This series has been devoted to relating my story as a boy over all those "Summers at Old Nags Head" to its impact on my growth into adulthood through the influence of what a I call the Five F's. Thus far we've discussed family and faith. In today's commentary we'll cover the foundation of a good education and how it plays into the preparation of preparing a young man for entry into the adult world as a sound adult capable of thinking clearly and logically in living his life.
Here's what I believe to be necessary in foundation education to prepare a youngster for adulthood and while many today might disagree, all I can say is it served me well. Those components include the 3 R's (reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic), history and civics (real, not politically correct history and understanding of our system of government as established by our constitutional republic), science (not based on consensus but based on hard facts, supportable in discourse and debate of all sides of issues), and the mastery of reason and logic, best developed through learning to think and present ideas both on your feet and on paper). Public speaking in debate and discourse is a good aid to this as is writing for clarity and content.
When looking back at the 3 R's, reading requires opening a book and absorbing it's content, not being glued to an I-phone. Writing includes pen and paper and mastering both print and cursive work and math requires putting in the sweat equity of the basics before getting into the advanced. It's not easy and it's not meant to be but, then again, anything worth having takes work. Those old traditional approaches have much value, particularly in the formative years and they provide the discipline and the use of motor skills coupled with the mind to develop the whole person. In my case, my active interaction with my family throughout my summers at the beach addressed these things. I was encouraged to read history of the beach to answer many of my questions and to write down the things I wanted to remember for later use.
I would also have to say that faith training is also important if you believe in a Higher Power but that would be better served through your child's religious organization of choice to the family. It needs to be tied in to complete the whole, however, for we've already discussed the critical importance of faith in our life.
Now many will, no doubt, object to this type of education, saying it's old school and not necessary but I would argue that if we look at the problems of the modern world, taking this training approach would allow for a fully mature development looking in much more depth than just doing the memory work required by so many of today's teachers. Teaching requires the opening of the mind to explore options, but originating from a baseline which served young people well for thousands of years. It has to be based upon truth, even when the truth might be ugly, because if we don't base our direction on the truth of the past we will never be our best. Some things don't change over time and truth is one of the principal ones.
This approach worked well for me and it also took the active involvement and encouragement of a loving family to make it stick. Children can't be fully developed by sending them off to school and never checking up on their progress and the quality of instruction. A well balanced approach to a foundation education, added to family and faith which we've already discussed, coupled with the following two and final components, fun and freedom, will produce a young man or woman well on the way to success. They will be able to effectively deal with both the good and bad aspects of life and master the art of staying on course with their lives.
My summers at Nags Head were rich with family involvement, including a large dose of my extended family on the maternal side, active participation and enrichment of my faith both on the beach and in the local church and continuing foundational education incorporated into activities at the beach. Reading, writing, the study of natural science and discourse were active in my life and added to the richness of that beautiful beach lifestyle.
Here's what I believe to be necessary in foundation education to prepare a youngster for adulthood and while many today might disagree, all I can say is it served me well. Those components include the 3 R's (reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic), history and civics (real, not politically correct history and understanding of our system of government as established by our constitutional republic), science (not based on consensus but based on hard facts, supportable in discourse and debate of all sides of issues), and the mastery of reason and logic, best developed through learning to think and present ideas both on your feet and on paper). Public speaking in debate and discourse is a good aid to this as is writing for clarity and content.
When looking back at the 3 R's, reading requires opening a book and absorbing it's content, not being glued to an I-phone. Writing includes pen and paper and mastering both print and cursive work and math requires putting in the sweat equity of the basics before getting into the advanced. It's not easy and it's not meant to be but, then again, anything worth having takes work. Those old traditional approaches have much value, particularly in the formative years and they provide the discipline and the use of motor skills coupled with the mind to develop the whole person. In my case, my active interaction with my family throughout my summers at the beach addressed these things. I was encouraged to read history of the beach to answer many of my questions and to write down the things I wanted to remember for later use.
I would also have to say that faith training is also important if you believe in a Higher Power but that would be better served through your child's religious organization of choice to the family. It needs to be tied in to complete the whole, however, for we've already discussed the critical importance of faith in our life.
Now many will, no doubt, object to this type of education, saying it's old school and not necessary but I would argue that if we look at the problems of the modern world, taking this training approach would allow for a fully mature development looking in much more depth than just doing the memory work required by so many of today's teachers. Teaching requires the opening of the mind to explore options, but originating from a baseline which served young people well for thousands of years. It has to be based upon truth, even when the truth might be ugly, because if we don't base our direction on the truth of the past we will never be our best. Some things don't change over time and truth is one of the principal ones.
This approach worked well for me and it also took the active involvement and encouragement of a loving family to make it stick. Children can't be fully developed by sending them off to school and never checking up on their progress and the quality of instruction. A well balanced approach to a foundation education, added to family and faith which we've already discussed, coupled with the following two and final components, fun and freedom, will produce a young man or woman well on the way to success. They will be able to effectively deal with both the good and bad aspects of life and master the art of staying on course with their lives.
My summers at Nags Head were rich with family involvement, including a large dose of my extended family on the maternal side, active participation and enrichment of my faith both on the beach and in the local church and continuing foundational education incorporated into activities at the beach. Reading, writing, the study of natural science and discourse were active in my life and added to the richness of that beautiful beach lifestyle.
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