Interest Children in Their Work
WHAT harm thoughtless parents and friends do our work by the injudicious way in which they refer to school! “You poor things! It’s too bad that you can’t stay out and play,” says a foolish aunt. A mother allows her child to listen while she criticizes the teacher, the work required, or the school building and equipment. Even the newspapers take a hand. A leading New England daily appeared on the morning in last September when the public schools opened, with a cartoon representing the little red schoolhouse with the head, body, claws, and tail of a dragon, and the children fleeing in terror before it. Teachers are by no means guiltless in this matter. If any of us have fallen into this error, let us make a fresh start. We should heartily believe that what we are requiring of each pupil is really adapted to his nature and his needs, and so likely to prove interesting to him; and then we should aim constantly to arouse in him a sincere liking for the work in hand. A high-school teacher of physics found that a certain topic proved very difficult to successive classes, so she fell into the habit of introducing it in this way: “To-morrow we begin — such a subject. It is very hard, and you will have to give extra time to the preparation.” But each year’s class balked at it, as their predecessors had done. Reflecting one day on the value of a right mental attitude toward work, she recognized her error and changed her tactics. “To-morrow,” she said, “we take up the most interesting part of our subject,” and she related a story or two of the experiences of scientists to prove her point, closing with, “I am sure that you will find it equally engrossing.” To her joy the class plunged heartily into the work, and without pressure put forth the extra effort needed for its mastery. We should aim to develop not only a liking for each school duty, but also a belief in power to perform it.—Ladies’ Home Journal.