An introduction to child-study / by W.B. Drummond.

  • Drummond, W. B. (William Blackley), 1868-1937.
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introduction to child-study / by W.B. Drummond. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    senses. In each case the number of periods and the ages involved are different. Perhaps the boldest attempt to bring the stages of child- life into line with racial development is that of Professor Woods Hutchinson.t This writer recognizes (1) a ‘ root- and-grub’ stage lasting from birth to about five years, in which the mouth is ‘the criterion of all things’; (2) a ‘hunting-and-capture’ stage, lasting from about four till twelve, and characterized by fear of strangers, cruelty, and indifference to pain (the dominant instincts are shown in the games of the period—bo-peep, hide-and-seek, tig, Tom Tiddler’s ground, etc.) ; (3) a pastoral stage, extending from about nine to twelve, characterized by a fondness for keeping pets, digging caves, building huts; (4) an agri- cultural stage, from twelve to sixteen, characterized by the development of foresight and by a love of gardening; and (5) a shop and commercial stage, extending from fourteen onwards, characterized by bulging pockets, ‘swapping,’ demanding pay for services, and a recognition of the value and ‘sense’ of arithmetic. Professor Hutchinson looks forward to the arrangement of the school curriculum in accordance with these stages, which do not seem to differ materially from the culture epochs advocated by the Herbartians. If the sacred multiplication table, he says, could be reserved till the fifth stage, when children see the ‘sense’ of it, ‘it would be keenly enjoyed instead of hated as a “‘grind,”’ and mastered in no time.’ | Although the periods of child-life are not sharply defined, the recognition of the fact that development does proceed through a series of stages marked by different instincts, interests, and powers of comprehension is of the greatest importance to the educator. The teaching of biology is 1 Educ. Times (London), vol. lii., 1899. Quoted by Chamberlain.