And so it is to a
large degree in the general plan of all studies. In spite of this no
principle is more commonly violated in daily recitations than that of
apperception. Its value is self-evident as a principle for the
arrangement of topics in any branch of study, but it is overlooked in
daily lessons. Instead of this new knowledge is acquired by a
thoughtless memory drill.
In this welding process we desire to determine how far an actual
concentration may take place _between school studies_ and _the home and
outside life of children_. The stock of ideas and feelings which a
child from its infancy has gathered from its peculiar history and home
surroundings is the primitive basis of its personality. Its thought,
feeling, and individuality are deeply interwoven with home experience.
No other set of ideas, later acquired, lies so close to its heart or is
so abiding in its memory. The memory of work and play at home; of the
house, yard, trees, and garden; of parents, brothers, and sisters, and
in addition to this the experiences connected with neighbors and
friends, the town and surrounding country, the church and its
influence, the holidays, games, and celebrations, all these things lie
deeper in the minds of children than the facts learned about grammar,
geography, or history in school.
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