WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN? 



Why do we advocate plenty of play for our young people? Because, by means 

 of self-initiated play, and through the agency, later on, of group games,, in which 

 the one subordinates himself to the many, our young folk are training their bodies, 

 forming their characters, preparing their immature powers for future usefulness; 

 learning the many and great lessons of life, in the way best adapted to their ages 

 and most suited to their capacities./* 



CHILDREN DO NOT NEED COSTLY TOYS, 



but they do need a sufficient space in which to play (hence the urgent need for 

 playgrounds in all cities) ; they do need sufficient time for free play (for the first 

 eight years of life, play is the child's work) ; they need companions of their own 

 age, and they need some kindly supervision, to stimulate or to restrain, to regulate 

 or to soothe. A tin box, some string, a few nails and odd bits of lumber, a sand-pit, 

 a hammer, a swing or a see-saw these are priceless treasures to healthy children 

 and will furnish them with endless amusement. 



BEWARE OF THE MODERN TENDENCY 



to lead children to depend upon excitement, which often only causes friction and 

 exhaustion, or upon ready-made distractions and not upon his own resources in his 

 play-hours. Plow seriously abused, for instance, is the moving-picture show, which 

 might constitute a real educational and also pleasurable agent for our children. 

 So powerful is the craze to frequent these shows that it leads children, in some 

 cases, to commit theft in order to gratify it; while there is only too good reason to 

 believe that certain undesirable pictures are directly responsible for an increase in 

 juvenile crime, as well as the cause of a definite form of serious eye-trouble. 

 A few words on the subject of 



EDUCATION IN EARLY LIFE 



must bring this bulletin to a close, though it may be that some of rny readers 

 would like some guidance as to the age at which work, in the sense of definite 

 occupation for self-support or to assist parents, should begin. This matter does not 

 come within the scope of my subject, for work in the sense of responsible duty 

 cannot be enforced during those early years with which these pages are concerned. 

 The young human being suffers in numerous directions from premature work, 

 for childhood is but a preparation for the period when capacity for skilled occupation 

 is ripe for development. 



THE FORMATION OF GOOD HABITS 



from birth onwards is the best preparation for a productive maturity. The entire 

 object of true education, writes one of our finest educators, is to make people not 

 merely do the right thing, but enjoy the right thing. The parents who have studied 

 the phases of child-development, the capacity for imitation and training so strong 

 in a youth, who have systematically and sympathetically trained their family in 

 habits of physical, mental, and moral control, will have prepared a soil upon which 

 the arts, crafts, or sciences necessary to future successful work will grow and 

 flourish to their hearts' content. It cannot be too often repeated that 



HABITS ARE THINGS THAT "HAVE US." 



See to it, therefore, that some system governs the habits you grow in the young 

 children for whom you are responsible; that they are those which make for health 

 of body, balance of mind, and nobleness of soul. 



Train to implicit and prompt obedience, to absolute regularity in the needful 

 response to the requirements of the body, in consideration for others, and a love of 

 service. It may seem 



A TRIVIAL THING 



to train a baby from birth in regularity of action of bowels and bladder, in long 

 hours of profound sleep, in the power to regulate its temperature rapidly, and, a 

 little later on, in habits of careful mastication, in prompt obedience, in helpful 



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