The Nome daily nugget., 1914-05-30

Hutchins Hapgood reports. in the
 New York Globe an enlighteninc in-
 terView with Mrs Marietta l.. John
 son principal of the School of Organic
 Education at Fairhope Alabama. He says that in this day of general douht
 as to the soundness of the fundamen-
 tai methods and principles of our school system the ideas of n woman 1 who has conducted school of what
 may be called revolt, are of interest Her general idea that the chiId's needs
 should be studied and the system serve the child rather than the child the system. is familiar But she ex- presses 1t freshly and gives some tell ing concrete illustrations. For in- stance:
 Why" she asks, when there ia an increasing tendency to become near sighted, do we continue to require the children to look at the white marks on black board at the distance now pre- Nailing? Can the school be a place for acquiring more life when the condi- tions cause eyestrain Why not allow the children to move freely to the board If they desire to read what ,sI writer there?
 Activity is a law of childhood. Why then should little children be obrise Il to sit in rows of desks with fold+ q 1 hands waiting for orders? E.erv thought is accompanied by an impulse to act. This Is very marked in child hood.
 Interest in the occupation and the nature of the work itself will afford sufficient 'disicipline' so that the teacher need not fear disorder if the desks are removed and the children be allowed to move about freely.
 If occupations were submitted for lessons the reasoning power would de- velop unconsciously and naturally thus insurng stronger, firmer, mentality. | Children should not consciously strive to know. any more than they should l consciously strive to grow
 "If the child is bored, apathetic. un- happy, unwell. the environment must | be changed. For the school is to serve the child In our fear that the child will not know the things he should in | later life, we often dull or cripple the mind in the early years by forcing the learning of things for which the mind is not ready.
 Fear of failure to meet require ments, fear of reproof or being deemed inferior, fear of any kind, weakens the will power and undermines character Strain and anxiety-desire to keepl up'-causes nervousness and destrovsl true interest.
 If the occupations and exercises provided are in harmony with the de- mands of the childs nature. the res ponse will be satisfactory-that is, the entire organism-body. mind and splrit-will be comparatively active | and the child will be doing what he loves to do. When the child desires the result of his work he will endure hardships for those ends, thus deyel- oping will power of the highest order. | When he works under the will of an- other, his will is being weakened.
 "The child of slow development has as sacred a right to that slowness as the quick developer has to his rate of growth. It is unwholesome to force self lf-consciousness by calling attention to either retarded or rapid develop ment. so that one child becomes ego tistieal. or another lacking in self con- fidence
 At our school in Alabama" says Mrs. Johnson, "we have mo require ments or marks. We serve every child the best we can at the age and condition be happens to be in. He goes into the high school when he reaches that stage no matter how much or how little he has learned pre- He needs no preparation if he is mentally and imaginatively| ready.