Giving
grandchildren
the gift of a
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By Josh Mulvihill
W
HAT IS A GRANDPARENT’S ROLE in a
grandchild’s education? Many grandparents
have never considered that Christian education
can be an impactful way to make a spiritual investment
in a grandchild’s life. For many grandparents, educational
involvement with a grandchild is limited to attendance at
Grandparent’s Day. While attendance at Grandparent’s Day
is a good thing, I hope this article gives you a much grander
vision for the role you play in your grandchild’s education.
To begin, I want to point out that American culture
communicates powerful messages about what grandpar-
ents can and cannot do with the family. Society operates
by unwritten rules expecting grandparents to maintain
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education
emotional and financial independence, personal autonomy,
as well as non-interference with their family. Grandparents
are told not to meddle in their adult children’s lives and are
often kept at a distance.
I’m sure you can see how this applies to a grandchild’s
education. American society is telling grandparents that
this is none of their business. And many grandparents
have heard that message loud and clear and reduced their
presence to emotional support, an extra-special babysitting
service, and the dispenser of large amounts of sugar. There
are two problems with this thinking. First, grandparents
who accept this role have greatly limited the likelihood that
they will leave any significant, lasting spiritual impact in the