If We Hope To Live

Not Only Is Our Love For Our Children Sometimes Tinged With Annoyance, Discouragement, And Disappointment, The Same Is True For The Love Our Children Feel For Us.

The Child Knows Only That He Engages In Play Because It Is Enjoyable. He Isn't Aware Of His Need To Play--a Need Which Has Its Source In The Pressure Of Unsolved Problems. Nor Does He Know That His Pleasure In Playing Comes From A Deep Sense Of Well-being That Is The Direct Result Of Feeling In Control Of Things, In Contrast To The Rest Of His Life, Which Is Managed By His Parents Or Other Adults.

Play Permits The Child To Resolve In Symbolic Form Unsolved Problems Of The Past And To Cope Directly Or Symbolically With Present Concerns. It Is Also His Most Significant Tool For Preparing Himself For The Future And Its Tasks.

Plato--who May Have Understood Better What Forms The Mind Of Man Than Do Some Of Our Contemporaries Who Want Their Children Exposed Only To "real" People And Everyday Events--knew What Intellectual Experience Made For True Humanity. He Suggested That The Future Citizens Of His Ideal Republic Begin Their Literary Education With The Telling Of Myths, Rather Than With Mere Facts Or So-called Rational Teachings.

Raising Children Is A Creative Endeavor, An Art Rather Than A Science.