Rudolph Adolph Acher

“ Undoubtedly many of the uses which children make of them to-day are given us by social inheritance as is generally maintained. But the aptitude which children show in their use and the intense interest with which they play with them, and even save them, point to something more than mere imitation. It has been said that the younger the child is the racially older it is. If this be true it can readily be conceived how the early struggles of the race' with the string as a means of evolution, could give to the modern child's mind a psychic stringward tendency. ”

“ Similarly all other activities of children in connection with stones mentioned above are healthful and might well be encouraged.
Snow
Snow has ever been the delight of childhood. The dreariness of the late autumn months is made more endurable because of its prophecy of the cover of whiteness that will soon spread over the landscape and hide the dreariness from view. And then a thrill of delight fills the youthful heart as the first flakes begin to fall, "And driving o'er the fields seem nowhere to alight." ”

“ The striking propensity of children from infancy up to the age of 12 to 14 is so universal that it has impressed itself upon all who have even casually observed children. It has often been termed the age of striking and all through child literature appeal is made to it. The pounding of the small child upon the plate, table, chair or floor is proverbial. A boy with stick for sword and a mullen stock or flock of geese as enemy we have come to associate together. ”

“ It is becoming more and more clear as the child study material accumulates that the child has feelings, motives, instincts and interests that should guide the educator in his work rather than that the educator should undertake to direct and modify the child's development. The child must be allowed to evolve naturally and in harmony with its racial inheritance. But in the school work of to-day the social inheritance of comparatively recent times continues to be imposed upon the child and the deeper impulses of its soul are scarcely touched. ”

“ What would be left of our industries or even of our civilization if all applications of the string were never invented? Not only would all textile industries disappear but also all such machinery in which belts and chains are used. ”

“ These snowballs are admirably adapted to give expression to this tendency. They are more or less harmless and yet form excellent missiles. They are sufficiently effective to enable the one or the other of the contestants to triumph by virtue of superior skill and strength and yet not severe enough to do permanent harm. The vigor with which these contests are carried on and their spontaneous nature leave no doubt that they satisfy a deep-seated craving and interest, and are echoes of an age when skill in throwing meant survival. ”

“ Girls are interested in the use of the scissors and love to cut designs of paper, or cut out paper dolls, or fringes in cloth or paper. Some use a sharp stick for a pencil to write their names in dirt and snow, or draw figures or forms. They also use the knife to whittle and cut their initials on trees, fences, or other places which will receive them.
The analogy between these activities of children and those of primitive man is very close. The point and edge were both tremendous factors in man's early evolution. ”

“ But when children seize upon a certain line of activity with enthusiasm, and delight and persist in it for more or less extended periods of time, there is certainly more at the basis of this phenomenon than mere imitation. For frequently they give expression to unique and original ideas. Again, when these activities are very similar to those which the race very probably experienced in its early history, we are certainly justified in giving some consideration to their phylogenetic origin. ”

“ The one thing which such a study as this reveals is that children have their own point of view, many times radically different from that of the adult. One must first try to understand children and get their point of view if one is to treat them sympathetically and be helpful to them. Pedagogy sins more just at this point than perhaps in any other way. Many a parent may love his child and want to do all that is necessary for its welfare and yet utterly fail because of this inability to see things from the point of view of the child's psychic evolution. ”

“ Tyler says, "The interests of the child are as truly symptoms of the attainment of a certain stage of development and real needs as the craving of the legs for exercise or hunger of the body for food," and if the stages of the soma and psyche are not given an opportunity to have their normal course they are likely to become the source of imperfections in adult life. We must come into phylogenetic rapport with the child if we are to undertake to guide his physical and mental growth successfully. ”

“ Of the total number of children reported 319, or more than 75%, attempted the construction of snow men. Like primitive man, the child is easily satisfied with his product, be it ever so rude and imperfect. The snow men were more or less alike. They usually consisted of three balls of varying dimensions piled one above the other and shaped where they joined. The lowest ball was always much the largest with the smallest on top forming the head. The height of the whole was determined by the age and height of the children. The tendency was to make the figure as high as they could reach. ”

“ Especially on days when snow is falling are children stimulated to a higher pitch of activity and enthusiasm. They become more spontaneous and unrestrained in their play. There is new vigor and life pulsating throughout their bodies and they abandon themselves to the impulses of the moment more than at other times. ”

“ There is perhaps no spontaneous interest on the part of the child that is more marked and definite than this string interest. It has not been adequately recognized and made use of in the child's education. Nothing which the child could do would give it a better idea of man's early difficulties in overcoming his environment than this free use of the string. It could also be made an excellent means of introducing the child to many phases of the great modern industrial world. The extended application of the principle of the string underlies much of the progress of civilization. ”

“ The value of this point of view in its bearing upon education is evident and has been frequently emphasized in recent years. What is needed most of all to-day in the educational world is a proper perspective of child development. Biology has given us a pretty definite outline of the evolution of the body in that it has discovered the different stages of growth through which it passes, from conception to maturity. This needs to be applied to the psyche and clothed with flesh and blood and made a living, breathing reality ”

“ Children say that the mud feels so pleasant, and the cool, wet grass makes their feet feel comfortable. Boys like to go bathing, or swimming as they call it, and run about on the sand in their bare feet. Others like to strip off clothing and run about in the rain. Small children seem to take special delight in running about after their bath.
The desire to go without a hat or bonnet seems to be almost as strong as the desire to go barefoot. Many cases were reported of both boys and girls going bareheaded all summer and until late in the autumn. ”

“ It is very improbable that the child begins life with a clean slate, so to speak, and that imitation and experience account solely for his early activities. Even the idea of Groos that children are somehow preparing for their later life work seems hardly tenable, except in so far as it is incidentally the case. Investigators are coming to recognize a psychic evolution as well as a physical one. From this point of view the mental life of man cannot be adequately understood except by a consideration of its phylogenetic origin. ”

“ Many of the boys and girls say they carry a stick because they feel safer when walking along the street or road. In walking along with a stick it may be used to strike at weeds, animals or even people. It is also dragged along a picket fence so as to make a rhythmic noise. In riding in a vehicle one great pleasure is to use the whip on the horses. Boys and even girls engage in whipping contests, in which two of them with whip in hand beat each other until one or the other gives up. Driving stock also gives great pleasure because the whip can be freely used. ”

“ The ages that elapsed before man was able to modify stones and adapt them to his use, as shown by archaeological excavations, must have been of great length. Of course these must always be a closed book except in so far as their nature is revealed by various tribes of to-day occupying the same stage of civilization. Yet this age, of which there is absolutely no vestige of record remaining, was the real beginning of man's upward movement. Here man began as the only tool using animal and this was what helped him in his contest for supremacy with man and beast. These earliest tools were stones. ”