"Train up a child in the way he should go"

“If they are founded in truth, it would seem that every reflecting father and mother must feel, that, after a provision for the comforts of life, education, in its true and full sense—the developing and perfecting the various physical, moral and intellectual faculties of their children—is the first and strongest duty; and that to sacrifice this, or any part of this, for the purpose of acquiring wealth, or station, or honor, or any other worldly interest, whether designed for parent or child, is but a surrender to an inferior good and a lesser obligation, of the greatest benefit and the highest rank. The Great Lawgiver has nowhere said to parents, bestow wealth, honor or power on your children, but he has said to them, by the very constitution of human nature, educate your children wisely, if you would train them up to fulfill their duty and their destiny…”

Sow Well and Reap Well, or Fireside Education
S. G. Goodrich, 1846
(An early American homeschooling guide)