GENERAL INTRODUCTION 9 



then, do children manifest which may influence their acqui- 

 sition of knowledge? 



In the small child, as well as in the young of most animals, 

 there seems to be something in which simple physical exer- 

 cise j motor activity excites the keenest pleasure. If this 

 be true, should not the school work in the lower grades be 

 more closely associated with muscular effort ? 



Again, the "natural curiosity" of the child his prone- 

 ness to see, to hear, to handle, to ask questions about things - 

 is proverbial. Besides, then, the pleasure arising from 

 motor activity, there is another, equally strong, the joy 

 one feels on acquiring knowledge or making a discovery. 

 It is sometimes called " intellectual feeling." 



These two motives are ever-present with the child and keep 

 him in constant and changeful contact with his environment, 

 with whose laws and characteristics he is thus becoming 

 familiar. Think how easily is forgotten a promise of re- 

 ward or a threat of punishment, when compared with these 

 two great motives in the moment of temptation. What 

 teacher could maintain the usual school work during the 

 passing of a circus parade or a match ball game on the 

 campus? 



Activity, then, seems to be 'at once the law of growth and 

 the source of pleasure, activity of muscle and of mind. 

 The child enjoys much better using his own sense of sight, 

 touch, taste, etc., than hearing another describe the appear- 

 ance, touch, or taste of an object. How much more interest 

 a child takes in a live animal present than in any oral or 

 written description of it ! 



The child also inherits the social instincts of the race and 

 loves to do what he sees others doing. His desire to imitate 

 is strong and is used to great advantage by the teacher who 



