Home

Life in the making: 335 total pages.

near by, broke in with this remark, "Oh, yes, mother, I saw a hundred mice running down the back stairs yesterday!" In con­nection with such cases as this there arises the ques­tion, Was the child just pretending or was he con­sciously falsifying? It is quite probable that he wad just indulging in his love of story-telling. It is usu­ally best in such cases for adults to enter into the child's play and pretend as he does. If, however, the children are very much given to imaginative stories, and if they do not seem to be able to distinguish between fact and fancy, it is well, while entering into their play, to help them to realize that you EARLY CHILDHOOD 33 know it is only fancy. At the same time an effort should be made to cultivate accuracy of observation. Whenever he is discussing something which he really knows to be true, he must learn to describe it ac­curately. This will serve to curb any tendency to exaggeration. As the child becomes self-conscious he discovers the possibility of concealing facts which be knows or of deliberately

42 of 335 pages. Go to page: