8 NATURE STUDY BY GRADES 



The wonderful amount of knowledge and power acquired 

 in early childhood has no doubt astonished every student of 

 psychology. Beginning life with only a few instincts and the 

 capacity to receive impressions through his five senses, the 

 child acquires in an incredibly short time a knowledge of 

 language, science, and art, truly surprising. The study of 

 the reasons for this rapid advancement has led to the most 

 important changes made in recent years in methods of pri- 

 mary teaching. 



A wonderful interest and ceaseless energy seem to impel 

 the child to go from one thing to another, gaining and storing 

 up experiences which in some way combine in later life into 

 the most useful and necessary constituents of an education. 

 Suddenly deprive the college student of these primary, fun- 

 damental experiences and their effects, and he would have 

 little with which to interpret his later study; it would 

 necessarily be meaningless. 



If, as it is generally conceded, the child makes more rapid 

 progress from three to six years of age than during any sub- 

 sequent like period, and if we can discover and retain the 

 motive which actuated him and use the methods he followed, 

 then his progress will not be retarded upon entering school. 



By a process of elimination let us seek this true motive. 

 A moment's reflection will assure us that the child does not 

 act through fear of punishment or blame ; nor is he prompted 

 by a desire to please others. He does not feel the pressure 

 of a- sense of duty ; nor does he plan to secure praise or avoid 

 blame. He is not sufficiently mature to realize that the knowl- 

 edge he is acquiring will be useful to him in after life, or of 

 benefit to others. None of these motives can possibly weigh 

 much with young children and should be used with them 

 only in exceptional cases. What natural characteristics, 



