In plain words
Reading that, a great many pandits too asked Me, “Swami! In the time of Śrī Rāmacandra's Avatāra did they wear bush coats?” You must have the Bal Vikas children pronounce words clearly, teach them to read compounds by splitting them, and teach them the forms of the letters well too. Only then will they be able to read sentences and ślokas and understand them, without blunders like these.
One more thing. Today even lessons that invent meanings contrary to our sacred books and teach wrong conclusions are appearing in children's books. Textbooks have come out that spread even doubts whether the Rāmāyaṇa really happened, whether persons called Daśaratha and Rāvaṇa were ever born and lived. They are even writing that the Rāmāyaṇa is the story of the quarrels between the civilised Āryans and the uncivilised non-Āryans. Because of this the students' hearts are badly torn to pieces, and they are coming to a state in which they cannot recognise even Satya and Dharma. Teachers and parents must examine carefully whether or not the matters, the sayings and the ways of right conduct taught to children foster the welfare of the world, the security of society and the spiritual growth of the individual. Prahlāda, on this very thing: “The learning that proclaims Him with the discus in His hand is learning indeed! The teacher who speaks of the Lord of the earth is a teacher indeed! The father who says, ‘Reach Hari’, is a father indeed!” So he made it plain.
The Guru and the Sculptor
In the hills and on the rocky mounds lie many, many stones, good for nothing. A sculptor looks at them, considers which slab, which boulder will be of use in what way and as what object, and for what it can be used, and takes them up. Some he makes into grinding stones and sells to householders; some stones, following their form and nature, he leaves grotesque just as they are, carves into a figure to ward off the evil eye, and sets up. On pure stone he pours out all his art, turns it into something beautiful, shapes it into a wondrous statue and puts it in a museum; a sculptor with a spiritual ideal, with a sacred feeling, carves the rocks of that same hill into images of the gods, Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Śiva, Durgā and the rest, has them installed in temples, and has the faithful offer them worship, ārati, naivedya and the like without a break. All the stones were born in one and the same hill! And yet, through whom did they come by their different fortunes of service, their different uses? The sculptor's skill and power alone, his śraddhā and Bhakti alone, are the cause of it. Teachers are like this sculptor. Among the children, which path to give to whom, which form to give to whom: you yourselves must decide this with discernment and judgement, and make the efforts needed for the work to succeed.
But the work of education is not merely the sculptor's principle alone. In shaping the children, the parents too must take care.