CHILD STUDY 



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CHILD STUDY 



no other way. Moreover, this knowledge is 

 necessary to the right directing of the child's 

 energy and interests. Many people are "mis- 

 fits" in the world because they were led 'or 

 forced into occupations for which they have 

 no natural aptitude. Because the father is a 

 lawyer is no reason why his son should choose 

 that profession. 



4. Discipline. What is your idea of disci- 

 pline? Do you require obedience because you 

 desire to assert your authority? Do you com- 

 mand the child to be quiet because the noise 

 he makes in. his play disturbs your ease and 

 comfort? Do you require him to do this or 

 that because his doing it will merely help you, 

 or do you require obedience for the good of 

 the child? Granting that this latter is the 

 purpose, to what sort of obedience should the 

 child be subjected that of external authority 

 or that of his own will? In other words, shall 

 it be the discipline of suppression or the disci- 

 pline of liberty? "Discipline," says Madame 

 Montessori, "must come through liberty"; and, 

 "If discipline is founded upon liberty the disci- 

 pline itself must necessarily be active." Study, 

 then, to lead the child by suggestion and en- 

 couragement into activity along right lines. 

 This is more difficult and requires more time 

 and patience than the old method of command 

 and suppression, but this old method produces 

 an individual suppressed, not disciplined, while 

 the first produces an individual who is master 

 of himself and able to regulate his own con- 

 duct. 



5. Indulgence. The question of discipline 

 naturally leads to that of indulgence. "If my 

 child is to obtain liberty through discipline 

 shall I allow him to have his way in 

 everything?" It would seem that no fixed rule 

 governing this point can be established, for 

 what might be a harmful indulgence to one 

 child would not be such to another. The child 

 should learn through his daily experiences that 

 he cannot indulge in those practices that are 

 contrary to the welfare of the other members 

 of the family, and he will learn this for him- 

 self if proper influences are thrown around 

 him. The new baby should not be allowed to 

 become the tyrant of the household, though 

 within the bounds of the mother's best judg- 

 ment he should be allowed his freedom. 



We usually consider "spoiled" children to 

 be those whose every wish has been granted 

 until they have become intensely selfish and 

 inconsiderate of others. But there are many 

 children who have been spoiled in another 



way which is often much more harmful and far- 

 reaching in its results. This refers to those 

 children who have had their natural aptitudes 

 suppressed and their desires killed because 

 their tendencies did not harmonize with the 

 preconceived notions of father or mother. In 

 these cases the self-indulgence of the parent 

 may be more injurious than his over-indulgence 

 in gratifying the child's less important desires. 

 Can parents afford to cripple the child's future 

 usefulness and prevent his fullest development 

 merely to gratify their notion of what he 

 should do in life? 



6. Play. Study the child at play and teach 

 him simple games. To do this the mother 

 must so enter into the spirit of the games 

 that the child will respond readily to her 

 efforts. In what games does the child seem 

 to take the greatest delight? When he begins 

 to play with other children how does he treat 

 his playfellows? Suggestions for this study are 

 given in the article PLAY. 



Child Study in the School. The home and 

 the school should cooperate in the study of the 

 child. The suggestions already given may 

 apply to this work in the school as well as in 

 the home, but there are other lines of work 

 which from the nature of the case can be 

 carried on more successfully in the school. 

 The teacher should study her pupils for the 

 purpose of discovering 



1. Defective Children. Children are often 

 considered dull when the cause for the appar- 

 ent dullness is defective sight or hearing. The 

 teacher should try to discover any cases of 

 this kind early in the term so the defect, so far 

 as possible, may be remedied. Children whose 

 sight or hearing is defective are usually very 

 diffident, and they seldom speak of their diffi- 

 culty. It must be detected by the teacher. 



2. Likes and Dislikes. Some children appar- 

 ently find as much interest in one subject as in 

 another ; others show marked differences. Some 

 like arithmetic, but take no interest in language 

 studies. Some prefer language to arithmetic; 

 others prefer history and geography to other 

 subjects. But the teacher's most difficult prob- 

 lem in this line of study is to discover what 

 interests the boy who shows a dislike for all 

 school subjects. When this interest is found, 

 through it he can usually be led to take an 

 interest in related subjects, and his progress in 

 school begins. 



3. Temperaments. Children's temperaments 

 and dispositions can be studied to best advan- 

 tage when they are assembled in groups, as in 



