Ever wonder who determined how many years children would attend school?

The overall structure of the U.S. education system is pretty simple:

• Preschool: Optional and usually for children aged 3-4.
• Elementary School: Grades K-5, typically for children aged 5-10.
• Middle School (Junior High): Grades 6-8, typically for children aged 11-13.
• High School: Grades 9-12, typically for teens aged 14-18.
• Higher education: University/College, or High Skilled Trades and Training

Should government decide when children are old enough to function in society on their own?

At what age and stage should Christian Education be taught?

Some parents believe the education system should teach children everything. While some think certain subjects should be deleted from books.

One thing for sure the Lord expects our children to have a Christian education.

16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the LORD’S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you. 18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. Deuteronomy 11:16-21 (KJV)

David was a shepherd boy in the field taking care of sheep. He did not spend a lot of time in traditional schools. But his father taught him to honor and fear God.

Maybe he learned original reading, writing, and arithmetic from a school book. Certainly, he learned the world of God from religious teachers.

At a young age, David had skill and wisdom to defeat and kill a lion, bear, and a Philistine who was an enemy of God. I doubt he learned these skills in a classroom. Read about David’s story in the Bible, I Samuel chapter 17.

34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee. 1 Samuel 17:34-37 (KJV)

Many graduating seniors from High School and College are planning their next phase of life. Parents have high hopes and expectations for their children’s adventures. Finally, after from twelve to almost twenty years of school, students start a new journey.

I wonder if we hold children back by putting such strict requirements on them for education. We live in a society where every generation is wiser than the next.

Twenty years of study is still inadequate if children did not get proper Christian education. Many life lessons are learned through experience.

The School of Life Includes

• Not making excuses for behavior
• Admitting truth to self and others
• Hard is not hard until the job is finished
• Believing, trusting, and honoring God’s word
• Doing an honest job for an honest day’s wage
• Don’t take advantage of parent’s revolving door
• Loving unconditional
• Fight for what you believe unless it becomes a lie
• Never be too proud to say I am sorry/I was wrong
• Ask for help

Parents don’t be so disappointed when your children drop out of school.

Maybe some of our children should get education from the “School of Life”. God gives degrees for “The School of Life”

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)