In a book about education written a hundred years ago, I found:

"Formerly, the question was, What does a man need to know? Now the question is being asked, What does he need to be?"

The same question is on the table today.

A heart-based education is focused on 'being'--being curious, kind, honest, diligent, loyal, faithful, etc.

A mind-based education is focused on 'knowing'--the year of the American revolution, the order of the planets, the capital of Arkansas. 

What is more important to you? The 'knowing' or the 'being'?

You have to decide that for yourself. And then pay attention to what you are spending the most time doing. Does it align? 

Art credit: The Fairy Tale by James Sant

"Grapes must be crushed to make wine.
Diamonds form under pressure.
Olives are pressed to release oil.
Seeds grow in darkness.
Whenever you feel crushed, pressed, or in darkness, you're in a powerful place of transformation.
Trust the process.
Trust God."

Art credit: Vendemmia, from the manuscript Tacuinum Sanitatis (14th century).

"...when the soul is as full of beautiful things as an overflowing river, some of them are sure to get out where people will see."

Art credit: A Nibble by Edmund Blair Leighton

It seems like every day when I read from Farrar's Life of Christ, I read something that pertains to this group. Here is today's offering:

"It is not the influence of external forces, but it is the germinal principle of life within, which makes the good seed to grow; nor can the hard heart be converted by portents and prodigies (think threats and fears or even visions of grandeur), but by the inward humility, and the grace of God stealing downward like the dew of heaven, in silence and unseen."

Art credit: Peonies and Morning Glory by Margaretha Roosenboom

I started reading the new history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and couldn't help noting the first paragraph of the Preface:

"True stories well told can inspire, caution, entertain, and instruct. Brigham Young understood the power of a good story when he counseled Church historians to do more than simply record the dry facts of the past. 'Write in a narrative style,' he advised them, and 'write only about one tenth part as much.'"

It reminds me of Rudyard Kipling:

"If history were told in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten."

Stories are the most valuable tool in your teaching tool box! And notice the attention of these children in the painting. Nothing will hold their attention like a story told 'by heart.'

Art credit: Grandmother's Tales by Rudolf Gessler (1866)

"Study without thought is vain;
Thought without study is dangerous"
--Confucius

Art credit: The Bibliophiles by Tito Lessi

From today's reading in Farrar's Life of Christ--consider this in light of the education of your children:

"If they would see the star which should at once direct their feet and influence their destiny, they must look for it not in the changing skies of outward circumstances, but each in the depth of his own heart."

Art credit: The Golden Hour by Thomas Moran

"We are able to feel and learn very quickly through music, through art, through poetry some spiritual things that we would otherwise learn very slowly."
--Boyd K. Packer

Art credit: A Summer's Day by Charles Baugniet

"Is man's life, the mere living! How fit to employ
All the heart and soul and the senses forever in joy."
--Robert Browning

Art credit: Summer and Playing Children by Nikolai Astrup

I was talking with a daughter about today's Take 5 - singing. And I made a comment in it that if a teenager is unwilling to sing, it may be a sign of a heart hardening.

My daughter said that sounded pretty harsh. And as she explained her reasons, I agree with her. I don't want to give the impression that if a child isn't singing, I think he or she has a hard heart!!

I think a better word I might have used is protected--to me, singing is an outward expression of emotion. And when a heart is hurting or confused, it may be unwilling to express itself in that way. It can be a symptom of something else.

But there can be other reasons. Maybe embarrassment or awkwardness or if they're not used to singing, maybe it doesn't feel natural. Whatever reason, helping a child use his or her voice is a very important part of heart education.

What are your thoughts on why some people are unwilling to sing?

Art credit: The Music Man by Norman Rockwell