In winter there is left less than two
hours before dark. This is all the time the child is to have for out-door
play; two hours and a half (counting in his recess) out of twenty-four.
Ask any farmer, even the stupidest, how well his colt or his lamb would
grow if it had but two hours a day of absolute freedom and exercise in the
open air, and that in the dark and the chill of a late afternoon! In spite
of the dark and the chill, however, your boy skates or slides on until he
is called in by you, who, if you are an American mother, care a great deal
more than he does for the bad marks which will stand on his week's report
if those three lessons are not learned before bed-time. He is tired and
cold; he does not want to study--who would? It is six o'clock before he is
fairly at it. You work harder than he does, and in half an hour one lesson
is learned; then comes tea. After tea half an hour, or perhaps an hour,
remains before bed-time; in this time, which ought to be spent in light,
cheerful talk or play, the rest of the lessons must be learned.
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