Back to School

As the new school year begins, here are five things you can do to keep Christ in your child’s school through your Christian influence.  As long as there are disciples of Jesus going to school, Jesus will continue to have a presence in public education.

1. Send a note to school with your child.  Introduce yourself and your child to your teacher.  Promise her your support and help if it is ever needed.  Also, let her know that you will be praying for her (1 Timothy 2:1).  (I’ve yet to meet a person who resented someone offering to pray for them).

2.  Report good news to your teacher.  Oftentimes, the only time teachers hear from parents is when there is a problem.  As you review the day with your children, take note of the positive things they have to say about their teacher.  Don’t keep that information to yourself.  Share it with the teacher.  We all like to know when we do a good job (Proverbs 3:27).

3.  Go the second mile.  Do what’s unexpected of you.  Don’t just remember your child’s teacher during “National Teacher’s Week,” express your appreciation to them at other times in creative ways (Matthew 5:41).

4.  Say Thank You.  And say it frequently.  I can only imagine how many parents never express appreciation to their child’s teacher.  Teachers invest a great deal of time and hard work into our children.  They’re deserving of our thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

5.  Invite them to Church.  After building a relationship with your child’s teacher, by putting into practice the above suggestions, they will be much more likely to accept an invitation to church, a special religious event, or even a Bible study.  The worst they can say is “no” (John 1:45-46).

While our nation has attempted to remove concrete expressions of Christianity from public schools, it will never be able to remove the powerful influence of Christian parents.