Philo: to love
Sophy: knowledge, wisdom

There is a trap set by Satan.  “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  The words to pick up on here are “knowing evil.”  Adam and Eve already knew good, but they didn’t know evil until Satan deceived them to willfully disobey God–thus now knowing evil.  (ref Gen 3:4-5)

So we must be careful as to what we “know” and teach.  There are some things that we should not know or even speak of. “For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.” (Eph 5:12)  

We have made education an idol, a “high place”, in our culture. There is a knowledge that we should seek, but it simply isn’t anything like what we generally call “academics” today. Paul goes on in Ephesians 5: “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” 

That’s it! Do not be foolish, but UNDERSTAND what the LORD’S WILL is. And, as in Proverbs 1, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” (You really have to real all of Proverbs 1 to get the full thrust of wisdom’s calling.)   Also, in Psalm 1, we should not “walk in the counsel of the wicked”, but “delight is in the law of the LORD” and thus we will see that “Whatever he does prospers “. (You need to read all of Psalm 1 to get the full understanding.)  I made my children memorize Psalm 1 when they were still very young. Ask any of them to recite it and I bet they still can. 

Attached is the “Rodatus Family Philosophy” which we adopted soon after we started home educating. (Our children were only about 4 and 5 years old at the time.) We knew that if we didn’t have a fundamental guiding “edict” as to the purpose why we were home educating our children we could fall away from it. There are always things to do, places to go, museums to see, books to read, all of which are “pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom”, but we should be careful what we digest. (Genesis 3 again.)

Rodatus Family
Philosophy for Homeschooling
“Everything is meaningless”
…apart from God.
(Ecclesiastes)

My hope for each member of this family,
including myself, is that each would:

+ Accept Jesus as their personal Savior and remain in Him.

+ Acknowledge God in everything as we learn about this world and universe.

+ Praise Jesus as God always and be thankful for Him.

+ Learn to love others as Jesus spoke of and demonstrated.

+ Die to self—live for Christ.

The above is the original philosophy statement. Since then, I have compiled a more thorough, hopefully mature, but somewhat more complicated philosophy for myself. But the attached is only an example. Your family philosophy, written or unspoken, may be different, and that’s okay. We are all seeking God from the place where we are and so although we are all seeking to mature in Christ, we do so from different directions. 

The number one most important ingredient that, we believe, made the difference in our home education is trusting in Jesus Christ. I could tell you more about how I had no experience, upbringing, character, or maturity to raise godly offspring. But looking to God was the answer we both needed and now we look back and praise God for what He has done. Over and over again, even to this very day, I come to the end of myself. But God gives more grace! I come to Him humbly, repentant, and look unto my Savior, and He restores me. This is how we raise and educate our children. Not with books, but by God’s Spirit leading.

I believe that as we direct our children to love the Lord God with all their heart, mind, and soul, they will become the men and women that God wants them to be, education or not. “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

I saw the comment recently how professionals built the Titanic but an amateur (a man of God) built the Ark. I’m taking the Ark, not the Titanic, thank you. 

Working on Eric’s computer one day, I noticed what looked like a philosophy statement that he had up on the wall of his desk. I appreciated it enough to copy it down. (I didn’t think that he would mind.) Here it is:

God desires these 5 key benefits for us (his children):
1. To know God and believe Him ( Isa. 43:10)
2. To glorify God (Isa. 43:7)
3. To find satisfaction in God (Isa. 55:2)
4. To experience God’s peace (Isa. 55:2)
5. To enjoy God’s presence (Isa. 43:2-3)

So perhaps we should all sit down and figure out what we need to be doing, where we need to be going in order to mature in Christ ourselves and thus lead our children. “Don’t be foolish but find out what pleases the Lord.”  And don’t bite the apple. (Isn’t it funny how an apple is associated with teachers??)  Instead, “seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.”