Studying is evidently a complex and taxing kind of work. Even though
the above discussions reveal the main factors in the study of adults,
what light does it throw upon the work of children? Is their study to
contain these factors also? The first of these two questions,
therefore, is, Can children from six to fourteen years of age really
be expected to study?

It is not the custom in German elementary schools to include
independent study periods in the daily program. More than that, the
German language does not even permit children to be spoken of as
studying. Children are recognized as being able to learn (_lernen_);
but the foreigner, who, in learning German, happens to use the word
_studiren_ (study) in reference to them, is corrected with a smile and
informed that "children can learn but they cannot study." _Studiren_
is a term applicable only to a more mature kind of mental work.

This may be only a peculiarity of language. But such suggestions
should at least lead us to consider this question seriously. If
children really cannot study, what an excuse their teachers have for
innumerable failures in this direction! And what sins they have
committed in demanding study! But, then, when is the proper age for
study reached? Certainly college students sometimes seem to have
failed to attain it. If, however, children can study, to what extent
can they do it, and at how early an age should they begin to try?

_The method of teaching children how to study_

The second of these two questions relates to the method of teaching
children how to study. Granted that there are numerous very important
factors in study, what should be done about them? Particularly,