The Superlative form of Education

image from Wendtpartners.com

One of my classes this semester had us study the following talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. 

“Good, Better, Best”.  I’ve heard this address several times since its debut in 2007 and have used the principles found in it as a guide many times in determining time management and spiritual matters. Now I’m seeing its application regarding education.

For instance, when my younger children were attending a public charter school, there was an abundant amount of good things taking place in their education. They were learning to take care of themselves and being responsible for things such as packing their own lunch and cleaning up after themselves.  I saw that academics were coming alive for them and they were getting regular time with new concept introductions as well as regular practice for mastery of the 3 R’s.  They were motivated to study simply by peer association (everybody’s doing it) and test scores.  What they were getting was good.  There is no question of that. 

Being home has the added benefit of spending time with family and strengthening those connections.  There is free time for them to simply be kids, exploring, creating, overseeing their own time investments, relaxed and free.  They are also able to incorporate gospel study as well as learn in an environment that the spirit is welcome and encouraged.  Many times, the lessons are real life and happen organically – not fabricated for the classroom. The 3 R’s are taking place though at a less stringent pace.  They have a say in what they study, and their syllabus is based on their interests, goals, and desires. I feel home education or individualized education is a better option or maybe even the best option while here in mortality.

Even in homeschool there are good, better, and best.  Many curricula are set up as a public school at home with a set number of lessons, scripts for both the mentor and student, or chapters to read with exercises at the end and tests assessing their mastery.  Again, that is a good way of learning (but you might as well send them to public school because attempting to compete with that system will always fail by the limited workforce, training, and resources.)  A better method is studying from living books and real-life experiences.  World schooling (traveling), and lots of real opportunities. Basically, it is utilizing the classics and mentors.  The amount of difference between the conveyor belt and a leadership or classical education is astounding.  And yet, there is still a best option that incorporates the gospel of Jesus Christ and invites the spirit to be a part of the study process.  Learning from the Lord through revelation, taking the spirit to be your guide by choosing what to search as prompted and seeking to do the Lords will (compared to job training for the lowest common denominators).

  

image from sbcs.richmond.edu

I’ve heard the good, better, and best compared to the three degrees of glory.  The Telestial education would be compared to the public-school system (job training) or similar methods of study.  It is still a kingdom of glory… there is still learning that takes place.  In the Mary/Martha story – it would be the “cumbered about much serving, careful and troubled about many things” but there is a better part. 

The Terrestrial Education might be compared to leadership education.  Studying the classics and mentors, a governess or private tutor that creates a course of study and develops talents based on what the student needs to learn to fulfill their unique mission. 

The Celestial Education is learning what the Lord wants us to learn, with the spirit to impress upon our minds and hearts, in order to fulfill our unique mission and bring about His purposes.  It incorporates study and faith with the scriptures as our core classic or textbook.  It possesses all the good elements of the telestial education, all the better elements of terrestrial education, and adds the best elements of the spiritual connection with God.  It is the best education available. 

image from childrenministry.com

And so, the choice is ours.  Whichever education option we choose will require an investment. Which education are we willing to pay the price to earn? Which one has the best returns? Which one will bring us the greatest happiness and lasting significance on the child and society at large?  And what is our obligation to our children, the betterment of society, and to our Heavenly Father?

 

UNJUST Justification

I would consider myself a fairly honest person.  Well… maybe I’m still a work in progress as indicated in a few of these previous blogs.

                The Pains of Progress

                I’m Honestly Dishonest

                Internal Decay – Eww

                How did I Become a Bigamist

Honesty may be my soapbox, one of my great passions, part of my message to the world.  I don’t know.  But if that were the case, I wouldn’t imagine that I would struggle with it as often as I do.  Here are a few of my recent encounters.

THE HONOR EXAM

                One of my college classes begins every homework assignment with an honor pledge followed by a quiz attesting to whether we were honest during the assignment.  Every task has a bright red banner with a warning to not tamper with the banner.  Every classroom project can only be accessed (on the computer) once the honesty quiz is passed.  And this last week we had our first exam with the same immense emphasis.  Initially I was impressed, then tolerating and eventually, I became annoyed by the extensive intensity on something that didn’t have anything to do with the purpose of the class.  And of course I was going to be honest, I didn’t need this constant parenting patrol.

                This is where the justification begins.  I had an actual panic attack two days prior to the exam being due.  I hadn’t really had time to work on this two week project and for some reason I thought I had another week before it was due.  There were a large amount of other stressors and things not going right at home and in the lives of loved ones.  I had to get laser focused on this 10+ hour project.  And at the same time I had to babysit my grandbabies, and be present for family members who were in crises mode.  So I tried to do both.  I was working on my project while listening to their problems and occasionally responding to what was going on in their world.  But the majority of the time I had my eyes and attention glued to my computer screen. 

                The morning before the exam was to be uploaded, I woke up and realized that I was not as successful at balancing both objectives as I had hoped.  I made a few comments about my project and asked some general questions that I was confused about during the project.  It may have been an attempt to encourage my family members that I wasn’t totally tuning them out.  It may have been I just wasn’t thinking that what came out of my mouth was in conflict with the honesty pledge I repeatedly signed.  But what I’m afraid is my skill of justifying my poor choice was a little too fine tuned.

                Side note.  Fortunately, I believe in repentance.  I did confess on the exam that I had slipped up and was willing to fail the exam because of it.  So that made me feel a little bit better when the entire class period was dedicated to whether we were honest or not. (Geesh- I feel sheepish)

Image provided by proprofs

ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT

In another one of my classes we have an accountability project where we define what we want to become, set daily/weekly/monthly goals to become that, and set up a “stick” based accounting procedure.  I fretted about what “stick” I should choose to motivate me to do the necessary hard things.  I could have picked something that would have been fairly easy to do in the case of failure. However… in an attempt to be completely honest I chose a highly motivating fear-based reason to do what I was being asked to do. Now, I don’t necessarily agree with this method of encouragement.  Still, that is what is required for this class.

Last night, I received a text from my accountability partner, asking if everything was alright.  I realized that even though I had been working on school the entire day, and had other obligations in the evening, I had forgotten to follow up before the deadline. 

Moment of truth… I had done all the other daily goals that were required though somehow I had neglected to record it.  One of the daily goals was to record my progress by 10:00 pm.  And now, as outlined in the contract, I had failed.  My mind flooded with excuses and justifications as to why I shouldn’t have to apply my “stick”.   I’m still battling with how I could even follow through with the consequence (which is why I went to such great measures to avoid having to).

PUBLIC SCHOOL/EDUCATION IN GENERAL

My daughter has chosen to remain in the public high school, even though I felt a strong impression to bring my children back home.  I’ve witnessed how she justifies with one excuse or reason after another. 

I recall doing the same thing when I was going to college and my younger ones were attending a public charter school.  "It just doesn’t make sense to homeschool them now while I’m carrying 12 credits, being a mom/wife/grandma, office manager for my husband’s business, and fulfilling church callings."  (Just in case anyone wonders why I’m stressed out all the time, there’s a clue).  I would justify my decision to send them to someone who could give them the attention and skills they needed since I was already too busy. 

But the spirit worked on me and they are now back home engaging in a great deal of self-government.  I find I’m justifying for my high school daughter as well – "She’s her own agent and is free to choose how she wants to be educated, I probably couldn’t meet her upper education needs anyway, she is too social to be stuck home all the time, etc. etc. etc."  

And now I’m beginning to question my justification for going back to college in the first place. "I need a bachelor’s degree in order to have any quality source of income. I need credentials in order to open a private school.  I need to be prepared to be the primary breadwinner due to my husband’s poor health. I need to be able to produce income in order to overcome my scarcity tendencies.  The Lord seems to be sustaining me since I’m doing so well in my classes."  The list goes on and on as to why this is a good thing.  But I wonder if this “degree” thing is just something I want for myself. A regret for not finishing my education before I started the family path. A keeping up with the Jones effort.  A justification for not knowing exactly that this is what the Lord is guiding me to do at this point in my life.  

Image by Tiffany

I’ve heard it said that the word JUSTIFY means ‘to make straight’.  That stands true in the Savior’s justification for us – to make us righteous, or straight when we are definitely fallen, crooked, and incapable.  That would be the JUST justification. Although there is also an UNJUST justification when we attempt to ‘make straight’ or attempt to align truth with poor choices through excuses, logic, and evidence.  That includes the atheist who justifies his abandonment from God, the businessman who separates his action from his conscience (it’s nothing personal), all the way to the honest person who justifies how they are still being honest (as indicated above).    

And so the search for truth continues as we strive to become more than we currently are.

Checkmarks

Image by Videoblocks

Check

It’s become a standard of success these days – how many checkmarks can I get and how many checkmarks can I give?

Situation #1

I’m a student at a local university.  The majority of my classes are online and the format is a checklist of instructions and assignments.  I spend my days tackling the tasks on that list in order to receive a checkmark.  Ironically, I’m getting an A in all my classes and so far, I can assume that if I do the work (get a checkmark) a good grade will follow.

Situation #2

I am also homeschooling my two youngest children – 7 & 10.  Yes, it’s an insane combination (I never claimed this was a good idea, though it does feel like the right one).  We start our school at 6:30 with a morning devotional before family members have to leave for school and work.  I proceed with instructions, planning, and a moment of connection before I start my own studies.  My two children spend the rest of their day self-governing their occupations based on a checklist of ideas.  I have been so impressed and a bit surprised by how effectively they are spending their day in productive, independent practice, study, and leisure activities.  As they complete a task, they bring their checklist to me to inspect and sign off.  They have been highly motivated by the checkmark.

Situation #3

My teenage daughter has chosen to remain in the local high school, at least for the remainder of this year.  She does, however, struggle quite a bit with some basic study skills due to learning challenges. Needless to say, her grades are reflective of this condition and she is failing some of her classes.  At first it was quite a traumatic experience for her to not be just like everyone else, even though she was probably putting in double the effort.  She was enjoying the idea of possibly being the first in our family to graduate from a public school.  All her older siblings had graduated from our homeschool as well as passed the GED, but she wanted to be unique, I suppose, by being like everybody else.  She was equating her value on whether she could measure up to these outside, other-imposed, standards of accomplishment.  In other words, she was striving to get enough checkmarks to make the cut of being acceptable.   

What does all this mean?  Probably nothing. Though I do find it interesting.  This motivation is obviously secondary to say the least.  In all three cases, the dopamine fix of earning a checkmark, was the motivation instead of the underlying purpose of all this – obtaining an education.

I do the work on the checklist for my classes.  And what have I gotten from all my effort?  

Simply… a checkmark…! 

I can’t say that I feel I have mastered the content or internalized it into my character – partially because I’m too busy earning checkmarks to take it to a deeper level. My younger children earn a checkmark simply so their work plan for the day has a signature in each slot, (it is visually appealing) not necessarily because they are inspired or wanting to engage in those pursuits.  My teenage daughter was doing a tremendous amount of learning, but because it didn’t meet someone else’s standard of acceptability, she was considered a failure. There is definitely some drawbacks to the checklist approach to education.

On the other hand, when one studies, they learn.  Duty brings about desire. And the ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) is tested, resulting in growth.   So does the end justify the means? Is there a better approach to learning or is this as good as it gets?

Of course, if that desire to learn something is already inside the student, the checkmark is simply an organizational tool to accomplish what is internally motivating them.  If the inner desire if focused on something else (say being popular or pleasing the teacher or obsessive tendencies to have all the checks marked) than the checklist becomes a management tool to control or be controlled.  Which becomes a moral concern.  Is it ethical to manipulate someone to accomplish what we think is in their best interest? That philosophy sounds all too familiar in context of the war in Heaven.

I love to learn and develop, so I don’t mind utilizing the checkmarks as a tool to accomplish that end.  Although for a person to be required to receive checkmarks as the standard of determining whether they are learning is pretty controlling and missing the mark.  Surely there is a more meaningful way to motivate and measure a person’s engagement in learning.  Surely there is a method that encourages the child to WANT to do what is necessary to learn rather than HAVE to do it.  The carrot and the stick method is a pretty lame application of motivation.

Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with that might be a better approach

·       

•            Inspire a child with truth, based on correct principles, so that they are self-disciplined to do what is necessary to learn. (Teach them correct principles and allow them to govern themselves)
• ·         Inspire a child with interesting exposures to the content they are needing to learn.
• ·         Have child set goals, help them set up an action plan, and then mentor them in how to reach that goal. 
• ·         Studying what the child wants to learn and taking advantage of all the learning opportunities that exist within their interest. No checklist yet learning is happening organically.

Having some way to measure learning is essential for the teacher. I get that. Using that method to motivate may be easy, but definitely an inferior means.

Coming Home

My life is filled with interims.  This last 12 months was a big one.  I spent almost a full year working as a Teacher’s Assistant in a public school setting.  The reasons are varied and complicated though the lessons have been many and valuable.   I gained a deep friendship with the teacher I worked with along with insight into the system that I couldn't have before as a life-long homeschooling mother.  I got to see, firsthand, why so much of the school experience is classroom management and even why passion about a subject could be a difficult to handle situation.  I was able to see why so much emphasis is placed on state mandated standards and why parents are so far removed from their children’s educational experience.  And I definitely witnessed how children associate learning and school in a negative light.  I won’t imply I have correctly identified solutions to any of these scenarios, although the first-hand experience has been insightful and real.   

I did however feel like I was participating in some psychological experiment.  You know, the kind where participants are asked to do something by someone of supposed authority and in order to fulfill that assignment, they do things that they never would have done on their own. (ie. The Milgram Experiment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOYLCy5PVgM )

Stanley Milgrim with his shock machine

What was disturbing and confusing the first week I was there, became commonplace, even understandable.   I was trying to wrap my mind around why things were done in a certain way and with the outside requirements of state funded standards, parents supposed best interest of child, burned out teachers from dealing with discipline issues and unrealistic expectations, and children who are over stimulated and over entertained, I was not having much luck processing the components.  And unfortunately, it was easier simply to obey what the authorities said than to make sense of a complexity that was beyond me.

Recently, I was listening to one of Dr. DeMille’s addresses when he talked about the National mentality versus the tribal mentality.  Briefly outlined, the nation’s objectives and accomplishments were on the wealth and success end of the spectrum whereas the tribe’s objective and accomplishments leaned more toward relationships and true happiness.  Although, I didn’t necessarily want to put my children in the public school, I was trying to make the best of the situation by submitting to the strengths it had to offer.  Most everybody else was doing it and even I was a product of the public school system, so surely my children would fare alright since that is what I had to do.  Eventually I had adjusted to the routines and systems and had integrated in fairly nicely, I thought.  But at the back of my mind and heart, I was not content.  When I realized that I was utilizing a system that failed at accomplishing relationships and happiness, I could see why I was struggling internally.  I definitely prefer the tribal mentality.  Here I was wanting to have the perfect balance of relationships (with academic content, with the children and other teachers, with my own inner peace) in an environment that was pursuing job training, conformance to outside pressures, and regimented studies that makes learning a drudgery.  I already knew this but experiencing it has brought a new depth to my understanding. 

I recently went to Parent Teacher Conference and although I enjoyed visiting with some of the teachers, the majority of the experience left me feeling belittled and managed.  The teachers were VERY good at managing the classroom, managing the children’s inappropriate behavior, managing the schedules and the required standards, but I didn’t feel that they were capable of managing a relationship (or maybe a better way of saying it was they were capable of controlling a relationship but not simply experiencing one).  There was nothing organic or real or love-based about the encounter and I left feeling concerned about my children’s ability to associate good feelings with learning. 

Fortunately, my circumstances changed enough (maybe internally more than externally) that I quit my job and came home.  At present, my children are still attending school until more things are in my favor, though I anticipate their return eventually.  It has been such a sweet experience to “Come Home”.  After trying to convince myself (more like LIE to myself) that everything would turn out alright, I am serving my family once again by being a guardian of the home.  Preparing meals, cleaning house, reading stories, and interacting in a reduced stress manner never felt so glorious.  My running faster than I had strength has finally ended and I’m feeling the relief of breathing freely again.  The transition will not be complete until I bring my children home and we once again become a unified central unit rather than simply a docking station in between outside social obligations, but I feel a wonderful sense of peace at stepping outside of that “national minded” system.  Leaving the “What” of education and returning to the “Why” is bringing me joy, inner peace, and excitement that I couldn’t experience within the ‘system’.  My “Why” is to nurture relationships, prepare for mission, and be consistent to what I know to be true.

Peaceful Anxiety

Tax season has always been a pain in the neck.  This year more so than any other time.  My husband has his own business and to be painfully honest, we are not so great at separating personal expenses from business expenses.  Due to the hassle of shuffling funds from one account to another (as well as non-dependability of receiving said funds), purchases were made from what ever account had the money.  So at tax time, I was scratching my head pretty hard.  As I added up the personal expenditures and compared them to the amount of tithing that was paid... there was a significant discrepency.

Unfortunately, debt is not a new concept for us, however being in debt to the Lord was.  My covenants were not being fulfilled, and the idea was absolutely appalling to me.  I thought for sure there was some error... at least in the amount of debt.  At tithing settlement, for the first time in my life, I had to admit that we were not full tithe payers.

And of all the gall, the bishop just shrugged it off and said, "yes, and I'm sure you will get it caught up so that you will be full tithe payers as soon as you can".

Grady already was working way too hard and things were super tight to have any hope of incrementally getting caught up. The painful realization was becoming crystal clear.   I had to go to work.

This wasn't the type of situation where it is wiser and even more profitable to start my own business.  I knew that concept already.  What I needed, though, was a steady amount of budgetable income.  A J.O.B.  As I considered my options, I knew I couldn't take just any job because I was still accountable for four children.  The harsh reality became painfully obvious.  They had to go to a public school...  Just kill me now. 

As I was considering my employability, I knew I wanted to be at the crossroads for them.  Transitioning from full-time homeschooler to latch-key children was simply too much for my mother heart to handle.  So I looked for employment in the school systems which would make it possible for me to have the same hours as them.   Afer all, I did major in elementary education and I'd worked in education for the past 20 years. It only seemed logical to pursue that course.  All of us were going on a grand, new, scary adventure, but we were doing it together - as much as possible.  Fortunately, I was employed at the very charter school that my youngest children were attending.

And you know what.  It has been one of the best and worst experiences of my life.  I am learning so much and we are having experiences that were not possible on the previous path.  None of my children want to go back to homeschooling (at present) and I'm not so sure if I would want to do that myself.   Of course I am struggling with feelings of self-betrayal and abandoning all that I've stood for.  But at the same time,  I'm experiencing the peaceful anxiety or the serene chaos of trusting the Lord is at the helm in the midst of tumultuous waters.

Image from Following the Voice Within

I won't claim to have any clear vision of the destination of the path I'm on, though I know that all things will turn out well.   I'm sure this internal turmoil is minor in comparison to the trials that others have had to endure.  I recognize that and am grateful for my own version of my refining fire.  But it is STILL a refiners fire and uneasy growth is taking place.  It's not what I planned for or even desired, however, the  peaceful anxiety is evidence of God's involvement in my life.  And that makes everything okay.

Are Children Inherently Malicious?

Picture by Amazon.com

Through some unforeseen chain of events, my children are attending a public school and I am working outside the home.  And like most things, I’m sure the Lord is teaching me lessons I wasn’t aware (or desiring) that I needed to learn.   Fortunately, I have been able to be employed as a TA (Teacher’s Aid) at the very school my youngest children are attending.  I get to be involved in what my children are experiencing as well as make money on the side.  Win-Win, right?

And while this may only be a temporary interim employment, it’s all coming back to me why I didn’t feel the desire to continue pursuing my elementary education major.   I recall it had something to do with the amount of politics that were involved in education – and very little to do with teaching children.  Now that I’m in the thick of it, I’m seeing a good deal of the teacher’s role… is classroom management – with very little to do with igniting a fire in the heart of the child to love learning. 

I get that a room of 20 plus children is similar to herding cats and it would be impossible to instruct them unless there is some semblance of order.   I get that children are young and inexperienced and need to be guided in how to behave appropriately.  And I also get how I am working with elementary aged children and the lessons they are learning now will set the stage for the rest of their schooling experience and so the lessons are more about self-control and less about academic content.

But what I don’t quite understand is why addressing inappropriate behavior makes me feel like loving kindness, long suffering, and patience ought to be replaced with the stern “LOOK”, zero tolerance, and no opportunity to connect with the child’s heart. 

I’ve seen, first hand, why teachers might lose their love of teaching because of the difficulty in managing a classroom.  Let’s face it, sometimes kids are tyrants.  The teachers develop the furrowed brow, the low tolerance for disorder, the no allowance for individual expression because it downward spirals into community chaos.  (The same thing might apply to parents.)

So I’m curious…Are children inherently malicious?

I’ve known some people who view them this way.  Give them and inch and they’ll take a mile. 

A milder, yet similar assumption might be that children are innately immature.  You know, the whole Id, Ego, and Superego assumption.  

Picture from simplypsychology.org

They are ego-centric and incapable of monitoring themselves without staged “lessons” to direct them into appropriate behavior – commonly called discipline.  With that premise, it is the teacher’s (or parent’s) responsibility to cause them to behave contrary to their juvenile nature in order to grow – correct? 

I wonder if that popularly adopted theory doesn’t take into account the dual nature of the being – spiritual… as well as physical.  Our spirits are quite mature and developed – they’ve passed the first estate and have learned all they could learn in Father’s presence.  Now we are experiencing a veiled spiritual memory and awareness while simultaneously working with the undeveloped natural body.  It’s quite the juggling act when you think about it. 

When children misbehave, it isn’t necessarily a result of them solely being selfish and inexperienced, but a navigating of how to work this undisciplined portion of their physical nature while not wholly remembering their disciplined and mature spiritual self. 

I get that it is difficult to see the greatness of a person who is defiant and unwilling to cooperate with what we view as a more noble objective.  (That probably needs to be put into different perspective as well.)  Requiring everyone be quiet so they can hear what I have to say is helpful, but helping the child connect with their mature self and desire to want to be respectful is a much more powerful, useful, and life-changing lesson.

 

Picture from slideshare.net

Those two hidden assumptions about children,

1)      A physical being going through a development from instinctual response to moral based decisions

and

2)      A combination of both a mature spiritual and immature physical being going through a process of becoming unified – to remember the one and develop the other.

may sound very similar, I know, but understanding the underlying assumption for a behavior is huge in determining the appropriate response to that behavior. 

You have to admit that we respond differently when we believe something was done with intent rather than it being done innocently or accidently.  Of course, both theories take into account that the behavior is done innocently and in need of improvement.  However, the latter is a much more complex process and so much more is going on than simply caveman to civilized behavior.

And if children are simply immature and need directed into appropriate behavior, then the teacher/parent takes on the role of controlling or manipulating the child in order to train them to behave in their best interest.  That sounds a lot like Satan’s approach.   But if children are already giants of character that are struggling to balance the outside forces that are placed upon them, then the teacher/parent takes the role of leading them to find their innate greatness.  Both approaches are done through discipline, but the premise and motive is completely different.  Control versus loving persuasion.

Discipline alone trains the body, however, runs the risk of offending the spirit.  Discipline with a heart connection, takes into account the dual nature of children while preserving one’s own desire to behave in a Christ-like manner. 

“No power or influence can or ought to be maintained... only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and

by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge...

Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the

Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of

love toward him whom thou has reproved, lest he esteem thee

to be his enemy...

                                                        (Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-43)

Indivisible Education

The other day I was talking with my sister about my school – First Foundations Academy LLC.  She was giving me feedback on what I had put together and suggested that maybe I not put such a heavy emphasis on teaching values and religious viewpoint and instead focus more on the academic aspect.  Saying that many parents may feel uncomfortable allowing their children to be taught those things away from home, and they probably felt that was more of their responsibility than the schools.

At first, I tried to explain that academics is the major aspect of the school however the form she was looking at (an explanation of FFAL philosophy) was outlining the worldview the academics would be coming from and the desired outcome of the students.  You know, like all good beginnings - The WHY or ‘start with the end in mind’ objective of the child’s education.  The purpose of their academic study was not only to give them cultural literacy and the ability to compete in the world but to help the student establish those first foundations of faith and the character necessary to experience genuine happiness while become a positive contributing member of society. 

She was still trying to compartmentalize them as separate objectives, when it finally dawned on me – She thinks they CAN be separated. 

And even worse, she thinks they had been separated in her and her children’s education experience.  I guess the discovery of their union had happened so gradually and over a span of time, I’d forgotten when I was operating under the same pretense. 

There was, however, a time I recall when I actively chose to use resources that were explicitly “valueless” or free from a religious point of view, thinking I didn’t want my children to be unfairly influenced by someone else’s agenda – so I wanted the information to be strictly and only… knowledge. 

I believe it wasn’t until I learned how the founding fathers viewed the importance of education [in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 - Article 3] as necessary for good government and mankind’s happiness, that I began seeing it differently.  They said that schools and education are comprised of three components.

1) Religion

2) Morals

3) Knowledge

At first I thought that was their planning strategy – to include all three of those components – but as I began observing one area, I noticed that it actually internally possessed the other two.  Maybe not as visibly as one might think, but it was there. 

Learning a religion - it always had moral training along with knowledge.  Moral training - included a religious viewpoint and is taught through knowledge.  And the same thing came with secular knowledge.  If a subject appears to be devoid of a religion – it would fall into an atheistic or humanistic viewpoint (even the courts ruled this as a religion).  If it appears to be without any moral message – you got it.  That was the moral training taking place. 

And because knowledge appears to be absent of religion and morals, like it is simply barebone information – it’s easy to assume they can be separated.  The campaign to learn academics at school and religion and morals in the home is really a way of promoting a dual training (which leads to confusion, I might add) to be trained in atheism and/or humanism for six to eight hours a day and a small token of time on the family’s preferred moral/religion at dinnertime and the weekends.  And we all know how with homework, friends, media, and other outside influences, it is probably even less time than that. 

It’s no wonder so many are struggling with “cognitive dissonance” and feeling they have to abandon their faith in order to come to any peace of mind.  If so much of what they see and experience is understood as being “without God” and very little learning involves “with God” it is not a holistic or consistent worldview. 

So yes, First Foundations Academy LLC, focuses on the first foundations of (1) Religion (2) Morals & (3) Knowledge.  It strives to identify “What is Truth?” within those components in a unified mindset rather than a cynical or contradictory approach. The difference between this school and say public school, is the philosophy is right out front and center – so parents can see exactly what religion and morals are attached to the knowledge.