Mountain advocate., 1915-06-04
CHILDREN TAUGH1y
WITHOUT BOOKS
=. y .kSyxpoahA
None Used by Pupils Under o Years
at Fairhope Experiment, NJ
Alabama. :, N!f.S
"KIoDIEs" ARE TAUGHT TO THINK
Parents Association Of Brooklyn
Heights Seminary Hears Founder
Describe Work.

education is being conducted In the
little town of Fairhope, Ala, which
aims, not merely to impart information
but to perfect the entire organism Of
the child. II includes a complete course
for the earliest years to college and
departs radically from many of the ac-
cepted methods in the modern schools
1t emphasizes not what the child
has no name, but is merely called the
Fairhope Experiment"
The originator and director Of the
experiment, Mrs. Marietta L. John.
son, in telling of the work, said:
THE great trouble with most schools
today is that they are International,
and not educational; they do not teach
the child to think, but merely teach
him facts. Pressure is made by the
colleges or the high schools to have
the pupils meet certain requirements;
the high schools force the lower grades
to impart certain facts; the children
in these grades are rot given time to
think these things out for themselves,
the teachers business being to clinch
the facts.
The result of this is that the little
children who cannot take time to rea-
son and find out for themselves mere
~ mcmori2e their lessons. This Is
easy for most children, and Is carried
through the high school, but when col
lege is reached there is too much to
memorize, and the cry is going up all
over the country from the college pro-
fessors: You do not teach your boys
and girls to think
1.-THE artificial standard which has
been developed in the schools Of this
initiative In us Host people have Ia
be told what to do, and then watched
10 see that they do it, There is no Joy
in work. but it is gil task. Just as
the lessons at school were tasks, and
We learned just what we were told TO
learn"
At Fairhope the body, tho mind and
the spirit are all developed. During
the early years, when the interest in
everything is keen, the little minds
are directed toward certain things, but
are allowed TO reason and think for
themselves
At Fairhope there are no tasks Civ.
en-, no books are used until the chill
dren reach the age of Q. There are no
grades, no marks, no requirements as
far as information is concerned, and
no effort 70 fierce on the children the
adult point OF view. In their occupa-
lions and activities they follow their
own inclinations, and are helped by
the teacher when they ask for help
There is liberty without license, how
ever. for not caprice, but fundamental
demands, are followed
Marks and credits and examinations,
which give opportunity for insincere
work from false motives, are never
heard Of ct Fairhope, but the children
gain knowledge naturally, without hav-
ing II forced upon them.
In the kindergarten the teachers use
whatever material they want, but do
not use any OF the Montessori material.
From the ages of 6 to 8, in the first
life class" there are no literary re-
quirements whatever The children
have occupations and nature study, and
do not have their study of nature spoil
ed by the thought that they will be
held up for what they have seen when
they get back 10 the schoolroom. They
are also given a fundamental concep-
ton of numbers by actually weighing
and measuring and counting with tang.
ible objects, but no figures are used.
and nothing written down about It,
The second life class children OF
o, 10 and IL, are given a litts read
ing, writing and figuring. 1--WE insist
now" said Mrs. Johnson, ION the chill
dren learning TO read, hut the child
has a right TO his slowness, ii he is
slow TO learn, and he goes on with his
class Just the same. There are gar
dens and shops, but no tasks. no les
sons for tomorrow and no home work,
The children come into the knowledge
OF books in the natural way and they
that they are learning a lesson
Grammar is not taught until the
high school Is reached, and arithmetic
is reviewed thoroughly in the high
school at Fairhope.
"All false motives are eliminated.
The thought OF failure is never pre-
scented to the child. because he goes on
with his class IN any event. II is no
more the fault of child that he can
not grasp subject than II 10 your
fault that you cannot digest piece of
beef that you have eaten. The fault
may be with the beef"
This experiment has been conducted
for eight years and results are won
deriul in the development OF spirit and
initiative, Mrs. johnson says. The chill
dren love their study and are anxious
to learn. There is JOY In every day OF
school. and the children are develop
ing mentally. morally and physically
In the natural way.