Math: What Do Our Children Need?

Mathematics: What Do Our Children Need?

This is the third and last of a series of articles focused on the kind of mathematics our children need. The first article dealt with the reasons to teach mathematics and suggested some non-typical reasons. The second article discussed how our world is changing and the impact such changes will have on our children. This article will examine teaching methods to prepare our children for the 21st century.

In the 1980’s, every industrialized nation in the world was about the business of educational reform – every nation, that is, on different and diverse courses, tenure issues, year round school, middle school vs. junior high school, bilingual education, multilingual education, integrated curriculum and on and on.

Each of these issues by itself has value, but is it where we should focus our attention? American education should be about the business of educating our people; it’s not about the business of teaching; it s not about courses; it’s not about majors; it’s about teaching people to work smarter. Granted, in 1989 the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) published the NCTM Mathematics Standards. These standards were an attempt to define the mathematics curriculum desired for the 21st century.

However, in two separate research studies, it was found that only 15% of the K-3 teachers and 50% of the secondary teachers were even familiar with these standards. I ll bet that less than 10% of the homeschoolers have even heard of the NCTM Standards. I believe the Standards to be a good document and all math educators should know what is stated and aim toward those objectives.

What about those people who call for a “Back to the Basics” movement? My first question is, “What are the basics?” Is reading, writing, and inventing mathematics basic? Is problem solving basic? Is finding square root without a calculator basic? Is computer knowledge basic? What is basic? Is it possible that we need some basics but not the same old basics of 20 years ago.

I believe the truth of the matter is we don t really know exactly what the basics of mathematics will be in the year 2010.

But I believe we know several things it won t be:

  • It won’t be long division without a calculator.
    It won’t be adding long, large columns of figures without a calculator.
    It won’t be memorizing a bunch of math rules.
    It won’t be about solving a meaningless set of exercises.

We know that calculators and computers will be basic necessities not only in the workplace but also in our homes. We need to get down to business and look around our world.

Before we proceed further with this discussion, let us examine some myths about mathematics and in particular about manipulatives.

Five Myths about Manipulatives:

Myth #1 It’s nice to use manipulatives if you have the time, money and patience, but they are not essential to achievement.
Just the opposite is true. Research clearly shows that using manipulatives makes lessons stick and boosts achievement. Manipulatives model abstractions and help students build concrete visual images of what’s going on with numbers and shapes.

Myth #2 Manipulatives are appropriate only in the very early grades.
Not true! In fact, learning math requires active participation by learners of all ages.

Myth #3 The teacher s role in the use of manipulatives is minimal. A child s own discovery is what manipulatives are all about.
Simply not true! While discovery is important, it s the teacher who focuses attention on the math concept being explored, who encourages students to think as they work, who helps students make the connection between the visual models and the symbols.

Myth #4 Manipulatives are hard to manage.
Manipulatives do add more activity and noise, require space and more organization, but they are not hard to manage. Simple rules of courtesy, responsibility and cooperation can make it easy.

Myth #5 Picturing manipulatives on a computer and manipulating those images is just as good as hands on.
Absolutely false! Nothing can replace a child’s hands-on experience with manipulatives which model mathematical ideas. The computer is a marvelous device and is wonderful for repetitive rote memorization, simulation problems, etc., but not as a substitute for hands- on. The computer and technology are vital but cannot replace hands-on!

Mathematics can be defined as the science of patterns and relationships. If mathematics is a science, then should it not be taught as a science? I believe it should. So, what basic things does a scientist do? Allow me to suggest four things:

1. Explores or experiments
2. Observes
3. Generalizes or draws conclusions
4. Verifies conclusions (proves)

Yes, your mathematics “classroom” should contain these four components. The NCTM Standards gives five goals for ALL students. Students should be able to:

1. Think and reason mathematically
2. Solve problems
3. Communicate mathematically
4. Have confidence in their mathematical abilities
5. Value mathematics

In reality, no one can TEACH mathematics. Effective teachers are those who can stimulate students to LEARN mathematics themselves. Educational research clearly shows that students learn mathematics well only when THEY construct their own mathematical understanding. That’s where the manipulatives come in. Furthermore, we must stress true problem solving. There is a big difference between giving our children exercises and giving them problems. Let me illustrate:

An example of an exercise:
Kim went to the store and spent $.95 for milk and $1.10 for bread. How much money did she spend?

I view this as a mere exercise. Let’s look at a problem using the same data.

Kim went to the store and spent $.95 for milk and $1.10 for bread. The clerk gave her change for $3.00 If she received change in only nickels, dimes and quarters, how many coins could she receive? Explain.

This, my friends, is a good problem!

An exercise is a question which can be answered without much thought. The operation is usually obvious and this type of question is typically done for drill and practice.

A problem is a question which seeks an answer which is not obvious nor is the procedure

A good problem will contain a number of the following components:

  • 1. Answer is not obvious.
    2. There is more than one way to solve it.
    3. There is more than one answer.
    4. There is extraneous data.
    5. It challenges the student.
    6. It requires some thought.
    7. It may not contain sufficient data.
    8. It is of interest to the student.
    9. It is within the student’s ability to solve.
    10. It spawns other questions.

Another good problem:
Examine and explain your thinking. What is the relationship between perimeter and area? That is, if the area remains the same, will the perimeter remain the same or change?

Here’s a good algebra problem.

Use only these numbers to fill in the blanks. You cannot use any numbers except those in set S.

S = {0,1,2,3,4,6}
x = _______ x + y = _______
y = _______ 5y = _______
x2 = _______ y – x = _______
xy = _______ y2 = _______

Answers: x = 4, y = 6, or: x = 0, y = 6

The new learning holds that math can be learned more efficiently in groups: hands-on is better than hands tied behind the back. And counting on fingers is evidence that a child is “trying to figure it out” – a thought process to be encouraged rather than punished. It further establishes that reading and writing are as essential to learning math as they are to the study of any other subject. Blocks, games, puzzles, balance beams, fraction pies, calculators, and computers – these “manipulatives” and new tools of math have made its study the most enjoyable part of the day for children in schools that are engaged in this new learning.

Yet, whereas it is true that every child can learn math, it is a fact that under the present math program few of them do. Small wonder. We teach a math program consisting of nine years of drill in arithmetic, followed by algebra taught as a foreign language in the old way – by memorizing word lists and grammar.

For most students, the final bow is inflicted with a blunt instrument: plane geometry which is too abstract and difficult for many survivors of the death march from arithmetic to algebra. This course has a reputation so bad that less than half of U.S. students even attempt it, and of those who do, most do not learn it. This must and need not continue. First, the calculator and the computer have made skills in rapid paper-and-pencil computation, flash cards, and “rote and drill” obsolete. Second, the ability to analyze real- life problem situations and to express them in mathematical terms has become far more purposeful than the ability to apply the right formula to obtain the correct answer to a textbook math problem.

For these reasons, problem posing, problem solving, and collaborative learning are at the heart of the new learning in math.

Each day, nearly all children are subjected to instruction in the old-style math, and few of these children are learning it.”

-From Everybody Counts

Theon to Hypatia once said, “Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.”

B.F. Skinner said, “Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.”

Oscar Wilde said, “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”

Folks, we must change our educational system. We must change the way most of us homeschool. We must change before it’s too late. We can no longer teach our children the way we were taught. You can’t just give a child a workbook or a textbook or a video and walk away thinking everything will be okay.

My father once said that if we always do what we’ve always done, we ll always get what we’ve always got…And that’s no longer good enough.

There are four basic skills though that every child will need in the 21st century:

  • 1. The ability to think.
    2. The ability to use logic and reasonableness skills.
    3. The ability to effectively and efficiently communicate.
    4. The ability to get along with others in a group.

Mathematics can help children accomplish some of these objectives but remember, “Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.”

Make your mathematics “classroom”:

  • * Discovery orientated
    * Problem solving based
    * Logic centered
    * Reasonableness assured
    * Thought provoking

Mathematics – Part 2 by Selzer

Mathematics, part 2
by Dr. Carl H. Selzer

In the first part of this series of articles, I focused on the real reasons why we study mathematics. In this article, I would like to examine how our world is changing, and how that will impact our children.

Our world is changing! In 1982, there were 32,000 robots in use in the United States. In 1989, there were 1,333,000 in use; and in 1995, that number leaped to 24,000,000. By the year 2000 it is predicted that there will be 100,000,000 robots being utilized in the United States, alone.

Why are we putting so many robots into service? To answer that question, let’s look at a typical example. In 1985, QR Industries employed over 300 people making clamps for General Motors cars. If a clamp was 1/100 of an inch off, the company was severely penalized. In 1986, 5% of their clamps were rejects, so QR Industries had to improve the process or lose the contract. They robotized the assembly line, and now only one out of 10,000 clamps is rejected.

QR Industries now has 17 employees. The accounts payable clerks are gone. Many other office jobs are gone. All have been replaced by computers. Yet, one of the largest enrolled courses in junior and four-year colleges is ledger accountants, accounts receivable personnel, and accounts payable careers. Between 1950 and 1990, we have seen major changes in business but very little change in our business colleges.

Our world is changing! Today the largest employers in the United States, listed respectively by the number of people employed, is as follows:

1. McDonalds
2. Burger King
3. U.S. Government
4. Sears

Twenty-two of the top twenty-five employers are in the retail and service sectors. Yet, the food industry is quickly becoming automated. In Ohio, there is a fast food restaurant where you push the button to select a hamburger, another to indicate what you want on it, and another to deposit your money or insert your charge card. In thirteen seconds you get a hamburger cooked like you want it, untouched by human hands.

Why are fast-food restaurants moving to robots? Simple. Because fast food restaurants have gotten sick and tired of trying to attract quality workers that can do the level of work they want, for a price they are willing to pay. Yet, these restaurants will pay a German technician $30.00 per hour (that’s over $60,000 per year) to keep the high speed laser cooker system working. If it goes out, they’re out of business.

Our world is changing! What’s happening in the service sector? It is becoming automated. How many of you use an Automatic Teller Machine? In 1982, there were no ATM’s. In 1988, 55% of all customer banking transactions were done at ATM machines. Where are all the tellers? In 1990, their positions were reduced by 40%, in 1993 by 80%. In the year 2000, who knows? The banking industry is becoming automated! Oh,yes, but the banking industry is seeking employees. They’re scambling to hire technicians to maintain those Automatic Teller Machines. And where are these technicians coming from? Not the United States. Why? Because none of our colleges or universitites are producing a single technician who can run the ATM system.

One of the fastest growing companies in the United States, according to the Wall Street Journal, is the Checker Robotics Company with main offices in Deerfield, Florida. Guess what Checker makes? Right, robots! Actually, Automated Roboticized Checkout Counters. Push your grocery cart to the check out counter, and a robot arm reaches out, picks up your 16-ounce bottle of Diet Pepsi, reads the bar code, packs it in a bag, and tells you how much you owe. It even packs the heavier items on the bottom and the lighter items on top–what a novel idea that is!

In 1985, all Checker employees were working in the United States. In 1996, 2% of Checker employees work in the U.S. Where did they all go? Answer–China, Korea, Japan, and Germany. Why? Because they could not find the labor force in the U.S. who could do the work.

In 1992, American industry imported 1,000,000 foreign-born, foreign-educated workers with no work experience. These people are serving as well-paid technicians at Citibank, Checker Robotics, and technicians for fast-food restaurants. Is your son or daughter being prepared for this?

Our world is changing! Look at what is happening in the information sector. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, by the year 2000, 11% of all workers in the United States will be in the business of collecting, analyzing, synthesizing, and retrieving data.

How many of you can type — not well, just type. Typing (or keyboarding) is an important skill, but what about the keyboard you are using or learning to use? Did you know the most frequently used letters of the English alphabet are “a”, “e”, “i”, “o”, and “u”? But on American keyboards, the most frequently used letters are not the most accessible. Not only that, but 72% of the keystrokes are hit with the left hand. Why? Because we made our old typewriters that way to slow down the pace so the typewriter keys wouldn’t jam. It is doubtful that the left hand situation was even considered. Yet, we are still using the same old keyboard. Research shows that by simply changing our present keyboard, productivity increases by 36%. Yes, new keyboards do exist, and they recify this problem. So why do we still use the same old keyboard and continue to teach students the same old thing even when we know better?

Any computer manufactured in America since 1988 has two keyboards imbedded within. Word Perfect, for example, has two keyboards; the U.S. model and the rest of the world’s model. Does this remind you of the metric system vs. the English measurement system? Changing how we teach math is a good parallel.

The fact that 44% of the jobs in America are going to be about the business of collecting, analyzing, synthesizing, storing, and retrieving data has nothing to do with this issue – nor should it! The world is changing, folks, and we must change with it.

In 1950, 60% of the jobs in the U.S. were unskilled. In 1989, 35% of the jobs in the U.S. were unskilled. In 2000, we estimate 15% will be unskilled. What are we doing about this?

One out of five students drop out of high school. Another one out of five graduate, but they come from what is known as the “general track”; we all know what that means. Another 20% go to college but last less than one year. What percent of Japanese students do you think complete college? It’s not 100%; it is only 98%. In Germany, it is 96%. In China, it’s only 92%. In America, it is less than 50%.

We live in a Global Economy, and the most important single resource product we have is our work force (our people). Today, North America, Europe, and Japan account for 20% of the world’s poplulation. By 2010, it is projected that North America, Europe, and Japan will only account for 10% of the world’s population. The rest of the world – the other 50% today and 90% in 2010 – have an average salary of 50 cents an hour. How can we compete with that? We can’t!

It costs $9.80 to type one page of print in the U.S. and only $1.18 in China. We cannot compete with that. So we must work smarter! We must teach our childen

How to Think
How to Communicate Their Thinking
How to Reason Logically
How to Get Along with One Another
How to Solve Problems

To do this we must change the way we teach. Our methods of teaching mathematics are just about as obsolete as our typewriters. In the next article, we will examine how to do this.

Mathematics – Part 1 by Selzer

Mathematics, part 1
by Dr. Carl H. Selzer

This is the first in a series of mathematics articles that I’ve agreed to write for “The Homeschooler”. I sincerely hope these articles will be of a significant resource to you as you contemplate the teaching of mathematics to your child (children).

Mathematics may be defined as the science of pattern and relationships. As a science, the “mathematics classroom” should be a scientific laboratory where children experiment, explore, observe, draw conclusions, and verify results. Problem solving should be the main focus of any mathematics program.

Having defined mathematics, the next question is why do we study mathematics? I believe that we’ve been incorrectly answering this question. Traditionally we’ve answered the question, why study mathematics, as follows:

1) You need it in later math courses.
2) You need it for college.
3) You need it to function in the real world.
4) You need it for specific careers.

These reasons are not convincing to me, nor are they convincing to children. Actually, these aren’t really the reasons at all. Rather, I’d like to suggest that we study mathematics because in mathematics we learn how to answer every important generic-type question. The skills obtained by answering these questions are applicable to almost every profession or career.

People need mathematics and mathematical skills and abilities when they encounter questions like:

1) How can this information be sorted, organized, grouped and visualized?
2) Does it follow? Can you verify that fact?
3) What are the possibilities?
4) What strategies are available?
5) What are the chances? What are the risks?
6) Can we simulate or model the situation?
7) A small part of the situation is visible, but what is “actually” there?
8) Why does this work?
9) Are these figures accurate? Do the books balance?
10) What’s missing? What’s extra?
11) Are these two things related? Does one factor influence the other?
12) What are the extremes? What is most likely? How much variation can we expect?
13) Is that reasonable? Do I have enough?
14) What are the ground rules? What limits do they impose?
15) Is there a different way to look at the situation?
16) What if? What are the possible consequences? Have we explored every possibility? Have we missed something?
17) How much is necessary to complete the task?
18) Does this problem behave like any other situation? What’s the same? What is different?
19) Can it fit in the available space?
20) How fast is the situation changing?
21) Have we reached the maximum or minimum? Can things get better or worse? What’s best?
22) Can the situation be visualized?
23) Can we create a scale model?
24) Will our proposed change really make a difference? How can we tell?
25) How do you know it’s true? How can you be sure?
26) What is the result of this series of actions? Are the steps reversible?

These are surely not the only questions studied in mathematics, but will give you a good idea of what our children need to learn.

Next issue topic–What kind of mathematics for our children’s future–a look at the REAL world.

John Dewey and the Russians

“It is unlawful to learn, even from an enemy.” When the Communists took over Russia, the Communists still remained Russian, and they still wanted Russia to be the leading nation of the world. They were determined to provide the Russian people with the best type of education. They had heard so many glowing commendations for John Dewey and his great system of education, called Progressive at Teachers College, Columbia.

They arranged with John Dewey to set up his discipline-less, progressive education on a national scale in Russia in 1920.

At the time, in Teachers College there was another progressor named William Bagley who was a great champion and defender of mental discipling and classroom discipline in education. He reminded John Dewey that his progressive education would be thrown out of Russia in ten years.

John Dewey, beginning with 1920, had the full cooperation of a totalitarian government to put his progressive education through a great experiment. However, in 1932, the government of Russia informed John Dewey that his progressive education was a failure.

It did not educate the children, but it developed a nation of juvenile delinquents. Bagley had prophesied that progressive education would be thrown out. He further specified the time – ten years. That was really close; it was actually 12 years.

Let us look at the patriotic Russians who discovered that Dewey’s theory of permissiveness and opposition to discipline did not educate. They discovered that discipline was necessary by practical experience in educating children.

In sizing up and evaluating the professors of progressive education at Teachers College, it can only be concluded that these progressive professors are not interested in education for its own sake. They are only interested in education as a means of propagating their atheistic religion of evolutionism. In almost every class, evolution is brought up and proposed as an explanation of many things.

The promulgators of progressive education are opposed to discipline because they seem to be convinced that the only reason that their super-man has not yet evolved, is due to the restrictions imposed by every preceding generation on the succeeding one. And these restrictions were transmitted through the rules and regulations imposed by the school, the church, and the home. This goal appears to be their great dream. If they could eliminate the discipline imposed by these three agencies, nature would be free to continue its process of evolution.

It can readily be understood that with such an obsession Dewey and his progressive education would not be blamed for the failure in Russia; the blamed would be put on the Russian people who were too ignorant and too uneducated to appreciate the great benefits of the atheistic, materialistic, educational concoction of John Dewey. The American people were thoroughly brainwashed by the worshipers of John Dewey. The progressives had acquired such a strangle-hold in the field of education that no one could expect to advance in that field unless he or she burned incense to John Dewey.

It took the uneducated but genuinely patriotic Russians only 12 years to realize what a big fraud progressive education is. They had the courage to give a great atheistic philosopher, John Dewey his dismissal papers.

The great education professors and educators who have obtained many American college degrees have not yet succeeded in putting the soulless education of John Dewey out of American education. It is now over 55 years since the Russians showed us what to do. And now, the graduates of our grade schools and high schools are so uneducated that colleges have to have corrective courses in the fundamentals, and juvenile delinquency is on the increase.

Another important factor must be considered. The Russians have learned what a fraud this much-advertised type of American education is.

Their great love and great patriotism for their country, Russia, gave them the insight and the courage to learn the truth about progressive education. Their great patriotism and love for Russia inspires them with the hope that those responsible for education in the United States will continue the idolater of progressive and behavioristic worship. This may also account for the confidence that the Russians have that they can outwit us in all types of negotiations. They conclude that we are the victims of an educational system that does not educate. How many times have our great statesmen been outwitted and tricked by the diplomats of Russia?

Footnote; John Dewey’s progressive education was not the only American idea tested by Russian experiments. The Russians took on also classroom sex education. The date on which it started, I do not know. But I know it ended in July, 1949. They discovered that classroom sex education was destructive of family life and detrimental to society. So by national decree they gave that instruction back to the parents. Those who admire patriotism will not blame the Russians for rejoicing that progressive behaviorists are paid tax payers money to have children classroom-sex-educated in the United States.

WHAT IS THE VERDICT?

When the state takes YOU to court, what will the verdict be? But you say, “It will never happen to me!” This is what the hundreds have said that have already gone to the courtroom for their religious freedom. It did happen to them!

If someone had said to you twenty years ago that in 1995 there would be hundreds of cases pending against churches and pastors in the United States; what would you have said? You would have probably said, “You’re crazy!” You would have thought that even if the state did take a church to court, the Christians would rise up in a massive revolt. But hundreds of churches have now already been sued and most Christians have not even found it objectionable. Most of us have simply been content with living our lives in another direction. We have been content to let the state’s grip tighten on our faith and religious freedom little by little.

The purpose of this article is to show you the real issues that face the Christian at this moment. We want you to be able to give the Biblical explanations for the stand that you take. We want you to have a strong Godly conviction: about your actions in the ministry of the Gospel. In Hosea 4:6, it says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” When the test comes to your home, will you stand or will you fall to the control of the state?

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

The first principle that we as Christians must know and understand is that the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights say that there is to be a separation of church and state. This is found primarily in the First Amendment.

The First Amendment. The First Amendment has two religious clauses: (1) the non-establishment clause and (2) the free-exercise clause. The first clause has little to do with most of the law suits right now. It says that government will not become involved in the “establishment” of a religion. They are not to do anything that will help religion. They are not to finance it, foster it, or further it. The one danger with this clause that has turned up is that if you do take the government s money, you have no right to object to the government’s controls. But since we don t believe that Caesar (the state) has any business financing the Church anyway, we do not accept the State’s money. (Do you?)

The second clause, the free exercise clause, is the issue in almost every case across America. It says simply: “There shall be no law abridging (depriving) the free exercise of religion.” This was worded exactly right by the framers of our Constitution. The word “exercise” is the outgoing, or the putting into implementation of our faith. In communist lands, they say they have religious freedom, but that is only to “think” whatever you want. In America, however, we have (by the First Amendment) true freedom of religion. The test for religious freedom is in action and not just in thought.

The Biblical Base. We cannot “believe” in the Constitution. The Supreme Court changes it nearly every week. But there is a document that we can believe and you will be asked this in great detail in the courtroom. They will turn to you and ask, “Is there a book which contains every single one of your beliefs without exception?” “Yes. The Bible.” “Are there any other documents; or are there any other persons living, about to be born, or past lived who can give you a further amplification of those beliefs or curtail any of those beliefs?” “No. There is even a curse on the one who adds or subtracts from the perfect revelation as we have it.” In a court of law our beliefs must be contained in full in the Word of God.

In Romans 13:1, Paul said that there is no authority but that which is given from God. And Jesus, in Matthew 22:21, voiced the fact that God reserves certain matters to Himself. Matters of faith and worship have not been given to government. The Church and Her actions in the gospel ministry are governed by God, and the government dare not meddle with these areas. These are the foundations on which the framers of the Constitution founded the philosophy of church-state separation. They believed the Bible to be the only document containing perfect truth. They knew that the Constitution must agree with the Word of God.

DEFINITION OF THE CHURCH

Now, if our Constitution guarantees us separation of church and state, we have to define these two entities. The state had trouble defining itself. If the state is all the people, how can all the people sue a few of the people? So the Supreme Court chose to define the church. The surprising thing is that they agreed perfectly with the Word of God.

First, they explained what a church was NOT It is not a church because of its title or name. Just to put the word “Church” with a group of words does not make a church. A church is not a church just because of its organization. It is not a church because of its building. Really, a church does not need any of these three things. The Supreme Court said simply that a Church is “the BELIEFS and the BELIEVERS.”

But now the Supreme Court went one step further. They not only defined what the Church was, but they also defined which beliefs are legitimate. They developed a test that each of us must go through and pass in a court of law. Following is that test; a test impossible to cram for; a test that we must be able to pass before we go to court.

EXPLANATION OF THE TEST

The Supreme Court said that a belief must be something that you as a believer can make oral. You don t have to be eloquent, but it must be more than an (it seems to me) a hunch. Also, you as a believer must have a knowledge of that belief. This is to prevent people from hiding behind a title. To say “I m a Fundamental Baptist” doesn’t give you beliefs.

In 1972, in a case involving education, the court came up with the ultimate test to determine which of these beliefs were legitimate and which were not. They classified beliefs in one of two categories; “convictions” or “preferences”. Convictions are protected by the First Amendment, and preferences are not. Below is this test in brief.

Preferences. A preference is a very very strong belief held with great intensity and strength. You might give your entire life and go into full time service in the name of a preference. You might give all your wealth to this belief. You could be energetic in spreading and propagating this preference (hand out tracts, go on soul-winning, visitation, etc.). You could even want to teach this to your children. But the one thing that makes a preference different from a conviction is that under the right circumstances, you will change a preference.

The court has noticed five areas where you would be most likely to change. These five areas are (1) peer pressure, (2) family pressure, (3) the threat or the carrying through of litigation (law suits), (4), jail for your and your wife (your children being taken by the state), and (5) death. If any of these things would make you change or even bend just a little, then your belief was a preference, and will not be protected by the First Amendment. Think seriously about these five areas. Before too long, many of you will be called on to give your beliefs.

Convictions. A conviction is different in primarily one way: it is a belief that you will NOT change; a belief that you can not change. There are four things that make up a conviction. The three Hebrew children are excellent Biblical examples of these four qualities.

First, a conviction is caused by a man who thinks that his belief is a commandment from God. It must be God-ordered. The Hebrew children had been commanded of God in Exodus 20:3 that they should have no other gods before them. We, too, have been commanded in the Scriptures that certain things are wrong. Just as the Hebrew children in Daniel, chapter three, refused to bow to the golden image made by Nebuchadnezzar, we must refuse the state in matters not pertaining to it. A God-ordered belief will give us the strength we need to withstand the test for conviction.

Second, a conviction must be a personal belief. It must be a belief that you as an individual holds and will hold even though no one else stands with you. The three boys in Daniel stood when everybody else bowed to the image. Where were all the other Hebrews? They were complying with the state. But these boys had purposed in their heart not to defile themselves long before the test came. Would you stand alone against the state on a God-ordered commend? Remember, God plus one is a majority.

Third, a conviction must be non-negotiable. In Daniel, the king gave these boys a second chance, but they said, “We are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us…but if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” (Dan. 3:16-18). No amount of talk was going to change their minds. Are your beliefs non- negotiable?

Fourth, convictions must be unconditional. By this is meant that no matter what the outcome is, you will not change. If you must be guaranteed a victory before you take a stand, your belief is a preference. The Hebrew boys were willing to die before they would bend to the wishes of the state.

These are the four qualities that make up a conviction. It must be a belief that is God- ordered, personal, non-negotiable, and unconditional. Only this type of belief is protected by our Constitution.

Lifestyle Consistency. There is one more part to the Supreme Court’s test between conviction and preference. It is based on the philosophy that a man’s conviction will show up in his life. This test is also Biblical. James said it best: “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). The way we live our life must be consistent with our beliefs. When the court tests you, they will delve into literally every area of your life. There is no one part of your life that is secular and another that is sacred. Every part of you belongs to God and must be lived in accordance with His Word. They will search the use of your finances; the use of your time; your recreational activities and your reading materials; every area!

One example of how the court might question you is in regard to the television. Cases have been lost by the following line of question. “Is it true that one reason for your child going to a Christian School is so he will matters of pornography, obscenity, and nudity? (Yes) “Is it true that it is so he will not see unrighteous upheld nor righteous themes debased?” (Yes) “Sir, do you own a television?” (Yes) “How much did it cost?” ($200- $500) “Where do you keep it?” (The living room) “And why is that?” (It is most traveled) “Sir, isn t it true that a TV can not affect you unless you turn it on?” (Yes) “now, do you ever hear obscenity, see nudity, and view righteous themes debased as well as unrighteousness upheld?” (Yes, sir) Your conviction has just been destroyed.

This area of lifestyle consistency is a little deeper than most would think at first. You are challenged to think seriously about the ramifications this could have in your life.

One other matter concerned with your lifestyle is on the other side of the coin. If convictions are God-ordered and come from the Bible, what is it to disobey them? It is sin! You must not only believe; you must say that the opposite of a conviction is a sin. Pastor, do you preach that public education is sin? If not, you have only a preference. Parent, do you teach and train your child in the steps of Christ? Do you have a daily family altar? If not, your conviction that your child is lent to you by God to train in the paths of righteousness is simply a preference.

When the test comes down to you, what will the verdict be? Will the court find you protected by our Constitution, or will it find you unprotected? Will you have a conviction or a preference? Will you be consistent in your walk, or will you be found with a contradiction in your lifestyle?

Before you continue, check your understanding of these ideas by answering the questions below.

  • 1. What is the issue protected by our First Amendment?
    2. What document holds all of your beliefs and is unalterable?
    3. What is the Biblical base for the philosophy of church-state separation?
    4. What is the Church?
    5. What is a preference?
    6. What is a conviction?
    7. What is a lifestyle consistency?

Answers: (1) The free-exercise of our religious beliefs. (2) The Bible. (3) Romans 13:1 and Matthew 22:21. (4) The beliefs and the believers. (5) A very strong belief that can and will change under certain circumstances. (6) A belief that is God-ordered and therefore cannot change. (7) When you live what you believe and believe the opposite of a conviction, it is sin.

Pastor Need

How Homeschooling Changed My Life

How Home-Schooling Affected My Life

Shondra Hayes

I attended public school through the 6th grade, a private church school in the 7th grade, and the rest of my I scholastic endeavors in a homeschool environment. For me, this was a time of learning, of finding out who I was and what I believed, of deepening my walk with my Lord, and in learning study skills that would benefit me throughout the coming years.

In separating my scholastic and social lives, I learned a valuable lesson you must be focused on the task at hand, whether it be a trigonometry problem or a lasting friendship. Since I normally took ten or eleven subjects per year, I divvied up my schedule into more manageable chunks; i.e., I found out how many pages per week I bad to complete to get through a particular course and then further broke it down into pages per day. This type of scheduling taught me that when a task seems too daunt- ing, you merely take apart its components until you have a realistic goal. Not only is there a finish line in sight, but you gain a sense of accomplishing something worthwhile.

In this homeschool environment, I was not pushed nor was I held back; instead) I learned at my own pace. Rather than spending 50 minutes on a subject I was proficient at (English), I could finish that relatively quickly and devote my energy on a subject that was more difficult for me (Math). I discovered that there was no one to make me do my schoolwork. If I did not finish in the allotted time, it became homework; if I did finish, then I was free to pursue other interests.

Learning to be self-motivated and responsible helped me during those sometimes trying, yet always exciting, collegiate years. Many a valedictorian I saw drop or flunk out, because they did not know how to study. They could not, or would not, face the challenge of learning on their own. College offers many new activities, new faces, and new subjects. Without the ability to schedule your time effectively, due dates often sneak up on you.

Being alone is another area where homeschooling holds an advantage. In this fast-paced world we live in, solitude is often rare. We live in a society that fears aloneness – for if one is alone, one might have to face himself. We live in a time of quickness; a time of faxes, television, telephones, where someone around the world is as close as a phone line. Here you learn to be alone, to become comfortable with yourself. This means facing your own personal demons and working them out with the Lord.

You are not constantly bombarded with people, with peer pressures, or with negative socialization in a homeschool environment. Instead, I was able to choose my friends and intimates based on who they really were, rather than merely if they were popular. Because of the flexibility my schedule allowed, I was able to immerse myself into many community activities; i.e., piano, voice, community theatre, my church, a friend’s youth group, and a job with the local Recreation & Parks Department. I had the freedom to become friends with people all over the city, instead of staying within a little clique at school.

I strongly believe that it is the parents’ responsibility to make sure that their children are not isolated; however, I also hold to the fact that there is no reason to subjugate them to pressures that are beyond their level of maturity. It takes a certain sense of yourself to tell a person “No!” – whether it be to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or sex. All that is associated with the homeschooling time allowed me to find out what I believed in and why. This then enabled me to hold fast to my beliefs when it came my time to be tempted.

During my high-school years, I “found my calling.” I was to be in theatre, theatre that glorified my Lord. He had some convincing to do of my parents, but because of the bond we had and the fruits they could see in my life, He won them over. At this time, I also met David Burke, who was to become an influential person in my life. I had not planned on applying to Union University until he encouraged me. Through him I was introduced to the A.D. Players, a professional Christian theatre company, the company for whom I now work.

Two of my friends and I applied to Union in the spring of 1988. We had, respectively, made a 31,30, and 26 on our ACT scores. Because of our “lack of accreditation” and somewhat odd training, none of us received a full-tuition scholarship. We knew we were being observed during our stay there, primarily to see how we adjusted, both socially and scholastically. Needless to say, by the time another homeschooler came in two years later with a score in the 20’s, she received the full-tuition scholarship. We had passed! Our study skills, self-motivation, and leadership qualities impressed the school so much that now they actively recruit homeschoolers.

All three of us won scholastic medals in our respective majors. One graduated with a double major in three years, another with almost two majors in three and a half years, and I with a major and two minors in four years (I didn’t want to rush myself). I was also honored to be in the top three chosen throughout the whole graduating class for the Outstanding Senior Award. We were very active in social activities and professional fraternities, holding of- fices in various ones. This is indicative that neither our social nor our scholastic abilities were hampered during our time of homeschooling.

At Union, I received further training in my chosen field. David Burke, the theatre director, encouraged me in all of my endeavors. He told me more about the A.D. Players, for he and his wife had worked with them for nine years. A conviction that this is where I was called to serve my Lord grew. I graduated, taught theatre and music .in a private school for a year, and learned that this area was definitely not where I was supposed to be. Therefore, I gathered up my courage, auditioned for and was accepted by the A.D. Players.

Moving to Houston was a major upheaval in my life. Still, the abilities that homeschooling began and college honed served me well. As an Intern, I was immediately introduced to production work. During my first year, I learned to make flats, run the light and sound boards, be extremely creative on a very limited budget, and devote my life to serving my Lord, who is the Father of all Creativity, in the arts.

I stayed with the Players and moved into Special Events Coordinator and Prayer Chairman in my second year. The only job I kept from the previous was Assistant Costumer. I definitely had to continue to schedule my time in order to complete the tasks assigned. The impressive thing about this company is that you learn how to do it all, to be both cast and crew. It deepens your appreciation for the amount of time and energy others devote to their chosen craft as well.

Now I am in my third year with the Players. Will I stay here forever? I do not know. I know that I will be here until He calls me elsewhere. I take solace knowing that theatre will always be a part of my life, whether full-time as now or part-time later on. I want to continue my education and receive my Master of Fine Arts, but that is not what He has for me at this season in my life.

In conclusion, there were many aspects of my life that made me who I am today. However, I would have to say that the abilities I learned in the homeschool environment played a major role. These lessons stood me well in the school of life. I am definitely a stronger person for being able to discover myself, to learn to enjoy being alone, to become self-motivated and to deepen my walk with my Lord.

Guiding Principles to Help Parents

In Homeschooling—In Relationship—To Government

Principle 1:

Licensing: The state wants to give us permission to have a home school. The state cannot give us permission to have a Christian home school. Only God can do that. Proverbs 22:6

Principle 2:

Render to Caesar only what belongs to Caesar. Our children are not Caesar’s and do not belong to Caesar.

Principle 3:

The state can have only what parents give to them. The Constitution preserves the rest to the parents. Parents are not to protect the rights of the state. The state was formed to protect parents’ rights and guarantee them.

Principle 4:

Parents do not want, nor should they accept state aid. That includes receiving “free tax credits”! There is no such thing as a “free” lunch. What the state gives the state controls. We will not sacrifice our birthright of freedom for a mess of governmental porridge.

Principle 5:

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” II Corinthians 6:14, 17. The same people who teach sex education, evolution, and place unacceptable materials in the public classrooms want to “help” you or “join”you in the teaching of “your” children.

Principle 6:

The state and federal governments want to become an educational monopoly. They are setting upon a course, Education 2000, which will destroy the quality education of our Christian home schooling parents. Monopolies destroy quality!

Principle 7:

The free enterprise system dictates that we must preserve the Christian home schooling as an entity separate and diametrically opposed to the state and federal monopoly. We have a product from God and cannot be controlled by humanistic competitors. The free enterprise system is the result of a traditional, Biblically-based philosophy of education.

Principle 8:

People should not be paying for the “inferior” product produced by humanistic, secular education. We have been forced to do so by doing nothing and by an autocratic government bogged down by an irresponsible bureaucracy. Sixty percent of Americans say they would choose an alternate to public education if they could afford to. They should be able to have that choice.

Principle 9:

A home schooler that is forced to be licensed by the state and is controlled and directed by the state is no longer a private citizen, but a puppet and subject of that state. That person has moved from a “republic” to a “socialistic” form of representation.

Principle 10:

There are no “public” schools any longer. State schools are now dominated by unelected, faceless, nameless individuals who are not accountable to anyone. Funded and sponsored by the federal government. Funded with “your” money wrestled from you by unelected, faceless, nameless individuals from the federal and state bureaucracies. Your money is spent by these individuals who are not accountable to anyone.

Principle 11:

Christian home schooling offers a safety valve to parents who are terribly frustrated by the above bureaucracy and who want to follow the Biblical mandate in the training up of their own children. Deuteronomy 6.

Principle 12:

Our religious freedom comes from God — not from government. It is not only a right, it is a responsibility to train up our children in the way God wants them to go — His way. Deuteronomy 6: 1-25. Proverbs 22:6. State education boards across all of America are at enmity with this principle.The state of Ohio has a code which reads as follows:

The natural rights of a parent to custody and control of their children are subordinate to the power of the state to provide for the education of children. Laws providing for the education of children are for the protection of the state itself.”

Foundations: Teaching Every Child How to Read

Foundations to Teaching Every Child to Read

This is the first of many articles that I am going to do addressing the issues of reading and setting a good reading foundation for any child.

I am going to discuss such issues as “Everyone and Everything Teaches”, “Seeing Affects Reading”, “Listening Affects Reading”, “Talking Affects Reading”, “Ways To Grow Into Reading” and many more.

Learning to read and learning to read well and with enjoyment is one of the most important achievements in a child’s early intellectual life.

Parents are the key to opening the door to the confidence, satisfaction, and knowledge that reading provides.

Researchers are finding more and more evidence to indicate that a child’s character, personality, and intellectual disposition are practically formed by two years of age.

“Train up a child in the way he shall go and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

“And thou shalt teach them diligently…”

Parents play a crucial role in the intellectual growth of their children and also in creating good and happy readers.

First and most importantly, you must realize that everyone and everything teaches.

You cannot stop your child from seeing, touching, tasting, hearing and smelling. BUT these senses must be guided. You don’t have to understand how the brain works to teach well. Good drivers don’t have to know how the engine works.

Learning is natural. Try to stop it!

The brain, weighs about two and one half pounds of tissue which is connected to the sensory modalities and has an electrical and emotionally charged base.

If it is triggered by a laugh, smile, wink, pleasant touch, pleasant voice or pat, the learning machine purrs and is happy.

With the introduction of frustration, anger, violence or rejection, it gets clogged and learning is adversely affected.

A baby becomes frustrated if not fed, changed or LOVED. A child can be daunted and crushed by too many “NOS” or too many whacks. Parents can unintentionally discourage a child with learning materials or even toys that are inappropriate to his age.

Children mature at different rates as well as their body parts mature at different rates. Mental development is affected by a child’s physical development and both are influenced by surroundings and inheritance.

“Train up a child…”

Surroundings offer the opportunity for learning. Doing what others do. The surroundings can be rich or poor. The bedroom of the child can have books, bells and balls – or it can be bare and boring.

Abilities are affected by inheritance but they can be enhanced or retarded by the quality of experience the surroundings afford.

Examine your own background as parents. Heredity may determine whether your child is aggressive, passive, insightful, thoughtful, impatient or impulsive.

Give your heredity garbage to the Lord and ask for wisdom in freeing yourself as well as your child from your inherited and his inherited emotional baggage and frustration. Supply him with a Godly enriched environment and educational opportunity. One you maybe did not receive.

Developmental Overview-The Infant

In the first year of your child’s life you will see an incredible process of differentiation occur. At first the infant will not know the difference between mother and father. But through the first year he not only learns to make these distinctions but to see himself as separate from the people and things around him.

During the first months of life a child physically responds to hunger, noise, and discomfort in one way; he cries.

He learns to display one obviuous and general emotion, excitement, by three or four months and he can learn to express both positive and negative excitement.

By the twelfth month he will be manipulating adults with a smile more than a cry.

Body control moves from the head downward during the first year. Neck and head muscles develop control before the trunk. This control travels from the “inside” to the “outside,” from the arms to fingers, from large muscles to fine ones. The child will go from no grasp to a firm grasp, holding objects between thumb and finger to clapping to a rhythm and even babbling a song.

The child matures from lying to grasping to crawling to walking.

The first year, let things happen naturally.

Encouraging performance before the physical readiness may retard ability. In other words, Don’t Push!!!

The One Year Old

The one -year old knows Mom, Dad, Grandma, definitely Grandpa, and DOMINATES all of them. Many walk by one, or at least stand alone.

The one -year old now walks into experience. He explores every room, nook and cranny in the house.

His pupils seem to be enlarged as he stares at things and people and information of every kind pours into his brain.

Adults are especially scrutinized, so be VERY careful of your behavior and those around you.

“Train up a child…”

From twelve to eighteen months a child concentrates on standing, walking, and stepping over obstacles with balance, and finally climbing.

During this period, a child develops from creeping to walking, to climbing and running. Before long he shows a preference from reaching with one hand. He can scribble in circles and play catch. He can walk backwards and is ready to operate a kiddy car. He will learn to fill and empty and pull and carry.

In the second half of this year, there is a shift to language development.

Between eighteen and twenty-four months, a child’s vocabulary will increase from fifty simple words such as

Hi! ; Hot ; Bottle ; No/uh.huh ; Spoon ; Daddy ; Pretty ; Boat ; Me too ; Baby ; Mommy ; Light ; Truck ; Hat ; Doggie ; and names of pets and family members, to more than three hundred words.

The Two-Year-OLD

He can walk, run, and climb. He then must “explore”.

He is beginning to speak but communication isn’t entirely effective. Mom and Dad and child quite often don’t understand each other.

He is coordinated enough to pile six blocks. He can climb up and down stairs alone and copy a vertically drawn line. He can kick a ball. He can carry a load. He does not cooperate at play except to play simple catch and toss with a ball. He holds and hoards and doesn’t like to share.

After two he will participate in art play, l haikes to see action toys work and he loves clay.

Toilet training occurs, and since he likes water play – WATCH OUT!!

He can fit pieces in a puzzle and fill and empty. He likes to touch, watch, imitate, and be dependent on his Mother.

Words, words and more words. He learns words easily and uses talk when he plays. His attention span is short. He responds to BRIEF commands.

The Three-Year- Old

He has learned a lot of forms and concepts and has been flung back and forth between frustrations and paradoxes. BUT HE MADE IT!!!

He begins to see himself with identity. He is more sure of himself and can begin now to understand that there are one or two people in the world besides himself.

When we see him control himself, we appreciate it.  Suddenly, a whirlwind love and affection courtship develops, which makes the child’s behavior even better. He loves and is loved.

He has dominated the physical world. He now turns to the social world. He is so anxious to learn he even asks questions. “This go here?” as he helps set the table. “Hammer go here?” as he puts things away.

He walks with balance, not with arms outstretched. He can alternate standing on one leg. He can jump, march and run to music. He can unbutton. He can roll a ball and throw underhand. He can dodge, throw, stop and go and turn abruptly.

He can count to three and may even be able to point to three objects. He can compare objects and point out likenesses and differences. He enjoys building things. He can draw lines and even intersect them to form crosses. He can sort and combine and even WAIT HIS TURN!!!

He begins to share toys and become sensitive to people. He tries to please and likes to guess. He likes to get “dressed up”. He loves parties. He can rest for ten minutes. He takes turns. He talks to adults. He listens to stories. He enjoys praise and simple humor. He loves trips.

This is a great year – ENJOY

The Four-Year-Old

Expansion of mental energy. Thinking occurs. He can make up  rhymes and loves big new words and explanations. Thought creates more growth.

He forms bigger and bigger words and bigger and bigger thoughts.

He can count to five. He points to the number “8” and says, “That is “66”!”

His world stretches to big and little fibs and tall tales. He calls names and threatens people he shouldn’t – like big brother and sister!!!

He is an expert at bugging adolescents. He always wins, doesn’t he?

He has the words in his head but he hasn’t learned the rules.

A cow can be purple. A tree doesn’t have to be green. Anything can be anything!!

Four-year-olds like skills. He is getting ready to be five and he talks about that. He is getting ready for school.

He wants to have “real” school and his own “school books”!!!

He can skip on a line and throw overhand. He is almost there in motor control. He is self sufficient in personal care. He is very social, poised and proud of what he can do.

He quotes Mom and Dad and any other authority figures like they are god. He likes rules if they have been laid down!!!

The Five-Year-Old

A child’s emotional pattern – the way he reacts to a problem, whether he is angry or happy, demanding or withdrawn – are evident. The foundations of his personality are already in place.

The five-year- old will generally take time out to organize himself. He has gathered in a lot of things in the past four years and needs to consolidate the gains. He will give a succinct answer, while the four-year-old embellished it.

The five-year-old has his place at the table, his bed, his bike, his hat, his universe, and can cross the street safely. Mother is usually the center of the world.

Physically, the five-year-old can sit longer, explore the neighborhood, lace his shoes, hang from a tree limb, and knows right from left.

Socially he is cooperative at play and enjoys playing house or trucker. He conforms to adult ideas and seeks adult help when needed.

“Train up a child…”

His interests widen swiftly and have a purpose. He asks, “What?” and “How?”. He knows his address and telephone number. He should be able to count and say the ABC’s.

This is the time he will play drums or cymbals in a rhythm band, build stores with blocks, be an animal trainer for the circus, visit the fire station and the green house, plant seeds and watch plants grow, cook for a seasonal party, play with puzzles, talk about new baby, nap on a rug, sing happy songs with fingerplays, be read to and have a place at a library table, hear Christian Mother Goose, and play active and quiet games.

Focus of all this – preparing for reading.

WHEN IS A CHILD READY???

When a child can do the activity. If you put a marble and a container in front of a child and he reaches out and plumps the marble in the container, there is readiness for that action.

If you stand him on his feet and he takes haltering steps, he is ready to walk and can learn to walk.

Before three, spontaneous behavior is the key to whether the child is ready to learn something particular.

Famous People With Reading Problems

Thomas Edison ; Albert Einstein ; Winston Churchill ; Michael Heseltine ;  Woodrow Wilson ; George Bush ; George Patton ; Jackie Stewart, a racing driver ; Duncan Goodhew, an olympic swimmer ; Tom Cruise, actor ; George Burns ; Whoopi Goldberg, actress ; Susan Hampshire, actress ; Danny Glove, actor ; Cher, actress, singer.

Fable for School Children

Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of “A New World”. So they organized a school.

They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming, and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum all the animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming, in fact better than his instructor; but he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he became only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school so no one worried except the duck.

The rabbit started at the top of the class in running but had a nervous breakdown because of so much make-up work in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class, where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop down. He also developed a “charley horse” from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and a D in running.

The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class he beat all the others to the treetop but insisted on using his own way to get there.

At the end of the year, an abnormal, retarded gopher that could swim exceedingly well and also run, climb and fly a little had the highest average, beat the system, and was valedictorian.

How Should We Discipline Our Children?

This question is probably the one most frequently asked by parents. Not only is this generation of parents concerned, but each preceding crop has been plagued by the same blight. Some time ago, while preparing a speech on the topic, I cam across a statement summarizing fifty years of advice from child psychologists:

1910–Spank Him
1920–Deprive Him
1930–Ignore Him
1940–Reason with Him
1950–Love Him
1960–Spank Him Lovingly

Do you suppose that for 1970 we will add “Teach Him?”

To discipline literally means to educate or to train, yet most of us use the word synonymously with “to punish”.

Perhaps one of the reasons we get in such a dither on the subject is that we are concerned over infraction of rules which we have not really taught our children to understand. Are we angry with the children for disobedience or with ourselves for being inadequate teachers?

Not long ago I was topped by a policeman. Although I knew the law and the speed limit, and was fully aware that my foot was heavy on the gas pedal that afternoon, I gazed up at him contritely, remorsefully, hopefully. A useless effort! He calmly and politely handed me a ticket. With equal grace the judge accepted my payment of the fine. The only remarkable part of this story is that neither the policeman nor anyone in the traffic court yelled, screamed, nagged, or spanked. The teaching was through: The law was fully known and understood and there were even signs along the road to remind drivers of the speed limit. The penalty for breaking the law was also known and understood. I was aware that I was violating the law. The penalty for violation was administered quietly, without anger, and I learned that I had to pay for my own actions.

Ever since that ticket I have tried to remember the calm, unruffled policeman when disciplining my own children. With very little success at emulating him, mind you, but I do remember him!

In Proverbs 6, Verse 23, we read, “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.” Thus, there are rules of conduct which, combined with instruction, can light our way. The “reproofs of discipline” are the guard rails which help us to stay on the path.

Rules of conduct define the specific limits of liberty allotted to the various members of the family. These limits should be determined, of course, by each individual’s ability and understanding, as well as the collective good and interest of the family community. Obviously, specific rules for the three year old will differ from those for the ten year old or teenager, but every member of a given family must respect the rights and privileges of the family as a whole.

The nature of such rules will vary from one family to another depending on the values and characteristics of those in authority (the authors of the rules) — mother and father, together. These rules should be based on principles which the parents have taught the children – principles which the children can understand and respect. Children who are taught to obey principles rather than parental whims are less often confused, rebellious, or misled by temptation.

Instead of asking “What shall we do about discipline?”, perhaps we should examine first the rules of conduct we have set within our family (not the Smith or the Jones family, but our own). Does every member of the family understand and know the rules? Are they based on principle or parental whim? Is the correction for infraction of the rules (the reproof or guard rail) clearly understood by all and can it be applied consistently, without anger? (Remember the policeman). Most important, do we as parents have self-discipline?

Plato has said, “The best way of training the young is to train yourself at the same time; not to admonish them, but to be always carrying out your own admonitions in practice.” This may be the best answer.

How to Raise a Crook!

1. Begin from infancy to give the child everything he wants. This way he will grow up to believe that the world owes him a living.

2. When he picks up bad words, laugh at him. It will encourage him to pick up “cuter” phrases that will blow the top off your head later.

3. Never give him any spiritual training. Wait until he is twenty-one and then let him decide for himself.

4. Avoid the use of the word “wrong”. It may develop a guilt complex. This will condition him to believe later when he is arrested for stealing a car that society is against him and he is being persecuted.

5. Pick up anything he leaves lying around — books, shoes, clothing. Do everything for him so he will be experienced in throwing the responsibility onto others.

6. Let him read any printed matter he can get his hands on. Be careful the silverware and drinking glasses are sterilized, but let his mind feed on garbage.

7. Quarrel frequently in the presence of the children. Then they won’t be too shocked when the home is broken up.

8. Give the child all the spending money he wants. Never let him earn his own. Why should he have things as tough as you had them?

9. Satisfy his every craving for food, drink, and comfort. See that every desire is gratified. Denial may lead to harmful frustrations.

10. Take his part against the neighbors, teachers, and policemen. They are all prejudiced against your child.

11. When he gets into real trouble, apologize for yourselves by saying, “I never could do anything with him.”

12. Prepare for a life of grief — you will have it!

–COPIED