"MAGIC OF FREEDOM"

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1780, 8 July 1926, Page 2

"MAGIC OF FREEDOM"

RIGHT OF A CeiLD TO BE HAPPY. Under the auspices of the Edinburgh iMontessori Society a lecture was recently given on "The Magic of Freedom." by IMrs Anderson, head mistress of the Mellitus Street L.C.C. School, who emphasised the right of every child to live his own life freely and happily in school. Such a need was fulfilled in a ■school wi'th rightly ordered environment, where legitimate impulses could be satisfied and discipline could become self-controlled. Freedom given to the child to work spontaneously prevented the formation of many complexes in later life, and revealed high qualities of character often unsuspected. The greatest gain was the development of character. The child was good because he was happy, and. there was need for neither reward nor punishment.

The lecturer dwelt at some length on the re'sults of the work of the older children from eight to nine years of age. From the beginning no class lessons are given in reading, writing, and arithmetic. The children work individually along the graded path, each child at his own rate of progress without hasite. The results are a striking testimony to the methods used. Lists of books read by children in one term showed a remarkable range of subjects. Individual work cards, based on such objects as history, geography, nature study, arithmetic and literature are used to arouse intellectual curiosity and call for the research which 'result in the stimulus and joy of discovery. Apart from certain subjects which necessitate the use of a common hall, 'no rigid timetable is aised, the only timetable having the following footnote. "Any child may continue a piece of work already begun."