Christian Unschooling: the Foremost Task of a Parent

A few days ago, in my Stories of an Unschooling Family community, I posted these thoughts:

A parent does her best to give her child a good education but should concentrating on academic success be her main focus? Perhaps a parent’s most important task is to teach a child about love.

Intelligence and academic achievements are highly regarded by the world. And I value them too. Our intelligence was given to us by God. But using our intelligence without the guiding light of love is not enough. All our achievements mean nothing without love.

There are many people who the world regards as highly intelligent. They’ve been labelled as great thinkers. They are admired, honoured, respected by their peers and the world. But with all their great thinking skills, many of them haven’t thought their way to God.

Are these the people we want as role models for our kids? Do we turn to them for the answer when considering our educational options? Or are there other people we feel are better examples for our children? Do we look to people like Mother Teresa who was so full of love but never achieved academic honours?

Maybe true thinking skills come from the Holy Spirit. True wisdom comes from God.

So although we could use our intelligence to achieve everything possible in the world, that‘s not enough. We need love as well. Those words from the Bible about gaining the whole world but losing our souls keep going through my mind. I’m not sure they are appropriate and relate to my thoughts, but I’ll mention them anyway.

What I am certain about is this: love is the most important thing in the world. Love is what we need to give to our kids. Of course, if our kids have academic talents, we should nurture them. They have been given to them for a reason. They will use them to make a difference in the world. As long as they are used with love.

Learning happens best in an atmosphere of love. Love is the best reason to do anything. We shouldn’t battle or push our kids to frustration or get angry and upset or worried about the future. Instead, we should trust God. And love.

Our kids could be great thinkers. They could also be great lovers. With the Holy Spirit, they can be both. Our foremost task is to make sure our children experience love.

I hope these imperfect thoughts can lead to an interesting discussion!

Something Extra

Maybe this short video goes well with my imperfect thoughts about love!

The words in this video come from the blog post, Will We Have Done Enough?

Photos

Imogen, Charlotte and Gemma-Rose. The love we give to our kids is reflected in their relationships with other people.