Education for Eternity

The purpose of homeschooling is to provide an “education for eternity.” David O. McKay taught, "Nothing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children, and no other success can compensate for failure in the home." So let's do as the prophets direct "Do not let your children out to specialists … , but teach them by your own precept and example, by your own fireside. Be a specialist yourself in the truth. … Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with the truth in the gospel of Christ, as revealed and taught to the Latter-day Saints." The Lord's way of teaching is to have us teach by our own precept and example, by our own fireside. If this cannot be accomplished effectively part-time (Ezra Taft Benson, To the Mothers in Zion), then God will assist us in this great work of teaching. He knows we are not perfect. We will rely heavily on the Spirit and trust that He "shall gently lead those that are with young" (Isaiah 40:11). As we study and prepare and pray, I know we can raise leaders who are “trained so thoroughly in the arts of their future work and in the basic honesties and integrities and spiritual concepts that there will be no compromise of principle” (President Kimball).

By keeping our children home, we have more time to build strong foundations of gospel truth. "Would you not rather have true education, direct from heaven, than the artificial one of the world? The one educates the head and the heart, the other the head alone" (Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, 3:106). “Where other institutions of higher education aim, in part, at educating and training students for various careers, [we] must do that vital job and do it superbly well, but [we] must do far more. [We] must train a cadre of committed, educated youth who can serve effectively, not only in the world of work, but in the growing kingdom of God, in which skilled leadership is such a vital commodity” (President Kimball). In education for eternity we do not simply study history, we take it a step further. We ponder how those "heroes" of history fulfilled their stewardships, and then we concentrate on teaching subjects that will help our children fulfill their divinely appointed stewardships. If we feel that something is important to teach our child, we take it to the Lord and ask Him to teach us how that subject fits into the eternal context. As President Kimball stated, "You must continue to bear in mind that the temporal and the spiritual are blended. They are not separate. One cannot be carried on without the other, so long as we are here in mortality." The Lord has declared: "Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created" (D&C 29:34). As we teach our children “things both in heaven and in the earth,” we also “seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118). “What could be more basic to a learning effort than this knowledge that God is the power by which all things were made and governed and that he is in all things, comprehends all things, and is the source of all enlightenment?” (Dallin H. Oaks).

“This time of intellectual testing must also be a time of equivalent testing and flexing in things spiritual too. ‘The Spirit giveth light’ (D&C 84:46). This revealed wisdom is so true in so many ways. When there is an inner emptiness in the life of man, his surroundings, however affluent, cannot compensate. When there is a crisis of purpose, nothing will really seem worthwhile or meaningful. When man’s relationship with God has been breached, we will be, as Isaiah said, “like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest” (Isa. 57:20). A university or an individual can have all the surface signs of security and yet still be empty inside.” We must teach our children facts “but fill them also with the Spirit of the Master Teacher…Certainly, the true measure of an institution of learning would be the impact it makes on the total lives of its students…How the world needs a light in the dark, even a refuge—a vault for keeping the jewels and treasures of life” (President Kimball). When fully immersed in an environment of encouragement, children are not unduly influenced by negative comments of friend, pressured to “fit in.” Letting your children’s moral character and confidence be sheltered until they are fully forged allows them to develop a deep-rooted confidence. In turn, this inner compass allows them to be open-minded and to recognize truth when met with new ideas. “There are yet ‘many great and important things’ (A of F 1:9) to be revealed which require and intellectual and spiritual posture of readiness and openness” (President Kimball). The scriptures teach: “To be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God” (2 Ne 9:29). So “Let our teachers ask the Father, in the name of Jesus, to bestow upon them and upon their scholars the Spirit of wisdom and intelligence from heaven; ask for skill to control and ability to teach on the part of the teacher, and willingness to be controlled and adaptability to be taught on the part of the scholars.” (Brigham Young). We are “dedicated to the building of character and faith, for character is higher than intellect, and its teachers must in all propriety so dedicate themselves. Our goal as teachers is the same as that of our Eternal Father: ‘To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man’” (Moses 1:39)

I testify that as we live worthy of the spirit, we can receive inspiration about how to teach our children. The Lord will help us on this great mission! We have been charged by a prophet of God: "Yes, mothers, teach your children the gospel in your own home, at your own fireside. This is the most effective teaching that your children will ever receive. This is the Lord's way of teaching. The Church cannot teach like you can. The school cannot. The day-care center cannot. But you can, and the Lord will sustain you. Your children will remember your teachings forever, and when they are old, they will not depart from them. They will call you blessed--their truly angel mother. Mothers, this kind of heavenly, motherly teaching takes time--lots of time. It cannot be done effectively part time. It must be done all the time in order to save and exalt your children. This is your divine calling" (Ezra Taft Benson, To the Mothers in Zion).