some time to
win the child's confidence, but when I did, I had no trouble to correct
many of her habits, and I soon taught her to dress herself and learn to
read. When I asked her what she did all day before I brought her the
beads and the little scissors, and she answered, "Oh, I just sat in my
rocker, and rocked back and forth, shaking my hands." And when I asked
why she did not play and act like other children, she began to cry, and
said, "Nobody never told me nothin' else to do till you came."

When six years old, a blind child should be sent to the nearest state
school for the blind, or to a special class, if there is such a
department in the public schools of the city in which it lives. The
necessity of sending the child to school thus early can not be too
strongly emphasized, and education of blind children should be made
compulsory, just as in the case of ordinary children. This is a measure
which should be considered by all those interested in child welfare. The
unwillingness of parents to send their children away to boarding school
at so early an age is one of the strongest arguments in favor of the
special classes in public schools. But it is not possible to have such
classes in the small cities and towns, and very often the home
conditions are often unsuitable for the proper development of a blind
child, and so, in every state, a residential school is an absolute
necessity.

Such a school should consist of a kindergarten, primary, intermediate
and high school department, and the life of the children should conform
as closely as possible to that of a large family in a well-ordered home.
Those in charge of the children should be impressed with the
responsibility of the task they have undertaken and should do their
utmost to assist in the work of fitting the little ones for the
preliminary skirmish in the battle of life. All children should have
constant supervision during the formative period, but more especially
does the blind child need watchful guidance in his work and at his play.
Little habits must be broken, awkward movements discouraged, self
confidence fostered, and every effort made to develop the child along
sane and normal lines, so that, in later life, he may have the poise and
bearing so often lacking in those who are blind from early childhood.

It is sometimes claimed that it is not essential that a teacher of the
blind be possessed of more than an ordinary education, and this is why
so many