South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-10-20
BY KATHERINE BEEBE.

In one Of her interesi7s and illu-
minating articles published BY The
Outlook" Elizabeth Childs quotes at
length from a book by Gayley called
Idols of Education" in which the
trials Of the college with uneducated
high school students. Of the high
school with uneducated grammar
pu pills. and Of the grammar school
with uneducated children from the
homes are convincingly set forth;
the conclusion being that many a
child arrives in the kindergarten
"a badly damaged article"
Kindergartners know this 10 be
true. When the new group comes
in September its members can at
once be roughly classified into two
divisions, the trained and the un-
trained. The former are the teach
er's delight, the latter her problem.
The former can be Leo onward and
upward by means of d normal and
Joyous activity without friction or
loss Of time The latter must be
worked over, wept over experiment
ed with, disciplined and led as far
along the road as their unfortuD-
ate variety Of handicaps will per-
NIT.
The child whose everyday cduca-
ton has been a matter Of conscious
and conscientious effort is. at five
years old, wide awake mentally. in
terested, active, self-controlled, ODE
dent, sometimes good hammered,
and always reasonable and teach
able. The unframed child is un-
awakened, often slow OF perception,
uninterested, self conscious, fOOlishly
unreasonable and lacking in self
control and the spirit of cooperation.
His mother usually ascribes these
I characteristics to nervousness, and
Justly so. for the lack of training
is apt to cause this very condition.
Now what has happened at home
to two such little creatures equally
endowed at birth? What is the rea-
son for this unhappy difference? The
answer is in the fact that the mother
of the one child from the first in
timation of his existence has con-
sciously or sIbcOnsciOusly reasoned
with herself in some such way as
l
to me possessed Of a growing body,
an expanding mind, a developing
soul. During the first years his
growth will be so rapid and so Wig
orous that what he learns will set
| the tendencies for his whole future.
/ He will get IN proportion more edu-
cation in the first five years than in
| the 20 which follow, and this edu-
cation will be an everyday educa-
| ton During all his waking hours he
Will be learning, observing, absorb
/ ing. Everything he sees, everything
/ he hears, everything he does will
count. If I want him to be strong,
alert. wise and good I must begin
at the beginning and carry on I
must learn from the best authOri-
/ ties how TO care for his precious
/ body; I must take counsel with eX-
perts in child training for the sake
/ OF his opening mind; I must talk
/ to him, walk with him, play with
/ him. read TO him; ] must provide
/ for him place in which 10 play as
well as to eat and sleep; I must see
| that he has playmates; I must teach
/ him to play alone, to entertain him
self; he must learn to love TO work,
4 first by helping me and later by hav-
/ ing set tasks; I must know where
/ he is and what he is doing all the
/ time' and we two must be loving.
sympathetic intimate friends"
And that other mother-what
/ does she say to herself consciously
/ or iously? Let us be honest
and face the facts, for judging by
/ her results II is something like this:
! 1T is lovely 70 have this darling
Z baby and I am just going 10 enjoy
/ him in my own way; 7 don't believe
/ these people who make such n fuss
about training children get on any
/ better than those Of us who don't
\ bother about all this modern high
brow stuff 4 mother knows best
what to do for her own child. Of
/ course 7 VIII take good care Of his
/ body Cor 7 want him to be we'll but
/ for the frst few wears 7 am going
/ 70 let him be a happy littla animal
7 don't Ike 70 play With children
ANYWAY and readin~ 10 them Is a
/ bore. Resides am too busy He can
/ iust play around as other children
do and when the tire comes. go
! TO kinderga rten and 70 school and be
taught there. While he is at home
and ny baby 7 am going 70 do Just