The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1918-03-18

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rides with the children may also be
made occasions for such play
To illustrate how Froebels philos
Iophy helps the mother to train her
child, let us consider first the pat-a-
cake play, You smile and say, why,
all mothers play pat-a-cake with their
babies; that is nothing new" Yes,
mothers have played pat-a-cake for
ages and ages, but if they want to
know why they play it, LET them turn
to FrCclbel, who points out that the
reason the little game is so widely
known is because Simple mother wit
never fails to link the initial activities
# the child with the everyday life
about him" He also says, "The bread
or, better still, the little cake which
the child likes so well, he receives
from his mother; the mother in turn
receives it from the baker. So far.
so good. We have found two links in
thel great chain of life and service.
Let us beware, however, of making.
the child feel that these links com
plete the chain. The baker can bake.
no cake if the miller grinds no meal;
the miller can grind no meal il the
farmer brings him no grain; the farm
CT can bring no grain if his field
YIELDS no crop; the field can yield no
crop if the forces of nature fail to
work together to produce it; the
forces Of nature could not conspire
together were it not for the all-wise
and benilicent Power who incites
item to their predetermined ends"
1t is because the mothers have felt
/ crhaps dimly and unconsciously the
lesson which the pat-a-cake play
teaches of dependence on one another,
and the gratitude each owes to all,
that they have played this little game
l-0m ancient times.
Start to play pat-a-cake with the
L2by when he is six months old. It
affords him great satisfaction to exer-
Csc his arms and to direct his move
nepts so That both little dimpled
hands meet together Whe nhe is
about Is months or two years old be-
e'n to show him the picture of a pat
., AXE found in Froebels Mother
Fay" Through this means, grad
Il lily and easily lead him to see that
"For his bread he owes thanks not
cnly to his mother, to the baker, the
miller the farmer, but also and most
of all to the Heavenly Father, who
through the instrumentality of dew
and rain, sunshine and darkness. win
.er and summer, cause the earth to
bring forth the grain"
II is only after having studied the
D cture thoroughly and read the chap
ter ON Pat-a-Cake in the "Motoes
'nd Commentaries" and committed to
memory the verses and tune in the
Songs and Music" of FroebePs
'MctEsr Play" that one is ready to
teach paGa-cake to the baby. DO
act leach it all at cnce, but refer to
t again and again, perhaps when out
working in the garden ON sunny day,
- III the house watching the rain.
" hen the child is old enough to be
rterested in such things, so into
bakery shop and, to the astonish-
mcnt of the baker ask if you may see
Tie ovens. When you pass Il mill tell
the child that this is where the farm
ar brings his grain Thus the lesson
eff pat-a-cake goes on for a long time
before it is first played in babyhood.
1t teaches us to be ever thankful and
baby learns to say: Thank you dear
mamma" "Thank you, dear baker,
THANK you, dear God"
The active child of or 5 in
desires to measure himself
against children of his own age, and
if deprived of the opportunity to do