encouraged and given a chance to grow.
6. ORDER OF DEVELOPMENT OF OUR INTERESTS
The order in which our interests develop thus becomes an important question in
our education. Nor is the order an arbitrary one, as might appear on first thought;
for interest follows the invariable law of attaching to the activity for which the
organism is at that time ready, and which it then needs in its further growth. That
we are sometimes interested in harmful things does not disprove this assertion.
The interest in its fundamental aspect is good, and but needs more healthful
environment or more wise direction. While space forbids a full discussion of the
genetic phase of interest here, yet we may profit by a brief statement of the
fundamental interests of certain well-marked periods in our development.
The Interests of Early Childhood.—The interests of early childhood are
chiefly connected with ministering to the wants of the organism as expressed in
the appetites, and in securing control of the larger muscles. Activity is the
preëminent thing—racing and romping are worth doing for their own sake alone.
Imitation is strong, curiosity is rising, and imagination is building a new world.
Speech is a joy, language is learned with ease, and rhyme and rhythm become
second nature. The interests of this stage are still very direct and immediate. A
distant end does not attract. The thing must be worth doing for the sake of the
doing. Since the young child's life is so full of action, and since it is out of acts
that habits grow, it is doubly desirous during this period that environment,
models, and teaching should all direct his interests and activities into lines that
will lead to permanent values.
The Interests of Later Childhood.—In the period from second dentition to
puberty there is a great widening in the scope of interests, as well as a noticeable
change in their character. Activity is still the keynote; but the child is no longer
interested merely in the doing, but is now able to look forward to the end sought.
Interests which are somewhat indirect now appeal to him, and the how of things
attracts his attention. He is beginning to reach outside of his own little circle, and
is ready for handicraft, reading, history, and science. Spelling, writing, and
arithmetic interest him partly from the activities involved, but more as a means
to an end.
Interest in complex games and plays increases, but the child is not yet ready for
games which require team work. He has not come to the point where he is