Practical Child Training

From the collection of the ^7 '^ m o Prefinger a V LiJibrary p San Francisco, California 2008 Practical Child Training BOOK in EASY LESSONS FOR DEVELOPING BODY AND MIND By RAY C. BEERY A.B. (Columbia^ M.A. (Harvard) The Parents Association Pleasant Hill, Ohio Copyrighted, 1917, by xxixrnatioxal academy of discifliks CoPYaiGHTIED, 1917, BY The Parejits -iVssociation, Inc. CJOPTRIOHTED IX GrEAT BbiTAIN, 1911 All Rights Reservea Copyrighted, 1918, by Tre Parents Association, lisCt PREFACE Having read carefully Books I and II of our Course in Practical Child Training, you are pre- pared to proceed at once with great confidence in the application of the methods given you in this volume. We believe this book will help you in the solving of problems relating to the physical health and the mental effectiveness of your children. Also, we believe that, after you have fully mastered the principles which we have presented in these volumes and have tested them out with good results, you will come to face all of your problems with children with more assurance and greater confidence, making it a pleasure to solve those problems instead of a burden as it often seems. The Parents' Association is a cooperative organ- ization and we are especially interested in the success of each of its members. We are anxious to know how you succeed in applying our methods. Did you ob- tain good results in solving some particular problem? Tell us about it. No case in child training which you might report will be too trivial for our considera- tion. Did you fail to find some particular problem treated which you wanted to solve? Tell us that also. We can then help you by letter. Your experience on some point may help another parent who is still struggling with a difficulty ^hich 3 4 PREFACE you have overcome. Another parent's experience may help you. The offices of the Parents' Associa- tion are clearing houses for exchange of views and mutual aid. If you find that the principles presented in these volumes help you to understand children better; if you feel that a knowledge of these principles and these methods would help your neighbor or your friend or relative, then tell them about your Course in order that they also may be benefited. CONTENTS PART I PAGE Physical Health 9 PART II Temperance 93 PART III ]\Iental Training 125 PART IV Conclusion 195 PART I PHYSICAL HEALTH Good health and good sense are two of life's greatest blessings. —Publiiis 8yrus. PHYSICAL HEALTH Although this course does not aim to usurp the especial privileges of the physician, yet as good physical health is an absolute necessity to normal childhood, this subject must be included, the mainte- nance of good health resting largely with the mother. This chapter will not deal with drugs or treatments in illness ; it will deal merely with prevention. It will give instruction in those ways of pleasant cleanliness that eliminate the necessity for drugs and reduce the need of doctor's services by lessening the chances of a child's developing epidemic complaints. Without covering the intricate subjects of physi- ology and hygiene a simple rule of life suitable to the child from birth until his seventh year, from his seventh to his tenth year, and from his tenth until his eighteenth year, will be scheduled; it will be easy to assimilate, easy to remember and easy to follow. Health is perhaps the most important of all factors in successful education. Unless your child be truly healthy he cannot learn easily ; he cannot obey. His mind wanders, his attention cannot be held; he is irritable, fractious, unresponsive alike to mother and teacher; it is impossible for him to grow up into an ideal citizen. Prenatal influences have shaped his potentialities. But it is taken for granted that you, as an intelligent 9 : 10 PRACTICAL CHILD TRAINING mother, have done your part in insisting that any possibility of blindness from birth has been negatived by application of nitrate of silver to his eyes at birth ; that you have employed the best skill in doctor and nurse at your command to direct the little life given to you; that you have followed their orders implicitly; that you hnow and allow for any weak- ness, mental or physical, which may be transmitted by the father or by yourself, and that you have purchased one of the many excellent handbooks on child-raising from the pen of an accredited pediatrist. Given these absolutely essential fundamentals, you are confronted by the all-important problem of keep- ing the child in perfect physical condition throughout the years of his growth. 1. Health Essentials Things essential for a healthy child from birth to the eighteenth year may be summarized as follows a. His teeth must be kept in perfect order. b. His body, mind and blood must be kept absolutely clean and pure. c. His food must be nourishing, digestible, suitable to his age and capacity. d. He must have abundant fresh air, fun and exer- cise. e. He must be taught to oxygenate (purify) his blood by deep breathing and healthy exer- cises. PHYSICAL HEALTH n f. Minor defects, such as errors of refraction (visual), adenoids and bad tonsils, must be corrected. g. His sleep must be unbroken, in absolutely health- ful quarters. h. His clothing must be adapted to requirement and season rather than fashion. i. He must be taught to avoid unnecessary dangers. To insure regularity in bowel movement, place him on the utensil every morning on waking. He will in this way become habitu- Constipatlon ated to regular bowel action from the first, and be saved infinite trouble and suffering in later years. When it is pronounced by competent authorities that constipation is one of the most fertile causes of internal cancer, the extreme urgency of eradicating any tendency that way will surely be realized. Laxative foods, bran, oatmeal, maple syrup (if genuine) and an occasional dose of California Syrup of Figs, or a spoonful of olive oil (pure, never cotton- seed substitute) may be used to induce free peristaltic action (bowel movement). 2. Dental Precautions and Bathing If you have fed him properly from birth, and above all, if he has been a breast-fed baby, TeeHb. you will probably have little trouble with digestive disturbances or teeth- ing. But with the seventh year comes the displace- ment of baby teeth by the second or permanent va- riety. It may be wise to note here that tiiese second teeth, to be regular and healthy, demand care of their 12 PRACTICAL CHILD TRAINING forerunners, the impermanent, milk teeth. Too man}^ parents say, "Oh, if they decay, it's nothing. They will come out anyway soon." But this is a great mistake. You must have the dentist see them and if need be, fill them, if you want a sound set of second teeth. It is important for the child's physical well-being that the mouth be always kept in sanitary condition. Lesson 1 AIM To teach a child of seven the use of the toothbrush. DEFINITE INSTRUCTIONS Now, we have seen that it is never wise to teach a new lesson at unpropitious moments. We will sup- pose Cecil, aged seven years, meets you as you return from shopping laden with bundles. He will naturally be curious to know their contents. Tell him, "These are just things for dinner tonight, dear. But I have a little package here that is all for Cecil. Can you guess what it is ?" "Candy.? Atop?" "No, not candy nor a top. It is this nice little tube of toothpaste called 'Kolynos' (which tastes very much like candy, too !). Then there is this little box with your very own toothbrush in it, and a nice little tack on which to hang it up. See? And this bottle of pink stuff which tastes so good, called — PHYSICAL HEALTH 13 'Lavoris.' Now, we will put them in the bathroom, phall we?" "What's this, mother? It looks like a spool of silk for the sewing machine." "Why, I forgot that. That is dental floss. You will see tonight when I show you just how to use each one of them." "Oh, let's do it now, mother, do let's." "Very well, dear, only let me take off my hat." He is eager to try the new game of tooth drill. You expected to wait for nightfall, but he wants it now. In such a case it is wise to indulge him, because to teach him hovv to clean his teeth is purely construc- tive and therefore educational. Take him to the toilet. Tell him never to expec- torate or throw out fluids from his mouth into the washbowl, but into the toilet. "Now, Cecil, here is your toothbrush ; see, it has a number on it—3—so you will always have your own. Now squeeze a little of this toothpaste on it, and that's the way—brush your teeth thoroughly back and forth and up and down. Now rinse your mouth with water—not quite cold but lukewarm. Now brush your tongue ever so gently and the roof of your mouth. Now rinse your mouth again, thoroughly. Now rinse your tongue ever so gently and the roof of your mouth. Dear, after lunch and breakfast and supper pour a little of this pink stuff (Lavoris) into the water—so—and rinse your mouth with it after you have used one of these toothpicks in this little box. After you use the toothpick, throw it away." : 14 PRACTICAL CHILD TRAINING COMMENTS TIlis is a complete tooth drill.

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