By the time this little fellow is one year in school he knows all about who brought him from “heaven” and how the stork came, etc. He may have been most carefully reared in the little things which help to make him thoughtful and considerate of others; he may have been trained in every way to make him upright, honest and truthful, but the vile words with which this information thus received by him is clothed, the base and foul idea of love and marriage, the distorted view of the creative power which he receives, cannot help but stunt and deform his mind and leave his conception of the beauty of birth and love forever scarred.
If, on the other hand, the child had been told the truth by his parents and had the reasons explained to him for not talking to other children on this subject; if he had had impressed on him what a trust was his and how beautiful a gift to take care of, he would have been satisfied and his curiosity would have ceased.
There are excellent parents who pride themselves and boast of never promising their child anything from a toy to a spanking without keeping the promise, but who find themselves most embarrassed and confused when it comes to speaking about the facts of birth.
This attitude of mind comes from several reasons. One is that there are parents, good, faithful and loving, who do not know the dangers and results of street instruction, who think they are keeping the child “pure and innocent” and prefer to give the child the impression of “spiritual” birth, as implied in the answer “The angels brought you from heaven.”
Again, there are parents who know the value of home instruction, but know not how to tell them, and it is for these mothers that the following articles are written.
The best method is to begin to teach the little child when it is very young. At 4 years of age the first lessons of the flowers could be begun. Keep it up. Then a little later, say six months, teach about the fish or frogs. Then the next year the life of the birds should be taught, and by the sixth year the child will be ready for the mammals and humans. In case he asks questions before he has learned of the mammals, refer him back to the flowers and you will find an answer.
Most children are safe from being polluted in thought after the study of the flowers, but as the child’s mind keeps growing and developing, his questions in order to be answered truthfully demand that he be taught the higher stages of development.
Mothers, keep in mind, the beauty and wonder of it all, and as you proceed in the study of the mechanism of the reproductive organs of human beings you cannot but impress upon the child the beauty and wonder of love. Help the child to realize the sacred trust of his organs, the danger in misusing them. Help him to realize the physical and moral development which awaits him in parenthood, but above all keep him close to you in confidence through the truth.
My object is to help all mothers who wish to give their children the right conception of the beautiful truths of reproduction, and we shall begin our first lessons “The Flowers—Mr. and Mrs. Buttercup, their home and their family.”