"Often what we call naughtiness on the part of the individual child is rebellion against our own mistakes in educating him. The coercive means which we adopt toward children are what destroy their natural tranquility. A healthy child, in his moments of freedom, succeeds in escaping from the toys inflicted upon him by his parents, and in ...
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” A child asked his father once why leaves were green…”
"A child asked his father once why leaves were green. The father thought how intelligent his child was, so he gave a long explanation of chloroplasm and chlorophyll and of the blue rays of the sun, etc. Presently he heard the child mumbling and listened; the child said: 'Oh, why did I ask Papa? I want to know why the leaves are green, not all ...
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“When he is at the school we adults have chosen for him…”
"When he is at the school we adults have chosen for him, he is given a medal and we say, 'What a clever teacher he has.'
"But it is the small child who is really a living miracle! This is what the teacher should see in the child: a pupil who has learnt in such a fashion that the teacher herself could not ...
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“The child who has felt a strong love for his surroundings…”
"The child who has felt a strong love for his surroundings and for all living creatures, who has discovered joy and enthusiasm in work, gives us reason to hope that humanity can develop in a new direction."Our hope for peace in the future lies not in the formal knowledge the adult can pass on to the child, but in the normal development of ...
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“Let us be practical. Fathers and mothers, what can you hope for…”
"from your children? The European war is far less dangerous to their bodies than the spiritual risks which they run. We must imagine a much greater war, a universal one, to which all young men are called, and where the survivors are pointed out as absolutely exceptional. Therefore you are educating your sons for death. What, then, is the use ...
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