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Show Your Baby Reader Wonders if Girls Are Smarter Than Boys - . - - - - r -By MYRTLE METER ELDRED Our leaflet on 'Average Ages at Which Teeth Appear" may be had by sending three-cent stamped, self-addressed envelope with your letter to Mrs. Eldred of the your baby and mine department In care of The Salt Lake Telegram. Individuals who know children well and have lived intimately with them, sometimes express opinions, without knowledge that their observations obser-vations have a sound, eclentiflc basis of fact It Is these opinions which pass from generation to generation gen-eration without challenge. Mrs. M. V. asks some of these questions which relate to the differences dif-ferences existing between the sexes. (1) Are boys slower at teething then girls and slower to talk? 2 Is It true that boya are harder than girls to train In cleanly toilet habits T 3) Are boys less smart than girls until they are of school age and then usually forgo ahead and are smarter ? "I have heard these things said so often and I do not think they are correct I'd appreciate your opinion." Allowing for the multitude of Individual In-dividual differencee between all klnda of children, whether female or male, It is quite true that boys develop more slowly than girla. You have often heard it said that a boy of 12 Is not as "old" aa a girl of 12, and it is true that at that age there la about two years' difference in their level of development Naturally, the difference would not be as great In Infancy but many authorities do note a difference in developmental rate, and that would account for the difference In tbe girl's ability to talk, in ber earlier acceptance of toilet controla and her more obvtoue "smartness." I do not think there la any difference in the ages at which teeth appear and ths last question should be somewhat some-what different than you have stated stat-ed It Because thle is auch.a big subject sub-ject you might like to read more about it Tbe following books are suggested: "The Development of Learning In Young Children," Louisa C. Wagoner; "Mental Growth and Decline." H. L. Hol-lingsworth, Hol-lingsworth, and "Mental Growth of the Pre-School Child," Arnold Geld. |