Partnering with Parents
What does it mean to partner with parents?
Parent Teacher Conference by Amos Sewell
Parent is a verb as well as a noun. That means that being a parent means significantly more than having a child: it means to be invested with the responsibility of authority and instruction in the life of a child.
Parental Responsibility
Parents are commanded by God to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). Literally this could be translated as nurturing children into the training and admonishing or warning of the Lord. This responsibility carries with it authority. The Scripture teaches us that parents are the God ordained authority in the life of a child (Eph. 6:1-3). That authority is to be wielded in training and preparing them for both their earthly future and their eternal future. It is also to be wielded in both warning and correcting them from error (Prov. 29:17). In those situations where grandparents or guardians are functioning in the role as parents, they have assumed this responsibility of authority, oversight, direction, and correction in the biblical categories of training, warning, and correcting.
The Need for Training & Correction
The need for training and correction is evident in children. They don’t know what they’re doing. This isn’t surprising: they’re new around here. Biblically, parents will be held accountable by the Lord for how they carried out this duty of training and correcting their children. But, by the grace of the Lord, parents are not left to this task alone. The Lord has provided many resources for parents in support of raising children. Whether that be pastors, youth leaders, or teachers, these all - under the grace of the Lord - are meant to support the labor of instructing in the fear of the Lord.
Partnering with Parents
As Educators our desire is to partner with parents, not to supplant nor replace them. So what does it look like to partner with parents in educating their children? It means first of all that parents remain responsible for their children. In school, educators are supporting and supplementing parental instruction. We do not replace the parental role, we provide support to it. We may instruct, give warning, and offer correction in the moment, but ultimately, all of these rest with the parent.
This will result in the second way in which partnership takes place: parents are the first line in providing correction for children’s behavior. For children discovering the world, learning to live in society, and becoming aware that other people populate this planet too, there will always be friction as good behavior is being taught and cultivated. This is the result of the sin nature that each of us have inherited from our first father, Adam. When behavioral issues arise, those to whom instruction and supervision are delegated are still tasked with participating with parents to provide biblical correction. But we believe biblically that parents are the primary and most important factors in a child’s instruction and correction. In practice that means that parents are involved as soon as possible so that they may take their role in addressing issues in academics and behavior.
Thankful to Partner
We want to have steady communication and partnership with parents so that they may fulfill their God-given role of instructing and training. We want there to be trust and consistency in what’s being said in the classroom as well as in the home. Our desire to support and not supplant the role of parents thoroughly directs our policies and practices. The enormity of the task is something we do not take for granted. The entrusting of one’s child to partner with instructing and warning for earth and eternity is a big deal. Because we believe so firmly in the wonderful work of parenting we want to be good partners with the parents of CCA. We are thankful for the opportunity to partner and support parents in this amazing task.
