Back in the days, our forefathers never attended modern school. They only attended biblical teachings for the purpose of adulthood baptism and confirmation into Christianity during the era of missionary movements in the country. Despite the fact that they didn’t attend educational schools, these people did not fail to adhere the rules set perhaps, by their traditional authorities and children at the time never failed their parents in any ways. They had so much respect for their parents and had good behaviours, manners and at the same time well disciplined.
Relatively, nowadays is the other side of the story. Children are in an era whereby parents sit at home and send them to school with an expectation of them coming back with good behaviours, manners and outmost discipline, of course not forgetting the education which is the main aim of sending them to school. Well, I personally feel like such parents are failing to do their part of “parenting”. Parenting includes some of the minor teachings such, as in my culture boys nod their heads when receiving or giving something and girls bend their knees when doing so. It also includes the greeting of elders with respect, being sent by an elder and do whatever they request and being able to follow instructions, just to mention some.
To spare the rod is to spoil a child, therefore parents should also be involved in their children’s education. Teaching your children all these three things at home helps the professional teachers to educate your children very well, because failing to do so means an extra burden on them. Instead of teaching the school subjects, they are busy teaching your children how to perhaps say thank you when given something, how to listen when the teacher wants to say something and all other things.
This parental or home education in simple terms, requires no much of any parent’s time. No timetable is set for this type of education like any other classes. Neither a fixed location to teach your children manners or how to behave. You could for instance be out there for shopping with your family and while walking around in a grocery shop, your kid accidentally bumps into a person and she/he didn’t bother to say “sorry”, then something has to be done. Good solution is that, make them say sorry that moment, so that next time when they do it, they would know what to say. In such a way one is already educating.
I therefore support the engagement of parents or guardians in the behavioural, manners and discipline education of their children and not the school. Understanding teachers would help in doing so but, some of the straight forward teachers would not be held 2 account for your children not knowing the basics of good behaviours, because we all know that charity starts right at home. Let’s stop the question of “What do you learn from school, if you don’t even know how to say thank you”? towards our own children and get involved in teaching them whatever we think they should know before going into the outside world, be it in streets, church or school. In the absence or fading away of Sunday schools and biblical educations, we can still do that at home because, the bible plays an important role in early child development education. In addition, a God fearing child is a well-disciplined, well-mannered and a child with good behaviours.
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