Age of Beginner
We have not yet fully realized that our present school system, well organized as it is, has certain ill effects on the health of the children. Many of the reasons are peculiar to the circumstance under which the child must attend school and can not be relieved, but there are many that can be corrected and in time will be. Children are often sent to school at too early an age and as a result the growth is retarded and in some cases results in an actual defective physical development. The physical development is often retarded by prolonged fatigue. This fatigue may be the result of improper ventilation, forced attention to subjects that are too difficult, strict discipline, lack of sufficient relaxation and many other factors connected with the ordinary school.
One of the greatest mistakes in our modern system of education is sending the child to school too young. Six years of age is plenty young; seven years old is better. Even at this age some are not sufficiently sturdy to endure the mental and physical strain of the schoolroom and the application to the studies that is usually exacted of them.