LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO. Lᵀᴰ PATERNOSTER HOUSE, CHARING CROSS ROAD 1897 _The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved._ _Printed by_ BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. _At the Ballantyne Press_ TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PARENTS’ NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL UNION _THIS VOLUME_ IS INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR AS AN EXPRESSION OF THE AFFECTION AND REVERENCE WITH WHICH THEIR EFFORTS INSPIRE HER AMBLESIDE, _November 1896_. PREFACE The following essays have appeared in the _Parents’ Review_, and were addressed, from time to time, to a body of parents who are making a practical study of the principles of education--the “Parents’ National Educational Union.” The present volume is a sequel to _Home Education_ (Kegan Paul & Co.), a work which was the means of originating this Union of Parents. It is not too much to say that the Parents’ Union exists to advance, with more or less method and with more or less steadfastness, a definite school of educational thought of which the two main principles are--the recognition of the physical basis of habit, _i.e._ of the material side of education; and of the inspiring and formative power of the Idea, _i.e._ of the immaterial, or spiritual, side of education. These two guiding principles, covering as they do the whole field of human nature, should enable us to deal rationally with all the complex problems of education; and the object of the following essays is, not to give an exhaustive application of these principles--the British Museum itself would hardly contain all the volumes needful for such an undertaking--but to give an example or a suggestion, here and there, as to how such and such an habit may be formed, such and such a formative idea be implanted and fostered. The intention of the volume will account to the reader for what may seem a want of connected and exhaustive treatment of the subject, and for the iteration of the same principles in various connections. The author ventures to hope that the following hints and suggestions will not prove the less practically useful to busy parents, because they rest on profound educational principles. CONTENTS BOOK I _THEORY_ CHAPTER I PAGE THE FAMILY 3 CHAPTER II PARENTS AS RULERS 12 CHAPTER III