and then he will fall in his own esteem; or he will observe the rule
and have too little outlet for his activity and initiative. The will
does not thrive on what the child is _prevented_ from doing,
but on what the child _actually does do_.

The child's need is for practice in doing and in choosing what he
will do. When activities or games are suggested to a younger child,
it is best to give him a choice of two or three. When the children
are older they can be consulted about the purchase of their clothes,
and they ought gradually to assume their share--a small one at
first--of the responsibility of the household. As early as possible
they should have their own money to spend, as in no other way can
they learn the use of judgment and decision in the spending of
money. In the households wherein children do not have such
opportunities, but in which the parents rule everything with a high
hand, the children grow up very inefficient in managing their time
and their money; they have become accustomed to being ruled and
flounder helplessly when called upon to decide for themselves.

The will, which is at the heart of moral conduct and which is so
much in need of training, cannot, as we have seen, be trained as a
thing by itself. All training and all education must contribute to
the training of the will. Still, there are some definite points that
we can profitably keep in mind when we are concerned with the
child's will:

First of all comes sound bodily health.

Then there must be sound habits for most of the everyday activities,
that the will may not be dissipated upon trivial matters, and that