Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1911-07-14
PRECOOITY.

Prof, Sidis, of Harvard College, at the
time of the birth of his only son, deter
mined to put into practice certain prin-
ciples.
He believed that education should begin
with the first unfolding of child's faculties
and that this would not necessarily involve
any Overstrain, because, he contended
every one possesses a reserve fund OF
latent energy" which he may be habitu-
ated to use to his great advantage.
Acting on this belief, when his son, at
about eighteen months, uttered his first
childish words, he took him in hand and
began what would seem rigorous course
of mental discipline. Daily, sometimes for
an hour or more, he gave him lessons in
speaking, spelling and reading, using for
the purpose a box of alphabet blocks The
result was that by the time the little fel-
low was two and a-half he had learned
simultaneously to talk, spell and read, and
had developed a phenomenal desire for
knowledge. All children are naturally in
quisitive; but as a rule their interest is
scattered and not long sustained, and they
are not at all concerned with serious subjects
or matters that involve any prolonged con-
centration. This boy, on the contrary, even
as child of three. four and five, busted
himself in actual study.
To-day, in his thirteenth year, he is a
.o.;.oklo ,o.od;dx, ~ laarpind He could
give-and indeed has given many col
lege professor hard rub in mathematics.
Differential and integral calculus have no
terrors for him. Analytical geometry is
as simple to him as elementary arithmetic
is to other boys of his age.
His father believes that his wonderful
accomplishments-w abundantly en-
title him, young as he is, TO be rated as a
imam of genius" are to be accounted for
not on the ground that he possesses natural
capacities superior TO other children, but
by reason of his having been trained from
infancy to use his mental faculties cor
Tectly and to draw habitually on his store
of latent energy He also lays stress, and
rightly, on the intellectual stimulus his boy
received through the special environment
with which he surrounded him. There can
be no question, for instance, that his rapid
progress in the acquisition of knowledge is
largely due to the suggestive influence Of
the furnishings of his bedroom.
While he was still an infant his parents
set apart for him bright, CHEEKY, we'll
lighted room. They chose a quiet design
for the wall paper, and hung about the
room few attractive pictures Of a type
restful and pleasing to the eye, and at the
same time making a strong appeal to the
child's curiosity. Opposite his bed, situated
so that it would be the first object to meet
his eyes when he awoke in the morning,
and the last he saw as he fell asleep, a
small bookcase was placed, containing not
merely the ordinary books of childhood
but also books of serious interest. Toys
having a scientific basis were also placed
in the room, which thus became, without
the little fellow suspecting his parents
purpose, sort of educational museum
inspiring him with an ardent desire to
learn all he could.
There have been numerous incidents OF
precocious children, but we believe young
Sidis is the first in whom the precociousness
was deliberately developed. We have no
desire to 90 on record as favoring this sort
of child development, but only use it as an
example to show what may be accom-
plished in training the young.