Milford chronicle., 1939-10-13
TRAINING IN OBSERVATION
Grace Archbold

you have no idea. JOAN" said
Mrs. Miller. how thankful you will
be if you train your children to be
observant"
What made you arrive at that con-
clusion?" enquIred Joan. always glad
to hear about her older friends ex-
peTiences as mother of four happy
children
Partly an incident in my own
childhood and partly because know
what an effective means it is of gain
ing information. of cultivating accur-
acy and securing inexpensive enter
tainment and lasting pleasure"
First, tell me the incident" beg
ged Joan.
MY mother had taken us for a
days outing in the woods some dis
tance away from cur home. This
wooded section covered an area of
many square miles. Towards the end
of the afternoon we begged for a last
game OF hide and seek. Mother
agreed. warning us not TO penetrate
too far. for fear of losing our bear
ings. We left her at the north end
near the road. In the excitement of
the game my brother Jack and for
got and wandered so far that we lost
the trail. Jack at once began to look
out for trees with moss growing on
them. Presently he gave a shout of
triumph. I've noticed. he said. that
moss always grows OH the north side
of a tree
With this in mind. we soon found
the trail again. Bu. | never could
forget the experience. though it was
much later that | realized how for
tunate it was that Jack had observed
this fact in his walks through the
woods.
1T certainly was fortunate" agreed
Joan. There is great difference
between my two children" she added
thoughtfully Rose is naturally OBJ
servant and takes in all sorts of de-
tails at glance. Claude, on the other
hand, apparently goes about with his
eyes shut. He is more of a dreamer"
All, you must help him and make
his dreaming productive and creative.
His is a nature that can easily be
trained to the observation OF beauty.
Draw his attention. for instance. to
the fascination of birds on the wing.
their different methods Of fight and
their grace of movement. Comment
in his presence on sky effects, and
don't fail to have him notice the beau
ties of grey day; the glorious COL
ors of a sunset and of the foliage in
the fall season will be sure to delight
him. He will gradually develop a gem
eral observation habit. In time it
will become second nature to note
details. even those that are of a more
practical nature That well-remem-
bered experience OF my childhood il
lustTates that one never knows of
what importance bit of knowledge
gained from careful attention to de
tails may prove. In any case the
habit of observation will give a more
desirable balance and train for better
Dreaming without OBJ
servation will lead nowhere
How do you manage to give your I
children lessons in observation"
asked JGan.
81 do not consider i a matter of
lessons" laughed Mrs Miller. I'VE /
Just notice things. have always I
been attentive when one of them has /
shown me something new. puzzling.
)r interesting. We have examined it /
together. II not at the moment. later
0n.
Before reading an illustrated
story we always examine each pic
.ure in advance of the description of
he incident portrayed This not only
ielps to develop observation. but it
makes the anticipation of the story
| keener joy. II is astonishing how
luick the children are to detect any
discrepancy between the story and
he picture. so that accuracy is an
,ther quality emphasized.
When Amy began her piano stu
lies we applied this habit of observa-
ion Systematically and have kept it
lp. We note the title of new piece.
he key. the marks Of expression. the
:.iIia and the various changes. When
he comes to play it she is generally
ccurate. Unconsciously she now ap-
,lies this method to her other work.
With all the children. find that
IS their powers of observation in
rease they attack their problems
more intelligently. and so their lives
row richer in interest and satisfac-
ion"