The Informatorium by Komenius and modern pediatrics
Langmeier, J.; Comenius, J.A.
Ceskoslovenska Pediatrie 47(4): 193-196
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0069-2328 PMID: 1628352 Document Number: 400712
The Informatorium "The School of Infancy" by Comenius is probably the first treatise on the development and training of infants and children in the family during the first six years of life. Although this year 360 years will elapse since its first edition, the ideas of this work are of topical interest and are inspiring even today. This applies e.g. to the prenatal development, the relationship between biological maturing and training, the necessity to avoid forceful pedantic control as well as excessive permissiveness, the necessity to supply adequate sensory and emotional stimuli at a very early age, the necessity to support all natural activities of the child while taking care of his safety, maturity and readiness for school, emphasis on fundamental values of life, etc. Comenius proved himself a sensitive psychologist who understood the specificity of thinking and sensations of children, long before developmental psychology was established as a science.