 with his Creator. Sin blocks that communication in the spirit. Jesus enabled man to overcome the sin barrier and communicate and fellowship with God. This is the essence of the gospel.
God is a spirit and because man was made in the image of God, he too is a spirit. When man fell from perfect communication and fellowship with God and lost his harmony with the rest of creation, we see language as the tool that was used to tempt man to disobey God. Eve didn't seem to be surprised that a serpent was talking with her. We don't know if animals were able to communicate with Adam and Eve during their stay in the garden of Eden because we weren't there. We do know that Eve in her innocence of evil accepted the communication which proceeded from the snake. Even if animals did communicate with the first human couple, that still doesn't make them of the same kind or species because the animals were not suitable for Adam as a helpmate. Mankind and animals are not the same and are never to be viewed as such. This is the reason that literature that portrays animals with human characteristics is confusing to a young child. Animals do not talk, dress, or behave as humans do. Language was used to deceive Eve, and this method of deception has not changed. The perversion of ideas and concepts is communicated through language, and then man chooses to use his mind or body to rebel against God rather than to bring glory to God. Thus language is extremely important in God's kingdom. Words of doubt and unbelief originating from satan are major enemies of mankind. Faith in God and His Word is the major weapon against this deceptive attack.
Because there was only one language perpetuated by Noah and his family, the sole survivors of the universal flood, man had the ability to conceive, communicate and enact his will on the earth apart from God's will. After the flood language was touched by God so that its sinful power over makind was lessened (Genesis chapter 11).
When we look at the inconsistency of teaching language skills in the education bureaucracy of humanists, we should not be surprised. God used confusion early in man's history and continues to allow confusion to rule in the area's of language so that man's sinful will has a check on the earth. Because this is so, Christian home educators must be very careful to avoid wordly methods of teaching language skills. Only God's methods bring restoration and healing to man's inability to communicate effectively.
The Bible has much to say about how human beings learn successfully, but this paper will only discuss a few.
The Bible cannot be relegated to one subject out of many. The Bible must not only be the foundation upon which all other subjects are then laid, but it must also occupy the central place of all learning. Only the Lord can show us how to learn and what to learn.
This Proverbs 6:20-23 states that teaching one's own child is also a God-given responsibility of mothers.
These two scriptures make it very clear that a child is to be taught by both parents and the method of teaching is verbal. Too much written work before a child has adequate skills can cause unnecessary frustration. Children in a school environment have no alternative; they have to put all their learning and discovery onto paper. However, a homeschooled child should have the joy and excitement of being instructed verbally by both of his parents. The parents have to decide what subjects are best taught by each parent. Many homeschooling families are too matriarchal. The mother is doing it all and though it may produce academic success because tutorial learning is always superior to classroom instruction, the generational success may not succeed beyond one generation because the fathers were not involved in any part of the child's education process. Many homeschooling families relegate the family devotions to the father, but that is not enough to fulfill the commands we find in Proverbs. There is much to be discussed and understood concerning our culture and a biblical lifestyle. Most academic subjects lend themselves very easily into discussions, questions and answers that can impart this wisdom.
The scriptures we have just reviewed reveal the following major biblical methods of education.
Jesus is the one who has written God's laws on our hearts when He established the New Covenant. He is the only one who can teach us how to obey those laws in our world, in our families, in our society, in our nation, in our generation.
The Bible is the most important book or literature in all the world.
Parents much be involved as examples of biblical character as well as the teachers of various information. Fathers especially need to read the Bible to their children every day as well as incorporate other books into a family reading program so the father has the opportunity to impart a biblical world view to his family.
Truth must be sought, taught and caught at all times and for all ages.
Hearing the truth is the first foundational skill a person should learn.
Obeying the truth that is heard is the next important skill a person should learn.
Speaking the truth is the next valuable skill a person should possess.
Writing the truth is the next skill that a person should possess.
The following Scripture encapsulates the Biblical command concerning language and an appropriate warning.
SPECIFIC DAILY SUBJECTS TO BE STUDIED?
Ages 1-5 should be talked to, read to, instructed in godly character attitudes and habits. Bible stories, songs, activities should all be biblically based with little or no fantasy (animals talking and acting like humans.) If fantansy is used, the child should be instructed so that he understands that fantasy is not the truth.
Indoor toys should be minimal and should be those that teach the child manual dexterity (puzzles, legos, coloring, sewing, cutting, pasting, screws. screwdrivers, hammers, pounding pegs etc).
When possible, incorporate activities that provide something for the whole family. e.g. make noodles rather than playing with playdough. Use this activity to teach measuring, fractions, the use of a knife, cookie cutters, measuring.
Books read to students at this age should include biblical history, creation science, missionary biographies, history of the church, Christian history of nations.
Grade K-2 should have very little written academic work.
Learning to recognize and pronounce the sounds of phonograms.
Learning to print the sound of phongrams.
Learning to spell and read words.
Learning to spell and read his own sentences.
Learning to listen to the Bible dictated to him and print what he hears.
Learning to recognize and pronounce the numbers of arithmetic.
Learning to print numbers and count orally.
Learning to add, subtract and some multiplication.
All other subjects (science, history, English grammar, geography,) should be real aloud by child and parent(s) alternating paragraphs and discussing what has been read.
Maps and globes should be used in all discussions of events pertaining to history and geography.
Child learns to put more of his thoughts and learning on paper, but much is still done orally.
Reading should be very fluent and easy.
Penmanship should be easy to read.
Ability to converse should be easy.
Dictation from the Bible and ability to write in cursive can be lengthened in time or number of verses.
Biblical research should be done with a parent.
Pick 2 or 3 subjects that will monitor composition skills.
Do other subjects orally.
Child begins to have all the necessary skills to do more demanding academic tasks.
Oral discussion should not be replaced by too much written work.
Written work should be individual biblical research and original thoughts and ideas.
Child can do most of his academic subjects by himself.
Parents need to discuss all written work, assess it, and correct all errors and misconceptions that may not fit biblical and family standards.
Child should be very used to correcting and recorrecting until he has an acceptable presentation whether it be verbal or written.
Many subjects are not totally new material, but incorporate a deeper level or understanding of subjects that have already been introduced.
Fine tuning skills and overcoming any gaps should be emphasized.
Longer discussions or short speeches should be encouraged and evaluated.
Biblical interpretations of current events should be discussed daily.
Math will take on a new level of intensity because algebra, geometry require abstract concepts.
Composition skills will be refined until the student is writing at an adult level.
Foreign languages can be introduced at an adult level (i.e. with grammar and reading emphasis). The Biblical Method of Education, Copying God's Law, can be effectively used at this level to learn the Biblical vocabulary of a foreign language. With foreign language, Copying God's Law means beginning to learn a foreign language by copying the Bible written in the foreign language.
Speech, debate and Christian apologetics should be introduced as a formal subject and speeches should be given frequently to the whole family.
All the factual material that has been studied and learned and all the skills that were acquired are now utilized as the child learns to incorporate all he has been learning into a biblical world view of every segement of society.
Many students have grasped material from Grades K-6 by age 12. For those subjects, do not repeat the same material (as most textbooks do for grades 7-8). Instead, move into high school textbooks and as soon as the student is working at high school level, begin to incorporate college texts, independent study, and apprenticeship(s).
For subjects which are not a student's strong areas, be willing to delay the use of grade 8-10 texts and courses until the student is older. If the highest level of knowledge the family seeks for the child in a subject is in a grade 9 text, using that text at age 16 or 17 may provide more thorough learning