The importance of early childhood education cannot be over-emphasized. It is a serious responsibility to bring a child into the world. All who choose to do so have a solemn duty before Yahuwah to train the child, to mold his character, to be a fit citizen for the kingdom of Heaven.
 |
|
It is in early childhood that the foundation is laid for the rest of the life to follow. |
Too often parents overlook the early years, assuming the child is too young for any lasting impressions to be made on the character. However, it is in early childhood that the foundation is laid for the entire rest of the life to follow. “The period from birth to eight years was the traditional, international definition of early childhood. . . . These are the years in which the future beliefs and attitudes of a human being are shaped through experience.” (Tricia David, “What is early childhood for?” http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk.)
Roman Catholics understand well the importance of molding the mind and character of the young child. Francis Xavier, one of the founders of the Jesuit Order, is frequently quoted as saying: “Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man.” The habits of behavior, attitudes and beliefs that are formed in early childhood fashion the adult. Many criminals trace the roots of their violent, anti-social behavior back to the abuse and neglect they received in early childhood. It is only with extreme difficulty, determination and grace from Yahuwah that improper early training can be overcome.
The extreme importance of early childhood training should also factor into how many children a couple chooses to have. Many families have large numbers of children but are then unable to properly train them. The father is too busy working to support the family; the mother too tired with her many responsibilities to see that each child receives the individualized attention and training that each one needs. These unfortunate children, too often left to their own devices to raise themselves, simply swell the number of members of Satan’s kingdom.
While too many parents remain oblivious to the importance of the training and education received in childhood, worldly governments are very aware of the influence of such training. As Yahushua Himself ruefully acknowledged, “The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” (Luke 16:8, KJV) Governments frequently indoctrinate the young in order to further their own political agendas. Young people who have been trained at home to stand for truth, to be unafraid of being different, to be independent-minded thinkers are a threat to evil government powers.
 |
|
Schools are a government’s main tool for ideologically training the next generation and stamping out independence and dissent. |
Today, home schooling is illegal in Germany. It was first outlawed under Adolf Hitler who wanted an entire nation of youth to be brainwashed in school to accept his political agenda. Parents who attempt to home school their children, have had their children taken away and put in mental hospitals for testing.
In 2003, Fritz and Marianna Konrad appealed to the European Human Rights Court for the right to home school their children because the explicit sexual education in the government school system was at odds with their Christian values. The Konrads appealed under the statement:
No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching is in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions.
Three years later, the court sided with the government of Germany.
A new ruling from the European Human Rights Court has affirmed the German nation’s Nazi-era ban on homeschooling, concluding that society has a significant interest in preventing the development of dissent through “separate philosophical convictions.” . . .
The German court already had ruled that the parental “wish” to have their children grow up in a home without such influences “could not take priority over compulsory school attendance.” The decision also said the parents do not have an “exclusive” right to lead their children’s education. (World Net Daily, http://www.wnd.com/2006/09/38145/.)
In the wake of the high court’s decision, Sweden also passed legislation that made it virtually impossible to home school. The result was that many Swedes have fled for other countries where home schooling is still legal.
 |
|
It is a parent’s duty to teach a child to stand for truth |
Schools are a government’s main tool for ideologically training the next generation and stamping out independence and dissent. This is automatically a problem for a Christian because a true Christian will always be in the minority. As such, it is a parent’s duty to teach a child to stand for truth even if the whole world is united against it. If a young person is to have the courage to stand for truth, he must be trained from early childhood to have an independent mind, to be unafraid of being different, to not care what other people think as long as he is right with Yahuwah.
This is the exact opposite of what is taught in school. In school, an impressionable child is taught:
Such training prepares youth to accept “authority figures” for truth, rather than to go to Scripture for themselves. It teaches youth to conform to worldly standards and comply with outward pressure rather than to think for themselves and stand alone for truth.
The modern system of schooling is based upon the Greek system of education. It creates an unhealthy environment in a number of ways. Yahuwah intended for children to be educated by the side of their parents who could work in spiritual lessons in everything learned, but the modern school system removes the parents (as well as any religious education) from the learning environment. The influence and authority of the teacher becomes supreme.
Too often parents, exhausted from a long day’s work, leave all the training of the youth to the school teacher. However, a teacher is equipped only to teach the government approved curricula – and that is frequently slanted to support that government’s ideology. A school teacher is not equipped to train the character for Heaven. That is not his job and, with a roomful of
youth, he has neither the time nor the opportunity to do so. Any shaping of the character that occurs is that of conformity to a worldly mold.
Even more problematic can be the influence of other students. No matter how good the teacher is, the seduction to conform to one’s peers can be almost overwhelming. In a home environment, a young person is surrounded by adults and children, both older and younger than himself. In school, a child is surrounded at too young of an age by 20-40 other kids all his same age. This creates an unhealthy environment in which the opinion of other youth carries too much weight.
Many parents who have carefully trained their child to be courteous and thoughtful of others have found, to their great regret, that the influence of their child’s classmates has virtually undone all of their careful training. When you send your children to school, they are surrounded by other children from all sorts of backgrounds. It is very easy for bad words and bad examples to influence the child in just a few minutes at recess which many hours of careful labor on the part of the parent cannot undo.
Yahuwah’s people have ever been called to stand alone and separate. The education received to prepare these heroes of righteousness for their work has never been found in government run or accredited schooling systems. Moses, as the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Much of this was useful when he was called upon to lead Yahuwah’s people out of Egypt. Much of it, however, was of such a nature as to disqualify Moses for the very work Yahuwah intended him to do. For this reason, Yahuwah removed Moses from the worldly courts to the humble life of a shepherd. There, in the vast solitudes, alone with his sheep, Moses received his higher education in the school of Heaven.
The life of Moses teaches that it is important that all should be as well-educated as it is possible for them to become. Refinement and culture are not to be shunned as worldly but are, in fact, desirable as long as they are in keeping with Heavenly standards.
Some have assumed Yahushua was uneducated because of a statement made when He taught at the temple: “And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? (John 7:15, KJV)
This statement does not mean that the Saviour was illiterate because in the very next chapter, John records that Yahushua “stooped down and wrote on the ground.” (See John 8:6 and 8.) Rather, the question, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” refers to the fact that Yahushua had not attended the schools of His day. He had received His education at home, at His mother’s knee. The schools of the rabbis, with their emphasis on tradition rather than the law of Yahuwah, would have unfitted Him for His great work.
The same is true for those who would stand for truth today. The education that is obtained from worldly institutions teaches evolution, often sexual immorality and even the political agendas of individual governments. More than that, however, schools promote conformity, which stamps out independence and individuality of thought. This warps the character so that being accepted by others has more importance than being acceptable to Yahuwah. If a young person is raised to conform, how can he be expected to stand independently for truth when circumstances require it?
Those who accept the obligation and privilege of worshipping on the true seventh-day Sabbath of Creation will find it extremely difficult for their child to attend regular schools because the weekly cycle of the modern civil calendar does not align with that of the luni-solar calendar. Those in situations where they cannot home school should lay their case before the Throne of Yah, the Fount of Wisdom. A path that is safe to follow will be opened before you.
When little children were brought to Yahushua for His blessing, the disciples rebuked the parents for “disturbing” the Saviour. Yahushua, in turn, rebuked the disciples, saying, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14, KJV)
“Suffer” comes from aphiēmi and means to allow and not hinder or stop. Children and youth are idealistic. They need high values. They will come to Yahuwah if they are not hindered.
The education and training of the young is a high calling and a weighty responsibility. Commit to training your children for Yahuwah. All the resources of omnipotence will be put at your disposal. Angels will cooperate with you in the training of these precious souls.