Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Purpose of education

The purpose of education is to prepare us for life and the life eternal. That being said, it would make sense not to teach our children anything that they will not need or that they do not love. If they do not love it then they will never be good at it. If they don't need it they will never use it, so it is wasted time spent learning it. And if they are not going to use it in the next few days then they will forget it, so that is wasted time. 

They should also be involved in useful, purposeful work. Not busy work, but something that makes a difference and something they know is useful in the real world.

So what should they learn? 

Young children (learning to do; or concrete, experiential learning)
Basics
Life skills, I.e. cooking, cleaning, organizing
Good habits, I.e. using time for good things, obeying, structure to a day, finding interests, exercise
Service
Gospel study 

Older children (learning to know, or more abstract learning; more concrete learning)
Build on the basics
Shadowing and learning about professions
Act/sat prep
Running a business
Good habits
Service
Gospel study