Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the end of his Life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal Life, John 17:3. and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.

—New England’s First Fruits, Harvard College, 1643

A Self Teaching Course Seminal to the Beginning Principle Approach® Teacher and Learner

With the dawning of the twenty-first century, this generation of young American Christians has a unique calling and a providential place in history Just as Daniel and the three Hebrew youths of the Old Testament were “called out” from among their generation to lead in a culture riddled by occult practices and self-worship, in the same way our future leaders have need for an education that will also equip them to make unpopular choices, boldly confront pagan rulers and evil strongholds, as well as our nation’s decline in every sphere with discernment. Godly wisdom, personal convictions, and a Christian work ethic.

The battle in which we American Christians are engaged is a spiritual and cultural battle for the hearts, minds, and souls of our youth. They must be strong in spirit, mind and body so as to help solve, rather than add to the problems of the times. The need for this generation of Christians is to know God and His Word and through personal scholarship, under the Lordship of Christ, learn to apply knowledge in science and technology in business and industry, in the arts, and in the economy and civil government. The need is to restore Jesus Christ, the Living Word, The Master Teacher, as the foundation for all sound knowledge and learning Principle Approach® education is rooted in a philosophy of education that is unique to Christianity. Teaching and learning are natural functions based upon the individual value and worth of both the teacher and the student. Modern education has complicated the beauty of simplicity by mechanizing teaching and learning to the mass production of something that can only work when it is individual. A class cannot be educated. A subject cannot be taught. Teachers teach children, one by one, using the skill of inspiring, cultivating, consecrating, and instructing—believing the best for every child, calling forth his fullest potential in Christ. In order to accomplish such noble goals, the teacher must believe the best for himself as well, faithfully calling forth his own potential in Christ. Principle Approach® education is rooted in these Biblical values and cultivates the attributes of The Master Teacher, Jesus Christ, within each educator.

Essential to your practice of Principle Approach® teaching and learning is the completion of this Self-Directed Seminar. It is designed to establish your philosophy of education upon the Word of God. You will be reading and researching along a pathway of guided reasoning. The word seminar, whose root “seminarium” means to sow seed, is closely linked with the word seminary. A seminary is “a seed-plat or the ground where seed is sown, a nursery, a source of propagation.” So begin thinking of this seminar as your seed-plat or nursery, a place where you will plant and germinate the seeds of Biblical principles for your philosophy of education, in turn, will guide and direct every decision you will make pertaining to you teaching and learning.

How to Proceed

The Seminar consists of nine lessons with readings and written assignments. These assignments have been developed to assist you in completing the chart entitled “Establishing a Christian Philosophy of Education.” Located on pages 103-104, this chart is for you to photocopy and record your personal research and reasoning, the “seed-plat” where you will sow and germinate the Biblical principles or seeds for your philosophy of education. The Seminar also includes a Glossary with definitions taken from Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary that relate to teaching and learning.

After completing the Seminar, you will acquire a fresh vision for classic Christian education, and you will find yourself returning time and again to these Biblical principles and their applications, to guide and direct all your choices and decisions about teaching and learning.

Completing the readings and the written assignments are seminal to successful Principle Approach® teaching and learning.