We Do School Differently
We exist to cast vision for & implementation of a model of Christian education that can take place at any church, in any city.
We view the education of children as deeply Missional in that the strength of their faith and the affections of their hearts & minds are won or lost based on the loves they develop from an early age. When children have access to Christ-centered mentorship, this process is Christian Discipleship at its best, and in doing so, is the fulfillment of the Great Commission in our own back yards where it turns out there is tremendous need for Jesus and for a revival of faith in the lives of young people.
Our model is a private Christian hybrid that provides an exceptional in-person classroom learning experience while accessing the primary instruction online. Doing in-person schooling in a classroom all together while accessing the instruction itself online is the best of both worlds and creates a flexible and highly customized education program for each scholar. Using the online model but doing so in a daily classroom setting allows the students to interact and do group activities together and discuss material, while also reducing significant cost in staffing and overhead. This also allows for standardization and ease-of replication for any church who wishes to implement the model.
Our goal is to educate scholars in a fun, character driven environment that promotes academically robust educational content with emphasis on leadership, mentorship & the classics. Our online curriculum provider for the core classes of math, language arts and science is John Adams Academy’s American Classical Leadership Model. While the core classes such as math are not explicitly faith-based, the key assumptions within the American Classical Leadership Education mirror those of many of the Founding Fathers, which are that objective truth exists and that there is a creator whose eternal and natural laws govern every square inch of reality.
Built around the core classes is a systematic and fully integrated Biblical worldview and Christian apologetics enrichment program. We use Foundation Worldview’s curriculum as our online vendor for these courses and integrate their application into the wide variety of activities throughout the day, creating a natural assimilation of Biblical worldview into the daily tasks of living. We take seriously the command to “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind and all of your strength.” Luke 10:27
Our model is designed to slow down the childhood experience and strengthen the family unit. We serve students in small class sizes that allow for each student to be seen, known, and challenged at the level that is just right for them.
The School of Life model assumes that a Biblical understanding of life is that nothing can be accurately understood without first having an accurate understanding of God.
In any school setting, children soak up attitudes, perspectives, and loves from their environment which ultimately shapes their worldview as measured in the categories of Politics, Economics, Education, Religion, and Social Issues. The School of Life model aims to build up their worldview in all aspects of education to communicate that all Truth is God’s Truth; that all goodness is God’s goodness; and that all beauty is God’s beauty.
According to historic Christianity, humans (as creatures) have been created to know and worship the triune God. And our present longing for truth, goodness, and beauty exists because these values reflect the ultimate source, which is the maximally perfect God. When we pursue truth, goodness and beauty in life and in this world we are tracking the majesty of the Lord.
Truth, goodness, and beauty are cosmic values that communicate divine meaning in the intellectual, moral, and aesthetic capacities of the human soul, which brings a balance in the soul, which, in turn, harmonizes the human person with divine meaning and purpose of the cosmos, which was considered the prerequisite to human flourishing. Humans via imago Dei (as created in the image of God) are able to know the truth, to desire the good, and to love the beautiful.
Inspiring children to know, to desire and to love these values is the aim of The School of Life model. Scholars will encounter and interact with these values through the Great Works: the Classics in literature, art, architecture, and music, etc.
“In every period of history, Christians have taken the charge of education seriously - founding schools, promoting literacy, and preserving the literary heritage of the surrounding culture.
To be effective in equipping young people to face the challenges of a highly complex world, the church needs to redefine the mission of pastors and youth leaders to include training in apologetics and worldview…It is not enough to teach young believers how to have personal quiet time, follow a scripture memory program, and link up with a Christian youth group. We also need to equip them to respond to the intellectual challenges they will face in the classroom.
It is imperative to broaden the education to include courses on intellectual history, training them to critique the dominant ideologies of our day. A religion that avoids the intellectual task and retreats to the therapeutic realm of personal relationship and feelings will not survive in today’s spiritual battlefield.
Creation tells us that children are made in the image of God which means they have the great dignity of being creatures with a capacity for love, morality, rationality, artistic creation, and all the other uniquely human capabilities. Education should seek to address all aspects of the human person.”
— Nancy Pearcey, Author
Total Truth - Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity