Storytelling in the evening round the fire is a habit of the past, and might well supply some of the cravings that have to be satisfied by the “pictures.”  Most of us have to keep ourselves well in hand when we listen to a recitation in much the same way as when a slate pencil used to creak; it would be very much better if the art of storytelling were cultivated at school, encouraged at home, and applied to entertainments.  Indeed the entertainments of a village school, instead of being the unnatural and feverish production of hours of overtime, might well be the ordinary outcome of work both at school and at home—­and thus a motive for leisure is naturally supplied and probably a hobby initiated.

It is profitable sometimes to group the subjects of experience in order to preserve balance.  All getting of experience is active, but some kinds more obviously than others.  Undoubtedly in hearing stories and poetry, in watching a snail or a bee, in listening to music, the activity is mental rather than physical and assimilation of ideas is more direct; in discovering experiences by means of construction, expression, experiment or imitation, assimilation is less direct but often more permanent and secure.  Froebel discriminates between impression and expression, or taking in and giving out, and although he constantly emphasised that the child takes in by giving, it is convenient to recognise this distinction.  Another helpful grouping is the more objective one.  Some subjects refer more particularly to human conduct, the enlargement of experiences of human beings, and the building up of the ideal:  these are literature, music, history and geography; others refer to life other than that of human beings, commonly known as nature study and science; others to the properties of inanimate things, and to questions throughout all life of measurement, size and force—­this is known as mathematics; others of the life behind the material and the spiritual world—­this is known as religion.

CHAPTER XX

GAINING EXPERIENCE THROUGH FREEDOM

     “The atmosphere of freedom is the only atmosphere in which a
     child can gain experiences that will help to develop
     character.”

The principle of Freedom underlies all the activities of the school and does not refer to conduct simply; intellectual and emotional aspects of discipline are too often ignored and we have as a product the commonplace, narrow, imitative person, too timid or too indolent to think a new thought, or to feel strongly enough to stand for a cause.  Self-control is the goal of discipline, but independent thinking, enthusiasm and initiative are all included in the term.

It will be well to discriminate between the occasions, both in the Nursery School and in the transition and junior classes, when a child should be free to learn by experience and when he should be controlled from without.  We shall probably find occasions which partake of the nature of each.