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By
Second Revised Edition Enlarged
WITH A FORWARD BY BISHOP JOHN H. VINCENT
Chancellor of Chautauqua Institution
1912, 1913, 1920
In the sad years that have intervened since this book was published,we have all been impressed by the brilliant achievements of sciencein every department of practical life. But whereas the applicationof chemistry and electricity and biology might, perhaps, be safelyleft to the specialists, it seems to me that in a democracy it isessential for every single person to have a practical understandingof the workings of his own mind, and of his neighbor's. Theunderstanding of human nature should not be left entirely in thehands of the specialists—it concerns all of us.
There is no better way for beginning the study of human nature thanby following the unfolding of a spirit as it takes place before usin the growth of a child. I am humbly grateful of the assurancesreceived from many quarters that these chapters have aided manyparents and teachers in such study.
In the present edition I have made a number of slight changes toharmonize the reading with the results of later scientific studies;there is a new list of references and some new material in thechapter on sex education; and there is a new chapter suggesting theconnection between the new psychology and the democratic ideals ofhuman relations.
March, 1920.
In my efforts to learn something about the nature of the child, as amember of child-study groups, and in my own studies, I have found alarge mass of material—accumulated by investigators into thepsychology and the biology of childhood—which could be of greatpractical use to all concerned with the bringing up of children. Inthis little book I have tried to present some of this material in aform that will make it available for those who lack the time, or thespecial training or the opportunity to work it out for themselves.It has been my chief aim to show that a proper understanding of andsympathy with the various stages through which the child normallypasses will do much toward making not only the child happier, butthe task of the parents pleasanter. I am convinced that our failureto understand the workings of the child's mind is responsible form