Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-31
OUR CHILDREN
1T ANGELO PATH.
The First Lesson.

The first lesson Is always very Diff
cult. The child has SO many new ad.
tustments to make. There Is no store
OF power to call upon. 1t must be built
up by painful effort. Little by little
the new tracks are made in the brain,
memory stores up q little bit, nerves
and muscles store away a little Bit of
habit, trace Of memory is made here,
has many sorts of memory, not Just
one, and a little power is created. The
child is beginning to learn.
This learning Is complicated mat
ter. The whole being of the child Il
concerned about It, Every nerve cell In
his body lends him strength, every
muscle and organ feels the strain. You
can understand this better II you watch
little child making his first attempt
at writing. His whole body is tense.
All Of him Is writing. That weares
him so that he must stop very son.
The first lesson must be short
II you make the first lesson short
and easy the child will have a pleasant
memory of the task and will approach
1t next time with full power But IL
you have prolonged the lesson so that
the child was fatigued to the point Of
suffering. he will approach the Lessen
with vague memories, depleted power
and a distinct dread. The happy child
can release power because he has 4.
The unhappy child cannot release 1t
because he lost 1t in fatigue and fear.
Surely then we should strive to make
this first lesson short and easy and de-
lightful. Only gradually do we In
crease the difficulty and the strain.
This is just as true In the high school
as 1t Is in the new pupil in the infant
class. A new lesson calls upon new
forces. The child must create those
forces and the strain Is severe. Guard
against OVERRIDING. against speed, against
any form of driving. The first lesson
in the science laboratory must be as
wisely, as discreetly planned as is the
first reading lesson in the baby class.
Many a high school failure can be
traced to the first day when lessons
were piled high and no consideration
for the beginner shown throughout the
day. Because a child Is II years id
there Is no reason to forget the laws Of
his growth, the laws of learning. Eay,
slow. steady growth is best.
The composition lesson Is q frequent
source Of distress. There are some
teachers who will not accept composi-
ton from q child because it Is not neat,
because 1t has many words misspelled,
DCCduoC ~ IDS u OlOt-tlA S1iOIJ. IL CdA-
not be accepted because it is not a ia
ished product. That is wrong through
and through.
A first draft composition, written n
class. under time limit, cannot be q
thing of beauty. If it has an idea
clearly set forth 1t is good bit OF wort.
The mechanics are easy. They need
long practice and much use, but they
are the easiest part of the work for the
child and the teacher. Because they
are so easy for the teacher the con-
position lesson often stops with TIE
spelling and the punctuation and the
penmanship. The idea is the thing.
Get that even If one child has to fui-
nish the ideas and the other the per =
manship for the time being. Perfection
in composition is a far-off dream. Tie
masters say they never achieved it.
Take the first lesson and praise It If
you see that the child has put out his
best effort. That child will grow. Be
grateful for little and remember that
the first lesson Is not the last. Thre
Is yet time.
Copyright. 1s3o)