The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-21
DOWN ON BIOGRAPHIES.
Or. Hall Thinks They Are oyerburdened
With Matter.

Perhaps my subject might be called
From fundamental to accessory
These terms come into psychology
through Ross and MERCER, who applied
them to the muscle, the fundamental
being the muscles which move the
large joints and develope first, and the
accessory muscles are those which
make the finer movements, and devel-
ope years later.
Heavy work is fundamental. The
Same distinction is found IN the ner-
vous system. The spinal cord is de-
yeloped first These nerves control re-
hexiYe. Higher up there is a secondary
system, which is accessory to the low
er, and is in the central sense areas of
the brain. They are not at all directly
sssoctl-ed to the outer part of the boz
dy. These centres control activities of
muscles in large groups in COM
plicated exercises. Third and high
est are the association fibres. They
are the most to be complexed the last
developed, the least organized, and are
farthest removed from the reflex
nerves.
These association areas of the brain
are most accessory
The muscles of the mouth are inner
waited from the spinal cord, as far as
the highest areas of the brain Circu-
lation would continue if the association
areas were removed, but there would
be none of the emotions which control
circulation. 1t was an epoch-making
change when our progenitors became
upright and when the arm was freed
from the low drudgery Of locomotion
Inc development OF tools was an I'M
mense step in the human race.
Thought iG ranracGnfad bx-
sorry muscles These are almost as
closely related to mental activity as
the brain. A test of how much chill
dren know Is how much they can DO
with their hands. We cannot think
without the use of these muscles. The
development Of the accessory muscles
is Of utmost Importance. 1t is impor
tant to see that the awkwardness of the
beginning of adolescence deyeIopes in
to skillfulness.
Motor ability is the best test Of ed
Vocational powers. All types Of arrest
show themselves in the development
Of these accessory muscles. You Of
ten see in children a weak thumb
which is a sirnian trait; strong
thumb is human trait The bilateral
development, the power to do differe2t
things with both hands at the same
time, comes late in life. One of the
FACTORS of motion is accuracy, and
then there is rapidity, the power of
making antagonistic movements In
the mind we have a very similar evo-
luton.
The first are the feelings, then the
will, and finally the intellect, which is
accessory. This is the law of educa-
uon. The danger of education is
the tendency to turn the pyramid on
It's apex and develope the accessory be-
fore the fundamental. The Greeks uD-
derstood this relation between muscles |
and brain. We have forgotten that we
should have motor activity. Children
need to move to think; in studying
they should whisper; in reading aloud
they should be dramatic, and read in |
a loud voice,
We begin to teach drawing by q |
straight lire, then an angle then a cir |
Gle. These are the last things a child
shouid 90. The way to draw is to draw
freely with big pencil Not a straight |
lne, not circle, but there is action in |
such drawing. The pedagogic disease
IS accessory, the worst word in our
pedaSogic vocabulary. No child who
IS taught to do things accurately will
ever develope well. In music, we have
the same thing. We begin at the
notes. The history Of music tells us |
that there were no notes for music at |
hrst. The child should be taught tunes
hrst, and never let the child know there |
are such things as scales and rotation. |
II IS just as absurd TO teach notes be-
tore the children can sing tunes as II |
would be to teach them to read before
they can speak. The function of nau-
sic isn't to read music. The children
shou!o be sung to, to catch the rhthyn |
and sentiment.
The same is true to an extent in |
seacnlhg 10 read. The way to read is
not to let the child see book at first. |
put the teacher should tell the old |
stories which have shaped mankind |
Isn't there a young lady who will de- |
vote herself to story telling? Everv-
thing that you can give to children
through the ear, will be stronger. GiI |
the children the classic stories. Teach
ers stand between the child and its |
right to know. Children have a right |
to be brought in contact with those
things. School means leisure and that
is the last thing the children can have
The good teacher could draw the chill
dren ike magnet by this story teller's |
art.
All the technique of reading and writ |
ing is too much for small children. This
everlasting grind on language as such. |
10 wrong until The adolescent period. |
1t teaches the gift of being able to use
words without their meaning anything. |
II we could only Danish all these lam
guage books and let children speak with
freedom. Grammatical accuracy ard
purity Of idiom do not come naturally
to the child. | should have the children
taught to speak anyhow than rohow, |
slang has its place, it is fundamental. |
good language is accessory. Slang Is |
childish, for a single word expresses
more than whole sentences Some slang
is good old English, too.
1t should have a certain place at q |
certain stage with some children l pityl
the teacher who hasn't good vocab-
ulary of slang.
The same trouble is in nature study. |
The way to begin with children is ma
ture myths, popular names of DIants |
and animals; they come first The best
kind of stimulus of education is myth. |
The law of childhood is life; every
thing lives for children, just as every
thing had life for primitive man Wei
need something of the old New England
farm, where the development wes fun
damental. Forty-four industries were
represented, everything raised and
made on the farm. The child learned
something of everything. Our school
geography is very fundamental, but it
is hypertrophic. 1t has overgrown in
the fundamentalism. 1t is a simple
farange Of boundaries and capitals and
oStiNiioiiy anu DlOlOSy anu races Uf
men, things that are not at all asso-
ciated.
Compare the II sciences in the school
represented in the geography with the
simple lines laid down by the Geograph-
ical society Of England Turkey is spok-
en- of as the sick man" of Europe.
Geography is the sick subject in orr
school, and II needs doctoring. But lite
doctors are not recognized by the reg
ii Ok, ~.
l would greatly reduce it and not break
up the children's mind by giving Ii a