Recently I held a Natural Learning Symposium in our area. It turned out to be a beautiful experience – and so I am hoping I can share a bit of it with you in such a way that you can feel some of the loveliness that I felt as we listened, learned and shared.
We began with a heartfelt prayer and the following video to get our minds thinking about the gift of faith and what it might look like.
I then shared the following thoughts:
“Thank you for your sacrifices, and I know they are many. Thank you for your example, your goodness, and your righteous yearnings. I look forward to getting to know you better as we visit today.
What you are doing takes faith, it takes hope and I want to boldly state that you are more than adequate for the task. So take any doubts you may be holding onto and discard them. Listen to this wonderful advice from Thomas S. Monson: ‘Whom God calls, God qualifies!’”
You have been called as Mothers. God has and will continue to qualify you for this work and privilege.
Theodore M. Burton shared this thought: ‘The greater the teacher, the greater the pupil may become.’
I have been advocating the practice of “observation” with our children before we decide to jump into a packaged curriculum. Observation means to spend time really watching your beautiful children and seeking to understand them a bit better. At this symposium I wish to encourage each of us to do some self observation and consider how we can be a great mentor – able to inspire our children.
In order to share stories, truth, light, we must possess it in some measure ourselves. How are we utilizing the learning process in our own lives? It is so important to feed our own Spirits.
What qualifies us for the light that we will need to teach our children?
Some qualities that we discussed were: diligence, hope, virtue, faith, love, knowledge, patience, kindness, humility, forgiveness, obedience, prayer and charity.”
I encouraged each of our participants to contemplate one of the above characteristics that they would like to improve upon and to also remember to nurture their own talents and skills. This will allow moms and kids alike to look forward, with anticipation, to the opportunity of natural learning!
I pray that you also are feeling that sense of excitement!
Val, I want to thank you for the time you give to mentor me and other mothers like me. This Natural Learning Symposium was very uplifting and encouraging to those of us that sometimes wonder, “Am I doing the right thing?”
I also want to thank Ruel and Jesse for their time in sharing their insights as well.
I walked away with a greater view of education and how to make it more holistic, based on true principles and feeding not only the mind but the spirit as well.
It was a great blessing for me as well. We need to do it more often. The power I felt from everyone was palpable and has added another measure of optimism to my life! Thank you!