UNDERSTANDING THE CHILD

The course of growing up for the average child consists of certain regularities. For most school age children regularity involves the presence of parents, awakening in the morning, preparing for school, meeting with the same teacher, the same children, playing with friends, sleeping in his own bed, essentially being able to depend on a series of predictable events.

The child expects a dependability from adults and certainly from the forces of nature. For the preschooler life is much the same. He spends his day within the familiarity of his world, be it at home, with babysitters, or a nursery school, etc. His family remains more or less constant.

When there is an interruption in this natural flow of life, the child experiences anxiety and fear. How the adults help the child to resolve these &quotproblem times" may have a lasting effect on the child.