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Show Know Your Schools - What I Expect The Schools To Teach Wly Children Mrs. Merlin Bishop, Duchesne, is the author of this week's "Konw Your Schols" column. Mrs. Bishop (June) is the mother of two children, Ronald 11 years old and now in the 6th, grade, and Sue Ann, ten, who is just finishing finish-ing 5th grade. Mrs. Bishop attended at-tended the Tooele Elementary and Secondary School. She has always been interested in the schools and is currently a member of the Duchesne Du-chesne County School Objectives Study Committee which planned the 1955 Rural Education Conference. Confer-ence. . WHAT I EXPECT THE SCHOOLS TO TEACH MY CHILDREN By Mrs. Merlin Bishop When I was in the 8th grade, a teacher defined education as "That which is left after the facts we have learned in school have been forgotten." At that time, I thought that a " good definition. Now, I believe education has a much broader meaning. For my children, I want not only facts to be remembered or forgotten, but much more. I believe a better definition of education is one from an old dictionary: dic-tionary: "Education is the training of the mental and moral powers, either by a system of study and discipline, or by the experiences of life; the knowledge, training, or ability gained in either of these ways. Education comprehends all that we assimilate from the beginning begin-ning of our lifes in the development develop-ment of the powers and facilities bestowed upon us at birth." Education Ed-ucation then, extends into everything every-thing we do, whether it be learning learn-ing how to work a scientific problem, prob-lem, or learning to work with a fellow student. We hear much of the Basic Skills or the three "R"' and of course they are the very basis of our educational system. But today, to-day, with every newspaper we read screaming headlines of Atom Bombs, Hydrogen Bombs, Mass Murder on the Highways, Juvenile Delinquency and Total Annihilation, Annihila-tion, we need much more than just the basic skills. We need preparation for life and most schools are attemption to bridge the span between everyday life and what can be taught from books. Our civilization is becoming complex all the time. What was considered a good education twenty twen-ty years ago isn't enough today. Today we must teach our children how to live in a world of turmoil, a world where insecurity and even fear lie just beneath the surface. The future of our country, even our civilization rests with our children. I believe that it is the duty and obligation of the Home, the School and the Church to work together to build character, citizenship, and integrity and to give our children a sense of security se-curity and a sense of values. To the schools, I would give the job of teaching my children the fundamental skills. But while they're teaching these basic skills, I also would like them to keep in mind their social and moral and physical needs. Such things as Citizenship, Personality, Sportsmanship, Sports-manship, Courtesy, Tolerance, the Social Graces, Physical and Mental Health are today important in a well-rounded education. This responsibility, of course, should be shared by the Home. However, some aspects of character char-acter building may be better understood un-derstood by the teacher than the parent. The teacher has the opportunity oppor-tunity and ability to observe a child objectively. They are trained to teach. And most important, they have the child when he is most eager to learn. Also, there are times when the Home is in adequate and fails to fulfill its obligation to the child. For these reasons the school should assume a great responsibility in the character char-acter building of a child and act as a stabilizing influence in cases where the Home fails to provide such guidance. The welfare of YOUR children depends to a great extent on how well the needs of MY children are met and the welfare of OUR children depends on society as a whole. I believe a more intensive educational system covering all phases of human relationship as well as the basic skills is the answer ans-wer to our problems today. |