The child

Front matter

Class...-

Book

Gopyiiglit}!?-

Introduction

NATURALLY enough, children have always been objects of the greatest care and solicitude to society, and have always been observed and studied,

as early educational theories show. Still, „^.,^ „^ ^

, .. Cnua-Stuay.

while some systematic observation has its

been done before, it has been left for our i^^portance. scientific age to attempt to reduce children, along with men, to the terms of a general formula.

The importance of ascertaining the laws that govern the growth of the child's body and mind is apparent to the most superficial observer. Until we know how a child grows; whether he is of the average height and weight or not; whether he has the average control of his body or not; whether he shows signs of nervousness or not, we can know nothing of what the correct treatment for that child is. We may hit accidentally upon it, but we are just as likely to leave the child to suffer from improper food or exercise or work. Similarly, until we know the general characteristics of each stage of mental development, we are unprepared to say what a child should study and how much he can do. We can not settle any of the questions concerning the courses of study, the order of subjects lO THE CHILD

and the mode of presenting a subject, except as we know the child-nature which we expect to develop by our education.

Now there is a great body of facts about children, which has been obtained from the casual contact that we all have with them, and which is in some respects accurate and in others inaccurate. It is the object of systematic Child-Study to supplement and to correct these common ideas by a more careful study of the facts, and so to give a firmer foundation for educational theory and practice.

In this study, two methods are possible, each of which may be pursued in two different ways: (i) We may study some individual child with great CMid°study ^^^'^ ^"^ detail, or (2) we may collect statistics from large numbers of children. In both cases we may get our material simply from observing children, or experiment upon them by fixing certain conditions under which they shall act. • (i) Individual study has the decided advantage of accuracy in details. We become intimately acquainted with some one child, and learn to see the various fine shadings of his mind. We discern the gradually increasing complexity of his mental processes. We can see the close connection between mind and body in many details, and trace to their origin numerous quaint ideas and marked characteristics. In this way we can learn to deal with this one child so that we shall make comparatively few mistakes, even though our theoretical knowledge be not very wide.

On the other hand, such a study fails us in many respects when we come to work with other children. We can not be certain which of this child's traits are

INTRODUCTION I I

peculiar to him or his family and which are common to all children of his age, nor can we be sure just what importance to attach to certain traits. We can not tell whether to ignore them because they will naturally be outgrown, or to repress them.

(2) Statistical study aims to give just this sort of information. It collects data from large numbers of children of all ages, compares them, and finally is able to make a statement about certain characteristics of the great majority of children of each age. Such general statements, when based upon sufficient data, rest upon the same kind of foundation that the laws of any science do, and have the same authority.

It is evident that such statistical study is strong where individual study is weak and, vice versa, is weak where individual study is strong. It lacks the detail and vividness of the individual study, but is more generally true and is likely to be a safer guide when difficulties come up in treating the average child whom we have not had the opportunity to study. The two methods should, therefore, supplement each other. Each parent or teacher should get a perspective for himself by a knowledge of the general facts of child-nature, and then fill in details by a study of the Mary and Johnnie with whom she lives.

This outline of child-nature is what Child-Study hopes to accomplish, but as yet the outline is fragmentary. More observations have been made on the physical nature of the child chiid-study. than on anything else, but even here there is great divergence of opinion as to the meaning of the facts observed and as to their practical bearing. Good work has been done on small groups of children in observing most of the mental processes and some of the fornis of expression. From this we may get hints for an educational theory, but it is valuable so far principally in giving suggestions for further observations.

If, therefore, few conclusions are reached in the study given here, it must be remembered that this is inevitable under present conditions. It is easy to form a theory if we have studied only a few children, but the more data we gather from large numbers of children the more probable it seems that our present educational theories must be considerably enlarged and altered before they will be applicable to most children.

The object of this book is not, therefore, so much to offer conclusions, as to outline what has been done, to show breaks in the outline, and to point out places for future work.

In pursuance of this object, the physical nature of

the child, and its relation to his mental development,

will be considered first. The study of his Plan. , , , . . . , -^ .

mental growth, begmning with sensation

and perception, through memory and imagination to thought, will follow. The treatment here will necessarily be inadequate in some respects. We shall then consider what little we know of the child's feelings and emotions; and finally trace the expression of his thoughts and feelings in his instinctive actions, in his speech and imitation, and in his play, drawing, and music.

The teacher or leader of the class should start each member upon systematic observation of some child or group of children along one of the lines indicated in the observations at the beginning of each chapter. With this in view, it would be well to spend a part of

INTRODUCTION the first lesson in the reading and discussion of the

suggestions, and in an apportionment of the subjects

among the members of the class. Of course

no one person will undertake observations J^i^^^tions to ^ ^ tne student,

upon all the subjects, unless he wishes

to study but one child. In such a case, he would do well to get Miss Shinn's Biography of a Baby, or Preyer's Infa?it Mind, for more detailed accounts. Teachers usually find it better to take some one subject, frame a syllabus, and get material from all the children in their room or school.*

Even if such observation is continued only while the class is continued, it will serve to give point and suggestion to every chapter in the book, and in many cases it will lead to further study and to more sympathetic treatment of children. By far the most valuable part of the study is lost if observation is not undertaken for, after all, a book should but lead us on to a deeper understanding of life. The following directions may assist those about to begin making observations:

/ Any parents or teachers who intend to keep a systematic record of one child, should get a fair-sized note-book, and enter in it the nationality Directions of the child,. the sex, and the exact date for (hour and day) of birth. Where statistics observation, are to be obtained from numbers of children, loose sheets of paper are more usable. Each sheet should have on it the nationality, sex and approximate age

*In cases where either a detailed or a general study is taken up, if a more general use of the results is desired, the author will appreciate any data that are sent to her, and will give full acknowledgement of any use that she may make of them. She can be addressed in care of the publishers.

lA THE CHILD

of the child (within six months) at the time when the data were obtained. No names are necessary.

2 In keeping the record, date each entry exactly and give the age of each child at the time of the event.

J Record the event at the time when it occurred, if possible; if not possible, state how long a time elapsed before the entry was made. An entry made several days after the event has little value.

4 Record the event minutely and exactly

Chapter II

ALL weighing should be done on the nude child, and all measuring without his shoes on.

1. Beginning with birth, keep a record of the changes in weight and height. For the first month, weigh and measure the baby every week;

thence, to the end of the first year, every Observa-

' J •< , tions,

month; thence, every three or six months. There is very little material at present on changes between the first and the sixth year, and any parents who will keep such a record carefully will help to fill one of the gaps in the subject of Child-Study.

2. If you do not undertake any systematic record, at least weigh and measure your children now and see how they compare with the average weight and height as shown in the tables.

3. In some schools, it is possible for a teacher to get statistics as to the height and weight of each child in her room. Where she can not do so, she can usually get the height and weight of children who are peculiar, to see how they compare with the average height and weight as shown in the tables.

4. In cases where children fall below the average, begin a little experimenting, if possible under a physician's advice, with their food and work. Keep a record of the changes you make in the food and the work, and of the effect upon the children.

i6

As our knowledge of the mind increases we see more and more the close inter-relation of mind and

importance ^^^^^ ^"^ ^^ realize that in trying to of the understand the condition of either at any

time, we must take into consideration the subject.

Diagram i. Showing the Relative Proportions of the Body in Child AND Adult. (Langer.)

effect of each upon the other. We have no right to expect the same mental work or the same moral standards from a child who is sick, or cold, or hungry, as from the one who is healthy, well-fed, and well-clad.

fiiftOWTri OF THE BObV

The parent whose child is much below the average in growth, or in the control of his muscles, should be warned thereby to be on the watch for various mental or moral abnormalities. As there is no way of watching a child's mind except as he reveals it through his movements, it becomes of great importance that we should understand at least a little of what his i;novements signify.

It is not uncommonly assumed that a child is simply a little man or woman. How untrue this is as to his

Diagram 2. a. Unfertilized Human Ovum, Magnified 170 Diam. (Nagel.) b.c.d. Segmentation of the Ovum, Magnified 170 Diam. (After von Beneden.)

body, a glance at Diagram i reveals. A child who grew to manhood preserving his childish proportions would be a monstrosity. What is so evidently true of the body as a whole applies ^^^^ ''®"''' equally to details. The internal organs, the bones, blood, fat, marrow and nerves, all differ so materially from the adult's that when similar chemical structures are found in him, they are considered pathological. We can not, therefore, believe that a child can eat the same food, breathe the same air, wear the same clothing and take the same exercise as an adult, and obtain the highest degree of health.

The human body consists at first of but a single cell, of the general shape and size shown in Diagram 2,

When the cell begins to grow, it increases in size and after a time divides into two. Each of these cells does the same, and so on, the entire mass of cells o/theb^?y^^ increasing in number and in size. When the organs of the body begin to form, the mode of growth changes. The cells no longer increase in number, but change their form, size, and relations to other cells. In the nervous system, the entire number of nerve cells is complete by the fifth month of foetal life. From this it has been hastily concluded that the effects of education must be very limited, since all that education can do, at the most, is to develop cells already existing. The incorrectness of such a conclusion is seen when we understand that there are millions of ner\'e cells undeveloped in even the most cultured adult. So far education seems to have developed some hundreds of thousands of cells. With millions still untouched, we need hardly fear any curtailment of educational functions for a longtime.

Considering first the increase in weight from birth to adolescence, observations upon hundreds of thousands of children show that at birth the Weight. • 1 . r 1 • J r

average weight ot a boy is 7.3 pounds; or a girl, 7.1 pounds. The boys' weights vary from 3 pounds to 12 pounds, but 87 per cent of them weigh between 6 and 9 pounds. The weight of the girls comes within the limits of 4 and 11 pounds, with 85 per cent between 6 and 9 pounds. The limits of safety, then, for both boys and girls seem to be 6 and 9 pounds.

By the end of the first year, a child's weight should have trebled. That is, an average boy should weigh 21.9 pounds, and an average girl 21.3 pounds.

Effect of food.

The effect of the child's food upon this first yc\'ir's f^rnwth is still a much disputed question. Camerer, a (jerman physician, observed that it seemed to make little difference whether the food was artificial or natural. He found that fifty-seven children fed upon mother's milk weighed less at the end of the first year than thirty-one others, lighter at birth, who had been nourished on artificial food. Many mothers believe that at any cost they must nurse their children, but this, seems, in many cases, to work a direct harm to the child. If the mother is not well, the milk may not contain all the necessary food-elements in the right proportions and the baby may actually starve. The advice of a good physician should be followed in all cases.

By the sixth year, the average boy weighs 45.2 pounds; the average girl, 43.4 pounds. Thence to the seventeenth year, the following table shows the weights in pounds, with ordinary indoor clothing.

Burk's Table Showing Average Weight of 68,000 American Children in Boston, St, Louis, and Milwaukee

Age

Average in lbs.

Annual Increase

4-3 5-0 5-1 5.8 5.3 6.2

7-9 10.4 12.2 13.6

Per Cent

of Increase

9-5 10. 1

9-3 9-7

12.8 12,7'

Bovs

Average in lbs.

43 47 42 57. 62

69 78 88 98 106 112

Annual Increase

4-3

4.8 4.9

Percent

of Increase

5-2

Examination of this table will show that there is with boys a period of fairly rapid increase from 7>^ to lo^ years, then a slower rate to 13^^ years, and a still more rapid rate of growth from 13^ years on. The growth of girls is more steady, but still there are well-defined periods of acceleration from 7}^ to gy^ years and from I2}'2 to 14^ years. In general, girls weigh less than boys from birth on, except from the twelfth to the fourteenth years, when they weigh more.

The average newborn boy measures 19.68 inches, with the extreme limits at 15 and 24 inches; the newborn girl 19.48 inches, with the limits at 16 and 23 inches. The most rapid growth in height, as in weight, is in the first months of life. In the first month, a child adds something like 2% inches to his length and by the end of the first year, has increased from 7 to 8 inches. At the time of the first dentition Camerer observed a lessening of the rate of growth At the age of six years, the average boy measures 44. 10 inches, the average girl, 43.66 inches. Thence to the seventeenth year, their average heights in inches are shown in the following table.*

Height.

II 58.17 58.75

61.08 60.32

62.96 61.39

65-58 61.72

Boys

44-10 43-66

46.21 45-94

48.16

48.07

52.21

51.78

54.01 53-79

55-78 57.16

66.29 61.99

*These measurements were taken without shoes. As only American children are included in them, the measures are slightly larger than the average. The American-born child is slightly taller and heavier than the English, Irish, German or Scandinavian child. No comparative measurements exist for other nationalities. We should also note here that the periods of most rapid increase, both in height and in weight, are put from one to two years earlier by some writers. Doubtless food, nationality, and climate influence this. This table is taken from Bowditcb.

Here again we note a rhythm of much the same nature as that of the increase in weight. The boys, as a rule, are taller than the girls except between the years of twelve and fourteen. Their periods of growth are more sharply defined, and individuals^ differ from each other within wider limits The differences between individuals also increase with age. It is sometimes said that up to adolescence a child lives the race life; at adolescence, there is a strong development of family traits, and thereafter the child becomes more individual.

The most marked fluctuations in growth occur

between the years of six and nine for both boys and

girls, and again between eleven and thirteen

for girls, and fourteen and sixteen for ^^y^^^is of , . growtli and

boys. The first period is closely connected other

with the getting of the second teeth, and changes, with the fact that at this time the brain is rapidly developing fibers of connection between its various parts. On account of this brain growth, there is usually a marked mental change in each child. He has more interests, he plays more kinds of games, and he has a wider range of friends than before. The second change is the accompaniment of puberty and will be considered later.

It is most interesting to notice that, taking into consideration all the observations made, periods of rapid growth in height precede periods of rapid Relations growth in weight, although this is not between so marked with girls as with boys. This SiJ^and is true not only of the larger periods in weight, of which we have spoken, but of shorter ones as well.

R. Malling-Hansen of Copenhagen, made observations upon seventy boys from seven to fifteen years of Shorter "^^^^ ^*^'* ^ period of two years, to find out

rhytiims what rhythms of growth occur within the marked both in height and in weight. The period of most rapid growth in weight is from August to December; of average growth, from December to the end of April, and of least growth from April to August. Conversely, the greatest increase in height, is from April to August, and the least from August to December.

Within each month he observed rhythmical alternations, a period of growth of perhaps fifteen days alternating with one of comparative rest. He also found a similar rhythm within the week; and noticed that during the day children increase in weight and decrease in height, while during the night the converse is true. Heat and light seem to accelerate increase in weight. Camerer corroborates Malling-Hansen in most of his observations; and Vierordt and Fleischmann also corroborate the weekly rhythms.

None of these observers has dealt with large numbers of children, and therefore we need further data before we can be sure that these rhythms are universal; but the various observers agree as far as they have gone, and there seems to be no good reason a priori why the facts should not be generally true

When we consider the growth of the various organs of the body, and of the skeleton, muscles and nervous system, the ost striking fact is that it is irregular. At any given time, certain parts will be developing rapidly, and others slowly. The details of this growth are much too complex to be given here, and their meaning is not yet understood. It need only be stated

that at adolescence the heart and luno's, as

,, , , . ^ Growth of

well as the reproductive organs, are grow- different

ins^ very rapidly, and that between seven parts of the and nine the brain is developing numerous

fibers of connection, although it is increasing little if

any in size.

Vierordt's Table, Showing the Relative Growth of Various Parts of the Body, Counting Size at Birth as 100.

Length of head

Upper part of head

Length of face

From chin to upper end of breastbone

Breastbone

Abdomen

Leg

Height of foot

Upper arm

Forearm

Birth

End OF

7/8

21 Mos.

Yrs.

191-7

TOO

TOO

TOO

TOO

TOO

TOO

Adult

314 260 472 450 350 350

It goes without saying that a child that is well fed

will be taller and heavier than he would be if he went

hungry, but there is another and erroneous

idea connected with this. We often assume ?=®*5'*i°?j5

size to food.

that, any well-fed child will be taller and heavier than any poorly fed one. This is not so. Size depends, not only upon good nutrition, but also upon nationality, climate and family. There seems to be a certain size for each individual, which his body will strive desperately to reach even undt he most unfavorable conditions, but which it is not. likely to exceed under any circumstances. In this struggle, disease or insufficient food before the age of six has the most permanently bad effects. After that time, any drawbacks will retard growth temporarily, but will be followed by an unusually rapid growth. A child who has had good health up to the sixth year has an excellent start in life.

Bowditch's Tenth Report seems to show conclusively that children of the poorer classes are lighter and shorter than those of the well-to-do, though the differences are small. All observers find that the professional classes are, at any given age, taller and heavier than the laboring classes. This is true in England, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.

The rate of growth, however, does not seem to be markedly different; that is, the poor child grows as rapidly as the rich, but is shorter and lighter to begin with. This seems to indicate that the embryonic and early conditions of nutrition are the most important for absolute weights and heights.

Exactly what importance should be assigned in growth to food, race and climate, is still unsettled. Americans are taller and heavier than other nationalities, but this is not due exclusively to race, for an Irish-American or German-American recruit is taller and heavier than his brother in the old country. Food and climate evidently have considerable influence here.

It is significant that idiots and imbeciles are always shorter and lighter than normal persons; but on the Relation of other hand, we must not forget that men of size to men- talent, if not of genius, are not infrequenttai ability. |^ small. We can not maintain that men below a given height and weight are stupid, any more than we can hold that size has no relation whatever to

GROWTH OF THE BODY 2 C

mental ability. The case should probably be stated thus: Any child who falls much below the size of other members of his family at the same age, is also likely to fall below them in intelligence. A more direct relation between mind and body is given in bodily control, which we shall consider later.

In view of the well marked rhythms of growth, the question at once arises as to their bearing upon education. Should the child, while growing rapid- „ ., , , , , , *^ s F Periods of

ly, have more or less school work? Should growth and we stimulate him or quiet him? The most education, diverse answers have been given to these questions. The chief conflict has raged about the proper treatment of the adolescent boy and girl. We find some physicians declaring that girls from twelve to fourteen years old, should be taken out of school entirely and boys from fourteen to sixteen years old given much less mental work to do. Many educators, on the other hand, claim that this is the time when permanent interests in all subjects must be established. *The child now lives in a new world— one of ideals — and we must introduce him as speedily as may be to the best in literature, history, science, art, music, religion and everything that goes to make up our complex life.

We may perhaps untangle a few of the threads from this knotted skein by comparing the periods of greatest

susceptibility to disease with those of ado- „ , .

1 T^ T- Ti/r TT ... Relation of

lescence. Dr. E. M. Hartwell of Boston age to

has made tables based on the mortality ^^^^^se.

returns of Boston for 1875, 1885 and 1890. He finds

that specific life-intensity, that is, ability to resist

disease, varies as follows:

Age

5- 6

6- 7

7- 8 lO-II II-I2

12-13

13-14 14-15

15-16

Per Cent of Increase IN Weight

Boys

Specific Life- Intensity

171.3 169.3

Boys

Per Cent of Increase IN Height

9.69

8.83

10.68

9.26

10.24

13.78

13.23

10.94

7.83

5.61

Boys

10.24

8.78 9.86

9-79 10.40

According to this table, girls from 11 to 12 years old and boys from 12 to 13 years old are better able to resist disease than at any other time, although the increase in power of resistance is not so marked with boys as with girls. The entire period from 9 to 13 for girls and from 10 to 15 for boys is the time of greatest resistance to disease, while the period after 13 for girls and 15 for boys is one of less power of resistance than the 5^ears immediately preceding. To state it in other terms, the period immediately preceding adolescence is the healthiest time of life; while adolescence itself falls short of this period but exceeds the period before the ninth year.

Other statistics, on the other hand, seem to indicate that the maximum resistance to disease comes somewhat later, when the boy or girl has practically 'finished growing in height and is making great gains in weight. This would seem to argue that the adolescent can endure a reasonable amount of work without harm.

We need, however, more statistics which shall correlate in the same children increase in height, weight and resistance to disease, before we can safely draw conclusions.

Throughout this account we have given only averages; we have been able to say only "between certain ages," or "at about this age;" that is, the Necessityof order of growth is nearly the same for individual all children, but any particular child may ^*^^ybe more or less advanced than another at the same age. One child of nine years may be like another of seven, or like another of eleven. Each parent and each teacher must find out how much the children for whom he is responsible vary from the average, and modify his treatment of them accordingly. We should be at least as careful to fit a child with inoital garments as we are to provide proper clothing for his body. The system of grades in school is well calculated to turn out children all of the same pattern, regardless of their natural variations, and so each parent should be especially careful to see that the individual mental needs of his own children are provided for.

In conclusion: In the newborn child, all the elements of the future man are present in germ, but education decides which factors are to grow and which are to atrophy. In the first years of Conclusion. life growth of all parts of the body is far more rapid than at any other time, and educational, that is, environmental influences, are most potent. There are at least two well-marked periods of growth in height and in weight with both boys and girls, of which the first is connected with the second dentition and the second with the setting in of puberty. In-

2$ THE CHILIS

crease in height precedes increase in weight, and increase in weight is accompanied by increased resistance to disease, and is probably the time when mental work can be done to the best advantage. Size and mental ability have, not a direct, but an indirect relation to each other, varying with the family, climate and food. Any given child must be studied not only in comparison with other children of the same age, but also in comparison especially with others of his own family. We need not only general laws for all children, but also for children of this or that family, just as we have laws for species of flowers in addition to those for the genera.

Allen, Mary E. Physical Development of Women and Children.

Proc. Ass7i. of Phys. Ed., 1890, 9-21. Bailey, J. How to Teach Babies, L. Hughes, $0.60. Beebe. Motor and Sensory Children. C. S. M., Ill, 14. Boyer, H. G. Influence of Exercise on Growth. Am. Phys. Edtic. Rev., Sept. and Dec, 1896.