=The play instinct.=--She makes large use, also, of the play instinct
that is one of his native tendencies. This instinct is constantly
reaching out for objects of play. The teacher is quick to note the
child's quest for objects and deftly substitutes some phase of school
work for marbles, balls, or dolls, and his playing proceeds apace
without abatement of zest. The vitalized teacher knows how to attach the
arithmetic to this play instinct and make it a fascinating game. During
the games of arithmetic, geography, history, or spelling, life is at
high tide in her school and the work is thorough in consequence. Work is
relieved of the onus of drudgery whenever it appears in the guise of a
game, and the teacher who has skill in attaching school studies to the
play instinct of the child will make her school effective as well as a
delight to herself and her pupils. In such a plan there is neither place
nor occasion for coercion.
=Self-expression.=--Another right of the child is the right to express
himself. The desire for self-expression is fundamental in the human
mind, as the study of archaeology abundantly proves. Since this is true,
every school should be a school of expression if the nature of the child
is to have full recognition. Without expression there is no impression,
and without impression there is no education that has real value. The
more and better expression in the school, therefore, the more and better
the education in that school.
Pages:
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34