Table Of ContentA COURSE OP STUDY IN CHILD CARE
FOR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS
A Project
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Education
The University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Science in Education
by
Ruth Smoot French
August 1950
UMI Number: EP46316
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This project report, written under the direction
of the candidate’s adviser and approved by him,
has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty
of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science in Education.
.....
.....
Adviser
Dean
ii
PREFACE TO STUDENTS
Before too many years you*11 be caring for children
of your own. Right now you*re probably looking after younger
brothers and sisters or baby sitting for the neighbors.
Baby sitting is a good way to earn a little money.
But are you really able to do a good job? The welfare of
the child is your complete responsibility for the time being
and you should do your level best to be worthy of the trust.
And is there any better way of being a foster parent than by
knowing how to give a baby its bottle, being able to change
a baby*s diaper, knowing how to care for a child*s cut knee,
or being able to comfort a crying child? Many of these things
may be major problems to you now, but they won’t be after you
have finished this course.
Parents want baby sitters that are reliable, like
children, attempt to understand children, have common sense,
and have initiative. Let’s get in and work together to make
you the best baby sitter in this whole town.
iii
TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
PART I. THE BABY
HOW TO CARE FOR AN INFANT
A
1* COMFORT: How to soothe a crying b a b y ........... 2
2. DIAPERING: How to keep the baby d r y ........... 6
3- BOTTLES AND NIPPLES: How to keep the feeding
equipment sterile............................ 10
lj_. FORMULA: How to make up the feedings........... ll\.
5. BOTTLE FEEDING: How to give nourishment . . . . 18
6. DIET: How to feed solid f o o d s .................. 23
7* TUB BATH: How to keep the baby clean........... 27
8. APPAREL: How to dress the b a b y .................. 3if
PART II. THE YOUNG CHILD
HOW TO MEET THE NEEDS OF SMALL CHILDREN
9* APPEARANCE: How to build habits of personal
cleanliness........................................ lj.0
10. ROUTINE: How to build good eating and sleeping
h a b i t s ............................................ ij_5
11. RELAXATION: How to help children in their play . £0
12* READING: How to train children to enjoy and use
books............................................ 55
13« DISCIPLINE: How to deal wisely with some diffi
culties which children experience ............... 59
lip. ACCIDENTS: How to prevent m i s h a p s ............. 67
15. EMERGENCIES: How to give simple first aid . . . 71
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................ 76
iv
LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS
ILLUSTRATION PAGE
1* The Formula...................................... lf>
2. The Bottle Feeding............................... 21
3* Preliminaries to the B a t h ....................... 29
Ij.* The Bath.......................................... 30
5. Dressing Baby the Easy W a y ....................... 36
6. A Good Eater...................................... lj.6
7. Adventure on a Jungle G y m ....................... $Z
8. No Jealousy H ere ................................. 62
9. The Thumb-Sucker................................. 6Ij.
v
INTRODUCTION
Our students of today will be our parents of tomorrow.
So proper child training now will result in better parents
for tomorrow1s children. Thus we should have better children,
better citizens, better communities, and a better nation.
Statement of the problem. This course of study was
written (1) to make the student better able to be responsible
for the younger members of her family; (2) to enable her to
gain satisfaction from caring for children; (3) to broaden
her understanding of human relationships through her under
standing of children; and (If.) to enable the student more
thoroughly to understand children.
Importance of the study. Many of our students will
never have an opportunity to take a child care course unless
it is offered in junior high school. They are much too busy
with college preparatory courses or in preparing for a vocation
once they get to high school. Emerson Junior High School in
Bakersfield, California, will be one of the first to introduce
a course in child care at this age level. Emerson has around
nine hundred students coming from varied home backgrounds.
The school offers instruction in both foods and clothing to
all seventh and eighth grade girls. Our students need a
practical child care course that will help them immediately
vi
in their relations with children. This course will be given
in the Home Economics laboratory where the students can
actually learn by doing. Many of our girls are baby sitters
already and desire answers to their many problems. So this
course will be useful today and preparation for their role
as parents of tomorrow.
Review of the literature. Better Homes and Gardens
offer a detailed guide on the care of the baby and the small
child.1 It is an extremely practical book arranged in
chronological form, covering everything from the prenatal
period through to the sixth year. Besides its wealth of
material on practical baby and child care problems, it also
includes a complete record section for your baby. One that
covers both physical and mental development, the child1s
interest and special abilities. A complete list of books
and phonograph records, suitable for children under six
years of age, has also been compiled for you.
Benjamin Spock, M. D., has written a complete and up-
o
to-date handbook for parents. It gives practical, easy-to-
understand answers to all the everyday questions and problems
that arise in the physical and psychological care of babies
1 Better Homes and Gardens, Baby Book (Des Moines:
Meredith Publishing Company, 1^6), 25o pp.
2 Benjamin Spock, M. D., Baby and Child Care (New
York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, Inc., 19I4-6) > 502 pp.
vii
and children, up through adolescence. The author has a very
down to earth approach which will be welcomed by many mothers.
Faegre and Anderson offer an excellent book on child
care and training.3 This text deals with the physical, mental,
and emotional growth of children from the baby stage to six
teen years of age. It is directed to those who see that
merely becoming a father or mother does not bring the knowledge
necessary to be a good parent. Emphasis has been placed upon
the importance of early childhood to the adjustment in later
life. Although this book has been written on the adult level,
much of the material can be adapted for the junior high school
level.
Information upon child care may be found wherever you
turn. The job lies in sorting out the authentic information
and utilizing that which is applicable to this particular
age level in which we are interested.
Course content. This course of study will be divided
into two parts: ’’The. Baby," and "The Young Child." In the
first part of the course the time will be devoted to learning
the various techniques necessary in caring for an infant. The
latter portion will touch upon a range of subjects all the
way from eating habits to giving first aid. The material and
activities for each chapter may be altered to meet the varied
3 Marion L. Faegre and John E. Anderson, Child Care and
Training (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 19lp3T>
314 pp.
viii
abilities and interests of the students. Assignments can
be varied and numerous activities designed to make the program
flexible. The course should be used only as a focus for
vigorous class discussion of experiences and observations
made by the students.
Sources. This course has been built around suggestions
given by eighth grade girls as to what they would desire in a
child care course. Many comments were welcomed from mothers
who employ our junior high school girls as baby sitters.
People who are to be thanked for their assistance are
Dr. Ted Gordon, East Los Angeles Junior College; Dr. Vernon
Hodge, Principal, Manual Arts Evening High School; Dr. Thomas
M. Riley, Principal, Lincoln High School; and my five months
old son, Mark, who has given invaluable assistance by being
the one upon whom many of these techniques were perfected.
