iv INTRODUCTION 



In addition, I have realized that children are best 

 instructed not by methods of dogmatic assertion but 

 rather by giving them facts upon which those assertions 

 rest, and that the facts should relate, so far as possible, 

 to the child's own life and environment. 



While even the details of the instruction given in the 

 different volumes are true in all technical matters, the 

 style of the series is rather that of the story than of 

 the text-book. In other words, facts are packed in, but 

 they are made readable. 



As part of the plan, emphasis is laid on those things 

 which involve the child's own action. For example, 

 in the present volume (Good Health] detailed instruction 

 is given in the matter of personal hygiene, just what 

 to do in caring for the eyes, ears, teeth, etc. ; how to get 

 pure air into a room and impure air out of it ; why this 

 is needed, as proved by experiment, etc. The child him- 

 self is made to demonstrate the need. 



The current notion has been, " a little book for a little 

 child." To me it seems that the smaller the child the 

 more often must a fact be told and the more fully must 

 it be elaborated. The capacity to profit by generalized 

 statements only comes with age. 



For this reason, in the present series, even on the 

 subjects of alcohol and narcotics, dogmatic assertion and 

 the easy moral have been avoided. Treatment of sub- 

 jects by this method necessarily increases the volume 



