Philosophy of Christian Education
Parents who fully support Christian education do so because of the mandate in Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
The core beliefs that we teach at Calvin Christian Middle School are an extension of what is being taught at home. Deuteronomy implies a total saturation of our kids in God's word. The home, school and church help provide this saturation. In this way the commandments are impressed upon these children as we talk about them as we "walk along the road".
A Christian school teaches children that there is a greater purpose in life. Life is not all about us, not about taking what you can get, not about "looking out for number one". It's about Jesus. It is his world. Psalm 100:3 says: "It is he who made us and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture." We belong to him and live to serve him by serving others. We learn that our ultimate goal in life is to bring praise to our incredible Creator. Revelation 4:11 says: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (KJV) Everything was made to bring glory to God.
A Christian School is like a greenhouse. It is a place where immature plants are given all of the proper conditions for growth. Students are provided with good soil, water, fertilizer, and plenty of Light. These "proper conditions" include the whole program at a Christian school - a curriculum where Christ is the focus in all disciplines, chapels, devotions, and caring interactions between teacher and students. The student is encouraged to grow, but with the purpose of someday being planted where the plant was intended to grow - outside of the greenhouse. The plant will thrive if it was allowed to develop deep roots in the greenhouse. Students will thrive when they are planted where their Maker intended them to be because they have strong roots that the Christian school, as an extension of the home, helped them develop. Students will be able to achieve their God given and God glorifying purpose in life.
At a Christian school the Bible is not a textbook but is our "life manual". It is not just a book that we read during devotions or Bible class, but is a book that has something to say and to teach us in all areas of our curriculum. It doesn't become our science textbook, but it's words have meaning when we study the solar system and then read the verse from Psalm 8: "When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor." We find out who made the incredible stars and planets, we learn who made us, and we discover that God put us at the height of all creation.
Children are intellectual, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual beings. These dimensions make up the whole child. A Christian school can educate the whole child like no other school. Other schools may educate the children intellectually, physically, and socially, and possibly emotionally, but only a Christian school can truly touch the spirit of a child. From arithmetic to writing and every subject in between, Jesus Christ is integrated in all areas of the curriculum so that the whole child is being taught.
We teach that God created a perfect world, but the fall of man caused the perfection to be tainted by sin. The only way to be brought back into relationship with God was by his bringing us back to him through the redemption that was bought by the blood of Jesus. Because we have been redeemed, God has made us his agents of restoration and reconciliation in this broken world. We show students how to be those agents by showing them that they are made in the image of God. Since God is THE Creator, our students, created in God's image, know that they can create as well. Problem solving, writing, art, scientific discovery, and many other works a student produces at school draw on the creative power of our students. These positively creative works can help bring restoration in this broken world.
A Christian education also pushes our students to strive for excellence. This is another way restoration and reconciliation occurs. The fall may have brought a world of deceit and corruption, but because of the Holy Spirit, our students can work to restore goodness. The words from Philippians 4:8 "...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things" can become our theme. The world should be a better place because of the work of students who attend a Christian school.
Bill Haagsma
Parents who fully support Christian education do so because of the mandate in Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
The core beliefs that we teach at Calvin Christian Middle School are an extension of what is being taught at home. Deuteronomy implies a total saturation of our kids in God's word. The home, school and church help provide this saturation. In this way the commandments are impressed upon these children as we talk about them as we "walk along the road".
A Christian school teaches children that there is a greater purpose in life. Life is not all about us, not about taking what you can get, not about "looking out for number one". It's about Jesus. It is his world. Psalm 100:3 says: "It is he who made us and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture." We belong to him and live to serve him by serving others. We learn that our ultimate goal in life is to bring praise to our incredible Creator. Revelation 4:11 says: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (KJV) Everything was made to bring glory to God.
A Christian School is like a greenhouse. It is a place where immature plants are given all of the proper conditions for growth. Students are provided with good soil, water, fertilizer, and plenty of Light. These "proper conditions" include the whole program at a Christian school - a curriculum where Christ is the focus in all disciplines, chapels, devotions, and caring interactions between teacher and students. The student is encouraged to grow, but with the purpose of someday being planted where the plant was intended to grow - outside of the greenhouse. The plant will thrive if it was allowed to develop deep roots in the greenhouse. Students will thrive when they are planted where their Maker intended them to be because they have strong roots that the Christian school, as an extension of the home, helped them develop. Students will be able to achieve their God given and God glorifying purpose in life.
At a Christian school the Bible is not a textbook but is our "life manual". It is not just a book that we read during devotions or Bible class, but is a book that has something to say and to teach us in all areas of our curriculum. It doesn't become our science textbook, but it's words have meaning when we study the solar system and then read the verse from Psalm 8: "When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor." We find out who made the incredible stars and planets, we learn who made us, and we discover that God put us at the height of all creation.
Children are intellectual, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual beings. These dimensions make up the whole child. A Christian school can educate the whole child like no other school. Other schools may educate the children intellectually, physically, and socially, and possibly emotionally, but only a Christian school can truly touch the spirit of a child. From arithmetic to writing and every subject in between, Jesus Christ is integrated in all areas of the curriculum so that the whole child is being taught.
We teach that God created a perfect world, but the fall of man caused the perfection to be tainted by sin. The only way to be brought back into relationship with God was by his bringing us back to him through the redemption that was bought by the blood of Jesus. Because we have been redeemed, God has made us his agents of restoration and reconciliation in this broken world. We show students how to be those agents by showing them that they are made in the image of God. Since God is THE Creator, our students, created in God's image, know that they can create as well. Problem solving, writing, art, scientific discovery, and many other works a student produces at school draw on the creative power of our students. These positively creative works can help bring restoration in this broken world.
A Christian education also pushes our students to strive for excellence. This is another way restoration and reconciliation occurs. The fall may have brought a world of deceit and corruption, but because of the Holy Spirit, our students can work to restore goodness. The words from Philippians 4:8 "...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things" can become our theme. The world should be a better place because of the work of students who attend a Christian school.
Bill Haagsma