We  have  seen  that  the  instincts,  motives,  impulses,  desires,
interests  of  the  child  have  a  definite  method  of  development,
and  unfold  at  well  recognized  stages  or  periods  in  life.  Not
only  is  his  bodily  growth  an  orderly  progress,  but  his  mental
activity  is,  as  well.  Both  of  these  determine  our  Method  and
our  Curriculum.  Our  Point  of  Contact  is  the  child  at  each
particular  stage  of  development,  his  needs,  his  interests,  the
environment  that  will  be  best  adapted  to  the  well  rounded  un-
folding of  his  powers.  These  definite  stages  or  steps  reach  from
infancy  to  manhood.  The  line  of  demarcation  separating  them
is  not  by  any  means  clear  and  distinct.     These  divisions  are:


THE   STACHvS   OK    l)KVKLOl\MENT  109

(1)  Infancy,  or  Babyhood,  the  suckling  period,  only  to  the  first
year.  (2)  Early  Childhood,  the  Primary  Age,  from  one  to  six
years,  sonietinies  called  the  Kindergarten  Age.  These  two
stages  are  divided  by  Dr.  Alvord  Butler  into  the  Age  of  Instinct,
from  one  to  three,  and  the  Age  of  Impulse  from  three  to  six.
(3)  Childhood,  from  six  to  twelve  years  of  age,  sometimes
divided  into  the  primary  school  age,  from  six  to  eight  and  one-
half  or  nine  (t.  e.  Third  grade  Day  School).  Dr.  Butler  again
makes  two  divisions  of  this  period,  from  six  to  nine,  the  Age
of  Imitation,  and  from  nine  to  twelve,  the  Age  of  Habit.  (4)
Youth  or  Adolescence,  from  twelve  to  eighteen  or  nineteen  years
of  age,  sometimes  divided  into  Early  Adolescence,  from  twelve
to  sixteen,  the  Age  of  Moral  Crises,  and  Middle  Adolescence,
from  sixteen  to  nineteen,  tlie  Age  of  Komancc  and  Ideality.
(5)  Later  Adolescence,  from  eighteen  to  twenty-five,  the  age  of
Decision.     (6)  Manhood,  from  twenty-five  years  onward.
