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"I
am beginning to suspect all elaborate
and special systems of education.
They seem to me to be built upon
the supposition that every child
is a kind of idiot who must be taught
to think. Whereas, if the child
is left to himself, he will think
more and better, if less showily.
Let him go and come freely, let
him touch real things and combine
his impressions for himself, instead
of sitting indoors at a little round
table, while a sweet-voiced teacher
suggests that he build a stone wall
with his wooden blocks, or make
a rainbow out of strips of coloured
paper, or plant straw trees in bead
flower-pots. Such teaching fills
the mind with artificial associations
that must be got rid of, before
the child can develop independent
ideas out of actual experience."
-- Anne Sullivan
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