Puritan Power

The Puritans had no line of demarcation between their religious and secular life.  Everything for them seems to have been connected to their faith in God and his will for them while on earth.   Afterall, they were, according to John Winthrop, the "New Israel of God" in as much as their sojourn to the new world was preordained and the land that they were to inhabit, reserved for them.  They believed themselves to be the foundation of a new society of people who with God's blessings would represent him on earth.  The Puritans embraced scriptures such as the one found at Deuteronomy 5:33 which says "In all the way that Jehovah your God has commanded you, you should walk, in order that you may live and it may be well with you and you may indeed lengthen your days in the land of which you will take possession."  So it comes as no surprise to this reader that their view of children would also be a godly view, simply put, that 'children are an inheritance from God'.  They considered each child "a precious jewel" and took very seriously their responsiblity to bring them up in the fear and mental regulation of God.  Rather than criticize, I believe they are worthy of praise and imitation.
In the chapter From Alphabet to Elegy in Seth Lerer's Children's Literature book we are told "Alphabetic education was designed for success not simply in commerce or in culture, but in spirit. There was a kind of moral literacy to the Puritan movement, a sense that books could shape lives" (pg. 83).  What this says to me is summed up in the Holy Scriptures at Deuteronomy 6:6-9: "And these words that I am commanding you today must prove to be on your heart; and you must inculcate them in your son and speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.  And you must tie them as a sign upon your hand and they must serve as a frontlet band between your eyes; and you must write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates."  These words resonated with the Puritans.  The ways they educated their children indicates that there was no separation.  They made use of every opportunity to teach their children. That is powerful! I wish more parents realized that to instruct their children morally is to instruct them to be  better readers and writers.