CHAPTER II
Why Tell Stories in School?
Every lover of children knows that a
good story, well told, is a source of the
purest joy; but while this of itself is sufficient
reason for story-telling in the home and
in the nursery, it is not sufficient reason for
general story-telling in the school. Happiness
is a powerful ally of successful work, but
it never should be substituted for the work
itself; it may well be made one of the means
of attainment, but never the object to be
attained. Useful service is a far higher ideal
than personal happiness, and it should be the
ideal held before the child who enters school.
As all educational methods have for their ultimate object that of making the child of today the good neighbor, the true friend, the useful citizen of tomorrow, so we have a right to question the recent and growing demand for story-telling in our schools. What is its object? Does this object aid in the ultimate end to be attained?
