Home Education and Children a Public Trust
Children are a public trust HOME EDUCATION she says….
Now, that work is of the most importance to society is the bringing up and instruction of the children-in the school, certainly, but far more in the home, because it is more than anything else the home influences brought to bear upon the child that determine the character and career of the future man or woman….. 1 her volume one Home Education
continuing on page 2 she says;
a parent is not free to say, “I may do as I will with mine own.” (Wow did it take a village then too?) The children are in truth, to be regarded less as personal property than as public trusts put into the hands of parents that they may make the very most of them for the good of society. And this responsibility is not equally divided between the parents: it is upon the mothers of the present that the future of the world depends, in even a greater degree than upon the fathers, because it is the mothers who have the sole direction of the children’s most impressable years…..
The above section is similar to Rousseau’s position in CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF POLAND except he advocated no fathers influence where CM states only mothers should be involved in the education of the child. Read this view that clarifies what is wrong with parents divided.
Woe to the, oh land when thy king is a child and thy princes eat in the morning. Eccl. 10:16
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. Isaiah 3:4-5
Top of page 3 she continues,
…but Mothers should have something more than hearsay acquiantance with the theory of education, and with those conditions of the childs nature upon which such theories rest.
So her recommendation….the word of God right? Ummmm no. Actually in this case that wouldn’t be enough but it seems this fella, Herbert Spencer, in her eyes had it figured out. After spending time reading CM you get the sense that scripture references really just validate her and she uses them for that purpose. And to further this conviction for me when her comment ”acquaintance with educational theories” is later followed with an endorsement of another educationalist well you decide;
vol.1 pg.3 CM says,
Some acquaintance with the first principles of the physiology and the elementary truths of psychology is indespensible for the right bringing up of children. Really….I thought it is the word of God.
Herbert Spencer she quotes in her book so she must believe this…here it is pg.4
….Here are the indisputable facts: that the developoment of children in mind and body follows certain laws; that unless these laws in some degree are conformed to by parents, death is inevitable; that unless they are in great degree conformed to, there must result serious physical and mental defects; and that only when they are completely conformed to, can a perfect maturity be reached.
Now after one very short paragraph at the beginning of this chapter she upholds the parent and in particular the Mother as wonderful then she proceeds to critique everything a mother is, even today. And to finish it off says that your child really is not yours and if you cannot follow these laws and become fluent in theories of educational theories specifically her preapprovred theories then it seems what this guy says will happen is what will happen to your children …”death, serious physical and mental defects or if full conformity on the part of the parent PERFECT MATURITY.”
Now, for christian mothers she bases her whole inductive reasoning from a false understanding or shall I say from a wrong understanding. No christian Mother believes her child is born as a blank slate. Her writings indicate that if you are neither good nor bad well aren’t you blank even if she says she does not believe this she teaches as if it were so and further judges parents as pressuming the same but condemning it when a parent does. But you cannot believe the blank slate theory and read your bible with understanding. The Holy Spirit will quickly reveal to you the deceitfulness of that thinking. For me this is very telling of her heart she was an educationalist FIRST and all her philosophy of God and the bible filtered through her understanding not scripture. She used scripture to validate her reason, like oh look God agrees with me. It really looks that way to me.
