CMP Review 2023-11-13

November 13, 2023

“But is imagination worth all this trouble? Is it of any use to encourage the child to re-tell his lessons, to tell stories, to use his own gesture, his own intonation; to be fearless in his narrative, natural in his method? Is it of any use to supply him with a commonplace book, in which to write down the verses he learns, the dates and longitudes he knows, the names of the books he admires; is repetition of his work as valuable as our Jesuit schoolmasters would suggest? Is direct encouragement to practise hobbies an educating item in his life at all? And are the results of all this, seen in the stories he weaves, the intelligence he evinces, the many-sided interest in his life as he grows up—are the results worth attaining? Why, ladies and gentlemen, they are everything; and you may give the name of education to anything else, but this is the thing itself.” (PR13, A. Burrell, “How to Preserve the Imaginative Power in Children”)

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