The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-01-13
some USEFUL
SCHOOL FADS
CHILD CULTURE SERIES NUMBER
FOUR, ISSUED FROM VALLEY
CITY NoRMAL-FIRsT BUSINESS
OF CHILD is TO BECOME A
HEALTHY ANIMAL.

Following is the fourth number OF
the Child Culture series being sent out
by the Valley City Normal. These pa
pers are all edited by Prof A. P. Hollis
This paper is from the pen OF Prof
G. r. Davis:
The first business of a child is to
become healthy animal"
Luther Burbank, whom everyone
knows from his wonderful work in the
rearing of plants, has written some in
teresting things on the rearing Of chill
dren. He says, Every child should
have mud pies, grasshoppers, water.
bugs, tadpoles, frogs mud turtles. ell
derberries, wild strawberries, acorns,
chestnuts, trees to climb, brooks to
wade in, water lilies, woodchucks. bats
bees, butterflies, various animals to pet.
nay fields, pine cones, rocks to roll,
sand, snakes, huckleberries and hor-
nets; and any child who has been de.
prived of these has been deprived of
the best part Of his education"
That is laying IT on pretty thick, but
you can tell what Burbank means He
means that child should be out in
the fresh air and sunshine as much as
possible, learning from things by
handling them, and above all, whether
he learns or not, exercising his muscles.
There are parents who worry because
their child does not take readily ia
books, but prefers boisterous pIay.
Don't think this means that the child
will not have good brain later. Mem
! tai power is the highest and most COM
pick of human attributes. We do not
look for fruit from orchard trees until
after a long period of growth; so with
the child. The fine fibers in the brain
upon which mental power depends.
have not all developed by the twelfth
year.
Don't compel a child to do much fine.
minute work, and discourage him IL he
wants to. If he Is going to write. a
big course pencil to make big letters
is the thing to start with. A 6-year-old
child ought not to read type in which
the capitals are much under a quarter
of an inch high. This is because there
must be considerable nerve develop
ment before there is capacity for
fine work.
Eyes were made for seeing at a dis
lance mostly. They have to be broken
In very gradually to the heavy strain
so often demanded of them by our
ways of working nowadays. Let the
child use his eyes as much as possible
on large things. and out in the omen.
Eye strain, and the effort of attention
| to fine work like needle work and too
much reading and writing, are sources
of the nerve disorders now so common.
The nerves that control big bodily
muscles are in a way the foundat ton
OF the finer nerves. Let the child get
a good foundation for his nervous sys.
tenn by plenty Of running, romping,
| climbing, etc.
| The schools are developing the
science Of managing the play of chill
dren, and even are bringing some OF
the play element, and much of physical
| activity, into the schooIroom. This is
as 1t should be. Much time has been
wasted in discussing fine points of
science with children who ought to be
moving about and handling things in
order to learn. So don't set your
teacher down as being a crank if she is
trying to introduce into her school
some of the new ideas. Help her out
with her playground, her school gar
den, her manual training, and other
so-called fads. Children who have
plenty Of directed activity in their
early years will learn all the faster in
their later years.
And let the child work; not long and
arduously, but so as to establish the
habit of industry and to familiarize
MIN with things and tools. It is one
Of the advantages Of farm life that
the child can get such an abundance
and variety Of industrial training.
The following table, arranged by DR..
Clement Dukes, is sort of general
average of what amount of work and
sleep is desirable for a child of given
age.
Hours of work Hours of slnnr,