Why home education is not necessarily the best option for Christian families

Nick Batt is convinced by the benefits of school education and encourages more parents to engage constructively with schools

For an alternative view see here.

I must come clean. Unlike with free speech, I am not a ‘school-education’ absolutist. While convinced that ’school-education’ can provide a healthy education and participating in Church schools particularly continues an historic part of the Church’s vocation to educate in faith and wisdom (Matthew 28:18-20), there was a time where I assumed that home education was the godliest choice. This opinion was driven by one miss-step, two fears, and a beautiful vision.

The beautiful vision was this: God is redeeming all things, under the Lordship of Jesus (Ephesians 1:10)! By “all things” I make no exception, not just people in the Church but all creation (Romans 8:21), including culture, science and of course education. Importantly this redemption is something that we as Christians can get on with now. As we enter local government, refuse centres, and schools we redeem these areas, uniquely doing these things the way they are supposed to be.

teachers, knowing God or not, can rightly know and teach excellently about his world

But I applied the vision poorly, leading to my miss-step. This was to read the responsibility of parents in a narrowly prescriptive way. While the Bible clearly gives parents responsibility for the welfare and instruction of their children practically (Proverbs) and spiritually (Ephesians 6:4) in all of life (Deuteronomy 6:4). It does not ……