Evening star., 1928-09-09
10 Million u. S. Vacations From School Are Ending

had trouble with English compositions -
with the unspoken reflection, land Just
look what laundering success I an:
today! or the mother who sadly con-
fesses, II never could SPELL" is lawn ,
a wet blanket on the receptive mind OF
youth.
Thereby a disposition is being in.
Jured. All education, as Rufus Jones
has reminded us, IS building up a dis
position, and any transmitted sense OF
inherited deficiency pulls down the
thing we are trying to build.
The unspoken pressure Of parents on
children is almost terrifying in It's in
fluence. Beginning with the nursery
floor, the job of education is to build
up In the child a disposition of calm
and cheerfulness and love, not of fear
and fretfulneSs and failure Even If we
are not good at certain things. it is our
privilege to look hopefully forward, and
we may all expect our children to be
better men than we are The whole
family must generate a corporate will
to do well. 1t is the first essential.
X X * x
THE child who must look to the
- teacher or the school for all his in
tellectual impetus is handicapped. Our
second unexpressed aid to progress is
an atmosphere of appreciation at home.
II the very walls of our houses vocally
express what tastes a family possesses.
how much more will the avocation of
the elders set its tone! Don't you think
it must be pretty hard for a child to
develop a taste for books and desire
for book learning when the reading Of
the family is nothing more solid than
f1imsy magazines?
One thing every family can do-en-
courage reading aloud. There you have
a pleaSurabie exercise in brain stretch
ing. Not only shall this be reading to
the children, but the children shall read
to the family.
Select good. exciting historical novel
and have 1t read aloud, chapter by chap
ter, by Billy and Edith and Tom. Some
times the youngest child reads best of
all-that will stimulate the others to
improve The plot thickens, the excite
ment of the story creates power to
read faster. There will be laughs and
gaSpS, and the great discovery that a
book can contain life will once for all
be made. Poetry too, will become a
pleasure. The reading aloud of such a
graphic piece as MaSefield's "Dauber"
will convince young people that often
very appealing things are couched in
verse. And what will be the result?
Not only history and language, but the
general background OF culture, will be-
come living realities.
School work will thus take on valid
pleasure. The learner will enjoy his
task. which is another essential in the
divine drudgery of getting an educa-
tion.
Elders can also help by using every
opportunity to link learning with living.
Unless the learner can discern some
connection between today's lessons and
tomorrow's duty. between this years
curriculum and an ultimate career,
schooling will be treadmill affair. But
If parents can forge a link between the
lessons-to-be-l learned and the life-to-be-
lived, nationality Immediately invests the
assignments in the books This Is hard.
This is sometimes frustrated by meticu-
lous teachers, whose vision does not ex-
tend beyond the schoolroom walls.
1t is better to chat with your boy and
lead him to see the relation between
algebra and engineering than to exult
when he gets 80 on his report: it Is
better to let your daughters mind leap
from the history book to the current
newspaper history that every day shapes
itself between Europe and America than
to dwell on her punctuality and deco
rum. Parents help their children best
by praise and practicality.