The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-06-28
HABITS Of CHILDREN
ARE HARD TO CHANGE
Professor George D. Strayer
of Columbia Before Sum-
mer School.
ATTENTION NECESSARY
Teachers Should Not Be
Content Merely to Keep
Pupils Employed.

Columbia week" at the uniycrsit,
summer session promises to be one
enjoyment and great practical value /
all, particularly to the teachers at
tending the lectures of Professo
George d. Strayer, of the Coiumb
Teachers college. Professor Stray,
Is a pioneer and leader of surveys il
ms neld and prominent lecturer II
morning lecture had to do with habits
the teaching to young boys and girl
control of themselves in this respect
According to him, a habit is the estab-
Hshlng in the nervous system a bono
Wnich reacts to a given stimulus IL
teaching, 1t is often necessary to teal
down old habits before new ones car
be formed.
Mental Habits Stubborn.
Habits which are not merely ply
steal are the hardest to change" saif
PROFESSOR Strayer. Habits free rs
as much as they bind U.S. The habit
OF drill is not very effective. The diff
1lculty there lies in the fact that tn,
enid does not understand the particu-
lar habit to be formed. The child
must be made conscious wherein Tho
olff1culty lies in forming the desired
hapit. There is a need to analyze tn
situation so as to bring to the child's
attention the difficulty"
Don't Ask Too Much.
According to Professor Strayer on,
OF the difficulties when asking a chill.
70 establish a habit is in asking hin,
10 90 more than he is able. 1t is ia,
patter Tor him to learn to spell three
words in a lesson of three words thar
TO be told to learn many words and
get great part of them wrong. thus
establishing the habit of wrong re
Spouse.
We must realize that in giving 8
response to new situation we max,
new situation. The point is tha,
we must present a particular habit il
all its possible relations"
Hold Pupils Attention.
Professor Strayer said that anothe,
h.istake often made by teachers is tn.
assumption that all they have to do i.
10 keep the children at work, when il
ieail'S they might better quit than no
hold the children's attention. Startl
.heHl-shock them if necessary. bu
Keep their attention, he declared.
TO use a baseball expression" h
sa1d, Keep the pupils up on their toes
Don't let them settle back on thei1
heels.''
another proposition which, he said
constantly confronts the teacher i,
mat of making progress for a tim,
ana then stopping. In this case the
troobie probably lies in that tn,
teacher is bored and has lost interest.
Don't Accept Too Little.
Don't let anyone make Won think
boys and girls have reached the may
llhhm OF accomplishment" warned the
speaker they are almost all able tc
40 much more than is expected or do
'''aioed OF them. The movement TO,
measuring the achievements of bows
an" girls establishes the fact that they
are capahie OF doing more work than
'"eI are required to do. The best way
10 break an undesirable habit is to
substitute another, a desirable one, fo1
it,
Bonds of Memory.
Professor Strayer's afternoon lee
lure was on the field Of memory, the
di1ference between this and that OF
ha3lt-forming being that memory is
something added to a series or Sc
Huehce of bonds. In connection with
memory he said that it was a mistake
10 hulld M series Of bonds 50 tina
'he was dependent upon the other.
Professor Strayer warned teachers
against the use of mnemonc devices
III having children memorize. He adj -
NlSed them to see f. il that thor. q -,
Ideas back of the words memorized-
10 attack the problem Of memori2ing in
terms of ideas and associations~-to
make the children realize the method
of recall
This evolves the moro economical
process of having the child commit ia
memory whole, rather than units of
Ihlhss 10 he learned said Professor
Strayer, and advised the teachers +,
give the child some desire and reason
10r mTmnrlIiD,r select lane