OCR Text |
Show i-Age for i School ; : i How Old Should a Child Be Before it is Sent? , By Profeasor John Mason Tyler ' t VT DEPENDS The natural school la f 8 tho home. Growth is the first busl-j busl-j nc-ss of the child, and in the home J he ought to grow best, lie ought to live In an atmoephcro of hopefulness, -Thccr, courage, kindliness, courle3y and refinement. Ho must abBorb these un-, un-, til they become a part of him. And '? only the mother, herself, can furnish these. The school Is a human, artificial I device to make pood the deficiencies of homo and surroundings "When every nhlld was bi ought up In a large family' n an old-fa-hloned farm the sole rc-jponslblllty rc-jponslblllty of the school was text-Look learning. The home furnished nature Mudv, ph.vslcnl and manual training, morals and tellgion Open air and.thu pur of necessity did the lest. i If people Ihd under such ootid tlons T to-day, tho child, until ho wero ton op cloven yarn old, would be better off nj, I home If the chl'd lives In .1 city lint i? or in a house with a yaixl as b'rj as n f pocket-handkerchief, with an Irritable K father, a tired. nervous mojjier and ft'i ' army of nurr and governesses to vex j and worry him, the sooner he Is sent to kindergarten tho hotter He cannot possibly "giow and wax strong" and develop a steady, strong nervous system sys-tem under Mich home surroundings. If tho system of trnlnlng In tho lower grades of oui schools were so planned that they would furnish plenty of time for play In the open air. and thus promoted pro-moted a healthy growth of dovlopmont, the avorage child would bo bettei off at school than nt home after he is seven years of .igo But, unfortunately, the lower grades !n most of our schools hinder growth rather than promote It Between a home whoso educational efficiency has beeu hamrered or crippled crip-pled by modern civilization and culture and the school which will make of tho child a disembodied spirit and altogether alto-gether peglcct his physical well-being throughout the lower grades, the children chil-dren of the rising generation are badly situated, Much depends on the lndlidual chid aB well as the cr-ool and home The "onlv" child will be bettoi oft at school than at home, even In oarlj childhood Ho muatJearn In ch'ldheod to llvo com-fortablv com-fortablv with his mow 5 and to form friendships for this art will soon become be-come Impossible foi him Tho neivoutf child will be heller off at home until nine or ten years old If Uic hnine conditions faor growth .nd development 01 stuid nerve" Otherwise, Other-wise, he had proKiblj better go to school Tpe best place for hi in would be 11 New England hill farm with v.Ibc ami cheery gr.indpnicnls. Tho conclusion of the wiiolo matter cottiK to be that the chief buslnoH of Jibe child Jr to grow. The center of education Is 'in hln muscle and int H his brnn. Pulmonary and dlgest'vn "capacity Ik far moro Important than mental capacity. Wh.ot.J10r a child should be sent to pchool pr remain a I homo depends, then, upon whether hi homo or tho Hchool 'can best promote these Inestimable Inesti-mable virtues. |