Friday, 18 January 2013

More on the formation of the child and education

The end of the Society is not only to care for the salvation and perfection of their own souls with divine grace, but with the same [divine grace] seriously to devote themselves to the salvation and perfection of their neighbors. For it was especially instituted for the defense and propagation of the Faith, and the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine. St. Ignatius




Tomorrow, I shall post the Salesian Preventive System and then look at my favourite, the Benedictine system. St. John Bosco's ideals were written in his The Preventive System in the Education of the Young.

There is no right or wrong or even a hierarchy of preferences for these methods. Only, parents involved in home education, or merely looking for good schools, should be aware of these different methods of formation.

Very important for parents would be the discovery of the movements of their own souls towards learning and formation. Too many lay people merely jump from one saint's ideas to the next instead of focussing on a way to approach God, prayer, time, scheduling, the formation of their own souls and those of their children. Talents and temperaments decide on choices.

These methodologies prove to be very different and serve different needs in the families, as well as talents and temperaments.

How interesting it is to meet men who are older than myself, who were raised in a Jesuit or Salesian or Benedictine schools and had real formation.

It shows.

This type of formation has all but disappeared. Home schooling parents benefit from using what has already been developed by these inspired men.

Ignatius
John Bosco
Benedict
and others

If I have time, I shall write about the Ursulines and Dominicans. But, sadly, few of those schools exist which still follow the original methodologies. Again, to preserve these aspects of our Catholic identity, it may be up to home schooling parents to carry on the various visions.