From the Receiving End

David Sherwood was home educated until he was sixteen, going on to a local college and then university. Here he writes of his experience and appreciation of a Christian home education. This account first appeared in Home Time magazine in 1996.

What is education?
The Collins English Dictionary defines education as "the act or process of imparting knowledge." Knowledge may be imparted for good or evil purposes. The purpose of a good education is obviously not to increase our expertise in doing wrong.
Good education will therefore be built on Scripture. There is no legitimate field of human activity for which the Bible fails to equip us. In fact, we may say that any education is good only insofar as it is founded on God's Word and applies its principles. If the principles being absorbed contradict the Bible's teaching then the education is doing harm. By contrast, we will expect that education founded deliberately on the Word of God, i.e. God centred, is the best possible education we can receive.

Christian Education: A View from the Receiving end
My parents from the beginning of their married life had the ambition of bringing up their children in the 'fear and admonition of the Lord' (Ephesians 6:4 NKJV). I was the first, followed by three brothers and two sisters. Before I reached the age when most children start school, Dad and Mum had already decided we would be home educated instead. It wasn't an easy decision to take. Such a step was even more unusual in the early 1970s than it is today, and it met with some opposition from sincere Christian people.
Were our parents in fact misguided? Did their decision harm us? Did it stunt our development, turning us into social misfits? Was our future usefulness in church and society impaired by our upbringing? Or is a God-centred education, as our parents firmly believed, the best possible preparation for adulthood? These are some of the questions I hope to answer, at least in part, by way of my personal testimony.
I make no claim to have had a model upbringing in every respect, but am nonetheless very grateful for the training in righteousness I received. As I have grown older I have appreciated more and more the marvellous privilege that is mine to have been brought up in such a way. My education, as does everyone's began before I could talk. Dad and Mum would include me in times of family Bible reading and prayer even then, so that as I grew in understanding there was never a time when I was unaccustomed to them. In church Dad and Mum always made sure we stayed with them right through the service, although sometimes Dad would have to take one of us out briefly for some discipline! By the time I was six I remember looking forward to church and benefiting from the sermons. It was through the consistent teaching at home and church that I believed the Gospel and was saved. I don't remember ever disbelieving the truth of the Bible. From the very earliest years I was taught that I was a sinner and that the only way to be forgiven is to repent and to trust in Jesus Christ. Over a period, when I was nearly eight, I asked God often for assurance that I was a Christian. I had confessed my sin and asked for forgiveness many times without being sure I was saved. The assurance came gradually, not in a sudden experience, as I realised God really had forgiven me.
When I was little, we learned reading, writing and sums from Monday to Friday under Mum's supervision. Our early writing books form a diary of memorable family experiences, which now make humorous reading. In the afternoons academic work was replaced by other activities. We would go shopping, play in the garden or ride to the park on our bikes. We had jobs to do as well. Apart from washing up and housework there were more exciting tasks too. One happy memory is of the time when Mum let her three little boys paint the climbing frame. We gave it a thick, dripping coat of sticky brown gloss, covering ourselves liberally in the process before jumping into the sandpit. There was no lack of friends. We played often with neighbours' children and friends from church. Later on, I and my brothers joined the Boys' Brigade. We learned early to relate to adults, enjoying the company of the frequent visitors to our home.
I continued to be educated at home up to O-level (apart from a year in Dad's class in a state school at the age of eight and six months the following year at a Christian school where he was teaching). Learning at home is, in my experience, far more efficient than learning at school. There is the benefit of one-to-one teaching and being able to proceed at one's own pace. In subject areas where Dad and Mum lacked a thorough knowledge the Lord provided help at the right time from people at church with relevant expertise. This was particularly true with French conversation: there were fluent French speakers around to give us practice just when we needed it.
Having gained seven O-levels, at the age of sixteen I enrolled at the local community college to study for A-levels in Maths, Physics and Chemistry. By God's grace I had no difficulty in making the transition. I found myself better prepared for the college regime than many of my fellow students. Whereas they had to learn to organise their own study schedule, I was already in the habit of doing so. Even in science practical I was surprised to discover I was at no disadvantage. I was accustomed to DIY work around the house and did have some experience with a chemistry set. Many of my friends were unused to careful practical work, not having been trained in jobs around the home. Their practical science had consisted largely of teachers' demonstrations. Did I find it hard to fit in at college? I stuck out like a sore thumb - for most of the time I was the only non-Asian in my class! Seriously, God helped me to get on very well with my classmates. Almost all my college friends were Hindus, Sikhs or Muslims. Although I often failed to speak up, as I should, I did have good opportunities to explain the gospel to them. I met with almost no unfriendly opposition, although there was the subtle pressure to adopt similar attitudes to those around me. I knew of no Christians in the college until my brother Peter joined me in my second year and together we started a weekly Bible study group. I remember well the stomach churning fear I felt as I went around putting up posters. The fear of man, which kept me from witnessing as boldly as I should, was however counteracted rather than aggravated by the teaching I had received at home. It was the thorough grounding in the Word of God given me by my parents that helped me to stand as a Christian in the World.
In October 1990, I started out as a fresher at Manchester University, studying for a degree in Mechanical Engineering and living away from home for the first time. I spent three years as one of 140 'Slemsmen', as the residents of St. Anselin Hall, a traditional all male hall of residence, were known. Whilst I wouldn't advocate it as an option everyone should take, I found the experience a very valuable one. Nowhere else have I had such an open door to tell others the gospel. Students are generally willing, at least on the face of it, to consider anything.
Several non-Christian friends were regular attendees at our Hall Christian Union Bible studies. In a place like that a Christian is quickly known. The hall had a rugby playing, beer swilling reputation. Many students lived shamelessly immoral, pleasure seeking lives and were admired for doing so. From the very first evening of term, the more vocal of the older students urged freshers to regard university life as one great opportunity to get drunk regularly and cheaply in the Hall bar, and to pursue immoral relationships.
Here I depended more than ever on the godly teaching received from my parents and at church. Although some mocked, even a few of the fastest living students later respected me for being prepared to stand out as different.
I was actively involved in the University Christian Union. Through it I gained many good friends from a wide variety of church and home backgrounds. I look back fondly to times of fellowship with God and with each other as we studied the Bible, prayed, sang and witnessed to our fellow students. It was however in the CU, rather than in Hall or on my course, where I met greatest pressure to compromise. Pressure to accept less than Biblical standards is harder to resist when it comes from fellow believers. The extent to which many evangelicals were prepared to question Scriptural principles, which I had previously thought undeniably plain, came as a shock. A large proportion of the CU believed that God had created the world by means of evolution. Some regarded it as naive to accept without question the whole of the Bible. Many had little idea how to go about applying God's Word to their courses and recreations. For example, the need to get alongside non-Christians and effectively relate to them was frequently used to justify Christians watching immoral films and attending nightclubs. I realised more than ever how merciful God had been to me to place me in a family and church where I had been taught thoroughly from His Word. It was this grounding which kept me from giving in to the pressure at university to follow the crowd, although I am ashamed to say that even with the benefit of good teaching I sometimes failed to stand firm.
Two years ago I moved to Derby to begin life as a graduate trainee with Rolls-Royce plc Aerospace Group, who develop, build and maintain aircraft engines. Having spent many months, I have now settled "permanently" in the Combustion Department with a job as a combustion research and development technologist. I am a member of a small evangelical church meeting near the town centre. There is plenty to keep me occupied at work and in the church. I find it harder to witness at work than I did at college. Working life brings with it new temptations. As much as ever I need to depend on the Lord. Though I often fail Him, He remains faithful. How long I remain here is in God's hands. I thank Him for leading me all the way as the Good Shepherd and know that my future is safe with Him.
Finally, to pose one further question: if God should give me a wife and family, would I educate my own children at home? Most certainly yes, God helping me!

Used with kind permission from
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