CHAPTER XI SOME UNCONSIDERED ASPECTS OF INTELLECTUAL TRAINING           We are Law-abiding in Matters Physical and Moral.—We all recognise that we are under the reign of law so far as our bodies go. We know that ‘put your finger in the fire and it will be burnt,’ ‘sit in a draught and you will catch cold,’ ‘live a vigorous and temperate life and health will … Continue reading School Education Volume 3 Chapter 11

THE BOOK FOR THE EVENING LECTURE             To attempt a list of books suitable for the family lecture would be as hopeless as it is unnecessary; but it is possible to discuss the principles on which the selection should be made. In the first place, to get information is not the object of the family reading, but to make the young people acquainted with … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 3. Chapter 1 (14)

READING ALOUD             There is little opportunity to give intellectual culture to the boy taken up with his school and its interests; the more reason, therefore, to make the most of that little; for when the boy leaves school, he is in a measure set; his thoughts will not readily run in the new channels. The business of the parent is to keep open … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 3. Chapter 1 (13)

LETTER-WRITING   Is it true that the charming art of letter-writing has gone out with the introduction of the halfpenny postcard? “There is a great deal to be said on both sides” would, doubtless, be Sir Roger de Coverley’s decision; anyway, if we do not write letters, the useful little postcard is not to blame. But, do we not? Have we not all correspondents whose … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 3. Chapter 1 (12)

HOME CULTURE—BOOKS             Although any attempt at intellectual training must be abandoned by the parents when once their children have gone to school, intellectual culture is a different matter, and this the young people must get at home, or nowhere. By this sort of culture I mean, not so much the getting of knowledge, nor even getting the power to learn, but the cultivation … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 3. Chapter 1 (11)

HOME TRAINING—RELIGIOUS             With regard to the training of the young in the religious life, I am chiefly anxious to call the reader’s attention to the power and beauty of a holy youth. We are content, in this matter, with too low a standard for the children as for ourselves, looking for less than that which many a beautiful child attains in his degree—a … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 3. Chapter 1 (10)

THE AWKWARD AGE             Indeed, this, of the growing boy or girl, is not only an awkward, but a critical stage of life. For the first time, the young people are greatly occupied with the notion of their own rights: their duties are nowhere. Not what they own, but what is due to them, it is, that oppresses their minds. “It’s a shame,” “It’s … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 3. Chapter 1 (9)

HOME TRAINING—MORAL             (a) Honour towards Parents.—This brings us to the consideration of that education in morals which the young people must get at home, or not at all. The chief of their duties, that which should be kept always before the young, is the duty they owe to their parents: from this stem, all their other duties, to kindred, commonwealth, and neighbours, branch … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 3. Chapter 1 (8)

HOME TRAINING—INTELLECTUAL             The intellectual training of the young people must be left, in the main, to the school authorities. It is useless to remark further upon the subjects or the methods of study; the schoolmaster settles all that, and he, as we have seen, is greatly influenced by the lines laid down by certain examining bodies. Even where the teaching of the school … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Part 3. Chapter 1 (7)

CHAPTER X SOME UNCONSIDERED ASPECTS OF PHYSICAL TRAINING PERHAPS never since the days of the Olympian games has more attention been paid to physical culture than it receives in England to-day. But possibly this physical cult suffers from the want of unity and sanctity of purpose which nullifies to a considerable extent most of our educational efforts.           Does our Physical Culture make Heroes?—We want … Continue reading School Education Volume 3 Chapter 10