The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-01-17
kindergarten
Helps for Parents
Articles Issued by ffte Department
OF the Interior, Bure0uof Education
and flse
observation-disclosures
QUESTION ABOUT BIRTH
BY MARGARET WARNER MORLEY.
fA.,fhor Of URAnax,,I rs 4 ;fa UA

(Author of RENEWAL of Life.n9
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
chance to impress forever upon the
young mind a clean and wholesome
knowledge Of one of the most impor-
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 projection 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 we'll 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 engageSin it. Then show or tell
| about the eggs.N 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 in 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 bird like the parent
Tell the child how important it is for
children to come from good parents
Speak of parents and children Wher
talking of plants and birds; this will
cause the child unconsciously to con
meet the ideas gained about plants and
birds with human life
When chance comes to show the
child young kittens or puppies or rab
bits, or the young of any animal, tel
him quite frankly, whether he asks Oh
not, that Of course the young one:
come from the mother, that before
they were born they were a part O
/ her. Make it all seem natural to the
child.
Teach Mother-Love.
Dwell upon the love and care tn,
mother everywhere bestows upon he
children. Include father-love whereve
it is expressed in the lower animals
When at last the great question
comes the child will probably answe
it himself: Mamma, did l come from
you?" eyes, darling, you were once ;
part of mother. How mother loves he
little son (daughter) ~
Each mother will think of way t.
: tell the story according to cireum
stances. Only remember two things
Tell the story properly before anybod
gets ahead of you and poisons TIL
child's mind. And tell it in a way t.
make the child reverence and low
parentbood.