On Edudaction

"Wisdom's Children"

In Blair Adams' book, Questions Visitors Ask, one of the questions answered is, "Do you send your kids to college? Could they go if they wanted to?"

--(B.A.) If they chose to go to college, they could do so. Any of them could theoretically become any type of professional they chose. They would be more than qualified academically to do so, but by the time our children are this age we don't send them anywhere. Moreover, the whole notion, to us, is a little like saying, "What if an Ecuadorian banana seed wanted to become an Alaskan cabbage--would you let it??" Yes, we would let it. But, it's not in our power--it's not a given--to bring forth people who would fit the mold of such professions anymore than it's a natural given for a Brooklyn skyscraper architect to become an East Texas horse farmer. It may happen, but it's the exception, not the rule. This is true of people generally. We, like all others, have chosen a certain way of life that produces a certain type of fruit.  

The problem with the analogy of Ecuadorian bananas and Alaskan cabbages is that neither children nor adults are genetically wired for a specific vocation or lifestyle. A child born into poverty can be educated and obtain a comfortable existence. A financial executive's child can be born into endless privilege and never take advantage of his opportunities to make anything of his life. The lives of human beings are slightly more complex than that of plants.

It's also debatable whether a child raised in Homestead "would be more than qualified academically" to obtain a higher education. In Wisdom's Children by Blair Adams and Joel Stein they write, "In the fifth and sixth grades, the child will conclude his basic arithmetic skills." For the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades it says

Most math for these grades will arise out of the individual skill and craft projects. At this point, children should know the basic arithmetic skills and should be able to use them as they become necessary in the child's experiences. Each child should be confident enough in these skills to be able to learn more complicated operations as the need arises. For example, if he needs to figure out measurements for a structure that would employ elementary geometry, even though he will not have had extensive practice in geometry he should be able to learn it as this need arises, having a strong foundation in elementary arithmetic. . .

In other words, not all children will learn extensive algebra or geometry, as some will never need these skills for their lives.  (p. 432, emphasis added)

Homestead is responsible for the level of education, or lack thereof, of the children raised there, since they consider themselves to be a "covering" for parents who homeschool under their direction as stated in Wisdom's Children:

If you are a part of Koinonia fellowship [a former name for Homestead Heritage], you must also read Who Owns the Children? and read and fill out the Koinonia "Home-School Conviction" form. This will confirm that you stand upon a conviction from God, so you can then school under the covering of our ministries. Anyone, however, may use our material without doing this if they don't look to us in any way as a covering. (p. 404, emphasis added) 

There is little mention of science in the Wisdom's Children chapter on  "Koinonia  Curriculum" except for the 1st through 4th grades.

We include science in the Reader as it relates to the reading matter. Included are studies of plants, animals, the sun, moon, stars, the solar system, the water cycle, wild life in contrast to domestic, and other topics. For example, when the child reads about Joshua at the battle of Gibeon (Josh. 10:1-15), we discuss how God kept the sun in the sky, the laws that God has put into motion, and how He is sovereign over them all so that if He so chooses He can step in and alter them. This in turn will spark off discussion about time and its passing, the days and seasons, the solar system, the functions of sunlight and so on. . . (p. 414)

The only mention of science for 7th, 8th and ninth grades is for a book titled The Creation.

The Creation discusses the meaning and proper limits of science and gives something of its history. It then discusses the conflict of creation versus evolution. It shows what science is doing and where it's heading through technology. (This last includes something about the quantum theory.) This book shows the difference between good science and bad. Then it gives an overall view of the creation, of the cosmos as a whole, the earth and nature, the balance of nature and man's place in the whole. (p. 431)

For the 10th and 11th grades, any science will be incorporated into unit projects for an agricultural based life. There is no formal curriculum for teaching Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. As with the maths, the higher sciences are learned on an "as needed" basis.

As the children in our fellowship get older, they will work on science research projects that will meet specific agricultural needs of our farm community, for example, water and irrigation projects, planning out the crops that will be needed to feed our livestock and so on. (pp. 393-394)

Wisdom's Children expresses a very low view of science.

Scientific knowledge, understood in a God-centered perspective, has a place in the community of God, but only a limited place. Science, properly understood, can be useful to man and can help him to learn about and come into closer relationship with God's creation. But we must always remember that it remains only a limited tool and that it has a secondary importance. We must always remember the dangers involved in it, how it has come to play a big part in man's presumptive quest to rely upon himself rather than God. But science will always remain a false god, and its salvation a delusory salvation. (p. 391)

 The Texas requirements for home education are:

• The instruction must be bona fide (i.e., not a sham).
• The curriculum must be in visual form (e.g., books, workbooks, video monitor). 
• The curriculum must include the five basic subjects of reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and good citizenship. 

Homestead may possibly fall within the requirements for home education in Texas, but it's not likely that the children "would be more than qualified academically" to attend college if they wished. The Texas Home School Coalition provides a list of the Texas Education Administration's "Recommended High School Program" in order to prepare a student for college entry.

• 4 credits of English/Language Arts
• 4 credits of Mathematics, including Algebra I, II, and Geometry
• 4 credits of Science, including Biology, Chemistry, and Physics
• 4 credits of Social Studies, including World History, World Geography, U.S. History, 1/2 credit Government, 1/2 credit Economics
• 1 credit of Physical Education 
• 1/2 credit of Speech
• 1 credit of Fine Arts 
• 5 1/2 credits of Electives
• 2 credits of Foreign Language Studies (Source, emphasis added)

It's obvious at a glance that children emerging from Homestead's education program will be sorely lacking in the sciences and maths to enroll in college. But, of course, the goal, as stated in Questions Visitors Ask, isn't to prepare them for college but to prepare them for Homestead's "way of life."  This may work out fine if the children raised within this community stay within this community. But what happens when Homestead leadership exercises its "power of the gate . . . to control who may enter and remain and on what conditions?" (Source) What happens when someone raised there is not deemed fit to baptize and join? What happens when someone raised there is disassociated or disfellowshipped for some infraction? What happens when someone raised there decides they do not wish to remain a part of the community? How do they manage with an education that is deficient except for Homestead's "way of life?" If someone who has been baptized decides to leave to "theoretically become any type of professional they chose,"  "[s]uch people are generally shunned, at least partially, because they're breaking a commitment to God to live our their Christian walk in the context of that specific body . . ." (Source)



Quoted material from:
Adams, Blair. Questions Visitors Ask. 1996.
Adams, Blair, and Joel Stein. Wisdom's Children: Home Education and the Roots of Restored Biblical Culture. Austin: Truth Forum, 1988.