DUCATION is the birthright of every child. It is the duty of those in authority to protect the child in the enjoyment of this right. The kind and extent of education are primarily to be decided by the parent, or guardian, but later the youth may choose additional training for a particular trade or profession.
          The test of education is not outward prosperity, the enlargement of man's dominion over nature, or the increase of commercial intercourse. These are laudable, if they add to the storehouse of human purpose, or extend the scope of permanent happiness among men. The true test of education is in the influence it has upon the minds and hearts of the people.
          The first step in education is to ascertain the present state of mind development. Having learned the capacity of the mind, the instructor begins to teach new elements of knowledge. Step by step the learner is led to associate the new facts with those previously known, both of which are called into use from time to time by tests and examinations.
          Successive tests may prove that the learner is making progress in learning the branches studied, but this is a small part of the actual accomplishment. The overshadowing importance of educational work is in the student himself, whose power of mind and body is enlarged and vitalized. A beneficent contagion drives the memory, from the memory to the imagination, from the imagination to the affections, and from the affections to the will--until the whole being is awakened. The thrill passes from the first point of contact to all the faculties, causing the remotest part of the soul to feel the impulse.
          In education the environment of the child must not be overlooked as a potent factor. The mind is influenced, not only by the course of lessons, but by the conditions under which the instruction is given. The home life, the surroundings in the schoolroom, the companions on the playground, in fact, all the things heard and seen, have a vitalizing or depressing influence in the process of development. Frequently influences of which we are not conscious wield the greater force up the mind and life of the learner.
          Education aside from the subject taught, exercises an influence upon character. A student who is trained to mental and special labor absorbs cardinal virtues in addition to the elements of knowledge. He acquires habits of self-control, industry, and perseverance. The assignment of lessons causes him to accustom himself to other impulses than present inclinations. Eventually, through persistent work and study, he acquires ennobling habits and sturdy strength.
          The scholar himself is the grandest type of perfection in education. He becomes enlarged, strengthened, and improved by the mental struggle through a decade or more of years. If facts are forgotten, they may be recalled by a trained mind in a systematic order when they are needed in actual service. The facts may even be lost, but a more important factor remains, the trained mind that gathers and vitalizes them.
         Huxley, the English writer, gives the following definition of a liberal education: "That man, I think, has a liberal education who has been so trained in his youth that his body is the ready servant of his will and does with ease and pleasure all the work that, as a mechanism, it is capable of;  whose intellect is a clear, cold, logic-engine, with all its parts of equal strength and in smooth working order, ready like a steam engine to be turned to any kind of work and spin the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind; whose mind is stored with a knowledge of the great and fundamental truths of nature and the laws of her operations; one who is full of life and fire, but whose passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a tender conscience; who has learned to love all beauty, whether of art or nature, to hate all vileness, and to respect others as himself."
          The student is not inclined to measure life by years or decades, but rather by the wholesome culture of the mind. This culture brings an enlargement of power, a greater capacity to discharge the functions of life, and makes it possible for the mind to range in a more expanded field. Although such mental development enlarges the duties and responsibilities, it greatly multiplies the joy of living as will as the hopes and ambitions for future years.

Source:

 Holst, Bernhart, P. (Teacher, Editor, and Author). 1914. Practical Home and School Methods. Kansas City: The Bufton Book Company. pp. 6-7.