=The child supreme.=--The teacher whose primary consideration is the
child and who sees in the child the object and focus of all her
activities, never makes a fetish of the book. It has its use, to be
sure, but it is subordinate in the scheme of education. It is not a
necessity, but a mere convenience. She could dispense with it entirely
and not do violence to the child's interests. No book is large enough to
compass all that she teaches, for she forages in every field to obtain
proper and palatable food for the child. She teaches with the grain of
the child and not against the grain. If the book contains what she
requires in her work, she uses it and is glad to have it; but, if it
does not contain what she needs, she seeks it elsewhere and does not
return empty-handed.
=Illustrations.=--She places the truth she hopes to teach in the path of
the child's inclination, and this is taken into his life processes. Life
does not stop at way-stations to take on supplies, but absorbs the
supplies that it encounters as it moves along. This teacher does not
stop the ball game to teach the right triangle, but manages to have the
problem solved in connection with or as a part of the game. She does not
taboo the morning paper in order to have a lesson in history, but begins
with the paper as a favorable starting point toward the lesson. She does
not confiscate the contents of the boy's pocket as contraband, but is
glad to avail herself of all these as indices of the boy's interests,
and, therefore, guides for her teaching.
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