Once a public school teacher in Cupertino, California, Stephen Williams ended up in the news when he sued the school district for allegedly not letting him use historic source documents that mentioned God, such as the Declaration of Independence and excerpts from John Adams' diaries. (Williams v. Vidmar) The case was settled when, in exchange for Williams dropping the complaint, the school district formally stated (or restated) that historic documents were allowed in the classroom with some restrictions. Four out of five claims in the suit had been previously dismissed by the court.
Now, eleven years later, Williams and his wife Sarah have co-written a book on how to put Christian children through the public school system while maintaining their constitutional right to freedom of religion. The Williams' tips are basic and practical. They recommend laying the fundamental groundwork for good communication, staying on top of what your child is learning, and reinforcing your child's faith at home. They also encourage parents to be ready and willing to respectfully stand up to teachers and continually invoke their constitutional rights.
As a bookstore that primarily caters to homeschoolers, we have some differing ideas about parental responsibility and Christian education. A great thing about homeschooling is that you can read as many historic documents as you want without having to adhere to the state education code. But no matter the schooling method, the important thing is that Christians parents are involved in their child's education, and if you're picking up this book you're already halfway there.
Review by Lauren Shearer
Lauren Shearer writes words for fun and profit. She also makes films, but everyone knows you can't make a profit doing that. Her other hobby is consistently volunteering way too much of her time. You can read more of her reviews
here.
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