We are living in very unprecedented times. We are worried that the future we had hoped to give our children is at risk or it is no longer viable. We need to identify sustainable knowledge channels.
Our parents always said that the best inheritance they can give us is education. Chances are that we have carried that forward with our own children.
With the advent of this global plight, I begin to wonder whether this mantra remains true in its literal sense.
Academic pursuits have over the years turned into business opportunities and caused us to move away from the intention of education and sustainable knowledge acquisition, utilization, and dissemination.
That is why you, as a forward-looking parent or guardian, should take advantage of this season of quarantine to heighten the gifts, talents, and abilities of your children through a watered-down version of apprenticeship.
It’s up to you
You may have your sights on your child becoming a doctor, lawyer, pilot, footballer, e-gamer, economist, or whatever other professions. This quarantine season is the perfect moment to introduce or ingrain the basics of these professions in the children.
While you may not take your child to your office because you are employed, you can spend some time getting them to understand what the world of employment is like. You can be practical with them to present some of your daily challenges and ask them how they would resolve it.
As a plumber or carpenter or landscaper or farmer, you may not take your child to a client site or to the farm, but you can test their skills by giving them simple assignments such as, setting up a kitchen garden, sewing an apron, recycling juice cartons and tissue holders to pencil holders or desk organizers, and such other activities.
The point of all this is to show them and remind yourself that life is not a one-way street. When you meet a roadblock such as the one we are faced with, you can chart a new path.
Where to start with sustainable knowledge
I’d like to give you a challenge. In terms of your spiritual matters, relationships, ability to earn an income, your health and body wellness, how much of each has been influenced by
- your academics
- sustainable general knowledge
- practice or exercise
- habits formed
COVID19 is not a gray cloud in the sky that will clear up soon. It will stay with us for a long time to come.
The difficult questions
What if:
- the government decides schools will not reopen quickly
- it will be another 6 months before your children see the doors of a classroom again?
Will they stop growing and developing in body and mind? No.
Will they stop learning academics? Probably. Will they stop being thirsty for life’s lessons on honesty, relating with people, managing money, utilization of time, how to fend for themselves, how to cook, etc? No.
The future is always a fair judge of time utilization and what your children inherit from you is what will tip the scales of justice to their favor. Will you:
- bequeath them with an education or academics that are designed for a particular agenda?
- leave them with timeless wisdom by which they will live fruitful lives?
- pass on skills and sustainable knowledge that will equip them for the remaining part of the 21st century?
The high-road
Take the time to educate your child on the things that will remain over the years – spiritual matters, how to relate with others, how to manage the resources available to them, how to live a life that is not dependent on government directives, and how to build a life of character.
How? Let’s pick up the conversation next week
All the best for you and your family.
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