 Eva Gonzalès (1849-1883), 'Children on the Sand Dunes, Grandcamp', 1877-1878. © National Gallery of Ireland. (see also Books -- Living With) “I think we owe it to children to let them dig their knowledge, of whatever subject, for themselves out of the fit book; and this for two reasons: What a child digs for is his own possession; what is poured into his ear, like the idle song of a pleasant singer, floats out as lightly as it came in, and is rarely assimilated.” * “But boys (and girls) get knowledge only as they dig for it. Labour prepares the way for assimilation, that mental process which converts information into knowledge; and the effort of taking in the sequence of thought of his author is worth to the (girl and) boy a great deal of oral teaching. Do teachers always realise the paralysing and stupefying effect that a flood of talk has upon the mind? The inspired talk of an orator no doubt wakens a response and is listened to with tense attention; but few of us claim to be inspired, and we are sometimes aware of the difficulty of holding the attention of a class. We blame ourselves, whereas the blame lies in the instrument we employ––the more or less diluted oral lesson or lecture, in place of the living and arresting book. We cannot do without the oral lesson––to introduce, to illustrate, to amplify, to sum up. My stipulation is that oral lessons should be few and far between, and that the child who has to walk through life, ––and has to find his intellectual life in books or go without, ––shall not be first taught to go upon crutches.” * “To get at the full significance of a book it is necessary to dig for it.” Examen: “Why should a child dig for his own knowledge?” What have I had to dig for lately? ~~~~~~~ I think we owe: Charlotte M. Mason, School Education, 3:177. But boys (and girls) get: 3:229. To get at: 3:340. Why should a child: 3:265. Day 64 Dig for Knowledge meditation/100 Days copyright Laurie Bestvater 2025
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