Integral Education
Elementary school is the foundation of a successful education in the future of any student in any highly educated nation.
It is imperative that the child learn well from a good teacher and from good loving parents in order to become a good productive citizen for the future.
Education starts at home and well before a child is born.
I remember, when I was talking to my wife and my daughter was uneasy and restless in her Mother’s womb. But as soon as she heard the vibrations of my voice she calmed down.
In ancient Athens it was believed that good music was good for the soul to be born. The child begins the life journey of learning in the womb.
And Greeks played the harp, lyre and pan flute around the future child.
We also used to play at home soft music of Kitaro, Nakai, Specially the album ‘Sacred Spirit’ and noticed that my daughter will stop kicking Mom inside her tummy and then became very quiet.
Instruction in School is part of the school curriculum and works effectively with discipline and ethics.
For preparative school I attended a private little pre school, and later on, my parents registered me in a Public School and then began Kindergarten as a novice.
In the morning prior to classes we began to sing the hymm, salute the flag with respect and recite a beautiful poem. We also wore our uniforms. There was no competition of Adidas against cheap tennis shoes or fancy clothes.
The teacher was stern and disciplinarian. She will carry a long wooden ruler and demanded good answers or she would resort to punitive methods that stirred up dreadful feelings in my gut.
In retrospective she projected fear in me and I abhorred her demands of telling the time clock and additions correctly.
I recall the boring modern abacus made of beads and with the counts of tens (decimals in each bead).
In my mind these were Terrifying moments of anguish, in particular when the answer was wrong; as I was trying desperately of avoiding the moron stirring voice coming out of her mouth and the wooden stick following suit striking my butt.
The elementary school was composed of six levels, then I attended the high school for 4 years, later on they eliminated one year from the curriculum.
The College is nothing more than a preparatory stage to ingress in the University and prepare well to be a succesful student.
Here in College is when you face derivatives and Calculus principles, and then you realize that if your primary teacher did not teach you good sound arithmetic you are in dire strait and deep trouble. Same sound mathematical foundation is wanted for high Physics and advanced Chemistry for further development.
The intellect should be developed at an early age.
During my infancy, My maternal grandfather bought me classic books from Jules Vernes, Mark Twain and introduced me to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s monumental novel Tom’s Cabin, and I will read passages of the pages with teary eyes.
To him I owe my love for good books and learning.
It is true that if you are endowed with a terrific memory, it makes navigation of uncharted seas of learning; a lot easier than you anticipate, and you make it safely to harbor with A plus grades.
Schools are lacking of sound spiritually guidance and it is more harmful the compulsory memorization of facts that fade away with time.
I do advocate instead, the Pestalozzi Swiss method along with Paramahansa Yogananda’s Ranchi school method of teaching outdoors in harmony with nature, and also the academic method utilized by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore who was also from India.
An integral and complete education benefit tremendously of having liberal studies which should include: silence prayer, contemplation, physical education, geography, respect for the elder and above all freedom of expression with due respect to opposite philosophies, creeds and religion. And to fully contribute to society with hard work ethics, love, peace and to serving the Country by striving to be humble, altruistic and foremost to practice virtues precepts and high morals. In other words to learn to get along and to love thy neighbors as you love yourself.
Jose de la Luz y Caballero said that “Education should be taught a living Gospel”
