Miller's Mind training for children Book 1 (of 3): A practical training for successful living; Educational games that train the sensesMiller, William Emer
Philosophy
Miller's Mind training for children Book 1 (of 3): A practical training for successful living; Educational games that train the senses
Miller, William Emer
Mnemonics; Senses and sensation
In the same manner the child should be taught to know and to be able
to measure with the yard stick. With it, of course, measure larger
objects, as the length of the house, the width of the porch, the
distance from the house to the sidewalk, the width of the street, the
height of the shed, etc. Teach the child to recognize the distance of a
block, a half mile or a mile, and the size of an acre.
Unless you have had some practice in work of this kind, you will
find yourself busy keeping ahead of the child. You can get excellent
practice and development which will be of value to you, by entering
into these exercises. Make it a point to become thoroughly interested
in the work yourself, as it will insure continuation and increased
good for the child. Remember the interest increasing value of
competition.
While training the child's eye to measure, excellent practice will be
found in determining comparative length of lines. The illustrations
below will show some of the ways in which the lines can be made
confusing. The child should be given enough drill in this exercise so
that he learns to judge the things as they are, and not as they seem.
Have him look at Figure 1 and decide which is the longer line, a side
of the square B or the diameter of the circle A. Then have him measure
carefully.
In like manner compare the height of the two rectangles in Figure 2.
Which line is longest in Figure 3--AB, CB, or BD? Which vertical lines
are tallest in Figure 4--those between AB or BC?
In Figure 5 which line is longest, A, B or C?
[Illustration]
Good practice can be had in judging the size of boxes by comparing
the length of one box with the width of another, or any similar
measurements. In each case the measurements should actually be made so
that all error can be corrected.
In the same way practice with size and thickness of books. Let the
child estimate them by inches so that he learns to determine accurately
the difference in thickness. The carpenter can readily tell the full
inch board from the seven-eights boards by looking at it or by feeling.
His ability to do this is the result of practice.
The size of type is a good thing to practice with, as the irregular
outlines of the type make it quite confusing. A sample book of type can
be gotten from any printer. From this the child can also be taught to
become familiar with the common type faces. This knowledge he can use
to good advantage in later years.
The child should be taught a definite length of step for the purpose
of measurement. In proportion to his size he can learn to step off two
feet or a yard. He should also know the length in inches of his shoe
for the purpose of checking shorter measurements.
Have the child know his height and estimate the height of trees,
buildings, etc. These estimates can be checked by computing the
proportion of the length of the shadow thrown by the tree and using the
proportion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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