isa-normaladvance-1914-00204

Description: 204THE NORMAL ADVANCE& £kriou£ Qtimt of HiltBy EUNICE ASBURYPERHAPS there is never a more serious
time of life for those who are naturally
timid than the first day in the public schools.
The little child who entered the home has
grown used to all its surroundings. Whenever
an obstacle has been met, mother-love has been
near to point the way. But now after six
years in the dear home nest, it must leave it all
and go out into the big world. It must leave
mothers kind sympathetic face—leave mother,
who always, always understands, and measures
little folks by what they meant to do, and
overlooks what they actually do. It must leave
father, big kind-hearted father, who laughs at
all the little unfulfilled attempts at doing right,
and cuddles little one up on his knee and
shakes his big fist at those who dare interfere.
This little child must leave all the dear home
things and go out into the big world of school
—a big world of strange faces, strange facts
and strange ways—a big world over which
mother does not rule, but a strange creature
whom this little child does not know and
therefore fears. It must leave the dear home
nest with its sheltering and protecting love,
and go to a strange building so bare and so big
that little folks can not always find their way
there.So on the first day of school, mother takes
Little One to the great door beyond whose por¬
tals it knows not what awaits it. There may be
a Bluebeard, a Beast, a giant, or an old witch
who can change folks into anything she likes,
but mother is still there, and Little One clings
to her hand trying to be brave, yet with its
eyes it is beseeching and imploring her not to
leave it alone in this big empty world. But
mother does not know this, or perhaps she does
know, and feels it far more than the little soul
at her side but knows that it is best for herchild and that it must be. So she leaves Little
One, after it has been assigned to a seat, and
goes away. It is fine for her and fine for the
child that she does not once look back, for
mother could never leave those imploring eyes
and Little One could not then keep back the
tears that want so much to come.This little child has been set down in this big
institution, the school, and for a time it does
not think or feel or act. Great new facts
through which it cannot penetrate are walling
it about on every side. It realizes at last, that
at a queer desk in the front of the room, is a
great person with a mass of curly hair, not like
mothers. It realizes that this wonderful crea¬
ture wears a brown dress all beautiful and
frilly, and fastened in her belt is a red rose that
bobs its head as she moves. Now the rose is not
strange for mother has some just like it, so Lit¬
tle One likes to watch it bob its head. Finally,
Little One realizes that it can hear, and that
somewhere there is the sound of a beautiful
soft voice, and that the voice is telling a story
—yes, and that it is about Three Bears and, for
the first time, this little child moves in its seat
and sighs.In a haze of thought and sight and sound,
Little One lives through the morning, at recess
going in and out mechanically without ever
knowing the direction which it took or where
it went. The work which it is given to do is
all so new and strange that it can not find out
how it is to be done.Then the great being who rules over this
strange world comes down to the little child,
puts her arm around it, and kisses its dear lit¬
tle frightened cheek. Then, this strange new
world begins to open up to this little child. It
begins to understand, and great tears of joy
run down its cheeks, and mother comes to take
Source: http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/32668
Collection: Indiana State University Archives

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