WHAT SHOULD WE BE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN?

thanks

Respect for others -

and If you know how to read the whole world is open to you.

(I have it down to 2)

Good info. Thanks!

Too bad political correctness will not allow this to happen. No wonder we are in deep doo-doo.

Jeff: I agree with you. Number 2 has nothing whatsoever to do with 'church', or dead religion.

Jeff: Thank you for your very kind words. The purport of #2 is primarily to teach love and respect for a power higher than ourselves, and not so much to teach details of any faith, creed or dogma. This is something that is missing from society and has had disastrous consequences. If, after teaching it for a while it proves to have negative results it could be deleted from the curriculum.

i'd have to disagree with you on something:

respect is not a key. the APPEARANCE of respect--now THAT'S something worth a damn. -it is, in truth, at the heart of the ever-overbearing Political Correctness.

you can't respect ev'rything...but you can honor its place with your actions (or lack thereof--like, say, NOT joining your friendly neighborhood Ku).

honestly?
the only thing that can even things out isn't some philosophical ideal.
a lot of us need to die, and quickly--the world's overpopulated, which is tied to more dickering and bickering than i could beGIN to list here--and the remainder need to balance their Desire out with their Potential (vocationally speaking). a person's talents should be identified during their schooling (a difficult proposition, in and of itself)--

streamlining, i could go on and on.

there's no one savoury approach...because our hands would have to get dirty.
dirtiER, actually.

why is respect for a higher power even on your list? -the more i ponder it, the more troubled i become...for sometimes Higher Powers must be overthrown (read: revolutions), and free-association makes your intent flawed.
and MAN do we free-associate. Freud had his field day with this one, and was found to be right on quite a bit. -you successfully indoctrinate, and the results are Germany.
under Hitler.

or jihads.

or just a bunch of mules, too respectful to throw a much-needed coup d'etat ev'ry once in a while...-nope: i say, train them on the TANGIBLE, and the PRACTICAL. train them to farm, and figure out what it is they've got a predilection for, and how to engage in Critical Thinking.

the kind that happens OUTside of the box.
even when you're on the INside.
y'know?

--and, if you're gonna push ANYthing at this point:

make Ecology and Alternate Fuels a part of their annual curriculum. -by the time they graduate, they should know phrases like "solar powered"... the way the generations before came away with phrases like "I have a dream."

it is of utmost import.

UTMOST.

thomas: yes, that would come under #5 - science. Thank you for the rest of your comments.

Respect, this they must learn. Hold the teachers responsible for teaching them. Some teachers do not care if they learn or not.

No religious instruction in public schools! We are not of one religion in this country. We are diverse. Part of our freedom is the right to choose and practice our own religion. I would not want a school teacher instructing my child on religious beliefs.

PARENTS are responsible for instilling religious beliefs as well as "obedience and courtesy to parents, teachers and authority figures", and "sociability, cooperation, harmony."

The rest of the list I agree with 100%.

De: I do not advocate 'religious instruction' in the schools, merely the fact and existence of the religious traditions as part of the history of civilization on this planet.

Thomas,

1 through 3 are not the subjects of school, but of homes and society. Beyond that, many homes are not capable fo teaching history, mathematics and science, making these type of things the legitimate purpose of the schools.

I tend to agree with Peter to some extent, respect for others and reading but respect for others requires that one has respect for themselves. Actually, if a child is properly educated for five years prior to school, they will learn the basics of getting along with others, planning and coordinating, leadership and the role of being supportive to leaders. These are the things kids are not learning today because they are not really interacting, with the loosest of supervision, with their peers and those close to peer level.

Because kids don't learn these skills pre-school, they are ill equipped to deal with the hurts, isolation, rejection and other social problems with which all children must cope, as they mature, and they decide to pick up a gun and shoot up the school and teachers.

Children these days are raised indoors to a great extent and when they are outside, they are involved in controlled, supervised activities such as soccer, etc. The opportunity to learn interaction and fitting in to their society does not exist when adults direct and supervise all portions fo an activity. I'm not knocking the organized sports, but they do not fill the need children have in full.

I was taught the respect for authority figures as a child, but, looking back, it was not altogether respect, it was a great deal more like fear. Authority figures today are not permitted to create fear in the persons they are striving to influence. With the loss of fear, follows the loss of respect.

My kids turned out good as is, but were I raising them again, I would certainly emphasize certain things I failed to the first time. One of the major lessons that all people need to learn, and this is not limited to children, is that they cannot change anyone except themselves, and that everything they do is the result of a choice. These are lessons many adults desperately need to learn and seem to reject. They then spend their lives failing to take responsibility for their actions and choices and convinced that everything in their lives is the result of outside forces over which they have no control. Again, this makes them feel resentful to any who put them down in any manner and encourage the "striking out" recourse that is socially damaging. The put down may be nothing more than a teacher giving them a B when they thought they should have received at least a B+. Or the girl who turned them down for a date stating that they had to baby sit their niece. The person walks away convinced that the girl just didn't like them and broods about it.

IN fact, I believe that these things are so important that they supersede respect for authority. If children are taught to respect themselves and others, the respect for authority will automatically follow as a portion of the "others."

James: Thank you for your words of wisdom. I believe that items 1 through 3 can and absolutely must be taught in school - both at school and at home; one should compliment the other. And not until items 1 -3 are thoroughly absorbed and internalized is there any point in going on to the others.

Thomas,

Those three items are frequently a life long study. Should a person never be taught to read because they are still learning on items one to three? Heck, my kids are middle aged and I haven't gotten them to obey me yet!

Seriously, these three items are not a quick study. And, to some extent, those who should be respected must make themselves worthy of that respect. Unearned respect is false respect and only a surface show.

I would submit that the three items you proffer are not separate but all involve respecting one's self and that in the nature of one's relationship to the spiritual world and to other people. You cannot separate them.

However, I believe that other education must go on in conjunction with these three items and it will reinforce and apply those three. Man is an integrated personality with many facets to his being. They are truly inseparable. If one recognizes his relationship to his God and his inherent worth derived therefrom, and recognizes the equivalent relationship of others, one will comply with those things you have made paramount.

I do separate these things from the academics of school. There, reading is paramount and all other things will be possible. Mathematics is great for teaching reasoning. In fact, traditional geometry is more of a course in reasoning than a course in math. It bored me silly as I had already been through advanced algebra. I wanted to cut to the chase!

I do not want the teachers in school teaching my child their relationship to their creator. This is for the parents and home to teach. That is why I see the teaching of the three items in a public school as fraught with potential for mischief. Granted, some parents never teach these things and the poor teachers in school are forced to do so as possible. Legal restrictions attenuate the strength of such teachings in a public school.

Question for you, do you feel that you have mastered the three items? Or do you continue to enhance these attributes?

James C: Thank you for your comments. Items 1 - 3 should be taught from the beginning. Some children will learn them quickly and integrate them into their daily lives. These children will go on to rise to the top of society. A few will never learn these virtues, but we will do our best with them. No one ever masters these completely; it is a life-long endeavor. Our purpose in life is to keep growing in the direction of perfection without ever reaching such a goal. This is the goal for individuals as well as mankind as a whole.

I agree with you 100%. Great article.

Excellent post. I couldn't agree more about the importance of teachers.

Sarah: Thank you. Let's you and I start our own private school.

Sarah G: Yes, teachers are greatly underappreciated in out culture.

Thomas,

Totally agree!

> Yes, teachers are greatly underappreciated in out culture.

Jerks and bigtime criminals are the only thing we do repect anymore, it's not just teachers.

Schools cant afford number three. The money is needed for new football uniforms.

Mary: Yes, sadly we don't have our priorities straight. The philosophy seems to be, "give the people what they want", rather than, "give the people what they need". By "need" I mean what is logically best based upon community consensus.

The problem is, how can we teach our children to respect anyone when we can't respect ourselves? Every day, America might as well be the stereotype of the roving drunk who wakes in a stranger's bed and slinks off after gathering their clothes.

This comment is to let you know that this content has reached at least ten comments, and as such has been removed from Comment Speedway! Congratulations, and check out this week's Help These Articles!

www.storyboxbook.com has some great stuff to help teach children. As a mother of four I couldnt recommend it more. Check out my blog at http://arewenearlythereyet.wordpress.com to read what my family and I have been up to!