5 Steps to Own Your Child’s Education

Should you send your children to public school, a private school, a charter school, or homeschool? More and more Christian parents are asking these questions.

The headlines increasingly give us pause. For example, California just passed AB1955, a bill prohibiting school officials from disclosing a child’s gender of choice to their parents because, advocates argue, doing so could cause family rejection or other harm to the child. In a recent episode of “The Briefing,” Dr. Albert Mohler asked when enough is enough and when believers should pull our children from the public school system. This is a question that believers have been asking for some time.

Certainly, not everyone has the luxury of a choice. Some of us work jobs that do not allow us to pay for private tuition. Others are single parents. Still, some of us tried homeschooling during the 2020 pandemic and struggle to even think about trying it again.

Yet no matter what avenue of education we choose for our children, we parents have the God-given responsibility to be the primary disciple-makers of our children. We are thus ultimately responsible for our children’s education.

Do you want to take control of your children’s education, no matter where they are learning? Do you want to become more intentional in allowing your faith to determine your child’s education? Here are five areas for parents to consider. Think of the acronym ADDIE.

1. Analysis

The A stands for Analysis. Consider all the steps your child needs to learn a given topic or task. The Lord calls us to consider all that is needed before building a tower so that we can see it completed (Luke 14:28). You also want to take this time to analyze your child’s learning abilities and stage in life. If your child learns better by doing an activity than by reading about that activity, make sure they have opportunities to do it. At the same time, let’s not teach our kids calculus when they have not learned addition and subtraction.

2. Design

The D represents Design. Once you understand what steps your child needs to take to learn a given task or topic, you want to create learning experiences to accomplish that goal. The Lord said that education can take place anywhere: when you lie down or wake up, going to and fro, in your house, and out in the streets (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Education does not have to be confined to a classroom.

3. Develop

The second D is for Develop. Look for or create neat activities for your children to do as they learn what you want them to know. Jesus always provided parables or activities for his disciples to learn profound lessons. We can take plays from his playbook.

4. Implement

The I stands for Implement. Take everything you crafted before this and put it into action. We can spend all the time in the world planning, designing, and learning, but if we do not put any of this into action, then where does that leave us? We would only be hearers of the word and not doers of it. This will demonstrate to the world that our faith is dead.

5. Evaluate

Finally, the E is for Evaluate. Assess whether what you have planned and implemented has brought your child closer to the intended goal. If not, consider what you could do better next time. Ask questions along the journey, see if your child is tracking with you, and observe your child to see if they are living out what you teach them.

Owning Your Children’s Learning Experiences

2 Peter 1:3 states that God has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness, and he says that we should supplement our faith with many other things, including knowledge. Our faith in the good news of Jesus Christ is the foundation for our character, education, devotion to God, and love for others. Therefore, we can take hold of our children’s education with our faith as the foundation and confidence in God’s power, providing us with everything we need to lead and guide them, regardless of the decision you make for your child’s education.

The Lord challenges us to pay careful attention to how we live. We should not be unwise but wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15-16). Know and understand this: no one is responsible for your children like you are. Our financial, marital, and skill levels do not give us a pass on taking responsibility for the education of our children. There is an agenda out there that is intent on stealing, killing, and destroying our very lives. Let us not make the mistake of sitting on the sideline passively waiting for the world to change. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. Our faith is the foundation for everything in our lives, especially our children’s education. I hope that the five areas mentioned above will be helpful for you to think through as you take a step closer to owning your children’s learning experiences.