PART III

‘HABIT IS TEN NATURES’

I. EDUCATION BASED UPON NATURAL LAW

A healthy brain--Out-of-door life--Habit, the instrument by which parents work 96

II. CHILDREN HAVE NO SELF-COMPELLING POWER

An educational _cul-de-sac_--Love, law, and religion as educational forces--Why children are incapable of steady effort--Young children should be saved the labour of decision 98

III. WHAT IS ‘NATURE’?

All persons born with the same primary desires--And affections-- Content of the most elemental notion of human nature--Nature _plus_ heredity--_plus_ physical conditions--Human nature the sum of certain attributes--The child must not be left to his human nature--Problem before the educator--Divine grace works on the lines of human effort--The trust of parents must not be supine 100

IV. HABIT MAY SUPPLANT ‘NATURE’

Habit runs on the lines of Nature--But habit may be a lever--A mother forms her children’s habits involuntarily--Habit forces Nature into new channels--Parents and teachers must lay down lines of habit 105

V. THE LAYING DOWN OF LINES OF HABIT

‘Begin it, and the thing will be completed’--Direction of lines of habit--We think as we are accustomed to think--Habit and free-will--Habit rules ninety-nine in a hundred of our thoughts and acts--Habit powerful even where the will decides 107

VI. THE PHYSIOLOGY OF HABIT

Growing tissues form themselves to modes of action--Therefore children should learn dancing, swimming, etc., at an early age--Moral and mental habits make their mark upon physical tissues--Persistent trains of thought--Incessant regeneration of brain tissue--Artificial reflex actions may be acquired--Intellectual and moral education--Character affected by modification of brain tissue--Outside influence 111

VII. THE FORMING OF A HABIT--‘SHUT THE DOOR AFTER YOU’

‘Do ye next thinge’--Habit a delight in itself--Tact, watchfulness, and persistence--Stages in the formation of a habit--The dangerous stage 119

VIII. INFANT ‘HABITS’

Some branches of infant education--A sensitive nose--The baby is ubiquitous--Personal cleanliness as an early habit--Modesty and purity--The habit of obedience and the sense of honour-- Order essential--The child of two should put away his playthings--Neatness akin to order--Regularity--Habits of time and place 124

IX. PHYSICAL EXERCISES

Importance of daily--Drill in good manners--Training of the ear and voice--The habit of music--Let children alone 132

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