Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-11-08

Ifyou 90 in school Tor The weak minded
you will remark the inactivity. A great
scienti:t says there's no stimulus which
does not produce activity. This motor life
of the child is essential for mental activity.
The motor part of the brain must be de-
yelopeh first. His activity Is welding the
different pnrts OF the brain. You can't have
a reasoning mind without well Hrticulated
brain. You must go through physical CO.
ordination before you have mental and
moral coordination. Discipline is. going
against nature, which makes the children
active. You can't get control from sup.
preston. A lively thought or feeling must
result in activity. 1t is a law of nature.
Indulge activity along right lines. Guide
action, instead of suDpressing it. Teach
every subject SO IL can be brought into ae-
tive life. A thing that child can't work
out he does not know. The child passes
from, state Of activity into the abstract or
mental life.'
Prof. Twltlnyer then introduced Prof.
Iyte, whose subject WAS Language. As
it was nearly IL O'Clock Prof. Lyle made
only few remarks as preface to his after
noon address. which was on Language.
The institute then adjourned until 9 O'Clock.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The afternoon session was opened by the
audience singing Come. Cheerful Com
panions.n
Prof. o'SIiea then spoke. "Have you
ever thought that a child comes into the
world with faculties without being able to
use them. He is clumsy, he is awkward
because he has not come into possession of
powers. He must be led carefully not COM
PEELED to do fine work for which he is I'M
fitted. II used to be the idea, the smaller
the child, the finer the work he ought to do,
but that is contrary to the order of growth,
the smaller the child the larger the scope he
needs. First, strength and freedorn from
ha lar In hn 81 hpnpa N M
dination. In reading, for instance the
fundamental thing is good, strong voice,
he is not able tn articulate properly in his
early years, unless he have a cultured an
cestry. Teaching is SO local work that
the method must grow out OF the necessity.
III a child can't sound ing" don't make
him miserable about 1t.
1.-THE early life Is life OF excess in ac-
tivity. When n child says thing his ex-
preston is excessive, he is so much more
excessive in everything than he needs to be.
In way he runs riot. But it is necessary
for HIM to be excessive in order to grow.
Control and refinement come from exuber-
ance. There WIS one oman in Madison.
Wis, who. in youth, was a terror to the
community in which he iyed. but his par
ents had faith in him and watched him; he
was fellow of Il university at IL and now
at 30 years Of age occupies one of the most
important positions in this country. He
has strength and power. In ADULT life one
may control ones voice and have the power
of inhibition, but this is not possible in
child life.
"What gives direction to a cnild's ac-
tivitiesp That is the problem of teaching.
A child's activities are prompted by irf1u-
ences about him. His imitation of those
about him show this III adult life ones
activities are determined by the actions of
his associates. Have you ever thought how
the attitude of your schoolroom is deter
mined by one or two pupils2 The boys al
ways have leader, while the girls are more
apt to follow the teacher. We notice in the
university those who come in nnconsciousy
assinilating the life of the university. We
teach more by personality than anything
else. A personality strong and well poised and
a mind stored with the technique of teach
ing makes the ideal teacher. strong per-
There is no individual so directing the flu
ture life of the community as the teacher.
All teuchers ought to be ideal in their per-
sonality. The individual is led solely by
personality. One person may present a
certain subject, and no one be moved; an;
other may espouse the same cause and
everybody will take 1T un. Every great man
that ever lived possessed a strong person.
| ality. Hamlet could not have taught, be-
cause he was ever 'sicklied Ger with the
pale cast of thought he wasn't man of
action.
the play is an imitation of some form of his
| environment. Play is the great funda-
IN entail type of learning In the child's life.
In play life the child makes over the activ-
tiles of those around HIM. Watch him
play school; is it not a reflex of the teacher.
Could the Creator have provided better
force for the child to learn the world?
Make the abstract things he must learn rel
alive to his play life.
mot all children are equal in motor lite
or in activity. One child will develop in all
activities another will tend TO abstr ctions
one is active motor, the other thoughtful
If tho thoughtful type IS not kept to practl-
cal things the mind will turn upon itself
and this will develop abnormal character
istics. We must recognize that nature has
made people different, that some people
must work with their minds and some with
| their hands,"
Prof. Lyle then continued his talk on
Language" Language is not a subject,
but me MS or instrument by which we
teach. There is danger sometimes of los
ing sight of the child itself and placing too
much stress on the subject taught. Lam
| guage is the expression of thought by means
| OF words combined in sentences. While we
know that children are not men, men are
often children. Expression is what we must
look for. If l want to understand defini-
ton l must understand the words which
compose it. Thought is seeing relations
| 4 n6 iHuBudB6 WOTh ttiut we uD hlttT we 1HYB
| dismissed the cares of school is hearing,
talking, silent reading, oral reading and
writing. Herein is an intellectual process
and also a physical process. Hearing is OBJ
tanning thought through spoken words
| talking is the process utterlng articulate
sounds; silent reading is like hearing ex-
| cept you obtain Though the eye instead of
| the ear; oral reading is the process of
gaining thought and at the same time utter
ing it; writing is the process of thinking
and at the same time putting thoughts
in writing. We also have photography,
grammar, pronunciation and penmanship
which are connected with all of these
former subjects. OF these subjects you
teach the most in oral reading, which
| is the thing you do the least of, and of
talking which is the thing you do the most
of you teach the least. Do you ever think
of teaching talking? In drawing you teach
| children TO have control of the hand, and
drawing will aid in writing.
Vocal music is important in language
| training. Writing and drawing train the
child's faculties and help him to think.
| Thinking is the minds mode of motion.
We do not need to teach our children to be
patriotic. We need only to direct their pa
triotism. We need not teach children to
think. because they will think, but they
must be taught how to think"
| The Institute was separated into three
sections. Miss Harris addressed the primary
teachers, Prof. Albert talked to the gram
| mar school teachers on geography, and
Prof. Lyle talked to the higher grammar
and High School teachers on grammar.
| EVENING SESSION.
The lecture by Prof. M. v. O'Shea of the
University oil Wisconsin before the Teachers
Institute was given in the drawingroom of
the New Century Club Inst evening at the
invitation Of the club. The beauty of the
clubhouse was enhanced by the briliancy
of the lights and a profusion of ported
plants, chrysanthemums and vines. A large
| and enthusiastic audience filled the audit,tr