Williston graphic., 1918-05-23
BY Mrs. Jess Sweitzer Sheaeer

by Mrs. Jess Sweitzer Sheacer
We have been intensely interested
in watching out little daughter with
her first books. In addition to their
educational value, they are a source
OF great pleasure and have grown te
be her daily companions. When she
was about fourteen months ,ld she
was given her first book, a small linen
one containing pictures of animals
These we would call by name as we
pointed them out to her, and as they
became familiar she would point them
out herself. After she had learned
to talk, she could say the names also
Linen books containing pictures OF
objects in colors were next given the
child and when she had become &C.
quainted with these group pictures
were added to the collection.
BY counting the objects in the va.
rious groups-not over five at first
and by calling attention to their color
the child learned both number and
color. Emile Poulsson's book on
"Finger Plays" is an enjoyable sup
plement to pictures of this kind.
We found simple, homemade in
destructible scrap-books most salts
factory and attractive. Anticipating
the book stage, we had collected a
number Of colored pictures from
magazines. For the leaves of these
books we used brown paper-muslin,
cutting number of pieces twelve by
twenty-four inches and, after laying
them one on top of another, stitching
them through the center, thus max
ing book twelve by twelve inches
when closed. On the pages we mount
ed the pictures with paste.
One book contained pictures of
fowls, turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese,
guinea fowls, and some pigeon and
crow pictures also. In another book
we pasted pictures of four-legged do
mestic animals. Many Of the pictures
showed the family life of these in
their natural surroundings. They
proved most interesting as the child's
experience is confined almost exclu-
sively to the family of which she is
a member, and animal families nat
urally appeal to every child.
Our little girl is now nearly two
and half years old, and she has
never tired of her scrap-books. Thru
them she has become acquainted with
the different animals and the sound
made by each, and is able to connect
the animals and their calls.
The number of books Of this kind
which would be of great educational
value to the child is almost limitless.
Birds, flowers, vegetables, trades,
farming and history might all be pre-
sented to the child in this form. AS
our little girl grows older we have
planned books of harvesting pictures
showing the various stages in the
growth of wheat from the prepara-
ton of the soil, planting of the seed
and so on, until it passes through the
hands of the miller and baker and
finally reaches the child in the form
of her daily bread.
Another interesting process is the
building of the home from the trees
to the finished product. This book
will contain pictures Of the forest,
where the trees grow, the man telling
the great trees, the horses and wagons
which haul the trees to the saw mill,
the cutting and planning of the boards.
the train which transports them to
the lumber yard, the boards piled
high in the lumber yard, the carpen-
ter at work putting the boards to-
gether, the house in the process of
construction and lastly the finished
home and the family who lives in it.
From these process books the child
can be led to realize that it takes rain,
sunshine and warmth to make the
trees and the grains grow, and that
there are many people to thank for
providing our simplest food and that,
above all, God is the great source Of
everything.
"Mother Goose Rhymes" and the
child's favorite, "The Night Before
c.! .:5tc1as," are always welcome d.
versions, and after repeated readings
the child is able to supply words, lines,