A Parents Guide to Holistic Education

There is a misconception in today's culture that education is about procuring a job and a profitable life style. Education is, in the author's view, about helping the child to develop into a whole person who reaches their potential, integrated and self-actualized, through being drawn forth. The goal is not to fill the child with ideas and facts, but to light their flame of desire to learn and spiritually grow through their entire life. In essence education should be teaching a child how to think and explore rather than teaching them what to think. In this way a child develops an inner sense of morality and ethics. Their spirituality is allowed to grow as their mind learns to reconcile the tensions and conflicts they experience. Through education of the whole, the growing persona learns to seek and explore the nature of reality and fearlessly pursue truth and compassion. Until the 20th Century education was used to help upper-class individuals become capable leaders and governors. As the U.S. and most of the western world became industrial, education turned to preparing youth to work in factories and industry. The more technical we became the less emphasis was put on the development of the whole child. There is a tension caused by conflicting ideas in our lives that is the driving force of human behavior and culture. Children face these same conflicts. The child's conflict is between their growing image of themselves, the environment, and others in their world. In the midst of conflict the child strives to find meaning by making sense out of what appears to be nonsense. Trying to find order and meaning out of the chaos around them they often feel entrapped in the apparent turmoil. At this point education should step-in to aid in reconciling the challenges and motivate the student to explore the creative acts. Through the method presented the student learns to be self-directed, involved in their relationship to society and nature.