Children in our
schools are sometimes made so dyspeptic that no knowledge has any
relish. But the soul should grow strong, and healthy, and elastic,
upon the food it takes. If the teaching is such that the appetite
becomes stronger, the mental digestion better, and if the spirit of
interest and inquiry grows into a steady force, the best results may be
expected.
The cultivation of a _many-sided interest_ is desirable in order to
_avoid_ narrowness, and to open up the various sources of mental
activity, _i.e._, to stimulate mental vigor along many lines. We
believe that most children are capable of taking interest in many kinds
of study. The preference which some children show for certain branches
and the dislike for others may be due to peculiar early surroundings,
and is often the result of good or poor teaching as much as to natural
gifts. As every child has sympathies for companions and people, so
every child may take a real interest in story, biography, and history,
if these subjects are rightly approached. So also the indifference to
plant and animal life shown by many persons is due to lack of culture
and suitable suggestion at the impressionable age.
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