The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1934-03-21

Barton I'm this article I'm her
Child Training series.
Interest Is pure magic.
At last the basic truth of real
learning and development has been
discovered and schools, recognizing
what they should have done years
ago, are now building their systems
around 1t.
But children learn as much out
side of school as in, and a great
deal more when we think of 1t.
Most of their realistic experience
IS obtained away from a desk.
Jimmy learns from his environ
ment, from the people around him
and from his contacts with people
more than he will from a book.
What these things are depends
child who lives in a friendly fam
sly group and whose friends are
right for him. This shall speak
of later.
But the thing that will intrigue
him most is what he Is doing him
self. And he will do what interests
him at the time.
ChiId's New Horizons
68A Ah6 OdoyAAOoo anu thC col ~
years his interests lay in those
things that developed body, CO.
ordination, and certain mind pro-
cesses. Ego was the word.
Now at six and In the years fol-
lowing he will be more concerned
with the world. Not unselfishly
of course, for we never lose that,
but his eyes will be turned out
rather than in.
He will not only continue to
experiment, crafty impulse and
be intensely active and curious,
but do so with redoubled energy
The pity Is that when he's all
set to go, we seem to set our faces
against it. We cram his time with
the things he doesn't like to do
and nullify the things he wants
to do.
OF course this is necessary to. a
certain degree, but not to the ex-
tremes we have taken it.
We have naturally gravitated
to the opinion that most things
the child wants to do should not
be allowed, and we've used a fore
ing process of dull substitution.
We think we can substitute les
sons, clean ears, errands, and so
on and keep him happy.
All these things have their
places but they will be accepted
naturally and contentedly if his
life is balanced nicely on the other
side by things which lie nearest
his heart. His own real interests.
A child's free time. and he
should have plenty, should not be
empty or aimless.
He now has preferences. He
cannot pick up two pie pans and
bang them together as he did as
a baby and feel occupied, or trun-
die mp and down on velocipede
and feel any deep satisfaction for
days on end. He might 90 both
but neither will fill the soul yearn-
ing to be doing" for very long
Encourage Constructivencss
To build, to create, to discover,
to nut himself into something real
anc definite should not only be
allowed but encouraged. The psy-
chology of the mud pie explains
itself, or the little ship he puts
together, or the bird he colors.
In this vehicle of interest lies
the parents opportunity. In every
mud pie, or let's make 1t a "dobe"
house, or a wigwam lie a hundred
stories of Indians and how they
lived. In a ship there are still
more stories. In bird whole vol
umes.
The points are merely illustra-
itons of how this interest may be
turned to educational advantages.
But please do not think that
everything he does must have edu-
cation tackled to It,
He should be provided with
many things to do, things that in
terest him deeply. That comes
first. Second, the interests he
seeks himself, If they come within
the law (and we must try to grow
new eyes here) need our sympathy
and cooperation. And third, We
can turn his interest to good &C
count and through them reach
him and guide him and train him.
1t is the idle child who gets into
trouble a dozen times a day, not
the happily busy one. Don't
will not wear thin from usage If
we cultivate the interest habit and
then fill it.