Study of Child Life by Marion Foster Washburne
page 73 of 195 (37%)
page 73 of 195 (37%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
so helpless, to rule and persuade others to satisfy his legitimate
desires, such as the desire for food, sleep, affection, and knowledge; but when be demands indulgencies, reserve your own liberty of choice, so as to clearly demonstrate to him that you are exercising choice, and in doing so, are well within your own rights. [Sidenote: Low Voice Commands] There is one simple outward observation which greatly assists us the inculcation of these fundamental truths--that is the habit of using a low voice in speaking, especially when issuing a command or administering a rebuke. A loud, insistent voice practically insures rebellion. This is because the low voice means that you have command of yourself, the loud voice that you have lost it. The child submits to a controlled will, but not to one as uncontrolled as his own. In both cases he follows your example. If you are self-controlled, he tends to become so; if you are excited and angry, he also becomes so, or if he is already so, his excitement and anger increases. While most mothers rely altogether too much upon speech as a means of explaining life to the child, yet it must be admitted that speech has a great function to perform in this regard. Nevertheless it is well to bear in mind that it is not true that a child will always do what you tell him to do, no matter how plain you may tell him, nor how perfectly you may explain your reasons. [Sidenote: Limitations of Words] In the first place, speech means less to children than to grown persons. Each word has a smaller content of experience. They cannot |
|