Parents are responsible for the education of their children
This truth has been largely lost in our culture. We tend to outsource almost all of this responsibility. It is sometimes tempting to use a Vanguard group as a way to outsource, but it is wiser to use the group as a support to families instead of the other way around.
Scriptures:
Topical Guide: Family, Children, Responsibilities Toward
Application:
Parent-Mentor meetings:
A monthly meeting of parents is a great place to discuss how to better fulfill our responsibilities of educating in the home and gather ideas from the knowledge and experience of other parents.
An article about the principle of the month or about parenting and how to live those principles better can be discussed in these meetings.
Leaders can learn from parents what the interests of their youth are and plan accordingly
Parents can report to leaders what learning project their child is working on so that they may have an opportunity to present it or do an activity with it in their Vanguard group.
Accountability:
Parents can be responsible for making sure their youth are going to class prepared
Parents can be sure their youth have learned core lessons such as work, respect, and obedience before joining a scholar group.
Parents can ensure youth are good in their relationships at home before sending them out into a peer group.
Leaders can encourage parents to have mentor meetings with their youth and let the leaders know what their child needs.
Individualize:
Parents and youth should have weekly mentor meetings to individualize the study plan for their youth.
Youth should be given choice about their interests and what they want to study
Parents should take distractions out of their homes to allow the youth the freedom to choose without distractions (such as social media, games, screens and other things that may keep youth from being able to ponder and choose wisely what to do with their time).
Vanguard workload should not be so demanding that youth and parents do not have time to individualize their education.
Class Time:
If the education of youth is being individualized, some may wonder what there is to talk about in class. It works best to have a principle-centered discussion where youth bring in how their studies show evidence of the principle.
Youth inspire one another as they share what they are learning in their individualized studies. When a youth talks about a book they are reading, others are often inspired to read it as well.
In addition to the readings given to understand a principle, a common monthly reading/story, theme, person, or event may also help unify the group and add to the shared experience in understanding a principle, as long as it does not take too much time from the family-centered, individualized study plans.
Activities may also add to the discussion. Some find it helpful to start class with an activity to help the youth think about the principle and then discussing the activity as they discuss what they have learned from their individualized studies.
Mentors facilitate discussion and help the youth go deeper into their thoughts by asking introspective questions.
Parent Inspirements:
Some groups may want to try having inspirements for the parents in order to insure better communication. An example of possible parent inspirements can be found here.
Further Study:
The Family: A Proclamation to the World
Parental Responsibility
Parents: The Prime Gospel Teachers of their Children
Teach the Children
Mothers Teaching Children in the Home
2014 Auxiliary Training
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