ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

Last week we attended a family reunion in Des Moines, Iowa. While visiting the nearly Living History Farm we ran across a reproduction of the 1831 publication, The Mothers Book by Mrs. Child (no first name given). The publication makes for interesting reading. Here is an excerpt from the chapter on "Intellect/Attention:"

"Those who give attention exclusively to one thing, become great in one thing; and will in all probability be careless and unobserving about everything else. This sort of character is not desirable; for if it makes a man greater in one particular branch, it much impairs his general usefulness. In a woman it is particularly unfortunate; for, whether she be rich or poor, the sphere allotted to her by Providence requires attention to many things.

"Literary women are not usually domestic; not because they cannot easily be so �" but because they early acquired the habit of attending to literary things, and of neglecting others….

"If a girl feels interested in nothing but books, she will in all probability be useless, or nearly so, in all the relations dearest to a good woman’s heart; if on the other hand, she gives all her attention to household matters, she will become a mere drudge, and will lose many valuable sources of enjoyment and usefulness. This may be said in favor of an over-earnest love of knowledge �" a great mind can attend to little things, but a little mind cannot attend to great things."

For insights on the role of women in society and in early childhood education, check out two articles by Dorothy Hewes: "Sisterhood and Sentimentality - America's Earliest Preschool Centers", and "Men's (and Women's) Role in ECE." These can be found in Exchange Articles Online by typing in Hewes in the search tool at https://secure.ccie.com/catalog/cciecatalog.php?cPath=50

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