Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-11-24
Understanding the Child.
BY Miss Emma Roderick.

| tiiC ioSb ~ Vic &sAOtntTS
| club:
1--WE are here for the purpose of a
better understanding of the child. Let
us be frank, generous. Let Us speak
the truth. Let us lay aside our preju-
dices and look through each others
glasses Let us be liberal and con
fess that we are necessarily victims
of our own preiudices, which often
close the door to our reason and
Judgment. | would not have you mis-
understand my word prejudice for,
as 1 use it, l simply mean our natural
tendency-point of view-with no ref
erence whatever to ill-feeling.
''In that period known as once up
on a time seven q. wandering
through the wilderness Of this world
came to where a rose grew by the
roadside. oh! the beautiful rose
said one. how yellow are its petals
| Nay, good friend,' said the second,
you mean how red are it's petals!'
! Not So interrupted third. YOU two
are much mistaken, the rose is of an
orange color What said the fourth,
| can none of you see correctly, the
rose is of an azure hue And so with
/ the other three, each declaring the
rose was of a different color and each
strongly protesting that he alone was
! correct. The controversy grew loud
and physical arguments were immi-
nept when a savant of great learn
I'd came that way. and when he
/ heard their angry words he asked
them why they quarreled among
themselves who should be so happy
together. Then did each man explain
how he had been trying to enlighten
| his more unfortunate brother about Il
very simple matter, the color of the
rose, and how his brother refused to
be enlightened. Seeing that an agree.
ment was impossible, they decided to
leave it to the sage.
Brethren said the Savant, you
are all correct in part, but none of
you wholly so; you forget that each
| of YOU wear glasses and that your
! glasses are of different colors; re-
move your glasses and you Will see
the rose in its true colors.' But they
| laughed him to scorn, each declaring
that he wore no glasses, but that his
brothers did he could plainly see.
| Nothing daunted, the sage explained
to them how each of them saw but
one of the seven colors in the rose,
and how if each man would but look
| through his neighbours glasses he
wound see that his neighbor was cor
! rect as well as himself But they did
not believe him and all refused to
| look save one man. and as he looked,
/ behold, the rose was yellow; he look
| ed again. twas red; he looked again,
twas orange; twas blue, twas vio-
! let. etc. He was much veNed and
said: How am | to know the truth,
for are we not all correct, and again
| all wrong" Then said the sage, look
again not through these glasses sepa-
rately but through them all at once,
and ponder well on what thou seest.'
He looked, and behold he was filed
with wonder and surprise, for the
rose was pure white. He went his
way rejoicing and resolved in the flu
| ture to always look through his
neighbours glasses as well as his own.
eve all wear before our minds eye
the colored glasses of our preiudices.
We are born with them, we inherit
! them from our ancestors; they are
transmitted to the children; we can
recolor them more to our own fancy,
but we can never quite lay them
aside.
| I'VE, as teachers, must pene-
trate the mothers point of view; we
must look through the mothers
| glasses. We must study the child
through the mother and its home en-
vironment. We must be able to look
through the child's glasses and dis
cover its attitude toward the school
and towards its own home as well as
toward the teacher. In turn the
mother should look through the
teachers glasses, the glasses of the
school as a unity, through the child's
as an individual and in his place
among his various classmates. \
mother should ponder well her prem
ises before coming to a decision in
regard to the school if she obtains
her knowledge through the colored
glasses of her child, who, not inten-
tionally disregards truth, but makes
various childish statements gained
through it's own colored lenses and
immature Judgment. Even most
truthful child has not the judgment
to express the working phases of a
school 1t takes Judgment well
trained to discern truth and correctly
express it.
How best obtain better under
standing between parent and teacher
regarding the child as to scholar
ship and department? Lay aside our
preiudices. Seek for the truth in re-
gard to the true workings of the
school. Mothers, put yourselves be-
hind the teachers desk; look through
the teachers glasses; control and
and teach your own child with its 40
or so classmates where you could
daily compare his ability and capa-
bilities with those of your neighbor's
children and among children whose