His calling led to prosperity for the wise men. It can for your children as well. If they’re faithful in their mastery of science and math and God calls them to engineering, they should prosper as engineers.

Offer the Glory of the Calling

Prosperity is piece of glory that we receive for acting wisely in the fear of the Lord. We should take that glory and offer it to God. When we use our skills in service to our neighbor or in the household of God, we are worshiping. When we take a portion of our treasure and give it to God, we are worshiping Him in the exact same manner as the wise men of old. We are literally giving glory to God.

This Christmas, as my homeschooled girls perform their Christmas pageant, I want them to know that they can follow in the footsteps of the wise men. They can daily study to become wise women so they can offer their treasures to King Jesus.

Wisdom’s Call and Homeschooling

November 14, 2017 by Ben

At a recent conference, someone posed an interesting question related to using wisdom in homeschooling. “Should I be focusing so much energy teaching my child algebra when I need to teach him to serve?” I think this question goes to the heart of Christian homeschooling.

My wife and I started homeschooling because we want to have God’s words in our hearts and “teach them diligently” to our children (Deuteronomy 6:5–6). But so much of homeschooling has to do with math, science, and other subjects. At times we do feel like we’re teaching our children about God through these subjects, like when we’re refuting evolution, but at other times training our children to be servants of the Lord doesn’t seem central.

Does Christian homeschooling allow for in-depth study of algebra?

Proverbs 8 is a critical chapter in constructing our Christian philosophy of education. In it, wisdom, personified as a woman, calls to young people and urges them to listen to her so she can equip them to make sound judgments. With our focus on developing children for adulthood, we should give careful attention to this chapter.

What is wisdom?

Before we can apply this chapter, we need a clear understanding of who this woman is who’s calling to our children. What is the wisdom of Proverbs 8?

First, God created this wisdom before He created the world: “When there were no depths, [wisdom] was brought forth” (8:24). God made this wisdom, so it is something distinct from His eternal attribute of wisdom. While it is distinct, God delighted in it and used it to frame the world and to establish order.

Second, this wisdom is available all across the world. It is by wisdom that “all the judges of the earth [rule]” (8:16). This means that rulers from Asia to the Americas had access to wisdom even before the special revelation of God was available to them. That’s why wisdom’s call is universal and goes out to all youth everywhere. They all have access to it.

God used wisdom to create the universe, and He integrated its principles into the created order. We can call this wisdom “creational norms,” the principles God embedded in the creational order. And if we learn them, we can use them to live well.

As Christian parents, we can use the principles of Proverbs 8 in a least three ways:

1. Study creation

Teaching our children principles of algebra and physics is not incompatible with teaching them the “things of God.” As we study God’s good creation and apply it, we are learning from God’s general revelation.

We should not put algebra and serving God at odds with each other. They go hand in hand. For example, the good Samaritan had learned the best medical practices of his time. When he had the opportunity, he used that knowledge of creational norms to serve. If he hadn’t learned those principles, he would have been severely limited in how he could serve.

We should make learning creational norms in math, science, history, and language arts an important part of our homeschooling. Because creational norms are more valuable than “choice gold” (8:10).

2. Listen to authority

At their best, our children are “simple,” and at their worst they are “fools” (8:5). Wisdom’s words then are, “Hearken unto me” and “Hear instruction, and be wise” (8:32–33). If children are going to heed wisdom’s call, they must forsake their own way and listen to their authorities.

As parents, we can set the example of listening. We can listen to more experienced homeschool parents. We can learn about best practices for teaching children. Whenever we learn principles about how life works best in God’s world, we are learning creational norms. And we’re setting an example for our children.

3. Resist evil influence

There’s nothing “perverse” about God’s wisdom (8:8). In contrast, secular experts discovering and teaching creational norms often twist them to suit their own worldview. They teach evolution, for example, so they can pretend they’re free from God.

Wherever we gain wisdom from general revelation, we need Scripture to guide, correct, and straighten out what has been twisted by the wicked.

Heeding wisdom

At the end of Proverbs 8 we see wisdom standing at the city gates urging children and teens to listen to her. Her teaching through creation is more valuable than precious metals. “For whoso findeth [her] findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord” (8:35).

Fools try to live life as though creation doesn’t teach. Perhaps they’re spendthrifts, or maybe they don’t think they need to plow in the winter. Then they find trouble.

So, as we seek to diligently teach our children the ways of God, let’s not forget His teaching through His creation because those who find wisdom find life.

500 Years of Reformation and Education

October 17, 2017 by Ben

In our homeschool, we’ve been talking for a year now about how we’ll celebrate the five-hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. We want our children, even at a very young age, to mark this milestone in the spread of the gospel. When Martin Luther issued his Ninety-Five Theses for debate, he probably had little idea what influence he would have on all of Western culture.

There’s so much I want my four little girls to know about the Reformation and how much God has blessed us through men He used to recover the Five Solas. We usually relate blessings from the Reformation to biblical doctrine, but there were also significant advances in education.

One area our secular society rarely acknowledges is the impact the reformers had on education. The reformers transformed the way Western civilization thinks about education—a transformation that reaches all the way to us today. And it’s a legacy that I want my little girls to know and appreciate.

Education for Bible Reading

The reformers taught that knowing the Bible was foundational to knowing God fully. And if everyone was going to know God through His Word, they needed to know how to read. So the reformers began to emphasize education. They wanted people to have the basic skills for reading so they could know their God through Scripture.

Education for All

In Germany at the time of the Reformation, education was only for the nobility, the professional classes, and the clergy. That left most of the peasantry without basic literacy instruction. There was no general expectation that every child would learn to read. But Luther and others believed that everyone should know God through Christ. That meant everyone needed to be able to read the Bible for themselves.

Although Luther didn’t come up with the idea of education for all, which is sometimes called universal education, his advocacy and influence contributed to making education for every child a priority in Western culture, so much so that some writers call him the inventor of modern education.

Education for Girls

As a father of daughters, I’m so grateful that when the reformers urged universal education they meant everyone, including women. Previously, women had been left out of education as far back as the Greeks and the Romans. The medieval church also left girls out when it came to education. But reformers such as Luther and Calvin recognized that women need to know God through His Word too. So they taught and practiced educating girls in reading and doctrine.

I want my daughters to know that, in large part, Western civilization’s emphasis on educating girls like them came from the reformers. And the reformers wanted girls to have the gift of education so they could read their Bibles.

Education by Parents

John Calvin picked up on the centrality of parents to their children’s education. Like homeschoolers today, he saw that Deuteronomy 6:7 teaches parents that it’s their duty to teach their children. He insisted that parents take responsibility for their children’s education and that religious morality should be a central aim of their learning.

We are so blessed to live in the shadow of the reformers. In one sense, my personal commitment to Christian homeschooling came from my parents. In another sense, each of us is an inheritor of a five-hundred-year-old tradition of training every child to read so that he or she can know God.

I’m not sure what celebrations my family is going to participate in for the anniversary of the reformation, but every day that you and I homeschool our children we’re paying tribute to these men’s efforts.

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Why History Seems Boring and How to Make It Fascinating

October 5, 2017 by Ben

It’s not unusual for children to find history boring. But that wasn’t the case with me. I’ve been a history nerd ever since my dad took me on a homeschool field trip to a World War II aircraft carrier. But I understand that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for studying the past. Does your child get bored with history?

There are plenty of reasons some children (and adults!) think history is uninteresting. Here are just two of them—and my suggestion for how to fix the problem.

• Just the (Boring) Facts

Sometimes studying history feels like the mindless memorization of unrelated dates and names. As they read historical narratives, kids may get the sense that dates pop up without warning, sometimes causing them to wonder why particular events have dates associated with them and others don’t.

And then there are the names. Certain people have some action or achievement associated with their names that we exhort our children to remember. Take the Age of Enlightenment as an example. There are so many philosophers and so many scientists—each with a discovery or book title attached to his name. Trying to keep track of it all can feel overwhelming.

• Not Relevant (to Me)

Not only do the dates and names feel overwhelming, focusing on facts makes it difficult for your child to see what all this has to do with him personally. He’s hearing about a bunch of dead people who haven’t done a thing for centuries. And when is anybody ever going to use the fact that 1,285 years ago this month Charles Martel defeated the Moors in the Battle of Tours? It just doesn’t seem to make any difference in our day-to-day lives.

Big-Picture Approach

Those are two common complaints, but what can we do to help our children see the significance and relevance of people and events from the past? We can turn “boring” history into a fascinating study by using questions to focus our children’s attention on the big picture. An important aspect of this is teaching history as a narrative in chronological order.

And here are a couple of effective questioning strategies you can use to help your children see the big picture of the historical narrative they’re reading. This involves going beyond the regular surface-level questions like “When did . . . ?” and “Who wrote . . .?” Big-picture questions enable students to synthesize historical data into an overarching view of the past.

• Before-and-After Reading Questions

These questions are most effective when given to children as preparation before they read something and as follow-up afterwards. Before children wade into material chronicling a series of bureaucratic changes, scientific advancements, or philosophic treatises, they need to know what they’re looking for. Guiding questions like the ones below from World Studies (page 152) can help. Having a purpose in their reading will lead children to see the bigger picture.

• Critical Thinking Questions

A second type of big-picture question can also help your children refocus on the important ideas after reading through the details, like this one from Heritage Studies 4 (page 171).

Such questions generalize history, making it more relevant. They help your children move from superficially recalling details to thinking critically because they have to synthesize the details in order to create a generalization. All those pesky details are important, but if children don’t develop critical thinking skills, they won’t see the significance.

By understanding chronological order and generalizations of historical events, students can make appropriate analogies to things that are happening today. While no past event is a perfect match for a current event, there’s often significant overlap. The differences mean we cannot use the past to predict the future, but we can use the past to give us moral clarity about the present. A student with a biblical worldview and an understanding of historical context will be better able to navigate the complexities of current events. Ultimately, those connections to worldview and the present will make history interesting to your child.

Use effective questions in history so your children will learn to value history as they see its connection to the present.

Scope & Sequence: A Homeschool Game Plan

September 19, 2017 by Ben

As a homeschool dad, I wonder about taking children who can’t read and preparing them for college. It seems like such a huge climb. How do we take five-year-olds and prepare them for what the Lord has planned without overwhelming them? To help with the process, I like to think about board games.

I’ve always enjoyed playing board games. I remember whiling away the summer hours with Monopoly and Risk. As an adult, I’ve come to enjoy playing Settlers of Catan. So I want to introduce my children to board games. But finding a game that engages everyone is challenging for two reasons.

1. It Can’t Be Too Hard

2. It Can’t Be Too Easy

If the game concepts are too complicated for my children to understand, they get frustrated and don’t want to play. But if the game concepts are too easy, they learn them quickly but soon lose interest because the game no longer challenges them. The best games are simple for everyone to begin playing. However, the best games have enough depth to them to accommodate the complex thinking of mature players. That’s why games like checkers have such longevity. They’re simple to learn, but as children grow they can use increasingly complex strategies.

Preparing children for what God has planned works in a similar way. If children are given concepts that are too intricate or abstract, they get frustrated and want to quit. If the material is too easy, the child gets bored and loses interest in learning. The best learning is carefully planned to be challenging without being frustrating.

Scope & Sequence

Curriculum publishers typically have a teaching plan called a “scope and sequence.” These documents are like maps that show a path through content that moves children step by step from awareness of material to mastery of the material.

If there were a scope and sequence for checkers, it would start with basic moves. For the child who has developed an understanding of how to move the pieces, the scope and sequence would include basic tricks for capturing pieces. Later, older players describe and model the broad strategies for winning the game. Finally, the child would have the opportunity to create his own strategy for winning. Then he can refine that strategy through playing with increasingly challenging opponents.

When it comes to homeschooling our children, we want a plan that keeps them engrossed in learning. The best plans increase the complexity of the materials in coordination with the child’s maturation.

Applied to History

I’ve enjoyed watching my daughter develop in her love for history. So teaching her in the evenings after work has been a special time for us. The BJU Press Heritage Studies curriculum does a terrific job of challenging her without being frustrating.

As she enters third grade, I’m excited to teach from the Constitutional Convention up to the Civil War. So much happened in that time period involving executive actions, legislative compromises, and judicial review—in other words, some complicated stuff.

But we’ve been preparing since first grade. Here’s how my daughter’s been getting ready, through the curriculum, to tackle the formative aspects of our nation’s history that we’ll cover in third grade.

First Grade Heritage Studies

In an introductory way, we covered local leaders, national leaders, rights, and voting.

Second Grade Heritage Studies

We returned to local, state, and national leaders, but we added more detail. The president, Congress, and judges were given more specific definitions. We learned that the Constitution guarantees our rights and our responsibilities to get involved in elections by voting.

To make this learning more concrete, we also role-played an election and wrote a “law” for our house.

Third Grade Heritage Studies

We’ll review the interplay of local, state, and national leaders. But now, we’ll add detail about how the legislative, executive, and judicial branches work together. This time, it’s within the context of the Constitutional Convention and the first presidency. So we can see how presidents administer policies through their cabinets and how Congress has two groups.

At this point, my daughter is ready for the drama of this early period. She’s ready to understand Hamilton and Jefferson’s fight over the national bank and ready to explore the legislative compromises that lead to the Civil War. She’s prepared to learn this material because we followed a plan. As in the game of checkers, the basic concepts were easy. Each step made the next one easier. It wasn’t simple, but the increasing challenge of the material has made it fun.

Take a look at the Scope & Sequence BJU Press offers, a game plan carefully designed to help your child be a winner.

Ben