4. Playmates—The parents' control. Ethics of play: honesty, courage, honor, etc. Moral and social training of play.
Books to Consult—Karl Groos: Play in Man. Newell: Games of American Children. Gomme: Children's Singing Games. Leland: Playground Technique and Playcraft.
Discuss the value of letting boys and girls grow up together as playmates. Athletic games for girls is also a good topic to take up. Play-rooms for children, with suggestions for the decoration of walls, treatment of floors, and furnishings may be discussed. Sunday plays for small children will be found full of interest. The growth of the provision for play for city children is treated in many magazines of recent date, with illustrations of playgrounds, garden spots, roof-gardens and the like.
IV—DISCIPLINE
1. The Trained Parent—Preparation for parenthood. Character and knowledge. Discussion of helpful books.
2. The Normal Child—The faults to be expected: forgetfulness, lack of cleanliness, lack of promptness, temper, etc. How shall we deal with the ordinary faults?
3. Special Faults—Disobedience, obstinacy, lack of self-control, dishonesty, lying. Discrimination as to seriousness. How far is imagination responsible for falsehood?
4. Punishments—Discuss the question: Is physical punishment ever allowable? Consider Abbott's theory of gentle measures. Fitting the punishment to the offense. The child's sense of justice. When are punishments outgrown?
Books to Consult—Jacob Abbott: Gentle Measures in the Management and Training of the Young. E. H. Abbott: On the Training of Parents. G. Stanley Hall: Youth: Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene.