True Education

As August is starting, school is becoming more of a reality. How school will look when it actually begins is still up in the air, many families still have big decisions to make. Are we sending our kid back into a normal classroom? Are we going to have our kid learn virtually? What about home school? There are quite a few options this year. Many families don’t have the option to home school or for virtual learning. 

When both parents have to work, the child staying home is not an option. There are many parents not willing to send their child back to school with all the uncertainties right now. 

Schools are working hard to come up with a plan to ensure the health and safety of every student that walks through the doors. Do we wear masks? What will the classroom size look like? Will students change classrooms? What will electives look like? So many questions and some of those can’t be answered at this time due to regulations not be handed down yet. Law makers have not made a decision yet.  Teachers are being challenged quite a bit this year.  With all the changes, teachers have to learn new methods of delivery. Zoom, google classroom, meet, bitmoji classroom, online instruction while teaching in person. So much learning. Teachers want the best for their students. 

This isn’t the first time students have been in this situation. There were a group of students who were removed from their homes and sent to a government supported private boarding school. There was no home leave or vacations. The students were not allowed to speak with their parents. Everything changed for them overnight. They were captives of the country. What did they do wrong? Nothing. They were Israelites and the Babylonians took them captive. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego were among the captives. And they excelled at the new school. Even though they were put in trying positions, they still were the top of their class. They passed all their tests and never compromised once. But how? How were they able to stand strong in a foreign country, learning the ways and customs of the Babylonians, and never once compromised or bowed a knee to anyone but God? Easy. Their first school was the home. Their parents taught them from their youth of the ways to walk in. Their parents had an active roll in their education.  They knew that if they “Train up a child in the way he should go , when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6. And Daniel and his three friends never departed from the knowledge their parents imparted on them. 

Parents, true education starts at home. Our children are watching our every moves. Are our actions teaching them to trust in God or to have a lack faith? Are our children hearing the word of God from the Bible or the words of the world through music and videos? Are we raising our children to please God or the world?

Whether someone is sending their student back to the classroom, virtually or in person, remember that education begins at home. The parent is the first teacher. The Bible is the first textbook. 

Your child can stand up for what is right like Daniel and his three friends did. It is possible but only By God’s Amazing Grace.