This is not only a false ideal, but an idea contrary to the teachings of the Popes on the parents, the family as the PRIMARY educators of the children.
If a child has not "had religion" but the age of seven, the formation of the conscience, the soul, the mind and the imagination has been severely impeded.
I have shared Maria Montessori's ideas on the "normalized child", with which I agree, on this blog. Only a child raised in grace and in a Catholic environment, a Catholic culture, has a chance of being normalized.
The reason I bring this up today is that too many Americans have deviated so far from what our ancestors in the Faith saw as normal, that I am beginning to see how small the remnant really is and will be.
Unless parents drastically break with modern cultural "norms" and reinstate Catholic thinking, Catholic practice, Catholic culture in the homes, the children who are young now will be lost.
Formation of children belongs to the parents, not the state. This is the long teaching of the Catholic Church. If you are handing over your children to either state schools, or schools which are compromising Catholic standards, you may be in serious sin.
Exterior discipline and exterior forms of the virtues come before the internalization of both.
Go back and read my series, which includes these few posts. Last summer, I wrote a long series on home schooling. Check it out.
03 Sep 2013
Moving
to the fourth characteristic of the normalized child, one see that
social qualities come naturally and the virtues are strengthened. A
child learns confidence through her work, on her own, accomplishing all
the things in ...
02 Sep 2013
Going
back to the four abilities of the normalized child, one sees that the
first is the love of learning. This is God-given and encouraged by the
parents. In language formation, the child begins by imitating the parent
and other ...
31 Aug 2013
The
signs of the normalized child were outlined first by Dr. Montessori and
some may be surprised by the list. Now, I must add a distinction here
for the sake of clarity. Baptism changes us. It takes away Original Sin,
but there is ...
29 Aug 2013
There
is no reason why a normalized child cannot be quiet for up to a
half-hour thinking about Jesus on the Cross, or the Birth of Christ.
Just holding the Crucifix and asking the child How do you think Jesus
felt? is a beginning ...
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/
13 Feb 2013
We
do not need to raise children like a pack of cubs. Quietness and order
are signs of the normalized child. I suggest you and your wife reading
Montessori on the normalized child, and on my blog. 13 February 2013
18:27.
27 Jun 2012
And
it is likely that this crossing of the line from child to adult, unfree
to free—not homosexuality as such—was what affronted the more austere
of the Roman moralists. And so we hear from Tacitus (56-117 ... Both
concubinage and prostitution were completely acceptable; pornography and
sexually explicit entertainment and speech were entirely normalized;
the provision of sex by both male and female slaves was considered a
duty by masters. Paeans to the glory of ...