Morning journal and courier., 1883-05-15
Spurnal zna Gaurier.
SINGLE COPIES THREE CENTS.
Tuesday, May 15. 1883.
WHAT CHILDREN KNOW

WHAT ANO"s
 Every teacher and parent should read the article by G. Stanley Hall in the current number of the Princeton Review entitled
 The Contents of Children's Minds," for it is exceedingly interesting and instructive. It relates the result of some attempts to find out what children really know at their en- trance upon school life.
 The work of questioning the children WAS done by experienced Kindergarten teachers
 It covers about 136 subjects. and about 25O individuals in the primary schools of Boston were examined, extreme cases of stupidity ar quickness being carefully avoided The re- suits were surprising. Of rural objects like beehive, crow, bluebird, ant, squirrel quai- and robin, D from GO to 30 per cent of the children were ignorant, the smaller percent age referring to the object last on the list. Growing wheat, elm tree, maple, etc, '' were unknown to from S3 to 92 per cent The lol cation of the child's ''ribs, lungs, ankles and waist'' was unknown to from 52 to 90 per cent. Of geometrical forms the circle was known to 65 per cent. the triangle to only per cent That leathern things come from animals was known to but per ceat. the origin of cotton things to 10 per cent of
 flour to Il per cent. that wooden things came from trees, 45 per cent. i; the origin of milk was known te 80 per cent. Each child was asked to name three right things and three wrong things to do, and nearly half could do so. In no case were the two con- fused, but wrong things were specified much more readily and by more children than right things, and also in much greater variety. In about 450 answers 5 wrong acts are speci- fed, while in over $50 answers only 34 different good acts are named. The more frequent answers are to mind and be good, or to disobey, be naughty, lie and say bad words; but the answers of the girls differ from the boys in two marked ways they more often name specific acts and nearly twice as often conventional ones the former difference being most common in naming right, the latter in naming wrong things. Boys say it is wrong to steal, fight, kick, break windows, get drunk, stick pins into others, or to ''sass," ''cuss," shoot them, while girls are more apt to say it is wrong not to comb the hair, to get butter on the dress climb trees, unfold the hands, cry, catch flies, etc.
 Some of the ideas of the children concern ing thunder, lightning, etc., are odd. Thur. der was described as God grooming or kick ing, or rolling barrels about, or turning big handle, or grinding snow, walking loud, breaking something, throwing logs, having coal run in, pounding about with 8 big ham, mer, rattling houses, hitting the clouds, or clouds pumping or clapping together or bursting, or else 1t was merely ice sliding of lots of houses. or cannon in the city or sky. hard rain down the chimney, or big rocks pounding, or plies sf boards falling down, or very hard rain, hail, or wind. Lightning is God putting out his finger or opening door, or turning g gas quick, or Every common) striking many matches at once, throwing stones and iron for sparks, setting paper afire, .or it is light going out side and inside the sky, or stars falling. God keeps rain in heaven in big sink, rows of buckets, big tub or barrels, and they run over or he lets it down with a water-hose through sieve, dippsr with holes, or sprinkles or tips it down or turns a faucet God makes it in heaven out of nothing or out of water, or it gets up by splashing up, or he dips it up off the roof, or it rains poff the ground when we don't see it. The clouds are close to the sky; they move because the earth moves and makes them. They are dirty, muddy things, or blankets, or doors of heaven, and are made of fog, of steam that makes the sun so, of smoke, of white wool or feathers and birds, or lace or cloth.
 From this and much more MT. Hall infers: l. That there is next to nothing of pedago- gic value the knowledge of wkich it is safe to assume at the outset of schoel-life Hence the need of objects and the danger of books and wordcram. Hence many of the best primary teachers in Germany spend from two to four even six months in talking of objects and drawing them before any begin ming of what we till lately have regarded as primary school work. 2. The best prepar- ation parents can give their children for good school training is to make them &C., quainted with natural objects, especially with the sights and sounds of tho country and talk about them, and send them to good and hygienic as distinct frcm most fashion able kindergartens.