The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1918-12-19

chAnce To Impress forever upon the
young mind Il clean and wholes ONE
knowledge Of one of the most lmpor-
tant facts of nature.
Let the mother strive for two things |:
to start the child with a beautiful and
reverent feeling concerning the origin
of life; to give this knowledge before
the child can learn 1t in a harmful way
outside the home.
1t is well to anticipate the direct
question by getting ready before the
child is old enough to ask 1t. How to
do this? Begin, perhaps, with seeds.
Show the seed-pods of any plant. The
seeds are the children Of the plant.
The plant gives them protection and
feeds them with its juices. They are
part of the plant The plant is the
mother of the seeds When the seeds
are ripe the pod opens and the seeds
leave their mother to live their own
separate lives.
Dwell upon the care the mother plant
takes Of her little seed-children, of the
beautiful flower petals she wraps about
the tiny pod. Speak often and rev.
erently of motherhood. Make the little
boy as well as the little girl under.
stand and love the mother.
Lessons From Nature.
In the springtime show birds nests
If possible. If not, show pictures and
talk about the building and how both
parents engage in 1t. Then show or tell
about the eggs. Explain how the eggs
grew inside the mother-bird. They are
part of her just as the seeds are a
part of the plant. When the eggs are
ready the bird lays them in the pretty
nest and sits on them TO keep them
warm. The father bird sings to her
and feeds her. Both birds love the
baby birds and as soon as they hatch
out, father bird and mother bird feed
them and care for them and teach them
to fly. A hen sitting on her eggs can
be used TO teach the lesson. The
egg grew i'm the hen. How wonderful
it is that little egg can change into a
beautiful bird or cunning little chick
en- AS the child grows older lead
him to notice that the seed grows into
plant just like the parent, that the
egg becomes a bird like the parent
Tell the child how important Ii is for
children to come from good parents,
Speak of parents and children when
talking of plants and birds; this will
cause the child unconseiously to con.
meet the ideas gained about plants and
birds with human life.
When a chance comes to show the
child young kittens or puppies or rab.
bits, or the young of any animal, tell
him quite frankly, whether he asks or
not, that of course the young ones
come from the mother, that before
they were born they were a part of
her. Make 1t all seem natural to the
child.
Teach Mother-Love.
Dwell upon the love and care the
mother everywhere bestows upon her
children. Include father-love wherever
1t is expressed in the lower animals
When at last the great question
comes, the child will probably answer
it himself: Mamma, did l come from
your" yes, darling, you were once a
part Of mother. How mother loves her
little son (daughter) !"
Each mother will think of a way to
tell the story according to circum.
stances. Only remember two things
Tell the story properly before anybody
gets ahead of you and poisons the
child's mind. And tell it in way to
make the child reverence and love
parentbood.