Common Sense In Education

Don't Overdo New Methods
Certain as I am that the modern study of child psychology has been of inestimable advantage to mankind in general, and to children in particular, I still stand adamant in my belief that it can be, and very often is. overdone, and that, moreover, in the hands of those not fully qualified to deal with it, it can be dangerous as a charge of dynamite. These child psychology hooks with which the markets now abound, and these parents who feverishly buy each one as it appears, read it, and clutter up their minds with theories they can't properly assimilate and don't understand, are a menace to the community—and they all mean so well.
The Old System
"What are your ideas about it?" I asked a most intelligent old lady who had brought up a large family, and brought them up so well (without the help of books) that each of them is now bringing up children of his (or her) own, and also doing it extraordinarily well.
My friend thought over my question for a few moments. then chuckled in her delightful way before replying: dows can be flung open and the walls will soon be dry in readiness for the next coat. Two coats are usually sufficient.
It is important to keep a wet cloth handy and clean up as you go. Spots and splashes which can easily he wiped off from skirtings, floor, etc., while the distemper is wet, are much more difficult to deal with dry. After a little practice you will be surprised how cleanly you can work.
Finishing Touches
The woodwork is dealt with last of all. Paint needs more careful handling than distemper and the brushwork should be kept in one direction, either up and down or horizontal. The old paint should be well washed in strong soda water and sandpapered down; then an undercoat of "flatting " applied. When this is dry. wipe it well over to remove the dust specks, rubbing where necessary with a little spent glasspaper before applying the final coat, usually a hard gloss or enamel finish. Remember that you cannot apply one hard gloss over another for good effect. It has to have the flatting coat first. " My ideas, I am afraid, would not be worth anything. They're simple and too easy."
"So much the better," I encouraged her.
" Not so much the better at all," she said. " People nowadays have respect only for the difficult and complicated things, and I do think that straightforward commonsense is the only sane foundation for the general run of parents to build on. I think the first law in every family should be consideration—based on kindness! You can turn the child psychology books inside out, and you will never find a scientific rating for kindness. They talk of social behaviour,' but this very term seems to imply political action rather than the fruits of the spirit."
Then she explained that from the time her first son wore shoes it was the joy and dignity of his sister, one year older than he, to put them on for him. It was that " for him " that lent so much grace to their relationship. There is so little a child can give that is really important—and children know it. Between the various members of my friend's family existed courtesy in its truest form.
The four and five year olds were asked not to tear the baby's A.B.C. book, not only because that would be destructive, or because it was the baby's property, but also because the baby loved it. The bigger ones were asked to help the littler ones to do difficult things for no other reason than that, for the littler ones, they were difficult. And every one of the children were asked to be tidy and clean—not because they would be punished if they weren't, or rewarded if they were, but because they shared their home, and its charm and pleasantness depended very specially upon each one of them.
Thought for Others
Perhaps it is crippling to the initiative of youth to ask it eat rice pudding the day it doesn't feel like it. out of courtesy to mother's effort to plan an appetising meal. But courtesy is never one-sided in a family that observes it. You may eat rice pudding to please mother today, and tomorrow mother will be a fascinated audience of one while you play the piano; and if it happens to be Sunday, father and The other children will listen, too.
'' One of my grandchildren," the old lady remembered, " saved all his allowance to buy a little radio set, then waited two years to get it because his father didn't like wireless. Psychologists might label that an instance of youth's shackles, but to me it is a rather beautiful example of the courtesy and respect of one gentleman for another."
She quoted her own father's advice to her as they drove to her wedding: " Always go three-quarters of the way. Half-way isn't C nough."
In marriage half-way isn't enough, either. That far you go with your mind, but the third quarter has to be traversed by the heart itself. And the heart isn't included in the study of psychology.