The Infant System - Samuel Wilderspin
Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28
[Illustration]
THE INFANT SYSTEM,
FOR
DEVELOPING THE INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL POWERS OF ALL CHILDREN,
FROM ONE TO SEVEN YEARS OF AGE
BY SAMUEL WILDERSPIN, INVENTOR OF THE SYSTEM OF INFANT TRAINING.
"Whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me."
_Matt_. xviii. 5.
"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones." _Matt_.
xvii. 10.
EIGHTH EDITION, CAREFULLY REVISED.
1852.
PREFACE
In again presenting this volume to the world, I trust I feel thankful
to God for the favour with which the Infant System has been received,
and for all the aid I have enjoyed in my course of labour. Had the
measures I originated for the development of the infant mind, and the
improvement of the moral character, been sanctioned at first, as many
now think they should have been, their progress would, undoubtedly,
have been far greater; but when I consider what has been accomplished
under the divine benediction, and amid greater difficulties than ever
beset the path of an individual similarly occupied, I know not how to
express the gratitude of which I am conscious. It seems proper and
even necessary to remark, that the system explained in this volume, is
the result of many years of labour. Thousands of children have been
attentively observed, and for the necessities that arose in their
instruction, provision has been made. Others have doubtless reached
some of the conclusions at which I have arrived, but this is only
another instance of the coincidence in judgment and effort, often
discoverable in persons far apart, whose attention has been directed
to similiar subjects; but with the exception of the elliptical plan,
devised by Dr. Gilchrist, I am not aware that I owe an idea or
contrivance to any individual whatever. Upwards of twenty-five
thousand children have been now under my own care, in various parts of
the United Kingdom, whose age has not exceeded six years; myself, my
daughters, and my agents, have organized many score of schools, and
thus I have had opportunities of studying the infant mind and heart,
such as none of my contemporaries have ever possessed.
Still I am aware I have much to learn. I am far less satisfied with
the extent of my knowledge, and far less confident of its perfection
and completeness now than I was in the earlier part of my course.
The whole energies of my mind, however, having been thrown upon the
subject, and the whole of my time for the third of a century having
been zealously devoted to it, I trust the volume will contain
knowledge of a more plain, simple, and practical character than is
elsewhere to be found:--perhaps it may not be presumption to say than
_can_ elsewhere be found. Should I have the pleasure to labour for
years to come, I trust I shall have much more to communicate on the
subject.
Two editions of this work in its former state have been printed in
German; and it has also been reprinted in America. I have, however,
felt it due to the friends of education, to make this volume as
complete as possible, and though still occasionally engaged in
superintending and organizing schools, I have felt it necessary to
revise this eighth edition very carefully throughout, and commence it
with a new and additional chapter.
_Moor Cottage,
Westgate Common,
Wakefield,
Nov. 1552_.
A FEW TESTIMONIALS TO THE INFANT SYSTEM.
It is said that we are aiming at carrying education too far; that we
are drawing it out to an extravagant length, and that, not satisfied
with dispensing education to children also have attained what in
former times was thought a proper age, we are now anxious to educate
mere infants, incapable of receiving benefit from such instruction.
This objection may be answered in two ways. In the first place, it
should be observed, that the objection comes from those very persons
who object to education being given to children when they arrive at a
more advanced period, on the ground that their parents then begin to
find them useful in labour, and consequently cannot spare so much of
their time as might be requisite: surely, that, the education of the
children should commence at that time when their labour can be of
value to their parents. But the other answer, in my opinion, is still
more decisive: it is found even at the early age of seven or eight,
that children are not void of those propensities, which are the
forerunners of vice, and I can give no better illustration of this,
than the fact of a child only eight years old, being convicted of a
capital offence at our tribunals of justice; when, therefore, I find
that at this early period of life, these habits of vice are formed, it
seems to me that we ought to begin still earlier to store their minds
with such tastes, and to instruct them in such a manner as to exclude
the admission of those practises that lead to such early crime and
depravity. A Noble friend has most justly stated, that it is not with
the experiences of yesterday that we come armed to the contest: it is
not a speculation that we are bringing forward to your notice, but an
experiment.'--_The Lord Chancellor_.
"In leaving poor children to the care of their parents, neglect is the
least that happens; it too frequently occurs that they are turned over
to delegates, where they meet with the worst treatment; so that we do
not in fact come so much into contact with the parents themselves as
with those delegates, who are so utterly unfit for the office they
undertake. Infant Schools, however, have completely succeeded, not
only in the negative plan they had in view, of keeping the children
out of vice and mischief, but even to the extent of engrafting
in their minds at an early age those principles of virtue, which
capacitated them for receiving a further stage of instruction at a
more advanced school, and finally, as they approached manhood, to be
ripened into the noblest sentiments of probity and integrity."--_The
Marquis of Lansdowne_.
"I am a zealous friend, upon conviction, to Infant Schools for the
children of the poor. No person who has not himself watched them, can
form an adequate action of what these institutions, when judiciously
conducted, may effect in forming the tempers and habits of young
children; in giving them, not so much actual knowledge, as that which
at their age is more important, the habit and faculty of acquiring it;
and it correcting those moral defects which neglect or injudicious
treatment would soon confirm and render incurable. The early age at
which children are taken out of our National Schools, is an additional
reason for commencing a regular and systematic discipline of their
minds and wills, as soon as they are capable of profiting by it; and
that is at the very earliest opening of the understanding, and at the
first manifestation of a corrupt nature in the shape of a childish
petulance and waywardness."--_The Bishop of London_.
"The claims of this Institution were of such a nature, that they
required no recommendation but a full statement of them. The
foundation of its happy results had been pointed out to exist in the
principles of policy, and of religion paramount to all policy--a
religion that appealed to every feeling of human nature. He would
recommend this charity, as one less attended with perplexity in its
operations or doubt as to its utility, than many, which, though
established with the best possible motives, frequently failed in
effecting the good proposed; but in this the most acute opponent could
not discover any mischief that would arise from its success."--_Sir
James Mackintosh_.
"I have always thought that that man that would be the greatest
benefactor to his country who did most for the suppression of crime;
this I am sorry to say, our legislature have neglected in a great
degree, while they have readily employed themselves in providing for
its punishment. Those acquainted with our prisons must know that those
found to have sunk deepest into vice and crime were persons who had
never received any education, moral or religious. In the Refuge for
the Destitute, an exact account was kept, and it was found that of the
great mass of culprits sent there by the magistrates on account of
their youth, two-thirds were the children of parents who had no
opportunity of educating them. By this institution they would at once
promote virtue and prevent vice."--_Dr. Lushington_.
"The real fact is, that the character of all mankind is formed very
early--much earlier than might be supposed: at the age of two or three
years, dispositions were found in children of a description the most
objectionable. In these schools the principles of mutual kindness and
assistance were carried as far as could well be conceived, and it was
most delightful to regard the conduct of the children towards each
other. Instead of opposition, they displayed mutual good-will,
inculcated to the greatest degree, so as to destroy in the minds of
the children that selfishness which was the bane of our nature. Such
effects appeared almost to realize the golden age, for the children
appeared always happy, and never so happy as when attending the
schools."--_W. Smith, Esq. M.P_.
"I feel, having witnessed the happy effects produced by these schools,
a warm zeal in support of such institutions. We cannot begin too soon
to impress religions principles on the minds of the young; it is an
affecting consideration, that while great statesmen have been busied
in their closets on some fine scheme or speculation, they have
neglected these salutary principles which the Almighty has given to
mankind. It is remarkable how eagerly the young mind receives the
histories of the Bible, and how well they are fitted to work on their
dispositions; and when I consider the miserable state of the poor, I
cannot but feel that the rich are in some degree, the authors of it,
in having neglected to afford them the means of education."--_W.
Wilberforce, Esq_.
"I am much delighted with what I have seen and heard. I confess I
entertained doubts of the practicability of the Infant School System,
but these doubts have this day been removed. If in _one month_ so much
can be done, what might not be expected from further training? I now
doubt no longer, and anticipate from the extension of such schools a
vast improvement in the morals and religion of the humble classes. I
conclude with moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Wilderspin."--_Lord Chief
Justice Clerk_.
"Sir John Sinclair, rose, and in addressing Mr. Wilderspin, said, that
he was astonished with the results of five weeks training in these
perfect infants. He had never seen a greater prodigy. He too had had
his prejudices--his doubts of the possibility of infant education;
but these doubts had now vanished, and for ever. The arrangements
for bodily exercise, connected with mental and moral improvement,
especially delighted him. He was amused as well as instructed by the
well-applied admixture of diverting expedients to keep the children
alive and alert. It was 'seria mixta jocis,' but there was practical
sense in the seemingly most frivolous part of the plan. He trusted
that the time was not far distant when there should be many such
institutions. He called on all present to join him in returning
cordial thanks to Mr. Wilderspin."--_Scotsman_.
"The grand secret of the improvement found to be derived from these
establishments, is their constant tendency to remove evil example and
misery from the little creatures during almost the whole of their
waking hours. Consider how a child belonging to one of these passes
his day. As soon as he is up, the indispensable condition, and the
only one of his admission to the school, that of clean face and hands,
is enforced, and the mother, in order to be relieved of the care of
him during the, day, is obliged to have him washed. He then leaves the
abode of filth and intemperance, and squalid poverty, and ill-temper,
for a clean, airy place, pleasant in summer, warm and dry in winter;
and where he sees not a face that is not lighted up with the smile of
kindness towards him. His whole day is passed in amusing exercises, or
interesting instruction; and he returns at evening-tide fatigued and
ready for his bed, so that the scenes passing at his comfortless home
make a slight impression on his mind or on his spirits."--_Edinburgh
Review_.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
RETROSPECT OF MY CAREER.
_Days and scenes of childhood--Parental care--Power of early
impressions--School experience--Commencements in business--Sunday
school teaching and its results--Experiment on a large
scale--Development of means and invention of implements--Heavy
bereavement--Propagation of the system of education in the
neighbourhood of London, and ultimately in most of the principal
places in England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland--Misapprehension
and perversion of the principles of infant education--Signs of
advancement--Hope for the future_
CHAPTER II.
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY.
_Teachers of theft--Children the dupes of the profligate--An effort at
detection--Afflicting cases of early depravity--Progress of a young
delinquent--Children employed in theft by their parents--Ingenuity of
juvenile thieves--Results of an early tuition in crime--The juvenile
thief incorrigible--Facility of disposing of stolen property--A
hardened child--Parents robbed by their children--A youthful
suicide--A youthful murderer_
CHAPTER III.
CAUSES OF EARLY CRIME.
_Degraded condition of parents--Dreadful effects of
drunkenness--Neglect of children inevitable and wilful--The tutorship
of wicked companions--Tricks of pantomines injurious--Mischiefs
arising from sending children to pawnbrokers--Fairs demoralizing--All
kinds of begging to be repressed_
CHAPTER IV.
REMEDY FOR EXISTING EVILS.
_Means long in operation important--Prisons awfully
corrupting--Deplorable condition of those released from
jail--Education of the infant poor--Its beneficial results--Cases
of inviolable honesty--Appeal of Mr. Serjeant Bosanquet--The
infant school an asylum from accident and a prevention of
various evils--Obstacles in the way of married persons obtaining
employment--Arguments for the plan of infant training--Prevalence of
profane swearing--The example often shewn by parents--Anecdote in
illustration--Parents ill used by their young children--Christian-like
wish of George III.--Education for poor children still objected
to--Folly of such objection illustrated--Lectures on the subject of
infant training_
CHAPTER V.
PRINCIPLES OF INFANT EDUCATION.
_Moral treatment--Importance of exercise--Play-ground
indispensable--The education of nature and human education should
be joined--Mental development--Children should think for
themselves--Intellectual food adapted for children--A spirit
of enquiry should be excited--Gradual development of the young
mind--Neglect of moral treatment--Inefficacy of maxims learned
by rote--Influence of love--The play-ground a field of
observation--Respect of private property inculcated--Force of
conscience on the alert--Anecdote--Advantages of a strict regard for
truth--The simple truths of the Bible fit for children_
CHAPTER VI.
REQUISITES FOR AN INFANT SCHOOL.
_The master and mistress should reside on the premises--Interior
arrangements--A school and its furniture--Lesson-posts and
lessons--The younger children should not be separated from the
older--Play-ground arrangements--Rotary swing--Its management and
advantages_
CHAPTER VII.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS.
_Teachers should practice what they teach--Necessity of patience--Mere
automatons will not do for infant teachers--Disadvantage of using
excessive restraint--A master and mistress more efficient than two
mistresses--Objections to the sole government of females--Too frequent
use of the divine names should be avoided--General observations_
CHAPTER VIII.
HINTS FOR CONDUCTING AN INFANT SCHOOL.
_Classification--Getting the children into order--Language--Lessons
on objects--Rules to be observed by parents--Daily routine of
instruction--Opening prayer and hymn--Object or developing
lessons--Synopsis of a week's instruction--Cleanliness--Never frighten
children--Guard against forgetfulness--Observe punctuality--Be
strictly accurate in your expressions--Guard against the entrance of
disease--Maxims for teachers--Resolutions_
CHAPTER IX.
GALLERY TEACHING.--MORAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.
_Original intention of the gallery--What lessons are adapted for
it--Its misapplication--Selection of teachers--Observations--Gallery
lessons--on a feather--a spider--a piece of bog turf--a piece of
coal--Observations on the preceding lessons--Scripture lessons in
the gallery--The finding of Moses--Christ with the doctors--Moral
training--Its neglect in most schools--Should be commenced in
infancy--Beneficial effects of real moral culture--Ignorance of
teachers--The gallery most useful in moral training--Specimen of a
moral lesson--Illustrations of moral culture--Anecdotes--Simpson on
moral education--Observations--Hints to teachers_
CHAPTER X.
REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.
_Necessity of some punishment--Rewards to monitors--Trial by
jury--Illustrative case--Necessity of firmness--Anecdotes--Playing
the truant--Its evils--Means for prevention--Devices for
punishment--Sympathy encouraged--Evil of expelling children--Case of
Hartley--Difficulty of legislating for rewards and punishments--Badges
of distinction not necessary_
CHAPTER XI.
LANGUAGE.
_Means for conveying instruction--Method of teaching the alphabet
in connection with objects--Spelling--Reading--Developing
lessons--Reading lessons in natural history--The arithmeticon--Brass
letters--Their uses_
CHAPTER XXI.
ARITHMETIC.
_The arithmeticon--How applied--Numeration--Addition--Subtraction
--Multiplication--Division--Fractions--Arithmetical
tables--Arithmetical songs--Observations_
CHAPTER XIII.
FORM, POSITION, AND SIZE.
_Method of instruction--Geometrical song--Anecdotes--Size--Long
measure--Observations_
CHAPTER XIV.
GEOGRAPHY.
_Its attraction for children--Sacred geography--Geographical
song--Lessons on geography_
CHAPTER XV.
PICTURES AND CONVERSATIONS.
_Pictures--Religious instruction--Specimens of picture lessons
on Scripture and natural history--Other means of religious
instruction--Effects of religious instruction--Observations_
CHAPTER XVI.
ON TEACHING BY OBJECTS.
_Object boards--Utility of this method_
CHAPTER XVII.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION.
_Exercise--Various positions--Exercise blended with instruction
Arithmetical and geometrical amusements_
CHAPTER XVIII.
MUSIC.
_Infant ditties--Songs on natural history--Moral lessons in
verse--Influence of music in softening the feelings--Illustrative
anecdote_
CHAPTER XIX.
GRAMMAR.
_Method of instruction--Grammatical rhymes_
CHAPTER XX.
THE ELLIPTICAL PLAN.
_Method Explained--Its success_
CHAPTER XXI.
REMARKS ON SCHOOLS.
_National schools--British and foreign societies--Sunday
schools--Observations_
CHAPTER XXII.
HINTS ON NURSERY EDUCATION.
_Introduction to botany--First lessons in natural history--First
truths of astronomy--Geographical instruction--Conclusion_
THE INFANT SYSTEM.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
RETROSPECT OF MY CAREER.
_Days and scenes of childhood--Parental care--Power of
early impressions--School experience--Commencement in
business--Sunday-school teaching and its results--Experiment on a
large scale--Development of plans and invention of implements--Heavy
bereavement--Propagation of the system of education, in the
neighborhood of London, and ultimately in most of the principal
places in England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland--Misapprehension
and perversion of the principles of infant education--Signs of
advancement--Hope for the future_.
* * * * *
Be it a weakness, it deserves some praise,
We love the play-place of our early days;
The scene is touching."--_Cowper_
"What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under
the sun?"--_Ecclesiastes i. 3_.
* * * * *
How came you to think of the Infant School system of teaching?--is
a question that I have often been asked; and my friends think it
advisable that it should, in part at least, be answered. I proceed
therefore, in compliance with their wishes, to give some little of
the required information in this place, as perhaps it may throw light
upon, or explain more clearly, the fundamental principles laid down
and advocated throughout this volume. In few words, then, I would
reply,--_circumstances_ forced me to it. Born an only child, under
peculiar circumstances, and living in an isolated neighbourhood, I had
no childish companions from infancy; I was, consequently, thrown much
on my own resources, and early became a _thinker_, and in some measure
a contriver too. I beheld a beautiful world around me, full of
everything to admire and to win attention. As soon as I could think at
all, I saw that there must be a Maker, Governor, and Protector of this
world. Such things as had life won my admiration, and thus I became
very fond of animals. Flowers and fruits, stones and minerals, I also
soon learned to observe and to mark their differences. This led to
enquiries as to how they came--where from--who made them? My mother
told me they came from God, that he made them and all things that I
saw; and also that he made herself and me. From that moment I never
doubted His wonderful existence. I could not, nor did I have, at that
age, any correct idea of God; but I soon learned to have elevated
notions of His works, and through them I was led to adore something
invisible--something I was convinced of within, but could not see. My
mother, to my knowledge, never deceived me, or told me an untruth:
therefore, I believed her implicitly; and to this day I never doubted.
So much for the implanting an early _faith_ in the Unseen. But the
beautiful world and the things in it which I saw, and with which I
came in contact, Oh! how wonderful they appeared to me! They were my
companions! Other children were strange to me, and they were not nigh
either to help or to thwart me.
My mother was my oracle during the first six years of childhood,
resolving my difficulties and answering my questions. I was
happy--very happy! and still look back to those days with
indescribable pleasure and satisfaction. I had no tasks. I was not
pestered with _A.B. C_., nor _ab. eb. ib_. From _things_ my parents
chiefly taught me my first lessons, and they have been as durable as
life. For days and weeks did I study such lessons. My parents waited
till I asked for information, and when it was required it was never
denied. The world and the wonders in it formed as it were a heaven to
me. I am told I gave but little trouble at this age. In the beautiful
fields and wild coppices about Hornsey, as yet unencroached upon by
suburban extension; and by the side of the then solitary banks of the
New River, I was always to be found. In cold and wet weather I had
a stock of similar lessons in my home. Small live animals were my
constant companions; they taught me that love begets love. I did love
and delight in them, and when they died I mourned their loss. Every
day brought me new information, which my parents perfected. At length
the alphabet was mastered, and afterwards spelling, reading, and
so forth. My mind _being thus previously filled with ideas_, the
acquirement of words and abstract terms became less irksome, and I
cannot remember that thus far it cost me any trouble, much less pain.
Information of every kind fit for childhood then really gave me
pleasure. No doubt I am greatly indebted to my parents for their
judicious management. My father always in the evening, took great
pains to explain things to me; he nurtured but never crammed; he knew
when to teach and when to let alone. Unfortunately, through very
peculiar circumstances, I was removed from the immediate care and
superintendence of both parents rather early in life; and, at an age
the most dangerous, was left to grapple nearly alone with the wide
world and the beings in it, with little of either parental guidance.
It was then I saw the immense importance and advantage of early
impressions. To me they were of incalculable benefit, and no doubt
led, when I became a man, to the thoughts which ended in the
development and practical working of the Infant System and method of
education.
Schools for infants then existed, but what were they? Simply
dame-schools, with the hornbook for boys and girls, and perhaps a
little sewing for the latter. Their sign was--"Children taught to read
and work here," and their furniture the cap and bells, the rod in
pickle, and a corner for dunces. The finishing stroke was seen in the
parlour of the inn, or the farm-house, in the shape of needlework as a
samplar;--"Lydia Languish, her work, done at ---- school, in the year
of our Lord, 1809." Such were the schools in country places then in
existence, the little ones doing nothing. In after-life, I thought
a remedy was required and might be found, and therefore set about
working it out. How it was done shall be hereafter explained.