Homeschooling with a MISSION
Mission Academy
As Christian parents our mission is help our child develop a love for Jesus, a desire to accept Him as her Saviour, and to fully commit to serve Him faithfully with the talents she has been given, whether that be languages, music, art, technology, etc. With this MISSION it is our duty to encourage and equip our child with the means to carefully and diligently refine those talents so that she can effectively and enthusiastically serve Him through the opportunities God allows. Along with instilling a Biblical foundation, it is our desire to further train a charactered, disciplined child who will be able to utter, enact, and defend Biblical truths as they apply to daily living, whether at home, in the workplace, or the churchyard. We also believe it to be imperative to teach, lest we forget or succumb to revisionists, our Christian heritage since the time of Christ, including the true and accurate history of our native land, The United States of America. To achieve the details of this MISSION, we commit specifically to the following philosophy and methodology of homeschooling:
A Traditional Approach – We believe that God established order, structure, and instruction, all of which are key elements in a traditional approach to teaching children. Throughout the Creation Week our God ordered with His words the world into being. He created each aspect to function precisely according to His structure. He then instructed Adam to perform his duties according to His plan. Upon Adam and Eve’s choice to sin and thereafter, history has shown how man has tried to deviate from God’s authority and rely upon his feelings or own devises. In education, our own American history proves the success of traditional education and the ever-failing progressive approaches which are exemplified yet not limited to the departure from the phonetic approach of reading, teacher-directed lessons, the emphasis of excellence, the foundation of absolutes, and the art of writing. In commitment to providing a traditional education, we believe that:1) God is not a God of chaos (I Cor. 14:33), therefore each day should begin orderly, on-time, and follow a determined schedule; 2) God established the authority of the parent/teacher over the student; therefore the lessons should be parent/teacher directed in order that the appropriate material will be completed, leaving “free playtime,” under the guidance of the parent, to the desire of the child; 3) The Bible emphasizes the danger of a person’s lack of self-control (Pro. 25:28); therefore, it is the duty of the parent to help the child develop the self-control required to excel in a structured learning environment; 4) Traditionally, structured teaching began at an early age (Susannah Wesley taught her children to read from the Bible by age 5, Paul records that Timothy was taught “from a child” the Holy Scriptures); therefore, we determined to begin from day one teaching the Bible and introducing new and exciting concepts. 5) God instructs that each day be actively filled with service for Him (Col. 1:10); therefore we desire to train, teach and equip our child with the knowledge and skills to be an effective servant. 6) In the Creation week specifically God proves His interest, love, passion, and care for all areas (Genesis); therefore, each day should include, but not be limited to, developing an appreciation and understanding in the areas of Bible, Mathematics, Language Arts, History, and Science. (Phil. 4:8)

A Biblical Approach – We believe that the ultimate instruction book for life is His Word, found, for English speaking people, in the King James Bible; therefore, each core subject should not disregard the Bible nor should the Bible be simply on add-on, but all subjects should be founded upon His Words and be developed from that point. (Psalm 1; Pro.2:6)

A Prioritized Approach – We believe that Jesus being Almighty God and the greatest teacher, truly emphasized always learning and thereby we determine to use the tool of education to be one avenue of learning; therefore, barring emergencies of life, each day should follow a certain priority and scheduling which will assure that subject material will be completed in an appropriate and timely fashion. (II Tim. 2:15; Psalm 32:8))

A Motivated Approach – We believe that God is the Creator of order and not chaos; thereby we see the need to keep focused upon the future goals – the MISSION – and this being our daily motivation. (I Cor. 14:33; Genesis – The Creation Account)

A Cutting-edge Approach – We believe that one can achieve a traditional education while maintaining a cutting-edge approach  toward current developments that may be beneficial to the learning experience; therefore, we commit to always be learning ourselves, as teachers, and implementing new ideas, strategies, materials, programs as long as the before mentioned aligns with our tenets of homeschooling. (Pro. 1:1-5)

A Guarded Approach – We live in an “INFORMATION” age; therefore we believe that it is our duty as Christian parents to carefully choose that which is good and wholesome and guard against such that would seek to undermine God’s Word. (Psalm 1; John 8:44; Rom. 1:17-18; Rom. 16:19)

A Learned Approach – Realizing that we are not “experts,” but accepting that God has given us the charge to teach our child, we choose to learn from the past (Deut. 4:9 and 32:7) and not endeavor to reinvent the wheel by “writing” or formulating our own curriculum, if Godly people have already done so.

An Unexcused Approach – In a world where excuses abound, we determine to not equip our child with excuses for not learning by using worldly labels, such as disabled, disabilities, ADD, ADHD, etc., to “explain” issues, but to persevere, recognize the God-given abilities of our child, and remain faithful to the MISSION to teach our child to be all for the glory of God.

A Determined Approach – We believe that due to the importance and responsibility of teaching and training our child, it is incumbent upon us to develop and maintain our tenets of homeschooling; therefore, we commit to not be swayed by current fads or trends, the latest books, conference speakers, etc., but to remain faithful to the MISSION. (I Cor. 15:58)

What a privilege and honor to have the opportunity to love a precious child given to us by God. Because of this special gift, we determine to not take a haphazard, always-changing approach, but realize that the past history of traditional, Christian education shows that “the proof-is-in-the-pudding.” May we never take for granted this special gift and may we always realize the importance and priority due to Biblical instruction and remember:

Deuteronomy 11:19 – 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.