St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-20
The School Child: HIS Manners and Morals

pessimist and a cynic, but child OF
God. who is greater than any other
force.
How can a child's will power be
strengthened and his id cas- raised by
such stories as "Peck's Bad Boy" and
tom Sawyer" or the like, which EN-
phasize the excitement aad seeming
fun of wrongdoing. rather than the joy
and enthusiasm of all high endeavor
such as are pictured forth in stories
like the Vision of Dante" by Miss
Harrison, and those Of HaWthorne's
"Tang lewool Tales" These show
clearly that the real hero blends tho
virtues of adventure and courage
with the more spiritual ones of sympa-
thy and love for what is weaker than
himself.
The child should be encouraged, not
discouraged; lie should be led to feel
that the world is full of heroes; heroes
of the home. OF the trade world, of the
state and of the church. We would
make him an up-building. acting being,
net destroying, critical do-notting.
Hence, education should be three-fold.
According to Froebel, the great "apostle
of childhood" it should fit the needs OF
man. three-fold being, who develops
individually, as the great race man has
developed, not one-sided. partially
aroused mind. carrying sleeping body.
and demon Of a spirit. For it is the law
of all growth that unused powers de-
generate and are at last destroyed.
Why cannot the school have games
suited to the age of the children. which
are not merely athletic, but are the best
expression of the highest thoughts,
which, from the true Delsarte stand
point, is the aim Of all action? All of
the frcest peoples have played games.
Growth is only insured by right en-
vironment. which fits the needs at each
Stage OF the development, be it physc-
al, mental or spiritual. Why, then,
should we foolishIy try to cultivate a
garden Of plants with stalks and stems
and no roots and blossoms-thought,
with no feeling or action? Why not
recognize that man has three-fold
nature. and that the most beautiful
part, the crown, as il were, is the bios
som-the spirit, from which in turn
grow the seeds, which again prolucs
the beautiful. proving man to be trim
ity in unity. just as flower, just as
God is unity.
The struggle for life" thus grows
into a struggle for the life of Others"
What the child now can do he does
with the atltruistic purpose of serving
others. Thus, his sympathies are fos-
tered outside Of self and selfish ndS,
and his activities are developed that he
may do what the spirit prompts.
In other words. cannot the kinder
garten aims be continued throughout
the higher school life, and the little
child who has been led into harmony
with the great world order about HIN be
led on into a still deeper understanding
Of his relation to family. civic life,
state and the church universal, and a
deeper realization of the brotherhood of
all mankind and the fatherhooi Of God,
presentimentS Of which are given TO
him in the kindergarten if hs remains
through one year.
Dr.. Gunsaulus, of Chicago, once said;
"The divinest university boy can have
is a loving mothers heart" How many
children who do not have this in the
home, ever find it? Alas, it is great
deal to ask of a teacher to give this ill.,
dividual thought and love to fifty or
sixty chilren. But where shalt We
otherwise reach this three-fold nature
OF the child? The school must supply
universal needs. Each child must re-
ceive perfect love and love ideally, if
brotherly love is to blossom and bear
fruit. Is not this the purpose of Christ:s
coming? The aim of education is to
furnish that which will train upwards
every instinct manifested in the child,
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