Education for Life: Preparing Children to Meet Today's Challenges

I have 4 children, all whom have been raised in private schools implementing these valuable teachings. When education is not so much about academics and competition, but character growth, spiritual growth, service, and cooperation, you see some pretty amazing kids as a result. Academics are not underplayed (the average score of the high school students was 95% of national averages on National Aptitude Tests), it's just that academics are not paramount around which all else revolves. I see the results largely as the product of the children's education: caring, loving, generous, kind, self-aware, and yes very smart, individuals as a result of Education for Life. Certainly it is the most profound model of positive education in our age. I'd recommend livingwisdom.org and livingwisdomschool.org for more information. Certainly read this book and if you are not near a school that utilizes the principles you can still bring them into your own family with great success.

If the whole world were to follow the instructions in this book, there would not be any criminals in this sordid planet of ours. The existence of law-breakers in every nation shows us that the education system in this planet is at its infancy. If governments of every nation were to apply the principles outlayed in this book in the various schools, the whole world would have peace and harmony among the different nations. Suicide bombers would cease to exist and there would be a high level of tolerance among the different faiths. The real meaning of education is for life and this book portrays this fundamental truth beautifully. It is easy to read and understand what J. Donald Walters is trying to say. My only hope is that educators will not ignore the beautiful message Walters is trying to convey in this wonderful book.

If education followed this model, we wouldn't be having all the problems in high schools resulting from the kids' perceived meaninglessness in these institutions. First, a goal for education is established--educating for all of life, not just for the standardized tests or for job competency. Then we are given some ideas of how this can be done.For example, Walters suggests helping students develop four Tools of Maturity. They are more basic than Gardner's eight multiple intelligences, and by addressing each Tool, every child's strengths will be found and recognized. For me the most powerful part of the book is the section on Progressive Development. A rather different model of working with different children differently according to their energy level has proved very useful in my classroom. I know of only one other author who proposes approaching children differently in this way, and that's Lickona who recommends different approaches depending on moral development. Energy level seems easier to perceive for me.The book could have more specific examples of how to implement the insights it provides, but I think it is meant to be a signpost for parents and teachers, pointing the way, but encouraging us to use our own intuitions to make the journey.