Gospel Centered

Ask Why and What not How

February 11, 2015

In my desire to lead well I have very often asked the wrong questions over the years. I tend to lean toward asking how and not Why. Because how seems like it will get me where I want faster. At times this is true. The problem with asking how is it very often can short-circuit the process that […]

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Looking for a free Easter Curriculum? Try God to the Rescue

4 Comments / February 18, 2014

I can’t believe that it’s been 3 years now since a few of my friends and I got together and created a curriculum that intentionally makes much of Jesus. The need for this kind of curriculum has only increased in the past 3 years. The lessons that we wrote together have more relevance than ever.

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Get Matt Chandler’s Explicit Gospel for free.

The pastoral obsession with CEO’s

7 Comments / June 4, 2013

Let me start with this disclaimer. I love Harvard Business Review and have read many books on business and leadership. I also believe that pastors should be good leaders they should strengthen that muscle because leadership matters. How you lead matters. Here is where I get frustrated. I have talked to many pastors and the

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Influence

2 Comments / May 22, 2012

I had a conversation with a pastor from another church, she said “God has given you influence, what are going to say?” It’s a great question because like it or not each of us has influence. God has given each of us a measure of influence what are you going to say when have people in your

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Retro Post: Being an abnormal kidmin is ok.

6 Comments / July 6, 2011

Another list I found enlightening and somewhat professionally satisfying to know that as a children’s pastor I don’t have to fit the mold most people have in their minds of what a children’s pastor should or shouldn’t be. The list is found in this blog post “an abnormal children’s pastor”. Over at Jonathancliff.com. Jonathan has

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4 Reasons to send your kids to public school

28 Comments / April 20, 2011

I’ll start with public school. Here are my reasons why you should send your kids to public school. 1. Resources – Public schools by far have the best funding and because of that they can offer many programs, specialists, and academic help for your kids that you could not get at a private school or

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28 responses to “4 Reasons to send your kids to public school”

Clint

April 20, 2011

Interesting post! A friend of mine posted it on FB and it is something my wife and I have been thinking a lot about… I am curious, did you attend a Christian school growing up?

Reply
1. samluce
  
  April 20, 2011
  
  I attended Christian schools but mostly public school.
  
  Reply
Dean Butterfield

April 20, 2011

Nothing like taking on the doozies…

Reply
jonathan

April 20, 2011

I work at a church that runs a Christian school with attendance over 1,000…yet I send my kids to the great public school in our neighborhood.

No decision is better than the other, but the decision to send our kids (and involve our family in) to the public school is ours alone.

Reply
Mike Prince

April 20, 2011

Great post. We have already decided to home-school our children for a number of reasons. None of the reasons include the immoral indoctrination of our children or a desire to protect them from being taught against what we believe. My wife was home-schooled through all 12 grades and went on to college to be successful graduating Summa Kum Laude. She has had little to no problems with social interaction and no crisis of faith that could have been prevented by surrounding herself with "the culture" earlier in life.

Reply
James Kennison

April 20, 2011

I was homeschooled, private schooled… and public schooled. I hated all of it… but I'm a better person because of my experiences in PUBLIC SCHOOL! It makes no sense to over shelter your kids only to drop them into the real world head first at 18.

Reply
Robert Herrington

April 20, 2011

I can only speak about my situation on this topic. As a father living in the 51st ranked state for education, Nevada CANNOT compete with the funding that the private schools here get. The curriculum is far better at the private level and the teachers have the backing of the administration and the parents because the parents hold the purse strings. My son is now on the high honor role even though he started 5th grade 1 year's worth of curriculum behind (because the public schools have lower standards.) I would sell my house and move into a cardboard box before I sent him back to public school in Nevada. Oh, and the State is about to cut school funding another unprecedented amount.

Robert

Reply
Clint

April 20, 2011

Interesting post! A friend of mine posted it on FB and it is something my wife and I have been thinking a lot about… I am curious, did you attend a Christian school growing up?

Reply
1. samluce
  
  April 20, 2011
  
  I attended Christian schools but mostly public school.
  
  Reply
Dean Butterfield

April 20, 2011

Nothing like taking on the doozies…

Reply
jonathan

April 20, 2011

I work at a church that runs a Christian school with attendance over 1,000…yet I send my kids to the great public school in our neighborhood.

No decision is better than the other, but the decision to send our kids (and involve our family in) to the public school is ours alone.

Reply
Mike Prince

April 20, 2011

Great post. We have already decided to home-school our children for a number of reasons. None of the reasons include the immoral indoctrination of our children or a desire to protect them from being taught against what we believe. My wife was home-schooled through all 12 grades and went on to college to be successful graduating Summa Kum Laude. She has had little to no problems with social interaction and no crisis of faith that could have been prevented by surrounding herself with "the culture" earlier in life.

As a youth minister and a public school graduate my initial thought was that homeschool kids are weird and I don't want my kids to be that way. I figured my wife was a minority in the home-school world but I see now that it's all about whether or not the parents can do it "right."

Long story short, our biggest reason for deciding to home-school our children stems from the ridiculous amounts of wasted time our public school systems encourage. 6-8 hours of class time a day to do the work that could be done in a 3-4 hour day. Students are then sent home with up to four hours of homework daily creating a bunch of students being taught by their parents anyway. Not to mention the lack of attention given to students who struggle or even excel. If you're not a middle of the road student you suffer in public schools.

Again, thank you for your post. It was well thought out and I agree with most of it. My concern, however, is for the education of my child and I feel as if it can be done better in the home than at public school.

Mike

Reply
1. Mike Prince
  
  April 20, 2011
  
  UPDATE: Someone on facebook commented that it's very circumstantial and I think that's the best point I've heard. Everyone's kids are different and you have to weigh your child, your availability and effectiveness to teach your kids against that of the school your kid(s) would attend. Every student I know that had a bad home-school experience was because of the lack of effectiveness of their parents as teachers.
  
  Reply
  1. samluce
    
    April 20, 2011
    
    Couldn't agree more in fact we are going to be talking about some of that stuff tomorrow!
    
    Reply
    1. Mike Prince
      
      April 20, 2011
      
      My wife directed me to your post about why our kids should NOT go to public school. Love both posts. Way to start some conversation!
      
      Reply
      1. samluce
        
        April 20, 2011
        
        Thanks, hope to get people thinking and talking.
        
        Reply
Mike Prince

April 20, 2011

Great post. We have already decided to home-school our children for a number of reasons. None of the reasons include the immoral indoctrination of our children or a desire to protect them from being taught against what we believe. My wife was home-schooled through all 12 grades and went on to college to be successful graduating Summa Kum Laude. She has had little to no problems with social interaction and no crisis of faith that could have been prevented by surrounding herself with "the culture" earlier in life.

As a youth minister and a public school graduate my initial thought was that homeschool kids are weird and I don't want my kids to be that way. I figured my wife was a minority in the home-school world but I see now that it's all about whether or not the parents can do it "right."

Long story short, our biggest reason for deciding to home-school our children stems from the ridiculous amounts of wasted time our public school systems encourage. 6-8 hours of class time a day to do the work that could be done in a 3-4 hour day. Students are then sent home with up to four hours of homework daily creating a bunch of students being taught by their parents anyway. Not to mention the lack of attention given to students who struggle or even excel. If you're not a middle of the road student you suffer in public schools.

Again, thank you for your post. It was well thought out and I agree with most of it. My concern, however, is for the education of my child and I feel as if it can be done better in the home than at public school.

Mike

Reply
1. Mike Prince
  
  April 20, 2011
  
  UPDATE: Someone on facebook commented that it's very circumstantial and I think that's the best point I've heard. Everyone's kids are different and you have to weigh your child, your availability and effectiveness to teach your kids against that of the school your kid(s) would attend. Every student I know that had a bad home-school experience was because of the lack of effectiveness of their parents as teachers.
  
  Reply
  1. samluce
    
    April 20, 2011
    
    Couldn't agree more in fact we are going to be talking about some of that stuff tomorrow!
    
    Reply
    1. Mike Prince
      
      April 20, 2011
      
      My wife directed me to your post about why our kids should NOT go to public school. Love both posts. Way to start some conversation!
      
      Reply
      1. samluce
        
        April 20, 2011
        
        Thanks, hope to get people thinking and talking.
        
        Reply
James Kennison

April 20, 2011

I was homeschooled, private schooled… and public schooled. I hated all of it… but I'm a better person because of my experiences in PUBLIC SCHOOL! It makes no sense to over shelter your kids only to drop them into the real world head first at 18.

Reply
Robert Herrington

April 20, 2011

I can only speak about my situation on this topic. As a father living in the 51st ranked state for education, Nevada CANNOT compete with the funding that the private schools here get. The curriculum is far better at the private level and the teachers have the backing of the administration and the parents because the parents hold the purse strings. My son is now on the high honor role even though he started 5th grade 1 year's worth of curriculum behind (because the public schools have lower standards.) I would sell my house and move into a cardboard box before I sent him back to public school in Nevada. Oh, and the State is about to cut school funding another unprecedented amount.

Robert

Reply
samluce

April 20, 2011

Great stuff guys. You are really bringing out some great points.

Reply
samluce

April 20, 2011

Great stuff guys. You are really bringing out some great points.

Reply
Ross

April 27, 2011

This is an interesting topic for discussion, and there are good points to be made on both sides. I attended Christian schools from preschool until I graduated from high school, then went to what is now one of the largest public universities in the U.S.
I had a great experience in high school. I was on the honor roll, National Honor Society, participated in several sports, and was voted to the homecoming court 4 times. However, to say that I was unprepared for what I experienced in college and the working world would be an understatement. Although my Christian school was not known for being a slacker in academics, everything came easy to me. I did not have to work hard to get good grades in high school, so I did not know how to study in college. I quickly became overwhelmed in my initial major, and made a change to something easier. This would later have a negative effect on my job prospects.
Not to mention the fact that I was in a Christian "bubble" and did not know what the world would throw at me beyond high school.
In retrospect, while my Christian foundation did a lot of good for me, I think it would have been helpful for me to have a year or more in public schools before college. Perhaps I would have been better prepared for college and beyond.
In summary, I would say to parents that if at all possible to expose their kids to both public and Christian school environments and determine which is best for your child and your situation. Each child is different, and each school is different, so it will be up to each parent to decide which is best.

Reply
Ross

April 27, 2011

This is an interesting topic for discussion, and there are good points to be made on both sides. I attended Christian schools from preschool until I graduated from high school, then went to what is now one of the largest public universities in the U.S.
I had a great experience in high school. I was on the honor roll, National Honor Society, participated in several sports, and was voted to the homecoming court 4 times. However, to say that I was unprepared for what I experienced in college and the working world would be an understatement. Although my Christian school was not known for being a slacker in academics, everything came easy to me. I did not have to work hard to get good grades in high school, so I did not know how to study in college. I quickly became overwhelmed in my initial major, and made a change to something easier. This would later have a negative effect on my job prospects.
Not to mention the fact that I was in a Christian "bubble" and did not know what the world would throw at me beyond high school.
In retrospect, while my Christian foundation did a lot of good for me, I think it would have been helpful for me to have a year or more in public schools before college. Perhaps I would have been better prepared for college and beyond.
In summary, I would say to parents that if at all possible to expose their kids to both public and Christian school environments and determine which is best for your child and your situation. Each child is different, and each school is different, so it will be up to each parent to decide which is best.

Reply
Brystal

October 30, 2012

Ha! I just wrote a blog post that is eerily similar to this. As I was looking for an image to accompany it, I stumbled here! Needless to say, I wholeheartedly agree. Thanks for being a voice on this side of the issue for parents who are making decisions about this.

Reply