CHAPTER VII 



THE PRE-SCHOOL AGE 



In a study of the developing period of life, 

 two gaps have occurred in which sufiScient over- 

 sight has not been given. Attention has already 

 been directed to the first of these periods, — 

 the time before birth. The second compara- 

 tively neglected period is the pre-school age, 

 — from two to six years. Boards of health and 

 welfare stations have concentrated on the in- 

 fant with a result of lowering infant morbidity 

 and mortality; school physicians and nurses 

 have given oversight to older children, but the 

 pre-school child has fallen between these two 

 periods. Even well-to-do people, who do not 

 depend on public agencies for medical over- 

 sight, are apt to give too little attention to the 

 child before entrance into school. The baby is 

 so helpless that constant advice is sought, and 

 now most private as well as public schools have 



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