Just as we
are learning the importance of games and play, so that a syllabus issued
by the Board of Education instructs one how to stand when "giving a
back" at leap-frog, so also we shall learn again from Nature that
dancing of the natural and exquisite kind, never to be forgotten or
confused with imitations by any one who has seen Miss Duncan's children,
must be recognized as a great educative measure--educative alike of
mind, body, ear, and eye, and better worth while for any girl of any
rank than volumes of fictitious history concocted by fools concerning
knaves.
_Girls' Clubs._--Allusion has been made to girls' clubs, and one may be
fortunate enough to have some readers who may feel inclined to partake
in the splendid work which may be done by this means. It requires high
qualities and a certain amount of expert knowledge. Much of the latter
can be obtained from the little book recommended above. For the rest, it
is worth while briefly to point out what the girls' club may effect, and
why it is so much needed.
It has been insisted that puberty is a critical age because it means the
dawn of womanhood. It is critical in both sexes, not only for the body
but also for the mind. It is now that the intellect awakes; it is now
that the real formation of character begins. We often talk about spoilt
children at three or four, but any kind of making or marring of
character at such ages can be undone in a few weeks or less--that is, in
so far as it is an effect of training and not of nature that we are
dealing with.
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