Gardenview Christian School

Unifying Principles

I.  General Information.

A.  Schools attended by children:  All schooling has been through Gardenview Christian School.

B.  Attitude of the children:  The children appreciate the privileges of learning at home and enjoy their work.  They also have other friends who are taught at home and they know that homeschooling is very common.

II.  Goals.

A.  We want our children to be prepared for life in the 'real world'.  This involves being good citizens, being an asset to their community, being equipped for a lifework they find fulfilling, and knowing how to maintain healthy relationships with others.  We believe that the best way to accomplish this is for the children to be taught by their parents in the home so that communication can be maximized.  This will facilitate the exchange of information regarding what the child's needs are and what the parents can offer to satisfy those needs.  Home teaching also allows the greatest quantity of time together in order to provide for the maximum opportunity for quality time together.  (Quality time:  being available to meet a need at the time when the need arises and is most strongly felt.)

III.  Philosophy of Education.

A.  We believe that the Bible commands parents to take the responsibility for teaching and training their children, that there are distinct benefits that a child receives from a quality home-education program, and that God intended the home to accomplish this purpose.

B.  We believe that God places parents, not the state, in authority over their children and that it is the duty of the parents to teach the children how to be a credit to their home and society.

C.  We believe that for the state to deny the child this opportunity would be to deny him his basic rights and would be undue intrusion.

D.  We believe that the flexibility of home schools has been shown to be effective based on evidence published by the Hewitt Research Foundation of Washougal, Washington, and other sound research.  Common sense, and the historically high record of students of home schools (including Thomas Edison, Claude Monet, John Wesley, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Charles Dickens, George Rogers Clark, Sandra Day O'Connor, George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Robert E. Lee, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Agatha Christie, General George Patton, and many others), we believe, show the wisdom of this approach to the education of children which allows the child's pace of learning to be individually adjusted to their readiness--mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially.

E.  Aside from academic considerations, we do not want to expose our children to the many conflicting standards of behavior being practiced today until they have developed firm Christian values based upon the Bible.  Until a child can consistently reason from cause to effect, he is likely to simply copy the habits, manners, and speech of his peers.  According to Cornell's Dr. Urie Bronfenbrenner, early exposure to this influence results in peer dependence, rather than in the child's developing a solid sense of self-worth, self-direction, and positive social values as part of the family corporation.

F.   Our children will not be isolated from society.  They will participate socially in church events, music classes, and other group activities as interests arise.  They will have proper association with neighborhood children, relatives and other friends providing ample opportunity to practice the good social skills they have learned at home.

IV.  Resources.

A.            Qualifications of parents:  God has given us, as parents, the responsibility for ensuring the physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health of our children so that they may become mature, productive members of society.[1]  Our commitment to these principles and our love, example, and responsiveness to our children are our best qualifications.  We gain our knowledge of child training from the Bible, and from careful reading of the following books about children:  Better Late Than Early, Dare to Discipline, Home-Grown Kids, Home-Spun Schools, Bring Out The Best In Your Child, Hints On Child Training, For The Children's Sake, What the Bible says about...Child Training, Christian Child-Rearing and Personality Development, and Volumes 1-6 of The Original Homeschooling Series, among others.

      Leslie, the mother, has completed 94 college credits and continues to study and research the topics of home education, children and curriculum.  She also subscribes to The Teaching Home, a magazine for home educators.  Robert, the father, has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology, and an Associate of Applied Arts and Science in Chemical Technology.  He participates in curriculum selection, and is the field trip coordinator and administrator.

B.            Educational materials used:

      Academic supplies are purchased from various sources, mainly:  The Cornerstone Curriculum Project, The Family Learning Center, Greenleaf Press, A Beka Book.

      We have purchased supplemental educational aids, including a tape recorder and tapes of music, math instruction, physical fitness,  health topics, and foreign language instruction.  We have a large quantity of books covering many topics which the children read voraciously for study and for pleasure.  We have also purchased a computer and a variety of educational software and games.  Our family also has several other educational games for spelling, geography, etc.  For additional resources we use the local library, museums, community businesses, and other places of historical and educational interest.

V.  Methods

      We read and discuss materials, with oral or written narration to check comprehension.  We seek to learn why and how things happen, as well as what, when, and where.  We study from the original sources as much as possible (such as auto-biographies, and complete books rather than anthologies), using textbook-type materials as needed.  We also use field trips, and nature study to bring life to our learning.  In addition, we work together daily in homemaking and personal skills.

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1]Deuteronomy 4:10  "especially concerning the day you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, 'Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.'

Deuteronomy 6:1-7  "Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 "that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 "Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you; 'a land flowing with milk and honey.' 4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.