“Every educational system has a moral goal that it tries to attain and that informs its curriculum. It wants to produce a certain kind of human being. This intention is more or less explicit, more or less a result of reflection; but even the neutral subjects, like reading and writing and arithmetic, take their place in a vision of the educated person. In some nations the goal was the pious person, in others the warlike in others the industrious. Always important is the political regime, which needs citizens who are in accord with its fundamental principle.” (Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind, p. 26)
After reading this paragraph, I grabbed a pen and wrote out what my moral goals were for educating my children at home. Here is the list I came up with:
My goals for educating my children
I want them to:
*know and love God
*recognize and embrace truth
*develop good character
*love fellow man
*know and understand the principles of freedom
*seek to fulfill their God given mission in life
I’ve thought a lot about this since I read it, about six months ago. I’ve asked myself many times if the things I am teaching my children are in harmony with my goals for them, or am I spending too much time on things that don’t fit with what I really know to be important? It is so easy to spend time doing good things, there are so many “good things” out there, but the good things aren’t always going to help us reach our goals and the good things can keep us from doing the best things.
If you home school, what are you educating your children for and to become?
If you send your kids to public school, what are their moral goals for your children? Are they in accordance with your family values and goals?
