The St. Charles herald., 1919-04-19

white olcloth, isp-alac. and so on.
These lists We're not completed at once,
but added TO as the children thought
Of things or as new things were made
for the kindergarten doll house, which
served as their model.
Training in Memory.
All this was splendid training IN
memory and in concentration, for 1t
kept the attention directed toward one
object and at the same time it was suf-
ficiently varied work not to become
mOnotOnous. 1t also developed skill
in the use Of the hands. Mother, who
was Just as enthusiastic as the chill
dren, would occasionally suggest some
thing of which they had not thought.
and sometimes, in their walks, they
would stop at shop windows to play
new game which this occupation had
suggested, finding treasures for the
doll house"
The children were allowed to ask the
shop clerks for the material. and some
times they paid for it with their own
money, for mother knew that, like
''grown-upS," they would prize things
more If they bought them with money
of their own than if the things were
given to them. In this way the boy
learned to count, and both realized, to
slight degree at least, the relation
between value and price; also that
they could buy only what they could
afford
Yor example. one day they planned
to buy paint brush with five pennies
they had saved together. When they
reached the store they noticed first a
large, attractive brush, but found 1t
was ten cents. There were smaller
five-cent brushes, but it would take
more than they had to get one for
each. Little daughter wanted mother
to give them the extra five cents need
ed, and son wished her to lend it to
them, but both these suggestions were
finally ruled out, with incalculable
value to both children. There was
quite long debate and hard strug-
gle in each little head before the final
decision was reached-to buy one five
cent brush and each take turns US
ing IT.
Materials were kept in a covered boz
on top of the dolls house. The chill
dren returned everything to this box
when they were ready to stop play for
the day, including their aprons which
mother had made large enough to
cover them completely, and sheets Of
newspaper which were used to spread
on the floor to protect the rug from
stains.
Finishing the House.
It took number of days to paint
the outside Of the house, as little chill
dren cannot remain at one occupation
long, and many articles were made for
the rooms during this time. The wall
paper was cut from samplebOok
given by a neighboring wallpaper firm,
blue and white tiled paper for the
kitchen, flowered paper for the other
rooms. Rugs were cut from mail-order
catalogues and pasted on stiff card
board. Tables, chairs ana ped were
made of paper boxes. with spool legs.
The kitchen sink was made Of small
tin box fastened to the wall, with two
square brass hooks, inverted. to repre-
sent hot and cold water faucets.
This house was kept for several
years, but the interior was constantly
changed as the children became moro
efficient in hand-woyk. There was no
whining, What shall we do?" They
would play for long periods at this ia
vorite occupation, while mother sat by
and mended and made their clothes.
She, for her part, never became irri-
table when they interrupted for legitl-
mate assistance, for she realized the
wonderful lessons they were constant
ly learning.