In one of our previous blog posts we have spoken about the importance of early education and good early years care. This time, we will focus on the value of education and continuous improvement for children.
Children should accept learning as a challenge. Moreover, they should start learning through play. Thus, they will develop good work habits and prepare themselves for all the things they will be facing with on their path to growing up and later in life. In early childhood, children learn through sounds, colors and touch. As they grow, they read books, play with building blocks and other toys, or draw, which is a part of their learning process. We, as parents, should use each moment we spend with our kids to improve their skills and abilities and to educate them. At first it would happen through play, and then by helping them to do homework and other school assignments. If we succeed to instill love and eagerness to learn at early age in your child, it will be easier for the kid to prepare for all the responsibilities that await him or her during education.
Regarding education, Serbian people owe a lot to one man – Saint Sava, the founder of the Serbian church, state and education (born as Serbian prince Rastko Nemanjic, later become a monk, lived from 1174 – 1236). In the 1830s he was proclaimed the patron saint of Serbian schools and schoolchildren. Thus, January 27 is celebrated as St. Sava’s Day or Savindan in every school. On this day pupils prepare an annual program consisting of plays, concerts and other cultural performances dedicated to Saint Sava. The program usually begins with the hymn to Saint Sava. His feast day is also the time children, parents and teachers spend together.
Saint Sava laid foundations of Serbian Church, culture and education. Saint Sava managed to persuade the Byzantine Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople to elevate him to the position of the first Serbian Archbishop, thereby establishing the Independence of Archbishopric of the Serbian Church in 1219. He dedicated his life spreading literacy among the people as he opened many schools in churches and monasteries throughout the country.
We can’t tell with certainty what our children’s choices will be in life. Nor whether they will succeed to fulfill some of the things we wish for them, or pursue their own dreams and hopes. However, as parents, we can still do something for them: we can support them, guide them through the magical world of playing and learning, help them with their problems, constantly encourage them to work and improve. In that way, as they grow up, they may become good and caring persons. One of the ways how we can accomplish this parental mission is to tell our children inspiring stories. A good example for each kid can be Steve Job’s commencement speech to the graduates of Stanford University in 2005: