Words alone had little
charm for him. No great teacher has been simply a word-monger.
For the present we leave the question of discipline unanswered, though
we are disposed to think that those studies which introduce children to
the two great fields of real knowledge, and which arouse a strong
desire to solve the problems found there, will also furnish the most
valuable discipline.
The _formal studies_ such as reading, spelling, writing, language, and
much of arithmetic, have thus far appropriated the best share of school
time. They are the tools for acquiring and formulating knowledge
rather than knowledge itself. They are so indispensable in life that
people have acquired a sort of superstitious respect for them. They
are generally considered as of primary importance while other things
are taken as secondary. By virtue of this excessive estimation the
formal studies have become so strongly intrenched in the practice of
the schools that they are really a heavy obstacle to educational
progress. They have been so long regarded as the only gateway to
knowledge that anyone who tries to climb in some other way is regarded
as a thief and robber. We forget that Homer's great poems were
composed and preserved for centuries before letters were invented.
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