As an aunt to six nieces and a nephew, I’ve been thinking about how I can teach them well and found this to be encouraging so I thought I’d share it with you:

“… Education is about relationship, about being worthy of the hope of our children. Taking seriously the stewardship of their trust as we guide them should be an underlying motivation of our hearts as we commit to influencing them. We are passing on a life, not just information.

Learning, growing in curiosity, pondering ideas, and creating new thoughts are not dependent primarily on academic studies or finding the right curriculum. It is not only about teaching every fact or subject our students need to know. Instead, it is about an organic lifestyle that synthesizes family, home, classroom, and life, and honors the human beings we serve. This means our plans will be constantly changing; we will grow and be stretched, developing life-giving goals in the scope of our moments.

The heart of a mentor is to act in relationship for the benefit, development, and well-being of his student. A worthy mentor seeks to maximize the human potential of the one being influenced.

Children draw out of what already lives inside the one who is influencing them. Consequently, as a parent I understand that I must embody what I determine I want my child to cultivate. As my child watches and observes my attitudes, my values, my words, and my behavior, he will ingest what he imagines and understands and then emulate it.

We cannot leave the role of shaping our children to institutions or authorities who do not have ultimate responsibility for their lives. Nor can we suppose that the life messages passed on by those institutions or authorities are in agreement with our own philosophies. Messages are not neutral. They have power and influence. Whether we want the role of teacher or not, it is ours.

If, as Jesus says, the student will become like his teacher, then to become a good teacher, we must examine our own lives. What have I stored inside my heart, mind, and soul? Does my character reflect the integrity I hope my child will imitate? Am I exhibiting the attitudes that I want my child to exhibit? Do I love those around me unconditionally so that my child can understand the love of God?

Picturing my children’s hearts as treasure chests where they could gather stories, ideas, ideals, habits, appetites, truth, and knowledge to draw from the rest of their lives, I sought to fill the space in their hearts with all that was good, beautiful, and true.

Yet, I had to possess the wisdom they needed before I could pass on this wisdom. I realized that my intentionality to call them to their best selves meant that I had to be living into my best self. This accountability to who they would become stretched my own muscle and helped me to grow every day as I pursued the ideals we shared together.”

—Sally Clarkson, Awaking Wonder: Opening Your Child's Heart to the Beauty of Learning