The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-06-07

She thinks children ought to compete
with each other in their lessons ana
| their games. and she Is starting all
sorts of contests in the school-a pri-
waite school with about twenty pupils. Ned
| is an unusually quick child, and he near
| ly always comes out ahead; in spelling
| matches he always spells the other chil-
| dren down, and he is beginning to swag-
ger most disagreeably about 1t. His
vanity and pride are growing by leaps
and bounds. Don't you think he will
| become a .swellhead' under this kind
! of training. ! wouldn't have him
| grow up to be a conceited man for any
| thing
l wrote that mother that I thought I
| would take the chance on the conceit.
! 1 think We are apt to confuse a natural
and proper self-esteem with the disagree
able trait We all want to avoid; but with
out a certai namount Of self appreciation
no one accomplishes anything in this
| world.
As Ned grows a little older, his feel
ing of self Importance will moderate:
he will get a true estimate of his real
ability by the very power to compare
himself with the other pupils that his
wise teacher is giving him. The old
plan of taking the conceit out of your
by which children used to be reared is
responsible for the loss to the world
of much constructive ability. / do be-
iieve. / have a friend, an elderly wom-
an, who has a broad mind and great
executive ability. but she said to me
once:
Il have never. done the work in the
world l should have done because of my
self distrust. My mother was so afraid
would think too well of myself that
she went to the other extreme and took
oil confidence cannot
remember that she ever praised me; but
had full share Of blame for every
fault
Now I believe there are many persons
like her all about us. Let us try the
other method. mothers.
i think the best way to develop the
qualities we want is by means of games
competitive games. Here is a list of
things to encourage: Football. base
ball. running. swimming. boxing. rowing.
sailing. skating. acting. debating. jump
ing, dancing. shooting, fencing. archery.
music, singing. art work, golf, tennis,
cards. chess and billiards. How many of
these have you had your children learn?
You must interest yourself in them;
invite other children to participate In
them with your children. institute con-
tests with some little decoration.
wreath, say, for the winners reward
The crowning with a wreath or the pin
ming of a medal on the childish breast
brings an ecstasy to the child's mind
which is wholly ennobling and encour-
ages him to the development of the best
that Is in him.
Answers to Correspondents.
Mrs B. H. writes: What kind OF
clothes are little boys wearing now?
live far away from any town and do not
see the new things. but I want my boy
TO look all right
All the shops in New York are display
ing the little Dutch suits still. These
suits have little waists. trousers Of blue.
tan, brown. or any preferred color. The
trousers are made to come high above
the waist line. and the blouses are fin
ished with collar and cuffs of the same
material as the trousers. Write to any
of the big shops in New York or Chi
ca 60 for a catalogue and you will keep
in touch with the styles. You can buy
the little suits from them more cheaply
than YOU can make them yourself.
Mrs. v. G. wants to know how to apply
the Montessori method in training her
children at home.
believe Mrs. George, a friend and pu-
oil of Madame Montessori. has written
book in which the method is set forth in
detail. The book is in English and can
be obtained from any bookseller.