Continuing from * Attaining Excellence II, T.H. Bell writes:
The home is the first classroom, and parents are the first most influential teachers. The best inheritance one can leave a child must include a good education. Mastery of language and the attainment of a high level of literacy lead to disciplined thinking. We must each attain the ability to write with clarity and precision. We must learn to speak with clarity and precision. We must learn to speak articulately through the use of a vocabulary rich enough to express our thoughts and persuade others to understand and respect us. We must be able to and gain the full depth of meaning from what we hear. We must read with ease, speed and comprehension. Through reading, we add to our storehouse of personal knowledge. Our lives must be filled with rich and rewarding conversation and with reading that will uplift us and draw out the best that is in us.
To attain these ends, we must become carefully educated. Everyone should have a command of fundamental mathematics. This takes years of study. It requires the daily application of mathematics as we function as consumers, taxpayers and participants in our complex economic system.
Science surrounds us in our daily living. The marvels of nature are seen through newer and richer insight when we understand the rudiments of biology, physics, and chemistry. We are able to read and understand more about our environment, about physical bodies, and about our health. The basic principles of science are the laws of nature and we cannot live lives of excellence and full fulfillment without a full grasp of them.
We must each be prepared to carry out the heavy responsibilities of citizenship in our society. To this, we must understand our nation’s history. We must know the story of mankind and how our great republic emerged from the past. We must understand the fundamentals of freedom under the Constitution. Our free enterprise system and how our economy works must be part of our fundamental knowledge.
We need the richness and the deep meaning of literature, art, and music in our world. We should be able to speak other languages. As our world becomes smaller, this need becomes more apparent.
From all of the above, the need for the best possible education should be obvious. All of us must dedicate ourselves to a life of learning, for we will be in a learning society in the years to come. Through learning we learn how to learn. Through education we learn how to learn. Through education we attain a thirst and hunger for learning. We become avid readers and constant daily learners. ~~T.H. Bell, Excellence, (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 1984) p.6-7 For the first post of this series, click Attaining Excellence
(From KDM: I’m in my seventies and realize, from these three posts, that I have ‘MILES’ to go! See this as a “destination” that can become a reality over a lifetime (and beyond). My advice would be to be patient with yourself and especially too, with those close to you!
