W. J. Sidis Archives Boris Sidis Archives Sarah Sidis Menu

BOOK OF METHODSSarah Sidis, M.D.

18 page manuscript, early 1950's,presumably unpublished. May have beenin collaboration with an editor. Firstfive pages not yet found, nor any after

page 23.

Source: University of Miami Archives.

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Boris had started himself in thefield of education in the old country,Russia, where he devoted himself toteaching peasants how to read andwrite. For this crime against thesociety of his time--trying to educatethose who wanted to learn--he wassentenced to an indefinite term inprison. He was offered the opportunityfor freedom at one time but refusedwhen he learned that there was acondition which forbade him fromhaving anything more to do withlearning of any kind--the only life heknew. For being this unreasonable, hewas placed in solitary confinement ina man-sized cell, one so small that hecould only get in a reclining positionby pulling up his knees. He spent twomonths of this torture in his Russianprison. He was unconscious for anextended period, and was not expected

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to survive for a long time. Hisfather, a man of moderate wealth, wasfinally able to secure his release byassuring authorities that his sonwould leave the country. Boris didleave and made himself a success inAmerica.

At a dinner party a few years afterhis becoming prominent at Harvard,Boris was introduced to the directorof education in Russia who wasvisiting the United States. He pleadedwith Boris to return saying that hewould have a free hand in establishinga solid educational system. My husbandindignantly reminded the Russianrepresentative of his days in prisonsaid that Czarist promises meantnothing. He was unwilling, he said, toever return to Russia as long as atotalitarian government existed.

By this time, he had received hisUniversity degree from Harvard and waslater awarded his Ph.D. in psychologyand his M.D. from the Harvard Medicalschool.

My husband’s knowledge of psychologywas invaluable in the education ofBilly. He was never left alone withoutthe company of one of us. His earlyinvestigations into the ability tolearn were made a game rather than achore. He was made to feel like anadult from the very beginning. At onetime, for example, I thought it about

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time to teach William how to eat atthe table. Nothing was said to himabout it because he was only a fewmonths old. Billy was merely broughtto the table whenever the family ate.Food and a spoon were placed in frontof him. He watched the rest of thefamily eat and although we includedhim in any of our conversations, wedidn't try to teach him to eat in anyway. After a few weeks, we noticed himgetting impatient at every meal.Finally he picked up his spoon andbegan playing with it. Later, heattempted to place it in his mouth,but because he was stilluncoordinated, he managed to hit everypart of his face with his food excepthis mouth. One day, he at last managedto find it. He squealed with delight.He had learned how to eat. No one hadtaught him; he had reasoned it out.

The word, "reasoning," is the cruxof our system. In true education it isnot the amount of knowledge thatcounts but originality andindependence of thought that are ofimportance. But our schools today arebased on a system of regulations andoffice-like discipline. Individualityis frequently discourages therebysuppressing originality. The result isthe "average American," the cleverbusinessman, the good artisan, theresourceful politician, but fewscientists, artists, philosophers, or

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statesmen.

My husband was no beginner in thefield of education He was known as oneof the more prominent psychologists ofhis period. While at Harvard, he was astudent of William James, Josiah Royceand Herbert Palmer. He wrote a bookwhile he was a student, "ThePsychology of Suggestion," with anintroduction by Professor James. Hewas author of a score of other booksand pamphlets on similar subjects (bespecific here), and was a founder andfor a time editor of the Journal ofAbnormal Psychology. He later becamean associate in psychopathology at thePathological Institute of the New YorkState Hospitals. An unusual aspect ofthis position was that he did not havehis doctor's degree at the time eventhough his job called for him to actas supervisor over a number of M.D.s.

While teaching at Harvard, alongwith fellow-Professor James, Borisleveled a blast at organized educationwhich even reached his own Universityand the President of the renownedinstitution. His villification ofaccepted methods of teaching,"Phillistines and Genius," wascommented upon editorially by almostevery important paper in Europe andthe United States--from The New YorkTimes and Baltimore Sun to the Spokane(Washington) _________.

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Although my husband was essentiallya psychologist and psychopathologist,he considered psychology to be veryclosely allied with education. Hisattack on education resulted mainlyfrom the amazing accomplishments weachieved with Billy. Then, too, Ireceived most of my early educationfrom Boris during the time that hetutored me for my college entranceexaminations.

[The ability to learn languagesstemmed from a basic understanding ofwhat every language is based upon.Looking through the Boston Library oneday, my husband found a bookexplaining the word forms of the earlyAryan language. Most modern tonguesare based on this archaic form, and itwas easy for Billy or my husband toenlarge their vocabularies merely byreferring to the basic form. Duringthe week that it would take either ofthem to learn a language, they woulddevote themselves entirely to thatsubject alone. Learning was not amatter of repetition to them, and itneed not be for anyone. Too often wehave regarded the child's mind as avacant lot, a place where we couldunload certain facts which wouldaccumulate there. We labor under thedelusion that stories and fairy tales,myths and deceptions about life andman are good for the child's mind. Onsuch a foundation, it is difficult to

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erect a proud monument. We forget thesimple fact that what is harmful forthe adult is still more harmful to thechild. Surely what is poisonous to thegrown-up mind cannot be useful food tothe young. If credulity in old wivestales, lack of individuality, sheepishsubmissiveness, unquestioned belief inauthority, meaningless imitation ofjingles, memorization of mother-goosewisdom, repetition of incomprehensibleprayers, uncritical aping of goodmanners, silly games, prejudices andsuperstitions and fears of thesupernatural are censored in adults,why should we approve theircultivation in the young?]*

In public schools, education isnothing but a series of repetitions sothat a number of facts can be dredgedinto a child's unwilling brain.According to our system, it is amatter of recreation. Learning can befun, and it is when treated like agame.

A typical example arises when youteach a child to spell. In school, thetypical process begins with rat, r-a-t, rat. Then comes cat, c-a-t, cat,and so on ad infinitum. The teacher isusually underpaid; she is tired ofendless repetitions; and she probablycan't help instilling some basic fearsand feelings of insecurity on a childwho is floundering--not because hecan't do anything else, but because he

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isn't taught to think for himself.Billie, on the other hand, learned tospell before he ever went to school.He did not memorize all of the wordsin the English language even though hewas a proficient speller.

He didn't even memorize any of thewords in any language. What he did wasto learn the method of spelling sothat he could apply his techniques toany new word that might come up. Howdid he do this at so early an age? Itwas simple. He made a game of it byusing blocks. He learned that threeletters placed in a certain wayspelled cat. Then he learned that ifthe "t" were doubled and an "le" addedhe would have a new word with adifferent meaning. This approach wasso effective that he never forgot todouble a final consonant when adding asuffix beginning with a vowel. That’sa simple rule AFTER it has beenmemorized. But Billie learned itwithout memorizing.

The block technique was only oneaspect of a large pattern. Learning toBillie was always a game, no matterwhat subject he was working on.Education became a part of everyaction he engaged in although it wasmade such fun that he never realizedit. Bedtimes were perfect for puttingthis scheme into effect.

All young children like to be7

fondled and read to just before theygo to sleep. Billie was started offwith some of the most perfect fairytales in existence--Greek mythology.The myths were presented to him insuch a way that it was all fun. Butunderneath, he was getting a classiceducation, almost from the time hecould first learn. to talk andcomprehend bedtime stories.

From mythology, it was easy toexplain the system of the universe tothe boy. Planets could be explained interms of' their names, which weretaken from the Greek gods he hadalready learned about. From there, itwas a simple matter to go tomathematics. Impossible for a child ofthree or four? The theorists might sayyes, but the facts say no.

There are many ways to look at thisearly development of the child'smental capacities. How can it help thechild? What will be the effect on you?And will the state benefit or lose outif children become educated earlier inlife?

Let's take the child first becausethe purpose of the whole system is tohelp him. If the principles of thesystem are used, he gets the positiveresults o certain techniques.

With emphasis on minimizing theamount of time necessary for him to

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learn, the youngster will get thebenefit of more time to devote toplaying. This will give him a betteropportunity to strive for a healthybody as well as a superior brain. Histhinking ability will not be dulled byendless repetitions, and everything helearns will be enjoyable as a game anda delight because it is the result ofhis learning, not your teaching. Hewill learn to reason things out, andby so doing will be able to apply afew principles to a great many things.

You as a parent will also behappier. With a happy child, you willhave less on your mind to frustrateyou and give you feelings ofinsecurity. Your child will becomeindependent of mind more rapidly, andyou can give him more responsibilityat an earlier age. By being fullycapable when he is younger, he will beable to become financially secure inhis own right sooner than heordinarily would have. He can start towork earlier, and he can advance morerapidly.

All of this will, of course, have apositive effect on the whole socialand economic picture of the country.More people will be better educated atan earlier age. By avoiding long hourssay of schoolwork and finishing schoolin two years rather than eight, theentire budget for education can be cutto a fraction of what it is now.

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Teachers now laboring six and sevenhours a day to drum cold facts intounwilling heads can relax on a four-hour schedule and help more studentsdevelop a happy harmony between astrong body and an able mind. Morestudents will have additional helpfrom the same number of teachers.Because the training period will notbe as long, instructors can be betterpaid without increasing theirschedules. There will be no need todecrease the number of teachers, butthey can be better paid and have thebenefit of their endeavors spread fora greater amount of good.

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CHAPTER 2

The early development of yourchild's mental capacities is governedby your actions. Too often, ayoungster's thinking power is stymiedby an impatient parent, a busy parent,or one who is thoughtless.

Let the experience of experts guideyou in your attitudes. Psychologistsknow that the infant’s brain is anorgan the same as his heart orstomach. It must be treated in accordwith what it is. A child with aninferior heart, for example, islimited in his actions. He can't playfootball, climb ladders, or play hop

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scotch. A youngster with a brain thatis defective for one reason or anothermust also be developed differently.His thought processes are slower, andthe ability to learn is hampered.

A child with a healthy body on theother hand requires a different typeof development. Without exercise, hismuscles and tissues will deteriorate.He must continually fulfill the needsof his energetic body to keep it inits good condition.

The brain is no different. As anorgan of the body it must get itsregular exercise to keep it in goodworking order. There can be lapses forshort periods, but any extendedinterruption in its function willdecrease its efficiency.

There is a common fallacy that thebrain in a young child should not beexercised because it is a delicateorgan that will become distorted. Butits reasoning power in later life isderived from the effectiveness of itsearlier use. Consequently, the brainis weakened by lying dormant too longthe same as the human body is weakenedby lying in bed too long. A perfectexample is the increasing weakness ofthe convalescent, who must learn towalk anew following an extended periodof muscular disuse.

The too, because the brain is the

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superior organ, it helps develop theother organs and increases theopportunity to unleash tremendousphysical and mental energies. It is upto you whether the brain will becomethe filter of the body, dictatingevery action, or whether it wall makethe best use of its vast potential.

With the brain instigating reason inall directions, such activities assport can be performed at a higherlevel and with more dexterity.Reasoning helps motor coordination andmakes muscular activity moreefficient.

Adults in contact with children mustrecognize the functions of the brainBC the youngster may develop the idea;it must not be instilled in him.

Older people believe that fame andfortune go hand in hand with happinessin our culture. This is unfortunatewhen it remains the only ideal formany people who cannot achieve thegoal because of the flighty hand ofDame Fortune.

Surely there are other goals ofhuman service--godliness, creativework, and efficient behavior. A goalis something that each personestablishes for himself. Theunattainable must be modified orchanged to prevent a personalitydistortion through frustration.

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During the child’s years when he isbetween one and six, the brain absorbsmore than at any other period in life.If grammar schools accepted childrenof these ages, it would take fouryears or less for these children toacquire a complete elementaryeducation usually requiring eightyears. This is neither sensational norabsurd. My son, for example, finishedthe entire eight year course in fivemonths, working a maximum of two hoursa day during that period.

Four hours a day will cover all theaspects of a normal day at theschoolhouse. That reference to "allthe aspects" should be taken in abroad sense. Remember that physicalactivity is as important as mentalactivity in achieving a suitablebalance of the healthy mind and body.Two hours, then, should be spent onsports and playing. The remaining twohours can be devoted to a formalpursuit of method and education.

Most people would now assume thatthe task of learning is actually afunction of the home and that homeworkshould therefore be increased. But theopposite is actually true. With thismethod, no home assignments should begiven.

"Go home," the pupil should be told,"and think about what you have learnedtoday."

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Next morning, a half hour of thestudy time can be used in answeringquestions the child on have thoughtabout it in reference to what theylearned the day before. The pupilswill thereby accumulate a knowledge offact with the ability to reason.

With the child’s new found abilityto think for himself, his talents maysometimes lead themselves intoincorrect conclusions. These will, ofcourse, result in actions that areunsatisfactory to the adult. When theaverage parent or teacher sees anyundesirable behavior of this sort in achild, his usual attitude is to stopthe action abruptly. This frequentlytakes the form of a raised voice, aslap, a sound shaking, or a spanking.

This punishment is no more than ashort cut for the adults. It is thelazy way of solving a problem, and itis detrimental to the health andmental development of the child. Shockhas been substituted for reason by theadult.

A more satisfactory result can beattained by explaining to theyoungster why his behavior isundesirable, dangerous to himself orothers, damaging, disturbing, etc.Rather than condemn, substitute analternative or merely distract.

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The result of any sort of punishmentis fear, which cripples the mind andbody of child and adult alike.Thinking is inhibited and originalityis killed. Physical progress is alsolimited. A perfect example is theincrease of psychoneurotic casesduring wars.

Knowledge and understanding arefear’s worst enemies. Awareness by thechild himself of his role in life andwhat is worthwhile will aid him indeveloping his powers of reasonwithout being unduly limited.

Most children develop physicallywithout a commensurate mentaldevelopment because parents are unableor unwilling to devote the time tohelp teach. A burned child will stayaway from fire. But why must he behurt before he can acquire thisknowledge? There is no reason ofcourse.

A little effort in the side of theparents will give the child anunderstanding and awareness of suchpains before they occur. In explainingsomething like this, however, rememberthat a bit of information such as thatof heat burning the human skin cannotbe absorbed with any meaning becauseit is an isolated fact. What have youtold the child about his skin? how itbreathes? and how it is fed by what he

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eats? Does he know what a service soapand water perform for his skin, or hashe learned to dislike it because thehabit has interfered with a game he isplaying or a new discovery? If youboth have an understanding of theworkings of the body, you will savemuch time and effort. A child whounderstands that his skin must beclean so it can breathe and stayhealthy to avoid rashes he knows areuncomfortable will find new pleasurein a bath. He will have discoveredsomething new as the result of hisreasoning powers.

A good approach to an understandingof the body easily is through theskin--particularly if you arefrightened about the explanation. Itis not a burden, although it can bemade into one. Make a game of itinstead. A child can learn about hisskin easily--by touching, looking andfeeling it.

Sensations originating at thesurface of the body can be explainedalmost as a fairy tale to the child.The words must be simple, and theteaching must be enjoyable.Understanding brings precautions.Certain of these precautions will keepthe doctor away.

Knowledge of the human body at anyearly age is important becauseunderstanding aids the fullest

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utilization of powers and prowess. Tome, one of the mysteries of the agesis that educators do not teachchildren a sufficient amount abouttheir own bodies.

For children to have a completeapproach to life, they should have abasic understanding of the mechanismthey inhabit. Reasoning can becomplete when a child begins to learnwhat his body is constructed of, whyand how it happens to be formed inthis matter, and how he can best learnto develop this body which must servehim for his whole life.

Health habits of any kind should, ofcourse, be explained. Many adults ofencouraged unhealthy practices ofeating, sleeping, and other habitualforms of existence. Many of these arenot the result of ignorance as much asthe reluctance to give up previouslyestablished habits that have become apart of the personality.

The habits can be changed; but howmuch better it would have been hadthey never been developed at all!Likes and dislikes are learned. Whynot guide the youngster to learn whatis beneficial while rejecting whateveris destructive.

Early understanding will lead toreasoning which will serve as thechild’s guide. Soon, your duty in

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guiding will be replaced by thechild’s ability to reason for himself.In expending a little more energy atthe beginning, you will be able tomore than compensate at the end. Thetask of developing the child into amature human being will be morequickly turned over to the childhimself.

The method is not restricted tohealth habits alone. The whole patternof education is based on theproposition that the child musteducate himself by reasoning, usinggems of knowledge that are offered bythe adult.

Of primary importance with thissystem is that the parent must go tothe child. For the adult to sit on thefloor is very important because ofwhat it represents. A new child ismore easily reached when he isapproached on his own level--figuratively and literally. We cannotand must not assume that all youngchildren will be amenable to ourtraining immediately. Behaviorproblems brought on through previousyears of insecurity andinconsistencies result in theaggressive, destructive, poorly-controlled behavior often encounteredin confused children.

Some children will require time toget reoriented to a new environment of

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ease in place of strain; love andkindness in place of reprimands andimpatience; consistency forinconsistency; and guidance in placeof didactic statement of improperlyexplained facts.

Here is an example of showing a newpath to a child. This incidentactually happened, and it demonstrateshow you can give a youngster a glimpseinto a new exciting land of knowledgeand truth.

Even though I had met this littlegirl, age 4, the other evening, Ipretended to forget her name.

"Hello. What’s your name?"

"Oh, you forgot," she replied. "Itold you last night."

I frowned unhappily. "I’m adumbbell, I guess. What do you thinkof that? Do YOU know what a dumbbellis?"

"Yes," she laughed, delighted athaving an adult admit to such a thing.

"Ethel, what you been doing," Icontinued.

"Oh, you didn’t forget at all," shesaid.

"No? Maybe I was playing a joke. Doyou like jokes?" I asked.

"Oh, yes," she exclaimed. Ethel was19

now an equal because of the simplicityof my approach. I tried to make myeyes smile so the little girl wouldfeel welcomed by a patience that putschildren at ease with adults.

The conversation took a turn as itso often does with children.

"I’m very hot," she said.

"But you don’t mind, do you? Wouldyou like me to tell you a little storyabout being hot?"

"Yes," she went on. "Tell me astory. The sun makes me hot. Wheneverit shines, it makes me hot." The topicchanged abruptly. "You know I didn’tmean it when I called you a dumbbell,"she said. "I am really the dumbbellbecause you didn’t forget my name atall." Back we go to the previoustopic. "You know, when the clouds arecovering the sun I’m not hot."

"What are clouds made of; do youknow?" I asked.

"Oh yes, I know."

A man was standing nearby. "This manand I would like to know what theclouds are made of."

The little girl thought a minute."Well, I guess it must be somethingthick and heavy. I know it must bethick and heavy because it keeps outthe heat. Oh, I don’t know. You tell

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me what it is."

"How can I tell you when I’m adumbbell?" I asked seriously.

"Oh," she apologized. "I didn’t meanthat. Tell me what a cloud is madeof.["]

"Would you like to know about thesun, how it hides and all?"

"Oh yes," she replied.

"I’ll tell you a little story aboutthe sun." I decided to go into theplanetary system based on Greekmythology. "The sun is the father andthe earth is one of his nine children.He lives thousands and thousands ofmiles away from his children. How faraway do you think we are from the sun?"

"Oh, a long way," she said.

"That’s right. And the father wantsto keep in touch with his children andfind out how they are and what theyare doing. So he sends out thousandsof messengers."

"What are messengers?" The questionsbegin.

"Have you ever seen a boy bringgroceries to your house or a telegram?That is what a messenger is. Theselittle messengers make you hot becausethey get so hot from running back and

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forth from the earth to their father,the sun. When you feel hot, it’sbecause these messengers are kissingyour skin. They are healthy, aren’tthey? But only when you don’t have toomany visiting you at one time and giveyou a sunburn. Now, would you like toknow what clouds are really made of?"

"Yes."

"Well, I’ll tell you," I replied."They’re made of water."

"Water? Why doesn’t it fall down?"

"It does when it rains, doesn’t it?"

"Well," she persisted, "how does itget up there?"

"Remember the messenger I tol[d] youabout who got so hot from travelingback and forth?"

"Yes."

"They draw the water from therivers, lakes, and oceans."

"I don’t see it," she said.

"No, do you know why you don’t seeit? Because the water is turned intolittle bits of wet that we callparticles."

This last was too much for her.That’s one reason I used a big word.

"What is a particle?" she asked.This question was actually instigated

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by the use of indirect suggestion.

"Have you ever seen steam?"

"Oh, yes," she replied. "My mothercooks tea and there is steam."

"Well, that is what happens to thewater that gets kissed a lot by themessengers. It turns into littleparticles that have been heated bythose hot messengers and then itstarts going up because hot thingsalways rise. And the farther up itgoes, the cooler it gets, and as itgets cooler it begins to stick closerto other particles, and together theymake big drops of water. And what doyou think happens when the drops getheavy enough? The drops fall, and wehave rain. What do you think of that?"

"Oh, I never knew that before."

"Did you like that little story?" Iasked.

"Yes, I did. I like stories likethat."

The little girl's mother came bythen, and the two of them were off.The whole incident took only tenminutes or so and illustrates howeasily you can use your surroundingsto invent a story which will enlightenas it amuses. Whenever a childcomments on anything natural, you canalways tell a little story. Get thechild's interest and give him an idea

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to seize upon that will stick with himeven if he forgets the superficialmaterial.___________

* Manuscript indicates insertion of this paragraph here.

[Typed by Leon Hansen.]

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