Chapter 2
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exercise. The force of some of the delicate organs of the brain seems
to be expended.
And not only has the physical and mental health of children been
endangered by being sent to school at too early a period, but they have
been the losers in a moral point of view. They have had opportunities
to become acquainted with children who were uncultivated in their
manners. They were thrown into the society of the coarse and rough,
who lie, swear, steal, and deceive, and who delight to impart their
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knowledge of vice to those younger than themselves. Young children
if left to themselves learn the bad more readily than the good. Bad
habits agree best with the natural heart, and the things which they see
and hear in infancy and childhood are deeply imprinted upon their
minds, and the bad seed sown in their young hearts will take root, and
will become sharp thorns to wound the hearts of their parents.
During the first six or seven years of a child’s life special attention
should be given to its physical training, rather than the intellect. After
this period, if the physical constitution is good, the education of both
should receive attention. Infancy extends to the age of six or seven
years. Up to this period, children should be left like little lambs, to
roam around the house, and in the yards, in the buoyancy of their
spirits, skipping and jumping free from care and trouble.
Parents, especially mothers, should be the only teachers of such
infant minds. They should not educate from books. The children
generally will be inquisitive to learn the things of nature. They will
ask questions in regard to the things they see and hear, and parents
should improve the opportunity to instruct, and patiently answer, these
little inquiries. They can in this manner get the advantage of the
enemy, and fortify the minds of their children, by sowing good seed
in their hearts, leaving no room for the bad to take root. The mother’s
loving instructions at a tender age is what is needed by children in the
formation of character.
The first important lesson for children to learn is the proper denial
of appetite. It is the duty of mothers to attend to the wants of their
children, by soothing and diverting their minds, instead of giving them
food, and thus teaching them that eating is the remedy for life’s ills.
If parents had lived healthfully, being satisfied with simple diet,
much expense would have been saved. The father would not have been
obliged to labor beyond his strength, in order to supply the wants of his