On a recent visit to our Kindergarten, I was impressed with a roomful of happy and well-ordered students. I especially enjoyed a recitation of their many Bible verses. Their list of memory verses for the year includes 26 “alphabet” verses and about 30 more verses or passages per their Bible curriculum (including all of Psalm 23). They confidently recited verses through the letter “O,” and I spot checked a few others – very impressive!
Of course, there are many things they learn in the process: listening to instruction, orating in unison, gross motor skills with hand motions, exercising the memory muscle (which is strong in children!), vocabulary, and repeating good grammatical construction. However, the greatest benefit must be the internalization of the best curriculum in the world: God’s holy and inspired word. These children are hiding God’s truth, wisdom, and revelation in their hearts. They are being trained according to God’s way, that they may not depart from it as they grow older (Proverbs 22:6). There is no more important work in a child’s education than to learn the very words of God.
At the same time, we are reading Scripture together at the Secondary School as a new morning routine. And the last few selections have reminded us of the power of God’s word to create the universe (Genesis 1), to defeat Satan (a line from A Mighty Fortress which we sang together), to resurrect the dead (Ezekial 37:11-14), and give abundant life (Psalm 1), and to save lost souls (James 1:17-18).
At ECA, we work throughout our program to instill a love of learning, so that our students continue to self-educate long after they have left our classrooms. Still, it is not unreasonable to think that some will reach an end in their study of advanced math, or they will have read enough Civil War history, or they will tire of Plato, or drop the study of Latin for a modern language. However, we hope they will never grow tired of God’s holy word. For they will never reach the end of the depth, riches, wisdom, and life that comes from God’s infallible word. His words are the words of eternal life; there is nowhere else to go (Luke 6:68)!
Soli Deo Gloria,
Stephen Sprague
Head of School
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