All this elementary geometry has, of
course, been learned "baby fashion," in a purely experimental way, but
nothing will have to be unlearned when the pupil approaches geometry
later in a more thoroughly scientific spirit.
Third, as to the cultivation of language, of the power of expression,
we cannot speak with too much emphasis. The vocabulary of the
kindergarten child of the lower classes is probably greater than
that of his mother or father. You can see how this comes about.
The teachers themselves are obliged to make a study of simple,
appropriate, expressive, and explicit language; the child is led to
express all his thoughts freely in proper words from the moment he
can lisp; he is trained through singing to distinct and careful
enunciation, and the result is a remarkably good power of language.
I make haste to say that this need not necessarily be used for the
purposes of chattering in the school.
The child has not, of course, learned to read and write, but reading
is greatly simplified by his accurate power of observation, and his
practice of comparing forms.
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