Chapter 8—Preparation is Needed
The Mother’s Preparation Strangely Neglected—The child’s
first teacher is the mother. During the period of greatest susceptibility
and most rapid development his education is to a great degree in her
hands. To her first is given opportunity to mold the character for good
or for evil. She should understand the value of her opportunity and,
above every other teacher, should be qualified to use it to the best
account. Yet there is no other to whose training so little thought is
given. The one whose influence in education is most potent and far-
reaching is the one for whose assistance there is the least systematic
effort
Careful, Thorough Preparation Urgent—Those to whom the
care of the little child is committed are too often ignorant of its phys-
ical needs; they know little of the laws of health or the principles
of development. Nor are they better fitted to care for its mental and
spiritual growth. They may be qualified to conduct business or to shine
in society; they may have made creditable attainments in literature and
science; but of the training of a child they have little knowledge....
Upon fathers as well as mothers rests a responsibility for the
child’s earlier as well as its later training, and for both parents the
demand for careful and thorough preparation is most urgent. Before
taking upon themselves the possibilities of fatherhood and mother-
hood, men and women should become acquainted with the laws of
physical development—with physiology and hygiene, with the bearing
of prenatal influences, with the laws of heredity, sanitation, dress,
[64]
exercise, and the treatment of disease; they should also understand the
laws of mental development and moral training....
Never will education accomplish all that it might and should ac-
complish until the importance of the parents’ work is fully recognized,
and they receive a training for its sacred responsibilities
1
Education, 275
.
2
Education, 275, 276
.
43