HOW TO INTEREST CHILDREN IN BOCKS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 47, 13 March 1885, Page 19

HOW TO INTEREST CHILDREN IN BOCKS.

Cobbett endeavoured to give the best education to bis children, not one of whom did he in his life, he says, order to look into a book. Not that be did not value book-knowledge, bat he taagbt them in a manner peculiar to himself. What a contrast the home of his children presented to that of some of the children in Dickens's stories ! He is speaking in his advice of the taste for the pleasures of the field and the garden which be implanted in them : "Luckily these things were treated of in books and pictures of endless variety ; so that, on wet days, in long evening?, these came into play. A large, strong table in the middle of the room, their mother sitting at her work, used to be surrounded by them ; the baby, if big enough, being set up in a high cbair. Here were inkstands, pens, pencils, india-rubber and paper all in abundance, and every one scribbled about as much aa he or she pleased. There were prints of animals of all sorts ; books treating of them ; others ti eating of gardening, of husbandry, of hunting, conrsing, shooting, fishing, planting, and in short of everything in regard to which we had something to do. One would be trying to imitate a bit of my writing ; another drawing a picture of some of our dogs or horses ; a third poking over Bewick's quadrupeds, and picking out what he said about them ; but our book-of-never-failing resource was the French ' Maison Rustique,' or ' Farmhouse, 9 which, it is said, is the book that nrst tempted Duquesnois — I think that is the name — the famous physician, in the reign of Louis XIV., to learn to read. What need had we of schools ? What need of teachers 7 What need of scolding and force to induce children to read, write, and love books I What need of card?, dice, or of any games to kill time, which, in fact, implant in the infant heart the love of gaming, one of the most destructive of all human/rices ? We did not want to kill time; we were always busy, wet weather and dry weather, winter or summer. There was no force in any case, no command, no authority ; none of these was ever wanted."

Cobbett had the true idea of successful teaching ; he created an interest in things, and thus caused Ins scholars to learn by themselves. — Exchange.