Chap. One - Importance of the Home
School
Education Begins at Home
—It is in the home that the education
of the child is to begin.
Here is his first school.
Here, with
his parents as instructors, he is to learn the lessons that are to
guide him throughout life—lessons of respect, obedience, reverence,
self-control. The educational influences of the home are a decided
power for good or for evil. They are in many respects silent and
gradual, but if exerted on the right side, they become a far-reaching
power for truth and righteousness. If the child is not instructed aright
here, Satan will educate him through agencies of his choosing. How
important, then, is the school in the home!
1
Here the Foundations Are Laid
—Upon all parents there rests
the obligation of giving physical, mental, and spiritual instruction.
It should be the object of every parent to secure to his child a
well-balanced, symmetrical character. This is a work of no small
magnitude and importance—a work requiring earnest thought and
prayer no less than patient, persevering effort. A right foundation must
be laid, a framework, strong and firm, erected; and then day by day the
work of building, polishing, perfecting, must go forward.
2
Deny the Child Anything but This Right
—Parents, remember
that your home is a training school, in which your children are to be
prepared for the home above. Deny them anything rather than the
education that they should receive in their earliest years. Allow no
word of pettishness. Teach your children to be kind and
