The purpose of Montaigne's "Education of Children" is to lay down the philosophical groundwork for a new and innovative way of teaching children. The purpose of this new system is to foster the child's intellectual growth as opposed to filling the child's head with facts that he regurgitates, but does not understand. In Montaigne's words, the education should put a child "through its paces, making it taste things, choose them, and discern them by itself" (110). As well as encouraging intellectual growth, Montaigne also intends to promote wisdom, character and physical development as a way of education the entire person. Montaigne's assertion is that the purpose behind education should not be for the sole aim of the increase in knowledge, but "to have become better and wiser by it" (112). The overall effect of the education should be to produce an individual that is both wise and happy; according to Montaigne the two are irreconcilably bound, as "the surest sign of wisdom is constant cheerfulness" (119).

The methods used to achieve Montaigne's ideal education are a mixture of the ability and talent of the tutor; the individual attention paid to a student and the well-rounded

The next part of the child's education is argued by Montaigne to be the most important. The tutor should not only be an instructor on the matters of reason and logic, but also a moral force in the life of the student. The tutor's job is to instill strong virtues in the child while he is still young, "instructing him in the good precepts concerning valor, prowess, magnanimity, and temperance, and the security of fearing nothing" (120). The tutor is to teach the child moderation, civic responsibility, humility and a "honest curiosity to inquire into all things" (114). The goal of this instilling of virtues is to create an adult, "guided only by reason," who is as capable of making wise decisions as well as being educated (114). The student, only after the competition of a great deal of education in academics and virtues, is taught a final lesson about interactions with others.

At some point in the education the pupil is expected to interact with others and put his education to use. The student is expected to visit other countries in order to interact with a diverse array of people and cultures. Through these interactions the pupil will further his own education by rubbing and polishing his "brains with the contact with those of others" (112). The informal education through experience leads the student to gain a grasp of social situations and begin to understand the way society works. The ultimate goal in this is to have the student "put everything to use" by finding valuable education in all of those around him (114). Montaigne even goes so fa

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Approximate Word count = 1054
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)