for them. Among these are carpentry and decoration, or the building of models of houses and cabins and gardens and airplanes and ships. These projects can be graded step by step, so that when the child has mastered them he passes on to other works, representing historical or military or industrial events or the like.
Say the same of an interest in gardens and flowers and plantings. Even the small child loves to dig in the garden and set out plants and pick blossoms or pieces of fruit and greenery. And if it becomes clear to the parents that the child's gift lies in gardens and in nature, it is possible to lead him by degrees to other work of the same kind — such as tending the fish in the pond, or the small animals, or the poultry — and to make him give his attention to them and not to himself.
The experts, however, insist at the same time on an important point: that parents must direct their children to the hobby which they feel that they — the children — love, not to what pleases them — the parents; for the matter concerns the children and not their elders. If the parents persist in imposing the hobby they want upon their children, they create resentment in them and drive them to shrink into themselves, and the result in the end is exactly the opposite of what they intended.
A well-known American surgeon has told this story. He said: When I was a child of six, I
was shy to a great degree. One day my father called me and began showing me the beauty of finely bound books and the methods of binding and ornamentation. Very soon the desire to imitate appeared in me, and I began working at bookbinding. This required acquaintance with a variety of operations calling for knowledge and precision, and I came to spend long hours upon them — and during that time my work kept me from thinking of myself. Before very long I had gained two important things:
the first, my mastery of binding; the second, my liberation from shyness. And the surgeon added that his skill in binding, and the precision in small matters it demands, had a great share in his skill as a surgeon!
The experts close their counsels by insisting on patience: parents must take things with deliberateness and strive without weariness, and not lose heart if their children are not cured of shyness within a matter of days — for the result is certain if they persevere in the treatment.
Lasting Beauty
"Tobralco" is the guaranteed cotton fabric that is washed and rubbed and grows ever more lustrous and beautiful. Its durability makes it, without a doubt, the favored fabric. "Tobralco" offers different varieties to suit all tastes. Ask your dealer [...] the words
TOBRALCO A TOOTAL PRODUCT
stamped on both edges of the cloth, so that you may be certain of buying the famous TOOTAL brand. The words TOBRALCO and TOOTAL are two registered trademarks.
TOOTAL REGD
GUARANTEED
FABRICS
The words 'TOOTAL' and 'TOBRALCO' are Registered Trade Marks