The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-10-11
Education OF Both Hands.

Tic Old fashioned notion that ambi
dcxtcrity Is an impossible achievement
for the mass Of people to acquire, has
been exploded and the long maintained
supremacy Of the right over the left
hard has been ovcrthrown. In spite
Of the fact that psychologists have
tod Us time without number that there
!, no real reason why the lett hand
and arm should be inferior to the
right. people have looked with pity
and sympathy upon the minority who
were left handed, pr south paved, be-
licving that such persons we're aiiict
cd with an unknown aud undcfinablc
ailmcnt
To day all this is changed After
year Of persistent effort and study, j.
Liberty TadI, for twenty-five years Il
student d! scLool systems in conncc
ton with his dictatorship Of the Pub
lie school Of, Industrial Art in New
York, aud formerly Il resident Of Phil
aielphia, has introduced radical in
noyation in methods Of education, says
the Philadelphia Times.
Mr.. Tadd, realizing that the left
hand could be trained equally well
with the right and seeing the manifold
advantages Of ambidcxtrousncss in
sisted that all his pupils should use
both hands. At first this seemed cx-
trcmcly difficult to the pupils, who
were accustomed to using only the
right hand, but gradually, after much
preliminary practice, they were de-
/ lighted with the progress made With
the pupils. however, who had never
attempted the work before, the results
were marvellous, sthc left hand acuuir-
ing equal facility with the right in cx-
ccuting the required movements. a
visitor, entering his pupils classroom,
is at once struck with astonishmcnt
upon seeing girl Of ten or twelve
years Of age rapidly skctching an clab-
oratcly curved pattern with both hands
ut the same time, the left hand exc
cutting the exact counterpart Of the
right. In another corner Of the room
may be seen children who were right
handed executing elaborate drawings
with the left and left handed children
drawing with equal facility with their
right hand.
Mr. Tadd is also opposed to cram
ming the youthful mind. lie believes
children should not be pushed to their
utmost and forced to study against
their inclination Each child needs Il
certain amount Of relaxation aud play
and this should be accorded to it.
They should be made to take an in
tcrest in the work. 1t should be sim
pic enough to be graspcd by the young
seeker after knowledge, and, above
all, the child should come from the
school work refreshed, interested and
inspired for greater achievements.
Speaking Of his work, Mr.. Tadd
said: "My new methods in education
are intended to educate the hand, eye
and mind togethcr-not one hand nor
one eye, but both hands, both eyes.
and both lobcs Of the brain. You
know using the right hand tends to
cultivate the left lobe of the brain to
the exclusion Of the right, aud the op-
positc result is obtained by using the
left hand. Now, educate both lobes
Of the brain together, and thus dimin-
ish the mental strain upon the child.
"S1y work concerns itself with re-
alitics. I bring children in direct
contact with the beautiful, and this
contact is to be utilized in training
alike the hand, eye and brain. At
first initiatively, and then automati-
cally, l develop both hands alike.
Ambidextcrity is one Of the character
istic features Of my methods.
Another distinguishing character
istic is the training of the memory.
AS SOon rs inc eye anu AenC nave pc
come acquainted with form by OBJ
servation, this formis to be reproduced
from memory alone. insist upon di-
rect communication with nature. Re-
ality should, above all things, be en-
ployed in the instruction of child.
How many children would know what
n strait or a cockatoo was, and yet if
they were shown miniature strait or
went to the Zoo and saw the cockatoo,
they would comprehend what both
were as no explanation or description
could cnlightcn them. For instance,
in an afternoon visit to the Zoologi-
cal Garden a child will learn more