The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1878-02-09
Written for the CHIEF.I
What Is Education
BY REY:D sOPHAR.

Although men since their creatio
have had to undergo the process G
education we do not posses an exac
and generally accepted explanation @
the word g education" Almost ever
writer on the subject gives his indi
vidual idea and it seems to be left t,
future philosophers to invent a uni
versal definition of this occupation
We know that the liberty of this " in
structiOn or this formation of man
ners," as Webster defines it, should
not be encroached upon by dogmatic
or political restrictions; but the as
sertiOn that COW should have neither
fins nor wings will never give a def
milton of COW.
Now l might quote all definitions
of education given since the time OF
Aristoteles until that af Pestalozzi;
could explain and compare them and
choose the best one, still have good
reason not to do SO. In the first place
many of these definitions are entirely
unknown to me, and secondly such a
quotation lis contrary to my design
1t is useless to detain. the reader by
the perusal of the different ideas of
education, designed in the different
ages of mankind, because finally
would appear with my humble def
milton and of course omit nothing to
recommend what / have to say about
it. 1t is shorter to reveal this "mis-
terry of sails" unto which every body
can penetrate, without any "circum-
bendibus" Education is ' the dereIop-
mentamd exercise Of the useful faculties"
If you educate child to become q
man, all its faculties will be developed
and exercised, but if you educate it
for one certain aim, you often will
find it necessary to work with these
faculties only that are requisite for
your purpose, you will be obliged to
avoid or even to lame those that could
cause the failure of Your design. I am
speaking Of the first kind of education.
In order to develope and to exercise
the faculty of walking in children,
they used leading strings" and the
youth became handy legged. If af-
terwards the child was permitted :" to
make free use of his limbs - it often
stumbled and hurt its body. Now
leading strings and all articles of this
kind are banished from every nursery
intO whicll the light of u better edu-
cation has penetrated. There you see
the infants crawling about like young
if they feel more strength
iii their thighs, they rise and go
around chair. Then you place some
chairs a short distance from each
other and put some pictures or toys
on them, TO INDUCE your future heir
to walk frDm one chair to the other.
After some time the young citizen
will leave the chairs and will walk
across the room without this support.
Should the child lose its balance it
generally sits dewn, where it ought to
sit. By this exercise all it's other
limbs remain healthy and unhurt
and the same child that crawled not
long ago, will soon walk, jump and
run away from the nurse. This treat
ment reveals thb secret of q rational,
natural education.
AS in the instruction of walking you
must not exercis pc the faculty of walk
ing before the crawling is sufficiently
thus you should not try
to deyelope any other faculty, before
it erists and before the primitice sources
from ,rhieh the Wanted faculty ema-
mates are sufficiently trained. Further
more, as We removed the leading
strings and now try to induce the
child to walk by its own free resolu-
ton, to practice this facuity-the tutor
hkemise mast try to put a,ray ,cith all
methods that work IN the same uroag
direction as the leading strings. He
must not mere " exercise the youth
ful faculties, but rather gire the pupil
ana occasion to take the
part Of educatiIlg and exercising in his
oun hand.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Much has been said about the diff