| Acknowledgments | IV |
| Preface | V |
| Introduction | XIII |
Chapter I | A Critical Consideration of the New Pedagogy in its Relation to Modern Science | |
| Influence of Modern Science upon Pedagogy | 1 |
| Italy's part in the development of Scientific Pedagogy | 4 |
| Difference between scientific technique and the scientific spirit | 7 |
| Direction of the preparation should be toward the spirit rather than toward the mechanism | 9 |
| The master to study man in the awakening of his intellectual life | 12 |
| Attitude of the teacher in the light of another example | 13 |
| The school must permit the free natural manifestations of the child if in the school Scientific Pedagogy is to be born | 15 |
| Stationary desks and chairs proof that the principle of slavery still informs the school | 16 |
| Conquest of liberty, what the school needs | 19 |
| What may happen to the spirit | 20 |
| Prizes and punishments, the bench of the soul | 21 |
| All human victories, all human progress, stand upon the inner force | 24 |
Chapter II | History of Methods | |
| Necessity of establishing the method peculiar to Scientific Pedagogy | 28 |
| Origin of educational system in use in the "Children's Houses" | 31 |
| Practical application of the methods of Itard and Seguin in the Orthophrenic School at Rome | 32 |
| Origin of the methods for the education of deficients | 33 |
| Application of the methods in Germany and France | 35 |
| Seguin's first didactic material was spiritual | 37 |
| Methods for deficients applied to the education of normal children | 42 |
| Social and pedagogic importance of the "Children's Houses" | 44 |
Chapter III | Inaugural Address Delivered on the Occasion of the Opening of one of the "Children's Houses" | |
| The Quarter of San Lorenzo before and since the establishment of the "Children's Houses" | 48 |
| Evil of subletting the most cruel form of usury | 50 |
| The problem of life more profound than that of the intellectual elevation of the poor | 52 |
| Isolation of the masses of the poor, unknown to past centuries | 53 |
| Work of the Roman Association of Good Building and the moral importance of their reforms | 56 |
| The "Children's House" earned by the parents through their care of the building | 60 |
| Pedagogical organization of the "Children's House" | 62 |
| The "Children's House" the first step toward the socialisation of the house | 65 |
| The communised house in its relation to the home and to the spiritual evolution of women | 66 |
| Rules and regulations of the "Children's Houses" | 70 |
Chapter IV | Pedagogical Methods Used in the "Children's Houses" | |
| Child psychology can be established only through the method of external observation | 72 |
| Anthropological consideration | 73 |
| Anthropological notes | 77 |
| Environment and schoolroom furnishings | 80 |
Chapter V | Discipline | |
| Discipline through liberty | 86 |
| Independence | 95 |
| Abolition of prizes and external forms of punishment | 101 |
| Biological concept of liberty in pedagogy | 104 |
Chapter VI | How the Lesson Should be Given | |
| Characteristics of the individual lessons | 107 |
| Method of observation the fundamental guide | 108 |
| Difference between the scientific and unscientific methods illustrated | 109 |
| First task of educators to stimulate life, leaving it then free to develop | 115 |
Chapter VII | Exercises of Practical Life | |
| Suggested schedule for the "Children's Houses" | 119 |
| The child must be prepared for the forms of social life and his attention attracted to these forms | 121 |
| Cleanliness, order, poise, conversation | 122 |
Chapter VIII | Refection--The Child's Diet | |
| Diet must be adapted to the child's physical nature | 125 |
| Foods and their preparation | 126 |
| Drinks | 132 |
| Distribution of meals | 133 |
Chapter IX | Muscular Education--Gymnastics | |
| Generally accepted idea of gymnastics is inadequate | 137 |
| The special gymnastics necessary for little children | 138 |
| Other pieces of gymnastic apparatus | 141 |
| Free gymnastics | 144 |
| Educational gymnastics | 144 |
| Respiratory gymnastics, and labial, dental, and lingual gymnastics | 147 |
Chapter X | Nature in Education--Agricultural Labour: Culture of Plants and Animals | |
| The savage of the Aveyron | 149 |
| Itard's educative drama repeated in the education of little children | 153 |
| Gardening and horticulture basis of a method for education of children | 155 |
| The child initiated into observation of the phenomena of life and into foresight by way of auto-education | 156 |
| Children are initiated into the virtue of patience and into confident expectation, and are inspired with a feeling for nature | 159 |
| The child follows the natural way of development of the human race | 160 |
Chapter XI | Manual Labour--The Potter's Art, and Building | |
| Difference between manual labour and manual gymnastics | 162 |
| The School of Educative Art | 163 |
| Archaeological, historical, and artistic importance of the vase | 164 |
| Manufacture of diminutive bricks and construction of diminutive walls and houses | 165 |
Chapter XII | Education of the Senses | |
| Aim of education to develop the energies | 168 |
| Difference in the reaction between deficient and normal children in the presentation of didactic material made up of graded stimuli | 169 |
| Education of the senses has as its aim the refinement of the differential perception of stimuli by means of repeated exercises | 173 |
| Three Periods of Seguin | 177 |
Chapter XIII | Education of the Senses and Illustrations of the Didactic Material: General Sensibility: The Tactile, Thermic, Baric and Stereognostic Senses | |
| Education of the tactile, thermic and baric senses | 185 |
| Education of the stereognostic sense | 188 |
| Education of the senses of taste and smell | 190 |
| Education of the sense of vision | 191 |
| Exercises with the three series of cards | 199 |
| Education of the chromatic sense | 200 |
| Exercise for the discrimination of sounds | 203 |
| Musical education | 206 |
| Tests for acuteness of hearing | 209 |
| A lesson in silence | 212 |
Chapter XIV | General Notes on the Education of the Senses | |
| Aim in education biological and social | 215 |
| Education of the senses makes men observers and prepares them directly for practical life | 218 |
Chapter XV | Intellectual Education | |
| Sense exercises a species of auto-education | 224 |
| Importance of an exact nomenclature, and how to teach it | 225 |
| Spontaneous progress of the child the greatest triumph of Scientific Pedagogy | 228 |
| Games of the blind | 231 |
| Application of the visual sense to the observation of environment | 232 |
| Method of using didactic material: dimensions, form, design | 233 |
| Free plastic work | 241 |
| Geometric analysis of figures | 243 |
| Exercises in the chromatic sense | 244 |
Chapter XVI | Method for the Teaching of Reading and Writing | |
| Spontaneous development of graphic language: Seguin and Itard | 246 |
| Necessity of a special education that shall fit man for objective observation and direct logical thought | 252 |
| Results of objective observation and logical thought | 253 |
| Not necessary to begin teaching writing with vertical strokes | 257 |
| Spontaneous drawing of normal children | 258 |
| Use of Froebel mats in teaching children sewing | 260 |
| Children should be taught how before they are made to execute a task | 261 |
| Two diverse forms of movement made in writing | 262 |
| Experiments with normal children | 267 |
| Origin of aphabets in present use | 269 |
Chapter XVII | Description of the Method and Didactic Material Used | |
| Exercise tending to develop the muscular mechanism necessary in holding and using the instrument in writing | 271 |
| Didactic material for writing | 271 |
| Exercise tending to establish the visual-muscular image of the alphabetical signs, and to establish the muscular memory of the movements necessary to writing | 275 |
| Exercises for the composition of words | 281 |
| Reading, the interpretation of an idea from written signs | 296 |
| Games for the reading of words | 299 |
| Games for the reading of phrases | 303 |
| Point education has reached in the "Children's Houses" | 307 |
Chapter XVIII | Language in Childhood | |
| Physiological importance of graphic language | 310 |
| Two periods in the development of language | 312 |
| Analysis of speech necessary | 319 |
| Defects of language due to education | 322 |
Chapter XIX | Teaching of Numeration: Introduction to Arithmetic | |
| Numbers as represented by graphic signs | 328 |
| Exercises for the memory of numbers | 330 |
| Addition and subtraction from one to twenty: multiplication and division | 332 |
| Lessons on decimals: arithmetical calculations beyond ten | 335 |
Chapter XX | Sequence of Exercises | |
| Sequence and grades in the presentation of material and in the exercises | 338 |
| First grade | 338 |
| Second grade | 339 |
| Third grade | 342 |
| Fourth grade | 343 |
| Fifth grade | 345 |
Chapter XXI | General Review of Discipline | |
| Discipline better than in ordinary schools | 346 |
| First dawning of discipline comes through work | 350 |
| Orderly action is the true rest for muscles intended by nature for action | 354 |
| The exercise that develops life consists in the repetition, not in the mere grasp of the idea | 358 |
| Aim of repetition that the child shall refine his senses through the exercise of attention, of comparison, of judgment | 360 |
| Obedience is naturally sacrifice | 363 |
| Obedience develops will-power and the capacity to perform the act it becomes necessary to obey | 367 |
Chapter XXII | Conclusions and Impressions | |
| The teacher has become the director of spontaneous work in the "Children's Houses" | 371 |
| The problems of religious education should be solved by positive pedagogy | 372 |
| Spiritual influence of the "Children's Houses" | 376 |