There are some important things for parents to do, however. They
should take pains to provide proper physical surroundings for home
study, including quiet, proper light and temperature. They should
exert an influence in the direction of regular hours, of a short
period of relaxation immediately before and after meals and before
bedtime, and of some variety of occupation during the longer periods
of study, so that fatigue may be avoided. In addition, they should
stimulate their children by bringing pressure to bear on the lazy
ones, by "hearing lessons" now and then, and, above all, by asking
questions that call for a review of facts as well as for their use in
conversation. They may give some help; but, if they do, they should by
all means avoid falling into disputes about method. The child is right
in preferring to do a thing in the teacher's way, for it is to the
teacher that he is finally responsible; and parents ought to be broad
enough to try to follow the teacher's plan. They can help their
children most by showing concern for them, really inspecting their
written work instead of merely pretending to, and otherwise
manifesting genuine interest in their tasks.

_Are children capable of the initiative necessary for independent
study?_

Two questions remain to be considered, the first of which pertains to
initiative. If independent study requires that one practically
duplicate the work of the teacher by teaching one's self, can children
in the elementary school be expected to study alone, or can they even
be trained to it? Much power of initiative is rare even among adults.
Much of the instruction of teachers themselves is poor owing to a lack
of independent thinking. What success, then, can come to children when
they are sent off to study their lessons in private?