Why I Believe in Biblical Education

Valerie Hixson is Ralph and Kathy Petersen’s daughter, a graduate of a Christian high school, a former public school teacher, the wife of a public school principal who is also a graduate of the same Christian high school, and a home school mom.

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Why I Believe in Biblical Education  Valerie Hixson, May 2007

Proverbs 22:6 is an often quoted verse that has words of instruction and promise for us. “Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” God has given this responsibility to parents, not to the state.

I am a mother of three children. I am constantly challenging myself to train my children, not just teach them. My dictionary says to train means to prepare for a contest. It means to instruct by exercise. It means to drill. It means to form to a proper shape. It means to discipline for use. I can teach my children the way they should go and then someone else can come along and teach them a different way to go. I need to do more than just teach those godly ways; I must train them all day every day. I am surprised at times to see people spending so much time and money training their dogs to sit, heel, and stay, yet their children run wild. It is my God-given responsibility to train my children in the way they should go. I need to train them to fear the Lord as long as they live by keeping all His decrees and commands. I need to impress God’s ways on their hearts, talk about them when we sit at home and when we walk along the road and when we lie down and when we get up (Deut. 6:2-9).

Knowing the importance of training my children, I am certain that Biblical education is the only education I will have for my children. I have experienced public school education for five years at the University level and was a public school teacher in San Jacinto for five years. My parents made the sacrificial decision to train me in the way I should go and put me through Baptist Christian for my schooling. I am very grateful for their decision during my childhood because when I went to college, I did not depart from the way I should go. I quickly learned that public education is an open door for Satan. Children are great sponges for absorbing worldly views. In college, I was forced to take classes such as “Human Interpretations and Values,” “Perspectives on Genders,” and “Moral Choices for Life.” As I was teaching, I came across homosexuality, witchcraft, drugs, and violence in my first grade classroom.

I had my students for seven hours a day. I knew that I would teach them the best that I could for seven hours a day. I trusted myself as a teacher, but I would never put my child in my classroom. Other kids can teach ungodly things. Textbooks contain ungodly things. You may ask, “Are you going to protect them from everyone and everything?” Obviously I cannot do that but I will try, to the best of my ability, to protect them from ungodliness and instill Christian values as long as I have them in my care.

Training my children is important to Christ. Jesus emphasized the importance He placed on children by saying, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea" (Mark 9:42). I have a great promise that lies ahead. “Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” This life is short. We are here for one purpose - to glorify God. I desire to train my children through Biblical education. I recognize that home school is the best form of Biblical education, but I have promised my children that they could go to school. My children will still be trained at home, and I look forward to Baptist Christian School coming alongside of me and assisting me in their godly training.

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Note: Valerie is now the mother of five. Her twin sons were born in January 2008.