The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1897-01-07
MINNESOTA
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
Whole,N /
!. fa ZEN directed to the study Of
p, fen However, the results
IaA -sfy meager, and are concerned

II ~ zen Urected to- the study of
I'D, Wren, However, the results
JaA meager, and are concerned
/ lare with physical conditions. The study
of Individual detectives, and successful
method employed in their education now
being pursued under the direction Of sew
eral sofour foremost universities and normal
schools, will doubtless be productive Of
tangible results. Certainit is that the slow
and defective child is receiving more SYM
pathetic consideration than a generation
ago. The Ounce block has been banished
from the school room. just as the stocks, the
rack, and similar Instruments of torture
have been banished from penalinstitutions,
yet In many places dunce- bieck methods
stiiI prevail, and the victim OF unfortunate
hsredity and unfAvorable environment IL
subjected to unwtss methods W hich further
retard his undeveloped powers.
A healthy, robust young man is accosted
bya friend with the remark, '.You do not
look well this morning. john" Meeting
another acquaintance he receives similar
saiui alton. In fact, everyone tells him that
be looks sick. Though at first unconscious
Of any physical derangement be begins to
feel he is sick. He takes to his bed, becomes
actually sick, and narrowly escapes death
In consequence of what was intended as
practical joke.
Throughout life the stimulation Of praise
and approval is given 10 the quick, the &C.
tive, the alert, 1.-The one who least needs it,
while from earliest childhood the dull child
has been necessarily reminded Of his defect
until lack of self confidence and consequent
encouragement have further bllghted the
stunted mental growth. That heis not more
often driven from school. and his mental life
entirely destroyed is due to the fact that
nature has endowed him with large
amount OF paslence and perseverance.
However true the homeopathic principle,
"similia simillbus curantur," may be. it
should MT be- applied TO the correction and
cure of al defects. On the other hand.
the stimulating powell of encouragement
should be used by the teacher in the cure of
mental dyspepsia,,asit is used by the physi-
clan in the cure ofthe physical disease. Few
children there are who cannot do something
Iwel. Self-confidence can he cultivated by
encouraging them in that which they can
i do.
That our public schools are not successful
in their treatment of mental defec,s is shown
by the fact thata large percentage IF such
children leave school before reaching the
fourteenth year. Under the tuition of courses
of study and methods of instruction devised
for normal children, they have been foi ced
to feel that they are defective. They cannot
keep up with their more fortunate fellows,
and are ashamed to drop back, Discouraged,
they "drop out" and, in the case of boys,
recruit the loafng, and eventually, the tramp
and criminal classes.
Granted-that iading is necessary, cannot
an exception be made in the case ofthese
exceptionals? If the course of study must be
suited TO the abilities and needs of the nor,
nal child, how shall those below the average
be accommodated to IL? Must those falling
below the standard for normal children be
) dropped to a lower grade? Lack of interest
in h stady, distrust of his Abilities dis
couragement and shame, place such pupil
at SO great disadvantage that he rarely
does satisfactory work in the lower class
Requirements for promotion should be suf-
ficiently elastic to enable the teacher to avoid
| injustice to the slow or deficient pupil.
Not all educators would agree to the state
ment that the chief aim Of the teacher
should be to produce classes of pupils exact
/
ments. On the contrary, nearly all will agree
RI with the one who says, "The supreme pur-
pose of creation is the development of the
individual"-A development, take it,
which respects ones individuality.
1t is easier. perhaps, to guide the develop.
: ment of the nine whom nature has favored
than Of the enc whom she has neglected
!, just as 1t is easier to care for.the inety and
nine in the fold than to rescue the one who
is in distress. However. the appeal of such
: little one" will not be In vain to the true
teacher. For the Guidance and encourage.
ment of such. I cannot do better than to
quote from Prof Royceof Harvard. wnen he
says "There is no magic about the teachers
art OF treating mental defects any more than
about the test Of his business. Humanity,
!. experience. watchfulness, int ligent com.
prehebsion Of the actual situation what
ever 1t is, and then once more tact, these are
the devices
Il John ]. Boobar, of st. Cloud, probab-
ly carried off the laureIs as the champ
ion story, teller of the last house, says
the st. Paul Globe, but now the tables
are turned, and stores are being told
on him. One is at the expense of the
auditor of county. whose name need
not be mentioned further than to state
that it has the largest population Of
any county in the state. 1t appears
that this auditor, with an eye to the
r,,eef;oo which ton1 ,,1.ca ,.~t.-Jou