The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-06-19

Hieite u PHssieal education. The play i'm
4pulse, believe, should have annie on
portunity to express itself in free snon-
! taneous exercise, and every effort should
| be made to secure Fairgrounds around
every school house in the state for such
| play--the school rooms do not afford
sufficient space.
Play is so real to the child He becomes
for the time being the horse, the bird,
the frog that he initiates Nav II not be
possible by tbs projecting himself into
the life and habits of the animals that
he develops a closer sympathy than we
are able to arouse by stories intended to
cultivate consideration for the brute Gre
alton?
In his reproduction of trades and oe-
equations his heart is warmed towards
those who contribute so much to our
comfort and convenience. Many of us
have been impressed by the look of
reverence cast toward the motorman.
after the small boy has been playing
! street car
1t was in this game that I witnessed
the most intense feeling on the part of
| boy five years of age. The chairs we're
| the cars that passed through the trans-
fer station, without moving of course |
was to be an old lady from the country
who did not know the streets very well.
| while Frank was to be the conductor
| In a business like, but very kindly way
he said Where do you want to get off,
old lady?' replied. AT Mrs Kerse-
vars Mrs X was Franks mother) but
I don't remember just what street she
lives on Could you tell me?' 1 shall
never forget how his sensitive little face
twitched with suppressed emotion. as he
| hurriedly asked in a low tone, Yes, but
she amt nay mother is she?' Nor how
relieved he looked when I replied, "Oh,
no, don't suppose she ever heard of
| you.' To have been less imaginative
| than he, not to have accepted him as
real conductor would have been to
make a small boy extremely miserable.
| Through games and plays children learn
the necessity of rules regulating them,
and usually render willing obedience TO
! them. They soon learn that like the
laws of the Modes and Persians there
| is no appeal Many of these games
| could not be traced to their origin, and
written rules were never heard of in
connection with them, perhaps they ante
date the games originated by Cain and
| Abel in the garden of Eden. Tradition,
| however has preserved them, and one
| set of children hand them down to the
| next The discipline received through
play in the way of accepting law and or
der without murmur or complaint is very
valuable Many times teachers might Sc
cure willing obedience and unflagging
interest in the schooroom IL the lesson
| followed the plan of some familiar game,
/ and through this she might lead up to
| a fuller appreciation of the necessity of
| law and order in this environment. But
here we may be on dangerous ground.
| A protest may be uttered that I would adj
vocate the complete substitution of play
for work. DR. Hughes OF Toronto, Can
ada has evidently heard of this protest
| for he says, Some teachers even yet
| think that the advocates of play as a
valuable means of education mean that
| play should be substituted for work, while
others fear that the child who has been
| trained to play will never like to work.
| Both classes are wrong. It was Richter
who gave the following philosophical an
| swer to such objections: TO teach by
play Is not to spare the child exertion
or to relieve him of 1t. but to awaken in
him a passion which forces on him and
renders easy the strongest effort At
| ter quoting Richter DIR. Hughes contin-
| ues: "Play is the work of childhood. 1t
| Is the greatest agent in co-ordinating
the different energies of the brain. Tt
developes tendency to work and cul-
| tivates in the energetic player the ply
! steal force and the characteristic ag-
| gressive spirit that enjoys work and ac-
complishes mighty deeds" Did not Well
lington say that Waterloo was won on the
Fairgrounds at Elton?
|
in education and that of the whole child,
mental, moral, and physical is not mod
| ern. In Platos republic the idea of max
/ ing work and study attractive is suggest
| ed as a powerful factor in securing good
| results. All students of the history of
education know that this doctrine was
| a part of the plan of Montaigne and 9TH
| ers. But IL was Froebel that made the
| practical application of the theories In
| the kindergarten, and it is due to this
wonderful system that the primary school
Is now a place of happiness and light
! while once It was a treadmll, a place
of dull routine, where warmth and bright
ness seldom penetrated.
| 1t is understood that work Is the
brain" of the school room, no sensi-
BILE person would argue against that, but
| while we work let us borrow the hap
plest characteristics from play. Let us
not rob one of these little ones of his
birthright of a joyous, happy childhood.
1t is after all, only a question of serving
or compelling Shall we develop the
child along the line of his instincts, or
shall we spend our energies In forcing
him into lines contrary to the laws with
in him? Often compelling seems necessa-
ry when 1t is only seeming. The activity
of the child needs only to be drawn away
from what Is harmful or perhaps what
is merely of no profit and led into that
is many Till Difficult that could be
safely and easily climbed If play was
considered as a practical aid and the