Today it is obligatory for the loved ones of God, and their
imperative duty, to educate the children in reading, writing, the various
branches of knowledge, and the expansion of consciousness, that on all levels
they may go forward day by day.
The mother is the first teacher of the child. For children,
at the beginning of life, are fresh and tender as a young twig, and can be
trained in any fashion you desire. If you rear the child to be straight, he
will grow straight, in perfect symmetry. It is clear that the mother is the
first teacher and that it is she who establisheth the character and conduct of
the child.
Wherefore, O ye loving mothers, know ye that in God's sight,
the best of all ways to worship Him is to educate the children and train them
in all the perfections of humankind; and no nobler deed than this can be
imagined.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ’Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá’)
