Manuscript Releases, vol. 7 [Nos. 419-525]

Education Continues from Babyhood to Manhood

Many parents send their children to school, and think when they have done this that they have educated them. But education is a matter of greater breadth than many realize. It comprises the whole process by which the child is instructed from babyhood to childhood, from childhood to youth, and from youth to manhood. As soon as the child is capable of forming an idea, his education should begin. The teachers in the school will do something toward educating the youth, but the example of parents will do more than can be accomplished by any other means. Their conversation, the way in which they manage their business matters, the likes and dislikes to which they give expression, all help in molding the character. The disposition the child sees in you, the self-control, the self-possession, the kindness, the courtesy, all will be daily lessons to him. Like time, this education is ever going on, the tendency of this everyday school will be to make your child what he ought to be.—Manuscript 58, 1899, 4, 5. (“The Duty of Parents to Children,” April 13, 1899.) 7MR 7.2