Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-01-12
REIMBURSEMENT OF CHILDREN.


Few persons realize the Importance of
teaching child how to look al pictures.
Deeming it sufficient to furnish uudCubted
means Of enjoyment, they leave the mex
perienced but insa iaJle pleasure-see ke. to
arplY it in his own fashion, and The cOnse-
quence is tha- novelty being the chief faa-
ture that attracts childhood, he seeks to
smuse himself by quick succession Of pic
lures which produce put vague Impressions:
soon his fancy is fatigued, his capacity for
enjoyment is wasted, when il might SO cas-
lily have been cultivated.
Children should be taught not merely to
look at pictures, but 10 etGnline them, a fen
at a time, until they become ike the faces
Of friends. Beauties should be pointed out,
and information such rs child is capable Of
receiving should beimpartod, but not crowd
ed. One int eresting item in regard to each pic
ture is quite sufficient. IL is'weH also to
persuade the child to descsnt upon the pic
ture himself, and to explain them in his
own way.
q. Perhaps description of two actual scrap
books diametrically opposite will best Illus
trate their real use, and may serve at once
as a warning and model in the ccnstruc-
ton of these invalusbl aids in the work of
education.
The most attractive in outward appear
| ance was q volume bound in CRIMSON, with
gilt clasps. l. was birthday gift to a girl
! of eleven years, who received IL with ex-
| travagant delight, aud Immediately
began to calculate how many pictures
would be required TO I'LL lis tinted pages.
With good deal of difficulty aud some as
| sistaGce she made the estimate that the
book would hold between two and three
| hundred pictures of various sizes. Her
| days were rendered restless and anxious by
| her esgeTness TO collect the requisite num-
| Der, and she became an impOtunate heggsr.
| AS her friends were generous and her pa
rents wealthy, contributions poured i'll;
/ but some excellent pictures were Tejscted
| because, according TO the child's immature
! judgment, they were common or ugly. Ia
| this alone, where she should have been
| guided, was she allowed to exercise her
| own pleasure. When the pictures were to
| be arranged in the book she was forbidden
| even to trim the margins of epgraviDgs,
| aud the precious volume when tnishedsWas
| kept under lock and kay, Xhs owner was
permitted to lcol at it only under certain
restrictiC1s, and, as a natural consequence,
| in , very short time she lost all interest III
! possession which was too fine ''for hui
man natures daily food"
The other scrap-boOk, $50 o-eslled," was the
unsided work Of q hoy somewhat older, Il
was made Of the paste board layers taken
from candle box, not bound into q book,
but kept In en cid portfolio carefully mend
! cd for The purpose. The pictures c0nsis-
( ted Of wood cuts taken from the various pc
riodicsls Of the day, ard pasted neatly on
both sides of the pastebOard. The C0lec-
ton was an admirable one. Some knOwl-
edge of drawing, aided by natural ilteii-
gence, had directed the boy's choice, but
he received no help fr0Ia Others. OF these
cards he completed abotit dozen in the
course OF one winter. he was in the habit
of resortinG to them whenever be was in
want of copy for drawing, and TINS he
learned to appreciate thoroughly every
point in his iittla collection, which, simple
though It was, proved both to himself and
to others source of interest and amuse-
ment,