My previous experience had taught me that when children are free from the dictatorship of adults, their achievements and development surpass that of children whose school lives are domineered by the time-table, by syllabus, examination, and inspection. I had already conducted an experiment when teaching a class of children from five to eight years old, along lines similar to the Project Method, and inspired by the books of Decroly, Kilpatrick, and Dewey. This group of children had gained a good background of general knowledge and could talk freely and behave naturally in school, yet I felt that the work and play had been over-organized, and that the social behaviour of the children, apparently co-operating scr whole-heartedly and for so long, had been forced. The continuity of the experiment had also been disturbed by over-anxiety about results in reading, writing, and number.