For A Happier Family Life 



Hancock ConntY Folks Study How To Bring Up 

 Their Children and Get Along Together 



In important service 

 '^ f' available to the women 

 ^^^ / over the state through 

 Home Bureau and the Extension Ser- 

 vice is a course of study in Child De- 

 velopment and Parent Education. In- 

 terest in this subject has been increasing 

 and several new counties have asked 

 this year that these lessons be included 

 in their program. 



Because of their continued interest 

 in this study Hancock county is among 

 those leading in this phase of Home 

 Bureau work. Folk in Hancock county 

 believe parents need to be studying 

 always, "from the cradle to the grave" 

 — studying their children, themselves, 

 and how to improve family relation- 

 ships. 



The first request for work in Parent 

 Education through the Home Bureau 

 came from Hancock county 10 years 

 ago. The project has been continued 

 since then through five changes of 

 home advisers. A constantly increasing 

 number of people have become inter- 

 ested in the all-important subject of 

 Child Development and Family Re- 

 lationship. 



Any good parent is reticent about 

 proclaiming that this has been accom- 

 plished with Johnnie, or that with 

 Mary, through methods found in a 

 book, or in lessons in Home Bureau. 

 Nevertheless many of the leaders 

 frankly say that the study, material, 

 and discussion, have been of great help 

 in their own homes. 



"The class work in Parent Education 

 has made women children conscious," 

 Mrs. Florence Ourth, Nauvoo, said. 

 "No longer are we going to bring up 

 our children just any old way. We will 

 think things through and take advan- 

 tage of the best information and re- 

 search available." 



In the beginning, study groups were 

 organized under the direction of Miss 

 Edna Walls of the state extension staff. 

 Several years later, the county organ- 

 ized a local group of leaders in parent 

 education. Members were selected care- 

 fully by the home adviser and the 

 county president. All signified their 



intention to be present at all meetings 

 and to be willing to go out and lead 

 other groups after a period of prelimi- 

 nary education. Eighteen parents were 

 members of that first group. The study 

 was concerned with the pre-school 

 child. 



"Look at your pretty thumb," one 

 mother said to her two-year old daugh- 

 ter, after one of the lessons which sug- 

 gested appealing to the child's pride. 

 "Its all wet! What a pity for such a 



In March, 1931, the classes were 

 still going on in various parts of the 

 county, and the parents were really 

 working. Mrs. Dana Stevenson, one of 

 the leaders, reported that of the 23 

 meetings held, she had attended 23, 

 driven 20 miles for each all-day session, 

 and read 59 books on the subject! Still 

 later, in March 1934, the report showed 

 that over a three-year period she had 

 read 72 books, and still had not missed 

 attending a single meeting in the 

 county. 



Miss Walls suggests having a "Fam- 

 ily Living" book shelf. Some of the 

 units have bought some of the books, 

 some members have passed on books 

 from their own homes, and the Home 

 Bureau libraries are growing. Here are 

 some of the books suggested: 



"Why Stop Learning" by Dorothy 

 Canfield Fisher; "Every Day Problems 

 of the Every Day Child" — Douglas 

 A. Thom; "Cultivating the Child's Ap- 

 petite" — Charles Aldrich; "Living 

 Together in the .Family" — Lemo T. 

 Dennis; "Living with our Children" — 



FIRST GROUP TRAINED AS LEADERS IN CIICD DEVELOPMENT AND 

 PARENT EDUCATION STUDY IN HANCOCK COUNTY 

 Top row, laft io right: William Baxter, Burton King. Wagnar Clark. Gladston* Clark. 

 HoTTf Graham. Hamill Graham. 



2nd row: Mrs. William Baxter, Mrs. Wagner Clark, Mrs. Burton King, Mr*. Dona 

 Slevenaon. Dana Stevenson. Mr. Parker, Mr. Arnold Ourth. 



Bottom row: Mrs. Lloyd Welch. Mrs. Harry Graham. Mrs. Robert Martin. Miss Alice 

 McKinney, Miss Edna E. Walls. Mrs. May Parker. Mrs. Arnold Ourth. Mrs. Hamill 

 Graham. 



lovely thumb to be wet." The little 

 girl looked at the offending member in 

 surprise. The next time she looked 

 with disapproval, and during the day 

 ran to show her mother and have the 

 thumb wiped dry. Many times little 

 Ann forgot, but she soon, willingly, 

 entered the game with her mother to 

 keep the "pretty thumb" dry. 



"I had tried, as many another mother 

 has, all sorts of remedies," the mother 

 said. "Nothing had worked until I 

 was able to interest the child in ac- 

 complishing something for herself." 



Lillian Gilbreth; "Busy Childhood" — 

 Josephine Foster; "Growing Up" — 

 Karl de Schweinitz. 



A more complete list may be secured 

 through the Home Adviser or by writ- 

 ing to the Home Economics Extension 

 at the University of Illinois, Urbana. 



Many of the books for the study in 

 Hancock county were obtained from 

 the Library Extension at Springfield 

 and kept in the Home Bureau office. 

 Members studied for one year and then 

 conducted classes of their own. A 

 county chairman was appointed and the 



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L A. A. RECORD 



