the drama of life and not the part of a marionette or jumping-jack that
moves only when someone pulls the string. He yearns to be an entity and
not a mere echo. Paternalism, in our school work, does not make for
self-reliance, and, therefore, is to be deplored. There is small hope for
the child without initiative, who is helped over every slightest obstacle,
and who acquires the habit of calling for help whenever he encounters a
difficulty.

Here we have ample scope for the problem element in teaching and we are
recreant to our opportunities and do violence to child-nature if we fail
to utilize this method. We are much given to the analytic in our teaching,
whereas the pupil enjoys the synthetic. He yearns to make things.
Constructing problems in arithmetic, or history, or physics makes a
special appeal to him and we do violence to his natural bent if we fail to
accord him the opportunity. We can send him in quest of dramatic
situations in the poem, or derivatives in his reading lesson, set him
thinking of the construction of farm buildings or machinery, or lead him
to seek the causes that led up to events in history. In brief, we can
appeal to his curiosity and intelligence and so engage the intensest
interest of the whole boy.

A school girl assumed the task of looking after all the repairs in the way
of plumbing in the home and, certainly, was none the worse for the
experience. She is now a dentist and has achieved distinction both at home
and abroad in her chosen profession. She gained the habit of meeting
difficult situations without abatement of dignity or refinement. The
school, at its best, is a favorable situation for self-education and the
wise teacher will see to it that it does not decline from this high plane.
Only so will its products be young men and women who need no leading
strings, who can find their way about through the labyrinth of life and