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REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 A BOOK FOR TEACHERS 
 AND PARENTS 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY C. KREBS 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, SOMERSET COUNTY 
 NEW JERSEY 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION BY 
 CALVIN N. KENDALL, LL.D. 
 
 COMMISSIONER OP EDUCATION OF NEW JERSEY 
 
 NEW YORK AND CHICAGO 
 THE A. S. BARNES COMPANY 
 
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 J ' 
 
 1 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY 
 THE A. S. BARNES COMPANY 
 
 f^'- 
 
 MAY 10 1916 
 
 ©C1.A431033 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTEB PAGE 
 
 I. The Aim 1 
 
 II. The Teacher as Inspieer 7 
 
 III. Through the Class Recitation 13 
 
 IV. Through the School Library 18 
 
 V. Through the Playground 27 
 
 VT. Through Industrial Training 33 
 
 VII. Through Self-Government 38 
 
 VIII. Through the Private Conversation 46 
 
 IX. Through Encouragement 54 
 
 X. Through Talks by the Teacher 63 
 
 XI. Through Fine Sentiments 70 
 
 XII. Through Sympathy 76 
 
 XIII. Through Direct Moral Instruction 85 
 
 XIV. Through Companionship " 91 
 
 XV. Through Ideals 97 
 
 XVI. Through Instruction in Health 103 
 
 XVII. Through Removing False Ideas 109 
 
 XVIII. Through Allegory 114 
 
 XIX. Through Tact 118 
 
 XX. Through Enthusiasm 123 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 "Train up a child in the way he should go and 
 when he is old he will not depart from it" was said 
 long ago. This counsel is a constant reminder of the 
 duty of teachers and parents. 
 
 The present century has been aptly called the chil- 
 dren's century. Increasing reverence for childhood 
 is one of its dominant characteristics. This reverence 
 is both the cause and the effect of a better under- 
 standing of children. Never before were so many 
 earnest men and women giving their best thought 
 and effort to a study of children as at present. They 
 profoundly realize that children are the greatest of 
 the potential assets of a community or of a state. 
 
 The practice of good schools and of well ordered 
 homes in training children has been modified as a 
 result of the better understanding of children. So 
 far as the school is concerned, there is a growing 
 conviction that the child does not exist for the school 
 but that the school exists for the child; a conviction 
 that the child has his own way of feeling, thinking, 
 and doing, which is not the way of men and women 
 of forty. As Saint Paul said, "When I was a child, 
 I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought 
 as a child: but when I became a man I put away 
 childish things.'* There is also a conviction that the 
 individual child is becoming more and more the center 
 
vi INTRODUCTION 
 
 of educational interest and effort, and that his actual 
 present need, rather than his probable future need, 
 should be emphasized. 
 
 Bearing these considerations in mind, any well 
 thought out contribution to the means that may be 
 employed for the training of children is to be wel- 
 comed, and Superintendent Krebs has made such a 
 contribution in this little book. The contribution is 
 a practical one. Mr. Krebs for many years has had 
 the opportunity of working with teachers, particu- 
 larly with those in the rural and town schools. The 
 book is therefore the outgrowth of experience and 
 not the mere expression of theories. The title, 
 "Reaching the Children," is a good one. To reach 
 them is not easy, but to reach them is essential if 
 educational processes are to be effective. Indeed, the 
 failure of some of our educational activities in both 
 the school and the home may be traced to a failure 
 to understand the mind and the heart of children. 
 
 In a series of twenty chapters Mr. Krebs points 
 out for the use of teachers and parents some of the 
 ways of reaching children. No teacher, however in- 
 experienced, and no mother or father, after reading 
 this interesting book carefully, will regard the child 
 and the ways of training him in quite the same way 
 as before. The contribution deserves a wide reading 
 in both the school and the home, the two institutions 
 upon which so much depends. 
 
 Calvin N. Kendall, 
 Commissioner of Education 
 April, 1916, Trenton, N.J. 
 
REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 Chapter I 
 TEE AIM 
 
 So manifold is the opportunity, so open is the road of the 
 higher success to ability, industry, and character, that human life 
 may fairly be described as a divine chance to do and to be that 
 which lies in the imagination of youth. God does not deceive the 
 fresh, instinctive faith of childhood; life does not lie to those who 
 trust its promises. It is commonplace only to those whose natures, 
 tastes, and aims are commonplace. — Hamilton W. Mabie. 
 
 Scorn trifles, lift your aims; do what you are afraid to do. 
 Sublimity of character must come from sublimity of motive. — 
 Maey Emeeson. 
 
 What is the chief purpose of the school? What 
 should be the primary aim of the teacher? These 
 are fundamental questions. On their correct answer 
 depends the attitude of the teacher and of parents, 
 and the attitude governs the results. 
 
 The central principle of education is the self- 
 activity of the child. To this principle all others 
 are subservient. Without the self-activity of the 
 child little can be accomplished. There is no reac- 
 tion to the instruction. There is no growth, no 
 development. 
 
 In the light of this principle the purpose of the 
 school is plain. It is to arouse the self -activity of 
 
2 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 the child and guide this activity into right channels. 
 The aim of the teacher should be to inspire the 
 pupils, and to the degree in which she succeeds in 
 doing this is her success measured. 
 
 Proficiency in school work may be secured by a 
 teacher who drives her pupils through threat of pun- 
 ishment. This proficiency is, however, of little value 
 because it is not based on the pupil's self-activity. 
 It is based merely on the pupil's activity, which 
 is a totally different matter. Activity that does not 
 originate in the pupil has no permanent qualities. 
 
 It is to be feared that many teachers are satisfied 
 if they can secure quiet in their schoolrooms and a 
 reasonable degree of good work in school subjects. 
 This may or may not mean good results in the lives 
 of the pupils. The measure is the degree of self- 
 activity that is involved in the process. A child who 
 is a poor penman but full of energy and ambition 
 may become a Horace Greeley; while the good pen- 
 man without such qualities may never rise above the 
 commonplace. 
 
 The discerning visitor to a schoolroom will there- 
 fore look through and beyond the things that meet 
 the eye and the ear. He will not only look for good 
 performances, but for the principle underlying them. 
 Is the teacher reaching her pupils? Does she inspire 
 them? Is her teaching such as to arouse their self- 
 activity? If so, the work is fundamentally good, and 
 if not, the work is essentially poor, however brave 
 the show. 
 
 If the purpose of the teacher and the school as 
 thus stated is accepted, several deductions follow. 
 
TEE AIM 3 
 
 In the first place, extensive learning, though very- 
 valuable, is not indispensable to the teacher. There 
 are some who are so interested in subject matter that 
 they lose sight of the pupil who is being taught. The 
 broader the education of the teacher the greater the 
 danger of falling into this error. When a teacher 
 of profound scholarship has also the right attitude 
 toward children, she becomes a conspicuously great 
 teacher. 
 
 But there are hundreds of instances of persons of 
 very mediocre attainments in scholarship who have 
 nevertheless produced remarkable results through 
 their enthusiasm. That they would have been greatly 
 aided by scholarship is freely admitted; but in spite 
 of that handicap their effectiveness in reaching the 
 children is noteworthy. 
 
 In an obscure country school in Pennsylvania there 
 taught a teacher who had difficulty in working the 
 problems in an ordinary elementary arithmetic. He 
 would often say to his pupils, "For to-morrow we 
 will try the next five problems. I will work as many 
 as I can myself, and we may be able to get the rest 
 together." This very inefficiency of the teacher 
 proved a blessing to the pupils, because they were 
 thrown on their own resources. But this teacher 
 was filled with enthusiasm and earnestness. He could 
 point out the way even if he could not travel it him- 
 self; and from that small, remote school came no 
 less than twenty-three college graduates, many of 
 whom have gained distinction in the professions, as 
 well as men who have become markedly successful 
 in business. After his retirement, fifty of these men 
 
REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 gathered to pay homage to the teacher who had given 
 them their inspiration toward success. This teacher 
 could show no high grade certificates or diplomas, pos- 
 sessed no degrees, knew little of the field of learning, 
 but he had reached the children. 
 
 Pestalozzi founded our system of popular education. 
 His own methods of teaching are said to have been 
 crude. He talked too much during a recitation — 
 gave the children little opportunity to express them- 
 selves; but he was so full of enthusiasm for the work 
 and so permeated with love for the children that he 
 reached the hearts of all, and stimulated them to a 
 remarkable degree. 
 
 In the second place, teachers will carefully consider 
 their methods of teaching and the incentives placed 
 before the pupils, and will ask themselves whether 
 these are such as will arouse an abiding interest in the 
 hearts of the children, or whether their influence will 
 pass away with the ending of school days. They 
 will carefully use the many avenues of approach to 
 the interests of the children until some way is found 
 that leads to their hearts. Children will no longer 
 be considered merely as pupils to be taught, but as 
 individuals to be studied and helped as may be neces- 
 sary. Good teaching demands not only learning and 
 pedagogy, but also psychology in its broadest sense. 
 
 Instead, then, of having a superficial view of the 
 profession, the teacher should consider it of profound 
 importance. 
 
 It requires all the elements of heart and mind that 
 any one can possess. It is the most responsible 
 work that can engage the human mind. It puts to 
 
THE AIM 
 
 the test all the tact and judgment and courage that 
 are in the teacher. Its results are so far reaching 
 for good that no one can even estimate their value. 
 And there is so much opportunity for leaving things 
 undone — for fatal omissions — that no one can es- 
 timate the possible loss. Teachers often fail to 
 appreciate the significance of this work, but begin 
 it as a matter of mere occupation instead of a means 
 of effective service. They do not know how to teach, 
 nor why they teach. Our State authorities are wisely 
 raising their standards of certification; and it is hoped 
 that the time is not far distant when at least some 
 training for teaching may be required of all appli- 
 cants, and the entirely unprepared teacher may be 
 excluded. 
 
 It is the purpose of the following chapters to point 
 out specific means of reaching the children. It is 
 believed that with sufficient insight all can be reached. 
 What appeals to one may not appeal to another. The 
 teacher must have all these means consciously in 
 mind, and must employ them judiciously in accord- 
 ance with the disposition of each child. 
 
 Many teachers of good purposes have failed to be 
 completely successful because their aims lacked defi- 
 niteness. Their ambition was to do good to the 
 children; but they did not set forth their purposes 
 in detail or employ them with exactness and fore- 
 thought. 
 
 The physician may have a perfect attitude toward 
 his work, but he nevertheless needs detailed and spe- 
 cific knowledge of medicine in order to cure his 
 patients. This is true of all professions, and of all 
 
6 REACHING TEE CHILDREN 
 
 lines of business. So, in the work of teaching, a merely- 
 good person will be of little usefulness unless she is 
 skilled in the art of discovering and employing the 
 means that will accomplish the chief aim of the school 
 — arousing the ambition of pupils, and directing it 
 in the right channel. 
 
Chapter II 
 TEE TEACHER AS INSPIRER 
 
 How shall he give kindling in whose own inward man there is 
 no live coal, but all is burnt out to a dead grammatical cinder? — 
 Cakltle. 
 
 The school is the manufactory of humanity. — Confucius. 
 
 He who honestly instructs reverences God. — Mohammed. 
 
 The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogma- 
 tizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself. — 
 Bulwer-Lytton. 
 
 There is no human life so poor and small as not to hold many 
 a divine possibility. — James Martineau. 
 
 Lowell says of Emerson that "he had the supreme 
 power of fertilizing other minds." Longfellow spent 
 several days with Emerson, and on his return wrote 
 poetry with great intensity for many weeks. No 
 American writer has had so much influence on thought 
 in this country as Emerson. He was the great in- 
 spirer of America. Many obscurities may be found in 
 his prose writings, and some of his poems are said to 
 have no beginning, or middle, or end. Nevertheless 
 they arouse the reader, and set him on fire with am- 
 bition, thus doing what the mere rhetorician can never 
 accomplish through a faultless style. 
 
 This is what Emerson says of teaching: "The 
 greatest enterprise in the world, for splendor, for 
 extent, is the up-building of a man." He also says 
 
8 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 elsewhere that the value of a country should be meas- 
 ured neither by the census nor the crops, but by the 
 kind of men it produces. 
 
 The great names of the past are the names of in- 
 spirers. Who is the greatest navigator in all history? 
 Christopher Columbus. Did he make the longest or 
 quickest voyage in the world.'* No. Did he sail the 
 largest ship in the world.? No — he made a slow 
 voyage in three miserable ships. And the results 
 of his voyages would have been meager indeed if 
 his example had not inspired others to continue and 
 develop his enterprise. 
 
 Who is the greatest scientist of modern times? 
 Charles Darwin. Did he know more science than any 
 one else? No — Spencer and Tyndall and Huxley 
 knew much more than he did. But Darwin gave a 
 marvelous impulse to thought by his epoch-making 
 book "The Origin of Species." Other scientists merely 
 advanced and developed the ideas he originated; and 
 his place of supremacy is sure. 
 
 The greatest novelist in English literature is Samuel 
 Richardson. Almost no one now reads the nine vol- 
 umes that make up his novel "Clarissa Harlowe"; 
 and comparatively few have read "Pamela." Thack- 
 eray and Dickens have written better novels, but 
 Richardson founded the school of sentimental fiction, 
 and the founder is always greater than the successor. 
 
 David Hume ranks highest as historian of England 
 because he founded the literary school of historical 
 writing that reached its height in Froude, Green, 
 Freeman, and Macaulay. 
 
 Horace Mann was never superintendent of the 
 
TEE TEACHER AS INSPIRER 9 
 
 largest city in America, nor was he State Superin- 
 tendent; but his name will rank first in American 
 educational history because he "blazed the way*' 
 in the glorious enterprise of improving school systems. 
 
 In colonial history we know the names of those who 
 founded the colonies, but the names of their successors 
 are obscure. 
 
 Thes^ illustrations have been brought forward in 
 corroboration of Emerson's statement that the up- 
 building of man is the greatest enterprise in the world. 
 We teachers are engaged in this wonderful work; 
 and if we reach the pupils and send them forth to 
 live noble and useful lives and perhaps to make great 
 names for themselves we are nevertheless the authors 
 of their success, and in that sense the credit of their 
 achievements is ours. 
 
 It is of course true that the name of the teacher 
 is often unknown to the world when the name of the 
 pupil is famous. But what of that.f^ The fact re- 
 mains, whether known or unknown. 
 
 One of the most mischievous ideas in the minds of 
 some people is that publicity is necessary to great- 
 ness — that a man's success in life is measured by the 
 number of times his name appears in the newspapers. 
 This may be fame, but it is not necessarily success or 
 greatness. The quiet, unobtrusive worker may set 
 in motion forces that will revolutionize the world. 
 Name and fame are nothing — results are everything. 
 
 The teacher who inspires her pupils is on the same 
 plane with all other persons in the world's history 
 who inspired others. If she sends forth pupils full 
 of ambition she has accomplished immeasurable re- 
 
10 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 suits. No one can estimate the extent of her in- 
 fluence. What a splendid opportunity the teacher's 
 work thus presents! To play a conspicuous part in 
 making the world better, to be the fountain of a 
 stream of influence that will broaden and deepen as 
 it flows for generations to come — a teacher is hope- 
 less if this prospect does not lift her up and inspire 
 her soul with zeal and energy and a determination 
 that will transform her life and her work. 
 
 The story in Genesis tells how man was made in 
 the image of God; but he was mere clay until God 
 breathed into him the breath of life. Only then did 
 he become a living soul. 
 
 There are some communities in which it seems as 
 if the only life were physical. There are few signs 
 of intellectual and moral and spiritual life. Yet the 
 capacity for these higher qualities is there, and when 
 once the big, strong, virile physical becomes trans- 
 formed by a great idea, there is no end to the heights 
 to which the individual may attain. The soil is there 
 — it needs seed and fertilizer to produce crops. 
 'l "My people perish for lack of knowledge," said the 
 prophet. Persons in remote communities, living on 
 a low plane, are benighted simply because they do 
 not know any better. How can they? Children see 
 and hear and think naught but the low ideals in which 
 they are brought up. This is generally true in all 
 states of society. The children are not to blame for 
 their conditions. They cannot control the place nor 
 the circumstances into which they are born. Yet 
 they may be just as capable as the children of the 
 most favored. Of any two children in the world no 
 
TEE TEACHER AS INSPIRER 11 
 
 one can tell which will do the greater service to 
 mankind. 
 
 Into such a community the inspiring teacher comes 
 as a being from another sphere. She brings to the 
 children glimpses of a new world. Without directly 
 condemning the barren wastes in which the people 
 live she will point out the green fields and the bab- 
 bling brooks of the new country. The children will 
 come to feel that they need not live in this lowly con- 
 dition all their lives, but may advance to something 
 better. This is truly a great opportunity for the 
 teacher. 
 
 Backward communities are precisely those in which 
 inspiring teachers are most needed; and yet the 
 schools in such localities are often the refuge for such 
 teachers as no other community wants. When a 
 teacher cannot, because of lack of qualifications, get 
 a desirable school she takes as a last resort what is 
 generally considered an undesirable school; and be- 
 cause this school has a lowly reputation some teachers 
 feel that "anything goes." They see no call for skill 
 in teaching and management. The children are of a 
 low class, and so they will remain. Because there 
 are but ten children in this school the work is not 
 worth while; yet Abraham Lincoln attended such a 
 school, and he alone was worth while. 
 
 Young teachers usually and very properly get the 
 most desirable positions they can; but a higher mo- 
 tive is to seek the position in which one can do 
 the most good. Surely there are more opportunities 
 for valuable service in backward districts where the 
 teacher is the only light in the community than there 
 
12 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 are in a city where there are hundreds of influences 
 that make for enlightenment. 
 
 When a teacher deliberately elects to teach in a 
 backward community, not only will she do more good 
 than elsewhere, but she will get more good than else- 
 where. Giving inspiration to others always reacts on 
 the giver. Doing a noble work in any community 
 exalts the character of the doer. Mrs. Ballington 
 Booth, whose life is spent in reclaiming criminals, has 
 a light in her face that would not be there if she were 
 living the life of ordinary society. Missionaries re- 
 turning from heathen lands have a "something" in 
 their personality that distinguishes them in a crowd. 
 This "something" is one of the worth while things 
 of life; and the teacher who breathes inspiration into 
 a school and into a community stamps her features 
 and her character with the mark of a great accom- 
 plishment. 
 
Chapter III 
 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH THE CLASS 
 RECITATION 
 
 The greatest poet is not he who has done the best; it is he who 
 suggests the most. — Emerson. 
 
 In all schools pupils recite their lessons. The 
 teacher spends the greater part of each day in con- 
 ducting recitations; and her daily preparation is de- 
 voted largely to the work of the recitation. 
 
 Teachers and pupils sometimes take the recitation 
 period so much as a matter of course that they are 
 not conscious of the momentous character of this part 
 of the school day. Years ago the current idea of the 
 recitation was that the teacher should tell pupils 
 some facts and at another time the pupils should 
 recite them — that is, should *'tell them back'* to 
 the teacher. Or the teacher would assign several 
 pages in the book and the recitation would consist 
 in giving these back to the teacher. Sometimes the 
 teacher would do knitting while the class was reciting, 
 following the pages with her eye and punishing those 
 who failed to recite verbatim. 
 
 This was, of course, a wholly inadequate idea of 
 the worth and purpose of the recitation. A great 
 step in advance was taken when Dr. E. E. White 
 taught that the objects of the recitation are to test. 
 
14 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 to drill, and to instruct. Unless, however, we are 
 willing to give to the word instruct a very broad 
 construction, we must, in the light of the central 
 purpose of this book, add one more element to the 
 recitation, and that is to inspire. 
 
 The recitation period is therefore an opportunity 
 period. It presents the occasion for the interaction 
 of the mind of the teacher and the minds of the pupils. 
 The assigned lessons are merely the basis for this 
 play of mind on mind. They afford the material of 
 thought. But the electrical connection is necessary 
 before these materials produce light. Otherwise they 
 are dead matter. 
 
 Every well taught lesson inspires pupils. If the 
 teacher has a fund of scholarship, if she has assembled 
 the information and other material for the lesson of 
 the day, has organized it and vivified it by special 
 preparation, her class will receive an interest in the 
 subject, a desire to know more in regard to it, and a 
 glow of enthusiasm that will weld the impressions into 
 permanent forms; and if the lesson contains a spirit- 
 ual element, the pupils will attain to higher stand- 
 ards, and form higher ideals. 
 
 It is said that when John S. C. Abbott was engaged 
 in writing his "Life of Napoleon," he knelt down in his 
 library every morning before beginning his work to 
 seek divine guidance. The opportunity for reaching 
 the children through the recitation is so great, and 
 its neglect so disastrous, that the teacher should not 
 undertake it without at least some sense of the solemn 
 duty of the hour to make the recitation effective for 
 inspiration as well as for instruction. 
 
THROUGH THE CLASS RECITATION 15 
 
 Pupils should be given a realizing sense of the dig- 
 nity of the recitation period. In many classrooms 
 some pupils remain at their seats to study. These 
 latter should clearly understand that they must do 
 nothing whatever that might interrupt the recitation. 
 No hands should be raised, no questions asked, no 
 noise be made, that might attract the attention of 
 either teacher or pupils. The teacher must give her 
 undivided attention to the pupils reciting; otherwise 
 the connection of interest will be broken, and the 
 effect of the recitation lost. 
 
 Teachers have been known to start a class in oral 
 reading and then go among the pupils not reciting 
 and give help here and there, thus taking their atten- 
 tion from the reading lesson. This is, of course, 
 vitally wrong. This makes oral reading a purely 
 mechanical exercise. There can be no interaction of 
 mind on mind unless all are attentive to the work in 
 hand. Such a teacher will never realize the possi- 
 bilities of the recitation period. 
 
 Another main reason why the recitation period is 
 not inspiring has already been suggested. It is be- 
 cause the teacher does not possess fulness of knowl- 
 edge in regard to the lesson. Very rarely should a 
 teacher have a book in her hand during a recitation 
 period. Her eyes should be on the pupils. There 
 must be a direct connection between mind and mind. 
 The book breaks the connection. 
 
 Many recitation periods are of little value because 
 of the wrong method of conducting them. In oral 
 reading lessons the teacher asks a pupil to rise and 
 read, and tells the others to "watch for mistakes." 
 
16 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 When the pupil has read the paragraph, the hands of 
 the others are all raised. "What mistake did you see, 
 John?" asks the teacher. "She repeated!" says John, 
 with a note of satisfaction in his voice because he was 
 sharp enough to detect an error. "She said the for 
 a/" says Mary, with equal triumph. "Didn't hold 
 her book in the left hand!" is Charley's sage sugges- 
 tion. And so the process goes on, a pure waste of 
 time, a frittering away of the precious minutes of 
 the recitation, not an iota of good accomplished. No 
 wonder children receive no impetus from such fatuous 
 performances. Yet such recitations occur every day 
 in every state in the Union. We are still far from 
 grasping the significance of the recitation period. 
 
 No recitation period is of value unless some things 
 are definitely clinched. When the pupils take their 
 seats they must be conscious of a definite acquisition. 
 They must have a solid foundation for further study. 
 They can only be reached if they themselves feel 
 that they have learned something, have taken a dis- 
 tinct step in advance in the process of gaining knowl- 
 edge. There is much unconscious development in 
 the school, but there is also much that the pupil 
 must clearly realize. He will not be likely to take 
 an interest in school, or be susceptible to uplifting 
 influences, if the school exercises seem to him mere 
 "marking time," mere routine, mere things that must 
 be done because this is school. Here we have drudg- 
 ery, not work. There is no oxygen in this atmosphere 
 — only distilled air, that can neither give life, nor 
 sustain life. 
 
 What a deHght it is to watch a teacher conduct a 
 
THROUGH THE CLASS RECITATION 17 
 
 recitation when she is thoroughly prepared and knows 
 how to teach! The pupils are eager. She leads them 
 through pleasant paths. Her knowledge is fresh and 
 clear. Every question has a purpose. She is master 
 of the whole situation. There is electricity in the 
 air. When the period is over the pupils have gained 
 something. They have made a distinct acquisition. 
 They have had a valuable intellectual exercise. They 
 have a new interest in the subject. They are anxious 
 to pursue it further. 
 
 On the other hand, how disappointing it is to see 
 a teacher waste her opportunities through failure to 
 prepare her lesson properly! She can do little but 
 refer to the book. There is no mental action and 
 reaction, no interest. No love of learning is enkindled, 
 no permanent impressions are made. It is needless 
 to say that such a teacher is no inspirer; and it is 
 distressing to feel that thousands of children are com- 
 pelled to sit under such teaching and waste their 
 precious days that might otherwise be rich in prep- 
 aration for life. 
 
 A school stands or falls if the recitation period is 
 a success or a failure. This period is the intellectual 
 crisis of the school day, and it is often the moral crisis. 
 It determines not only whether the lesson of the day 
 shall be of value, but whether a permanent interest 
 in that study and in all studies shall be engendered. 
 Hence in reaching the children this period cannot 
 be overestimated. It behooves all teachers who seek 
 to inspire their pupils to take careful thought as to 
 how this phase of the school work may be made a 
 potent minister to that end. 
 
Chapter IV 
 
 REACHING TEE CHILDREN THROUGH THE SCHOOL 
 LIBRARY 
 
 A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit em- 
 balmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life. — 
 Milton. 
 
 The true university of these days is a collection of books. — 
 Carlyle. 
 
 In the best books great men talk to us, give us their most 
 precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours. — Channing. 
 
 When reading the lives of great men and women, one 
 is struck by the fact that nearly all of them were in- 
 spired more or less by a book or by several books. 
 This is not at all surprising when one considers what 
 a book really is. "Great books are the life-blood of 
 master spirits," says Milton; and this sums up their 
 value. By reading great books we gain this life-blood 
 for ourselves through transfusion, mysterious, but real. 
 
 If the newspapers were to announce some fine morn- 
 ing that from ten to twelve that day a reception would 
 be held at which the public were invited to meet 
 William Shakespeare, Martin Luther, and Napoleon 
 Bonaparte, all work would be dropped, and everybody 
 would hasten to shake hands with these great men. 
 If John Milton were to call on us and spend two hours 
 in our sitting-room, we should consider ourselves hon- 
 ored for life by the favor. As a matter of fact, Mil- 
 
THROUGH THE SCHOOL LIBRARY 19 
 
 ton, Shakespeare and the rest are now in our homes. 
 They are ready to talk to us night and day. They 
 are never too tired to give us their best thoughts. 
 And yet, instead of appreciating this wonderful op- 
 portunity, we too often let them rest on the shelves 
 and occupy ourselves in talking with commonplace 
 people We "gossip with the stable-boy," when in 
 our houses "kings and queens" are waiting for us, as 
 John Ruskin puts it. 
 
 Great books contain the finest things that the great- 
 est minds in the history of the world have been able 
 to put on paper. Certainly any one who has any 
 serious purpose in life must feel the need of being in- 
 structed by those greater than himself. Deliberately 
 to put aside these priceless teachings as not worthy 
 of time and attention is to arrogate to oneself a 
 conceit that is hard to justify. What can be thought 
 of the intellectual capacity of one who has time 
 to read current fiction, but no time for the really 
 great things in literature.? Likewise what shall we 
 say of a person who spends hours learning to play a 
 two-step on the piano, but has not a minute to give 
 to the study of fine music? In too many departments 
 of life we are guilty of false valuations. We count 
 that which is worthless as more valuable than that 
 which is precious. 
 
 If the teacher is imbued with a sense of the value of 
 literature, she will not only enrich her own life thereby 
 but will use her utmost endeavor to spread its in- 
 fluence among her pupils. This cannot be well done 
 unless there is careful planning and forethought on 
 the subject. In other words the teacher should pre- 
 
20 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 pare herself for the proper use of the school library 
 in the same manner as she prepares herself to teach 
 the regular lessons. The best results cannot be se- 
 cured by a mere passing attention to the use of the 
 library. There must be a study of each child's in- 
 terests. There must be a knowledge of the contents 
 of all the books in the library. There must be skill 
 in inducing each child to read what is best for him. 
 This is a task worthy of the best efforts of the teacher, 
 and if accomplished it may result in more actual 
 good to the child than all the rest of the school work 
 combined. 
 
 The following suggestions may assist teachers in 
 this work: 
 
 1. Impress on the pupils the value of good liter- 
 ature, as indicated in the first part of this chapter. 
 
 2. Show the effect of certain great books on indi- 
 viduals. Lincoln as a boy had a library of surpass- 
 ing value — the Bible, Shakespeare, Fox's Book of 
 Martyrs, Weems's Life of Washington, Pilgrim's 
 Progress, and ^Esop's Fables. These books gave him 
 a matchless literary style. They filled his mind with 
 noble thoughts, which not only stimulated ambition 
 but kept out the mean and low. They built up in 
 him a moral fiber that made his character great. 
 Indeed, these books gave us Abraham Lincoln. With- 
 out them, it is altogether likely that he would have 
 remained a railsplitter. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin was powerfully influenced by 
 reading Cotton Mather's "Essays to Do Good." 
 
 Loyola was a wild, profane, irreligious soldier. 
 While in a hospital recovering from a wound he called 
 
THROUGH THE SCHOOL LIBRARY 21 
 
 for a book to pass away the time. The only book to 
 be found was the "Lives of the Saints." This book 
 completely changed the life of Loyola. He became 
 an enthusiastic Christian, and founded the order of 
 Jesuits, whose influence has been great not only in 
 religion, but in history. 
 
 Martin Luther read the life of John Huss, the re- 
 ligious reformer, and was thereby encouraged in his 
 own career. 
 
 Carey, the missionary, had his work marked out 
 for him by reading the voyages of Captain Cook; 
 while Wolff became a great missionary through read- 
 ing the life of St. Francis Xavier. 
 
 Henry Ward Beecher often said that he was never 
 quite the same man again after he had read the works 
 of John Ruskin. 
 
 "My opportunities in youth for acquiring an edu- 
 cation were limited," said Daniel Webster, "but I 
 had the great good fortune of being well supplied 
 with useful books, and these gave me my start in life." 
 
 Henry Clay wrote, "A wise mother and good books 
 enabled me to succeed in life. She was very poor, 
 but never too poor to buy the proper books for her 
 children." 
 
 Alfieri was a great Italian poet; but he would have 
 lived a commonplace Hfe had not his ambition been 
 stirred by the reading of Plutarch. This remarkable 
 book has inspired many of our great men, notably 
 Montaigne, Napoleon Bonaparte, Benjamin Franklin, 
 Daniel Webster, Alexander Hamilton, Emerson, Phillips 
 Brooks, Edward Everett, Lew Wallace, and William 
 E. Gladstone. 
 
REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 3. Make frequent references to the books in the 
 library. Draw illustrations therefrom. For instance, 
 if a volume of Du Chaillu's African experiences is in 
 the library, or Baker's "Cast Up by the Sea," and 
 Africa is being studied in the geography class, the 
 teacher can draw her illustrations from these books, 
 and thus arouse a desire in the pupils to read them. 
 In the same way Scott can be approached. In his- 
 tory the field is much wider. If properly taught 
 American history will at every point lead to an inter- 
 est in the great men and women whose names are met 
 on its pages, and a desire to read their biographies. 
 
 The reading lesson is the medium of approaching 
 good literature. One poem by Longfellow naturally 
 leads to another by the same writer. A part of a 
 long poem should stimulate pupils to read the whole. 
 A professor of English once said that in his opinion 
 the finest eulogy on music is to be found in the fol- 
 lowing lines from Milton's Comus: 
 
 "Scylla wept. 
 And chid her barking waves into attention. 
 And fell Charybdis murmured soft applause." 
 
 This statement led at least some members of the 
 class not only to seek a knowledge of Scylla and 
 Charybdis, but to study the whole poem. 
 
 If pupils are told that Dumas' '*The Three Mus- 
 keteers" is the finest romance ever written, they will 
 sit up and take notice. A prominent lawyer once 
 stated that in his judgment the best thing Dickens 
 ever wrote was "Martin Chuzzlewit." This led at least 
 one of his hearers to read it at his first opportunity. 
 
THROUGH THE SCHOOL LIBRARY 23 
 
 The expression of interest and enthusiasm on the 
 part of the teacher is thus the means of arousing 
 curiosity and interest in the books of the library. If 
 these books are not read, it is usually due to the neg- 
 lect of the teacher. It is demonstrable that nearly 
 all pupils are interested in the things in which the 
 teacher is interested. They will not have their hearts 
 in anything in which the teacher does not have her 
 heart. Perfunctory teaching never aroused an interest 
 in anything. 
 
 4. New books should be added to the library from 
 time to time. This in itself arouses interest. If new 
 books cannot be bought, exchanges can be made with 
 neighboring schools, to the advantage of both. 
 
 5. Use the library books for the reading class. If 
 there is only one copy, let one pupil read several pages 
 while the others listen. Then another pupil reads. 
 Discussions can take place as needed. There is no 
 better way of conducting reading lessons. It is not 
 true that no reading class can be properly conducted 
 unless each pupil has a book in his hand. 
 
 6. The teacher herself should read good literature 
 to the whole school. A teacher of third grade pupils 
 whose ages averaged eight years, devoted the last 
 fifteen minutes each school day to reading Wallace's 
 "Ben-Hur" to them. Of course she could not read 
 this book as printed, because the vocabulary is too 
 difficult for pupils of that grade; but she told the 
 story in her own words with the book open before 
 her and she made judicious omissions. The pupils 
 were aflame with interest in the story. The discus- 
 sions that arose as to points in the story would 
 
24 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 have done credit to pupils many years older, and a 
 profound impression for good was made on the class. 
 
 If the teacher will read "Little Women" to her 
 pupils, she will have no trouble inducing many to 
 read "Little Men," "Old-fashioned Girl," and other 
 books by Miss Alcott. 
 
 By reading to older pupils portions of great poems, 
 or great essays, or great orations, they may be led to 
 further reading by themselves. 
 
 It is plain, of course, that this reading by the 
 teacher must be well done. If she reads in an un- 
 impressive manner she kills interest. It were better 
 she should not read at aU than that she should dis- 
 gust pupils with literature. She must give careful 
 forethought and preparation to the selection to be 
 read, and must put her soul into the reading.' By 
 so doing she will not only create an interest in good 
 books, but will reach the children by giving them the 
 ideals that are found in literature. 
 
 The reading of library books by children has a cer- 
 tain value that is often not appreciated or even con- 
 sidered, and yet which is of prime importance. The 
 child who is interested in reading books will stay at 
 home in the evening and not waste his time running 
 about on the streets with the inevitable undesirable 
 companionship. This is a point lost sight of by those 
 who advocate no home study for pupils. They seem 
 to assume that all children have good homes in which 
 all kinds of proper influences are placed around them. 
 It may well be that no home study is the proper plan 
 in such cases. But consider how many children do not 
 have homes of that character — that the only books 
 
THROUGH THE SCHOOL LIBRARY 25 
 
 in the home adapted to the child are those he brings 
 from school — that there are no other influences that 
 keep him indoors. Hence, out he goes on the street. 
 The roistering life rapidly develops a distaste for the 
 quiet necessary for reading. The child soon craves 
 nothing but action and movement, and has no pa- 
 tience for thinking. He therefore misses the great 
 things of literature, and gets in their place the 
 doubtful learning of the streets. 
 
 The mind is always occupied by something. It is 
 never wholly idle, even during sleep. Shakespeare has 
 truly, even scientifically, said, "The mind grows by 
 what it feeds on.'* We are familiar with the fact 
 that the body is made up of the substances we eat 
 and drink. The same is true of the mind. If it 
 dwells on border ruffian life, there is great danger 
 that the boy will become a bully. If it feeds on sen- 
 sational city life, the boy is in a fair way to seek 
 entrance into that life by proper means or improper. 
 The girl who nourishes herself on the stories told of 
 the gay life on Broadway will be a fit subject for sen- 
 sational acts in her own circle of society, and may 
 even give up her home for the allurements of the 
 city. 
 
 It is therefore plain that the child can be brought 
 up to be a fine character if his thinking can be prop- 
 erly directed; and since reading is so large a part of 
 the child's thinking, the importance of supplying good 
 books and arousing an interest in them is evident. 
 When the home does nothing in this matter, the 
 teacher must fill the need, or it will never be filled. 
 
 It has been well said that there is a tide in the 
 
REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 affairs of boys and girls which, taken at the flood, leads 
 on to fortune. That tide is very apt to come to them 
 at the age of twelve to fourteen. It is then that char- 
 acter begins to take on permanence. It is then that 
 the imagination is especially active. If at this time 
 the teacher gets the child to read the right book she 
 may give direction to his whole life. One book may 
 mean fortune, or it may mean shallows and miseries. 
 It may mean the development of a man or woman of 
 great usefulness in the world, or it may mean one 
 who will contribute to the sum of its wickedness. 
 From this aspect the neglect of the proper use of the 
 library may have most serious consequences, while 
 its proper use may be a service to humanity larger 
 than any other the teacher may be able to render. 
 
Chapter V 
 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH THE 
 PLAYGROUND 
 
 Better a playground without a school, than a school without a 
 playground. — Luther H. Gulick. 
 
 The foregoing quotation by Dr. Gulick was made 
 with particular regard to the value of the play- 
 ground to pupils physically and socially. It is, how- 
 ever, also of large importance in "getting hold" of 
 some pupils whom the teacher cannot reach in the 
 course of school work. It affords a fine opportunity, 
 in addition to the physical benefits, for the study of 
 the pupil by the teacher, and for the formation of 
 a friendship, or a common interest, that may be 
 indefinitely enlarged. 
 
 It is an unfortunate fact that many teachers do not 
 play with their pupils. They occupy their recesses by 
 preparing work for the coming recitations, or they sit 
 at their desks and read. Some go so far as to stand 
 at the window and keep their eyes on the pupils while 
 they play. All these methods are objectionable. The 
 teacher needs exercise at recess as well as the pupils. 
 Ten minutes of activity in the open air will brighten 
 her spirits, keep her mind fresh and prevent her from 
 getting "cranky." Watching the pupils for disci- 
 plinary purposes creates a wrong feeling between 
 teacher and pupils. 
 
REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 But if she joyously enters into the sports of the 
 pupils, teaches them new games, and becomes one 
 with them, she will get closer to their little hearts in 
 a day than she otherwise can in a month. 
 
 If any of her pupils have the habit of using rough 
 language on the playground, all the teacher need do 
 is to play with them. Of course there will be no 
 roughness when she is there; and after a few days 
 rough language will fall into disuse. The habit of 
 using proper language will be confirmed; and thus a 
 very great reform can be accomplished without a word 
 being said by any one. How much better this is than 
 to secure the same result through harsh measures, even 
 if this were possible! 
 
 A young man once took a position as principal, in 
 a school of four teachers. Some of the largest pupils 
 were more powerful physically than he was. But he 
 had no trouble with them, largely because he played 
 baseball with them at recess times. One morning 
 there was some commotion among the pupils before 
 school opened. On inquiry the principal learned that 
 a new pupil was coming to school that morning, a 
 large boy, the son of a saloon-keeper. This boy had 
 a bad record, having been sent out of school the year 
 before. The principal was apprehensive that trouble 
 might arise; but at recess time, when he started the 
 game with the boys, he learned that the newcomer 
 was a "baseball fiend." The principal was pitching 
 when the new boy came to bat. The boy evidently 
 expected to have no trouble in hitting at least two 
 bases, and rather laughed at the idea of a teacher 
 playing baseball. But the principal was on his met- 
 
THROUGH THE PLAYGROUND 29 
 
 tie, and the boy, to his surprise, struck out. That 
 was the beginning of a wholesome respect on the part 
 of the pupil for his principal. They talked baseball 
 together, formed a comradeship on the playground, 
 and had no trouble whatever during the school year. 
 A similar influence, though not so marked, was exerted 
 on th3 other boys. It is safe to say that that prin- 
 cipal's ability and willingness to enter into the sports 
 of the pupils was a greater asset in disciplining his 
 school than all other qualities combined. 
 
 In our rural schools especially, children know but 
 very few games to play. They do not have half as 
 much fun as they might if they were taught how to 
 play many more games. It is very important that 
 children should play. Up to the age of six the whole 
 business of the child is to play; and throughout his 
 school career it should be a prominent part of the 
 school course. The teacher should therefore not con- 
 fine her thought and activity to the work side alone, 
 but should also teach the child out of doors in his 
 pleasures. 
 
 It is a well known fact that a child's real character 
 does not reveal itself when he is hemmed in by rules 
 and authority; but he shows his true make-up when 
 he is free to do as he pleases. Therefore the play- 
 ground is a great revealer of character, because on 
 the playground much of the restriction of the school- 
 room is removed. 
 
 A visitor to a school once saw a fine dismissal of 
 pupils. They were on the second floor; and as the 
 line was passing out he noticed a boy, larger than 
 othersj standing at the stairway and controlling the 
 
30 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 whole line, taking special pains to see that the little 
 children were properly protected. On mentioning this 
 fact to the teacher (who, by the way, was not in the 
 hallway), the teacher smiled, and said: "The first 
 day I opened school this same boy planted himself 
 at the foot of the steps, and tripped every little child 
 he could. However, I said nothing about it, but 
 studied the boy. I noticed that on the playground 
 he was a leader; and I determined to take full advan- 
 tage of his leadership. 
 
 "At the end of the first week of school I had a 
 talk with him. I told him that I was concerned about 
 the safety of the children as they passed down the 
 stairs — that he was the largest boy in school, and 
 that I should like to have him help me out by assum- 
 ing entire charge of the dismissal. He agreed. We 
 discussed the best plan for regulating the dismissal, 
 and the following Monday he took charge. No one 
 could possibly be more careful of the proper discharge 
 of his duties than he is. Instead of being a source of 
 trouble, he is now my right hand man." 
 
 Not only is the teacher's influence strong to banish 
 rough language from the playground, but in a posi- 
 tive way pupils may be taught many valuable lessons 
 through the example and precept of the teacher. For 
 instance, there is a disposition on the part of some 
 pupils to claim they were "safe" when they know 
 they were "out," and by vociferating and bullying 
 they sometimes maintain their claim. By and by the 
 general idea spreads that any claim is proper if it can 
 be successfully asserted. This is the very abdication 
 of honesty. It is training in dishonesty. From the 
 
THROUGH THE PLAYGROUND 31 
 
 playground these pupils go into life with the spirit of 
 getting the better of others if they can regardless of 
 right and wrong. Thus a most mischievous idea is 
 developed. 
 
 If, however, the teacher is "out," he at once yields 
 the point. Even if the umpire calls him "safe," he 
 would do well to say, "No, I was out," unless the 
 decision was very close. Then he may take occa- 
 sion during school hours to discuss the moral point 
 involved, and show pupils how dishonesty in play 
 is just as reprehensible as dishonesty off the play- 
 ground. 
 
 He can also very effectively teach generosity and 
 politeness. If there is a question as to which of two 
 games is to be played, the teacher should yield his 
 preference. If a disagreement arises as to which of 
 two sides is right in a contention, unless some prin- 
 ciple is involved, the teacher shows that the gentle- 
 manly way is to give the privilege to the other side. 
 Scrupulous fairness to an opponent is a most valuable 
 mental habit; and nowhere can this be better em- 
 phasized than in the situations that arise in all con- 
 tests. Thus may selfishness be dealt a strong blow; 
 and thus may the altruistic virtues be trained and 
 strengthened, to the end that the finer traits of char- 
 acter may be developed, and the child be fitted to be 
 a worthy member of society. 
 
 If you want to win the heart of a boy, join him in 
 his play. 
 
 The old idea of a school was monarchical. The 
 teacher was the autocrat and the pupils were the sub- 
 jects. It was beneath his dignity to mingle on even 
 
3^ REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 terms with adults, to say nothing of children. Obe- 
 dience, prompt and unquestioned, was his demand. 
 Pupils were not supposed to think — he did all the 
 thinking for them. 
 
 The modern idea of a school is that of the kinder- 
 garten — a democracy. In a true kindergarten the 
 teachers play with the children, sit on the same seats, 
 and are simply leaders and directors. That idea 
 should pervade the entire system. Children however 
 young have individualities that should be recognized 
 and respected. Hence, under the democratic idea, 
 the teacher will mingle on even terms with pupils and 
 parents, showing no more dignity than any other per- 
 son should properly show under the same circum- 
 stances. Thus he will reach the pupils through the 
 strong force of mutual regard and good will. 
 
Chapter VI 
 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH INDUSTRIAL 
 TRAINING 
 
 All work, even cotton-spinning, is noble; work is alone noble. 
 — Caeltle. 
 
 The demand of today is that the course of study 
 and the instruction in our schools shall be related to 
 the needs of everyday life. There was a time when 
 the course of study was purely literary. It was 
 thought that industrial subjects are useless for pur- 
 poses of mental training. This was in accordance 
 with the teachings of the old psychology. 
 
 It is held by some educators that, as far as train- 
 ing the mind is concerned, the study of agriculture 
 is as valuable as the study of Greek, and is of much 
 more usefulness in practical life. Hence the very 
 rapid movement of late years toward a decrease in 
 the number of literary subjects and an increase in the 
 number of industrial subjects. 
 
 However, entirely apart from the practical bearing 
 of industrial subjects, they have a value in reaching 
 certain children that cannot be overestimated. 
 
 Dr. Bryan, in his fascinating book, "The Basis of 
 Practical Teaching," devotes one chapter to "The 
 Stimulus of Success," in which he shows that in order 
 to secure a basis for advancement in a child's progress 
 
REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 it is necessary to find something that he can do well. 
 From that as a point of departure he will be stimu- 
 lated to doing other things well. It is immaterial 
 what this acquirement may be — whether skill in a 
 certain study, or in a certain game — the essential 
 point is that the pupil must excel in something; and 
 without such excellence but little can be done for the 
 pupil. 
 
 Dr. Bryan shows that if two problems are assigned 
 to a class, one easy and one difficult, the chances of 
 getting both problems right are much greater if the 
 easy one is first attempted. In the one case, success 
 in the easy instills confidence for the difficult; in the 
 other, failure in the difficult unfits the student for 
 success with the easy. 
 
 In the freshman class of a prominent high school 
 near New York was a boy whose work in Latin was 
 exceedingly poor. He happened, however, to be the 
 only freshman on the high school baseball team; and 
 in an important contest in which his team lost by a 
 score of two to one, he was responsible for the one 
 run, having made a three base hit and scored on an 
 error. He was the hero of that game. 
 
 His Latin teacher said to him on Monday morning, 
 "James, I understand you covered yourself with glory 
 in the game last Saturday. That is fine; but really 
 a person should not be a star in only one line. Why 
 don't you make a star of yourself in this Latin class 
 too?" The idea appealed to the boy, and for the rest 
 of the year his work in Latin showed remarkable im- 
 provement. 
 
 There are some excellent pupils who are not book- 
 
THROUGH INDUSTRIAL TRAINING 35 
 
 minded, but hand-minded. They fail in the literary 
 side of their school life. They cannot read well, nor 
 write well, nor do any other of the regular studies 
 well. They have fallen (or come) into the habit of 
 failure, which is exactly the opposite of the habit of 
 success, and leads in the opposite direction. Such 
 pupils are apt to be several years older than the 
 others in the class, and are regarded as backward 
 pupils; and what is much more unfortunate, they 
 regard themselves as backward pupils. 
 
 Now these pupils may potentially have the elements 
 of good citizenship to a higher degree than others 
 whose standing in regular studies is very high, but 
 they have not been reached. Books do not make 
 an appeal to them. Give them tools and wood or 
 set them to work on a garden plot, or put them 
 behind a team of horses, and their ability may at once 
 become manifest. Hence the value of manual training 
 in reaching pupils. 
 
 An interesting point here is that this is the best way 
 of making these pupils proficient in the regular studies. 
 It has often been noticed that if a pupil who does 
 poor work in his classroom, is given work in manual 
 training, he will show instant improvement in his 
 other studies also. Furthermore, he is very likely to 
 improve in his conduct. 
 
 In some schools certain pupils who are in too low 
 a grade to join the manual training classes clamor 
 for the privilege, and why? Because they feel that 
 here is work they can do; and as all the rest of their 
 school work consists of what they cannot do, their 
 school life is dreary drudgery from morning to night. 
 
REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 No wonder they drop out. Under such conditions 
 school holds nothing for them. They are wasting 
 their time, and are getting into bad intellectual and 
 moral habits. 
 
 Some years ago we prided ourselves on the dem- 
 ocracy of our public school system. We felt that birth, 
 nationality, wealth, gave no advantage to one pupil 
 over another, as far as the public schools were con- 
 cerned. All pupils had an equal chance. We gave 
 the same opportunity to all. 
 
 When, however, through the beneficent results of 
 child study we became sensible of what we had always 
 known before, that children differ from one another, 
 we began to realize that what is a good chance for 
 one is not necessarily a good chance for another. 
 In other words, the same opportunity for all does not 
 in the least imply an equal opportunity for all. We 
 gave a fine opportunity for the book-minded child, 
 but none at all for the hand-minded child. We gave 
 many chances to the literary pupil, but none to the 
 industrial pupil. The latter was never reached, be- 
 cause we violated the psychological principle that 
 the child cannot be influenced through what he does 
 not like, or through what does not seem valuable to 
 him. 
 
 It follows then that a teacher should find for every 
 pupil something he can do well. If this cannot be 
 found in his regular studies, it must be sought in the 
 special subjects. If it cannot be found there, it naust 
 be sought on the playground. If not in any of these 
 places, it may be found in the home or in the store, 
 or on the farm. Something must be found that the 
 
THROUGH INDUSTRIAL TRAINING 37 
 
 child does well. Nothing can be done for him other- 
 wise. How important, therefore, that the teacher 
 should study her pupils on the playground, and should 
 become familiar with their homes; and how important 
 also that she should fit herself to teach the manual 
 arts, so that no pupil may be lost through her inef- 
 ficiency. 
 
Chapter VII 
 
 REACHINQ THE CHILDREN THROUGH SELF- 
 GOVERNMENT 
 
 In the supremacy of self-control consists one of the perfections 
 of the ideal man, — Herbert Spencer. 
 I will be lord over myself. — Goethe. 
 
 It has already been stated that the central prin- 
 ple of education is the self-activity of the child. As 
 far as the government of a child is concerned, there 
 is no growth in the power of self-control except in so 
 far as the child controls himself. No self-control has 
 ever been developed by outside control. The latter 
 may produce obedience, which is desirable, but it 
 does not produce self-control. 
 
 A child who is not permitted to make any choices 
 for himself, but is directed in all he does by fond par- 
 ents or teachers, is bound to grow up a weakling. 
 He can grow in the power of self-control only by the 
 choices he makes for himself, and not by choices that 
 are made for him by others. Hence the great mistake 
 made by excessive supervision of children by parents 
 and teachers. 
 
 Emerson in his essay on Self -Reliance says, "Self- 
 trust is the essence of heroism." Again he says 
 "Trust thyself! Every heart vibrates to that iron 
 string." If a person cannot accomplish much unless 
 
THROUGH SELF-GOVERNMENT 39 
 
 he has trust in himself, he cannot expect others to 
 accomplish much if he does not trust them. Hence 
 as far as the individual is concerned he must trust 
 himself, and as far as others are concerned he must 
 also trust them. 
 
 The main reason why children can be reached 
 through self-government is because this method im- 
 plies a recognition of the essential manhood or woman- 
 hood of each child. The glory of the adult is liberty 
 to do as he pleases. Every time a boy does what 
 he pleases he is assuming the prerogative of a man; 
 and as every boy's constant desire is to become a 
 man, the more he does what he pleases the more he 
 is acting like a man. 
 
 Therefore in no other way can the teacher reach 
 the pupils more effectively than by assuming that 
 they are men and women and treating them accord- 
 ingly. Of course this doctrine must be applied with 
 sense, otherwise it will lead to anarchy. But as a 
 principle it is correct. 
 
 Edward Everett Hale says that when he and his 
 brothers were still boys their father treated them as 
 if they were men — took them into his confidence in 
 business affairs, sent them to the bank, gave them 
 important commissions to transact — and as a result 
 they rose to the occasion. Dr. Hale stated in his 
 mature years that this was one of the finest things 
 in his training. 
 
 Some teachers years ago conducted their schools on 
 the basis that the teacher is everything and the pupils 
 are nothing. The school was run largely on the basis 
 of the teacher's comfort and convenience. Now we 
 
40 REACHING TEE CHILDREN 
 
 believe that the interests of pupils are paramount, and 
 the teacher merely a servant — not at all a menial 
 position, for did not Christ say that the greatest 
 should be the servant of the others? In a democracy 
 the child must be trained for self-government; and 
 therefore the important matter in the schoolroom is 
 the child's comfort, the child's activity, the child's 
 welfare, not those of the teacher. 
 
 It is a well known fact that a teacher can get little 
 children to do almost anything she pleases by sug- 
 gestion, and that commands are seldom necessary. 
 Suppose for example that the pupils have the habit of 
 leaving their seats at any time, and the teacher 
 wishes to check this habit. She can say, *'I don't 
 want anybody to leave his seat without permission." 
 This may cure the fault. The pupils may obey 
 through fear of the consequences. 
 
 Another teacher will discuss the matter with the 
 pupils. She will say, "Pupils, do you think it is best 
 for the class for pupils to leave their seats whenever 
 they please?" The pupils will answer, "No." Then 
 the teacher will say, "Do you think if we were all to 
 try real hard we could stay in our seats until recess 
 time?" The pupils will eagerly respond in the affirm- 
 ative. Then the teacher will say, "Very well, now we 
 will all try to remember." And there is little doubt 
 that the end will be gained by the pupils' participation. 
 This is the vital difference between the two plans 
 suggested. It is the first step in the training of 
 children to become completely self-governing. 
 
 To state the principle once more we may say that 
 everything in the school life that requires action on 
 
THROUGH SELF-GOVERNMENT 41 
 
 the part of pupils should be done through the initia- 
 tive of the pupils or through their willing assent to 
 the suggestion of the teacher. 
 
 There are well known high schools and grammar 
 schools in which all government is carried on by pupil 
 control in imitation of a borough or city government. 
 Officers are elected and a constitution adopted under 
 which the whole school is conducted. This gives 
 excellent practice in the duties of citizenship. What 
 concerns us, however, is the fact that by this means 
 pupils feel a sense of dignity and responsibility that 
 makes them thoughtful. They act from worthy motives. 
 
 There are other schools in which the spirit of self- 
 government exists without any organization. Each 
 pupil understands that he is expected to do the right 
 thing, and is trusted to do so until he proves himself 
 unworthy. 
 
 One such school consisted of about seventy-five 
 high school pupils and fifty seventh and eighth grade 
 pupils. These pupils were told in assembly one morn- 
 ing by their principal that he considered them all old 
 enough to do what is right, and that he would trust 
 them in all respects. He required no written excuses 
 for absence or tardiness. If a pupil needed to leave 
 school before its close he went out just as a grown 
 person would do. If the principal was called out of a 
 classroom he would appoint a pupil to continue the 
 recitation, or the class would select one of their 
 number to teach. If a teacher was absent the prin- 
 cipal would appoint a pupil teacher for each class. 
 This was, however, almost entirely confined to the 
 high school classes. 
 
42 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 These pupils are now men and women. It could 
 be shown, not only from the observations of the teach- 
 ers at the time, but by the testimony of these men 
 and women that the classes and the whole school were 
 managed with dignity, and that the appeal to their 
 manhood and womanhood was of lasting value. 
 
 In this school the question always was, "How would 
 right minded men and women act?" This was the 
 standard for the acts of the pupils. Of course there 
 were occasional offenses. These pupils were not per- 
 fect. Neither are men and women perfect. But if 
 something improper occurred, and the principal said 
 to the assembled students, "I wish the person who 
 did this would come to the office after dismission,'* 
 the person invariably came and confessed. In two 
 years only one pupil failed to meet this test. Thus 
 as far as possible these pupils were precipitated into 
 adult life of a high order, they lived and moved in an 
 atmosphere of moral dignity, they gained fine views 
 of life, they had practice in noble living. And many 
 a pupil who could not be reached by threats or pun- 
 ishment was reached, or rather reached himself, by 
 this simple appeal to his better nature. 
 
 When a pupil has committed an offense, it is ex- 
 ceedingly important that he should assent to the 
 punishment if there be punishment. If the teacher 
 prescribes a penalty that the pupil considers unjust, 
 it will do little good to the pupil. The resentment 
 aroused in his breast by what he considers unfair 
 treatment drives out the effectiveness of the punish- 
 ment. His heart will be unchanged. 
 
 Hence it is often wise to ask a pupil whether he 
 
THROUGH SELF-GOVERNMENT 43 
 
 considers a given penalty just, or even to let him fix 
 his own penalty. 
 
 In a certain school a high school pupil whose con- 
 duct was excellent in the main, was constantly in 
 trouble with one of her teachers. There was lack of 
 adjustment between them, which ended one day in 
 the dismissal of the girl from the classroom. When 
 she came to the office, the principal said, 
 
 "What can I do for you?" 
 
 "Mrs. Blank sent me out of the classroom!" 
 
 "What.f^ sent you out of the classroom?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Well, what are you going to do about it?" 
 
 No reply. 
 
 "There is something wrong," continued the prin- 
 cipal, "and it should be made right." 
 
 "Well, I know what I ought to do," said the girl. 
 
 "Are you willing to do it?" asked the principal. 
 
 No reply. 
 
 "If you are willing to go back to the class and do 
 what you think you ought to do to make this matter 
 right, I shall be entirely satisfied, and shall not even 
 ask you what it is." 
 
 The student agreed. The principal never learned 
 what she did; but from that day there was no more 
 friction between that pupil and her teacher. It 
 was a case of complete seK-government, of self- 
 conquest. 
 
 There are teachers who are hasty in demanding 
 apologies from their pupils. This requirement is the 
 source of so much anxiety, perplexity, and hard feeling 
 that a principal would be justified in forbidding any 
 
44 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 teacher to require an apology without his consent. 
 Too often the demand for an apology is made when 
 the teacher is annoyed. There is not always a cool, 
 careful investigation of the case before sentence is 
 passed. The pupil is sent out of the room at once — 
 he cannot be readmitted without an apology; and 
 this ultimatum is made before the other pupils. 
 
 But the principal finds the pupil unwilling to make 
 an apology because he feels that none is required by 
 the facts — that he was not guilty as charged, or at 
 least that there were mitigating circumstances — 
 others just as guilty as he — that would seem to mod- 
 ify the offense. The principal knows very well that 
 an apology forced under such circumstances is merely 
 a matter of words, and that it does no good. He 
 wants to sustain the teacher, and yet he hesitates to 
 compel an apology especially because he feels that the 
 teacher was hasty. Finally the parents come in and 
 insist that rather than have their child apologize they 
 will take him out of school, or bring the case before 
 the board of education. There is more excitement and 
 disturbance in these apology cases than in many 
 others that might be mentioned. 
 
 The teacher should never prescribe penalties at 
 once. She should never at the moment lay down the 
 conditions of readmission to her class. She may in- 
 deed dismiss the pupil from the room, but her hands 
 should be free to prescribe what penalty is deemed 
 suitable after an unbiased investigation. Neither has 
 she any right to tie the hands of the principal. If 
 she lays down her conditions in advance, he must 
 either concur in them or overrule them; and in his 
 
THROUGH SELF-GOVERNMENT 45 
 
 anxiety to avoid the latter alternative he may be 
 unjust to the pupil. 
 
 The idea of the self-governed school is that the 
 pupil should never apologize to anybody unless he 
 feels that he ought. Forced apologies are not only 
 ineJBPective but positively harmful. Men and women 
 never make them; and it is a blow to the dignity of 
 the child to compel him to do that which he resents. 
 Outside control never reached a child unless it led 
 in the end to self-control. 
 
Chapter VIII 
 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH THE PRIVATE 
 CONVERSATION 
 
 When all is done, the help of good counsel is that which setteth 
 business straight. — Bacon. 
 
 Some years ago books on school management class- 
 ified the several steps to be taken in the treatment of 
 offenders in school. Among the first suggestions was 
 that private reproof should precede public reproof — 
 that a pupil should not be criticised before his school- 
 mates until he had first been criticised privately 
 without avail. 
 
 This is good sense, and good psychology. We may 
 go further and say that there are very few cases in- 
 deed in which public reproof is justifiable. The school- 
 room is for study, not for lecturing. To upbraid a 
 pupil before the class not only harasses the feelings 
 of all the pupils but it takes the time scheduled for 
 work. 
 
 Public reproof seldom reaches anybody except to 
 mortify him. It does not give him higher motives, 
 nor nobler resolves. On the contrary, if a pupil is 
 held up before his classmates as a reprobate, he is 
 very apt to assume and carry out the role thus 
 assigned him. 
 
 Strictly speaking, private reproof is not a very good 
 
THROUGH THE PRIVATE CONVERSATION 47 
 
 term to use. In many cases no reproof at all is neces- 
 sary. A mere conversation or talk in private may 
 suffice -— nay, more often reaches the child than pri- 
 vate reproof. It is not true that every dereliction must 
 be punished. It is not true that all pupils sometimes 
 need a scolding. What is true is that pupils who 
 have gone wrong must be led to go right; and this 
 can be done much better by persuasion than by 
 criticism. 
 
 A superintendent once asked a teacher in a rural 
 school to call out and teach her lowest class in read- 
 ing. She summoned the class, and three pupils came 
 forward, two about six years old and one about ten. 
 Before beginning the recitation the teacher said in a 
 loud voice (the superintendent was in the rear of the 
 room), "Mr. Blank, this large pupil is the most stupid 
 boy I have ever seen. I have tried my best, and can't 
 get anything into him." When the superintendent 
 had completed his visit, he spoke to the teacher 
 about the boy. He said, "Don't you think that boy 
 felt hurt to be held up as a dunce before his super- 
 intendent in the presence of his classmates .f*" She 
 said, "Oh, no, that didn't make any difference." 
 "But," said the superintendent, "if at our next county 
 institute I should ask you to stand up before all the 
 assembled teachers, and should state thus publicly 
 that you are the dullest teacher I have ever seen — 
 how would you like that.^" "Oh, that's something 
 entirely different," was her reply. 
 
 "Not at all," said the superintendent, "that boy 
 has feelings just as you have. To be pronounced a 
 hopeless dunce before his superintendent and his class- 
 
48 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 mates was a mortification for which he will never for- 
 give you, and it was an injury from which he may 
 never recover." 
 
 Go into many schoolrooms, and you will find too 
 much public criticism, too much fault-finding, too 
 much correction, too much projection of superiority 
 on the part of the teacher. Every school should be a 
 cooperative society — everybody working together for 
 the good of the whole and of each individual — under 
 the guidance of its most mature member, the teacher. 
 
 It is not necessary for the teacher to wait until 
 some offence has been committed before she has a 
 private conversation with her pupils. After the first 
 week of school she would do well to select a pupil and 
 make an appointment to have a talk with him alone. 
 In this talk she should strive to gain his friendship — 
 to study his disposition, to learn about his aims in life 
 and his conditions. He will reveal himself to her in 
 private, whereas he would say little or nothing in 
 public. The teacher who asks a pupil questions before 
 his classmates in regard to his personal life shows bad 
 manners herself and violates the sanctity of privacy. 
 Even in the private conversation her inquiries have 
 natural limits. But if she shows good judgment a 
 bond of sympathy will spring up that will go far to 
 prevent the occurrence of any trouble in the future. 
 Moreover, she can give him some bits of advice — 
 not too much, for this conversation should not be a 
 confessional — and can learn wherein he needs help. 
 
 When offences arise in the schoolroom, nothing 
 should be said about them if possible; but some time 
 during the day the offender should be asked privately 
 
THROUGH THE PRIVATE CONVERSATION 49 
 
 to remain after school. Then the teacher should take 
 him to a private room, or exclude everybody from her 
 classroom, and in a calm and indeed sympathetic 
 manner should inquire into the circumstances of the 
 offence. The pupil should be given a full opportunity 
 to state his case. The teacher should not **go at 
 him" in a critical spirit, but in the spirit of an in- 
 quirer. Then she should show the pupil just why the 
 act was wrong, after which, if he sees it, she can 
 usually count on his amendment without scolding or 
 even without his making a formal promise. 
 
 Teachers should remember, and freely admit, jQrst, 
 that we ask too much when we expect pupils to be 
 perfect; and secondly, that we adults are not perfect. 
 The teacher who governs her pupils on the basis of 
 what they ought to be is not as wise as she who takes 
 as her basis the pupils as they are. Teachers who say, 
 "Pupils ought not to have a false code of honor," 
 should be met by the statement, "You and I should 
 also not have a false code in anything." 
 
 In a certain high school the pupils were requested 
 to describe the best teacher they had ever had, and 
 tell why they liked her. When these papers came in, 
 it was interesting to see that in a large majority of 
 instances the statement was made, "I liked her be- 
 cause she was fair." Children have a very keen sense 
 of justice and injustice; and though a strong teacher 
 can stifie the manifestation of their resentment when 
 she is unjust to them, she cannot smother the feel- 
 ing, and she can never reach them as long as that 
 feeling persists. 
 
 In the private conversation the teacher must show 
 
50 REACHING TEE CHILDREN 
 
 a spirit of absolute fairness toward the pupil. She 
 must therefore be in a proper frame of mind when the 
 interview takes place. If she is to act as judge she 
 must be as impartial and unprejudiced as a judge. 
 Hence an interview regarding an offence should in 
 some cases not be held until a day or more has 
 elapsed — not until the teacher feels that she can 
 administer exact justice. When the pupil can feel in 
 the atmosphere of the room that he will get a "square 
 deal," conditions are appropriate for a valuable inter- 
 change of ideas. 
 
 Mr. Edward Howard Griggs, in his book on "Moral 
 Education," has pointed out that treatment of a pupil 
 for an offence should follow the method of a physi- 
 cian treating a patient. The interview should be 
 private. The teacher should inquire into the history 
 of the pupil to see whether there is anything in his 
 ancestry to account for the trouble. Then she should 
 inquire into the conditions that brought about the 
 offence. Next there should be an examination of the 
 offence itself. Lastly, there should be such treatment 
 as will cure the offence. 
 
 Too often teachers make no diagnosis of a case, 
 but prescribe purely on the basis of external symptoms. 
 And too often they use the patent medicine treat- 
 ment, namely that a certain remedy is always good for 
 all people. Of course we know that rarely does the 
 wise physician prescribe the same remedy for the 
 same disease. It all depends on the condition of 
 the patient. 
 
 Just as a physician cannot reach the seat of a dis- 
 ease without a diagnosis, and just as he must give 
 
THROUGH THE PRIVATE CONVERSATION 51 
 
 individual prescriptions for the same disease, so the 
 teacher cannot reach the pupils unless she has ade- 
 quate knowledge of the pupils' heredity, environment, 
 physical and mental make up, and unless she gives 
 such treatment as will be exactly adapted to the 
 individual under consideration. 
 
 When a pupil appears before the teacher to answer 
 for an offence, the teacher should remember the many 
 functions in which she is clothed. Probably she made 
 the laws which have been broken. Now she is not 
 only judge, but also jury, counsel for the prosecution, 
 and executioner. Against this formidable array of 
 functions there is only the ten year old boy. A judge 
 must be absolutely unbiased. He must see that the 
 prisoner gets all his rights — gets a fair trial in all 
 respects. Is the teacher always as unbiased against 
 an offending pupil as is a judge against a man on trial 
 for murder .f^ Having in the nature of things so many 
 roles, the teacher would do well to assume one more, 
 namely, counsel for the defence! Give the boy a fair 
 chance to say what he can in his favor. If he can 
 bring any witnesses to assist him, by all means let 
 them be summoned. Furthermore, counsel for the 
 defence would bring out in court the extenuating cir- 
 cumstances — a hot temper, poor home surroundings, 
 bad associates, immaturity, the probability of refor- 
 mation if sentence were suspended. Let these points 
 be brought out by the teacher in the boy's behalf. 
 And just as the prisoner in court is presumed to be 
 innocent until he is proven guilty, so the youthful 
 offender must not be prejudged. 
 
 The purpose of this endeavor to be fair is not 
 
52 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 only that justice may prevail, but that the pupil shall 
 recognize in the teacher a friend who is fair, and who 
 is wiUing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Then 
 the teacher can reach the pupil who heretofore may 
 have closed his heart to her. 
 
 The desire of the teacher to be fair in these pri- 
 vate conversations is often sadly embarrassed by a 
 pupil's previous bad reputation. A principal was in 
 his office one morning when a teacher, looking out of 
 the window, exclaimed, "Here comes Charley Blank! 
 He was expelled from school, then expelled from the 
 navy, and now he is coming back to school!" 
 
 The principal had never met this young man, who 
 was then eighteen; but immediately he put him down 
 in his own mind as a pupil who needed watching. 
 To every movement the principal attached signifi- 
 cance. Very soon the principal reprimanded him in 
 the presence of the pupils. A few days later the boy 
 went home because a classmate had been sent home. 
 He was called in for a private conversation. The 
 principal began in a severe tone. The boy answered 
 coolly, indeed manfully. He explained that, in the 
 navy, the code of honor demanded that if one were 
 punished the others should "take their medicine" too. 
 In that conversation the principal learned that 
 Charley was not wholly bad — that he had rather 
 low ideals, to be sure; not always a sense of the fit- 
 ness of things, but that he meant fairly well. The 
 upshot of that conversation was the formation of a 
 better understanding, and indeed of a friendship that 
 led to "smooth sailing" as long as the young man 
 continued in school. 
 
THROUGH THE PRIVATE CONVERSATION 53 
 
 The new teacher should as much as possible close 
 her ears to unfavorable information about any of her 
 pupils. It will inevitably affect her attitude toward 
 a pupil if she has formed a prejudice against him in 
 advance. If a patient goes from one physician to 
 another, the latter always makes his diagnosis for 
 himsnif , and does not accept that made by the former. 
 Every pupil coming to school should be admitted with 
 a clean slate. 
 
 In some graded schools teachers make notes in re- 
 gard to their children during the year, and send them 
 to the next teacher in the fall. This is an excellent 
 plan provided there are no notes reflecting on the 
 pupils* conduct. Since so much of misconduct is 
 caused by lack of adjustment, it may be that the new 
 teacher, if unhampered, may be able in her way to 
 make the adjustment at once. At any rate, the pupil 
 does not get a fair chance with the new teacher if 
 his past offences are spread out before her eyes at the 
 beginning of the term. 
 
 It is thus plain that the private conversation, con- 
 ducted with judicial fairness and with sympathy, is 
 one of the most effective means of reaching the pupils 
 that the teacher can employ. Whatever power there 
 may be of mind over mind is here active. The ad- 
 mitted power of sympathy is here exerted. No better 
 conditions for influencing pupils can be secured than 
 the privacy of this conference; and the effect is most 
 powerful because it flows from heart to heart. 
 
Chapter IX 
 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH 
 ENCOURAGEMENT 
 
 And many strokes, though with a little ax. 
 Hew down and fell the hardest timbered oak. 
 
 — Shakespeare. 
 
 Imagination rules the world! — Napoleon. 
 
 I can do whatever I will to do. — "Stonewall" Jackson. 
 
 The word encouragement literally means "putting 
 heart into.'* To encourage some one is to put heart 
 into him. A person is (discouraged when his heart is 
 out of him. We say of an ambitious, rising young 
 man, "His heart is in his work"; while we say of a 
 person who is failing, "His heart is not in his work." 
 
 Just as no adult succeeds whose heart is not in his 
 work, so no pupil succeeds if his heart is not in his 
 work. A child does not win at play if his heart is not 
 in it. A baseball team is beaten before the game 
 starts if the players are disheartened. There is not a 
 walk in life above pure drudgery in which success is 
 not conditioned on the amount of "heart" that is put 
 into one's work. A high order of intellect without 
 "heart" cannot equal the accomplishment of a lower 
 order of intellect plus "heart." 
 
 If a pupil moves along in his studies in a careless 
 or perfunctory manner, and the teacher succeeds by 
 
THROUGH ENCOURAGEMENT 55 
 
 some means in putting "heart" into him, it trans- 
 forms his hfe. He becomes energetic, alert, eager, 
 ambitious. His class standing rises rapidly. His de- 
 portment will be entirely satisfactory. In other 
 words, if the teacher has reached the pupil, she has 
 performed for him the greatest service that one 
 person can render to another. 
 
 Some years ago a boy in a certain high school was 
 a year behind his class. His record up to the end of 
 the second year was one of great carelessness in work 
 and in conduct. The principal felt, however, that 
 this boy was naturally bright. He had several pri- 
 vate interviews with him. One day he said, "Charles, 
 you are bright enough to go to college. You have no 
 means of your own, and there are no means in your 
 family; but I know a man who sings in the same 
 choir with you, who has means, and would very likely 
 be willing to send you through college if I could go 
 to him and vouch for your excellence as a student 
 and your worth as a young man. But I suppose you 
 realize that at present I cannot do this." 
 
 "I know you can't," said the boy. 
 
 "But I should like to do so," said the principal. 
 
 This was in June. Nothing more was said until the 
 fall. Then the head teacher in the high school came 
 to the principal one day in great amusement, and said, 
 "What do you think — Charles says he is going to 
 do two years' work in one, and graduate next June!" 
 
 "Well," said the principal, "Let him run his head 
 against the proposition and see what comes of it." 
 
 Charles took five studies in class, and was given 
 permission to pursue three at his home and take 
 
5Q REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 monthly tests therein. This was a heavy program; 
 but what was the surprise of the teachers when month 
 after month this boy stood very high not only in his 
 class work but in his monthly tests in all subjects; 
 and to cap the climax he took two studies beyond the 
 requirement, and passed in them also. In one year 
 this boy, who had formerly been so indifferent, passed 
 with credit in ten subjects whereas the regular number 
 for one year was only four. And as a by-product 
 his conduct, which had formerly been very unsatis- 
 factory, was now equal to the best in the class. 
 
 It remains to be said that the boy was sent to col- 
 lege by the method first suggested by the principal; 
 and while the death of his benefactor cut his course 
 short before graduation, yet that young man has made 
 a success in engineering work, and is a good citizen. 
 
 Teachers know what a good effect on them a kind 
 word from their superintendent or principal produces. 
 If he visits their rooms several times a week for a 
 year and never expresses satisfaction with what he 
 sees, the teacher is in a state of uncertainty and per- 
 plexity. She does not feel comfortable. She cannot 
 pursue her work with assurance. Altogether she is 
 not in a proper frame of mind to do her best work. 
 
 The same is true of a pupil. He, as well as the 
 teacher, is hungry for the kind word. The "well 
 done" of the teacher is just as important to him as is 
 the "well done'* of the superintendent to the teacher. 
 It puts "heart" into him. He feels that the teacher 
 appreciates his efforts and his success, all of which 
 will stimulate him to greater exertion. 
 
 It is a curious fact that in many schools the pupils 
 
THROUGH ENCOURAGEMENT 57 
 
 who least need encouragement get the most, while 
 those who need it most get the least. A child whose 
 work is well-nigh perfect already has her heart in it. 
 She is already full of zeal. But the poor little fellow 
 who is at the foot of the class seldom gets the en- 
 couraging word though he is in desperate need of it, 
 and his salvation may depend upon it. 
 
 The reader will at once think, "How is it possible 
 to encourage a boy when there is no work that is 
 worthy of commendation?" There are several ways 
 of approaching the matter. In the first place, he 
 may be trying in some subject. If so, his effort is 
 worthy of praise. He may even show flashes of good 
 work which may be properly appreciated. He may 
 excel in manual training or in baseball. Whatever 
 it is, the teacher should take occasion to mention 
 it before the school. 
 
 In the second place, the pupil may have received a 
 mark of twenty in arithmetic last week, and forty 
 this week. Here is an improvement of one hundred 
 per cent — a remarkable step in advance. This is 
 certainly worthy of commendation. It is an occasion 
 for killing the fatted calf. 
 
 In the third place, the teacher may put "heart" 
 into this pupil by telling him of other persons who 
 stood very low in their classes at school, yet who 
 afterwards became famous, such as Isaac Newton, 
 Walter Scott, and others. And the teacher may say, 
 "You can do precisely as much as they did as stu- 
 dents. You can do the best you can. No man living 
 or dead ever did more. Put forth your best efforts, 
 and you will win at last." By these three means 
 
58 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 and others like them there is an ample field for the 
 encouragement of dull pupils. 
 
 When Benjamin West, the great painter, was a little 
 boy, his mother placed in his care his baby brother 
 while she left the house on a matter of business. 
 When she returned an hour later she found that Ben- 
 jamin had amused himself in the interim by drawing 
 on paper a picture of the baby as it lay in the cradle. 
 The mother was delighted, and so expressed herself. 
 In after years he said, "My mother's kiss made me a 
 painter." 
 
 All experience says to superintendents in their re- 
 lations with teachers, "Find something to praise!'* 
 All experience says to teachers in their relations with 
 pupils, "Find something to praise!" Many a teacher 
 who has great difficulty with her classes has been 
 saved by a superintendent who has said, "I have 
 absolute confidence that you have it in you to succeed. 
 You are weak in these several respects, but who is 
 not weak in some respects? Now pluck up your 
 courage and go at things with confidence. You may 
 not succeed at once, but if you only get a start now 
 and improve on it you will be going in the right 
 direction." And if this teacher does give signs of im- 
 provement, and the superintendent speaks of them 
 and says, "That's the way!" she will go forward on 
 the wings of his encouragement. 
 
 Even more can be done in this way with a dull 
 pupil than with a teacher. He will do nothing unless 
 he has the confidence of somebody. Criticism will only 
 confirm his habit of failure. Demotion or punishment 
 will not lift him up. Driving seldom is of any value. 
 
THROUGH ENCOURAGEMENT 59 
 
 There must be some force that pulls him upward, and 
 that force is encouragement. 
 
 A business man prominent in three states said not 
 long ago: "While I live, I shall never forget the debt 
 
 I owe to Mr. , an obscure country teacher. As 
 
 a child I stammered. When I entered school, the 
 pupils made fun of me. When I rose to read, I be- 
 came so self-conscious that I could not read at all. 
 After some years of misery, with no improvement, 
 
 j^Y. came to be our teacher. The first time I 
 
 tried to read for him I began to stammer badly; but 
 in a kindly voice he told me to wait a moment, see 
 clearly what I wanted to read, and not to hurry. 
 With these directions there was at once a great im- 
 provement. He kept me after school by myself and 
 gave me practice in reading. Later he encouraged me 
 to take the examinations for a teacher's certificate. 
 I passed, and began to teach. I feel that my whole 
 life was more benefited by the encouragement of 
 that humble teacher than by all other influences 
 combined." 
 
 It is in this phase of character development that 
 the school library is of great importance. Nothing 
 helps a young person who has a hard struggle as much 
 as reading or learning of others who had the same adver- 
 sities. Their success gives him the encouragement he 
 needs for his own success. The teacher can also assist 
 in this matter by the helpful word, the sympathetic 
 manner, and especially by the attitude that shows 
 the pupil that she understands. 
 
 In a certain school a ten year old boy came from 
 a home in which he heard much profanity. He was so 
 
60 REACHING TEE CHILDREN 
 
 accustomed to it that he used it himself without 
 thinking. One day at school while at play the teacher 
 overheard him using a profane word. He corrected 
 him sternly, saying that another like offence would 
 lead to severe punishment. Some two weeks later the 
 same offence did occur, and the boy was whipped. 
 
 On analysis it would seem as if this teacher not 
 only did the pupil a great injustice, but used exactly 
 the wrong method to reach the boy. If on the first 
 occasion he had said, "My dear boy, I heard you 
 swearing just now, perhaps unconsciously. I know 
 how much swearing you hear at your home, and I 
 have been surprised that you are doing so well. This 
 is the first time I have heard you swear in these 
 two weeks. Now let us see whether you can do as 
 well the next week." And if the offence was repeated 
 in two weeks, the teacher might well have said, "You 
 are doing nobly! Once in two weeks is very much less 
 than I could have done under the same circumstances. 
 Of course, swearing is wrong, especially at school; 
 but if you keep on you will overcome the habit en- 
 tirely!" By means of appreciation for what pupils 
 do not do, as well as for what they do, we can often 
 produce results in character building that the most 
 severe punishments fail to secure. 
 
 Another means of encouraging pupils in their school 
 progress is by a preservation of the pupil's work from 
 time to time, and its comparison with that which is 
 done later. For instance, at the opening of school the 
 teacher asks all pupils to write in their best hand a 
 stanza of poetry. Near the end of the term she gives 
 the same exercise. Then she compares the first ex- 
 
THROUGH ENCOURAGEMENT 61 
 
 ercise with the second. The improvement in most 
 cases is much greater than the teacher herself reahzes. 
 This encourages the teacher as well as the pupils. Of 
 course the same comparisons can be made in all 
 written work. 
 
 A very powerful assistant in imbuing children with 
 encouragement is to remove the causes of discourage- 
 ment. If non-promotion has taken the heart out of a 
 pupil, promote him on trial. He will surely do no 
 worse after the advance than before, and he may do 
 much better. At any rate he is likely to get more 
 good out of the advanced class than out of the regu- 
 lar grade. Promotions must never fail to take into 
 account psychological effects. 
 
 In some high schools a pupil begins a certain study 
 and finds he does not like it and cannot do it. If he 
 needs that study in his future course, he must natur- 
 ally make the best of it; but if he does not need it, 
 the question arises whether he should be allowed to 
 drop it. Some teachers will not permit the dropping 
 of any subject or a change of course after say two 
 months of the term have expired. There are pupils 
 whose marks in such study have shown a failure for 
 ten months in succession. This is surely training in 
 failure. The pupil has gained nothing; but in addi- 
 tion to the habit of failure he has lived in an atmos- 
 phere of discouragement for a year — enough to break 
 the spirit of anybody. Psychology says, *'Give the 
 student what he can do, and if he undertakes some- 
 thing and after thorough trial finds he cannot do it, 
 give him something else that he can master." We 
 grow by success, and not by failure. No man can 
 
62 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 put his heart into any work that is forever beyond 
 his strength. 
 
 Other sources of discouragement are mentioned else- 
 where. Unfavorable criticism takes the heart out of 
 pupils. The oflPering of rewards takes the heart out 
 of pupils who do not get them. Comparing a pupil 
 from a poor and ignorant home with another from a 
 fine home discourages the former. The teacher should 
 never compare one pupil with another. The only 
 proper comparison is of one pupil with himself. 
 
 Excessively long or difficult lessons are a source of 
 discouragement. Not long ago a man who is an ex- 
 pert accountant in the New York office of the Stand- 
 ard Oil Company sat down one evening at eight 
 o'clock to help his twelve year old daughter work 
 her arithmetic problems. After an hour he sent her 
 to bed; and it was not until after midnight that he 
 finished the task himself. Surely this teacher did 
 not realize how much he was requiring of his pupils. 
 
 The constant study of the teacher should therefore 
 be, "How can I take away all elements that tend to 
 discourage my pupils? — What elements can I bring 
 to bear that will encourage my pupils.?" By this 
 positive and negative study she cannot only secure 
 enthusiasm in school lessons, but can exert a strong 
 uplift on the lives of the children. 
 
Chapter X 
 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH TALKS BY 
 THE TEACHER 
 
 Every thought which genius and piety throw into the world, 
 alters the world. — Emerson — Politics. 
 
 A thought often makes us hotter than a fire. — Longfellow 
 
 — T able-Talk. 
 
 They are never alone who are accompanied with noble thoughts. 
 
 — Sidney — Arcadia. 
 
 Nurture your mind with great thoughts. — Disra.eli. 
 Thought once awakened does not again slumber. — Caelylb. 
 
 In some schools it is the custom for the principal 
 to address the pupils in assembly from fifteen to 
 twenty minutes every week. There is much testi- 
 mony to show that this weekly exercise may be of 
 great value in reaching the pupils. 
 
 A prominent man once said that during his school 
 days the principal gave weekly talks on a variety of 
 subjects, and that he derived more benefit from them 
 than from his school studies. 
 
 A mother who had a boy at high school was some- 
 what perplexed because he did not seem to show any 
 earnestness of purpose. He was not a bad boy, but 
 he did not seem to take life at all seriously, and did 
 not show any ambition as to his future. But one day 
 
64 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 the mother said to a neighbor, "There has been a 
 very remarkable change in John's attitude toward hfe 
 since last month. Something that his school princi- 
 pal said in his weekly talk struck the right spot in 
 him, and he is now all I could desire. He is full of 
 ambition, and I feel that we have no more to worry 
 about." That young man not only made a creditable 
 record at high school, but graduated with honor from 
 Pratt Institute, and is a fine man in every respect. 
 Surely if all the morning talks of that whole year had 
 resulted in nothing more than in reaching this young 
 man, they would have been amply justified. 
 
 Especially in high schools it seems important that 
 the principal should set forth before the pupils his ideals 
 of life. He is presumed to have high aims, and be 
 old enough to have had experience and observation. 
 The pupils have vague ideals, or improper ideals, and 
 they need not only to have right ideals set before 
 them, but they must be inspired to pursue them. 
 
 This work should, however, not be confined to high 
 schools. In some respects these talks are more needed 
 in rural schools than in high schools. The latter are 
 usually situated in towns, in which are found many 
 kinds of institutions for social and personal uplift; 
 while the rural schools are often remote from all such 
 institutions. Pupils who attend these schools seldom 
 hear an inspiring talk unless it is given to them 
 by their teacher. In many cases they will get no 
 high ideals of life if the teacher does not set them 
 forth. It is a great thing for a pupil to be brought 
 face to face with the meaning of life, so that he may 
 go on his way with a purpose, and not wander aim- 
 
THROUGH TALKS BY THE TEACHER 65 
 
 lessly along. There is no agency better calculated to 
 accomplish this result than the weekly talk. 
 
 The teacher who undertakes to give these talks 
 should herself be inspired with a high moral purpose. 
 She must be thoroughly in earnest. Her presentation 
 of moral subjects must be the natural outflow of her 
 own life. If the pupils get a suspicion that the 
 teacher is not herself trying to live up to the ideals 
 she sets forth she will do more harm than good by 
 her talks, because she will in their eyes be a hypocrite; 
 and from this example pupils will gradually get the 
 idea that all seemingly good people are hypocrites. 
 
 These talks should be thoroughly prepared by the 
 teacher. She should choose her subject with care, 
 then plan the talk so as to make it interesting and 
 pertinent to the pupils, and if necessary write out 
 some of the sentences so as to make them as strong as 
 possible. Of course she must use no manuscript in 
 giving the talk, nor must she use any of the ridic- 
 ulous gesticulations and expressions that at one time 
 masqueraded under the name of elocution. She must 
 be as simple and natural as possible — there must be 
 no assuming of airs, nor must there be any formality 
 in the occasion. 
 
 White's "School Management" contains a very full 
 list of subjects for these talks, with stories, poems, 
 and illustrations to make them effective. This book 
 contains enough material for a year. It also gives 
 suggestions for its use. Another helpful book is 
 Shearer's "Morals and Manners." 
 
 This may be a good place to call attention to the 
 fact that, in this work, the teacher should endeavor 
 
66 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 to give inspiration to girls as well as to boys. It is a 
 curious fact that nearly everybody who addresses 
 pupils confines himseK to boys. He tells of Abraham 
 Lincoln and George Washington — of Gladstone, 
 Cromwell, Andrew Jackson — of boys he knew who 
 worked their way amid great difficulties; but did 
 you ever hear a speaker tell of girls who likewise 
 worked their way.f* And he will urge all the pupils, 
 boys and girls, to take Lincoln as an example! Is 
 this because girls have never risen amid difficulties, 
 because they are not supposed to rise under any cir- 
 cumstances, or because they do not need any inspir- 
 ation? Surely this cannot be the reason. It is, 
 rather, because we have become accustomed to the 
 presentation of the male ideal. 
 
 Every time, therefore, that the teacher talks to 
 pupils about some fine man and holds him up as an 
 example, she should on the next occasion set forth the 
 life of a fine woman as an example. You do not want 
 your girl to grow up to be an ideal man any more 
 than you want your boy to become an ideal woman. 
 
 The teacher will do well to illustrate her talks as 
 much as possible by stories of living persons known 
 to pupils either personally or by reputation. It is a 
 question whether a story of Socrates will take hold of 
 a pupil as effectively as a story of some humbler man 
 or woman living a life of usefulness today. In the 
 state or county on which the pupil lives there are fine 
 people of whom he has heard, and who are therefore 
 more within his ken than the ancient Greeks; and he 
 will be much more Hkely to find inspiration in them 
 than in persons living far away or in ancient times. 
 
THROUGH TALKS BY THE TEACHER 67 
 
 For example: One of the leading trained nurses in 
 a certain city was once a girl in a remote rural section 
 of the state. On account of the death of her mother 
 she had to leave school at the age of fifteen to assume 
 charge of a large family. Her father did not believe 
 in the education of girls, so he designed her for his 
 housekeeper. One by one he educated his boys, but 
 her turn never came to go away to school. But she 
 too was ambitious; and when she became twenty-one, 
 knowing that her father had means to secure a house- 
 keeper, she determined to strike out for herseK. She 
 entered a hospital to study nursing, supported herself, 
 graduated from a four-year course, and soon became 
 one of the very efficient nurses of a large city. 
 
 This is a story which, if told to pupils who live in 
 the state in which this incident occurred, will prove of 
 great interest and benefit to them. This is not a 
 story of some extraordinary genius who was led by 
 heavenly voices, but a plain country girl who had 
 ambition and initiative. Up to the age of twenty- 
 one she lived the same life that all rural girls live. 
 Hence her story will appeal to girls because she was 
 one of them. 
 
 In the same county a boy attended a rural school 
 until he was seventeen. Then one morning he walked 
 to a graded school three miles away and asked to be 
 admitted. He was placed in an eighth grade among 
 pupils three years younger than he was. Owing to 
 his neglected early education he had a hard struggle 
 to keep up with even the poorest pupils in the grade; 
 but he was thoroughly in earnest, and through the 
 sympathetic help of his teachers he was able to pass to 
 
68 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 the high school the next fall, whence he graduated at 
 the age of twenty- two. During his high school course 
 he was compelled to take charge of his home farm, 
 because his father was not strong enough to do it; 
 and as the family means were very small, the boy had 
 to earn his tuition as he went along. He devised all 
 sorts of ways to do this. For instance, he made over 
 one hundred dollars each year through his bee hives. 
 
 Having graduated at high school, this young man 
 determined to gain a college education. This was a 
 formidable proposition under the circumstances, and 
 he had to stay at home one year because he had no 
 money; but then he entered college, and by means of 
 unremitting industry he made his way through year 
 by year, graduating at the age of twenty-seven. 
 
 His sterling qualities did not fail to commend them- 
 selves to the professors of the college; and on grad- 
 uation he at once received an appointment as assistant 
 professor of agriculture in a western university. 
 
 These two stories, one of a girl, the other of a boy, 
 illustrate the type that appeals to pupils everywhere, 
 but especially to those who live in the same county 
 with them. All children come to the point some time 
 in their lives when they have a feeling that all great 
 personal achievements belong to the past; that the 
 days of knighthood perished with the middle ages; 
 that there is no opportunity for heroism except in 
 time of war. It is for the teacher to point out by 
 such stories as above given that the finest kind of 
 heroism is going on all around us at the present day, 
 and that there is an unlimited field for personal 
 achievement open to every boy and girl. 
 
THROUGH TALKS BY THE TEACHER 69 
 
 Some teachers object to the suggestions in this 
 chapter on the ground that morahzing is repugnant 
 to pupils, and does more harm than good. It has 
 already been pointed out that no teacher should 
 undertake these talks unless she can substantiate them 
 in her own life. It may also be stated in passing that 
 if a teacher cannot "back up" talks of this nature 
 she is not qualified to be a teacher. But all exper- 
 ience proves that pupils listen eagerly to these stories 
 and talks if they are well presented. There is a spirit 
 within each pupil that responds to the appeal to 
 higher things. Naturally the teacher must use judg- 
 ment in this, as in all other matters; but in the hands 
 of the good teacher this direct appeal to the ambition 
 of the pupils is one of the most powerful influences for 
 good yet discovered. 
 
Chapter XI 
 
 REACHING TEE CHILDREN THROUGH FINE 
 SENTIMENTS 
 
 Who can estimate the value of a good thought? — Emerson. 
 Whene'er a noble deed is wrought. 
 Whene'er is spoken a noble thought. 
 Our hearts, in glad surprise, 
 To higher levels rise. 
 
 — Longfellow. 
 
 Occasionally some great writer crystallizes in a 
 few words a portion of the meaning of life. He puts 
 into a single statement the result of years of thinking 
 of a fine mind. He embodies in a few words a 
 thought of which we have, perhaps, been vaguely 
 conscious ourselves, but which we have been unable to 
 formulate. When we happen on such sentiments, 
 
 "Our hearts, in glad surprise. 
 To higher levels rise." 
 
 These sentiments, if cherished, become more and 
 more principles of conduct. As such they have a 
 powerful influence on our lives. They are anchors 
 that hold us in time of storm and keep us from being 
 blown out to sea or dashed upon the rocks. They are 
 the rules that determine the "structure that we raise." 
 They are the guide posts that point the way along 
 the journey of life. 
 
THROUGH FINE SENTIMENTS 71 
 
 In youth, filled with the freshness of early life, 
 these teachings are especially effective. Children are 
 just setting out on their journey, and they eagerly 
 seize upon directions that may keep them from losing 
 their way. They are full of hope and confidence; and 
 the seed of inspiring thoughts finds fertile soil. 
 
 Hence there should be systematic use of fine mot- 
 toes and sentiments in the schoolroom. One each 
 week may very well be placed on the blackboard, 
 explained, illustrated, applied, and memorized. At 
 the end of his school course the child will thus have 
 filled his mind with an invaluable collection of fine 
 gems that will enrich his life for all time. 
 
 An extract that is strong, and at the same time 
 simple, is this from Charles Dickens: "Whatever I 
 have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart 
 to do well; whatever I have devoted myself to, I 
 have devoted myself to completely; in great aims and 
 in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest." 
 
 In order that this extract may become effective the 
 teacher must explain to the pupils something of the 
 work that Dickens accomplished in the way of social 
 reform — schools, teaching, almshouses, jails, courts, 
 society. She must bring out the quality of output 
 of his whole life, and show how this would have been 
 impossible but for his adherence to his motto of al- 
 ways being "thoroughly in earnest." The next step 
 is to show how other men and women who accomplish 
 things worth while in all walks of life are consciously 
 or unconsciously realizing the teachings of Dickens, 
 and how this is true in school work. Then she should 
 show the disastrous consequences of the violation of 
 
7£ REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 Dickens's rule — how certain persons naturally bright 
 have frittered away their lives from pure lack of 
 earnestness. In this way the extract will become full 
 of meaning to the children. It should be repeated 
 many times — kept under constant review. With 
 each repetition it will sink deeper, and tend to 
 become a more powerful influence. 
 
 Another extract that has a deep meaning is from 
 Ella Wheeler Wilcox: 
 
 *' One ship drives east, the other drives west. 
 
 With the self same winds that blow; 
 'Tis the set of the sails, and not the gales. 
 
 That determines which way they go. 
 
 "Like the winds of the sea are the winds of fate. 
 
 As we voyage along through life; 
 'Tis the set of the soul that decides the goal. 
 
 And not the calm or the strife." 
 
 In teaching this extract there must be some instruc- 
 tion in the method of handling a sail boat. Pupils 
 must be shown how it is possible to sail against the 
 the wind, and the importance of "tacking." It is an 
 easy step to lead them to see how you cannot tell in 
 which way a ship is going from the direction of the 
 wind. Then pupils may be shown how some people 
 always go with the wind, even if it is in the wrong 
 direction; and how some people have a hard fight 
 because the wind is against them; and how in nearly 
 all cases the wind changes by and by. After these 
 and other explanations that will occur to the teacher, 
 the pupils are ready for the expression of the thought 
 as given by Mrs. Wilcox. 
 
THROUGH FINE SENTIMENTS 73 
 
 Boys are usually much interested in the romantic 
 exploits of "Stonewall" Jackson. The teacher might 
 very well point him out as an example of one who 
 was "thoroughly in earnest." 
 
 The story of his early life in what is now West 
 Virginia shows a boy with few chances for advance- 
 ment. Then comes his entry into West Point, his 
 brave struggle to overcome his early deficiencies of 
 education; how all he could possibly do the first 
 year was to keep himseK from being dropped from 
 his class for inability to do the work, but how he 
 finally graduated tenth in a class of twenty-seven; 
 and how through the severe pressure of these four 
 years he was sustained by the motto that he adopted 
 early in life, "I can do whatever I will to do." The 
 teacher should show how after West Point, in the 
 Mexican and the Civil wars, his marvelous achieve- 
 ments sprang out of the effective use of his own 
 motto. Of course, the teacher must always supply 
 additional examples to show how a motto is imiver- 
 saliy true. 
 
 Some young people, and many adults, are obsessed 
 with the conviction that success or failure in life 
 depends on external conditions, facts, or circumstances. 
 They think people succeed because they are lucky, 
 or fail because they are unlucky. They feel that pro- 
 gress is only for persons of means, and not for people 
 who are poor. A fine antidote for this state of mind 
 is the expression of Walt Whitman: "Henceforth I 
 ask not good fortune — I myself am good fortune." 
 It is needless to suggest the numberless instances on 
 every hand that prove the correctness of this thought; 
 
74 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 and the teacher will do a great work if by driving it 
 into the minds of the pupils she thereby expels that 
 vicious notion of luck that has wrought so much 
 damage in the lives of people of all ages. 
 
 Philip James Bailey, in Festus, gives us these 
 familiar lines: 
 
 " We live 
 In deeds, not years, in thoughts, not breaths. 
 In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
 We should count time by heart throbs — he most lives 
 Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." 
 
 Shakespeare has many good things to contribute to 
 this work: 
 
 "Our doubts are traitors. 
 And make us lose the good we oft might win 
 By fearing to attempt." 
 
 "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. 
 But in ourselves that we are underlings." 
 
 In the old-time schools it was customary to place 
 on the wall printed mottoes. Some of these did more 
 good than we realized at the time. They are just as 
 valuable today as at any time, and should be pre- 
 sented to the pupils even if they seem trite to us. 
 For instance, one of the old mottoes taught a lesson 
 we should all heed: 
 
 "Wealth lost, nothing lost; 
 Health lost, much lost; 
 Character lost, all lost!" 
 
 Other mottoes are, "A stitch in time saves nine." 
 "Many a mickle makes a muckle." "Night brings 
 
THROUGH FINE SENTIMENTS 75 
 
 out the stars." "Labor conquers all things." "Do 
 the next thing." 
 
 The field of mottoes and extracts is rich. All de- 
 pends on the teacher whether these riches shall be 
 made available for the pupils, and be to them a 
 great blessing. 
 
Chapter XII 
 
 REACHING TEE CHILDREN THROUGH SYMPATHY 
 
 The secrets of life are not shown except to sympathy and like- 
 ness. — Emerson's Rejyresentative Men. 
 
 The man who melts 
 With social sympathy, though not allied. 
 Is than a thousand kinsmen of more worth. 
 
 — Euripides — Orestes. 
 Ah! thank Heaven, travellers find Samaritans as well as Levites 
 on life's hard way. — Thackeray. 
 
 Sympathy is the golden key that unlocks the hearts of others. 
 — Smiles. 
 
 Next to love, sympathy is the divinest passion of the human 
 heart. — Burke. 
 
 It is a well known fact that our greatest influence 
 is exerted on those who are most closely connected 
 with us. We have but little influence on mere 
 acquaintances, and none at all on persons we do not 
 know. 
 
 Thus the teacher influences most the pupils whom 
 she knows best. A good teacher will strive to be- 
 come intimate with all her pupils, and in that way 
 her possibilities for good will be at their maximum. 
 
 But mere knowledge does not tell the whole story. 
 Nobody is influenced by another except through the 
 feelings. It is the feelings that move the will. In- 
 
THROUGH SYMPATHY 77 
 
 tellect is cold. The will is not moved by mere 
 intellect. 
 
 The word sympathy ^ when analyzed, means "a 
 feeling with" some one or some thing. When we do 
 not like a certain proposition in civic or social life, 
 we say we are not in sympathy with it, or we some- 
 times find ourselves out of sympathy with a man. 
 
 Now nothing is more certain than that we cannot 
 do anything to help another if we are out of sympathy 
 with him. Only sympathizers can help. Others, in 
 the nature of the case, antagonize. "He that is not 
 for us is against us." 
 
 The absolutely essential attitude for the teacher 
 to take if she would reach her pupils is one of sym- 
 pathy. Without it she can do nothing in the way of 
 influencing them. 
 
 The teacher cannot do much to help pupils unless 
 she has feeling with their sorrows, joys, troubles, 
 perplexities. She cannot reach them unless she en- 
 ters into their interests, into their lives. To remain 
 out of touch with these lives, and simply to reason 
 with them, will not move them. No connection is 
 established. 
 
 It sometimes happens that a boy is sent to a man 
 principal because of truancy. It may also be that 
 when that principal was a boy he himself was guilty 
 of the same offence. In that case, nothing will bring 
 the principal nearer to that boy's heart than for him 
 to say, "My dear boy, I know exactly why you did 
 this, and how you feel about it, because when I was 
 a boy I did the same thing. I don't pretend that I 
 was a perfect boy any more than I am now a perfect 
 
78 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 man. However, that doesn't alter the fact that 
 truancy is wrong; and just as I overcame it, I want 
 you to overcome it." This clears the way for a 
 frank interchange of views. It places the teacher on 
 the same level with the pupil, and puts him in a 
 position to help him. He cannot reach down from a 
 moral mountain top to take the hand of those at the 
 foot. 
 
 The sympathetic attitude of the teacher may be 
 considered in reference to the school as a whole, and 
 also in reference to individual pupils. The first morn- 
 ing a teacher appears before her class the pupils will 
 discern her attitude toward them. She cannot 
 deceive them even if she would. They will instinc- 
 tively feel whether she likes teaching or not, whether 
 she is fond of children or not, whether she will treat 
 them as a kind helper or hold herself aloof. They 
 make this analysis almost unconsciously. They tell 
 from the tone of her voice, her manner, the flash of 
 the eye, and the many little acts that are part of the 
 daily life in the schoolroom. On that impression of 
 the first morning depends a great deal of the teacher's 
 success during the year. If the children's verdict is 
 not favorable, they will instinctively take a negative 
 attitude toward her. Like sensitive plants they will 
 close themselves to her approach. 
 
 If on the other hand the teacher shows the right 
 attitude toward the school, the pupils "in glad sur- 
 prise" open their hearts to her. They are ready to 
 do anything for her. They feel that what she does is 
 actuated by a desire for their good. They fear to 
 lose her favor, or to grieve her by misconduct. They 
 
THROUGH SYMPATHY 79 
 
 love the school work because of her attitude toward 
 it and toward them. Teacher and pupils work in 
 complete harmony. They form a cooperative society 
 with the teacher as leader. This means good school 
 work, good moral training, good preparation for 
 citizenship, teaching and learning a pleasure. In no 
 way can the teacher make her work more effective 
 and pleasant than by possessing and showing the 
 right attitude toward the school as a whole. 
 
 In addition to this general attitude there must be 
 an individual relation between the teacher and each 
 of her pupils. It is not enough that the teacher treat 
 her pupils properly as a whole. The individuals all 
 differ from each other. Each pupil is unique, and 
 therefore needs treatment adapted to his peculiar 
 make-up. The teacher must establish this individual 
 relationship with each pupil if the highest results are 
 to be achieved. 
 
 It is natural and easy for the teacher to be fond of 
 her likable pupils. The dear little girl who is nearly 
 perfect is of course a joy, and we love her. However, 
 this little girl very likely has a nice home, and lives 
 in an atmosphere of love and sympathy. She needs 
 love and sympathy at school too, but not as much as 
 if she had none at home. 
 
 There is, however, the boy who does not know 
 anything about sympathy as far as his home treat- 
 ment is concerned, but who has an unquenchable 
 desire for it nevertheless. He is probably not well 
 dressed, and may be backward in his studies. He 
 may even be of a bad disposition. 
 
 If any pupil in the room needs sympathy, it is this 
 
80 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 rough, ragged, troublesome boy. It may indeed be 
 that that is all he needs. It is possible that sympathy 
 is the only thing necessary to bring out his better 
 self. Yet too often we give our sympathy to the 
 lovable children, and withhold it from those who need 
 it most. Of course this is natural; but the true 
 teacher is not satisfied with the easy and natural 
 attitude alone. She has higher ideals than that. She 
 sees in every neglected child her opportunity for 
 service to that child and to humanity. "They that 
 are whole need not a physician, but they that are 
 sick." "The Son of Man came to seek and to save 
 that which was lost." "I came not to call the right- 
 eous, but sinners to repentance." The Gospels are 
 full of the strongest and clearest statements showing 
 that the Great Teacher had foremost in his mind the 
 outcasts. 
 
 The teacher should not postpone the establishment 
 of this individual connection until the pupil shall 
 have committed some offence which needs correction. 
 On that basis some pupils would never need a private 
 interview. It is necessary to establish personal 
 friendship as soon as possible with each pupil; and if 
 the teacher has any reason to suspect that a certain 
 pupil will cause trouble he is one of the very first 
 who should be sought out and given a copious share 
 of the teacher's regard so that the possible trouble 
 may be avoided. 
 
 For instance, here is a large boy who looks as if he 
 might not have a proper attitude toward teacher or 
 school. He has at home a fine horse and buggy or 
 an automobile, which he is allowed to drive. If the 
 
THROUGH SYMPATHY 81 
 
 teacher will do him the great favor of allowing him 
 to do her a favor, and will take a drive with him, and 
 show her appreciation thereof, he will feel that he has 
 a superior claim on her — that somehow he is not only 
 a pupil but a personal friend. This relationship will 
 hold him straight when he might otherwise go wrong; 
 and more than that, it will open the way to the 
 teacher for the implanting of higher ideals in him. 
 
 In some schools teachers have a card index system, 
 by means of which their pupils are observed, studied, 
 and their qualities tabulated with much care. This 
 is a very valuable plan provided it does not result in 
 the teacher's regarding her pupils merely as subjects of 
 natural history. It has been noticed that some pro- 
 fessional charity workers have so developed the busi- 
 ness side of philanthropy that they have refined out 
 of themselves that human sympathy which the poor 
 so much need. There is the same danger in the un- 
 wise absorption of teachers in child study. The card 
 system is a help to the memory, a means of conven- 
 ience, but should never become an end in itself. 
 
 In a certain school there was a ragged boy about 
 eleven years old. His teacher was one of those who 
 pursue their routine with no special interest in any- 
 thing. She knew little about the home life of her 
 pupils, and cared less. 
 
 One morning this boy was absent from school, and 
 he did not return for three days. The teacher was 
 much annoyed that her register had been spoiled by 
 these three absent marks. On the fourth day he was 
 in his seat; and after roll call she said to him in a 
 stern voice, "Mike, what kept you out of school the 
 
REACHING TEE CHILDREN 
 
 last three days?'* Mike looked at her in a some- 
 what startled manner, then put his head on his hands, 
 and burst into tears. The teacher then rose in her 
 wrath, and said, "Quit your sniveling at once! Is it 
 not enough that you should spoil my register? Must 
 you also act like a sissy as soon as I ask you a decent 
 question? Now I want no more of this. You get 
 out your books and get to work or I'll see that you 
 get something worth pouting about, and that right 
 away!" 
 
 Now the fact was that little Mike's father was a 
 drunkard, and Mike had to sell papers early and late 
 in order to support his mother; and Mike's finer 
 feelings were harrowed every evening by the cruelties 
 and brutalities that are found in the drunkard's 
 home. Finally Mike's mother found her lot too heavy 
 to bear, and she drooped, and passed away. Mike's 
 absence from school had been caused by his mother's 
 death. She had been buried the day before; and 
 when Mike saw the lid close on her coflfin he felt that 
 he had lost the only friend he had in the world, and 
 his heart was broken. The next morning when he 
 reached school — nay, long before that morning — 
 he stood in desperate need of the teacher's sympathy 
 and love; and to come to school with a broken heart, 
 only to be pierced by the unfeeling criticism of this 
 heartless teacher, was more than he could bear. 
 
 Do you suppose that this teacher ever did any 
 good to little Mike? Do you suppose she ever 
 afterwards could do any good to him? No — her 
 power to influence Mike, if it ever did exist, was 
 certainly now gone forever. Of course, the teacher 
 
THROUGH SYMPATHY 83 
 
 would not have been so severe if she had known the 
 circumstances; but how can she be excused for her 
 ignorance? The reason why she did not know the 
 situation is because she had no interest in Mike. To 
 her he was merely number ten on the register and sat 
 on the tenth seat of the left-hand row. Do you sup- 
 pose that if she had had a love for this boy he could 
 have been absent a single day without her knowing 
 why? It is probable that many young teachers do 
 not realize the great need of sympathy in the treat- 
 ment of pupils. Perhaps the majority of young 
 teachers come from refined homes with good parents 
 and congenial friends. They have been carefully 
 shielded from contact with the grosser side of life; 
 and when they begin their teaching they are in igno- 
 rance of the deplorable amount of misery and sin that 
 exists in some of the homes from which at least a few 
 of their pupils come. Until they have some idea of 
 the baleful environment that warps the lives of these 
 children, they cannot establish a point of contact 
 with them. They live in different worlds. To the 
 unfortunate boy the teacher's home would be heaven; 
 while to the teacher that boy's home would be per- 
 dition. Hence the indispensable need of the teacher 
 visiting the homes, and seeing how the children live, 
 if she would reach them. 
 
 It is not meant to convey the idea that the sympa- 
 thetic teacher must be loose in her school discipline 
 — that she should be so full of sympathy for her 
 pupils as to let them all do just as they please. This 
 would be a degeneration of sympathy into weakness. 
 The teacher should be so full of sympathy for the 
 
84 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 best welfare of the children that she will hold them 
 up strictly to high standards. Tasks must be ac- 
 complished. Order must prevail. One of the main 
 purposes of the school is to instill by practice the 
 performance of all assigned duties. Besides, pupils like 
 a strict teacher if she is fair, and dislike a teacher who 
 is too easy. It is only necessary that these high 
 standards be maintained by a teacher who loves her 
 pupils, who can put herself into their places, and 
 who is a friend in time of joy and of sorrow. 
 
Chapter XIII 
 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN BY DIRECT MORAL 
 INSTRUCTION 
 
 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old 
 he will not depart from it. — The Proverbs of Solomon. 
 
 Dr. Emerson E. White, in his book on "School 
 Management," treats at some length and with much 
 force the need for direct and systematic moral instruc- 
 tion in schools. He rightly maintains that it is not 
 necessary to be forever "moralizing" in order to give 
 instruction in character building; and he asserts that 
 the wise teacher will do much more good through 
 systematic lessons than by merely seizing upon 
 occasions as they arise. 
 
 It has already been urged that individual correction 
 should be private and confidential as far as possible, 
 and that there is little call for public or general 
 criticism of a class. If this precept is followed, it is 
 inevitable that there are scores of virtues that will 
 never get any attention in the school. Their impor- 
 tance and their cultivation may be urged upon cer- 
 tain individuals who are conspicuously lacking in 
 them, but the school as a whole will get no such 
 instruction. 
 
 For instance, politeness is a virtue that is univer- 
 sally needful. In the home, the school, the church. 
 
86 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 in business, on vacations, — everywhere there is a 
 sphere for the exercise of this quality. But if instruc- 
 tion in this subject is incidental, it is altogether 
 possible that it will never be broadly treated in any 
 one year. There are young people who are polite in 
 their homes, but at a summer boarding house they 
 are utterly oblivious of true politeness and consid- 
 eration of others. They disturb the comfort of the 
 other vacationists day and night, and do not for a 
 moment consider that they are guilty of bad manners. 
 They feel like the small boy, who the night before the 
 family went on vacation, said in his evening prayer, 
 "Good-by, Lord, I'm going to the sea-shore!" 
 
 If the teacher will give a fifteen-minute lesson on 
 politeness, showing its fundamental nature, its uni- 
 versal principle, and will apply it to the several 
 spheres in which the children move, it will surely do 
 some good to some of them. They will not think that 
 politeness is for the home and the school, but not for 
 the street; neither will they think that politeness is 
 for other people but not for their own family. They 
 will begin to see that politeness is in the heart as a 
 foundation, and in the outward life as its expression. 
 Usually children are polite because they are trained 
 to be polite; and in this the school can do much, 
 especially for such as do not get this training in their 
 homes. Through systematic lessons in the virtues, 
 therefore, there is likely to be a treatment of many 
 phases of conduct that would not otherwise come up 
 for consideration in the usual course of school life. 
 Furthermore, such instruction is a strong influence in 
 making children thoughtful in all their conduct. If 
 
THROUGH DIRECT MORAL INSTRUCTION 87 
 
 there is any one factor designed to expel frivolousness 
 from a young person, it is a feeling of consideration for 
 others. Some little children find it difficult to look 
 at their own actions from the standpoint of another. 
 They cannot put themselves in the place of other 
 people. It is said that certain boys do not have the 
 slightest idea that their whip hurts the dog until the 
 same whip is used on them. As soon as they have 
 been made sensible of the pain, their cruelty ceases. 
 
 The study of politeness above suggested would 
 bring before pupils phases that are new to them. 
 Often their idea of politeness is the raising of their 
 caps to ladies, and the saying of "Thank you" for 
 favors. Unless the deeper aspects of politeness are 
 pointed out by the teacher such ideas lead to veneer, 
 to superficial formality, which tends toward hypocrisy. 
 But if the teacher gives instruction in the funda- 
 mental principles of politeness, shows its universality, 
 its importance for one's self as well as for others, 
 she cannot fail to exert an uplifting influence on the 
 children. 
 
 How many children realize that the rigid etiquette 
 and formality of life at the court of kings is not only 
 designed to display the grandeur of the royal estate 
 but also to engender and maintain a feeling of pro- 
 found respect in the hearts of the courtiers.^ How 
 many children realize that by rising when a lady 
 enters the room they are not only showing honor to 
 her but are developing a sense of respect for all 
 womanhood? And how many are sensible of the 
 fact that this feeling of respect cannot be realized 
 to the highest degree unless it is manifested in the 
 
88 REACHING TEE CHILDREN 
 
 forms found best adapted for the purpose through 
 the experience of many generations of society? These 
 things are not learned of themselves. They need to 
 be taught. 
 
 It is to be feared that some teachers hesitate to 
 undertake this instruction because they realize that 
 to teach politeness or any other virtue with power it 
 is necessary for the teacher to be an exemplar for the 
 pupils. The standard thus set for the teacher is so 
 high that she is reluctant to assume it. Several con- 
 siderations may, however, be noted. One is that the 
 teacher should be a model for her pupils; and that 
 whether she will or not, she is a model for her pupils. 
 There is no escape; and possibly the establishment 
 of a high standard may be an influence to help her to 
 reach more nearly the requirements of a model. 
 
 Then again, the teacher should never pretend that 
 she is a perfect woman any more than pupils should 
 pretend to be perfect children. The teacher who 
 says in effect, "These are the standards we should 
 set up for us; these are the ideals we should strive 
 to reach. We shall never reach perfection; we all 
 sometimes fail. But the more we really try to im- 
 prove, the more nearly we shall approach our stand- 
 ard" — that teacher will place herself on a level with 
 her pupils, all striving for improvement. 
 
 If a teacher is not willing to put forth any effort 
 toward self -culture, if she in her life and acts contra- 
 dicts her teachings, she had better not undertake 
 this direct moral training. She cannot possibly teach 
 pupils to be kind if she is unkind herself. She cannot 
 possibly teach pupils to speak gently if she violates 
 
THROUGH DIRECT MORAL INSTRUCTION 89 
 
 her teachings by scolding and sharp criticism. But, 
 such teacher ought to examine herself carefully as to 
 whether she should not leave the teaching profession 
 and give place to some one whose life and words 
 more nearly coincide. 
 
 "But children dislike moralizing." True, if the 
 teacher is forever saying, "Now, Johnny, be a good 
 boy" — -"Mary, be nice," etc., ad nauseam. But this 
 is not what is meant by direct moral instruction in 
 the schools. If properly done, all experience teaches 
 that pupils welcome these discussions, and are more 
 interested in them than in many of their regular 
 lessons. For example, a principal once gave a thirty- 
 minute lesson every day for three weeks in June to 
 the graduating class in a three-year high school, 
 using as a basis the treatment of practical ethics, 
 given in Haven's "Moral Philosophy." When these 
 pupils bade their principal good-by at the end of the 
 graduation exercises they said with one voice that they 
 had enjoyed these lessons more than anything else in 
 the course, and had been greatly helped thereby. 
 
 Teachers can get better results in the teaching of 
 history by direct instruction in the subject than by 
 all the indirect instruction that can be gained in the 
 reading lessons, the encyclopedia, and books on biog- 
 raphy. Direct instruction in all other subjects is 
 just as necessary for adequate acquirement. There 
 is direct instruction now in music, drawing, industrial 
 work — in everything the schools attempt. Similarly, 
 instruction in ethics will never reach a maximum of 
 effectiveness unless it is direct and regular. It will 
 never be what it should be unless teachers are as well 
 
90 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 prepared to present the subject as the manual train- 
 ing teacher is to teach manual training, or the teacher 
 of grammar is to teach grammar. And if properly 
 taught, direct moral instruction will be far more valu- 
 able to children than the correction of false syntax or 
 the compounding of interest. Emerson's judgment of a 
 country was the kind of men and women it produces. 
 The judgment of a school might likewise be the kind 
 of boys and girls it produces. For this work, direct 
 moral instruction is indispensable. 
 
 John King Clark has built up in a large New York 
 school, of which he is principal, a system for teaching 
 morals and ethics that is practical and simple. The 
 outlines actually used by his teachers are given in 
 his "Systematic Moral Education." 
 
Chapter XIV 
 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH 
 COMPANIONSHIP 
 
 I live not in myself, but I become a 
 Portion of that around me. — Byron. 
 
 **I AM a part of all that I have met." This sen- 
 tence, which Tennyson puts in the mouth of the aged 
 Ulysses, is profoundly true and significant. It has a 
 fourfold application, which gives it a scope as broad 
 as life. 
 
 Ulysses had had an adventurous life. He had been 
 among the leaders in the ten years' war before Troy. 
 For twenty years thereafter he had wandered about 
 the seac, meeting with strange people, strange scenes, 
 and strange adventures. Then he resumed his king- 
 ship on the island of Ithaca; and in his last days, as 
 he looked back upon his varied career, and especially 
 when he saw himself an associate of kings and world 
 renowned warriors, he exclaimed with pride, 
 
 "I have been in battle with my peers! " 
 
 and then said with equal pride, 
 
 "I am a part of all that I have met." 
 
 This thought may be amplified thus: "Great men 
 have I met. I have been an actor in great scenes. 
 
REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 stirring adventures, vicissitudes by land and sea; and 
 from all these have I imbibed their essential qualities. 
 The great men have given me freely of their heroism; 
 the great scenes have imprinted themselves indelibly 
 on my mind; the adventures and vicissitudes have 
 given me courage, resourcefulness, patience, per- 
 severance, and faith in the gods. Hence I have 
 literally been made by what I have met. I am the 
 sum, the embodiment, of these scenes." 
 
 On the other hand, Ulysses might have reasoned 
 thus: "When before Troy I gave to my peers all the 
 courage and skill which I possessed, I contributed part 
 of my life to the great Trojan conquest. Then during 
 the twenty years of wandering I put my intrepidity 
 into my sailors, and into all whom I encountered. 
 And now, after a long life I feel that every person I 
 have met has within him some of my life; and every 
 adventure I saw received the impress of some of my 
 qualities." 
 
 Ulysses boasted of this influence, either as he 
 received it, or as he gave it. He was proud of it 
 in either aspect. He became noble because of the 
 nobility of the peers with whom for ten years he vied 
 in deeds of valor, or because he gave noble qualities 
 to all he met. 
 
 All writers and thinkers agree as to the very vital 
 importance of young people securing the proper 
 associations. "Try to frequent the company of your 
 betters," says Thackeray. "In books and hfe that 
 is the most wholesome society. Learn to admire 
 rightly; the great pleasure of life is that. Note what 
 great men admired: they admired great things; 
 
THROUGH COMPANIONSHIP 93 
 
 narrow spirits admire basely and worship meanly." 
 
 It is of very great moment that a man who is a 
 king should associate with his peers; and if he is not 
 a king, that he should associate with the most royal 
 men he can find. 
 
 Association with inferiors has a powerful tendency 
 to drag one down. It is almost impossible to keep 
 oneseK from falling from the high standard he might 
 otherwise maintain. Stable boys may be just as good 
 as anybody else; but "gossiping" with them, as Ruskin 
 says, takes the mind from things that kings and queens 
 enjoy, and draws it down to a much lower level. 
 
 The boy meets a fine man for the first time. 
 They enter into conversation, and the boy gives 
 atten.tion to the words of his new acquaintance. 
 They discuss things interesting to both. The boy 
 gets a glimpse of the thoughts that occupy the mind 
 of the man, and to which he assigns some importance. 
 The more they meet, the more intimate they become; 
 the more the boy enters into the interests and ideals 
 of the man; the more his own ideals are elevated by 
 the communion; and step by step the boy rises to the 
 level of the man's thinking. The man's ideals become 
 the boy's ideals; and the boy has been developed 
 into a fine man because he has become a part of him 
 whom he has met. 
 
 Another boy has no such opportunity of meeting a 
 great man, but he has Weems's "Life of Washington," 
 "Pilgrim's Progress," "iEsop's Fables," a "History 
 of the United States," and above all, the Bible. He 
 reads these books over and over again. The more he 
 reads them, the more his mind mounts to the rising 
 
94 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 ideals they present. By and by they control not only 
 his style of writing and speaking, but his very think- 
 ing; and through his thinking his actions and his 
 character. In other words, Abraham Lincoln was 
 largely the embodiment of the men and scenes he 
 met through the printed page. It may be affirmed 
 with much confidence that the most effective principle 
 for young people to follow is, "Give your attention 
 to the higher things." 
 
 The students who attended Wellesley College in the 
 eighties and early nineties pursued the customary 
 college curriculum with the usual gratifying results. 
 They learned much in the classroom, much in the 
 library, much from their classmates; but they enjoyed 
 the inestimable privilege, alas! now gone for all time, 
 of personal contact with Alice Freeman, "the most 
 persuasive personality I have ever met," as Lyman 
 Abbott characterizes her. "The finest example thus 
 far set before American womanhood," possessing the 
 highest ideals herself, living her ideals to a remarkable 
 degree, so influenced her students through personal 
 contact and otherwise, that they rose toward the 
 standard of her own life. In this case the girls were 
 not so much associating with one of their betters as 
 with a divine being who was yet thoroughly human, 
 and had known all the struggles of adversity. To 
 be associated with such a personality is a privilege 
 and a blessing that comes to few persons in a lifetime. 
 
 There are some people who believe that Heaven 
 exists here and now; that the soul is immortal, but 
 that this immortality consists only in the parts of 
 ourselves that we put into other people. We give 
 
THROUGH COMPANIONSHIP 95 
 
 one person an impulse toward goodness, or give him 
 a distinct contribution toward his welfare — in other 
 words, do him some good. That good is a part of 
 our life. Through him it goes into some one else, 
 and so on, forever. This is immortality, say some, 
 and the only immortality. 
 
 Few will agree that this creed is suflSicient; but it 
 embodies the great truth that the good we do lives in 
 others, and that its influence is immeasurable. What 
 a privilege Alice Freeman enjoyed of having her rich 
 life become part of the lives of the thousands of 
 Wellesley girls whom she knew, and the multitudes 
 of others whom she did not know! 
 
 The same privilege is for the teacher. She takes 
 charge of a school, and through her conscious and 
 unconscious influence her pupils will imbibe her life 
 and become more and more like her. Her ideals 
 become their ideals. The things she considers worth 
 while the children will consider worth while. What 
 she does, what she says, the books she reads, the 
 things she loves, indeed, the whole outgoing of her 
 life, molds and transforms the pupils more and more 
 into what she is. Great the opportunity — great the 
 responsibility ! 
 
 It is very evident that this becoming like those we 
 meet has an obverse side. If the associates of Ulysses 
 from his boyhood up had been his peers, but instead 
 of being kings had been corner loafers, the world 
 would never have heard of him or of them. The boy 
 who under proper auspices imbibes the ideals of fine 
 men, directly or through books, and is ennobled 
 thereby, will just as certainly, under improper auspices. 
 
96 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 imbibe the ideals of low men, directly or through 
 books, and will be degraded thereby. If he associates 
 with the base, and enters into the things that interest 
 them, he will become part of that life, and go to 
 destruction. 
 
 Lastly, the evil man gives of his life wherever he 
 goes, and it becomes part of all he meets. If this 
 were immortality (and it is a portion of immortality), 
 what a frightful picture! To have one's blasting 
 influence continue for all time — to be forever degrad- 
 ing the innocent — to give pain for joy, despair for 
 hope, hell for heaven, world without end! Surely 
 some would pause in their wickedness if they could 
 be made to feel the consequences of their acts. 
 
 To the true teacher this doctrine is full of encour- 
 agement. Sometimes she feels as if her pupils were 
 not improving as they should — that she is getting 
 little response to her efforts to build up their char- 
 acters. But let her consider that her greatest influ- 
 ence is silent — that her teachings find lodgment in 
 the hearts of the children and sometimes do not im- 
 mediately come to fruition. But by and by, when 
 the seed has lain for the proper length of time beneath 
 the soil, it will come up little by little, and in the 
 end may show a rich harvest. 
 
Chapter XV 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH IDEALS 
 
 One crowded hour of glorious life 
 Is worth an age without a name. 
 
 — Scott. 
 
 Hugh Black has well said, "The ideal is the real 
 as it should be.'' Perhaps nowhere else in all liter- 
 ature has this great truth been expressed more clearly 
 and more simply. If the real man were what he 
 should be, he would be ideal. So would the land- 
 scape, the picture, the tree, the work. The more 
 ideal elements anything possesses the more permanent 
 it will be, and the more worthy. Our purpose should 
 be to introduce the greatest possible number of ideal 
 elements into our Uves, and as teachers, to reach 
 our pupils by instilling these elements into their 
 hearts. 
 
 The sources of these elements are, of course, to 
 be found in nature and in the fine arts. To the 
 appreciative eye every flower, shrub, tree, landscape, 
 mountain, is full of the ideal. The condemnation 
 which* Peter Bell in Wordsworth's poem brought on 
 himself was that 
 
 "A primrose by a river's brim 
 A yellow primrose was to him. 
 And it was nothing more." 
 
REACHING TEE CHILDREN 
 
 He saw nothing in it but a yellow flower — no beauty, 
 no God, not even an object of interest. Hence his 
 whole life was on the low plane of a real with no 
 ideal elements. 
 
 Surround the child with high-class pictures. More 
 and more they will make to his heart their effective 
 appeal. They will unconsciously elevate his tastes 
 and his thoughts. More and more they will tend to 
 make the inartistic and the coarse distasteful to him. 
 His feelings and his manners will be refined. Life 
 will have a meaning for him. He will see the beauty 
 of the other arts and of nature. If this unconscious 
 teaching is supplemented by instruction, its value 
 will be largely increased. 
 
 In these days of victrolas there is little reason why 
 children should not enjoy what formerly was the 
 privilege of the few — good music. Music does 
 through the ear what painting does through the eye 
 — reaches the soul. When a child or a man has once 
 been thrilled through and through by a strain of 
 noble music, he will forever live on a higher plane 
 than before. 
 
 Music is more universal than painting. When the 
 child is born there is rejoicing and music. When he 
 worships there is music. When he is in the house of 
 mirth there is music. It soothes and inspires, it 
 comforts, and expresses joy. At the grave there is the 
 solemn hymn and the funeral march. Everywhere 
 there is a place for music; and schools are beginning 
 to recognize its wide appeal. 
 
 But just as we should seek the society of our betters 
 if we wish to improve ourselves, just as the books 
 
THROUGH IDEALS 99 
 
 that do us most good are those which make us reach 
 up, so the music that benefits us must be that which 
 lifts us up. There is a distinct danger that the very- 
 general use of music in homes will lead to a taste 
 for the two-step, the one-step, and other kinds of 
 so-called popular music. There is a tendency in 
 recent years for every person to dance. The demand 
 is for dance music. In some instances people who 
 are very fond of dancing care nothing for music of a 
 higher class. Music that is not adapted for dancing 
 has no meaning for them. This was illustrated at a 
 large hotel, where the guests had assembled, and were 
 waiting for the musicians before beginning the dance. 
 In order to "fill in" the interval one of the guests 
 sat down at the piano and played the "Evening Star" 
 from Tannhauser. To his utter amazement a number 
 of guests stepped on the floor and began to "dance 
 it." It meant even less to them than the primrose 
 meant to Peter Bell. 
 
 The school should try to counteract this degradation 
 of a noble art by giving opportunity for hearing music 
 of a high character. The way to educate taste in 
 music is to bring pupils into contact with good music 
 again and again, and to point out its beauties. This 
 leads inevitably to a keener appreciation of all the 
 arts. It is the secret in poetry, in painting and in 
 sculpture. The school should waste no money on 
 worthless records. Only such selections as stand for 
 something worthy should be bought. 
 
 The fact is that much of what is called music is not 
 music at all. It is only mechanical skill, finger 
 exercises, tintinnabulation. It bears the same relation 
 
100 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 to true music that the chromo does to true painting. 
 It has a tendency to deprave the taste, and has there- 
 fore no place in the school, and should have no place 
 anywhere else. 
 
 The art that most directly reaches the heart, how- 
 ever, is poetry. It is more tangible than music, and 
 its language is more definite. Through the medium 
 of words it can be held in the mind and contemplated 
 at all times. If it is the mind that makes the body 
 rich, as Shakespeare says, it is poetry that makes the 
 mind rich. 
 
 Macaulay argues strongly that a commercial age 
 is not favorable to the development of poetry. A 
 few generations ago our forefathers often spent their 
 evenings with their families, reading aloud the latest 
 poems of Emerson, Longfellow, Poe, Wordsworth, 
 and Tennyson. They were familiar also with Shake- 
 speare, Milton, and other great poets. In our present 
 industrial age there is less of family gathering for any 
 purpose; and it is to be feared that the poets receive 
 scant attention because of the more direct pursuit of 
 business and pleasure. Thus it is inevitable that a 
 family should lose whatever of good there is in poetry; 
 and it is at least questionable whether the things that 
 displace it are of equal value. 
 
 In poetry as in music and painting, there is the 
 worthy and the unworthy. To some people poetry 
 is rhyme. They cannot discriminate between dog- 
 gerel and epic. Of course to such poetry has no 
 meaning, no message, no appeal. They feel that the 
 reading of poetry is a waste of time, and that a love 
 of poetry is an indication of an effeminate mind. It 
 
THROUGH IDEALS 101 
 
 may do for dreamers, but has no claims on practical 
 men and women. 
 
 But consider a moment that the great names in 
 the history of the world are those of poets — Homer, 
 DantCs Shakespeare, Goethe, Milton, and many others. 
 Practically every industry in the time of Elizabeth 
 has perished, but its poetry remains. The fine arts 
 make the most permanent contributions to any age. 
 
 Those who despise poetry simply show their igno- 
 rance. If they have nothing to learn from Shake- 
 speare, the fault is not in Shakespeare. They simply 
 classify themselves among those who have no time 
 nor taste for the higher things of life. The rush of 
 the automobile is more pleasant to them than a noble 
 thought, and the tripping of the toe than the master- 
 pieces of Wagner or Beethoven. 
 
 The teacher who is alive to her opportunities, who 
 is filled with a desire to bring the real child more 
 nearly up to the ideal, will give much attention to the 
 study of the ideals embodied in poetry. Dr. White 
 has pointed out that a fine thought is greatly enhanced 
 through its beautiful expression. Poetry not only 
 concerns itseK with ideals, but its medium of com- 
 munication is through magic language. Hence its 
 effect on the child is probably greater than that of 
 any other fine art. 
 
 The beautiful poems of the school readers should 
 be regarded by the teacher as treasures. She should 
 plainly show the pupils that she loves them. Her 
 very enthusiasm will communicate itseK to the pupils. 
 It is entirely certain that if a poem means nothing 
 to the teacher, it will mean little to the pupils. But 
 
102 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 by bringing out the truths of the poems, and showing 
 their appHcation, and by expressing appreciation of 
 their beauties, and by frequent thoughtful, reverent 
 repetition of these poems, their ideals will more and 
 more become a part of the lives of the children; the 
 real will receive more and more of the ideal, and their 
 characters will be formed of the imperishable elements 
 of true beauty. 
 
Chapter XVI 
 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH INSTRUCTION 
 IN HEALTH 
 
 Health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of; a 
 blessing that money cannot buy. — Izaak Walton. 
 
 Carlyle says: "There is no kind of achievement 
 you could make in the world that is equal to perfect 
 health.'' 
 
 The following is from John Locke: "He that sinks 
 his vessel by overloading it, though it be with gold 
 and silver and precious stones, will give his owner 
 but an ill account of his voyage." 
 
 In spite of the fact that an increasing amount of 
 attention is given to the subject of personal health 
 and hygiene, there are still many homes in which no 
 definite and purposeful instruction is given to children 
 in regard to the care of their bodies. Go into any 
 rural school and ask pupils between the ages of six 
 and sixteen whether they regularly take a morning 
 bath, and you are very fortunate if one in forty raises 
 his hand. Ask how many take a bath regularly once 
 a week, and not all hands will even then be raised. 
 Then ask how many drink a glass of water before 
 breakfast, or brush their teeth, or sleep with open 
 windows during the winter, and you will be impressed 
 with the need of further effort in teaching personal 
 hygiene. 
 
104 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 It is a curious fact that if any commodity costs 
 nothing it is not considered valuable, however impor- 
 tant it may be; but as soon as a price is set on it, 
 its value is more appreciated. For example, in 
 nearly all communities there are delightful walks, 
 with beautiful trees and flowers and singing birds and 
 pleasant views, and there is health in every step. 
 Yet there are very few who seize the opportunity. 
 But if some one were to put a fence around a tract 
 of land, with entrance at a gate only, and were to 
 charge an admission fee of twenty-five cents, the 
 number of walkers would be greatly increased. 
 
 Likewise if a physician were to charge a good sum 
 for medical advice, and would direct the patient to 
 take a morning bath and a glass of water, the advice 
 would be followed, and water would seem more 
 valuable. 
 
 Nature indeed offers us good health free of cost. 
 Water to clean us outwardly and inwardly, and to 
 give us oxygen; air to serve the same purpose; hills 
 and valleys and outdoor work to give us exercise and 
 appetite — the poorest family can enjoy all these gifts, 
 and needs little more for good health. Yet these 
 priceless gifts, being free, are not esteemed. 
 
 In the schools of New Jersey, and doubtless in some 
 other states, there is found in every room a chart 
 prepared by the State Board of Health. This chart 
 is a portion of the campaign against tuberculosis; 
 but it is a compendium of expert advice on hygiene 
 couched in the simplest possible language. Its value 
 cannot be overestimated. The teacher might well 
 say to her pupils, "If you were to go to a physician 
 
THROUGH INSTRUCTION IN HEALTH 105 
 
 who stands among the foremost in this State, and 
 pay him ten dollars for advice, you would consider 
 it very important, and would observe it with care. 
 The State Board of Health is composed of a number 
 of the foremost physicians in this State. You need 
 not gO' to the expense of visiting their oflfices, or of 
 paying a consultation fee. On this chart they have 
 united their knowledge and skill in giving you pre- 
 scriptions of the highest value. You need pay no 
 fees whatever. Are the prescriptions therefore the 
 less important .f^" 
 
 The best plan to use in connection with the observ- 
 ance of these or other health rules is to begin with 
 certain ones that are very easy to obey, and add to 
 these from time to time, finally completing the whole 
 list. A certain teacher of a rural school of forty 
 pupils urged them to observe what he called "the five 
 points," and every morning he asked how many had 
 done them. They were, "Wash your face, wash your 
 hands, brush your teeth, drink a glass of water, eat 
 your breakfast." In a short time this teacher had 
 established these five habits in all the children. The 
 following year a new teacher, hearing of this plan, 
 continued it, and added thereto. Thus in a pleasant, 
 easy manner the children were given lessons worth 
 more than all the technical physiology in the course 
 of study. 
 
 Children often feel that a morning bath implies a 
 bathroom and bathtub. Of course both are conven- 
 ient, but not essential. A pitcher of water with a 
 wash bowl or basin, a cloth and a towel, are all the 
 necessary materials; and to "wipe and dry the body 
 
106 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 quickly every day," as the health chart directs, 
 requires but two or three minutes of time. Nor is a 
 cold sleeping room a suflScient reason for omitting the 
 morning bath, inasmuch as the reaction caused by the 
 rubbing will do more to heat the body than artificial 
 heat or clothing. 
 
 There is small wonder that Carlyle used the strong 
 language at the beginning of this chapter. All his 
 life he suffered the pangs of dyspepsia. Not only 
 did this disease sap his strength and give him great 
 distress, but it colored his thinking, so that he 
 became morose and fretful. No man can see the 
 sunny side of life when afflicted with the pangs of 
 indigestion. It may be that Carlyle was conscious 
 not only of what he suffered but what he missed when 
 he laid supreme emphasis on good health. 
 
 Indigestion is usually caused by unwise eating — 
 too much food, poorly cooked food, hasty eating, or 
 eating what the system cannot digest. Hence it is of 
 great importance that our girls should be taught 
 scientific cooking; and it is of still greater importance 
 that pupils should be taught the dangers of improper 
 eating. By direct instruction on these points the 
 teacher can be of great service to the children. 
 
 There are three classes of students — those who 
 study properly, those who study too little, and those 
 who study too much. In some schools so much 
 attention is given to the second class that the third 
 is permitted to continue overworking until some of 
 them have irreparably injured their health. It is to 
 them that the words of John Locke previously quoted 
 have special application. 
 
THROUGH INSTRUCTION IN HEALTH 107 
 
 A young man of eighteen once entered a normal 
 school with the avowed purpose of completing a two- 
 year course in one year. He did it, but he shattered 
 his system; and a year after his graduation the grasses 
 were growing on his grave. 
 
 A girl graduated at the head of her class from a 
 large city high school. She was appointed to give 
 the valedictory. About a week before the graduation 
 exercises she became ill. The physicians diagnosed 
 the case as appendicitis, and advised an immediate 
 operation. The girl absolutely refused to submit to 
 this operation until after she had given her valedic- 
 tory, and nothing could be done to change her mind. 
 She gave the valedictory, was rushed to a hospital, 
 but it was too late. She gave her hfe for the sake of 
 reciting the honor essay. 
 
 Another girl insisted on studying until midnight 
 every evening. Her high school principal warned 
 her many times that she was shattering her nerves, 
 but she refused to listen. She too graduated at the 
 head of the class, but has never since been able to do 
 a day's work. 
 
 It is very much easier to get a slack student to 
 give enough attention to his studies than to get one 
 who over-studies to be reasonable. To the latter the 
 teacher must emphasize in season and out the value 
 of moderation in all things — self-control even in 
 good things. She must point out the great handicap 
 in life that comes from a strong mind fettered by a 
 weak body. She must take this matter up with the 
 parents. She must control the home work of the 
 pupils. She must remove all artificial incentives. 
 
108 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 and other unhealthy stimuli. Every possible effort 
 should be made to see that these bright minds are 
 reared in bodies of maximum efl&ciency. 
 
 The work of the teacher of today is much more 
 complex than a generation ago. She is expected to do 
 many things that her predecessors never thought of. 
 But amid all her duties there is none that has a 
 greater claim on her attention than that of training 
 her pupils to take care of their bodies, so that they 
 may have an adequate physical basis to do effectively 
 their work in the world. 
 
Chapter XVII 
 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH REMOVING 
 FALSE IDEAS 
 
 What error leads must err. — Shakespeare. 
 
 "The great secret of success m life is to be ready when the oppor- 
 tunity comes. " — Disraeli. 
 
 "Great works are performed not by strength, but by perse- 
 verance." — Samuel Johnson. 
 
 "The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navi- 
 gators. " — Gibbon. 
 
 "All actual heroes are essential men. 
 And all men possible heroes." — Mrs. Browning. 
 
 "Raleigh found the tower of London a convenient place for writ- 
 ing a History of the World." — Hamilton Wright Mabie. 
 
 "Happy are they to whom life brings, not ease and physical com- 
 fort, but great chances of heroism, sacrifice, and service." — Mabie. 
 
 *' Genius is about two per cent inspiration; all the rest is perspira- 
 tion." — Edison. 
 
 The eight extracts here given are from workers in 
 different ages and different spheres. Scores more 
 could be quoted; and after many pages were filled, 
 the diligent student could not find a single one in 
 which emphasis is laid on luck as a factor in life. 
 In the eight just quoted the word luck is not even 
 mentioned. The ambitious and successful man simply 
 gives no place to it whatever in his calculations. 
 
110 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 For him it does not exist. And, of course, for nobody 
 else does it exist. 
 
 Yet there is in the minds of a surprisingly large 
 number of people, especially of those who have 
 achieved little or nothing, a latent and sometimes 
 often expressed idea that one man succeeds because 
 he has luck, and another fails because luck is against 
 him. Of course, if a man holds this idea, his children 
 are more or less imbued with it, and the teacher 
 must expel it from their minds. 
 
 The child is at the beginning of life's road. He 
 has imbibed instructions, ideas, tendencies from his 
 home as to how to proceed on his journey. He has 
 had little opportunity to make his own observations, 
 and has had no experience. The work of the teacher 
 is to give the child the benefit of her own experiences 
 and observations. She is presumably educated — 
 that is, she has learned in the schools how the journey 
 through life may best be made. AH this learning, 
 experience and observation should now be bestowed 
 on the child, so that he may take no false or unnec- 
 essary steps, and may not go wrong; and if his home 
 or his associates have given him wrong directions, the 
 teacher must detect them and correct them as speedily 
 as possible. Perhaps the best way to do this is to 
 point out to the child the elements of success as they 
 are exemplified in the lives of great men and women. 
 The child has a natural respect for the names he 
 meets in his textbooks and in the library books; and 
 he will be much interested in learning the particulars 
 of their lives. The teacher should make a definite 
 search for such factors in these lives as led to their 
 
THROUGH REMOVING FALSE IDEAS 111 
 
 success, and these should be purposefully taught to 
 the pupils. 
 
 Alice Freeman Palmer has already been mentioned 
 in this book as a very remarkable woman. Her life, 
 written by her husband, Professor Palmer, should be 
 read by every teacher many times, for her own inspi- 
 ration as well as for use among the pupils. While, of 
 course, Mrs. Palmer had a remarkable personality, 
 yet at fourteen there was little to distinguish her from 
 hundreds of other girls of her age. Starting from that 
 common basis, the girls of a school will note with 
 great interest the courage and perseverance she dis- 
 played while making her way through college, her 
 heroic struggle to overcome poor health and poverty, 
 her fidelity to every duty, and her noble accomplish- 
 ments. They will note that no luck was apparent in 
 her career. She was made president of Wellesley 
 at twenty-six because, as Disraeli says, she was 
 "ready when the opportunity came." Many other 
 educated women were living at that time, but of them 
 all Alice Freeman was most "ready." Hence her 
 selection, and her subsequent great success. 
 
 Then there is Napoleon Bonaparte, who when a 
 young man, was usually in his attic room engaged in 
 deep study when his schoolmates were playing; who 
 once worked at a problem in mathematics from Friday 
 evening until Monday morning, getting the correct 
 result at last; whose customary working day was 
 eighteen hours; who when in command of the Army 
 of Italy did not average more than two or three 
 hours of sleep a night; who lived a marvelous career 
 because of his knowledge, his energy, his perseverance. 
 
112 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 He maintained that his success in war was due to his 
 careful attention to every detail of strategy and 
 tactics, so as to be ready for any emergency that 
 might occur. In other words, he succeeded because 
 of his intelligent use of the common qualities that 
 should be found in the make-up of all young men. 
 
 Henry Kirke White learned Greek while walking to 
 and from a lawyer's office in which he was employed. 
 There was no particular genius about this perform- 
 ance — simply an intelligent use of spare moments, 
 of which many people have a large number. 
 
 George Washington showed by his career in the 
 French and Indian War that he was the best qualified 
 man to command the Continental Army when the 
 war began in 1775; so there was no particular luck 
 in his selection by the Continental Congress. In 
 1789 there was no question that the ablest man in 
 the country to take the helm was Washington, and 
 he was elected president. There was httle of the 
 brilhant genius in him — only the world-old plain 
 quahties of fine manhood. 
 
 History is full of examples that prove conclusively 
 that "every man is the architect of his own fortune"; 
 that "fools prate of luck"; that there is nothing 
 mysterious about success; that there are few chances 
 in success; and that life presents a "fair field and 
 no favors." 
 
 Neighborhood biography furnishes interesting ex- 
 amples for the teacher to use. In all communities 
 there are persons more or less prominent locally or in 
 the county or state. These men and women are 
 known to the children, either personally or by name. 
 
THROUGH REMOVING FALSE IDEAS 113 
 
 The teacher should become familiar with the par- 
 ticulars of their lives, and should point out to the 
 pupils how their success was founded on the funda- 
 mental virtues that may be acquired by all. 
 
 By such a course the teacher can do a world of 
 good in imbuing her children with correct principles, 
 thereby expelling from their minds false ideas. It is 
 more important that a pupil be ambitious than that 
 he be proficient in geography. It is more necessary 
 for him to have courage than a knowledge of gram- 
 mar. Indeed, proficiency in studies is only a means 
 to aid the ambitious young man or woman to advance 
 rapidly and achieve great things. It has little value 
 as an end. 
 
 If the glory of a school is in the kind of boys and 
 girls it produces, then a teacher's supreme object 
 should be to instill in them correct principles of life, 
 after which they may be left to make their own 
 careers with perfect assurance that they will become 
 useful men and women. 
 
Chapteb XVIII 
 REACHING TEE CHILDREN THROUGH ALLEGORY 
 
 Allegory dwells in a transparent palace. — Lemieree. 
 
 Hamilton Wright Mabie says: "A man is spe- 
 cially and divinely fortunate, not when his conditions 
 are easy, but when they evoke the very best that is 
 in him." 
 
 Children who cannot thoroughly grasp the impli- 
 cations of such a sentiment can see them more plainly 
 when they are put in the form of a story. The 
 following is not a complete likeness, but it appeals 
 to children, especially to such as live among the hills 
 or mountains: 
 
 Every boy and girl is going up the side of a moun- 
 tain at the top of which is the place called success. 
 There are many paths, some quite different from 
 others. Here is one — a broad, macadamized road, 
 going along at a beautiful grade, with fine curves; 
 and lo! here is a young man going up in an automo- 
 bile! How rapidly he travels, with no exertion on 
 his part. He is wafted up, and the whole trip is a 
 pleasure. 
 
 Here is another road, also a good one, but not 
 made of stone. The youth is driving up with a horse 
 and buggy — not so fast as in an automobile, but 
 
THROUGH ALLEGORY 115 
 
 still going at a good pace. He sits back enjoying the 
 landscape, and looking with a smile at us who are 
 trudging along on foot. 
 
 Now we examine more closely our own road. It is 
 not a road, only a path. We go along a steep ascent. 
 Then we come to a rock, and after much effort 
 remove it. Soon we come to another, which our best 
 efforts cannot move, so we climb over it, bruising 
 our hands and knees. Oh, how tired we are! We 
 rest a little while, and then look ahead. The path 
 is not clear. There is in the way the largest rock we 
 have yet encountered. Surely we cannot remove it, 
 neither can we climb over it. Shall we then sit 
 down and cry? No, indeed. Let us go forward, 
 and take a closer look at it. Why, here is a way 
 around it that we couldn't see until we were almost 
 against it. Truly this is not so hard a place as the 
 other was. We have really not thus far met with 
 anything that we could not surmount in some way. 
 What is this on ahead .^^ Oh, merely some loose stones 
 and a few thorns that grow across the path. On we 
 go. We are gaining in strength, we are gaining in 
 courage, we have confidence that we can in some way 
 overcome any obstacle we meet because we have 
 learned how to approach it. By and by we reach the 
 summit! 
 
 Now let us compare ourselves with the other two 
 young men. Have they gained any strength through 
 their trip up the mountain? Have they gained any 
 courage? Any ability to overcome obstacles? Have 
 they experienced the joy of surmounting what seemed 
 insurmountable? No. Their single advantage (?) 
 
116 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 was that they had a pleasant journey and did not 
 need to soil their hands and clothes! 
 
 Let no poor boy envy the well-to-do. He is by 
 force of circumstances compelled to take the rough 
 and rocky path which he would not himself choose, 
 rather than the easy path, which wealth chooses for 
 its children. Hence the poor boy gains the strength 
 that the rich boy misses. The poor boy gets the 
 practice in the qualities of manhood that the rich boy 
 cannot experience. The poor boy becomes his own 
 master, the rich boy is carried along by somebody 
 else. All through life it is the hard things that 
 count for something, the easy things that count for 
 little. 
 
 A vessel on the Saguenay River was once crossing 
 a bay, headed straight for what seemed a solid cliff. 
 As she approached the cliff, the passengers speculated 
 as to where the vessel would find its entrance. But 
 no sign of an entrance could be seen until she was 
 within a stone's throw of the cliff. Then a sudden 
 turn showed an opening through which she sailed 
 calmly on into the waters beyond. 
 
 So it is in life. Even the most courageous person 
 sometimes comes to a point where there is a rock 
 ahead which he seems unable to scale; but as he 
 draws nearer he finds either that the rock is not as 
 large as it seemed and can be scaled, or there is some 
 way of rolling it away or passing around it. 
 
 Many boys and girls are deterred from aiming for 
 a higher education because they are poor, or because 
 they live in a remote part of the state, or for some 
 other reason. The difficulties in the way seem 
 
THROUGH ALLEGORY 117 
 
 insurmountable. But the life of Mrs. Palmer and of 
 hundreds of others prove that the rocks seem bigger 
 than they really are, and that they may be sur- 
 mounted if the youth will but approach them with a 
 stout heart and a resolute will! 
 
Chapter XIX 
 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH TACT 
 
 A handful of common sense is worth a bushel of learning. 
 
 — Old Proverb. 
 
 The word tact means touch. We say a person has 
 tact when he knows how to handle men and situa- 
 tions. The citizen has tact when, at a public meeting, 
 he allays strong feeling between two persons by means 
 of quieting remarks. Some people have tact in hand- 
 ling horses. Henry Ward Beecher had tact in control- 
 ling audiences. Some parents have tact in governing 
 their children. 
 
 In its last analysis tact is nothing more than good 
 judgment; and just as the power of judgment may 
 be developed, so tact may be cultivated. Those who 
 have little to start with can by persistent attention 
 gain more and more of that quality without which 
 much accomplishment is hardly possible. 
 
 Many teachers who are now conspicuously success- 
 ful had a hard time to control their pupils during 
 their first years of teaching; and if they were asked 
 wherein lay their weakness they would doubtless 
 reply, "I did not know how to handle pupils. I did 
 not use good judgment in my relations with them 
 and in my relations with their parents." In other 
 words, they lacked tact. 
 
THROUGH TACT 119 
 
 Another word for tact is the modern word adjust- 
 ment. When an organism fits into its environment 
 at all points it is said to be completely adjusted. 
 When the teacher is properly in touch with the chil- 
 dren there is perfect adjustment. When she is "out 
 of touch" with any situation, there is necessarily 
 more or less discord. 
 
 Perhaps the best illustration of the possession of 
 tact in American history is found in Benjamin 
 Franklin. Of him the historian Bancroft says, "He 
 never spoke a word too soon; he never spoke a word 
 too late; he never failed to speak the right word in 
 the right place." 
 
 Children can never be permanently reached by 
 false alarms. After a boy has been frightened into 
 obedience a number of times by the assurance that 
 a bear in the woods will eat him up if he does not 
 obey, he will naturally learn in time that the speaker 
 is lying; and a continuation of that policy will soon 
 render the child almost uncontrollable. The intelli- 
 gent parent will never employ such tactless and ill- 
 advised methods of securing submission. 
 
 Teachers are sometimes tactless in "seeing too 
 much." Whenever a child moves, the eye of the 
 teacher is on him. When he seeks for something in 
 his desk she wants to know what he is looking for. 
 When he is out of sight for a minute she asks him 
 what he was doing. In other words, she feels that 
 she must have knowledge of everything that goes on 
 while she is in charge of the children. This leads to 
 an almost irresistible desire on the part of the pupils 
 to do as many things as possible that she cannot 
 
120 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 discover; and there is often more downright dis- 
 honesty engendered by a teacher of this description 
 than by one who has better tact in seeing things. 
 
 A boy of twelve in the seventh grade had for some 
 time been hard to manage. After several private 
 conversations the principal was gradually getting him 
 to see the error of his ways; and one day the boy 
 agreed to try for one week so to conduct himself 
 that he would not be sent to the office. Four days 
 passed, and the boy was not heard from by the prin- 
 cipal; but on the fifth day he came to the office, his 
 temper evidently aroused. The principal said, "Well, 
 Jack, I am sorry you couldn't hold out one day 
 longer." "Mr. Blank," said the boy with much 
 feeling, "I was good on Monday, Tuesday, Wednes- 
 day, and Thursday, and the teacher never said a 
 word. This morning I turned round to find where 
 the lesson was, and at once the teacher sent me 
 down. Do you think that was fair.?" And the prin- 
 cipal said impulsively, "No, I don't." 
 
 Here was a sad example of lack of tact. That 
 teacher spoiled everything. She could never do any- 
 thing with the boy after that. She should not have 
 noticed his turning round, even if it was against 
 her regulations. If, on the other hand, she had 
 said to him on Monday afternoon, "Well, you got 
 through today all right," and on Tuesday afternoon, 
 "Another good day," and Wednesday, "Three good 
 ones," and on Thursday, "Only one more," and had 
 overlooked the trifling offence of turning around, the 
 boy would have come to the office on Friday after- 
 noon in triumph. The few words of tactful encour- 
 
THROUGH TACT 121 
 
 agement, offered daily, would have given him renewed 
 determination; would have stimulated his purpose 
 to make a perfect record for one week; and this 
 victory would have gone very far to make his good 
 conduct permanent. But the teacher not only failed 
 to assist his efforts from day to day by an approving 
 word, but took the first occasion to demolish the char- 
 acter structure he was gradually building up unaided. 
 
 In a boys' boarding school during assembly exer- 
 cises one morning some one stepped on a match and 
 it ignited with a loud report. The teacher in charge 
 said, "There is never any telling what you boys will 
 do in the way of disorder. I suppose the next thing 
 will be for you to fill your pockets with match heads 
 and scatter them all over the floor!'* None of the 
 students had thought of doing anything of the kind 
 until the teacher suggested it, but they promptly 
 acted upon his idea; and in a few days the explosion 
 of match heads made all semblance of order impossible. 
 
 The principal was then called in. He announced to 
 the students that the following week he would grant a 
 holiday so as to give all an opportunity to attend the 
 county fair a few miles away. "But," he continued, 
 "let us have no more match heads"; and order was 
 at once restored. 
 
 A very considerable proportion of school difficulties 
 that come up for decision to the State Commissioner 
 of Education is caused by the fact that somebody 
 somewhere failed to exercise good judgment. Such 
 cases as the refusal of a foreign child to pledge 
 allegiance to the American flag, or refusal of parents 
 to permit a child to attend religious exercises at the 
 
122 REACHING TEE CHILDREN 
 
 opening of school, can be quietly handled by a tactful 
 teacher so that no unpleasant publicity will arise. 
 When it is not necessary to bring things to an issue, 
 a teacher is foolish to invite trouble. 
 
 Reaching so-called bad boys is more a matter of 
 tact than of intelligence or of learning. By means of 
 tact the teacher will avoid arousing their evil tenden- 
 cies. She will not punish them in such a way as to 
 cause excessive resentment. She will give them 
 enough interesting work to permit them to give vent 
 to their energies. She will fraternize with them, 
 take an interest in their sports, be present at their 
 match games, help them get up plays, and in many 
 other ways skilfully appeal to the better side of their 
 natures without saying anything about it. The favorite 
 teacher in a high school is nearly always the one who 
 plays tennis with the pupils, directs their dramatics, 
 is a member of the "Camp-fire Girls" or "Boy 
 Scouts," is enthusiastic at the baseball and basket 
 ball games, dances with them at their entertainments, 
 and always has time to discuss with them matters in 
 which they are interested. Such a teacher reaches 
 more pupils than do ten others whose sole interest is 
 in the subjects they teach. She has ten points of 
 adjustment where the others have but one, and that 
 of uncertain fit. 
 
 The teacher should first of all be a human being. 
 She should be alive to the joys and sorrows that 
 animate all children. As she contemplates their 
 imperfections she should always think of her own also; 
 and she should constantly strive to cultivate the habit 
 of Franklin, to do the right thing at the right time. 
 
Chapter XX 
 REACHING THE CHILDREN THROUGH ENTHUSIASM 
 
 There is no teaching until the pupil is brought in the same state 
 or principle in which you are; a transfusion takes place; he is you, 
 and you are he; there is a teaching; and by no unfriendly chance or 
 bad company can he ever quite lose the benefit. — Emeebon. 
 
 " It is faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes 
 a life worth looking at." — Holmes. 
 
 "Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm." 
 
 — Emerson. 
 
 No teacher ever reached her pupils unless she pos- 
 sessed and put into her work some of that divine 
 element called enthusiasm. This word is derived from 
 the Greek and literally means **God in us." It was 
 thought by the Greeks that when the eye of the 
 poet or the orator rolled "in a fine frenzy," he was 
 possessed of a god; and it is not far wrong for us 
 to feel that a benignant spirit shines through the 
 countenance of the enthusiastic man. 
 
 Enthusiasm has also been compared to fire, by 
 means of which other fires are kindled. It has been 
 called a contagious quality of the mind that is more 
 catching than measles. There are other likenesses 
 that have been used. However we think of this 
 quality, the teacher cannot do without it if she is 
 to make the most of her opportunities. 
 
124 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 In a high school or college, students are sometimes 
 for one period under a teacher who goes through her 
 work as a matter of mere routine. The students may- 
 do their work fairly well, but there is no deep interest. 
 No permanent love for the subject is likely to be 
 engendered in any of them. The next period these 
 same students meet a teacher who is full of inspira- 
 tion. The very air is charged with electricity. The 
 dullness of the preceding recitation gives way to Ufe 
 and energy. It does not seem to be the same student 
 body; yet there has only been a change of teacher. 
 
 It is this enthusiasm that rouses the dull mind from 
 its lethargy. The Uve teacher is continually "starting 
 something," and that is very likely to "start some- 
 body." The pupils catch the teacher's spirit. If her 
 mind is aglow with enthusiasm it casts a light on a 
 subject otherwise dull. If the teacher feels that her 
 subject is of great importance, that it contains most 
 fruitful ideas, and that she wants her pupils to gain 
 the benefit and pleasure of these ideas, she will put 
 her soul into her teaching, and the breath of life will 
 cause the instruction to glow with interest. 
 
 Enthusiasm in teaching demands a love of children 
 and a consequent desire to do them good. Aversion 
 to children is utterly inconsistent with enthusiasm. 
 It is not possible for a teacher to put her soul into 
 any instruction of pupils she dislikes. Of course such 
 a teacher has no proper place in the schoolroom; but 
 unfortunately she is sometimes improperly there. 
 
 Enthusiasm in a subject demands a love for it. 
 No teacher can do much with a subject she does not 
 like. This is again an attitude inconsistent with the 
 
THROUGH ENTHUSIASM 125 
 
 best teaching. Hence the need of departmental 
 work above the fifth or sixth grades, so that teachers 
 may have only such subjects as they like best. 
 
 Enthusiasm requires scholarship. The well known 
 instance of Dr. Thomas Arnold preparing himself 
 every evening for teaching his class in beginning Latin 
 is an instance in point. To teach with power there 
 must be that confidence and certainty that comes only 
 from broad and clear knowledge. The teacher can 
 never make her pupils enthusiastic during a recitation 
 if her own face is buried in the textbook; but if she 
 can stand before the class without any book at all, 
 and if possible without any notes, her very attitude 
 will tend toward interest and enthusiasm. 
 
 Enthusiasm is aided by means of good health. 
 There are some teachers of frail bodies who are almost 
 consumed by their enthusiasm; and there are others 
 of fine physique whose teaching is lifeless. But the 
 true teacher is more apt to be enthusiastic if she is 
 feeling well than if she is worn out. Some superin- 
 tendents do not seem to take account of this fact, and 
 they make so many requirements of their teachers in 
 the way of records, reports, meetings and conferences 
 of all kinds, that the teachers are too tired when 
 they reach school in the morning to give their best 
 selves to the work. Teachers have a duty toward 
 their class in refraining from excessive work or social 
 diversions; in seeing to it that they begin the day 
 fresh and bright. The fagged out mind must be 
 driven. Whatever enthusiasm is aroused is thus the 
 result of force and not of natural spontaneity. It is un- 
 healthy, and therefore likely to lead to ruin in the end. 
 
126 REACHING THE CHILDREN 
 
 Enthusiasm is promoted by pleasant living condi- 
 tions. It is far better for a teacher to pay a higher 
 sum for a room and board in a home she likes, than 
 to pay a dollar a week less in a home she does not 
 like. If her room is uncomfortably cold during the 
 winter, her enthusiasm is very likely to be chilled. 
 If she does not get tasteful and nourishing food, she 
 cannot proceed with the energy that arises out of 
 properly satisfied physical conditions. If the family 
 life is discordant, or the children are annoying, the 
 teacher cannot maintain a serene spirit. Hence when 
 a teacher inquires for board, she should take great 
 care to examine into conditions before she chooses. 
 It is sometimes wise to engage board temporarily, 
 and if necessary make a change afterwards, even if it 
 leads to estrangement with the family. It is easier to 
 bear this criticism than a year's discomfort. 
 
 Enthusiasm is promoted by attendance at a summer 
 school for teachers. Usually the school year closes 
 about June 20, and opens September 10. The summer 
 vacation is therefore from ten to twelve weeks long. 
 Summer school terms are usually five or six weeks in 
 length. Therefore a teacher may attend a summer 
 school for six weeks, and yet have from four to six 
 weeks at her disposal for rest and recreation. 
 
 Things educational are moving so rapidly these days 
 that the teacher who does not improve herself falls 
 behind. School work is viewed from a totally differ- 
 ent aspect from what it was even ten years ago. The 
 standard of teaching required in good schools has 
 risen rapidly since that time. Hence it behooves even 
 the good teacher to get the new viewpoint; to learn 
 
THROUGH ENTHUSIASM 127 
 
 to see her work from a different angle; to seek the 
 new elements that educational progress is introducing. 
 This in itself will give the teacher a new interest in 
 her work, and tend to maintain her enthusiasm. 
 
 But the finest influence of the summer school is in 
 its spirit. This is hard to define. Those who have 
 experienced it come back to their work with a "some- 
 thing" they never had before. It is not so much the 
 instruction they have received as the air they have 
 breathed that gives them the glow of enthusiasm, as 
 they say, "Oh, it was fine!" 
 
 It is not intended that teachers should take so 
 many courses that the summer school means work 
 only. Two courses a day are suflficient. There is 
 then time for rest, for recreation, and for social life. 
 Thus the summer school may be a fine vacation, with 
 just enough work to give the mind a valuable founda- 
 tion for creative thinking. Those who have observed 
 this summer school movement for a number of years 
 will agree that its finest work is the spreading of 
 enthusiasm among teachers, who in turn communicate 
 it to their pupils, and thus reach them. 
 
 The joy that comes from the enthusiastic pursuit 
 of one's vocation is one of the greatest blessings of 
 life. "It blesseth him that gives and him that takes." 
 To such a person life is one long happy day. Its 
 clouds but form the background for the golden gleams 
 of the sunlight. This Hfe is possible to the teacher who 
 puts her soul into her work, and her influence for good 
 in the lives of her pupils is immeasurable.