disproved the supposition that students should be scantily fed. O'Shea claims that
many brain workers are far short of their highest grade of efficiency because of
starving their brains from poor diet. And not only must the food be of the right
quality, but the body must be in good health. Little good to eat the best of food
unless it is being properly digested and assimilated. And little good if all the rest
is as it should be, and the right amount of oxidation does not go on in the brain
so as to remove the worn-out cells and make place for new ones. This warns us
that pure air and a strong circulation are indispensable to the best working of our
brains. No doubt many students who find their work too hard for them might
locate the trouble in their stomachs or their lungs or the food they eat, rather than
in their minds.
5. PROBLEMS FOR INTROSPECTION AND OBSERVATION
- Estimate the mental progress made by the child during the first five years and
compare with that made during the second five years of its life. To do this make
a list, so far as you are able, of the acquisitions of each period. What do you
conclude as to the importance of play and freedom in early education? Why not
continue this method instead of sending the child to school? - Which has the better opportunity for sensory training, the city child or the
country child? For social training? For motor development through play? It is
said by specialists that country children are not as good players as city children.
Why should this be the case? - Observe carefully some group of children for evidences of lack of sensory
training (Interest in sensory objects, skill in observation, etc.). For lack of motor
training (Failure in motor control, awkwardness, lack of skill in play, etc.). Do
you find that general mental ability seems to be correlated with sensory and
motor ability, or not? - What sensory training can be had from (1) geography, (2) agriculture, (3)
arithmetic, (4) drawing? What lines of motor training ought the school to afford,
(1) in general, (2) for the hand, (3) in the grace and poise of carriage or bearing,
(4) in any other line? Make observation tests of these points in one or more
school rooms and report the results. - Describe what you think must be the type of mental life of Helen Keller.
(Read "The World I Live In," by Helen Keller.)