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Show TRAINING OF QUINTS AIMED AT NORMALCY; 7" ' MV..vripht. 1 '' :i 7 , M:A hnmr I np j fj. ; ' V j Ak Modern nuriery routine calls for children to bi ajowod to do obou? at thay peseta in outdoor play poriodi, and that it the plan followed in tho ejuintt' nursery. At left, Cecile ehootot to lean around a tree and peek at tho photoorapher; at riqht.'lmilie geh tpot of derate out of a tawhorie. Girls Are Roared To Take Care of Their Own Needs Eeitet eofci: TVr b the lift ef eight article! telling fee Hie frrtt tine whet science ket leemed ebeut the Dieaae quintuplet. The orttclet ere beaea a acieatnfic aeaen read be-fere be-fere Ccncdiea end American tciee-tirh tciee-tirh et e pecIaT meeting is Tereirta. By BRUCE CATTON Copyright, 1WJ7. ror The Halt Lake Telegram. TORONTO. Ont, Nov. 6 The problem of training the Dionne quintuplets has been exactly like the problem met in any home where there la a group of small children to bring up. Five little girls are five little girls, even if they are the most famous ones on earth. And when experts In child training from St. George's School for Child Study, in Toronto, were called In to adviee on the training of the Dionnes, they simply adapted the principles that have been proven successful with other children. They met some problems, of aourse, and made some discoveries. Among thi problems': What do you do when a small quintuplet Insists on standing up at the foot of her bed when she aught to be lying down and sleeping? sleep-ing? What happens when five quints, duly ushered into the dining root Indulge in a wild free-for-all due to the fact that all flva of them want to sit in the same chair? Suppose a quint with a mind of , her own decides that she would rather tat her custard than her spinach, when spinach Is what aha really needs; what then? Meed Playmate Among the discoveries: That the quints can feed themselves them-selves quite capably, but that thay do it In a manner that would put Emily Post right under the table; That a quintuplet who doeen't want to go to sleep can devise stratagems cunning beyond her years; That flva youngsters of exactly the same age who grow up together, to-gether, mingling with no other children, chil-dren, ara somewhat handicapped, and that the quintuplets need to mix with older and younger children chil-dren whose backgrounds, bringing up, and so on ara different from their own. As soon as the quints outgrew the need for extraordinary precautions precau-tions made necessary by their prematura pre-matura birth, the need (or expert adviee aa to their training became apparent Called into consultation when the quints were about a year old. Dr. W. E. Blata suggested that their dally routine be based on these principles: A concept of discipline which Is educational rather than punitive. H.mLwh.hI M.Mn.ihilitV hV IT i A : --m 1 V ... j I. ' i 1 it i IConynshC 1937,'NEA'HrTvlcerinty. To teach the quintuplet! proper muteuUr coordination, inclined boards with little cleatt are tot up for them to walk on and here ere Marie end Annette giving ones whirl At right, Yvonne meditate the protpect of oivinej the front walk bit of tweaping. expecting children to look after their own needs aa far as possible. Arrangement of physical surroundings sur-roundings ao aa to stimulate the quints' sense of Initiative and adventure. ad-venture. Serenity Needed An attitude of serenity on the part of the adults associated with the quints, accompanied by an adult example of pleasurable Industry. In-dustry. The children's sleeping routine was tha first to come up for consideration. con-sideration. They had been getting about It hours of .sleep daily an hour and a half In tha morning, two hours or mora In the afternoon, and approximately 11 hours at night At tha at a of two tha morning aieep waa gradually reduced from two hours to about aa hour and a half.. Their sleeping habits have always bees remarkably regular, and it waa not until the fall of IMS that any problems arose. Then the quints apparently decided that the first hour after bedtime offered an unusually un-usually attractive chance for a little wholehearted romping, and proceeded pro-ceeded to act oa that decision. Fussily Teppkd Over Maybe they were being put to had too early T Bedtime waa postponed post-poned from (:M until T; but this meant nothing to the quints. Put them to bed and they wouldn't even lie down; Instead they would stand at tha foot of tha bed. Jabbering and gesturing at a great rata. One youngster once remained there until ahe fell aaleep standing up and toppled top-pled over on the bedding. There was nothing to do but put the quints In horisontal positions by force; which was all very well, except that as soon as a nurse left one duly stretched -out sister to at tend to another, the first one would bob up as blithely as ever. The only way out of this was to show the quints that the adults had Just a little mora endurance than they had. It took a lot of trouble, but it finally worked after weary nights in which one child might have to be put back to bed 10 or SO times. The quints finally got the Idea. An at One Table As soon as the children could sit up, they were fed in high chairs. Two nurses would go into action, each taking care of two quinta at a time. This meant trouble, for one quint always had to wait for the second table, didn't like it and ex-preeaed ex-preeaed her dtalike unmistakably. So the chairs were arranged in a semicircle and all tha quints were fed at once. By the fall of IBM the quints could drink from cups and use spoons fairly well, so small tables were installed, with two quints at one and three at tha other and a nurse at each to supervise. Now they aU eat at one table, with an adult eating with them. By contrast with tha traditional Little Willie, who hates to wash, the qulnte took to their washroom routine avidly. Each quint goes and gets her washcloth, toothbrush, comb, and towel, washea her hands and face, takes a somewhat ineffective ineffec-tive swipe at her hair with the comb and a vigorous but rather Inefficient whirl at her teeth with the toothbrush, tooth-brush, and then hangs things -up in their proper places. They do this just about as well aa the average year-old in tha nursery school. Nat Much rViperrtaiea The quints are also willing enough about learning to dress themselves. mmA aManw mls I H t h . althougn a gooa many steps in uie process ara naturally beyond them so far. They caa usually manage their stockings and shoes and their outdoor clothes. The children were taught how to use their outdoor play materials-sand materials-sand boxes, tricycles, wagons, and so on and for half an hour each morning they were seated around a low table and Initiated Into the mysteries of modeling clay, paints, and so on. Care was taken to avoid giving them toe much supervision; for the most part a quint plays with whatever toys or materiale ahe wishes, the only rule being that she must put one away before she gets out another one. That, thea. la a rough outline of the routine undet which the quintuplets quin-tuplets are being raised. NEXT: Measuring the meatal development at the quiatapeesa. |