A Girl's Curriculum Part 1We have been mentioning the general biblical concept that determines a woman's role within the family several times elsewhere, trying to explain how this can be and should be reflected in the upbringing of daughters. We also sketched at least two practical areas, the garden and clothing, to show how biblical principles are put into practice in the process of educating children. In this article, we will collect some more practical aspects of raising a little girl. But a few general comments seem necessary to explain our stand in this. Nowadays, you can hear homeschooling Christians say that they basically teach the same skills to their sons and daughters. A girl, they would argue, should be able to hunt and repair a car, while a boy should be able to bake and sew, just as examples. It certainly can't hurt to be handy and a kind of Jack-of-all-trades, both for girls and boys, but we don't see how the bible supports going out of your way to teach a girl things that don't pertain to her role in the family, and the same counts for boys. The idea seems to be that the goal of education is to make you as independent of other people as possible, including family, to enable a child to do it all by himself and herself. We see a different principle at work in the bible, though. God appointed definite roles and places within the family for husband, wives and children, and it is the responsibility and duty of each member to fulfill his and her role to the best of the whole house. Let me give you just one example to illustrate how the bible portraits the result of someone not fulfilling his role in the family in one aspect. Read on here: |
