Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1882-02-08
Burdette on Child Culture.

wen, Tune nle5, inc summer Is altnOss
over, the mtckerel have come up the bay
and are biting like poison. the ferns are
growing old, and the boy is learning to
talk 50 that other people can understand
him.
"If you would let me have him about
one month" said the pleasant voiced and
pleasant faced school mistress who came
down here from up the river last week,
II could break him of that careless habit
of speaking"
just because the boy had asked his stern,
dark browed father:
"Poppuls, whurs is mines fitin pole
you peaking mama um dayp"
Which by Interpretation is, as the pleas
ant voiced school mistress would have
taught him to say it:
"Father, where is my fshing-rod OF
which you were speaking to my mother.
with reference to purchasing for me at
some time in the indefinite future"
And her little serene highness shook her
head ard said no; he was losing his baby
talk and learning to speak English too
rapidly as it was. The pleasant face of
the school mistress wrinkled up into an
Interrogation point.
"School Mistress" the Jester said, " on
all matters of education your shapely head
is not billy; it is rs level as new mown
lawn. Bat you don't want to teach the
naby grammar, and you don't want him
to speak good English. You want him to
be baby and you want to encourage him
to indulge in baby talk. In the years to
come, when the pudgy little fists will dig
great tears out Of the blue eyes because
the boy can't remember in just what points
there should and must be exact harmony
between the verb and the subject; when
he is confident that he will die before he
can remember how many fellows beside
'ad, ante, con, in or inter- are followed b>
the accusatve; when he knows the world
will stand still for just two hours after
school if he can't recall that all termina-
tions in something or other take the VIII It
you may Call 1t after some kind of things
when he is SO trusting and has SO much
confidence in Mr.. Davies that he is not
only willing but anxious. 10 accept his
statement that the sum of the three angles
of a triangle is equal to two right angles,
without going to the board to prove his
truthfulness by demonstrations; along in
those days the memory of his baby talk
will come back to US like sweet music lie
will have trouble enough with the English
language and all the appurtenances there
unto appertaining, by and by. No, he re-
sponded, in an answer to silent inquiry
of the pleasant faced school mistress, he
does not know his al phabet. thank heaven,
and he shall not be bothered with it. Yes,
he has alphabet blocks, and knows all the
min and
GUS stories about the pictures. Oh, yes,
he can count; hear him now counting the
pebbles he has brought home from the
beach: 'one, free, seven, ten, free, five,
seven, free;' certainly he Can count, by q
system of hisown, too, which is more than
most people have. Don make prig of
the baby, school mistress. From the day
on which they are six years old they
must, under he schoo! system of the states
begin to study, and sit up straight, and
behave properly and speak correctly, and
from that time until the grave hides them
they live and speak and act, verbally
speaking. they be and do and suffer, under
social and educational surveillance. And
claim that at least six years of the life
of man or woman should be free-free as
the air; free to talk as the brook runs,
with untrammeled musical prattle and
babble. Why. here, few weeks ago.
came melancholy looking child, about
four years old and in my presence and
hearing, pointed to nae, and said to his
mother, Mamma, of whom is that gentle.
man speaking"
Va" Poor little prig! My heart bled for him.
That afternoon took that boy down to
the target, and taught him to say Mama.
what is dat man speaking you aboutP"
and reconstructed his general grammar on
tho same easy basis, and-look me in tho
eye--ifthat boy didn't taa up like y young
Indian in two days, and he gained seven
pounds in two weeks.
" You see,' the Jester concluded, in an
apologetic tone, for he had done an unus-
ual amount of preaching that day, "you
see, we haven's a very broad experience
in training children; we have only one
chick to cluck over and scratch for, but we
are bound he shan't go to school until he's
through being baby, and we know school
mistress. that he's the happlest baby that
ever mangled grammar. ."-Burlin gton
HaUkeye.