The stayer. (Canyon City, Tex.) 1896-1903, 1902-12-04

} ton is the result of interest. And
we know also that we are all crea-
lures of habit-that the mind as
well as the body tends to keep on
doing the thing it has repeatedly
done. Therefore the child becomes
studious by continually studying,
even for short period at a time.
But in the beginning, he is not 60
ing to do even that, unless some
force outside of himself implies him
to do it. Here arises the real
question. What character shall
that force assume? The past ten
dency was very little bit of moral
suasion with great deal of physi-
cal force lin the form of a birch or
hickory rod. Now some people
thind we have swung around to the
opposite extreme-that we have
too little of the birch rod and too
much moral suasion-that a more
judicious of the two would be bet
ter. But after all is there, can
there be, any real gain of studious
power without its being founded on
interest? think no boy or girl, no
young man or young woman, will
ever become student until they
love learning for learning's sake.
But they will not reach that stage
at one bound in ninety-five cases
out of hundred. 1t will be by
slow degrees, by more and more"
And it will depend so largely on
your love for learning as to whether
your children love it or not. 1t
sounds odd to even insinuate that
all teachersI.do not love learning,
but they do not. Those of you
who have dealt with them largely
must confess, though it is with
shamefacedness and sorrow, that
such is the case.
The one whose heart has never
been warmed can never touch the
heart of another. The teacher
who has never felt great longing,
aye, even hungering and thirsting
after knowledge, who has never
felt the fires of ambition burning
in his own heart and inspiring him
to greater things, can never hope
to klndle that sacred fire in the
hearts of his pupils. Yet the teach
er who feels all this himself does
not always succeed in making his
pupils feel it. One of the most
earnest men | ever knew, who was
himself fine student utterly failed
as a teacher. He did his best, but
ne failed to reach his pupils. He
lacked the warm human touch. He
failed to win them personally, there
fore he failed to inspire them.
We primary teachers can not
evade the fact that very great
part of the responsibility rests on
US. As children are started so
they go unless some very strong
teacher, at a great expenditure of
energy corrects early mistakes.
1t is true that we can not appeal to
the desire for future good etc.
with little children as we can with
older ones, but it is our province to
make school work 80 attractive to
them that they will like to do it,
and form habits of study. We can
Ill their minds with a longing to
NOW very early in their lives-a
lesire to find out things for them
selves, to note causes and effects
md to find out causes. We can T
rouse the why in their minds that I
will keep them forever seeking and I
more and more of the '
.reat world of mysteries about |
hem. The little child who is r
rained in this way can not fail to t
row into a man or woman of {
reader culture and more liberal I
Jews than the one who fails to get c
MS training. These early habits v
I'll all through a long life. We c
se this illustrated in every de- e
artment of life. t.
An old soldier passed along the Il