The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1904-11-03
WHEN LITTLE ONES FIRST GO TO SCHOOL;
AN AUTUMN STUDY OF CHILD LIFE.

Little Jack and Jill are starting ont to climb the hnl-the hill OF
Little jill has refractory cuisb bound tightly with a ribbon and her nss
Bingham dress is starchcd and polished smoothly with the iron. Little Jirs
taken that this particular frock OF pink and. white stripe might be altogether
at for little mrs appearance in the school room upon the opening day.
Little Jack is pnched rs to collar and shoes Little Jack has been u
free a $ a colt unbrokcn to harness all OF the long summer days The shoes
efforts OF little Jack o get his feet into them were all unavailng. sc a new
pair had to be purchased. and these have a stiffness about them that Is
There lives n man so old or forgetting that lac cannO; recall the awk-
wardncss the stiffness, the general prevailing atmosphere of repression and
contraction that belonged 70 the day OF starting back to school The misery
OF II was only a little less than that OF the very first day that another eye
than that of his mother watched ove him all day and ordered his way Of
going how much less kind. oh. how drcadfuny much less kind than his
mothers that eye seemed to his ovcrwrOught imagination! This man re-
members-an mel must-that even e he sat o the bench. the class bench.
or the little bench at his desk. that there n m involuntary drawing OF his
command that all boys In tn school room yer to shrink up nd be IS little
In the way IS possible. The gtrls-wcn. the girls might toss their cursa and
who we're only delivered from the rod as often ms they were because of tho
pny of little Jacks and ills cannot be punched together and labeled alike"
Each has his moods and his limitations. One may grasp a meaning quickly
and forget. The other may grasp the meaning slowly. but hold 1t forever.
And there they all sit. in neat prm rows. upon the opening day Of
school, Later on. rs the term advances. there may be less of a shining of
morning faces but there is NJ fault to be found with toilets upon the open
Ing day u school Like little soldiers awaiting the word OF command from
captain or general they re alert The teacher to them Is a wonder person
All that she stands for In the eyes Of little Jack or Jill they viii never-no new
for your reading Dr. mine II you have grown to be a wise. a old a gay Jack
or JL try now to tell of all that your first teacher stood for to you and
The school room Is the first vista through which little Jack and jill peer
down the great long street of life. II lis the portal OF all that is to be hence
forth lost or achieved. In going into the school room for the first time little
Jack o jill leave for the frst time the mother wing. 1t Is the first step
begin TO surprise the watching mother by their wisdom. The little mind
unfolding viii amaze her. and the grasp of little Jack r. Jill of tho reason
why two and w mako four viii cause her to catch them up and excain
bcathessly. "Now. l have n baby n o longer Sec how clever Is my little
know she win be scuiptress by the way she models birds nests from clay
And see little jill M spell and write!'
and jill. all fearful. hesitate upon the threshold of the school room Better 1t
is . take him well within before leaving him. Do not give him oe of those
cruel little shoves and bid him not 10 b. so babylsh.
Once well within, little Jack and jill fall In with the ways of the other
children more seasoned. and all goes well They take their places naturally
perhaps 1t is some inherited trait that makes them. At first the mystery
Of 1t all keeps them calm and enduring and before this has worn OF all that
they do has become a fixed haba and the worst part of the battle is over
St Louis Globe Democrat