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Show OUR CHILDREN By ANGELO PATRI REVIEW LESSONS TpVERY so often It Is necessary - for a pupllto go over the points he has ' learned. EIo repeats his rules, brushes up his tables, does the problems once more. This Is an essential step In his learning. It makes for thoroughness, for one thing. Our minds often trick us. We think we know a fact very welL It has a pleasant familiar feeling as we remember It In passing. "Oh, I know that," says the child, and goes on. - The wise teacher doesn't stop with that She says, "Good. Tell me all about it." Of tener than not the pupil is dismayed to find that this thing he knew so well slips from his grasp when he tries to lay hold of It. lie hesitates, stammers stam-mers and fidgets and finally says, "I knew that just as well as my own name and I couldn't say 1L" He didn't know It as well as he knew his own name. Ills name has been used so often that It has be- come a part of himself. The fact that slipped into the haze when i he tried to hold It had not been used often enough, had not been knitted Into the fabric of hl3 thought. Repetition alone will not help a child to knowledge. It Is not enough to repeat words, accurate though they may be. That Is only one form of an Idea, Its thinnest, most elusive elu-sive and deceptive form. To grasp Its values and make them useful to our thinking we have to know the idea in many forms in action, In association with other things. A child learns that a river is a stream of water running down hill townrd the sea. Suppose he never saw the boats carrying their loads up and down Its course, never saw the farms turn green and bear their harvests because of Its beneficent watering, never noted the difference Its drainage meant to the nearby uplands up-lands how much does he know about a river? We begin with the word but the word must be clothed and made manifest before a child knows much about it. When you are trying to help a child review a subject, instead of hammering on the set word, try to get a new view of it by helping the -child to find new associates for It IT'S RAINING ifTTS raining. Mother, it's raln-A raln-A ing. Does that mean we can't go?" "You certainly don't expect to go out In the rain? If it Is raining, you have to stay In the house. That's all." A groan runs through tho anxious group about the window. "Stay In all day? What will we do?" There are some rainy Saturdays In every year and that means a lot of disappointed children, for Saturday Satur-day is their Important day. They save up their treats for that day, they look forward to it all week, for weeks ahead. A disappointment like a rainy day Is no light blow to eager children. Sometimes the rain need not Interfere. In-terfere. If -thechildren were going go-ing to the circus, let them go. The circus In the rain Is great- fun. Usually, It Is under cover, anyway. Concerts, plays, museum trips, need not be affected by the weather. weath-er. The outdoor trip, the picnic and the like and the week-end camping may be Impossible, but sometimes there Is a chance even for them. If there Is, let them take It. Getting a wetting is not going to hurt a healthy child. They are as waterproof as young ducks, provided provid-ed they are in good health and their clothes are fit There Is beauty in a rainy day. The soft gray that veils the world enchants it. The everyday things take on an air of mystery. The smells and the feels of a rainy day are a welcome variety vari-ety in the children's experiences. It would be a pity to deprive them of the delights that the rains bring. The drip of tho rain from the trees, the echoing voices, the soft I thud of footsteps on fallen leaves, the smell of earth that lies open to the meat and drink that the season is offering, the colors and the atmosphere at-mosphere of all our days offer something some-thing precious and lasting to the children who can enjoy them. I don't like to teach children that a rainy day checks them completely. complete-ly. It may not be wet enough to change their plans. If a rainy day outfit will settle the difficulty let them put it on and go ahead. If It Is too heavy a rain use one of the alternatives you have had in mind. I Instead of an outdoor excursion make It an indoor one to some interesting in-teresting place, nelp them to use the rainy day and enjoy it. ! The weather " does . not hurt healthy children. Dress them to meet it Instead of dressing them by the calendar, nse the thermometer. thermome-ter. A sweater can be. worn with comfort on a cool day and laid aside with perfect safety on the following, follow-ing, warmer day. We master the weather. We like it. We enjoy the changes In color and atmosphere and temperature that It brings. Who wants to, be. afraid of a rainy day? ' CCCir fyndlciVto. WNU Service. |