The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-07-13
A Strong Plea for Consideration
Of the individual Pupil.
DEVELOPMENT DETAIL
Growth of Body and Mind - How
Abuse of the Little Ones
May BezAVoided.
written for the Advertfser.)

/
Of the results Of the recent scientific
study of childhood. In the physical
| growth Of the child, there is the we'll
known fact of periodicity in the pro-
cesses of development. All parts of
the body do not grow proportiOnately
at one and the same time. The body
grows first in length, then in girth.
Children unfold their physical powers
in exactly the same order, but child
rem of the same age do not grow at
! the same rate The muscles of the
upper arm get their maturity a year
and a half before the muscles OF the
| fingers; the muscles of the shoulders
six months before the muscles of the
elbows; and these in turn five to eighI
months before the muscles OF the
wrist: which last are in form for train-
ing from three to six months before the
muscles of the fingers. When we in
sist that a child shall begin to write
by means of the finger muscles only
with a small pencil, in narrow spaces,
we run counter to the principles that
are plainly written in this physical
constitution of the child. We mus
first train the large shoulder muscles
before attempting to BURDEN the tenuer
undeveloped muscles of the fingers.
Just as the body unfolds by stages,
the mind also develops in the same
wav. ONLY two senses are operative at
birth. the sense of touch and the sense
of temperature The rest of the four
teen or fifteen senses with which we
are endowed are developed in regular
and tendons, and so on through the
whole category. In order that mental
DEVELOPMENT may be full and complete,
we must surround the child with such
natural objects, as will give ample OPP
pOrtunity for the exercise Of these
sense experiences. The games and ele-
mentary science work in the kinder
garten follow this line of natural law
of physical and mental development.
A second epoch in the mental de-
yelopment of the child is the memory
stage. when it is easiest to cultivate
this function of the mind, because at
this period of growth there is pro-
digious power of remembering details.
! The adult commits to memory rules or
rhymes, that the child absOrbs and al
| fixes with little effort. Imagination
| characterizes the next period. Child
rem find special pleasure in living IN
| a. make-believe world: chairs become
horses; dolls, most beloved OF all COM
panions: a bit of ribbon will trans
form the prattling fodder into gay
lady of society; and the four-year-old
boy will preach to an assemblage OF
miscellaneous objects that he edifies as
much as an ordinary Sunday cOngre-
cation.
Then comes the period of judgment
and comparison. The child, full CT cur
iosity, wants to know the why and
the wherefore of this and that. "NO
child whose curiosity is thrOttled and
starved will ever become q. good rea-
soner. He must first ask questions and
reasons of others, in order to be able
to ask questions and reasons OF him
self
A well organized course of study
must be in harmony with these pro-
cesses of development. Some years
ago four teachers in the city of PARIS,
asked permission of the Minister Of
Education that each Of them might
give his twenty-five pupils the same
studies as were prescribed in the reg
ular course, but in a different order,
such as they believed to accord better
with the natural development Of a
boys mind. These boys completed the
studies prescribed in three and one
half years instead of the seven years |
assigned in the prescribed program. |
All the arithmetic taught in our schools |
for a period of seven or eight years, |
could be better taught in the three |
years between seven and ten years OF
age. Instead of muddling the child's !
mind by such dawdling processes as |
are now in vogue there would be an |
alertness in seeing through arlthmet- |
zeal problems and rushing through the |
work that are desirable results Of |
school training. as we'll as a saving OF |
time for some important studies now |
crowded out.
The effect of fatigue upon the phys
ical and mental development IS one or |
the most important recent discoveries. |
Fatigue is a physical poison, and bod |
lily fatigue always induces mental Ia
tigue. Overstrain at school, by pro- |
ducing fatigue, may be the occasion OF
such destruction and disintegrauOn OF
bodily tissue as to cause serious and |
nermanent mental defect. The best
neriOd of the day for physical and men
taI vfgor is between a. m. and 1915
a. m. The heaviest school work should
he assigned to the hours when the
chiId's mind acts most vigorously. Be
cause of disregard Of these faces in re-
gard to fatigue, not a day passes in a
city like Chicago. that some child is
rot made a helpless cripple in some of
the large stamping works and canning
factories. After working under con-
slant pressure for several hours the
child become so wearied that he can
no longer direct the tired fingers and
aching arms with any degree o. accur-
acv. and he becomes the easy prey Of
the jaws of the great machine.
Defects of vision increase from |
grade 10 grade with the fncraasn Of