The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1919-01-10
kindergarten
Helps for Parents
Articles Issued by the Department
off5e Interior. Bureau of Education
and fhe
National Observation-Disclosures
QUESTION ABOUT BIRTH
BY MARGARET WARNER MORLEY


Some day your child will ask where
he came from, or where the new baby
came from. In properly answering this
natural question the mother has a
chance to impress forever upon the
young mind a clean and wholesome
tant facts of nature.
Let the mother strive for two things:
to start the child with beautiful and
reverent feeling concerning the origin
of life; to give this knowledge before
the child can learn it in harmful way
outside the home.
1t is well to anticipate the direct
question by getting ready before the
child is old enough to ask it. 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 it. Then show or tell
about the eggs. Explain how the eggs
grew inside the mother-bird. They are
a 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 in the hen. How wonderful |
1t is that little egg can change into a
beautiful bird or a cunning little chick
en-! AS the child grows older lead
him to notice that the seed grows into
a plant just like the parent, that the
egg becomes a bird like the parent.
Tell the child how important it is for
children to come from good parents.
Speak of parents and children when
alking of plants and birds; this will
,ause the child unconsciously to con-
lect the ideas gained about plants and
birds with human life.
When a chance comes to show the
hid young kittens or puppies or rab-
hts, or the young of any animal, tell
i'm quite frankly, whether he asks or
lot, that of course the young ones
ONE from the mother, that before
hey were born they were part of
Ter. Make it all seem natural to the
hid.
Teach Mother-Love.
Dwell upon the love and care the
lother everywhere bestows upon her :
hildren. Include father-love wherever
. is expressed in the lower animals.
When at last the great question
ONES, the child will probably answer
himself: Mamma, did / come from
ou?" "Yes, darling, you were once a
art of mother. How mother loves her !
tile son (daughter) ~
Each mother will think of way to
III the story according to circum- o
ances. Only remember two things. l
ell the story properly before anybody \
cts ahead of you and poisons the 6
lids mind. And tell it in a way to /
axe the child reverence and love =,
"