| Show for the deseret news EDUCATION by sirius siri sirl us no lyo 3 when should education commence A lady once asked this question of the celebrated dean swift with reference to her little girl rillow how old is is she madam asked swift four years 31 w was wab as the reply then madam said he you have already lost four years earb ears 7 but I 1 am inclined to go farther back than that should any ask when shall we commence the education of oje our children I 1 would say now nov to all both old and young male or female married or singie single what defore we have any children bom boo borna yes if they are not born so much the better if they are and you have never thought of their education you have lost a brief but very important period of time if you are not married better still commence to educate the children you hope to have by cultivating in in yourselves tho those se habits dispositions and virtues which you would wish ish to see developed in them like begets like a stream cannot rise higher than its fountain and parents who wish to have noble virtuous and useful children must lay the foundation for a happy future for their offspring in in themselves example teaches more loudly than precept we often hear complaints of the unwillingness of the young to profit by the experience peri ence and listen to the ile advice of their seniors but it is not so generally true as is supposed and w where here it is there is no reason for forit it young young people notice that their parents or guardians g ua r deans 50 do not act upon the advice they the give gi ve to their children hence they conclude con cig e that th at they hey t cannot be sincere and that their counsel cannot be good or they themselves would act on it but do we not often see many apparently excellent and exemplary parents whose children are nevertheless disobedient obedient is and deprai braved ed yes but could 11 we e unfold the unseen cause of this we could trace it to some secret fault in in the character or habits of those parents or some neglect on their part in in the education of their children by a mise wise and ard unalterable provision of nature the mother has most to do with the formation of the disposition character and habits of her offspring one of the most important periods in in the life lite of every human being is is while they are in in the embryo it is there the child partakes of her nature derives his vitality from hers is is in influenced fluen ced by her feelings passions and desires and by a silent but powerfully sym Bym sympathetic pathetic chord is affected by whatever affects her facts proving provida the sympathetic action of the mind ot of the mother on the body of the child under such circumstances are too numerous to be doubted and shall we hesitate to believe that there is an equally intimate and powerful mental communication between them does the fever of passion or disease course through her veins eins it must through his also is is her body healthful and her mind calm and pure so will be his but it is is during this period that as a general thing the di disposition 0 n and character of the future man are forme formed d and the foundation of his subsequent usef usefulness ul happiness and or degradation and misery is is laid it is then too that the seeds of health or disease are implanted in his physical constitution which either gladden or embitter ew bitter the whole of his earthly existence but this branch of the subject is itself vast enough to occupy volumes I 1 must leave it all who are or hope to be parents ought c to know themselves to study the laws of 0 f their own being bein there th ere are few mothers however who do not not know enough to realize the necessity of keeping their thair minds min s and bodies pure and calm free from exciting passions and false stimulant education hofei however er does not as some suppose up necessarily imply being t sent to school most children are sent there too t oo 00 young frequently to get rid of them at home because their their mothers are too indolent to take care of them or too ignorant to answer their numerous questions so they are sent to school to sit like little statutes on a bench to be trained into formal dull moving automatons till the life and gladness of their little heart hearts is is crushed out and their natural eager thirst for knowledge is is smothered and choked by I 1 musty volumes weary tasks and sleepy lessons I 1 till they learn to detest the very name of school and teacher and gladly seek any society or amusement however deleterious which will free them from their hated tasks A mother asked me once how old her child ought to be before she 1 sent him to school I 1 would say never ne er send your child from you so iong long as you ou can keep him by your side and under your 5 our influence with w ith profit to himself at any rate do not push him out into the cold I 1 heartless world to be exposed to temptation and to mingle ming lewith with the vicious until hischar his character acteria is properly developed and you haye have in stilled ti led into his mind mini in ol 01 the principles of integrity and virtuoso virtu eso firmly that the storms of temptation will not be able to uproot them I 1 k know n ow of no period in mans existence when he is more exposed to temptation and trials than during his youthful be school 01 days every mother should be able to educate her own children far better than any one else but bit if her attainments are limited the little increase of human lore her child nai might lit ait gain by being sent early away icom her side would never compensate for the moral mural loss the corruption of his tastes and disposition which nine out of every ten under such clr cir circumstances um stances sustain let parents teach their children during their infantile years orally let them be instructed out of natures absorbing and endless volume point out to them the wonders of the heavens the earth themselves teach them of the laws of nature and of god endeavor to illustrate and exola explain in them in away a way which will interest them theirl and their minds will expand much faster and they viii will vill acquire more real beneficial knowledge in this vay way in one day than they would confined within the tile musty walls of a school room in a month when their minds are thus once interested in the pursuit of knowledge it will no longer be a task to them they will then wish to lo learn to re read adnot not as a task but as means of acquiring in more knowledge and their minds will continue to expand and the love of truth will grow with their growth and strengthen with their strength |
