There are environments that are conducive to learning and there are others that aren’t. I’m striving to provide an education for my children that’s self-motivated, interest-led, challenging, exciting and autonomous. The question I’m asking myself is, Am I Willing to Take Drastic Measures?
Take a minute to think about what character attributes you would like your children to develop. What comes to mind? Compassion, kindness, love, joy, patience, self-control. Those are all things I think of. Now think about what quality of education you would like them to receive. A love of reading, thinking creatively, implicationally, innovative, creative, engaged, problem-solving, purpose. This is the end result I’m hoping for.
Now stop and think. How are these attributes developing in my life? What am I doing to nurture these characteristics in my own life? How am I pursuing my own on-going education? Am I reading classics? Am I challenging myself? Am I engaged? Am I being creative daily?
And now the clincher. If I am not developing these things in my own life, how can I expect my children to?
Pam Leo says it succinctly, “Children are mirrors. They reflect back all that we say and do.” If we want our children to have a great education and develop into exceptional human beings, we have to be striving for that in our own lives as well.
Great perspective! I know my mom strove to make sure all those things were very present in our lives growing up. Her mantra was “Never let school get in the way of your education.” She was/is a great role model as well, always learning (she’s just now working on getting her college degree at 50), creating, leading and inspiring. I hope I can do the same for my kids!
so so true…and such a great reminder to look at our own lives.
FANTASTIC post, Leslie! And you nailed it. We can teach our children all kinds of things, but if our lives don’t model what we’re saying it won’t do much good.