In his article “Spiritual formation: a family matter,” C. Ellis Nelson writes about spiritual formation in light of Shemá.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deut 6.4-9)
Nelson emphasizes that if God is not part of an upbringing in a household, “children will, under ordinary circumstances, either fashion a private idea of God, become unaware of God’s existence, or consider God unimportant.” Direct teaching by some kind of religious institution or authority can not substitute for the family in this regard. Nelson claims:
Direct teachings about God are important but what is taught can get split off from the events of daily life. If this happens, then the children may begin to develop a legalistic, obey-the-rules type of relation to God or a dogmatic, I-know the-truth style of religion.