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Show CHIIDIvEN AS TEACHERS. ' CHEAT STUDENTS HAVE LEARNED VERY MUCH cR0M THEM. The Science of Modern Methods of r.dn-ratlnu r.dn-ratlnu Has Ilren Ilevolutioiil.rd by the tititily of Clill.1 Nature Parent Have a ! Great Deal to Learn. From oldeu times it has bten thought that adults should be the teachers and children simply learners, but in tho Nineteenth century of civilization the j greatest find that they can learn from ' the little ones. The best educators aro those who have learned most from little children, and tho most successful primary prima-ry teachers are those who can see and feel things us cWldren feel and see them. Authors of literature and textbooks for children must now know child nature or fail. Scientific philologists are beginning to recognize the fact that children just learning to talk can in a few months teach them more about how languages' are formed than can be learned by years of study of dead and living languages. Even the philosopher and psychologist are turning to the child for the solution of some of the problems that have so long baffled them, and the practical moralist mor-alist turns from theories to learn of children chil-dren how moral ideas are formed and moral action called forth. CIll'.AT STfDKSTS. The development of the race is epitomized epit-omized in the dovelopmeut of the child, and the observer iiinv read it iu the unfolding un-folding physical activity of the innocent child, with more pleasure and profit than in the learned histories of civilization. civiliza-tion. Tiedennan, Darwin, Tiiine, Alcott, Romanes and other learned men have studied their own children scientifically and taken notes on their development, while Perez, Kussmaul and others have made observations on a numlier of children. chil-dren. Humphreys, HoldtC and Noble have collected ami examinea tho vocabularies vocab-ularies of several children two years old, in order to discover the general laws of speech. Emily Talbot has collected observations observa-tions of mothers on young babes. The moct thorough and accurate study has, however, Ix-eu made by Preyer, who carefully observed and experimented npon his boy during tho first three years of his life, noting down each day everything every-thing calculated to throw light npon the capacity of children and the order of the . development of their powers. Much light has liecn thrown on many subjects by these investigations, but a sufficient number of carefully verified facts has been collected to enable us with certainty to distinguish characteristics character-istics common to all from individual peculiarities. pe-culiarities. It has liecn uiado evident that not only must there bo persevering exactness in observing and recording the facts, but many of them can be accurately accu-rately observed and correctly interpreted only by one versed in physiology and psychology. l'LANS FOB A BOOK. Considerable interest has been aroused and many plans proposed designing to increase scientific knowledge on the subject, sub-ject, to bring parents into new and pleasauter relations with each other, and to preserve records of interest and value to the family. Probably no more acceptable accept-able or more valuable present could be given to a child who had just attained his majority than a little book containing contain-ing a record of his life from babyhood. Tho data contained iu such a record would make it possible for him to obey tho maxim, "Know thyself," and to jodide his life by that knowledge, while tho little incidents of childish life that give bo much pleasure when remembered and related by the parents would be preserved pre-served and enjoyed by himself and his . descendants. Parents whohavo engaged in such observations have not only learned to understand their children better bet-ter and been drawn into closer relations with them, but have also found tho task most interesting and delightful. j It will probably bo years before the observations of many scientists on children chil-dren can be collected, but in the meantime mean-time a father, mother or older sister of ordinary intelligence can, by exercising patience and care, observe and record certain facts of child development that will bo as important and reliable as those furnished by tho most learned scientist. sci-entist. These observations also are those made at tho most interesting age of the child's life tho period of the development develop-ment of speech. E. A. Kirkpatrick in Lend a Hand. |