For freedom, homes and liberty Of Allies far across the sea. It stands as pledge of all that's true Beneath the old Red, White and Blue. BROWNIES We clap our hands and dance with glee CHRISTMAS TREE This is the tree that brings such joy Of all the lovely trees that grow This surely makes the grandest show. (Have a little Christmas tree trimmed with all sorts of toys and bright tinsel.) BROWNIES Merrily, merrily, here we go, Gaily we join in our nightly spree BIRCH Among the firs so dark and green The pure white birch stands out serene. In Hiawatha you have read Of birch-bark for a writing pad, BROWNIES Little brownie folks are we MOUNTAIN ASH The mountain ash in early spring Is crowned with flowers fit for a king. I've seen the grosbecks, when the snow Had covered up the weeds below, To feast, and shelter from the wind. After reciting the last verse children and brownies dance in pairs in and out among the trees. They dance for a few minutes, then gradually disappear. (Curtain) Children in chorus: Now our word we'll give And our pledge we'll take To protect the trees For the children's sake. They're a heritage from God above And to them we'll give our help and love. THE BOND OF MOTHERHOOD Upon the roofs the sun beats down; In crowded quarters of the town The plea they make each day For outdoor playground, where the rain On the baked pavement cools For a brief space the little feet, Searching for stagnant pools In worn-out hollows of the street. To her at work there comes unsought, Comes, as she watches, that dread thought. Her mother-heart is gripped by fear A spectre grim is near. The tide rolls in, clear blue; white foam In happy groups the children roam, Shells in each tiny hand. With bare, brown legs the youngsters play, Their eyes with joy, the livelong day— To her, idle on the sand, unsought A spectre grim is near. Mothers with children far away From stifling streets and heat, Mothers who ceaseless toil all day, Their babies at their feet, In common have one prayer, one thought, "Lord, bless my little child," The one boon from high Heaven sought. "O Thou, with mercy mild, Keep this dread spectre from our door," Is the one prayer of rich and poor. So shall not we who have today -Ethel M. Barry. If you think you're outclassed, you are. TRAINING LITTLE CHILDREN By Mrs. Alice Barton Harris Let us Not Cripple our Children's Self-dependence and Initiative I sometimes wonder what the city child is able to show in the self-dependence and initiative when the inevitable day arrives that he must stand on his own feet. It seems to me that he is never left alone. In well-to-do families he usually passes from the teacher's hands directly into the hands of his governess or tutor who instantly assumes the responsibility for his safety and well-being. He works and plays under supervision, and has no initiative or a sense of responsibility. In the name of education, we are crippling that we should cultivate. The best way to develop initiative is to let the child alone for at least a part of each day. I think it shows an almost insulting lack of faith in his intelligence, this constant attendance on him. Even if he does make a few blunders, he will be developing him. self that way. My husband and myself were brought up in all the freedom of large spaces, and after a few years of New York apartment life, we realized that our boys were going to lose out on most of the joys of childhood unless something was done about it. So we bought, for almost nothing, a hundred-acre valley, 2000 feet up in the Catskills, and 500 feet above the nearest village—a real wilderness into which no self-respecting servant would dream of setting foot. There was a rough little cabin in it which was quite adequate for a summer home. Our object was to have a place where the children could stretch their bodies and souls, and incidentally where the parents could also-where light and heat and water didn't come by means of taps and buttons. We had to do all the work ourselves and the boys, then five and six, were expected from the beginning to do their share. They fetched the milk from the nearest farm, a half-mile distant, realizing fully that if they didn't get it there wouldn't be any milk, a crisis which could not exist in town. We have most of our dinners outside over a camp fire which, of course, the boys soon learn to make. They often serve us doubtful meals, over which they labor joyfully for hours beforehand. They have absolute freedom to wander over the mountains with only their dogs for protection; there are hours and hours when I have no idea where they are, and they come home with the most wonderful adventures to reconnt. For four months out of every year, they live the life of the pioneer boy. I think every city child should have that sort of summer experience, If possible, where responsibilities can be given him which he may assume or not, but where he must take the consequences. The child brought up under artificial conditions necessarily prevailing in city life, or in the summer hotel, has no point of contact with the old simple universal forms of human living, from which all wholesome developments take their root. APRIL STORY By Laura Rountree Smith Lady April came tripping over the hills with a basket of flowers. She called to her fairies and they danced over a rainbow bridge to greet her. Lady April said, "Whisper to the children to get out their rakes and hoes and wheelbarrows and garden seeds Tell them to make gardens and plant seeds in even rows. "What about Arbor Day?" whispered one fairy, Lady April said, "Tell them to plant little trees on Arbor Day." "The birds love the trees," said one little fairy and another little fairy nearly tumbled over laughing and singing. Oh, Lady April, now if you please, I'll tell them to plant gay Christmas trees.” "Christmas trees that will have candles upon them." said another little fairy. "They must plant fruit trees, and nut trees, and maple trees, how we love maple sap," said another fairy. Lady April said, "The tall trees will be used for masts for ships." Lady April with her smiles and tears went skipping across the meadow. The children awoke and said. "What a sunshiny shower, we will get our rubbers out." One little fairy sang, "Children, I was wondering whether I might creep under your umbrella." The fairy waved an umbrella of her own, but you might have called it a trillium leaf. 1st. Copy a part of the story each day, in a booklet shaped like an open umbrella, 2nd. Cut and paste April's basket of flowers. Cut the flowers and place in slits cut in the basket, 3rd. Color and name all the spring flowers. Draw and color fairies and the rainbow bridge. 5th. Name rainbow colors and draw a flower as nearly as you can to paint for each color. 6th. Cut hoe, rake, wheelbarrow. EDUCATION FOR FREEDOM THRU FREEDOM Prof. Patty S. Hill of Teachers College Reported by Hilda Busick Children are members of society, they alter human life around them, and they are altered by the social conditions by which they are surrounded. Therefore, like the adult citizen, they have the “right to life, to liberty, and to the pursuit of happiness." Every child has the right to live. We are just awaking to the fact that every child has this right to life. We have accepted, as it were, infant mortality in the past, but now we have determined to prove that the child, once here, has the right to live this life, to get the experience of joy and sorrow in this world. Matthew Arnold has said, "Nor let me die before I have begun to live." The child has a right to live as fully and richly as possible; to have life abundantly, healthily,-life that will make him glad, fresh, free, joyous. Health is of utmost importance; many of the unhappinesses of childhood begin in physical disorders. The child has a right to liberty. Many of us have the idea that our children belong to us, instead of realizing that they belong to something far bigger. When a child is impudent, it is our dignity which is upset. We must forget ourselves in order to give chief consideration to the welfare of the child. The difficulty in giving liberty to children arises out of the fact that they are so inexperienced, have so little background upon which to build conclusions; they are so impulsive, they have so little judgment because the physical basis for judgment has not fully developed. Because of these limitations, the term liberty for the child must be qualified,-not full liberty, but a growing liberty. The child has a right to the pursuit of happiness, but how much opportunity for this right is permitted in the average school? How much time during the day is a six year old child allowed to do what is not dictated by the teacher. In order to permit a child opportunity for these three rights, certain considerations must be discussed; (1) a curriculum that fits him, that is, one that takes advantage of the present condition of his nervous system, of those native instincts and impulses which make him ready to learn easily, effectively and productively; (2) protection while he is learning how, so that he will not be injured because of his ignorance. The duty of the teacher is to give him just enough opportunity; (3) opportunity to be a member of a group so that he can teach and be taught by the group. The teacher has too often thought that she must teach the child all he needed to learn, not fully realizing that children learn to help and to be helped by each other; (4) protection from too efficient a teacher; (5) the right of children to be individual; (6) the right of society to know that its children are growing, developing, learning. (Prof. Hill suggested reading of "The Hygiene of the Child" by Ter man, also "Suggestions of Modern Science in Education," by three professors of Johns Hopkins University.) In order to fit the curriculum to the child it may be necessary to alter the entire school environment, so that development and growth are in no measure sacrificed. There is a difference between growth and development, the latter requires equipment with material that will aid the former. To fit the curriculum to the individual child, to recognize that children are individuals, we must reduce the number of children to a teacher. In order that the child may learn from the group, he must be responsible to himself and to the group; the teacher must not step in and discipline,-settle things; this must be done by the group. Society, while having the right to test the growth of its children, must not lose faith in the things that cannot be measured,-leadership, for example. The technique of anything has to be learned in the same situation in which it will later be used. Democracy can only be learned thru the exercise of democracy. We cannot keep children in subjection and then expect them to know how to use freedom. Bolshevism is not the result of freedom, it is the result of centuries of oppression. THE WATERBOYS AND THEIR COUSINS By Charles Dickens Lewis 37 Illustrations. $.75 net. J. B. Lippincott Company, Publishers. Mother Nature's secrets are told to the little people by Prof. Lewis in the guise of the most charming stories imaginable in "The Waterboys and Their Cousins." The waterboys are drops of water whose history is traced through all their varied adventures; cloud, rain, water-course, sap, and many another metamorphosis; and the story of their many play-fellows-plants of all kinds-and their fellowworkers, such as the Little People of the Soil, are also delightfully told. There is The Story of the Clover, of Plant Store Houses, of Jack Frost and The Plant Babies who Float and Sail, of Plants that Never Were Babies, Twig Babies, The Story of the Corn, The Apple Tree Story, The Story of the Garden People,-these are but a few of the fascinating tales the good professor has gathered together for his little friends. The stories are all true. Prof. Lewis says, "While not facts, these stories are truths, and one need not fear that the imaginative child will not understand and appreciate the fictitious element and at the same time be ready to grasp the truths presented. ICTORY VIC IBERTY LOAN A BIRTHDAY IN THE KINDERGARTEN By Electa Bascom Something was happening in the Kindergarten! Mysterious packages were being taken in, and the children coming and going, had such knowing expressions as they carefully closed the doors. Little did we know that the First Grade was to be included in the surprise. Nevertheless, at eleven o'clock the secret came out. Miss P- came, her self, and formally invited the whole First Grade to a party in the Kindergarten! "Could we come?" "Come- why yes, indeed. We should be pleased to come." Who does not love a party, and especially a BIRTHDAY party just before NOON! Thirty-six of us tip-toed in the Kindergarten room and found Esther, the hostess, sitting before a regular birthday cake with pink frosting, alive with five blazing candles. Her little companions sat at tables arranged, banquet style, in an “L” around her. We were seated and the fun began. Everyone was happy. Miss P-, always equal to the occasion, smiled and asked, "Shall we sing a welcoming song for our company?" "Yes, Miss P-," came from all. "Would you like to sing 'Good Morning, Dear Children, We're Glad to See You'?" And in their soft baby voices they greeted us. Then she added, "It would be nice if our company could sing us something." So we sang, "Good Morning to You, Good Morning to You." Of course we all applauded as each class performed and the children were all radiant-each one was helping. Then, "Who would Esther like to have pass the napkins for her-Enid and Frank?" and we were each given a sheet of soft paper with the edges clipped to look like real napkins. "Whom will you choose to pass the animal crackers, Esther?" Esther looked and looked-"Shirley and Doris." So these tots passed animal crackers to the party and each took two. Orangeade was served by Miss P— in cups. It was now time to cut the CAKE, the "piece de resistance" of the day! "Would you like to blow out the first candle, Esther, because this is your cake?" So Esther blew one out. "Now, pick out four other little people to blow out the other four candles," and these were selected to aid her. "Esther may put the knife in the cake"-and proudly Esther forced the blade through the pink frosting. We all applauded, again. Then Miss P arose to the moment and completed the cutting. The cake was passed and each tot helped himself. The occasion meant so much to the little people. It was indeed, a party with a real hostess and a cake and candles. While we were preparing to leave, some tiny Patriot wanted to sing "America," and with Miss P at the piano, all stood and joined in the first LITTLE PIECES FOR LITTLE PEOPLE APRIL MUSIC A. Stanton Brown, 1067 Grand Avenue, Toledo, Ohio Tinkle, tinkle, Hear the raindrops On the roof above. Tinkle, tinkle, Silver tinkle! How their music soft I love. NAUGHTY ROVER By Lovina M. Atwood, San Diego, Calif. She had just placed a nice plate of biscuit Then ran off and left such a mess. THE SURPRISE By Lovina M. Atwood, San Diego, Calif. I cried, for I wanted a dolly like Jennie's "The fairies might give me a sweeter surprise." But Aunt Mary asked me to make her a visit. I rode on the horses and played with the puppies, For I was so happy . . . not very much homesick.. Well, Father came for me, so smiling and happy, But there was a "something" that seemed very queer For they would stop talking and laughing, so quickly When I and the puppies ran up very near. By Myra A. Buck. April's skies are dull and gray, Soft the rain drops fall; By the garden wall. One time I did not like my bath With all it's rub and scrub, But now it's lots of fun to take My dolly in the tub. Whene'er we go to spend the day I leave my other doll and take I take her bathing all day long, She surely does look cute; I had my mother make for her A little bathing suit. If my French doll would get that wet I really love her best of all, The best Declaration of Independence you can sign is one that runs in the following tenor: In order that I may have domestic tranquility during my lifetime anl for the peace and security of my family when I am gone I hereby renounce and abjure forever the habit of "buying-whatever-I-want-and-can-pay-for" unless I have set apart a fair part of my income for Investment in U. S. Government Securities. I hereby renounce and abjure the slavery of extravagance. I hereby proclaim my Independence and Freedom by virtue of my ownership of Liberty Bonds, evidence of my financial partnership with the Nation. I promise to enlarge that Independence and that Freedom by buying as large a part as possible of the VIC TORY LIBERTY LOAN OF 1919. If you think you are beaten, you are, If you think that you dare not, you don't., If you think you'd like to win, but you think you can't. If you think you'll lose, you've lost. Think big and your deeds will grow. Think small and you'll fall behind, Think that you can and you will, It's all in the state of mind. Life's battles don't always go |