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’THE ATTETUDES AND PRACTICES
OF PARENTS 1N RELATION TO THEIR
CHiLDREN OF PRESCHOOL AGE

Thais for the Degree cf M. A.
MICWCAN STATE. COLLEGE

Carrie McLain
1943

 

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MSU Is An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institufion
6W”:

 

THE ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES OF PARENTS IN RELATION
TO THEIR CHILDREN OF PRESCHOOL AGE

by

Carrie MbLain
w

A THESIS
Submitted to the Graduate School of Michigan
State College of Agriculture and Applied
Science in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Home Management and Child.Development

1943

\

l

.f‘
L

m

The writer wishes to eXpress her appreciation
to Dr. Irma H. Gross for her supervision, interest,

and helpful suggestions in this study.

TaBLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page
I. Background and Purposes of the Study.............. 1

War Time Needs for Care of Young Children...... 1
The Situation in England....................... 3
Plans for Day Care in the United States........ 5
Purposes Of the Study.0.000.0.00...00.0.0.00000 11

II. Revie.w of Literat11r800.0000..0000... 0.0.0000...000 13
Care of Children in the Home................... 13
Results of the Survey of Day Care Needs in

the City Of Lansing. 0 . 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . 0 0 16
III. LiethOd Of the Present St‘l-ldy. 0 . O . 0 . 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19
IV. Findings Of the stUdy.00.0.00000000.0.000.00000... 25

General Information............................ 25

Practices of Mothers in Caring for Preschool
Cllildren in the Home.00.....00000000000000O0 2’6

Attitudes of Iothers toward Nursery Schools.... 45

V. Summary and Conclusions of the Study.............. 63
Practices of Lothers in Caring for Preschool

Children in the Home........................ 64

attitudes of Lothers toward Nursery Schools.... 75

00110111310113...0.00000...000.000.000.00000000000 80

Bibliogradphyoo.0.00.....000.00.0..0000000.00.00.0..0... 83

Appendix

Map of the Area Used in the Schedule
Copy of the Schedule

LIST OF TABLES

 

Table

1.
2.

11.

12.

13.

14.

Composition of Group by Age and Sex................

Mothers Employed or Expecting Employment
According to the Type Of workoooocoooooooooooooo

Children's Preferences for Toys--by Age............
Children's Preferences for Toys-—by Sex............
Children Who Like to Hake and Build Things.........
Types of Creative materials Used...................
Children's Choices in Literature...................

Children's Interests in Singing and Listening

to LIUSiCoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Music Preferences of Children......................

Mothers' Practices in Establishing Bed Time
Hours for Children0000000.00.000.00000000.000...

Mothers' Attitudes toward Home-Keeping Women
Placing Children in Nursery Schools.............

Mothers' attitudes toward Having Their Own
Children Attend Nursery School..................

Mothers' attitudes toward Type of Nursery
SChOOl: PUblj-C or Private...000000000000000.0000

Reasons for Choice of Nursery School: Public
or I)I‘j-.va‘te00.00000.0.0.0000.00.00.000.00000000.0

Page
23

25

39

57

Chapter I

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSES OF THE STUDY

With statistical proof and concrete evidence all
around of the need for women in industry, and the knowledge
that many of these women will come from.homes with children,
it becomes ever more important that plans be put into ef-
fect swiftly to protect the home life of children. In
peace time 500,000 women a year enter the labor force in
the United states. (32) Industry, trade, transportation;
almost universally there is need for more employees. In-
creasingly large numbers of workers must be women. The
Census Bureau estimated in January of 1943, that 15 million
women were gainfully employed. (31) This number is an in-
crease of about 20 per cent since December of 1941, and 35
per cent since the spring of 1940. Still we have not reach-
ed the peak. More women will have to go to work to replace
men as the war advances. By the beginning of 1944, it is
estimated there will be an additional 2,750,000 to 5,000,000
women employed in this country. (14,52)

So far there has been no need to conscript woman power
for industry in this country, though in several manufactur-
ing areas in the NeW'England states and in Michigan, enroll-

ment campaigns have been carried out to secure registration

of women for war work. (21) These local endeavors have

been the result of labor shortages plus the difficulties of
transporting workers from other sections of the country and
making more complicated the already difficult housing con-
ditions.

There are no exact national figures which give the num-
ber of employed women who are married. Because of financial
and patriotic reasons, many such women must work even though
they have young children. Such figures as are established
on the gainful employment of married women show that there
has been a gradual rise in the proportion since 1890, when
4.6 per cent of married women were employed. By 1930, this
figure had raised to 11.7 per cent, by 1940, 35.5 per cent
of all married women. These figures are based on reports
from 36 states. (16)

This seeming jump is less spectacular and more readily
understood if it is viewed in the light of the per cent of
married women among the gainfully employed. This gives a
more gradual increase in the course of time than can be
seen by looking at the per cent of gainful employment among
married women. Here we find that in 1890, 13.9 per cent of
all employed women were married. Through the succeeding
decades the figures have increased fairly consistently, the
last figure being through coincidence identical with the

proportion of married women gainfully employed in 1940.

1890 ------------------- 13.9 %
1900 ------------------- 15.4 %
1910 ------------------- 24.7 s
1920 ------------------- 23.0 %
1930 ------------------- 28.9 g
1940 ------------------- 35.5 %

These changes in employment trends necessitate equally
large changes in present day patterns of living. As moth-
ers leave home for jobs in factories, plans must be perfect-
ed and acted upon quickly to care for their children and

preserve the security of emerican home life.

The Situation in England:

The English faced this problem and came to at least a
partial solution before the war had involved the United
States. They have had the serious difficulty of caring for
children physically, mentally, and emotionally in four years
of war. Fortunately, the British government had made a
thorough study of the needs of young children and the fac-
ilities for meeting these needs long before the war appear-
ed imminent to the general public.

The Consultative Committee of the Board of Education
in England (12) began a series of investigative studies in
the 1920's as a basis for reports on public school education
in England. Originally they intended to study only the ed-
ucational needs of the adolescent. As they finished the
report it became clear that it was necessary to survey the

primary schools in order to have an understanding of the

background of the older group. The second study led to the
third, the report on Infant and Nursery Schools, which was
published in November of 1933. All the phases of child dev-
elopment in effect in England for children up to the age of
seven years were studied.

The report first set up the aims and purposes of the
nursery school, saying that

"The fundamental purpose of the nursery school
or class is to reproduce the healthy conditions of
a good nursery school in a well managed home, and
thus to provide an environment in which the health
of the young child, physical, mental, and moral,
can be safeguarded. The training of the nursery
stage must be a natural training, not an artifi-
cial one. Its aim is not so much to implant the
knowledge and habits which civilized adults con-
sider useful, as to aid and supplement the natural
growth of the normal child."

When this report was read before Parliament and sub—
sequently published, it created a wide spread interest
throughout the country in schools for the nation's youngest.
It also became the framework for the child care program
which has developed since the war began for England in 1939.

Because Britain has almost every available man in the
armed services and at the same time is running an enormous
number of war plants at maximum production rates, there has
been the necessity of registering all women between the
ages of 18 and 65 years for employment outside the home.

Sixteen million women in this age group were registered.

(14) Ten million of them are already gainfully employed.

Women with children less than 14 years old are re-
quired to register, but are not being recruited for employ-
ment outside the home. In July of 1942, there were only
383,000 mothers with children under 14 who were working
full time. (17) Lady Simon in her report on working mothers
in England, estimated the number of mothers working full
time would not grow appreciably because every effort is be-
ing made to employ these women on the part time basis.

To care for England's 2 to 3 million children who are
under 5 years of age, there are now 1500 whole time war
nurseries. (19) These have a combined capacity of 60,000
to 76,000 children. These nurseries are equipped and main-
tained by the Ministery of Health at a cost to the mothers
of only 20 to 30 cents a day. The staff of such a school
is made up of a nurse who is in charge, assistants who have
had training comparable to our nurses' aids, and whenever
possible a teacher is employed for the 4 and 5 year old
children. Even this simple set up is difficult to maintain.
It will be virtually impossible to expand the program to
any extent because of the shortage of building facilities

and of personnel to staff the schools.

Plans for Day Care in the United States:

The United States recognized the importance of the

problems of children and the necessity of having some fed-

 

 

 

. .vauknoorm ...n..\....
San?! .. .. I. . . .
fl.
-

 

 

eral Policy for handling these problems before the first
World War. In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt called
the first White House Conference on Children. Never before
had such a subject been considered by the government of
this country.

One of the recommendations of that conference was that
a special commission or bureau be established in the feder-
al government to formulate policies and handle the problems
of children as they arose. (5) The Children's Bureau of
the Department of Labor was the direct answer to that recom-
mendation. Since its inception in 1912, it has promoted
three other conferences in the White House. In January of
1940, the latest one was called to discuss the needs of
children and to adopt a report on essentials of a program
for child care and protection. The conference recognized
fully that the well-being of the children of the United
States would inevitably be affected by world conditions and
that there was greater need than ever before to safeguard
the heritage of freedom.and opportunity which is the birth-
right of the children of this country. They planned a long
range program to cover a period of 10 years and perhaps
longer. These plans depended largely on the states them-
selves for effectiveness. Since that conference, 26 states
in this nation have established.White House Conference Com-

mittees with the sanction of the governor of the state. (13)

They represent all agencies, public and private, working
for the protection of children. many of their members are
interested volunteers.

The key note of the unified program of each of these
committees has been its slogan, "Our Concerno-Every Child".
With the aid of the National Conference Committee they have
set up definite objectives for the nation, the state and
the local community.

Then came our participation in the war itself. The
need became dramatic, even emotional. As communities tried
to speed up the needed service planning there was much talk,
a great deal of garbled activity, and very little worthy
action. Those cities which had had the basis of good child
care organizations and recreational planning already, ex-
panded and made plans for valuable service in this new area.
Such cities as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (20); Cleveland,
Ohio (7,10); Seattle, Washington (15); and Springfield,
Massachusetts (1) have all accelerated their programs so
that the situation is being met constructively. Each of
these cities still has unmet needs, but the program is
sound.

Into this picture came federal planning and money to
aid local communities in facing their problems. First came
the President's Emergency Fund (27) of $400,000.00, “to

be used for administrative services necessary for ascer-

taining such programs on the state and local levels". The
money is dispersed through the Children's Bureau only, to
states which have submitted plans showing that there are no
state or local funds available for such a program. The
funds do not pay the cost of establishing or maintaining
day care units, but may only be used for promoting and co-
ordinating programs. By march 15, 1943, 23 State Welfare
Departments (25) had established plans for day care pro-
grams, working with money from the President's Fund and
from state finances.

In June of 1941, the Lanham Act was passed by Congress.
(22,23) This came as a result of a study by the National
Resources Planning Board who discovered that federal money
was necessary to relieve the pressure on communities due to
vast population shifts that have arisen with the war. The
Lanham.Act and its amendments make available $300,000,000.00
to provide for both the construction and provision or oper-
ation of local facilities and services needed to further
the war effort in communities unable themselves to provide
these essentials without resorting to excessive taxation or
incurring an excessive volume of debt. There are only two
restrictions placed on Lanham Act money. (11) These are
that it may not be used to finance facilities which may com-
pete with private interests and that no money may be used

for relief or welfare. Hence, money may be appropriated

for the establishing and equipping of day care centers and
for salaries of the staff, but cannot be used for buying
food for such schools or for paying social workers connected
with them. All projects must be certified as necessary by

a federal agency having special knowledge of the purposes

to be served. For example, approval by the United States
Department of Education is necessary before day care cen-
ters can be established.

The President must pass his opinion on each project as
to whether it is in an area in which "an acute shortage of
public works...necessary to the health, safety, or welfare
of persons engaged in national defense activities exists or
impends which would impede national defense activities".
Day care projects have fitted only recently into the pic-
ture. By January of 1943, 70 day care centers had been ap-
proved in 7 states by administrators of Lanham not money.
At the same time there were still in operation, 1500 nur-
sery schools and 1250 preschool play groups under the Works
Progress Administration. many of these have been closed
since the Works Progress Administration was discontinued.
Others are now operating under local funds or under the
Lanham.Act.

Another bill has been considered by Congress. The
Thomas-Hill Bill was proposed as the Educational Finance

Act of 1943, by the Senate Education and Labor Committee.

10

(26,28) It was scheduled to be heard in Congress in the
spring of 1943, and as written «authorizes ssoo,ooo,ooo.oo
for 1944 and each fiscal year thereafter which shall be ap-
portioned by the United States Commission of Education to
States, Territories, and possessions qualifying by proper
legislative acceptance with this act for use in, first,
providing equal educational opportunities through public
elementary schools through out the United States, and, sec-
ond, meeting emergencies in financing public elementary and
secondary schools". This differs from the Lanham Act in
that it is to be used only for financing school programs,
paying of salaries, and expanding the curriculum to include
nursery schools and the extended school program for school
aged boys and girls during this emergency.

In recent governmental revisions, the Commission on
Day Care of Children has been made a part of the Community
War Services. (29) Under these auspices, a bill has been
drafted for the express purpose of financing day care pro-
frams and extended school services for children of women in
war work. The proposal was, in may of 1943, with the Sen-
ate Committee on Education and.Labor of which Senator Thomas
of Utah was chairman. It proposed that each state would
draw up its own plans of handling child care needs and
clear them through the Children's Bureau and the Office of

Education. Federal funds would be handled by the Community

11

War Services and would pay half the cost of the approved
projects. The bill will probably ask for $20,000,000.00.
It is scheduled to be heard in Congress in the early summer

of 1943.

Purpose of This Study:

With world conditions in a crescendo of rapid change,
it is impossible for social planning to evolve naturally.
The war will not wait until we work out a scheme for pre-
serving the essential qualities of American home life and
have the opportunity to carry them out. It is necessary
for the government and social agencies to determine our
needs for us with as much fore-sight as is humanly possible,
and to take all necessary steps in helping local commun-
ities make these plans function.

The best of plans fail miserably if they are out of
focus with the level of thinking of the people for whom
they were intended. 'Child care is a service to children
and their parents in this time of war and mothers working.
It has value only as it is accepted, understood, and used by
the mothers and fathers of our country. The extent of this
acceptance and understanding may be ascertained by either
trying the plan or by interviewing the people for whom it
is intended in order to discover their practices in caring

for young children, and their attitudes toward the proposed

12

method of day care.

It was the purpose of this study, therefore, to inves-
tigate the attitudes of parents toward the care of children
of preschool age as shown in their own practices in the
home and in their attitudes toward nursery schools.

Subordinate to this main purpose was the desire to
talk with parents, giving them information as to the aims
and functions of nursery education so that they might be
able to respond more intelligently to the day care program

for preschool children when it should become a reality.

13

Chapter II

REVIEW OF L ITERATURE

 

Care of Children in the Home:

The home life of the child has long been recognized as
an important area of influence in the child's development.
For most children the first five years are spent in the re-
latively small group comprised of parents, relatives, and
siblings. It is natural, then, that students of child dev-
elopment have considered the family as the basis for gain-
ing an understanding of the child's individual pattern of
behavior.

While this outlook has been appreciated by those in-
terested in children and their development, comparatively
few studies have been made of parental practices in the
home. The work of Buhler and others (2) of the University
of Vienna was based on observations of parent-child relation-
ships in six families for a prolonged period of time, three
and a half to six months. It was their conclusion that
"The basic structure of family life is sensed by the child

in emotional contacts, and in the incentives and guidance

 

 

which he receives...The incentives may be manifold, numer-
ous, and adjusted to the child, or they may be few in num-
ber and ill adapted to him...The difference between favor-

able and unfavorable family structures was especially clear".

14

Hattwick (9) and Grant (6) worked with factors in the
home environment as related to nursery school children's
behavior patterns and personality traits. In this way they
obtained an objective view of the child's responses outside
the home environment to compare with knowledge gained of
the parent's home practices through interviews and tests.
Though the groups were widely separated and the exact meth-
odology differed, their results were similar. Both found
that over-protected children tended to withdraw from the
group of children their own age and exhibited infantile be-
havior. Children who were rejected at home or who received
inadequate attention showed aggressive behavior and tended
to be sadistic. Home environments encouraging "development
and expression of ideas" through providing the child with a
sufficient variety of play materials and by objective co-
operation with the child in his play, tended to correlate
significantly with self reliance, responsibility, resource-
fulness, and perseverance on the part of the child. On the
whole, a calm, happy home life was of great value in secur-
ing co-operative behavior and good emotional adjustments.

A home of tension and friction tended instead to produce
nervous habits and sadistic behavior in the child.

Coast (3) studied the problems of home environment of
preschool aged children by studying the knowledge and atti-

tudes of 166 of their parents on such subjects as preschool

15

education, corporal punishment, praise as a means of con-
trol, and others. The purpose of her study was to evaluate
parents' attitudes toward preschool children by comparing
them with those representing the currently favored stand-
ards of child development as evinced by eight judges. The
greatest difference between attitudes of the judges and the
parents was on the subject of corporal punishment. Here
parents were found to be much more favorable to this type
of discipline than the judges. Coast found both parents
and judges favorable toward preschool education and toward
the use of praise as a means of control.

The present study differs from those mentioned chiefly
in its motivation and method. The above studies were an
endeavor to develop a sound basis for a curriculum for child
study groups and parent education classes. The one now un-
der consideration was primarily concerned with discovering
parents' practices in caring for preschool children in the
home and determining parents' attitudes toward nursery.
schools as a means of care for these children outside the
home, with the expectation that the city's present plans for
day care of young children might subtly be aided by the
conscious attempts of the interviewer to direct parents'
thinking on these lines.

The effort to inform.parents of the value of nursery

school care for the preschool child was impelled by the re-

16

port of the study of day care needs in the city of Lansing.
(8) The research of the committee making this report was
basically fact-finding. The conclusions of the report
raised many questions in the mind of the present writer as
to the knowledge of parents within the area surveyed on the
subject of nursery schools and their attitudes toward these

schools.

A Study of the Need for Day Care in Lansing, Michigan:

The Ingham.County Council of Social Welfare and the
Ingham County Defense Council organized a special committee
to investigate the needs for day care of the children of
working mothers in the city of Lansing. (8) The purposes
of the investigation were,

“To discover the number of working mothers with
young children in the city

To find how these mothers were actually taking
care of their children at the time and to learn
their need for new services

To canvass the extent of existing resources for

congregate care and appraise their adequacy for

day care for children of defense workers, and

finally

To determine what additional facilities for day

care, if any, needed to be provided by the com-

munity."

This undertaking was begun in June of 1942. Several

methods of gaining names of working mothers and of survey-

ing the community were used. Air raid wardens, the United

17

States Employment Service, the Lansing Suboffice of the
Detroit Ordnance District all supplied names. Volunteers
were recruited to take the interviews and 16 women were
given some training for the work. Social agencies co-oper-
ated by filing schedules for those of their own clientele.
Personnel managers of the various defense plants aided in
distributing simplified questionnaires to their employees.

Of the reports which came in, 351 were usable. It was
estimated by the committee that this sample represented 20
to 23 per cent of the total number of working mothers with
children between the ages of 2 and 14 years in the city.
The actual number of such mothers when the survey was com-
pleted in the fall of 1942, would probably have reached
1500. At that time many defense plants were hesitant to
employ women workers. As the manpower shortage became
greater, this figure undoubtedly rose.

These reports consisting of 200 interview schedules
and 151 questionnaires, covered 59? children. The families
were found to be scattered through out Lansing and in the
smaller communities surrounding Lansing, the most distant
one being 43 miles away.

Twenty per cent of the children in the families con-
tacted fell in the preschool bracket. The largest propor—
tion of the families reporting the need of assistance in

caring for their children came in this group. One third of

iiilllllulllllllllll

 

18

the parents of preschool children reported that the present
method of care was unsatisfactory.

Although the women reporting represented widely flung
areas in Lansing and the surrounding communities, there was
a definite clustering of families reporting that the present
care of the children was unsatisfactory. This area was the
east central section of the city, bounded on the north by
Grand River Avenue, on the south by the Pere Marquette
Railroad tracks, on the east by the city limits, and on the
west by Pennsylvania Avenue. This represented about two

square miles of residential district.

19

Chapter III

THE METHOD OF THE PRESENT STUDY

General Procedure:

It was decided that a schedule should be used to in-
vestigate the attitudes of parents toward the care of child-
ren of preschool age as shown in their own practices in the
home and in their attitudes toward nursery schools. The
area outlined by the Ingham County Committee on Day Care (8)
as being the area of concentration of working mothers need-
ing care for their children was chosen for the survey.

From this territory, 50 mothers were contacted on the basis
of their having children in the preschool group. The area
was marked off by blocks into series of threes, each block
having a number. From each number 3 block#, one home was
selected by canvassing the block until a mother of a child
2 to 5 years old was found at home.

This factor controlled the sample somewhat. Only day-
time hours were used and the mother herself was the one to
be contacted. For this reason the number of employed moth-
ers interviewed was smaller than it might otherwise have
been. In two instances the grandmother was interviewed but

only because the child was permanently in her care.

#Number 3 was drawn by lot.

20

The Schedule:

The objectives of nursery education were used as a
basis for planning and grouping questions. These classi-
fications were arbitrarily determined and the questions
were framed to give parents' practices in these fields of
child life. They are as follows:

Social opportunities afforded the child by having
other children within two years of his age in the
household or neighborhood, and the parents' prac-

tices in arranging play with these children

Play: provision of play materials made by the
parents and use of the material by the child

Nutrition

Rest: both daytime rest and sleeping habits at
night

Emotional responses of the child in regard to his
play and care of his play equipment

Self help: concerning his ability to dress and
care for himself

It cannot be assumed that all people will be unanimous
in their appreciation of nursery schools and of nursery ed-
ucation. A preliminary study was made of 6 parents in the
college nursery school group to discover what personal
criticisms they had of nursery schools in general and to
find the criticisms expressed by their friends toward nur-
sery education. The mothers were most co-operative in
their assistance. From their list of comments, questions

were formulated to obtain parents' attitudes toward the

21

fields of activity subject to criticism. Typical comments,
though not related to an specific nursery school, were:

Home influence is of greater importance to the
young child than group experience.

Nutrition is not as good in most nursery schools
as it is when mother plans and prepares the meals.

Nursery school is an infection center.
Children sleep better in their own beds.

Children are allowed to "run wild" in nursery
school and receive no discipline.

Children's activities are regimented in Nursery
schools and there is too much routine.

Nursery school experience lessens the child's
pleasure in kindergarten.

Nursery school fails to provide an opportunity
for parents to discuss child problems with the
teachers.

Nursery school is often a storage place for
children whose parents do not wish to be both-
ered.

At the close of the schedule three direct questions
were included as to the mothers' personal responses to
sending their children to nursery school, and whether they
would prefer the school to be privately or publically con-

trolled.

jMethod of Scoring:
In indicating answers the numbers 1, 2, and 3 were
used through out the schedule. For the questions based on

values of nursery education these figures represented an-

22

swers of “yes", "sometimes or occasionally“, and “no", re-
spectively. For the questions based on criticisms of nur-
sery schools they stand for "yes", "doesn't know" or an
intermediate answer described in detail on the schedule,

and "no".

Types of Homes Visited:

No questions were included to indicate type of employ-
ment of the father, age of parents or amount of education,
or income level. It was felt by the interviewer that in a
single contact with the parent for a duration of 45 minutes
to an hour and a half, rapport could more easily be gained
by avoiding very personal questions that could have only an
indirect bearing on the practices and attitudes of the par-
ents in caring for their children of preschool age.

Therefore, only general observations could be made as
to the economic and social levels of the homes visited. An
impressionistic record was kept of the size of house, fac-
ilities visible for care of the child, the general clean-
liness and neatness in which the home was kept, and the

appearance and manner of the mother herself.

23

Chapter IV

THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

General Information:

The 50 homes entered represented a total of 50 children
of preschool age, 2 to 5 years old, and their mothers. All
the families contacted belonged to the white race with the
exception of one negro family who lived in the extreme
south eastern section of the area, near the railroad tracks.

See table 1.

TABLE 1

Composition of Group by Age and Sex

 

 

 

 

Years Total
Sex 233 3-4 1-5 5-6 Number Per cenL
Boys 7 10 8 2 27 54
Girls 13 3 5g 2 23 46
Total 20 13 13 4 50 100

 

Most of the homes visited could be classified as lower
middle class, small but with the necessities and some of the
comforts of life. Four homes were exceedingly poor and ill
kept, indicating poverty and a lack of interest. These
were scattered through out the district. Three homes in
the northeast corner of the territory were decidedly high
comfort level. There were maids and pretentious houses.

‘Many of the women in this area, however, worked for various

24

reasons. One mother said she planned to work in the spring
because “You don't get so bored when you have something to
do.”

With the exception of the 4 poor homes already men-
tioned, the mothers were pleasant and gracious about grant-
int the interview. They were poised and interested in dis-
cussing their children and their ideas. Only one woman was
111 at ease and apparently worried for fear she might not
say the right thing. One family had just moved to Lansing
from a farm in Arkansas. The mother's answers reflected a
distrust for anything she termed "city ideas”. This defin-
itely included nursery schools. One other mother who prov-
ed an exception to the rule was apathetic to such a degree
that she could answer the questions on her practices with
the child in the home, but would not venture an opinion on
nursery schools. For this reason there are only 49 answers
recorded on many of the questions on nursery schools.

The majority of the mothers were house wives having
no plans for employment unless their husbands should be
drafted. This was a possibility almost universally expres-
sed. Eight mothers were employed at the time of the inter-
view. Five others were expecting to take employment within
the next few months. Factory work was the most common type
of employment with 6 women working or expecting to work in

defense plants. See table 2.

25

TABLE 2

Mothers Employed or Expecting Employment
According to Type of Work

 

 

 

 

Total

Type of Efiployed Expecting Number Per cent
Employment Employment (50 cases)
Professional 2 0 2 4
Office 0 1 l 2
Factory 3 3 6 12
Domestic and

Personal 2 0 2 4
Sales 1 0 l 2
No Definite

Answer 0 l 1 2
Total Number 8 5 13 26

 

The most common way of caring for children during the
mothers' working hours was by having a relative keep the
child. Six mothers used this plan. A housekeeper or a
girl hired by the hour was the solution for 5 women. Two
who were planning to go to work had no plan at the time of
the interview. Several were using more than one means such
as sharing responsibility for children with a neighbor and
hiring a girl by the hour when necessary. Three mothers
used nursery schools in town and relied on some other means

of care for additional hours when care was needed.

26

Practices of Parents in Caring for
Preschool Children

By means of a schedule the interviews with the moth-
ers were used to find home practices in several fields of
activity. These included social opportunities provided for
the children, toys and other play equipment, books and mus-
ic. Questions on food habits, rest, both daytime and at
night, and health of the children gave mothers' practices
in caring for the children's physical development. Other
questions pertained to children's emotional development
and degree of stability, and the mothers' practices in
training the children in habits of self help.

Social Opportunities Provided:

The value of supervised play opportunities for young
children has been a recognized essential of nursery educa-
tion. One of the first inquiries of the schedule was what
provision was made for play contacts with other children
when at home. Approximately two-thirds of the group con-
tacted had no brothers or sisters within two years of their
own age with whom they could play. The neighborhood offer-
ed greater opportunities. About three-fourths of the child-
ren had one or more playmates in the immediate vicinity.

There were few arrangements made for social contacts
among the children. The trend was to put the children out

doors and any contact with other children was casual and

27

for the most part unsupervised. Often another child lived
across the street but children were not allowed to cross
because of traffic. Several mothers indicated that they
considered it unimportant to plan for play with other child-
ren when the children were "so young". Others objected be-
cause of disapproval of the type of children in the neigh-
borhood. One mother said, ”I never let a neighbor kid in
my house. If you start it just gets to be a nuisance." A
few mentioned that it was much easier to "keep trackfi of
children if they were kept to themselves.

The mothers were rather evenly divided on their atti-
tudes of encouraging play with other children outside the
family. They fell into 3 groups as follows:

Number of Mothers

Definitely encouraged play 18
Occasionally encouraged play 17
Never encouraged play 15

Consciously made arrangements for social contacts be-
tween children were indicated in only 15 cases. Nine of
these made arrangements once or twice a week; the other six
made plans for special occasions such as birthdays, summer

outings, and the like. The findings were as follows:

28

Number of Per cent of

 

Mothers Group
Never make arrangements 13 26
Casual, outdoor play 22 44
Once or twice a week 9 18
On special occasions 6 12
Total 50 100

Toys Provided for Play:

The mothers were asked what two toys the children pre-
ferred, for use either indoors or outdoors. The type se-
lected with greatest frequency for one or both preferences
was the motor activity variety such as wagons, kiddie kars,
tricycles, and sleds. Seventeen of the girls placed dolls
on the list. This was true for only 2 of the boys. Twelve
boys chose push and pull toys in contrast to one girl hav-
ing this type for a favorite. See tables 3 and 4.

The lack or war toys was interesting. In most of the
families visited, mention was made about some relative in
service, or one or both parents working in defense indus-
tries. Only 5 children, all of them'boys, selected guns or

other war toys as a first choice.

Creative materials Provided for Play:
IMbthers were asked, "Does your child enjoy making and

'building things?" Two-thirds of them promptly answered "no"

29

TABLE 3

Children's Preferences for Toys--by Age

 

A e of Children in Years

 

 

Type of Toy; -3 3-4 4-5 5-6 Total
Motor Activity 9 10 6 1 26
Housekeeping

and.Dolls 9 3 3 3 18
War Toys 0 1 3 l 5
Costuming and

"Dress-up" 0 1 1 l 3
Push and Pull 6 3 3 1 13
Stuffed

Animals 1 2 l 0 4

 

30

TABLE 4

Children's Preferences for Toys--by Sex

 

Type of Toy Boys 2-5 Girls 2-5 Total
(22 boys) (23 girls)

Motor

Activity 15 11 26
Housekeeping

and.Dolls 2 16 18
War Toys 5 0 5
Costuming and

"Dress-up" 1 2 3
Push and Pull 12 l 13
Stuffed

Animals 2 2 4

 

31

Sixteen replied that they were interested to some degree.
When materials for construction were discussed, blocks were
most frequently mentioned, being named by 17 mothers. See
table 5. The blocks used were for the most part, small

sets of one or two inch cubes. Two mothers displayed larger,
assorted blocks designed on the unit basis. Tinker Toys
came next in frequency of use, 9 mothers naming them. In
most instances, however, the children having Tinker Toys
were classified by their mothers as having little or no in-
terest in making and building things. The only comment was

that they supposed the children were not old enough to use

 

 

 

 

them.
TABLE 5
Children Who Like to Meke and Build Things

Likes to

Make and Age of_ghildren in Years Total
Build 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 Number Per cent
Yes 5 3 5 3 16 32

No 15 10 8 l 34 68
Total 20 13 13 4 50 100

 

Other construction media mentioned were clay or plas-
ticine, paper and scissors, blackboard, paint, Lincoln Logs
and Tinker Toys, and carpenter tools. These ranged in fre-

quency of use from one for paint up to six for scissors and

32

paper. See table 6.

TABLE 6

Types of Creative materials Used

 

A e of Children in Years
2-3

 

 

Material Used 3-4 4-5 5-6 Total
Blocks 7 5 4 l 17
Clay or

Plasticine O l 1 l 3
Paper and

Scissors 0 1 3 2 6
Blackboard 3 l l 0 5
Paint 0 0 ‘1 O 1
Lincoln Logs

Tinker Toys 2 4 4 2 12
Carpenter

Tools 1 l 2 0 4
No Material 8 5 4 0 17

 

Mothers were encouraged to mention any and all of the
construction materials used by their children. Some report-
ed the use of as many as three different types. For many
there was no mention of activity of this sort. For the 50
children discussed, there was a total of 48 uses of creative
material. The two to three year old group had the smallest
number of materials of this type, thirteen instances of use

being mentioned for twenty children. At the three to four

33

year level thirteen children were recorded as having thir-
teen uses of creative materials. The proportion remains

essentially the same for the four year and the five year old

grouPS.

Books and Stories for Children: 1.
Almost all children like pictures and stories. Moth-
ers responded readily to questions about what type of lit-

erature their children liked. All but 7 children were in-

! "if—v ”is

terested in some form of story. Animal and fairy stories
were the first choice, being selected by 31 preschool child-
ren. This classification included old favorites such as
"Peter Rabbit", “The Little Red Hen", and many others.
Nursery rhymes came next in popularity with picture books,
chiefly of animals, being third. The liking for comic
books crept into the preschool group as the choice of 3
children. Poetry such as “The Child's Garden of Verses" by
Stevenson, adult magazines, and listening to the parent tell

stories were mentioned. See table 7.

IMusic for Children:

‘When questioned about the children's interest in music,
ftunily'taste was usually mentioned by the mother. Several
said.inmmdiately that neither they nor the fathers were

:musically inclined and that the children seemed to have no

Children's Choices in Literature

34

TABLE 7

 

 

 

Type of Age of Children in Years
Literature 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 Total
No Interest 4 l 2 O 7
Picture

Books 4 4 2 0 10
Nursery

Rhymes 6 2 2 1 11
An imal and

Fairy Stories 11 7 9 4 31
Poetry 0 l 2 0 3
Comic Books 0 1 2 O 3
.Adult

IMagazines 0 2 0 O 2
Parent tells

story 1 1 l O 3
Children's

‘Magazines 0 0 l 0 l

 

35

interest. The radio was the chief source of music in the
home and 22 mothers said their children enjoyed listening.
See table 8. In 4 homes the victrola was the children's
preference and in each case they were allowed to operate
the machine themselves. Twenty-one mothers said their
children liked to sing, usually with the radio. Several
said the children liked music and danced whenever the radio
was turned on. One little girl's favorite amusement was

dancing with her father when he was home in the evenings.

TABLE 8

Children's Interests in Singing and Listening to Music

 

 

 

Children's _Age of Children in Years

Interests 2:3 3-4 4-5 w53-6 Total
Likes to Sing 9 4 5 3 21
Listens to

Music 16 6 7 3 32
No Interest

in music 2 7 4 l 14
Prefers Radio 12 4 5 l 22
Prefers

‘Victrola 0 1. 2 l 4

 

Popular music had the largest number of listeners.
lhxrsery tunes, including lullabies, and martial music were
jListed.second and third. Three children liked hill billy

1misic, "string music“, one mother from.Arkansas called it.

One little boy preferred opera and classical music much to

the amusement of his mother whose taste did not coincide

with his. See table 9.

TABLE 9

Music Preferences of Children

 

A e of Children in Years

 

 

Type of Music 2: 3-4 4-5 5-6 Total
Popular 9 2 3 1 l5
Martial 4 l 0 l 6
01d Songs 1 0 2 0 3
Nursery Tunes 3 2 2 l 8
Semi-classics 1 0 l 0 2
Orchestrations 0 O l O 1
Hill Billy 1 1 l 0 3

Children's Food Habits and.Mothers' Practices:

Mothers of 25 of the children contacted experienced no
difficulty with the children's appetites and eating habits.
0f the remaining half of the children, the major problem
was lack of appetite and dawdling over the meal. Nineteen
imothers expressed concern over this habit as a continual
iErOblenn The remaining 6 gave it as an occasional diffi-
culty.

.All but 6 of the children ate with the family, chiefly

37

because it was easier to manage meal time in that fashion
rather than feeding the children separately. Several moth-
ers expressed dissatisfaction with the meal time because of
family tension due to the children's poor eating habits.

Two mothers mentioned bribing the children to eat with
either candy or money, but found both unsatisfactory. Five
mothers stated that the children's dawdling, or in one case,
refusing to come to the table, led to punishment by the
fathers.

On the whole, the diets of the children were fair to
good. The average child was fond of candy but seldom ate
it. He drank milk 3 times a day and ate 2 to 3 servings of
vegetable other than potato. He ate 5 to 7 eggs a week,
and had 5 to 7 servings of both citrus and non citrus fruit
in the same length of time.

Vegetables were his strongest dislike. Twenty-four
mothers attempted to explain the dislike by saying that the
fathers or themselves did not like vegetables and the child-
ren got the dislike from them. Four mothers mentioned that
the children would eat vegetables in the form of canned
baby food, but would not touch them otherwise. In these
instances the children were either two or three years old,
and were still eating strained baby food.

The 1mothers were quite sensitive to the children's nu-

trition in most instances. There was a tendency to consider

38

the problem more lightly in the case of older children. As
one mother said of her 4 year old boy who would not eat, "I
never say anything, he had all those vegetables when he was
a baby." Two mothers said there was no need to worry now
that the children had passed their second summers.

Forty-four of the children drank milk 3 or more times
a day. Mothers tended to be more sensitive to this nutri-
tional need of childhood than any other. Several remarked
that the children disliked eggs and vegetables but finished
by saying, "but I always see that he drinks his milk.“ Only
one mother said that she could not blame her child for not
liking milk, she did not like it either. The child was 2
and drank coffee for breakfast.

Another irregularity was the negro mother who used
orangeade purchased from the dairy as the source of citrus
fruit for her little girl, aged 4.

All save 5 children in the group had had cod liver oil,
all or part of the time, since early infancy. Twenty-three
of them.had had it continuously. Thirteen had taken it for
the first year or year and a half, and the remaining 9 took

it only during the winter months.

Rest:

Rest is essential for normal growth and development.

Most mothers gave evidence of knowledge of this need through

39

their practices with their young children in the home.
Forty-two of the children had a regular bed time. The com-
mon practice was to have them in bed between 7:30 and 8:30
in the evening, though the hours the mothers set ranged
from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. There seemed to be no relationship
between the age of the children and their bed time. Seven
children of all ages went to bed as late as 9:30, usually
because the fathers worked at night and it was more conven-
ient to place the children on a routine that made them

sleep later in the morning. See table 10.

TABLE 10

Mothers' Practices in Establishing
Bed Time Hours for Children

 

 

 

Number of
Hour Children
No regular bed time 8
5:30 to 6:30 p.m. 1
6:30 to 7:30 p.m. 14
7:30 to 8:30 p.m. 20
8:30 to 9:30 p.m. 7
Total 50

 

There was little fussing among the 50 children about
going to bed. Thirty-eight accepted the mothers' edict
without complaint. It was interesting to note that 6 of

the 8 children who had no regular bed time were listed by

40

their mothers as fussing about going to bed. No information
was gained that would show whether this correlation was due
to lack of habit, over fatigue, or some other explanation.
Thirty-one of the children took naps or at least rested
every afternoon. Thirteen never napped and 6 did only oc-
casionally. Mothers of the 19 who seldom or never rested
during the day tried to make up for this lack of rest by
putting children to bed early in the evening. Only two
children in this group went to bed later than 8:30. Most
were asleep by 7:30. One child who did not rest in the day-

time had no regular bed time.

Health:

The type of medical care of the child was not asked on
the schedule. So many mothers volunteered the information
that it was recorded in those instances as a matter of inter-
est. Fifteen mothers offered the information that the child-
ren were taken regularly to a pediatrician. many of these
same mothers expressed concern because their doctor had
been called into service. Fourteen relied on the family
doctor only in case of sickness or emergency. Six took
their children to the family doctor for regular check-ups
once or twice a year.

Mothers were asked how many colds the children had had
during the winter. The answers were skewed by the length

of time that elapsed between the first and the last inter-

41

view taken. This period of two and a half months between
the last of January and the first of April would possibly
make several changes in answers obtained. According to the
record, 9 children had had no colds at the time of the in-
terview, while 34 had had only one or two. The remaining
group had had several. The tendency was for colds to disap—
pear quickly. Over half the mothers said the children's
colds did not hang on. One-fifth of the mothers said that
the children's colds lasted almost a month. Four of this
group expected to have the children's tonsils removed with-
in the next few months.

Few mothers knew both the height and weight of their
children. Most of them, 38 mothers, had no idea how tall
the children were and only 28 knew how much they weighed at

any time within the previous two months.

Emotional Stability and Development:

The children had pleasant, even dispositions, according
to their mothers. Thirty-two were classed as never being
cross and irritable. Fifteen were only occasionally so be-
haved and at those times the mothers usually attributed
this to fatigue. Three children were continually crying
and cross.

To many children crying is a satisfactory way of get-

ting what they want. They learn early that that is a devise

42

that brings response in a hurry. Twenty-seven mothers ad-
mitted more or less unwillingly that the children used this
technique to a large extent. There was no relationship be-
tween crying to gain wants and only children or children
who were younger by several years than the other children
in the family.

Mothers were proud of the way the children were self suf-
ficient in their play. Forty-two children were quite wil-
ling to amuse themselves alone. Mothers were free to go
about their housework, paying a minimum of attention to the
children and their play. Of the remaining 10 children, 4
wanted their mothers or children several years older than
themselves to play with them continually. Six would play
by themselves but teased much of the time to have the moth-
ers play with them.

There were very few toys for use indoors in evidence
in any of the homes entered. Few of the children who were
present at the time of the interview had any visible mater-
ial for play. Where did they keep their toys? According
to mothers who answered, all but 9 of the children had a
place set aside where they could keep their play equipment.

JFacilities arranged for the children were as follows:

43

Number of Children

 

Section of a room 20
Under the bed 3

Child's own room or that
shared with a sibling 12
Play room 5
No provision 9
No toys 1
No answer 2
Total 50

About half the group had a section of a room, usually the
dining room. The facilities provided varied from a small
cardboard carton to a whole corner of the room where there
was a generous set of shelves, a blackboard, and a table
with two chairs all scaled to children's sizes.

Over two-thirds of the children had learned to respect
property, both their own and the families. Mothers stated
that they were not destructive and had only occasionally
broken or torn playthings even by accident. Seven mothers
expressed concern for their children's destructive tenden-
cies which they said always accompanied violent outbursts
of temper. The other 8 mothers had noticed the children

willfully breaking things on only rare occasions.

Self Help Practices:

As could be expected, children's abilities to dress
themselves were directly related to age. The 2 year olds
were interested in the process but could not manage success-

fully by themselves such tasks as lacing shoes and button-

44

ing clothing. The 3 year olds in this group were very lit-
tle better. At 4 to 5 years the majority of them were pro-
ficient in both tasks. By 5 to 6 years they all managed to
dress themselves.

Several mothers said that it was a full time job to
teach children to pick up their toys and to keep them put
away when not in use. They all agreed that it was well
worth the effort it took. Thirty-one children did this
themselves on the suggestion of the mothers. Eleven were
sometimes reliable and 7 never picked up their toys. In
this last group, 3 mothers said they made the older child-
ren do it because it was so much quicker than bothering to
help the young children. As a check, mothers were asked
whether it was simpler to pick the children's toys up for
them. Slightly less than half the mothers said "no". The
others were divided, ll saying it was much easier and 16
saying that occasionally it was simpler, particularly if
they were in a hurry. One mother had no answer as her lit-
tle boy had no toys except for the few things he carefully

hoarded in his pockets.

45

Mothers' attitudes toward Questions Based on
Criticisms of Nursery Schools in General
Importance of Home Influence:

Many sentimental articles and stories have been writ-
ten about a child's first day in public school and the
feeling of his mother as he leaves home. This would seem
to indicate a tendency on the part of mothers to over-pro-
tect their children and regard them as infants long after
they should be making contacts outside the home.

The 50 mothers in this study did not seem to feel the
desire to regard their children as infants any longer than
necessary. When asked whether they felt home influence was
more important for a child from 2 to 5 years than experi-
ence with a group of other children outside the home, the
typical answer did not stress the importance of the home.
about an equal number of mothers fell in both groups. The
deciding factor was the group of 15 mothers who felt they
could give no definite answer because it would depend en-
tirely upon the group of children and its supervision.
They had no compunction about putting the children in a
well sponsored group. The distribution was as follows:

Number of Mothers

Home influence more important 17
Depends on the group 15
Home influence not more important 18

 

Total 50

The mothers believed that children may be as well
cared for in a nursery school as at home. Several of the
34 women who held this opinion said they thought they would
probably get better physical care in a school where that
was "all the teacher had to do". Fourteen women "didn't
know" what they thought about the care in a nursery school.
Probably they would be well cared for, but the majority of
this group thought they would lack a "mother's love" and
"mother's instinct" in training them. Two mothers did not
think care in a nursery school as good as care at home.
They did not qualify their statements.

One of the criticisms of nursery schools reported pre-
liminary to this study was that the children of preschool
age were such individual problems that it was not advisable
to place them in groups. The mothers interviewed did not
share this opinion. When asked, 42 of them thought it was
quite all right to put preschool children in groups. Seven

mothers had no opinion and one mother opposed the idea.

Nutrition Standards:

Another criticism of nursery schools in general was
that the children's nutrition was not properly planned.
The 2 women making this statement felt that the children
often did not get the right food or that if they did, the

parents knew nothing of the menu or amount the children

47

had eaten, thus making it difficult to balance his diet
with the other two meals of the day.

The question was asked of the 50 mothers, "Are you in-
terested in knowing what your child eats whether at home or
away from home?" Thirty-seven mothers replied that they
were. Many of the comments, however, indicated a less pos- E
itive feeling on the subject. A casual, "Oh, I always ask",
or, "my child eats everything away from home, but won't do
it here", or one mother's "I usually ask, it makes conver-
sation", were typical of many of the responses. When asked an“
if they would expect the person caring for their children
to prepare specially planned meals, 10 said "No, he's old
enough to eat anything an adult can"; 12 did not know that
that was necessary but were interested in cleanliness of
the kitchen to a greater extent; 27 thought the meals should
be specially planned. "At least you should be able to trust
the woman's good sense if you are leaving a child with her

at mealtime", was the way one mother put it.

Danger of Infection:

Any gathering together of children makes the possibil-
ity of the spread of communicable disease greater. Normal
precautions such as vaccinations and immunizations and daily
health inspection before entering the group-do much to pre-

vent the getting and spreading of illness but cannot entirely

48

eliminate it. For this reason one mother cricicized nur-
sery schools as infaction centers when asked for her opin-
ion in the preliminary study.

The schedule approached mothers' attitudes in this
area by attempting to find what diseases the 50 preschool
children had had, their parents belief in vaccination and
immunization during the early years, and whether the thought
of colds and other infectious diseases was a source of wor-
ry to the mothers. One half the group of children had had
no communicable disease other than colds. Fifteen had had
chicken pox and 13 had been ill with one or another of the
forms of measles. Four children had had whooping cough and
mumps.

Mothers were asked whether they believed in immuni-
zation for 3 specific diseases: small pox, diphtheria, and
whooping cough. Forty-seven mothers accepted the value of
each of these without question. One additional mother ap-
proved all but the whooping cough serum and based her op-
inion on her doctor's statement that that serum had not yet
been proved successful enough to be worth while. Two moth-
ers had little use for immunization.

Not all the 47 mothers who approved immunization be-
lieved it was necessary or even advisable for children un-
der school age. Thirty-six mothers had had their children

immunized to all three diseases. Six considered it a good

 

. a. 1
. )1 a p .. .1. hr bun-$3
it . .
3

49

idea but "hadn't got around to it yet". Eight others plan-
ned to have it done before the children entered kindergar-

ten. This 1ast number included the two mothers who did not
believe in immunization. They said they understood that it
was required before entering the public schools.

All mothers were asked whether they worried about
their children "catching diseases" if they played with
other children. The majority were unconcerned. This group
of 31 mothers was comprised chiefly of those whose children
were immunized to the above mentioned diseases. Twelve
worried to some extent. One of these mothers said she had
to rely upon "mother's instinct" to know whether to keep
her child at home and with which children she should let
him.play. Six women frankly considered it a real worry and
said they always tried to keep the children away from
crowds and other children whom they considered likely car-
riers. Most all children who were in public school were
classified in this category of possible carriers.

The common cold, though more prevalent with this group
than any of the so-called children's diseases, was treated
more lightly. Mothers were asked whether they minded if
their children played with other children who might have
colds. Fifteen did not and in general considered colds an
unavoidable evil. They also thought that building the

children's resistance was the only way to avoid colds. Ten

50

women classed themselves in the in-between group. They
preferred the children not to come in contact with children
having colds, but in outdoor play they thought the risk
negligible. Twenty-four mothers definitely tried to con-
trol the children's associations so that they were not ex- .
posed to cold germs at least by contact with other children.
The proportion of mothers who minded if their children
played with others when they had colds was about the same as
that above. Over half, or 28 of the mothers, definitely
isolated their children by keeping them in the house till
their colds had disappeared. Twelve mothers minded only to
the extent that they kept the children in as long as they
were actually ill. Nine mothers made no attempt to protect
other children. Their opinion was that if the children's
resistance was high they were safe guarded. If the resis-

tance was low, they would catch a cold anyway.

Naps away from Home:

There was little or no doubt in mothers' minds about
the ability of their children to take naps away from home.
Forty-two mothers answered without hesitation that they
were certain the children would develOp quickly the habit
of sleeping away from home. Five mothers were dubious be-
cause they had never tried having the children take a nap

away. Two mothers were completely skeptical because their

51

own children would not take naps even when they were home.

Discipline:

The unanimity of attitude of mothers toward discipline
of the children was interesting to observe. In response to
the criticism that children are allowed to "run wild" in
nursery school, comment occasioned chiefly by the lack of
corporal punishment in any well managed nursery school, the
mothers were asked whether they expected the person who
cared for the children in their absence to make them mind.
Forty-nine mothers answered "yes", immediately. One mother
who had never left her child with anyone, even a relative,
gave no definite answer.

It is one thing to expect obedience from a child and
quite another to allow a relative or an outsider to dis-
cipline him if such measure is necessary. Mothers were
asked to clarify their attitudes on this point. Thirty-nine
were in agreement that the person in charge should disci-
pline the children if it was necessary. All stated either
that the children would not mind the relative or outsider
unless she was felt to have authority, or that if the child-
ren needed discipline it should be given immediately so .
that the children would know why they were being punished.
Several mothers mentioned both these factors and were quite
intolerand of the mere suggestion that discipline wait un-

til the parents returned. Five mothers, however, were not

52

so positive in their beliefs. To them the answer to such
a question depended upon the faith they had in the person.
caring for the children, and what was meant by discipline.
Mild measures such as sitting on a chair were one thing
while strong punishment they felt was not to be given by
anyone but parents. Six mothers considered all discipline
a purely parental affair.

Since parents were so willing to have children dis-
ciplined even by outsiders, there was natural interest in
what kind of punishment was used in the 50 homes visited.
All mothers were asked their attitudes toward spanking and
whether there was some other method of punishment they
found better. Their answers were as follows:

Number of Mothers

 

Mothers approving spanking 23

Mothers occasionally use it but
aren't sure they approve l4
Mothers disapprove spanking 13
Total 50

Approximately half the group approved spanking and felt it
a suitable way to enforce obedience. Fourteen mothers
seemed to have ambivalent feelings on the subject. Each
said whe used that method of discipline occasionally and
found it effective, but she was not sure she approved of it.
The remaining mothers did not consider spanking a good form
of punishment either because they did not approve, or as

happened in 5 instances, it was not effective with their

53

children.

Thirty—nine mothers suggested 6 other forms of punish-
ment which they used. Sitting on a chair was most popular
and depriving of privileges came second. A few mothers men-
tioned either reasoning with the children or scolding them.
Two mothers put the children to bed for disobedience. One
mother of a small girl said that when the child was naughty
she always pretended to be hurt and feigned crying. The
child became so contrite she would "do anything". Another
mother put the child in a bedroom closet and scared her un-
til she was "sorry". The distribution of mothers using

various types of punishment was as follows:

Number of Mothers

 

Sitting on a chair 16
Depriving of privileges l4
Reasoning or scolding 5
Appealing to child's feelings 1
Putting in a closet 1
Sending to bed 2

Total 39

Finally, in questioning mothers on their attitudes
toward discipline and whether they could agree with the
criticism that children were allowed to "run wild" in
nursery school, mothers were asked whether they thought
children became "hard to handle" when they had many assoc-
iations with other children. It was difficult for mothers

to give an opinion here because to many it was outside the

54
range of their experience. Few had considered the matter.
Twenty mothers said they did not know whether children were
more difficult to manage when they had many associations
with other children. Twenty other mothers decided that
contacts with groups of children would create no problem.
Ten mothers "knew from experience" that it was much easier

to manage children if they played by themselves.

Routines:

With many fathers and several mothers working irregu-
lar shifts in defense industries, mothers had difficulty
keeping children on a regular routine. Lunch suddenly be-
came dinner werved at two o'clock in the afternoon when
fathers worked from three to eleven at night. Children
were put to bed late so they would sleep longer in the
.morning if fathers worked the night shift. In some cases
it was a problem to arrange any sort of schedule so that
the family had a chance to be together at all.

In spite of the inconvenience, 41 mothers considered
it essential that the children have a routine for eating
and sleeping. Many said they had to change the schedule
frequently to fit the fathers' working hours, but they had
a plan which they consciously followed in caring for the
children. Eight mothers thought children should have a

:routine for eating and sleeping but were not able to put

 

 

55

such a plan into effect. One mother gave no answer to this
question.

They were also queried about the advisability of a
routine for the children's play activities. Their planning
did not extend this far and on the whole the idea seemed
to amuse them. Only 4 voiced approval while 11 thought it
completely unnecessary. Thirty-four mothers had no opinion
or stated that it would depend on such factors as the weath-
er, the mother's plan of activity for the day, and the mood
of the children. Again, one mother did not answer.

These questions were prompted by the criticism that
chilrlren were regimented by routine in nursery schools.
FTOHI the mothers' responses it would appear that they would
apprrrve the routine of the nursery school for eating and
Sleetxing and would have no objection to a flexible type of

routiqqe for play activities.

Nursery School Lessens Pleasure in Kindergarten:

That nursery school experience lessens a child's pleas-
ure ‘in kindergarten was a criticism heard in the preliminary
Stufhy as coming from a mother who did not have her child at-
tend nursery school for that reason. Of the 50 mothers con-
tacted, only one whose child had attended nursery school was
GUJi enough to be in kindergarten. His mother said that he

enJCUned it thoroughly and she was very proud that he adjust-

 

56

ed himself so quickly and without the tears and fussing she
observed in so many of the children who had not been left
by their mothers before. The other women were able to give
their opinions only, lacking any personal experience with
the problem. Twenty-seven saw no reason why pleasure in
kindergarten should be lessened by going to nursery school

first. Eighteen had no opinion and 4 could see that the

situation might arise.

Discussion of Child Problems:

In voicing criticisms, one woman had said that a good
nursery'school should provide, but seldom did, an opportun-
itytfor mothers to discuss children's problems with the
teaclnar or director who was trained in coping with such
Problxams. Mothers were asked for their attitudes in this
areau. Fifteen would appreciate greatly having some one to
Whonl they could go whose experience and training were re-
lialile. Twenty-three thought it nonessential as they had
encOu‘ntered no problems so far that could not be settled by
a "nkather's instinct", however, they could see that situa-
tiow1s might arise as the children grew older. Eleven moth-
ers; thought counseling by a trained person unnecessary be-
CEluse they relied upon their husbands, their mothers, a

neighbor, or the priest when problems with the children

arOse.

 

57

Nursery School a Storage Place:
The final criticism of nursery schools was that they
were used as a storage place by mothers who did not want

the responsibility of the children during the day. The

idea seemed to be not so much criticism of children or the

school, as resentment of a facility provided for women who
did not have to work. The mothers were asked, "Would you
approve of women leaving their children in a nursery school
if they did not have to work?" Opinions differed widely,
but only 3 mothers felt that a woman was shirking her re—
Sponssibility by sending her child to nursery school. Most
of tkue others stated that it might depend on whether the

cflUJxlren had playmates around home, the mother's state of

healtli, or her enjoyment of the child. See table 11.

TABLE 11

Mothers' Attitudes toward Home-keeping Women
Placing Children in Nursery Schools

 

Number of

 

 

Attitudes Mothers
Mothers approving 20
Mothers with no definite idea 11
Mothers disapprove but believe
it depends upon circumstances l8 _
Mother not answering l
50

Total

‘2 I-ui u... m-.-u-.-__._
A . v

"a“ was
.‘U vuvd
..
"veg!
.‘eo vvn

R
'anv‘

“
" nud

u. 9:13.: W.
J
‘ .
a
J
‘4

 

7w

0‘“

 

 

 

58

Mothers' Attitudes toward Sending Their Own Children to
Nursery Schools:

One views one's personal problems in a different light
from that of an abstract problem of people in general.
When mothers were asked if they would like to place their
children in a nursery school, if one were conveniently lo-
cated, their answers differed significantly from the atti-
tudes expressed concerning other home-keeping women sending
their children to such schools. The number of mothers ap- L
proving increased by 5, the number disapproving decreased :
MYéB when their own children were the ones under discussion.
Thhs change cannot be explained in terms of the answers of
workixug mothers. Most of them believed it was all right
for aer woman to place her child in a nursery school. See
table 12.

flflm312

Mothers' Attitudes toward Having Their Own
Children Attend Nursery School

Number of

 

fEttitudes {others
Idothers desiring children to attend 25
ldothers hesitant or doubtful about

having children attend 13
‘Mbthers not wanting children to attend l2

__

Total 50

 

59

The question had been raised as to whether mothers had
a prejudice for or against public nursery schools as opposed
to private ones. Since there were, at the time of the in-
terviews, no public nursery schools in the community, and
but few privately sponsored groups, mothers' attitudes were
necessarily based on hear-say evidence. Thirty-two mothers

had definite opinions. Two-thirds of this group favored

- i‘-_" .Q- .m. .i

the public nursery school. The other third, with the ex-

ception of one mother, preferred the private school. See ,1
table 13. This other mother had discovered shortly prior k_m“
to the interview that there was no regulation of preschool

groupns then existing in the city and through out the state.

She Vflas so horrified at this that she expounded at great

lengtfl, denouncing all nursery schools until some means of

regulation was devised.

BBLEI3

Mothers' Attitudes toward Type of
Nursery School: Public or Private

‘

Number of

 

fittitudes Mothers
Idothers preferring public nursery school 22
Idothers preferring private nursery school 9
Mbthers having no opinion 18
Mbther denouncing either 1

¥

Total 50

—_

60

Of the 22 mothers who preferred public nursery schools,
exactly half based their preferences on financial reasons.
Public groups were presented to them as being run with the
aassistance of government money at a cost of $1.50 to $4.00

They were also informed that in Lansing the pri-

The

a. week.
vaite schools charged from $4.00 to $6.00 a week #.

otlier 11 mothers varied in their reasons, the most common

beiJIg that there is more control and regulation of the

grorlp and its organization if it is under public auspices. f,

Otkuers thought a public school more democratic. One mother 5

0f 63 children had sent her older children to the Works Pro-
gresss Administration nursery school when it was operating
at (Dark Park School. She based her preference on experience.
Ano"ther mother had lived in Ann Arbor near the Works Pro-

gress Administration nursery school and had been impressed

witki its value by observing it in operation. See table 14.

Three of the nine mothers who preferred private schools
baSearltheir choice not on any acknowledged merit of private

grolrps, but an underlying prejudice of anything government

OPBITamed, It was their expression that the government "runs

a Utiljfl, that all they care about is numbers, the individ-

lual children mean nothing to them. Five mothers chose pri-

Day Care for Children of Working Moth-

#Harper, E. B.
(Dec. l942)

ers Mich. State College, Dep't. of Soc.

p. 11.

.QA'.

'- . ‘io‘s

61

vate schools because they thought there was greater selec-

tion of children. The children would not have to associate

with “just anybody's child" and run the risk of picking up

ggernm or developing bad habits from contact with an unse-

lxected group. One additional mother based her choice on

11eIr own satisfactory experience with a private nursery

scluool in this community. See table 14.

TABLE 14

Reasons for Choice of Nursery School:
Public or Private

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of
Reasons Mothers
Public:
Financial reasons 11
Democratic reasons 2
More control and regulation 7
Previous experience or
observation 2
Total 22
Private:
Government "runs a mill" 3
More selection of children 5
Previous experience 1
9

Total

 

 

Lil;

62

Regardless of the type of school to be used, most of
the mothers who had a preference chose half day care for
their children. They thought a morning play group and
llunch.desirable, with the children returning home in time

kar their naps. A few wanted whole day care but these were

ncrt the working mothers. The women who worked found their

prwablem of child care so complex that nursery school care
alcnie, even on a full day basis, would not suffice. They
reefilly wanted to find a housekeeper or to use a relative to
mansige the house and look after the children. For this
reasson, half day care seemed to fit their needs and their
deSires. The distribution was as follows:

Number of Mothers

 

Desire full day care 9
Desire half day care 22
Undecided or no answer 19

Total 50

63

Chapter V

smmmv OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

A schedule was used to investigate the attitudes of
parents toward the care of children of preschool age as
sshown in their own practices in the home and in their atti-
tnides toward nursery schools. The subjects of the study
vvere 50 mothers in a selected residential area in Lansing i
asnd.their 50 preschool children, aged 2 to 5 years. Home ‘

Irractices investigated were related to the following:

Social opportunities afforded children in the home gmw
Provision of play materials, including books and
music
Nutrition of children and their food habits
Rest

Emotional responses of children to their play and
care of their play equipment
Self help practices of the children

i£c>thers were questioned on their attitudes toward nursery

=3<2hools as evidenced by their opinions on the following

ESIijects:

Importance of home influence for preschool child-
ren as opposed to group experience

Desirable nutritional standards

Danger of communicable diseases

Value of discipline

Value of routines for eating, sleeping, and play-
ing

Children's pleasure in kindergarten being lessen-
ed by previous nursery school experience

Discussion of children's problems with nursery
school teachers

Use of nursery schools as a storage place for
children whose parents do not wish to be both-
ered with their care

not”.
AAA.

C)
9—1

(I)

d

64

F ET) IITGS

Practices of Mothers with Preschool Children
in the Home

Provision for Child Care when Mothers Work:
The only mothers interviewed were those found at home

(during the day time hours. In spite of this fact, 16 per

(sent of the group were working at the time and an additional
1.0 per cent planned to take employment within the next few

rnonths. The 74 per cent of the mothers not working or plan-

riing to work outside the home had nevertheless given the
nvatter considerable thought because of the possibility of

‘tlieir husbands being drafted into active war service.

A housekeeper, either a relative who lived with them

<31: an outsider, was the preferred solution for child care

<111ring the mothers' working hours. This plan met the needs

C31? the mothers more fully than any other because it made
ID<>ssible having the housework done at the same time.
Mothers working or planning to work favored nursery

£3<1hools. Three of them were sending children or had sent

1t11em previous to the time of the interview. They did not

c301nsider nursery schools as a solution to their child care
IDJCWablems because the short hours the schools were then open
Cili<d not fit the mothers' working schedules. Then, too, nur-
sery schools did nothing to help with the housework left

un done at home.

There was no child younger than 2 or older than 6 a-

.ar-A.‘_rv.,._ . .-- 4

5333 t‘

Affirm
IE—nbufl

65

nmng the group discussed. The 2 to 3 year olds were pre-

dominant, being 40 per cent of the total. Three year olds

and.4 year olds each formed 26 per cent of the group, and

children as old as 5 years, only 6 per cent.

lerovision for Social Opportunities:

The most striking deviation from the desirable in
nuathers' practices occurred in the areas of social oppor-

taznities for the children and the provision of toys and

aJesthetic materials for them. Very few mothers were con-

sCious of any need of the children for supervised play with

<>tflaer children. Their practices in child care stressed

Iikuysical development and habit training as being the impor-

'tEtnt needs of preschool children. Their general attitude

‘Wels that home environment with its relative isolation of
(Bllildren was sufficient until they entered kindergarten.
CDIIly 18 per cent of the mothers planned play activities for
1311eir children involving contact with other children their

C>an age. Twelve per cent more arranged parties on birth-

C1Elys and very special occasions. Often these were of the
rléirture of parties for the parents' friends whose children

'“Vfiinre casually included. Thus, the bulk of the mothers, 70

F362]? cent, never made any attempt to provide companionShip

15(31I‘ the children or to arrange play activities.

 

 

ms:

cam:
on t‘:
chin

the

n,

66

Provision for Toys and Creative materials:

On nice days during the winter it was not at all un-
common to find the children all bundled up and just sitting
on the porch steps, aimlessly swinging their feet and wat-
ching the people on the street. If they were indoors during
the interview, they were climbing restlessly over furniture
or just looking out the window.

When asked what 2 toys the children liked best for use
either indoors or outdoors, most mothers responded easily
with one choice but hesitated in naming the second. For
the total of 50 children only 69 toys were recorded. or 1.38
toys for each child. For several of the girls there was
nothing to play with other than dolls. One little boy's
toys consisted of a few marbles and "string and sticks and
things" he picked up outdoors.

One wondered what the children's choices in toys would
have been if they had had an assortment from which to choose.
The play equipment was presumably selected by the parents
and the children's tastes were being formed according to
patterns approved by the parents.

Cockrell, (4) in the Yale Clinic of Child Development,
observed the play habits of 6 preschool children in groups
of 2 in a series of 266 observation periods. She listed the
types of play materials used in order of their "holding pow-

er" for the children. Combined materials, such as are

 

 

 

p.

“A“

.31”

-.~

o~o

"ca

cu

67

found in the average nursery school play room, ranked first.

Here children had a free choice. Clay and crayons, pictures

and books, blocks, housekeeping materials followed in the

order given. "Companions", or 2 or more children allowed

‘to play freely in a room.with no play equipment save for a
lcaw table and chairs, was the lowest in "holding power". {

There was no indication in Cockrell's study of any sex '
clifference in choice of play materials by preschool children.

In giving the "choices" of toys of children in the pre-

 

Senut study, mothers gave housekeeping toys and dolls as the
me

jplreference of 16 girls and of 2 boys. This fits in nicely

VVisth the prevailing idea of "little mothers" and the femin-

in ity of little girls. It bears little relationship to

‘3}1ildren's individualities.
Push and pull toys were given as preferences for 12

13<>3ys and 1 girl. Many of these toys were wooden trains and

<3E15rs that could be pushed or pulled by a string across the

f'lloor. Parents evidently felt that they were a masculine

1LC337 and more suited to boys than to girls.

In these days of war when soldiers are a common sight
ELYICi a frequent topic of conversation, it was surprising to

f ind only 5 children, all of them boys, who chose guns and

s<3l1_<iiers and other war toys as their preference. Lack of

spEECfific toys does not explain this infrequency of selection.

-m£ir1:y— parents are adverse to giving children this type of

toy, but to the
asurprising n*
orbloc‘is or f
ren in the nei
paucity of chi
the children }

Opportunity t:

materials a1]
ing things.
Cine, Paper
and Tinker T
ers Placed a
file“ asked E
Cent of the
building th
21 group of
Strange Sta
All Of
chased easi

my be uSEj

68

toy, but to the young child a stick can always be a gun and
a surprising number of soldiers can be imagined from stones
or blocks or fashioned to order in the shape of other child-
ren in the neighborhood. The writer cannot explain this
paucity of children interested in war materials. Perhaps
the children had been kept home so closely that they had no
opportunity to observe soldiers. Perhaps the parents re-
frained from discussing the war in the hearing of children.
War play itself may have been forbidden though no mother
made mention of any such prohibition.

For convenience the writer has classified as creative
materials all the media children used for making or build-
ing things. This category includes blocks, clay or plasti-
cine, paper and scissors, blackboard, paint, Lincoln Logs
and Tinker Toys, and carpenter tools. Not one of the moth-
ers placed any of these among the children's preferences.
When asked about them specifically they reported 68 per
cent of the children as having no liking for making or
building things. To anyone who had observed even casually
a group of children in nursery school this seems a very
strange statement.

All of the creative materials mentioned may be pur—
chased easily and with relatively little expense. Each

may be used again and again to provide a variety of new ex-

 

 

 

 

v.» 1‘
ll“ ,‘ II
".C i“ p1

a.. hour

: .
311“

e.‘

69

perience for the young child. Yet 17 children in this group
had no type of creative material to work with. This ac-
counts for exactly one-half the 68 per cent of the children
who were said to have no interest in making or building
things. The explanation for the rest of the group was
found to lie in the type or quality of the material used.

The creative medium most frequently recorded was blocks.
As observed or described, these were usually small sets of
about 2 dozen one or two inch cubes. The children might
play with them for awhile but there was no size, no varia-
tion of shape that allowed them to gain a feeling of achieve-
ment by carrying and maneuvering blocks into position as
they constructed something really usable in their play.
Many of the mothers said the children wanted them to do all
the building.

Only 2 children had larger blocks which were assorted
in size and shape and designed on the unit basis for ease
of building. These 2 children liked to make and build
things.

The next most common media were Lincoln Logs and Tin-
ker Toys, classed together because of their similarity in
size and complexity. Twelve children had these types of
material. Ten of the 12 had no interest in using them.

One is inclined to agree with the mothers' statements that

they seemed too old for the children. With the fine grooves

 

 

 

and holes into w‘
crest‘nool chi dr
The other 1
nice of child:
Parents te
of their chil dr

the Opportun 1 t:

if rolling an .1
blocks or daiib
Certainly they

:

Provision of l

«3 and en‘
Sill-19$. Tiy
thdlr prefer:
Gingvrbread i
sell rhymes a

“an the para
:21“
aw 4i: trann

70

and holes into which the parts must fit, it is small wonder
preschool children find the task too difficult.

The other types of material were used by a very small
number of children in each case.

Parents tend to relive their own childhood in the lives
of their children. This group of parents may not have had
the opportunity to use creative materials to express their
thoughts and feelings as children and do not know the joy
of rolling and poking clay or building a railroad track of
blocks or daubing colors with a brush on a sheet of paper.
Certainly they are not informed on the needs of children to

express their vivid imaginations through creative materials.

Provision of Books and Music:

There was no opportunity to discover how large child-
ren's home libraries were. Most children, all but 7, had
books and enjoyed looking at them and listening to the
stories. Time tested favorites of many generations were
their preferences; stories of the "Little Red Hen", "The
Gingerbread Boy", and countless others were mentioned. Nur-
sery rhymes and picture books of animals were listed by 11
and 10 mothers respectively. The children's preferences
were guided by the parents in the same channels popular
when the parents were children. No mother mentioned stories

about transportation or every day lives of other young

 

I
KWIS- ‘

 

 

children such as
of the present .

Music inte
the parents lik
singing, the or
encourage intel
selected phono;
and well knom
were allowed t
no conscious a
for the child:
that neither +

and the child:

Sweeney
“71;
eta
1a:

m I

*0 this list

Ways be incl
0n the

in their hm

ally ”rid-ism

71

children such as are the favorites in many nursery schools
of the present day.

Music interest, too followed familial patterns. If
the parents liked a particular type of music or enjoyed
singing, the children did also. There was little effort to
encourage interest in music in the children. Four mothers
selected phonograph records of nursery tunes, folk songs,
and well known semi-classical pieces which the children
were allowed to play freely. The remaining 46 mothers made
no conscious attempt to select music or to provide music
for the children. In general, they expressed the opinion
that neither they nor the fathers were musically inclined

and the children did not seem to be either.

Practices in Nutrition and Food Habits:
Sweeney and Buck (18) of the Merrill-Palmer School,
give the following as a young child's food needs each day:
"milk, egg, a cooked green leafy or yellow veg-
etable, a raw leafy vegetable, fruit, particu-
larly citrus fruit or tomato and a whole cereal."
To this list should be added other foods to fit the family
purse and appetite. These essentials, however, should al-
ways be included.
On the whole, the nutritional practices of the mothers

in their homes were adequate. The value of milk was virtu-

ally undisputed; 88 per cent of the children drank it 3

 

 

 

In. H
V:. “

73

on the doctor for guidance in feeding children. This was
true of the 15 mothers who took their children regularly

to a pediatrician. Others were influenced by newspaper and
magazine articles on food needs. They commented that
"everything you pick up these days has something about food.

You must eat this or you shouldn't eat that.“ Advertising

often minimizes the truth to fit the demands of the manu- l

facturer, but with its big displays and emotional appeal to
the public, it cannot be ignored as a means of influencing

opinion.

 

Illustrative of mothers' attitudes on the importance
of nutrition and physical development of children, was their
use of cod liver oil. This certainly was not a habit formed
in their own lives as children. It had to be acquired. In
almost every instance cod liver oil was recommended by the
physician. All but five children were taking it or had

taken it during part of their lives.

Practices Concerning Rest:

Mothers recognized the necessity of rest for the growth
of young children. Though bed times varied from 5:30 to
9:30 in the evening, all children slept 11 to 13 hours at
riight. Despite the difficulty of maintaining a definite
schedule because of irregularity of the fathers' working

hours, all but 8 children had a regular bed time. Six of

I‘m a

Un‘U

',
.J-
(J)

x
”C

U$A~
+3 1

Vat:

dd

fi‘
VAL

t.) i

(I)

74

these children whose hours of going to bed fluctuated were
listed by their mothers as fussing about bed time.
Sixty-two per cent of the children napped or rested in
the afternoon. Some of the others refused to take naps and
the remainder were allowed to stay up so they could be put

to bed immediately after dinner in the evening.

Children's Health:

The health of the children as viewed by the number of
colds they had had during the winter was good. Eighteen per
cent of the children were reported to have had no colds and
68 per cent had had only one or two. These colds did not
seem to "hang on". Most mothers reported them to be of
short duration.

It was interesting to discover that less than 25 per
cent of the mothers had any idea how tall the children were.
Fifty-six per cent knew the children's approximate weight.
The criteria of health seemed to be that the children ate
well, got enough sleep, and were not sick. Height and
weight relationships to ascertain whether the children were
growing and developing according to accepted standards were

not taken into account by the parents.

iDevelopment of Self Help Practices:

Mothers' practices in assisting children in habit form-

 

kg...
h-anl

 

.
v;

~13?!

1|.

1| .50
7 v ~.C
Q U

fit“ my
”I“ ll. L. 1

L Iv
fixU

{2.
v

m
an

L
»h

75

ation were few and followed definite patterns. The children
were expected to play by themselves and amuse themselves
alone. What toys they had were to be put away at all times
when not in use. Provisions for this differed, the common
way was to provide a box, usually of cardboard, in the din-
ing room or living room where toys were literally "dumped"
to get them out of the road. The children were taught not
to break their own toys and not to touch articles around
the house which had been forbidden them by the mothers. By
the age of 4 all the children were learning to dress them-
selves, and by 5 years they had learned to do this without

help.

Attitudes of Mothers toward
Nursery Schools

Few mothers had any personal experience with nursery
schools. To most they were a field they knew little about
except for such articles as they may have read in the news-
papers about the proposed plans for day care of young child-
ren. Several mentioned having heard about the Michigan
State College nursery school through friends.

Their attitudes toward nursery schools were by no
means formulated. Only one mother had any prejudice against

them. This was based on the fact that there was no regu-

are:

4..a¢

(”l

(D

I")

76

lation or licensing of private nursery schools.

Home Influence versus Group Experience:

Mothers did not feel that home influence was of greater
importance to the young child than nursery school experience,
provided that the nursery school was sponsored by a reliable
person or group of people. Ninety-six per cent of the
mothers either thought children would be as well cared for
in nursery school as at home or had no opinion on the mat-
ter. Eighty-four per cent believed it was all right to
place preschool children in groups. Fourteen per cent did
not know, and only one mother opposed putting children in

-('J

groups.

wa-

Eutrition in nursery Schools:

The mothers thought that meals should be specially
planned for children whether they were to eat at home or at
nursery school. They did not imply by their answers that
they expected diet kitchen perfection but rather that the

person preparing the meals should herself be clean and

should use "common sense" in planning menus for children.

Nursery School an Infection Center:
Mothers did not worry about their children "catching"
communicable diseases if they played with other children.

Ninety-four per cent of the mothers believed in immunization

 

 

77

for snnll pox, diphtheria, and whooping cough. Six per cent

did not believe in it, but even these mothers olanned to
lave the children immunized before they entered public

chcol. This attitude of mothers toward immunization be-

U)

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(F)

n ing children to school would be of great assist-
ance in eliminating the danger of infection in nursery school.
Iothers had no doubt about the ability of children to

take naps away from home and in strange beds.

Children Undisciplined in Eursery School:

On the subject of discipline, mothers made themselves
quite clear. They thought that any resvonsible person who
was taking care of children should maze them mind. Forty-
six per cent of the mothers approved spanking as a punish-
ment. Sixty per cent, which included a few of the former
group, preferred having the children sit on a chair or de-
priving them of privileges in instances where punishment
was necessary. All punishment, if and when necessary,
should be given immediately so that the children understood
why they were being punished and there was a greater like-
lihood that they would not repeat the same offense.

Mothers had no definite opinions as to whether children
became difficult to manage when they had many contacts with
other children. The group of children contacted had so few
opportunities to play with other young children that the

mothers had had no experience in this area.

 

 

Children Reg:

ilothers
important. '
had food and

inn at all a

1
Eursery See:

This was cu

inions,

'n: .

“SW-18810::
In th

mothers ha
alOne or 7!,
felt that

child deve

Stirs“? Sc

LiothE

78

Children Regimented in Nursery Schools:

Mothers believed routines for eating and sleeping were
important. The children ate better and fussed less if they
had food and rest at regular intervals. They had no opin-

ion at all about a routine for play.

Nursery School Lessens Pleasure in Kindergarten:

Mothers could see no reason why nursery school exper-
ience should lessen children's pleasure in kindergarten.
This was outside the range of their personal experience,
but they gave answers according to their unprejudiced op-

inions.

Discussion with hursery School Teachers:

In their experiences in rearing young children, most
mothers had no problems they could not cope with, either
alone or with the help of their husbands or friends. They
felt that it was unnecessary to have a person trained in

child development to discuss problems of children with them.

Nursery School a Storage Place for Children:

Mothers either approved or had no opinion as to whether
women who did not have to work should place their children
in nursery schools. They did not have the feeling that
parents were shirking their responsibility by placing young

children in such a school.

 

 

79

The questions on attitudes of mothers toward nursery
schools were directed toward different aspects of nursery
education. At the close of the schedule, the interviewer
asked the mothers direct questions as to whether they would
send their children to a nursery school if one were located
conveniently, and whether they would prefer the school to
be privately or publically operated. Fifty per cent of the
mothers would like to try the nursery schools for their
children. Another 26 per cent did not know and only 24 per
cent were inclined to oppose the idea of nursery schools.
Thirty-nine mothers or 78 per cent of the group contacted
had a preference in type of school. Twenty-two favored the
public nursery schools, chiefly because they were less ex-
pensive. a few mentioned that they would expect to find
more regulation and control of standards and practices in
the public schools. The mothers who preferred private
schools based their opinions either on a prejudice of any-
thing operated by the government, or a belief that there
was a greater selection of children in private schools.

In addition to interviewing the parents with the sched-
ule previously discussed, the interviewer also talked with
the mothers at some length about the nursery school pro-
gram. This was not done until the schedule had been filled

out, eliminating the possibility of either influencing the

 

 

mothers' statements by changing their opinions or impelling
them to give what they thought might be "expected" answers.
They seemed to enjoy hearing about nursery schools and asked
many questions about what they did with the children during
the day and how the nursery school dealt with children who
cried or would not eat certain foods or exhibited other

types of behavior that reflected parents' problems in the

home.

 

CONCLUSIONS h“

 

Practices of Mothers in Caring for Preschool
Children in the Home
The physical needs of children were presumably being
met adequately through the parents' practices in the home.
The children were given adequate diets, sufficient rest,
and were being trained to dress themselves, take care of

their own property, and to aruse themselves alone. In

>d

short, they were learning to do those things which it was
convenient to the parents to have them do for themselves.
There was little planning by the mothers for the dev-
elopment of the children as individuals. No social oppor-
tunities were provided and a most meager assortment of play
materials were available for the children. Certainly this

was no intentional omission on the part of the parents.

81

One could not help but feel their affection for the children
and their concern for their well being was deep, and that

they would do anything they felt necessary for their growth

 

and development.

They did not seem to recognize that preschool children
need to learn how to play with other children and to make
adjustments to groups in which they are not the only child.
They did not realize that toys, creative materials, books,
music were the means by which children gained experience of
the world about them.

The program of education for adults on the physical
needs of young children has yielded results, according to
the responses of mothers on home practices in caring for
preschool children. A similar program to teach adults the
needs of children for social opportunities and carefully

chosen play material must be carried out.

attitudes of Hothers toward Nursery Schools

Parents have no well formulated opinions of nursery
schools. Their attitudes will be determined by personal
experience or by what they hear of nursery schools through
publicity given the day care program. At the time of the
interviews, mothers were neither for nor against nursery

schools. They were not uninterested; they merely lacked

 

 

82

knowledge. Information as to what nursery schools are,
how they function, and what they accomplish with children
will have to be repeated again and again in a thousand
different ways before they grasp the full meaning of the
nursery education program.

The writer felt that her interviews with the mothers
had brought to each of them in a personal way some contact
with nursery schools. By being in their homes and talking
with them informally, she did perhaps accomplish more in

acquainting them with the basic concepts of nursery educa-

 

tion than several newspaper articles would have done. It
'is the contention of the writer that people are interested
in reading and hearing about only those things with which
they have had previous experience or which have somehow
incited their curiosity. It is a sincere hope that these
interviews with parents have aroused their curiosity suf-
ficiently so that they will carry a more active interest in

nursery schools.

 

 

10.

11.

12.

15.

14.

83

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bragdon, E. A.Day Care Project Supp. Issue: Bul.
Chi;d_We1fare League of Am. (March 1943) p. 10.

Buhler, C. The Child and His Family Harper and Bros.
1939).

Coast, L. C. .A Study of the Knowledge and Attitudes of
Parents of Preschool Children Iowa Univ., Studies in
Child Welfare 17 (1939) p. 157.

 

 

Cockre11, D. L. A Study of the Play of Children of
Preschool Age by an Unobserved Observer Genetic Psy-
chology Monoggaphs 27 (Dec. 1935) no. 6.

 

Fink, A. Fields of Social Work Holt and Co. (1942).

Grant, E. I. The Effect of Certain Factors in the Home
Environment upon Child Behavior lows Univ.y Studies
in Child Welfare 17 (1939) part 3, p. 63.

Hamill, Mrs. L. Day Care in Cleveland The Day Nursery
(Dec. 1942) p. 7.

 

Harper, E. B. Day Care for Children of Working Mothers
Mich. State Col. Dep't.6f Soc. (Dec. 1942).

Hattwick, B. W. Interrelation between the Preschool
Child's Behavior and Certain Factors in the Home
Child.Development 7 (1936) p. 200.

Hosley, E. M; Is Day Care the Answer? Bu1;_Child'Wel:
fare League of Am. 22 (March 1943) no. 3.

 

Howard, D. S. The Lanham.Act in Operation Survey 79
(Feb. 1943) No. 2, p. 38.

Kandel, I. L. Education of Young Children in England
School and Society 39 (Apr. 31, 1934) P. 512.

Lundberg, E. O. Wartime Emergencies and Long Range
Child Welfare Programs The Child 7 (1943) no. 7,
p. 94.

 

Miller, F. S. Women and Their Jobs Survey Graphic 32
(May 1943) no. 5, p. 182.

 

 

1'"!

n5

84

15. MDore, J. H. A Community Plans for Day Care The Day
Nursery (Dec. 1942) p. 1.

16. Reid, M. G. Trends in Home Production and Gainful Em-
ployment of married Women Unpublished Paper prepared
for the Conference on marriage to have been held in
Cleveland, Ohio, May 21-23, 1943.

17. Simon, Lady E. D. The Working Mother in England The
gpild 7 (Nov. 1942) no. 5, p. 62.

18. Sweeny, M. E., and Buck, D. G. How to Feed Young
Children in the Home The Merrill-Palmer School (1937).

 

19. Taylor, R. Child Welfare in Britain in the Fourth Year
of War Bul. Child Welfare League of Am. 22 (Feb.
1943) no. 2, p. 1.

20. ----- Concerning Children Survey 79 (Apr. 1943) no. 4,
p. 118.
21. ----- Enrollment Campaigns for Women Workers, 1942

‘Monthly Labor Review 56 (march 1943) no. 3, p. 488.

22. ----- H. R. 4545, Public Law 137, United States_§tatutes
at LargeL 77th Congress; 1st Sess. 1941-42_vo1. 55
part 1, p. 361.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

23. ----- H. R. 6135-Mr. Lanham, Nov. 28, 1941 Digest of
Public General Bills, 77th Congress, lst Sess. 1941-
42,

24. ----- Standards for Day Care of Children of Working
Mothers U. S. Children's Buppau Publication 284 (Feb.
1942).

25. ----- Status for Plans for Day-Care Services The Child
7 (Apr. 1943) no. 10, p. 151.

26. ----- S. 637 The Thomas-Hill Bill Digest of Public Gen-
eral Bills, 78th congress 1943 U. S. Gov't. Printing
Office.

27. ----- The Washington Conference The Day Nursepy (Dec.
1942) p. 5.

28. ----- Washington News J. Home Economics 35 (Apr. 1943)

 

no. 4, opposite p. 200.

85

29. ----- Washington News J. Home Economics 35 (June 1943)
no. 6, opposite p. 329.

30. ----- Wide Scope of Women's'Work Skills Labor Infor-
mation Bul. 10 (May 1943) no. 5, p. 3.

31. ----- ‘Women‘Workers Advance at Turn of a New Year Labor
Information Bul. 10 (Jan. 1943) no. 1, p. 4.

32. ----- Would Safeguard Women in War Industries Labor In-
formation Bul. 10 (May 1943) no. 5, p. 3.

 

APPEID IX

 

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QUESTIONNA RE

Address:

Mother Employed? Yes No Hours of work, shift?

If not envloyed, are you expecting employment? Yes

Kind of work:

 

 

 

No

Saleswork Domestic and Personal services
Office work Any other, specify

Factory work

Professional

 

Number of children:

Boys figes ear in school Girls Ages
1 l l l l
2 2 “ 2 2
3 3 ” 3 3
4 4 4 4

Year in school

#CNNH

Present care of children if you are working, or your plan for care of the

children if you are expecting to take ecoloynent.
l 2 3 The child left alone

1 2 3 Left in the care of an older child

1 2 5 Left in the care of a relative ----- Tho?
l 2 5 Maid in care of the child

1 2 3 Nursery School

1 2 3 Other means-~What?

l 2 3 Cared for at home

1 2 5 Cared for away from home

1 2 5 Are you satisfied with this arrangement?

If not, what suysestions WOHld you make?

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Cuestions about your child:
V. l

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es your child have children within two years
the family or household with Whom he plays?

H
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Does your child have children within two years
the neighborhood with whom he plays?

of his own age in

of his own age in

 

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Do you encourage his playing with these children?

Do you actually make arr

sngements to hcve him play with other

children?

Never,

V’h a“, t

Foes

What ?

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that;

Do you think children this age can be trusted with

on special occasions, Once or twice a wee.

2 toys does he like best, either indoor or outdoor?

1e like to make things? Or build things?

stories does he enjoy most?
he like to sing?
he like to listen to music?

songs does he like best?

crayons and

pencils?

'Does

Does

Does

Do you think he

V’ht‘ t

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Does

1e enjoy eating at meal tine?
ne dwsddle over

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enough at meal time?

eats

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food does he like bes
food does he like
he like cen‘y?
eat it often?

he

eat between meals?
you give him for between meal snacks?

ho
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do

he like milk?

How often does he drink mi k?

Once

one,

List

not at all regularly
(5)

a day, twice, three times,

the vegetables he likes best,

t $.70 ,

the fruits he likes best (5)

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How many fruit servings do you give him in a week? -One a day,
4 or 5 times a week, more frequently than one

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How often does he have an orange, or grapefruit or a dish of
t3m.toes? Once a day, or 3 times a week, once a wee

a;

How often does he have on egg i
Once a day, 2 or 3 times a wee

Does he like his cod liver oil?

1V1

oat form do you give it in? >
Straight, with orange juice, pills, otherwise disguised

Does he fuss about going to bed at night?

Dpshehwe
What time ’

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Is he cross and irritable?
How many colds his he had this winter? None, one or two, several

When he gets colds, do they "hang on"?

How much does 2e weigh?

Hex tall is he?

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Does he have a olace set aside where he can keep his own toys?
Does he enjoy breaking and tearing things?
Does he ave his own words for expressing things?

Does he like to use baby tslk?

Who helps him dress when he gets no?

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Can he do it correctly without your telling him how?
Does ne like to button the buttons he can reach?

Does he tell you when he wsnts to go to the toilet?

1.. 3 2.. 5

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Page 5
Do you mind if he plays with other children when he has a cold?

If you were working, what provision would you make for care of
your child if he didn't feel well?

Do you think children can be trained to take naps away from home
as well as in their own beds?

Do you expect the person who cares for your child to make him mind?

Would you rather they left all the discipline to you.when you got

home?

Do you think that spanking is a good punishment?
If not, what way do you.think is better?

Do you think that children become "hard to handle" when they have
many associations with other children?

Do you think a child of this age should have a regular routine for
eating?

For sleeping?

For playing?

Do you think a child's pleasure in kindergarten is lessened by
going to nursery school first?

Would you like to be able to discuss any problems you have with
your child with a person who is trained in handling children?

Would you approve of women leaving their children in a nursery
school if they didn't have to work?

0

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Page 6

estions about nursery schools:

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9 re a good nursery school conveniently located would
you be interested in having your child attend?

Would you prefer it to be a private nursery school at a cost of
from 4 to 6 dollars a week?

Would you prefer it to be one run by the assistance of government
money at a cost of {1.50 to $4.00 a week?

If your reason is based on other factors than money would you
please explain them.

Thay days of the week would ycu wznt your child cared for?

__ Monday Friday
Tuesday _ Saturday
Vednesday Sunday
Thursday

How many hours of the day would you want your child Cured for?

Would care at night be important?

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