Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students Ellen G. White 1913 Copyright © 2014 Ellen G. White Estate, Inc. Information about this Book Overview This eBook is provided by the Ellen G. White Estate. It is included in the larger free Online Books collection on the Ellen G. White Estate Web site. About the Author Ellen G. White (1827-1915) is considered the most widely translated American author, her works having been published in more than 160 languages. She wrote more than 100,000 pages on a wide variety of spiritual and practical topics. Guided by the Holy Spirit, she exalted Jesus and pointed to the Scriptures as the basis of one’s faith. Further Links A Brief Biography of Ellen G. White About the Ellen G. White Estate End User License Agreement The viewing, printing or downloading of this book grants you only a limited, nonexclusive and nontransferable license for use solely by you for your own personal use. This license does not permit republication, distribution, assignment, sublicense, sale, preparation of derivative works, or other use. Any unauthorized use of this book terminates the license granted hereby. Further Information For more information about the author, publishers, or how you can support this service, please contact the Ellen G. White Estate at [email protected]. We are thankful for your interest and feedback and wish you God’s blessing as you read. i ii Preface As early as 1872, counsel and instruction regarding Christian education began to come from the pen of Ellen G. White to Sev- enth-day Adventists. The first comprehensive article on this subject, entitled “Proper Education,” is found in Testimonies for the Church 3:131-160. In the thirty pages of this article may be found, in em- bryo or in well-developed form, every fundamental principle which should govern the training and instruction of children and youth. Revolutionary as some of the views expressed may have seemed to be at the time of writing, they are today recognized and advocated by progressive educational thinkers. Seventh-day Adventists may justly regard themselves as highly favored in that such a fundamental outline of educational principles appeared so early in their literature. That brief yet comprehensive outline, given to lead us into right educational paths, has been followed through the years by further, more detailed counsels, reiterating the principles first set forth, ex- panding their application, and urging their adoption. Christian Ed- ucation and Special Testimonies on Education, two small works published in the nineties, carried these messages to the people. Finally, in 1903, Education, a masterpiece in the field of charac- ter education, was presented to the general reading public by Ellen G. White, and through many printings and translations it has conveyed its helpful messages to thousands in this and in other lands. But the special detailed instruction, specifically addressed to Seventh-day Adventists, could not well be included in this popular volume in- tended for more general distribution; and the earlier works having passed out of print, much of the wealth of specific counsel of great [6] value to us was no longer available. To provide this, together with later and fuller writings on certain phases of the topic, this work, Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, was published in 1913. Brought to view in this volume are the principles and methods of presenting an education which “includes not only mental discipline, but that training which will secure sound morals and correct deport- iii ment”—that education which will “fit men and women for service by developing and bringing into active exercise all their faculties.” As the subject is developed, there are clearly set forth the re- sponsibilities and duties of parents, heartening counsel to guide the teachers in their work, and practical instruction to those who devote the years of their youth in preparing for a life of service. At the close of each section, a page under the title “For Further Study” presents references to other E.G. White books containing related instruction. With the publication of the four volumes, Funda- mentals of Christian Education (1923), Messages to Young People (1930), The Adventist Home (1952), and Child Guidance (1954), the sources of available related E.G. White materials is greatly ex- panded. In this printing the reference on the “For Further Study” pages have been broadened to include these helpful sources. That this volume may serve yet more fully as a guide to parents and teachers in advancing “the most delicate work ever entrusted to mortals,” that of bringing “man back into harmony with God,” is the earnest desire of the Publishers and The Trustees of the Ellen G. White Publications [7] Contents Information about this Book . .i Preface . iii Section 1—The Higher Education . 13 The Essential Knowledge . 14 The Peril in Worldly Education . 16 The First of Sciences . 20 Mastering the Science. 20 True Success in Education . 21 The Teacher of Truth the Only Safe Educator . 25 God Misrepresented . 27 A True Representation . 27 Unselfish Service the Law of Heaven . 30 The Result of Self-Seeking . 30 The Remedy . 31 The Higher Education For Further Study . 34 Section 2—The Aim of Our Schools. 37 Our Children and Youth Demand Our Care . 38 A Liberal Education to Be Provided . 39 All to Be Trained . 39 A Fund for Schoolwork . 40 High Aims . 41 The Responsibility of Church Members . 41 The Teacher’s Privilege . 42 The Primal Object of Education . 44 The One Perfect Pattern . 44 The School of Christ . 45 The Bible as an Educator . 46 Lessons From Nature . 47 The Heavenly Pattern . 49 Character Building . 53 Teachers and Teaching . 56 God Our Dependence . 57 An Effective Helper . 58 The Aim of Our Schools For Further Study . 61 v vi Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students Section 3—General Principles . 63 The Right Education . 64 Individuality in Children . 64 Cause of Instability in Youth . 65 Personal Qualifications of the Teacher . 66 Close Confinement at School . 67 The Ideal Plan . 68 Physical Degeneracy . 69 Importance of Home Training . 70 Regulation of Employment and Amusement . 71 Result of Continued Application . 72 Our College . 74 Education of Young Men for the Ministry . 74 Bible Study . 75 The Teacher’s Responsibility . 77 The Parents’ Part . 77 The Need of Counseling Together . 78 Christian Courtesy . 79 The True Test of Prosperity . 80 God’s Purpose for the College . 81 Deportment of Students . 83 Association With Others . 84 General Principles For Further Study . 87 Section 4—The Home School . 89 The Child’s First School . 90 The Family Altar . 92 Home Discipline . 92 Making Home Attractive . 94 Unpromising Children . 96 When and How to Punish . 96 Safeguarding the Young . 99 Choosing Associates . 99 The Choice of Reading . 100 Teaching Children to Be Useful . 101 The Physical Well-Being . 103 Unity in Government . 105 A Missionary Training . 106 What Shall Our Children Read? . 108 Contents vii Worthless Reading . 109 Infidel Authors . 110 Preoccupy the Soil . 111 The Sabbath School Lesson . 111 The Home Reading Circle . 112 The Bible . 113 The Parable of the Growing Seed . 114 The Beauty of Simplicity . 115 The Garden of the Heart . 115 Teaching Lessons of Helpfulness . 118 The Co-operation of Teacher and Parent . 119 Christ’s Example . 119 Co-operation Between the Home and the School . 122 What the Teacher Should Be . 122 Requiring Obedience . 123 Parents to Strengthen the Teacher’s Hands . 124 A Sympathetic Understanding . 127 Home Schools . 128 Bible Study.