Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1921-10-07
KNOW YOUR OWN CHILD
IS CLEvELAND'S PLEA
How Children Are Alike and How,
They Differ, Their Fundamental
Traits, Discussed Before
Woman Club

10 you know your own child? Do
you know what are the fundamental
traits AMI characteristics of little
children, or are you one of the par
ents who Just can't understand
what makes Johnnie act that way?
Then you should have been pres
ent when DR.. Alfred A. Cleveland
psychologist and dean of the DEPART
ment OF education of the State Col
lege OF Washington, addressed the
ilrst meeting of the year of the Pull
man Woman's club last week ON
Some Fundamental Traits of Chill
| dren."
Most parents come to the realiza-
ton at some time" said DR.. Claya-
land, that their most important task
Is, or was, or should have been. the
care and training of their children.
Those who have realized this be-
fore the time of parental care and
training is past are fortunate.
The study of children reveals
two striking and apparently contra
dictory facts; that of the great in
dividual variation. that no two chill
dren are alike; and that children
have many traits in common, that
your boy and girl are in the main
like other boys and girls. They 90
through the same periods OF deyel-
/ opment, physical and mental; there
are two certain characteristics that
are sure to appear at one time or
another in the development OF the
normal child.
There are four characteristic
periods OF physical development of
children after they enter school. The
first years, from to s, are very
difficult for the child. 1t is the time
when they are getting their second
teeth, and morbiditry is rather high.
They seem to be open to all sorts of
little ailments, contagious and 9th
/ erw1se. 1T is a period of adjustment
/ in many directions. The change
/ from the free life at home to the
more sedentary life of the school
room, with its hours Of confinement
to rule and routine, is not an easy
one
During the years from 8 to u,
when dentation is past, then NOR
bidity is relatively low. Children
seem relatively immune in these
years from contagion, both physical
and moral. They have their mus
cles under better control, and seem
really to enjoy the drill and rote
work which comes at this time in
their school life.
The prepubertal period is a time
of rapid growth, and is sure to be
accompanied by more or less physi-
cal disturbance, Then comes the
adOlescent period, with its striking
and far-reaching physical and mental
changes. The child's interests and
attitudes change vitality. This is es-
pecially noticeable in a child's atti-
tude toward parental control. You
will hear mother say, of a 14-year-
old girl, I'm sure | don't know
what's the matter with girls nova
days; | never talked to my mother
as she does to me- And grandma
will smile wisely and say, Why yes,
when you were her age you were
just the same; but you got over it,
and she will too, when she settles
down to being a woman instead of
little girl And that is the secret
of it; the change from little-girlhood
to womanhood. Remember that
1t is the same with boys also.
"A second group of characteristics
common to all children are the in
stinctiye tendencies. Pugnacity is
one, the fighting spirit. 1t is the
impulse to overcome obstacles, and
any child that is not entirely wishy-
washy and without stamina will
show it in some form. 1t may ap-
pear in the desire to overcome physi-
cal things, or condition, or persons,
and is manifested differently by
boys and girls.
Don't suppress this fighting in
stinct Direct it into proper chan
nels Give the child plenty of ath-
letic exercise, games. pageants, dane
ing And, by the way, | believe all
little children should be taught to
dance. Dancing has a cathartic eff