that at a certain point a new psychical picture, a
species of higher plane in the complex development, is revealed.

The child turns away spontaneously from the material, not with any
signs of fatigue, but rather as if impelled by fresh energies, and his
mind is capable of abstractions. At this stage of development, the
child turns his attention to the external world, and observes it with
an order which is the order formed in his mind during the period of
the preceding development; he begins spontaneously to make a series of
careful and logical comparisons which represent a veritable
spontaneous acquisition of "knowledge." This is the period henceforth
to be known as the period of "discoveries," discoveries which evoke
enthusiasm and joy in the child.

This more elevated level of development is extremely fruitful in its
last ascent It is essential that the child's attention should not be
directed to the objects when the delicate phenomenon of abstraction
begins. For instance, the teacher who invites the child to continue
his operations with the material at such a moment, will retard his
spontaneous development and place an obstacle in his way. If the
enthusiasm which leads the child to rise to greater heights and
experience so many intellectual emotions be extinguished, a path of
progress has been closed. Now the same error may be committed by an
_excessive quantity_ of the educative material; this may dissipate the
attention, render the exercises with the objects mechanical, and cause
the child to pass by his psychological moment of ascent without
perceiving it and seizing it. Moreover, such objects are then futile,
and, by their futility, "the child may lose his soul."

The thing to be exactly determined is: what is _necessary_ and
_sufficient_ as a response to the internal needs of a life in process
of development, that is, of upward progression, of _ascent_? Now in
determining the "quantity" we must be guided by the expression and at
the same time by the active manifestations of the child. Those
children who have long been occupied with these determined objects,
showing every sign of absorbed attention, will, all of a sudden, begin
to rise gradually and insensibly, like an aeroplane when it completes
its short journey upon the ground. Their apparent indifference to the
objects is revealed in its true essence by the intense and radiant
expression of the face, which is animated by the liveliest joy. The
child may