MRS. C. L. STONE by Mrs. C. L. Stone

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 17, 1915

MRS. C. L. STONE

By Mrs. C. L. Stone

Training in Habits of Order and Helpfulness — No. 4

MRS. C. L. STONE

We often hear quoted the words of Isaiah: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” Nowhere is this more true than in training the little child to habits of order and helpfulness. It is impossible to take great strides in this training. It is the little touch here and the little touch there which count in the end for great results. And the giving of these little touches requires infinite patience on the part of parent and teacher. If they are to guide in the development of these youthful minds, it is evident that this cannot be done passively. It must be done actively, aggressively. The mind of parent or teacher must precede that of the child, and show him the possibilities of the simple things about him. In a spirit of destruction the youth might set fire to and burn up the grass, but he can be taught to weave it into beautiful baskets.

Says Miss Dopp: “Could parents and teachers take even a few minutes a day or a few hours a week to help children to see the possibilities in a pile of sand, an unoccupied piece of ground, the tough grasses and woody fibers growing in waste places, a neighboring tree, dry goods boxes, paper and paste; in short, in any of the legitimate materials in the environment of the child, there would be a saving of time for adults, and a more normal and happy growth in the child.”

Habits of Perseverance

“Children frequently engage in a piece of work, and become perplexed or weary of it, and wish to change, and take hold of something new, although they entered upon the work with enthusiasm,” says the author of “Christian Education.” “Thus they may take hold of several things, meet with a little discouragement, and give them up; and thus pass from one thing to another, perfecting nothing.

“Parents should not be so much engaged with other things that they have not time patiently to discipline those developing minds. They should not allow the love of change to control their children. A few words of encouragement or a little help at the right time may carry them over their trouble and discouragement, and the satisfaction that they will have in seeing completed the task they undertook will stimulate them to greater exertion.”

In our efforts to establish the principle of perseverance let us not overlook the fact that it is impossible for the youthful mind to concentrate for any great length of time on any one thing. We have abundance of scientific proof for this. Holding to our principle of setting our tasks within the capacity of the child’s capabilities, we shall obviate the disastrous results that come from overfatigue.

On the other hand, let us not underestimate the capabilities of our children, and weaken them in character as in physique by making their tasks too easy. On this point, Dr. McMurray says: “Many parents and teachers make the fatal mistake of thinking they must make the task easy. The result is a pitiful feebleness, flabbiness, and helplessness on the part of good, stout boys and girls who are fully capable of doing tasks twice as difficult. . . . Any one who supposes that he is increasing the interest of children in their work by directly helping them over all their hard places, does not understand human nature in children.”

This does not necessarily imply that children should never be helped. The point is, having once learned how to do a thing, the child thoroughly enjoys trying his powers, developing independence.

Takoma Park, D. C.