WEEK 1 QUOTE 1

"CHILDREN ARE BORN PERSONS" : Charlotte Mason

Charlotte Mason wrote these words about 130 years ago.
The point she was making is still true today - children are born with huge potential because they are people.
In the first two years of life a child's mind accomplishes more development than in any other two years of life. This development happens mainly on their own, like a preprogrammed system working away. Of course parents are a part of it, but most of a baby's learning to sit, crawl, stand, walk, talk ( and in the case of some, talk more that one language), is the child's work - they do it!
Some parents think a child is like a piece of dough that needs to be pulled here, pushed there and molded into shape. They see the child as raw material needing work done on it to insure it grows up and develops properly.
Which view do you prefer? I prefer the first, for many reasons.
* the first view gives the child a value that the second removes from a child.
* a parent who thinks of their child as a "person" is more likely to think of them, speak to them and listen to them in a respectful way - as they would to a dear friend.
* if a child is born a person then this fact will cause a parent to consider what each child is like individually.
What do YOU think?