The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-12-14
EDUCATIONAL.
PARENTS AND THEIR POWERS.


we have so often SEEM and which discloses
beneath its transparent surface, various
objects, all differently tinted and formed,
as the position of the ball itself is shifted. |
And the same child is wild or rude,
obedient or sulky, according as you strike
the right or wong position. This study
of the nature of child sh0uld be the
earliest and most constant aim of the
teacher who would succeed in what he
undertakes-i. e.-to 5ea08 every pupil
under his charge better than he found
him. That this should be the aim of
every one, whose aYocation is that of
teacher, is no necessity of ours to state,
and, suffice it to say, that we trust they
are few, indeed, among us, who would
allow personal enmities,or personal grudg-
es, to bias in the least that uniform con.
scientiDusress that should characterize
the every act of the teacher.
Once having perfectly learned the tenn
ptlIuCub VI pupil CLV tCaC-1SA SsSAA -
every action, on the part Of the pupil, to
its source, and weigh the motives and
moods, that prompted to this and that
deed, can determine the feelings thai &C.
tuated the pupil, and, also his Intentions,
which greatly augment or diminish the
punishment which the deed may happen
to call forth.
Two crimes equal enormity may be
committed by the same persons, and yet
these persons may differ widely as 20 the
punishment which each deserves, and
decision is often rendered accordingly at
the bar of justice. Precisely the same
principle is operative in the schoolroom.
Nor is its action limited to those cases of
carelessness which oftsn occur, when some
thoughtless little Innocent drops her slate
with startling crash or Kepler or
Newton in mbryo,ambles his noisy way
across the echoing floor. Those ale sins
Of commission rather than omission, and
punishment should receive its darker or
lighter hues accordingly, at the hands of
the skillful operator.
Once having gained an insigt, however
into tie child's nature, there is still an
obstacle in the way Of the teachers sue
cess, for, how is he going to counterbsl
ance those influences that are traceable to
home example for their origin ?
How is he going to eradicate the faulty
principle too often inculcated at the
home freside?
What an enlivening prospect untolds
itself to the view of many widt-awake
teacher, when some little boy who needs
every moments drill that the few school
hours afford, confdentially informs his
Jealous tutor, that, father said he need
not learn his lessons if he had to sit in
that old seat, or, perhaps in obedience to
maternal mandate, starts for the door if
the teacher dares to approach him with
hostile bearing.
These, and many little thing like
them, make the teachers task a repulsiye
one, while that Of conveying knowledge
of Geography, Arithmetic, &C., to the
minds expanding, beneath his instruction,
into modest bloom or perfect maturity is
comparatively easy.
Parents, do you not see the powers,
little less than almighty, you possess over
your children, and the mission, nothin q
less than sacred, that is entrusted to you |!
And do you not see how next to impossi-
bic It's for the teacher to succeed without
your earnest, never failing co operation {?
DO not then, in all sincerity, look upon
the teacher as one with whom you have
not the slightest connection, except that
which necessarily follows, when you ad
minister regulation, precisely as you do
to the refractory clock that ticks upon
your mantle shelf
Do not look upon him as the person to
whom, out of necessity, your child is en-.
trusted for a certain portion of the day,
and that he is to make all he can of him,
Independently of anything that you may
choose to say or do. Teach the child
rather to look upon the teacher as a
friend, and do not fail to regard him in
tnat same light yourselves, for surely he
ought to be your friend, to whom you en-
trust such precious charge.
Do not then, parents, be so passive to