Omaha daily bee., 1911-10-29
By DR.. Guy Potter Benton
President of the University Of Vernon

President Of the University Of Vermont.
~ EDUCATIONAL infantioide, as l call it, 10
r. a wicked crime against civilization.
/ define educational infanticide as
the process of pushing maturity down into
infancy 1t is the intellectual forcing of chill
dren, just as plants in dollhouse are forced
by being surrounded with the most ideal con-
ditions Their brains are encouraged to be-
come unhealthy active. Their mental pow
ers are overtaxed. Their minds work over
time
There have been cases OF children who did
wonderful mental work at an early age, Be-
fore they were six they were able to read
and write better than most grown folk A
year or so later they were delving into the
ancient Greek and Roman classics for light
reading At the age when the normal child
is romping about his play they were toying
with the Fourth Dimension.
That is what call educational infanucide!
There are two possible ways Of educating
the children Of the age. The one method
have called the dollhouse method" BY that
method the child is forced" and his brain
is unhealthy stimulated 1t undertakes
tasks too heavy at a too early age.
The other method is the one adapted to
the normal development of a man or woman.
Under this method the educational process
is not rapid. The child is led slowly along
the way it should go, instead of being pushed
or jerked up a path too steep for its feet to
negotiate without injury.
My idea Of a proper educational plan would
extend over much longer period than the
dollhouse" method could endure.
2oII-
tween the ages of one and two years. He
begins to observe at once. and the next three
or four years are erammed with mental ac-
QUESTIONS. The human being learns more,
normally, between the first and fifth year of
its existence than in all the later years of
its life. 1t acquires the art OF speech 1t
learns to walk. 1t learns to see clearly and
10 understand the words of others. II acquires
a great mass of general knowledge Of the
world in which it's life is TO be spent.
This knowledge comes TO the child, whether
its mind is fed with other information or not
At this age the child mind is immensely re-
ceptiye. Its capabilities for assimilation are
immense. But they cannot be taxed to the
utmost without being strained and weakened,
The normal child's mind has about all IL
can do, in these years, without extra strain,
So until the child is Ave years old should
teach it nothing and make little or no con-
seious effort at its instruction,
In the normal child the fifth birthday marks
the point at which it is safe and advisable 10
begin instruction. The child is not yet ready
for strenuous mental work by any means. 1t
Is no more ready for higher mathematics
than at the age of two 1t was ready to run
hundred yards in ten seconds But the capa-
bilities for learning are latent, and the first
teachings should be elementary and simple
If they are delayed harm is done. II they
are begun too soon, much greater permanent
harm is done
When the child is hve years old, II may
begin to learn the alphabet to gain some
idea Of the manner in which words are sym
boliEed in written or printed characters II
may. in short, begin TO learn to read and
write