FIGURE 5. THE ABDOMINAL MUSCLE EXERCISE ancient a hero and invested him with romantic glamour, are just as irresistible today. The applause of men is intoxicating; but that of the fair sex is ravishing. Woman selects one in whom are found such qualities as bravery and strength; in fact, evolutionists claim that woman has domesticated and educated savage man and taught him all his virtues by exercising her royal prerogative of selecting in her mate just those qualities that please her for transmission to future generations and eliminating others distasteful to her. Just as a young man in playful mood feels the joys of victory and the sorrows of defeat more keenly in the presence of his sweetheart, so in after life will he try to please his wife in the development of those powers that elevate both themselves and society. In play, such as a game of football, the master spirit, who takes the lead by virtue of his courage, wisdom, or presence of mind, will enthuse those playing with him, and all will work together in order to win. Proving to one's associates and rivals in play what one is capable of gives one the right to be a leader. This desire to influence other wills and to direct and control public action, to become a social leader, finds full scope and development in play. The masterful spirit learns how to control; the milder one how to obey. Often (in life, as in play), for the welfare of society, when one feels like striking with all his might, he must make a sacrifice bunt in order that his team-mate may advance. Play benefits society, as can be seen by the great crowds that gather to witness contests and games, oblivious of the exacting cares and responsibilities of home and business, and reveals the power of enthusiasm in congenial surroundings, while each one gains a stimulus from the vast crowd. Play is esprit de corps in that it is cementing the ties of brotherly love between nations in those great international contests which had their origin in ancient Greece. These Olympic Games in the long ago were ever in preparation for war, while to-day they stand for development and kindly competition. Just as we rehearse and give vent to the savage activities of our forebears in games, so can athletic contests between nations take the place of war, which is of savage origin and belongs to a dead past. THE PEDAGOGIC VIEW-POINT The educational value of play has been recognized from the time of Plato to the present day. There are two ways of viewing the relation of play to education. The instruction may take the form of playful activity, or it may be converted into systematic teaching. Instruction may take the form of play, as in the hobbies of adults aside from occupation, which are taken chiefly for the pleasure they afford. These may be instructive and have aims entirely outside of the sphere of play. The teaching of the young child, however, is different, as in the Froebel kindergarten system of instruction, because the occupation or study is playful practice in preparation for the serious work of the higher grades. The reason I have dwelt at length on the subject of play is because every parent and pedagogue should understand the fundamental principles concerning play and exercise, as plays and games differ in individuals, seasons, sex, and age. Play will bring out individuality and develop the physical and moral nature in children as can be done in no other way. INDIVIDUALITY Each child has peculiarities of mind, temperament, disposition, and character which 193 or corner "the game by cheating or lying. Children in early life do not deliberately do wrong. They are getting their moral bearings through play; they make slips and mistakes, follow the line of least resistance, and consequently should be guided and helped to self-guidance. The punishment of the child, therefore, should have but one object, viz., its good. It should be the switching of a train of moral thought from the side-track back to the main line, and the danger-signals should be explained. It is doubtful if slapping or flogging of children by parents while angry is ever productive of good. Nature has laws, and inflicts a penalty for their violation. A hot coal will burn, a live wire will shock, and a keen edge will cut. Nature does not excuse on account of ignorance, but demands that one be punished for breaking' her laws. The punishment is ever in terms of the law, whether it is marked in plain figures or in a cipher code which requires a knowledge of the moral key to interpret it. The child should be taught to realize this; he should know that punishment is just. If he has willfully cut or broken, he must restore in some way. The knife that carved initials on the parlor furniture must be taken away for a while; the child must be deprived of play while he tries to oil or polish the furniture in order to restore it in part to its original condition. This teaches a double lesson: he is deprived of the knife he values and he sacrifices pleasure from his play period. If he hurts, he must do his best to heal, and he must return the article that has been stolen. PLAYFUL EXERCISE The best kind of exercise for the child is that which is garbed in the form of play. This may take the form of companion exercise, in which either parent works in conjunction with the youngster, as illustrated in this article. The first exercise shows good posture, which is the chief essential in commonsense play or exercise. I find it an excellent incentive to have a girl dress up as a Girl Scout, a boy as a soldier or Boy Scout, and stand as in Figure 1. The back is against a straight wall, with head, shoulders, hips, and heels touching it. The pride of the youngster must be appealed to in gaining and maintaining an erect, graceful physique. When the body, either from neglect or fatigue, tends to droop forward, the child must constantly be reminded of the soldier or Scout till the correct posture becomes habitual. In the second illustration, the parent takes the hands of the child; the latter, keeping the body rigid, sinks backward slowly till the position of the third illustration is reached. The child should keep its feet against those of the parent in order not to slide while going backward. From the position in the third figure the child keeps FIGURE 7. LEG LIFT EXERCISE the body stiff while the parent raises it to the position of Figure 2. Exercises 2, 3, 4, are designed for straightening especially the muscles of the back, neck, and arms. The fourth exercise is more difficult than the two preceding. The child must keep very rigid while it is being lifted to the standing position. Exercise 5 is also a very good method of strengthening the abdominal muscles. Lift the child, as in Figure 5, then have it raise the legs and hold the position while 1914 EIGHT MINUTES' COMMON-SENSE PLAY FOR THE GROWING CHILD 195 the mother, doing her almost as much good as the child. The play of the child should be well regulated by both the parent and teacher. Children with organic weaknesses should be restricted from violent and exhausting games. Prolonged competitive events are dangerous. Play or exercise dangerous to life should be excluded or carefully controlled. Over-anxiety, a mania to win or excel, should not be mistaken for courage. The vicious fighting element should be restrained. When a child manifests a tendency to be rude, ill-natured, or to lie and cheat, he should be promptly corrected. Ethical degeneration is far worse than all the bruises, sprains, and broken bones caused by play and games. Parents should be careful not to praise a child for a certain act one day and censure it for the same another time, as no child can run its mental or moral train of thought properly when there is such a confusion of signals. Cir Severe, arbitrary punishment is usually unjust and unwise. It has not proved itself an inspiration to goodness in the army and navy or in prisons. The child should always be allowed to speak in its own defense. cumstantial evidence, which plays so cruel a part in human injustice in many criminal trials, should be carefully sifted in a nursery court martial. By the time all the evidence is in, the judge (parent) has had time to grow calm, and make the punishment awarded later seem a natural act of justice. We see in children the image of ourselves, and quite often their naughtiness is but the reflection of our own individuality. In the teaching and punishment of the child we as parents should realize that we are merely trustees and not proprietors. This physical and mental training of the child should be started early in life, when the body and mind are very plastic. It is easier to extinguish the lighted match than the conflagration it inspires. It is easier to straighten a sapling than the gnarled oak. THE "BIG BUSINESS" MAN F WORKER A SERIES OF PERSONAL PORTRAITS BY DONALD WILHELM II-CYRUS H. McCORMICK, OF THE ROM his glass-topped desk in the Harvester Company building to the open hall doorway, with head high and chest high, and vest appearing about to burst with suppressed vitality, the President of the corporation steps forward, firm of foot, slow of stride, stretches out his hand; a graybound force with figured necktie, discreet scarf-pin, with ample grayish hair, short mustache bristling gray, heavy gray eyebrows, and low nose ridge that indicates a sense of humor. Framed by the doorway, he listens to mention of welfare work, smiles, and his slow, unusually steady eyes suddenly light his whole face. His eyes are the lights of his face. They are set very deep, and little lines of inquiry run side by side across his brow. He an He saunters back to his desk. swers a question: "We have been doing welfare work because it is right, because it is making an investment in human life and blood, and that is a fine thing." One begins to "place" him. He goes on: he enunciates very slowly, distinctly; his voice is full, low, a little hoarse; one is suddenly reminded of the gray minister at home. His skin is flushed, clean. There in Chicago he is reckoned somewhat of an institution-a social institution. Chicago has more such institutions. He is a trustee of Princeton, has a son there who is a trustee, yet he has done much for Chicago education, perhaps because he is a Chicago high school graduate. He is helping to build Lake Forest University, near Chicago, just as his quick little mother in her black satin, with an ear eager for anything social, is surreptitiously helping to build a university in China. He has done much for Chicago music, art, city planning, churches, charities, tubercular children, for the Young Men's Christian Association, and more for the men under him. He doesn't give only, he endeavors to help. He gives more than what he has he gives what he is; and therein lies the difference between philanthropist and social worker. He supplied a luncheon, to illustrate, to get railway men interested in the Young Men's Christian Association; he went to St. Paul to help get James J. Hill interested; he went to the Harvester Company's Kentucky coke ovens to dedicate a Young Men's Christian Association, and stayed to start another one for colored men.. A social worker watched twenty years of such McCormick co-operation and two years ago went over to McCormick social work. An established Chicago physician went over. A United Charities worker- -a man who had won recognition-went over, and a not undistinguished district secretary fled Evanston to go to the Harvester corporation because she "wanted to do constructive social work." There were others. In Iowa there was a constructive social worker if there ever lived one. He was a country school teacher with a mission, a farmer with an aspiration; he dedicated himself to giving humanity cheaper food; he wanted to avert a world-wide blight and find a way to give posterity enough food; he wanted to teach the American farmer how to do his share and make the American Nation the harvest field of the whole world. He is a bearded little man, son of a teacher and grandson of a teacher. He worked his way through country school and taught in country school; he worked his way through college and taught in college; he was made professor at Ames, then at last paused to look about. He saw taxpayers laboriously paying tithe to puff the State education purse and just about four per cent of those taxpayers or their heirs being educated. Instead of demanding that farmers come to college, which they couldn't, he decided to take the college to the farmers. He did just that. With the co-operation of the railway corporations he started a corn train. He |