If the mind-wandering mode of _rote_ learning is no longer practised,
but an _assimilating_ method is substituted for it; if we abolish the
"mind-wrecking" procedure of forcing immature minds into and through
studies which they cannot comprehend, and which, therefore, create
chronic habits of Inattention; and if the idea of numbers and their
elementary processes are _objectively_ taught, until habits of sure
enumeration and calculation are formed, then, when the child reaches
maturity, he will rarely if ever require any conscious aid in
remembering a series of 2, 3, 4, or more figures.
Meantime, a thorough training in this system tends to do away with the
injurious effects of false mental habits; to set the Memory and
Attention at work in a natural way, and greatly strengthen both; and
while learning a large number of dates in a short time, or many figures
in one series may still require the use of the System, unless the
Numeric Thinking prior to this chapter has been mastered, yet, in the
ordinary way of meeting figures in reading, study, or business, there
will seldom occur any _necessity_ for resorting to the method taught in
this lesson.