The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-12-12
ideas TOR Uuornpn,

I|@JL} u CllllQftDtQ HdS E94tG mus Ia1
an the k-indergartners,'' says Professor
Earl Barnes. Of the Stanford University,
Now that This wave ue Child Study is
sweeping over the eountry. the kinder
gartners win have to lock TO their laurels,
for the systematic study of the child is
being taken up by-shall we say wiser
and older heads7 or by older heads that
are striving TO be wiser? People begin to
realize that a child is something more
than a mere nonentity: chat It mas been
too long assumed that we give and impart
ITO him all that he knows: that we are the
ones he is to study. and we have Won
dered when our ends aimed at failed to
meet our expectations. 9. Stanley Hall
says:-"Alas, for the teacher who does not
learn more from his children than he can
ever hope to teach them" And our own
khear teacher, Froebel, himself. has said-
"WonId you know how to lead the child
in this matter? observe the child. he will
teach you what to do" FOO long has this
counsel been overlooked, but now that it
is needed, and having been tried in a very
small way. it is found to be Of inestimable
value. The desire for means Of pursuing
.sChsld Study is becoming what our de-
tractors are pleased TO call "a fad.
\only a very few years ago people would
have jeered at the idea of forming a club
VIII the sole idea of studying the indi-
vfd1 bal child, and then comparing his char
Aact4 ristics with those of hundreds of other
in order that the teacher might
better understand the material she had
to handle. Yet today Mothers Clubs
and clubs for child study for the sole
purpos of studying child character are
being organized with the hearty support
and commentator of men and women
who are d~eyoting their lives endeavoring
e to solve the imperfect educational prob
fns Of our times.
much literature has lately appeared
this subject from the pens of near
the leading advocates of this line
Ely. that to minr-1y describe the
i would be undoubtedly a waste
,ace; but for the benefit of those
have not had the opportunity to in
stigate the theory a light description
T the course of work may prove of in
est. The plan adopted by the stu
int teachers of, the California Kinder
sarten Training School may possibly
best serve to Illustrate the method in
Question. as it is being thoroughly and
polSAEa- 4IaGA SAd0C1t-
teacher selects two children as subjects
for continued study, recording in books
kept for the purpose the different mani
Efestations Of character which occur each
day. Once a week their reports are turn
ed into headquarters. where they are
J assorted under the heads Of sex, age,
4 nationality and as nearly. as. possible
q &leir home environments, companions,
,upations and social atmosphere. The
ult of this is to enable the teacher
have a more perfect understanding
child nature. thereby preventing the
mendou waste of power which must
sessarily occur when work Of any
i'd is undertaken without a full knowl-
se of the principles involved. In moth
else can ignorance of law involve
re woefully fiat failures than in the
aiming of a little child. When by means
these classes devoted to child study
enthusiastic interest shall have been
'oused among parents, when every
tcher sfai1 realize that in a class of
children she may have as many diff
Compartments and capabilities to
mssith, and knowing how to handle
the ren different dispositions to the best
advantage Is willing to do SO, then and
not till. then will we have a perfect sys-
tenn Of child education. Because some
plants require a great deal of water it
does not follow that all others are able
to consume the same quantity; and yet
the same amount of work is given TO a
class regardless of the capabilities of
each Individual child. It will probably
4 take years before the full salutary eff
feet of this new method OF procedure
win be felt In the educational world, yet
a sufficient amount has already been
accomplished to warrant the statement
that in its influence upon the future
status of both pupil and teacher 1t is of
the greatest practical value.
49,
Many teachers do not realize that eight
tenths of the children under their care
are defective physically; but systematic
child study has shown that out of five
ousand pupils. betweeu fifty and sixty
.cent. were found to have more or less
- impaired eyesfght.
also discovered that in many
he children whose eyesight was
r Poorest occupied the desks situated
rele darkest part of the room, while
aroest seats were used by those whose
11ht was normal. Following this dis
pub of defective vision seats were
aged and the evil remedied in a great
rec. The tests were made with Smell
Is test cards. which were distributed
long the public schools in Saginaw,
ich- The discovery of his serious
1ysical defect among students was due
lely to the newly-aroused desire for
lid study.
Next. the attention was turned to an
xaminaticn of the children's hearing, for
was rightly argued that a teacher
aust have a knowledge Of at least the
1ost important physical conditions of a
hid before she could even hope TO esti-
nate their mental capacity. The result
Of this examination OF hearing was as
surprising as was the result of the sight
tests, showing as 1t did a general average
twenty 70 twenty-five per cent. OF de-
Msyes.
we stop and consider that so
IN Of the children in the public
h are suffering from either defec-
har1Fesight or hearing, or perhaps both,
when we again consider the
wiedged stultifying effect that
g'rl raisfortunes have upon the INTEL
IN Nand when we also remember that
sbanent physicians assert that with