HINTS ON EARLY EDUCATION. N the early stages of education, the progress of the pupil will be found to depend, almost entirely, upon the good sense, ingenuity, assiduity, and, especially, the PATIENCE of the teacher. Whatever be the art or science to be taught, it is of the utmost importance, that the young learner be made thoroughly acquainted with the first rudiments, the elementary principles, of that art or science; and, by consequence, with the full and accurate meaning of the terms employed by the teacher in imparting the knowledge of those elementary principles. An experienced instructor of young children will, therefore, see the necessity of requiring from a child various exemplifications of the meaning of words. If, for instance, a mother, in conversation with her child, have occasion to mention horizontal or parallel lines, she will do well to take care to satisfy herself, that the words horizontal and parallel, do really convey to the mind of the child definite and accurate ideas. The methods which may be employed for the elucidation of these terms are so numerous, that it is perhaps superfluous to specify any of them. If a child lie down flat upon the floor, it is in a horizontal position; if it stand upright, its position is perpendicular. If it take two rulers, one in each hand, and hold them in such a manner, that the space between the two is of equal breadth throughout their whole length, the rules are parallel to each other. If it open a pair of scissars, it will perceive, that the blades are not parallel. Such exemplifications are endless; and they will not be thought useless or trifling by those who have had personal experience in the tuition of young children, and who know how much the difficulty both of imparting and acquiring knowledge is increased by the want of clear and accurate comprehension on the part of the young pupil, of the instruction communicated. Miss Edgeworth somewhere mentions an illtaught child who was thought to display invincible stupidity in acquiring the elements of geometry. At length, however, it was discovered, that, in the early steps of his progress, he had been left in doubt as to the exact meaning of the words ANGLE and TRIANGLE; in fact he had supposed the terms to be synonymous: this confusion being cleared away, he advanced in a satisfactory manner. It is to be feared that many children suffer, in a similar way, though more permanently, for the faults of their teachers. The method of teaching here recommended, may appear, to be a slow one; and if the teacher's object be to insure the reading by the pupil of a certain number of the pages of some elementary book within a given time, or to furnish a child with answers to a certain set of questions, doubtless it is so; but if it be the purpose of the instructor, to develop the reasoning faculty, and to strengthen all the other powers of the young understanding, this method will be found, not only the most certain, but, in the end, incomparably the quickest. The difficulties of every science are increased a thousand fold, by the pupil, whether a young child or otherwise, being pushed on to a succeeding step, before the preceding one is clearly comprehended. The confusion thus created, hangs like a mist about the understanding, and the student, even though in the right road, gropes his way in comfortless uncertainty. Besides it must never be forgotten, that to teach any one science, or set of sciences, is not the only object of a judicious instructor. Under a good system of tuition, all the powers of the mind will be simultaneously exercised and strengthened. Thus to exercise and strengthen them, is one great end and object of education; and the teacher who should bend all his energies to the furthering of his pupil's progress in any particular art or science, to the neglect of the general culture of the mind, would act as injudiciously as a person, who, for the purpose of strengthening the bodily constitution of a child, should direct that child to exercise but one limb at a time, till each had separately attained the greatest posssible degree of strength and activity. Is is but of late years, that education has been considered and treated as that which it eminently isan experimental science. Of its being thus considered, the happy consequences are already apparent. Few children are now treated as mere machines; and the infant intellect expands accordingly. Locke, like most eminent men, proved himself greatly in advance of the age in which he lived, when he said, "the business of education, in respect of knowledge, is not, as I think, to perfect a learner in all or any one of the sciences; but to give his mind that disposition, and those habits, that may enable him to attain any part of knowledge he shall stand in need of in the future conduct of his life." Various mechanical contrivances, have, of late years, been employed in infant education, in the teaching of arithmetic and some other branches of knowledge; the utility of such contrivances can be ascertained only by experiment; and such experiments may be best left to judicious and patient teachers, who have, under their care, large numbers of children of variously constituted minds and different capacities. Mr. Wilderspin, the benevolent founder of Infant Schools, well observes, that some children seem to be "all eye;" others, "all ear.” These differences will not escape the notice of a discerning teacher, whose methods of instruction will be modified accordingly. Most of the preceding hints, would, doubtless, be quite superfluous if addressed to experienced teachers of Infant Schools; but this article may, perhaps, fall into the hands of mothers who may not, hitherto, have turned much of their attention to the investigation of the best modes of assisting and directing the opening faculties of their children. Upon such mothers, whatever it may be that they wish to teach, the principle can never be too strenuously urged, that they should, in all cases, give to their pupils thoroughly clear ideas of each step in the instruction communicated. With this view, they should exemplify their instructions in the most familiar manner, and in abundant variety; and they should put such questions to their children as will elicit from them either such answers as will prove their clear comprehension of what has been taught, or such, as if there be any mist still hovering around their minds, will suggest to the mother the means by which that mist may be dispelled. Children may learn and repeat the most accurate catechisms, with, apparently, a fair general understanding of their meaning; and yet. may scarcely possess a single really clear idea. Put a question to them in the words of their book, and they will answer it correctly. -Shape the same question in such a manner, that it cannot be answered by rote, but must bring into play the previous knowledge which they have acquired and digested for themselves, and they will often be found as much at a loss as if the subject were entirely new to them. The various abridgements, catechisms, and other works, which have of late years, come into use, and which are intended to be learned by rote, by children, have, although many of them are excellent in their way, rendered it doubly necessary, that teachers should guard against the danger of merely furnishing the memories of their pupils to the neglect of the cultivation of their reasoning powers. The cultivation of the memory to the neglect, and consequently, at the expense of the other faculties of the mind, is, perhaps, one of the greatest errors in the modern system of education. Much must, undoubtedly, be committed to memory, by children; but this may be done, not only without injury, but with great advantage, to the general powers of the understanding, if, only, the teacher take care to ascertain, that what is taught is thoroughly understood, and made the subject of thought and reasoning. Whatever knowledge a child may acquire by rote, if it be not taught TO THINK and TO REASON, its education is radically defective. These HINTS have been already extended to a sufficient length. In conclusion, however, some mention should be made of certain qualifications altogether essential to the character of those persons who would conduct, with success, the important business of education. Of these qualifications, the first, without doubt, is REAL RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE ; but in addition to this fundamental requisite, there must be invincible patience, undeviating firmness; and constant good temper. Most persons will allow, that patience and firmness may be acquired and practised by all, but with respect to temper, some may be disposed to shelter themselves under the idea, that irritability of temper is constitutional; and cannot, where it exists in any great degree, be entirely subdued. Without entering upon a religious discussion, for which this article may, perhaps, be deemed an improper place, the observation may be permitted, that to be "kindly affectioned," is a duty as forcibly inculcated in the New Testament, as any other whatever ;— that the Sacred Scriptures are the acknowledged rule of life, for all who call themselves Christians; and, that there is no fault of character over which CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE, will not, in time, be victorious. But admitting, that even a mother may not be always able entirely to subdue the irritation of her feelings, she may at least, while engaged with her children, restrain its outward expression. Every such effort will diminish the subsequent difficulty of the task; and the little beings who are dependent upon her kindness, will, in part, repay the debt of gratitude which they owe to her, by being the means of enticing her, in the midst of a world of turmoil and anxiety, to walk in the paths of "pleasantness and peace." FAMILIAR ASTRONOMY. No. I. "The heavens declare the glory of God." LTHOUGH Astronomy forms a prominent part of every system of education, a really accurate acquaintance with the ordinary phenomena of the heavens, and with the causes which produce those phenomena, is comparatively rare and much ignorance upon these subjects still prevails, even among persons of considerable attain ments. This seems, in many instances, to arise from the fact, that astronomy is studied by books, rather than by observation of the heavens. Second-hand information is thus obtained in a compendious form: but it is information which leaves a much less vivid impression upon the mind than that which is produced by even a rude examination of the position and motions of the heavenly bodies themselves. In this respect the very accuracy and extent of the modern science of Astronomy has tended to render it less generally known. In earlier times, the heavens were referred to, by comparatively uneducated men, as their calendar and their clock. The period of the year was marked by the rising and setting of certain well known stars with reference to the position of the sun. The operations of husbandry, no less than those of navigation, were regulated by the recurrence of the annual changes in the heavens. The hour of the night was marked by the position of the stars; the hour of the day by the place of the sun, or by the length of the shadow of a known object. If the soldier, upon his watch, wished to represent, that a remarkable occurrence took place at the very same hour on a previous night as the hour which is now passing, he would describe the time very graphically and quite intelligibly to his comrade, as the instant "When that same star that is westward from the pole Hamlet. |