The game activates

Games

 

The game activates the whole organism of the child, all his moral forces; it is a natural activity, it brings joy. Fortunately, it is a prelude to sporting activity. It is therefore one of the best opportunities for the educator to observe the child in his spontaneous reactions.

The games develop the spirit of initiative, decision, use and direct the fighting instinct.

A natural activity in the small world of children, play offers them an elementary image of life, and, consequently, if it is well directed, allows them to give them a first social formation, the importance of which cannot be overstated.

The long outdoor sessions make it possible to introduce into the programs the " big games " practiced in particular by scouting, simple, improvised, with flexible and changing rules as well as the " small games ", which both develop sensory activity, memory and attention.    

 

IV. - Rhythm Education.

 

Rhythm introduces into human activity an element of order, beauty and also of personal efficiency and collective harmony that the educator must know how to use.

 

a) Rhythmic Exercises.

Many children in our time are unstable and suffer from a lack of coordination: rhythmic movements will contribute to their education by disciplining and strengthening their attention, training them to control and regulate their action, to link together bodily expressions of their personality.

A movement executed at the correct pace is more economical, more efficient, more harmonious than if it is accomplished with too much haste, too much slowness or at a jerked pace.

We will try to vary the rhythmic exercises to increase the accuracy of their execution and the precision of the gestures; but we will avoid the complication which has often been detrimental to rhythmic gymnastics.

 

b) The Dance.

Rhythmic exercises find in dance an application whose educational value must be recognized, both from an individual point of view and from a social point of view. When the educator knows how to choose the dances and to control their execution, he can contribute to enriching local and regional life with a precious element.

Traditional dances are still alive in our country. We will make dance, on the most diverse occasions, our innumerable peasant dances: bourrees from Auvergne, farandoles from Provence, rounds from Normandy, polka from Lorraine, Basque fandangos, stolen and wrinkled balls from Brittany and many others. For the little ones, we will dance the traditional rounds. These dances, sometimes joined to the pavanes and minuets of the past, will impart a frank and healthy gaiety to our festivals.

 

c) The choral song.

Choral singing should take place among general education activities. Indeed, not only can accompany most of these activities to occupy moments of relaxation and rest, but he has it - even apart from its spiritual action, a certain physiological action. The choral repertoire will first include traditional songs from France ; by singing them, children will penetrate into musical expressions truly representative of our taste and our country.

Choral singing will help give young people a sense of the team; it will teach them to participate, with their aptitudes and their own values, in a collective work. The teams, the groups, the regions, the nation will have their songs, which, on the most diverse occasions, will express the common feelings.

 

V.- Manual work.

 

The essential complement of physical education is manual education. This should be oriented, even in children, towards craft and agricultural activities. Thus, it will not only present a utilitarian advantage, which no one can despise; it will have for general education a value which has been clearly indicated by the Marshal: " It is no less noble and no less profitable, even for the mind, to handle the tool than the pen, and to know thoroughly a profession, than having superficial clarity on all things… The craftsman, tackling the material, makes a work of it; the creation of a handcrafted work requires physical effort, intelligence and heart; it demands from man the spirit of decision and a sense of responsibility. It leads to the birth of the masterpiece by which the craftsman raises himself to the dignity of an artist. But, however high he rises, the craftsman never detaches himself either from the traditions of his profession, nor from those of his land ... The profession of peasantry is a hard profession which always requires endurance, often courage, sometimes heroism ”  [6] .

By replacing physical education in its normal setting, nature, we give a thousand opportunities to create in the child the need and the taste for manual activity. Life outside requires, in fact, that we "manage" and know how to use your hands.

This skill will find useful application in grounds maintenance, as well as in garden cultivation, at school and at home. As it develops, it will be able to orient the child towards artistic creation, which will often be linked to local or regional traditions; it will also lead him to the practice of collective work, which will help strengthen in him the spirit of teamwork and solidarity.

 

VI.- Outings, Excursions, Outdoor Activities and Camp Life Training.

 

Outings and excursions will provide an essential complement to the development and spiritual formation of children.

Physically, they will have the precious advantage of bringing the youth back to the practice of walking. Young French people walk less and less, even in the countryside. However, walking is the fundamental exercise; it is the most natural, the most useful, the easiest to practice.

Spiritually, outings and excursions, by making the country better known and loved, will allow direct contact with local, provincial and national life, with its trades, traditions, folklore and artistic riches. They will establish a close link between intellectual disciplines and general education activities. There is no teacher who cannot find outside a useful or even indispensable complement to the teaching practiced in the classroom.

Living together provides, on the other hand, a party occasion larly favorable to professors, teachers and monitors to test their vocation animators and edu ers; children to discover for themselves with their own tendencies, their initiative, their sense of cama raderie, discipline and command. In the study of each behavior, the master will assert the per personalities and discerning better skills, better able to fulfill its task.

Certain outings will be reserved for visits to workshops, stores and factories. The young people will thus complete the lessons they may have learned from certain school activities (sports or camping groups, manual work workshops, etc.).

The teacher will draw their attention to the importance, often unrecognized in France, of the organization, the principles and the methods to be followed to create a real "team" and to direct its action.

The young French people will thus acquire this direct and personal experience which will give them "the exact and lively notion of things, of men, as well as of the various ways of handling them" which Taine regretted that our Youth was deprived.

 

VII. - First Aid.

 

First aid is the art of giving first aid to a sick or injured person, while waiting for the arrival of the doctor who should be called in as quickly as possible.

It is an excellent way to develop in the direction of altruism child, of solidarity, of his duties to his fellows, and also the courage, the blood - cold, the spirit of observation and reflection, since 'he learns to quickly come to the aid of others in often moving and sometimes tragic circumstances.