Children's Ways

Sully, James, 1842-1923Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.9

Word count: 291K words
Chapters: 30

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Children's Ways by James SullyAuthor: Sully, James, 1842-1923,Language: English, Class: LB: Education: Theory and practice of education, Release Date: Aug 9, 2011

Editor's review

This book is a work by the British psychologist James Sully on child psychology and educational theory, classified under education and teaching practice. From an observer's perspective, the author discusses children's behavior, language, imagination, and play, attempting to explain common phenomena in child development from a psychological standpoint. Compared with data-intensive modern developmental psychology textbooks, this book leans more toward observational description and theoretical speculation; its language is plain and its cases are close to daily life, making it suitable as an introductory read for understanding the early trajectory of child psychology research. Readers may do well to treat it as a period document: it offers insights into children's behavior while also revealing the questions and modes of expression that concerned researchers a century ago. For educators and parents, the observational perspective in the book can help them reflect on how they interact with children in daily life; for enthusiasts of the history of psychology, it is a readable primary source.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Parents and early childhood educators interested in observing children's psychology and behavior
Students studying education or psychology who want to understand the early state of the discipline
General readers interested in the history of psychology and child research literature
Teacher-training course instructors who need observational material on children's behavior

Not a good fit for

Clinical practitioners seeking the latest child psychological intervention plans
Psychology researchers expecting systematic experimental data and statistical analysis
Quick-reference readers seeking concrete, step-by-step parenting instructions

Reading tips

First read the table of contents to grasp the distribution of topics, then select chapters closely related to your own concerns for close reading.
While reading, compare the views with current child research, note similarities and differences, and form critical notes.
Can be read alongside modern introductory textbooks on developmental psychology to supplement theoretical and data background.
After finishing each chapter, try using the book's perspective to observe one specific behavior of a child around you.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a parenting guide?

No. This book is an observational work on child psychology and educational theory, focused on describing and explaining children's behavior rather than providing step-by-step parenting methods. Parents can gain a perspective for understanding children from it, but if they need specific parenting advice, they should consult dedicated parenting books.

Can I understand it without a psychology background?

Yes. The book's language is relatively plain and mainly observational description; its theoretical speculation is not overly difficult, and general readers can grasp the main ideas. If you encounter specialized concepts, you can use the context or consult basic psychology materials to aid reading; the overall threshold is not high.

Are the views in the book still applicable today?

The book was written early, and some expressions and theoretical frameworks bear the limitations of their time and cannot be directly used as contemporary conclusions. However, its observational perspective on children's behavior still has reference value. It is advisable to read it with an eye to the history of psychology and compare it with modern research rather than adopting it wholesale.

Is it suitable as course reading for teacher-training students?

It can serve as supplementary reading. The book can help teacher-training students understand the early state of child research and observational methods and cultivate sensitivity to children's behavior. However, the main course textbook should still be a more up-to-date work on developmental psychology or education; this book is better suited as extension and discussion material.

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About the author

Sully, James, 1842-1923 Author

James Sully (1842–1923) was a British psychologist whose writing combines scholarly rigour with readability for general readers. Three of his works are held here, all centred on child psychology and everyday psychological phenomena. In Children's Ways he observes children's language, play and emotional expression, using detailed records to show psychological change during growth. An Essay on Laughter examines the forms and causes of laughter from several angles, while Illusions: A Psychological Study looks at the mechanisms behind errors of perception and judgement. These works show his gift for treating psychological questions concretely and engagingly, and they influenced both child study and popular psychological writing. Because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted here.