No child will hesitate in answering such a question, not even Émile,
unless I have taken great care that he shall not know how. Any child
will say that the stone falls because it is heavy. "And what does
heavy mean?" "Whatever falls is heavy." Here my little philosopher is
really at a stand. Whether this first lesson in experimental physics
aids him in understanding that subject or not, it will always be a
practical lesson.
Nothing to be Taken upon Authority. Learning from the Pupil's own
Necessities.
As the child's understanding matures, other important considerations
demand that we choose his occupations with more care. As soon as he
understands himself and all that relates to him well enough and broadly
enough to discern what is to his advantage and what is becoming in him,
he can appreciate the difference between work and play, and to regard
the one solely as relaxation from the other. Objects really useful may
then be included among his studies, and he will pay more attention to
them than if amusement alone were concerned. The ever-present law of
necessity early teaches us to do what we dislike, to escape evils we
should dislike even more. Such is the use of foresight from which,
judicious or injudicious, springs all the wisdom or all the unhappiness
of mankind.
We all long for happiness, but to acquire it we ought first to know
what it is. To the natural man it is as simple as his mode of life; it
means health, liberty, and the necessaries of life, and freedom from
suffering. The happiness of man as a moral being is another thing,
foreign to the present question. I cannot too often repeat that only
objects purely physical can interest children, especially those who
have not had their vanity aroused and their nature corrupted by the
poison of opinion.
When they provide beforehand for their own wants, their understanding
is somewhat developed, and they are beginning to learn the value of
time. We ought then by all means to accustom and to direct them to its
employment to useful ends, these being such as are useful at their age
and readily understood by them. The subject of moral order and the
usages of society should not yet be presented, because children are not
in a condition to understand such things. To force their attention
upon things which, as we vaguely tell them, will be for their good,
when they do not know what this good means, is foolish. It is no less
foolish to assure them that such things will benefit them when grown;
for they take no interest in this supposed benefit, which they cannot
understand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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