Questions A Christian Home Educator Should Ask…

…Yourself
1. Is your Christian faith centred on the authority of the Bible?

If so,

do you believe that God created your children?

do you believe that God has entrusted you with the responsibility for training your children?

do you believe that you need only develop what has already been created?

do you believe that God will provide what is needed to prepare your child for his/her future?

If so,

is there any reason to standardize the individual child? 

is there any need for worldly programming and accreditation?

is there any room for compromise?

If not,

why would you follow a one-size, fits all, standardized programming and accreditation?

2.  Is your motivation for home educating based on a biblical conviction?

If so,

should you choose a board that would not support you in those convictions?

should you choose a board based on funding?

should you choose a board that is willing to compromise with state programming?

Most Christian home educators have decided not to subscribe to secular thinking yet often end up capitulating as misinformation, fear and peer pressure prescribe only one option- the one most likely leading away from sound biblical doctrine to man-centric solutions.

…Your Board
1.  Do you subscribe to the Christian faith?

If so,

do you purpose to advance the Christian faith and the authority of God's word in home education?

If so,

do you think that one can do so by using secular programming & methodology?

do you believe one can make claims to follow Christian ethics and knowingly be in contravention of biblical teachings?

2.  Are you, or are you representing, a Christian school founded on biblical principles?

If so,

does your school use Christian rather than public curriculum?

If not,

how can you claim to be directing me and my children to the knowledge of the truth?

3.  Do you offer high school credits for home educated students?

If so,

why do you believe this to be proper or necessary?

can secular programming be used to advance Christian doctrine?

do you not believe there is a correlation between secular programming and nominal Christian faith?

4.  Are you contributing to the greater home education community?

If so,

what have you done to advance the cause of home education?

If not,

why not?

5.  Do you consider yourselves as having the student's interest ahead of monetary interests?

If so,

are you billing the government for additional CEU (Credit Enrolment Unit) funding?

It has recently come to our attention that most traditional home school providers may be encouraging and/or providing for government high school credits using the Alberta Programs of Study or by simulating the criteria for accreditation.  Whether these boards are accessing the increased funding allowances for using government programming under CEU funding rates or not, one has to question why they would advance traditional Christian home education through the use of secular (Godless, anti-christian, worldly wisdom) programming.  Some of these boards do not claim to be offering blended programming and do not pass any additional funding to parents.

see Alberta Education Funding Explained 

Please be advised that any board offering high school credits may be accessing funding at regular public or private school levels.  If you desire to avoid compromising situations, these questions will usually expose a board's accessing of funds beyond that of a basic home education for your children.

…Your Facilitator
1.  Do you subscribe to the Christian faith?

If so,

do you believe God is ultimately in control?

do you believe in and advance the authority of the Bible?

will you honor its teachings and guide me accordingly?

do you understand that God places parents as the sole authority for the training of children?

If so,

will you refrain from advancing the modern secular wisdom with respect to education?

2.  Have you educated your children yourself at home?

If not,

how do you presume to guide me in Christian home education?

If yes,

do you believe there is a single prescribed method of home education?

If so,

can you show that there is absolutely no way of succeeding outside of standard approved programming?

If not,

what do you believe is the biblical mandate for educating a child?

how much freedom are you prepared to give me to fulfill that mandate?

Some facilitators are of the opinion that they are the professionals and that parents are answering to them.  This belief is instilled in teachers' college where secular thinking quickly overshadows biblical authority.

If the facilitator is working for a board offering blended programming, ask him or her:

1.  Are you aware of the controversies regarding blended programming?

2.  Have you read and are you familiar with the description of blended programming as outlined in the Funding Manual and elsewhere?

(BLENDED PROGRAM means an educational program consisting of two distinct parts: 
1. A school-provided program where a teacher employed by a school board or an accredited-funded private school is responsible for providing the planning, resource selection, instructional delivery, assessment and evaluation of student progress in selected courses that follow the Alberta Programs of Study; and 
2. A Home Education Program that meets the requirements of the Home Education Regulation.)

If so,

can you explain them to me?

will you be delivering the entire program as prescribed by the regulations (a certificated teacher, not a teacher representative, delivering the APS, not a facsimile, using approved resources, not alternatives)?

3.  Are you certain that you are not leading me to violate my conscience?

If not,

why are you involved in blended programming?

If the facilitator is working for a board offering credits, ask him or her:

1.  Are you convinced that only standardized programming will prepare my child as an individual?

2.  Are you comfortable with advancing the option to achieve an Alberta diploma without following Alberta Programming?

If so,

how has this separated us from the rest of the world?

is this what you think the government had in mind when it instituted the diploma?

If not,

do you believe this is honest before God?

3.  Are you aware of the secular nature of public programming?

If so,

do you believe we can accomplish God's directives through secular (Godless) programming?

how can you claim a Christian faith when advancing anti-Christian solutions?

Note:  Public programming is essentially secular, meaning that under the covering of being inclusive and tolerant, all faiths must be excluded from the public arena.  This is impossible since there is no such thing as having no faith.  The secular nature of this programming pays little positive attention to the existence of God and Christian doctrine, and therefore undermines nearly all biblical teachings.  Therefore, one would wonder why nearly every private school claiming a Christian foundation in this province is using public programming and that nearly every home school provider is associated with one these schools of compromise.  Any organization claiming a Christian faith should not be advancing accreditation based on secular public programming.  If it is claimed that this can be done without actually following the prescribed methods for its awarding, one needs to not only question the motives but also the ethics of such a provider.  If advancing secular programming towards accreditation to those seeking a Christian foundation is wrong, pretending to meet the requirements towards accreditation is not a fix as much as an untruthful application of something that is questionable in the first place.

Remember that where there is money or power involved, many people and organizations will pretend to be all things to all men.  It is up to you to establish a level of integrity by asking these questions.