rmer, the feeling of
patriotism associated with the lesson problem will give it a value for
the pupils entirely absent from the other topic. The extent to which the
pupil feels such a value in the lesson topic will in most cases also
measure the degree of control he obtains over the new experience.

AWAKENING INTEREST IN PROBLEMS

As will be seen in Chapter XXIX, where our feeling states will be
considered more fully, feeling is essentially a personal attitude of
mind, and there can be little guarantee that a group of pupils will feel
an equal value in the same problem. At times, in fact, even where the
pupil understands fairly well the significance of a presented lesson
problem, he may feel little personal interest in it. One of the most
important questions of method is, therefore, how to awaken in a class
the necessary interest in the lesson problem with which they are being
presented.

1. =Through Physical Activity.=--It is a characteristic of the young
child to enjoy physical activity for the sake of the activity itself.
This is true even of his earliest acts, such as stretching, smiling,
etc. Although these are merely impulsive movements without conscious
purpose, the child soon forms ideas of different acts, and readily
associates these with other ideas. Thus he takes a delight in the mere
functioning of muscles, hands, voice, etc., in expressive movements. As
he develops, however, on account of the close association, during his
early years, between thought and movement, the child is much interested
in any knowledge which may be presented to him in direct association
with motor activity. This fact is especially noticeable in that the
efforts of a child to learn a strange object consist largely in
endeavouring to discover what he can do with it. He throws, rolls,
strikes, strives _to_ open it, and in various other ways makes it a
means of physical expression. Whenever, especially, he can discover the
use of an object, as to cut with knife or scissors, to pound with a
hammer, to dip with a ladle, or to sweep with a broom, this social
significance of the object gives him full satisfaction, and little
attention is paid to other qualities. For these reasons the teacher will
find it advantageous, whenever possible, to associate a lesson problem
directly with some form of physical action. In primary number work, for
example, instead of presenting the child with mere numbers and symbols,
the teacher may provide him w