Editorial January 4, 1999 Issue

A world in need of "the genius of children"

Russ Gerber

BRONSON Alcott was a schoolteacher, a philosopher, and a good friend of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of this magazine. He took a great interest in her lifework, and she in turn once referred to his character as "of holiest sort, bravest to endure, firmest to suffer . . (see Pulpit and Press, p. 5).

Mr. Alcott was also good at spotting genius in children. He was one of those people who sincerely believed it was already there, within them, and he treasured it. In his classroom in Boston in the 1830s, he would set aside time from the usual school subjects geography, spelling, reading, arithmetic to have conversations with the pupils about the life of Jesus and about moral and spiritual topics.

The children ranged in age from six to twelve years. But don't let their ages fool you. The topics of conversation were probably meatier than those you'd hear among students in elementary schools today.

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