CHAPTER X
INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION AND SCHOOL WORK
The general change and plasticity at puberty—English teaching—Causes of its
failure: (1) too much time to other languages, (2) subordination of literary
content to form, (3) too early stress on eye and hand instead of ear and mouth,
(4) excessive use of concrete words—Children's interest in words—Their
favorites—Slang—Story telling—Age of reading crazes—What to read—The
historic sense—Growth of memory span.
Just as about the only duty of young children is implicit obedience, so the chief
mental training from about eight to twelve is arbitrary memorization, drill,
habituation, with only limited appeal to the understanding. After the critical
transition age of six or seven, when the brain has achieved its adult size and
weight, and teething has reduced the chewing surface to its least extent, begins a
unique stage of life marked by reduced growth and increased activity and power
to resist both disease and fatigue, which suggests what was, in some just post-
simian age of our race, its period of maturity. Here belong discipline in writing,
reading, spelling, verbal memory, manual training, practise of instrumental
technic, proper names, drawing, drill in arithmetic, foreign languages by oral
methods, the correct pronunciation of which is far harder if acquired later, etc.
The hand is never so near the brain. Most of the content of the mind has entered
it through the senses, and the eye-and ear-gates should be open at their widest.
Authority should now take precedence of reason. Children comprehend much
and very rapidly if we can only refrain from explaining, but this slows down
intuition, tends to make casuists and prigs and to enfeeble the ultimate vigor of
reason. It is the age of little method and much matter. The good teacher is now a
pedotrieb, or boy-driver. Boys of this age at now not very affectionate. They