The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-11-04
FAVOUR CHILDREN
By Olive Roberts Bartoo !.
0R5l 5INl1 sEaHIeI. lFe
what are "animal spIrIts?"

What are animal spirits?" NothinE more than the forces set to work by the mind to develop itself. The mind is there in tho child, blank, we'll say, in the be- ginning, but with every latent pow CT to teach itself.
 Wo don't teach children. They teach themselves. We don't teach a child to sit, to climb, to walk, to gurgle and eventually talk. He teaches himself.
 He is a go-getter and by the effort of his own mind to improve itself, he learns. He cannot de- velop his body without adding cer- tain things to his mind. But 1t is the mind that dictates this physi- cal activity.
 A brain is curious. It must know things. It says to the body, "Climb that tree. l want to know what is on top. Touch that stove. must know how 1t feels. Eat that green apple. l have to know how 1t tastes"
 Working of Child's Brain A brain is wilful. It has to develop a power Of its own and to do so 1t has to set up it's stubborn strength against other and older minds. It dictates to the small boy, Don't do that when you are told. must be strong and unless l get exercise cannot be the steel man I should be when I grow up. When you are told to walk quietly, stamp. When you are told not to put beans up your nose, do 1t. When you are told not to waken the baby, shout Us loudly as you can. Nothing else matters but that l become a good strong mind with a strong will of my own." It is imaginative, too, and goes to any length to develop it's fancy. It whispers to the little girl in school, Don't sit still any longer. IT want to imagine what 1t would be like to squirm and whisper and think of the clouds instead of the lessons" Or 1t says to the boy, Imagine you are pirate and play hooky to-day on the raft on the creek. l much prefer that to les sons."
 tator. It is unsuitable in it's own development. It uses the strong | little bcaly for its own ends. What does 1t care about our rules and regulations for behavior? Nothing. Search for New Experiences Furthermore the mind is end- lessly selfish. Every mind Is. In seeking its own growth everything is grist to It's own mill. It demands expansion and does expand as re- lentlessly as 6 snow-drip in Febru- ary that amazes the world by push- ing It's frail white head through Il cake of ice. There is @ force here, unseen, the force of growth that would put our vastest machinery | to shame.
 The force that pushes the snow- drop can be likened to the mind force that pushes the small body. The body is endlessly active. It gets into everything, tries every. thing at least once, because behind 1t the mind is cracking the whip. It whispers, "Go and try 1t and learn. School doesn't matter to me to-day. am starving for some- thing different. am not interest cd in selling. I would rather know at the moment what color robins eggs are or what 1t Is like to go on Jim's bobsled as he prom ised."
 Greedy for new sensation, new
 power, new knowledge, new vi-
 sions, all young brains are Le-
 grees. Knowing this, I, think we Imay look upon the superactive,
 restless, hard-to-rule child with
 more patient eyes. He is slave to
 one task master, his own mind. To mako q friend of that mind and to cooperate with 1t, instead of in- sistently baking it, would be our wisest course.
 Interest Is the key. An inter- ested brain is an ally we should not overlook. A continually thwarted mind goes it's own way.