Back to school with fall feast days in mind.

Summer is over and it is back to school time. We are not all in a position to send our children to the one of the few Israelite Christian schools that exists so they have high holy days off with no penalty of loss learning. Neither are we all in a position to homeschool our children. So, we have to make the best out of public or charter schools. Whatever our position, we are ultimately responsible for the education of our children.

We are their first teachers, and we still need to make our home a rich educational environment despite the school they attend. Each semester since I have been a college professor, 2007, I get 18 and 19 year old students in my development composition and literature courses who are illiterate, can not write a decent paragraph, and who have not learned to be critical thinkers. I try really hard to teach them enough in the 16 weeks they sit in front of me what they should have learned 13 years prior.

I often wonder, how did this young person have 13 teachers touch them from k-12, and nobody knew? Why didn’t these 13 teachers care enough to know? And more importantly, why didn’t his or her parents know? Why didn’t they do anything about it? Why didn’t the parent have an educational plan for their son or daughter? We have to do better about our children. How can they grow in God’s ways, his commandments, and the fruits of his spirit by merely listening to bible lessons? They need to be able to read and understand for themselves. How can they do so without being literate in their so-called native language? I get so frustrated and so angry for these young people. Part of the problem is that the children miss foundational learning due to absences, and absences occur for many reasons. Some of these reasons are valid, while others are not.

This blog post is to parents whose children are not attending school in observation of the Holy Days. My children did not attend school on holy days either, so I get it. It is a commandment. However, we as parents still have a responsibility to our children to ensure they are educated adequately. It is our responsibility to make sure our children do not lose learning.

So this is my advice, be sure to find out what instruction the children are missing on the 4 holy days off this season. Make up that specific instruction at home. 4 days off is time enough for them to get behind causing them to struggle the entire rest of the year. High school and college students with papers and projects due on the Holy Days should submit them BEFORE NOT AFTER. This increases a teacher’s level of respect for our lifestyle. Also, when the child gets behind due to ill-preparedness, this gives the teachers as well as the school system ammunition to use against you. Find out the specific lessons they are missing and provide them with that instruction until mastery. If you can’t then hire a tutor.

With the acquisition of knowledge comes greater responsibility. As parents this burden is ours; our children are our business. Remember to add the subject of your child’s education to your prayer. Matthew 19:26 says, “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. “ You can do this.

Deuteronomy [7] And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.