Scriptural Proof for Unschooling
I had a discussion on a Facebook group about the Scriptural basis for unschooling. Thought I would share here as well.
The first and foremost Scripture I believe God has used to confirm our family decision to unschool is Ephesians6:1-4. When Paul wrote this Passage (and the prior Passage in Ephesians 5:22-33), he was writing a family code. Family codes were prevalent in Paul's time, but they generally focused on how the family was to treat the husband/father (the head of the household). Paul, on the other hand, showed the importance of unity and respect from all members of the family. For instance, in Ephesians 6:1-4, he writes about the importance of obedience. But he doesn't stop there. He goes on to put the responsibility upon the parents (specifically the father, since that is who is in question). "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4, NKJV). That brings up an interesting point as well. He says to bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. The actual Hebrew model of education was very, very different than what we see in the United States today. The education we have now was influenced by Greek scholasticism, whereas Hebrew education focused on making our learning a part of life. That is the unschooling philosophy. Learning is not being forcefed information and what we regurgitate on a test. I think back to the Old Testament Scripture that says we are to write the words of God and carry them with us. We are to live what we believe. American society, in general, compartmentalizes. We compartmentalize our school . We compartmentalize our work. We compartmentalize our spiritual worship. That is not how the Hebrews lived. The second Scripture I base my unschooling beliefs on is Matthew 25:14-30 - Jesus' Parable of the talents. Jesus is, of course, referring to money. But when we think of talents, we think of our talents. I believe Jesus is very clear here that God gave us each one specific talents; and He expects us to use them, not bury them. I believe there is no better way to recognize and develop those talents than by being able to explore them. Children have talents, and instead of being forced to learn things before they are ready, they should be exploring those and developing those. This, in my belief, is a direct command in Scripture through this Parable. Romans 12:3-8 and I Corinthians 12 both teach of spiritual gifts. I believe children can have spiritual gifts as well. I believe even our churches have become shy of people using their spiritual gifts. They pick and choose who is worthy to use them (one of my biggest complaints about Americanized Christianity. An aspect that I feel is very unbiblical. If God gives us a gift, He chose us to use it. Man does not have the right to pick and choose. Yet another aspect that I love about the house church movement. I have written extensively on spiritual gifts in the Corinthian church - a church that would be looked down upon by today's holiness standards, but it is the Book that contains the most about the importance of using spiritual gifts). Again, I believe children have spiritual gifts as well and should be using them. They should not be held back, because they children. Jesus taught that we should let the children come to Him and not forbid them, because of such is the kingdom of heaven. Which leads me to another point. Jesus taught a lot about the importance of children. So often today, we have this idea of education (and everyday) discipline that we, as adults, to push and prod kids into learning. That is not true. Discipline is a natural process when we allow it to be. Jesus taught that unless we become as a child, we will not see heaven. Not vice versa. We so often want kids to look good on the outside (and this applies to adults as well). We don't care what we are doing to the inside. We want them to do well on tests and sit still in church and be perfect. What we don't realize is we are not allowing them to develop into who God made them to be. We are studying Romans in our housechurch right now. We have been talking a lot about diversity. In my beliefs, unschooling caters to that diversity.
The first and foremost Scripture I believe God has used to confirm our family decision to unschool is Ephesians6:1-4. When Paul wrote this Passage (and the prior Passage in Ephesians 5:22-33), he was writing a family code. Family codes were prevalent in Paul's time, but they generally focused on how the family was to treat the husband/father (the head of the household). Paul, on the other hand, showed the importance of unity and respect from all members of the family. For instance, in Ephesians 6:1-4, he writes about the importance of obedience. But he doesn't stop there. He goes on to put the responsibility upon the parents (specifically the father, since that is who is in question). "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4, NKJV). That brings up an interesting point as well. He says to bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. The actual Hebrew model of education was very, very different than what we see in the United States today. The education we have now was influenced by Greek scholasticism, whereas Hebrew education focused on making our learning a part of life. That is the unschooling philosophy. Learning is not being forcefed information and what we regurgitate on a test. I think back to the Old Testament Scripture that says we are to write the words of God and carry them with us. We are to live what we believe. American society, in general, compartmentalizes. We compartmentalize our school . We compartmentalize our work. We compartmentalize our spiritual worship. That is not how the Hebrews lived. The second Scripture I base my unschooling beliefs on is Matthew 25:14-30 - Jesus' Parable of the talents. Jesus is, of course, referring to money. But when we think of talents, we think of our talents. I believe Jesus is very clear here that God gave us each one specific talents; and He expects us to use them, not bury them. I believe there is no better way to recognize and develop those talents than by being able to explore them. Children have talents, and instead of being forced to learn things before they are ready, they should be exploring those and developing those. This, in my belief, is a direct command in Scripture through this Parable. Romans 12:3-8 and I Corinthians 12 both teach of spiritual gifts. I believe children can have spiritual gifts as well. I believe even our churches have become shy of people using their spiritual gifts. They pick and choose who is worthy to use them (one of my biggest complaints about Americanized Christianity. An aspect that I feel is very unbiblical. If God gives us a gift, He chose us to use it. Man does not have the right to pick and choose. Yet another aspect that I love about the house church movement. I have written extensively on spiritual gifts in the Corinthian church - a church that would be looked down upon by today's holiness standards, but it is the Book that contains the most about the importance of using spiritual gifts). Again, I believe children have spiritual gifts as well and should be using them. They should not be held back, because they children. Jesus taught that we should let the children come to Him and not forbid them, because of such is the kingdom of heaven. Which leads me to another point. Jesus taught a lot about the importance of children. So often today, we have this idea of education (and everyday) discipline that we, as adults, to push and prod kids into learning. That is not true. Discipline is a natural process when we allow it to be. Jesus taught that unless we become as a child, we will not see heaven. Not vice versa. We so often want kids to look good on the outside (and this applies to adults as well). We don't care what we are doing to the inside. We want them to do well on tests and sit still in church and be perfect. What we don't realize is we are not allowing them to develop into who God made them to be. We are studying Romans in our housechurch right now. We have been talking a lot about diversity. In my beliefs, unschooling caters to that diversity.
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