PREFACE. We shall not imitate the invidious example of some authors, who think it necessary to destroy the edifices of others, in order to clear the way for their own. We have no peculiar system to support, and, consequently, we have no temptation to attack the theories of others; and we have chosen the title of Practical Education, to point out that we rely entirely upon practice and experience. To make any progress in the art of education, it... more...

Who is sufficient for these things? is a question which any one may well ask when sitting down to the preparation of a treatise on popular education. The author of this work would have shrunk from the undertaking, but from deference to the judgment of the honorable body that unanimously invited its preparation. He has also been encouraged not a little by many kind friends, one of whom, distinguished for his labors in the department of public... more...

INTRODUCTION. § 1. The science of Pedagogics cannot be derived from a simple principle with such exactness as Logic and Ethics. It is rather a mixed science which has its presuppositions in many others. In this respect it resembles Medicine, with which it has this also in common, that it must make a distinction between a sound and an unhealthy system of education, and must devise means to prevent or to cure the latter. It may therefore... more...

FORM I A. Selections from The Ontario Readers B. Supplementary Reading and Memorization: Selection may be made from the following: I. To be Read to Pupils: 1. Nursery Rhymes: Sing a Song of Sixpence; I Saw a Ship a-Sailing; Who Killed Cock Robin; Simple Simon; Mary's Lamb, etc.Consult Verse and Prose for Beginners in Reading; Riverside Literature Series, No. 59, 15 cents. 2. Fairy Stories: Briar Rose, Snow-white and Rose-red—Grimm; The... more...

CHAPTER I NATURE AND PURPOSE OF EDUCATION Value of Scientific Knowledge.—In the practice of any intelligent occupation or art, in so far as the practice attains to perfection, there are manifested in the processes certain scientific principles and methods to which the work of the one practising the art conforms. In the successful practice, for example, of the art of composition, there are manifested the principles of rhetoric; in that of... more...

INTRODUCTION HAVE THE SCHOOLS BEEN DISCREDITED BY THE REVELATIONS OF THE WAR? From School and Society, April 5, 1919 Knowing that I was about to publish a book on education in which the Great War, now happily closed, was not taken as the point of departure, a friend said to me one day, in substance, "Aren't you taking undue risks just now in putting out a book on education that isn't based upon a program of reconstruction? Haven't all our... more...

INTRODUCTION The four essays on education which Herbert Spencer published in a single volume in 1861 were all written and separately published between 1854 and 1859. Their tone was aggressive and their proposals revolutionary; although all the doctrines—with one important exception—had already been vigorously preached by earlier writers on education, as Spencer himself was at pains to point out. The doctrine which was comparatively... more...

This collection of scattered thoughts and observations has little order or continuity; it was begun to give pleasure to a good mother who thinks for herself. My first idea was to write a tract a few pages long, but I was carried away by my subject, and before I knew what I was doing my tract had become a kind of book, too large indeed for the matter contained in it, but too small for the subject of which it treats. For a long time I hesitated... more...

DR. MONTESSORI’S OWN HANDBOOK Recent years have seen a remarkable improvement in the conditions of child life. In all civilized countries, but especially in England, statistics show a decrease in infant mortality. Related to this decrease in mortality a corresponding improvement is to be seen in the physical development of children; they are physically finer and more vigorous. It has been the diffusion, the popularization of science,... more...

CORD CONSTRUCTION Introductory Remarks To a child one of the most attractive of possessions is a piece of cord. He has so many uses for it that it becomes part of the prized contents of his pocket. Since this commodity affords so much pleasure to the untrained child, how greatly may the pleasure be enhanced if he is taught how to make the number of beautiful things that may be wrought from cord or twine! Having this knowledge, he will... more...