Page 273 - The Story of My Lif

good romp better than set exercises. The hour from twelve to one is devoted to

the learning of new words. BUT YOU MUSTN’T

THINK THIS IS THE ONLY TIME I SPELL TO HELEN; FOR I SPELL IN
HER

HAND EVERYTHING WE DO ALL DAY LONG, ALTHOUGH SHE HAS
NO IDEA AS

YET WHAT THE SPELLING MEANS. After dinner I rest for an hour, and
Helen plays with her dolls or frolics in the yard with the little darkies, who were
her constant companions before I came. Later I join them, and we make the
rounds of the outhouses. We visit the horses and mules in their stalls and hunt for

eggs and feed the turkeys. Often, when the weather is fine, we drive from four to
six, or go to see her aunt at Ivy Green or her cousins in the town. Helen’s
instincts are decidedly social; she likes to have people about her and to visit her
friends, partly, I think, because they always have things she likes to eat. After
supper we go to my room and do all sorts of things until eight, when I undress
the little woman and put her to bed. She sleeps with me now. Mrs. Keller wanted
to get a nurse for her, but I concluded I’d rather be her nurse than look after a
stupid, lazy negress.

Besides, I like to have Helen depend on me for everything, AND I FIND IT
MUCH EASIER TO TEACH HER THINGS AT ODD MOMENTS THAN AT

SET TIMES.

On March 31st I found that Helen knew eighteen nouns and three verbs. Here is
a list of the words. Those with a cross after them are words she asked for herself:
DOLL, MUG, PIN, KEY, DOG, HAT, CUP, BOX, WATER, MILK, CANDY,
EYE (X), FINGER (X), TOE (X), HEAD

(X), CAKE, BABY, MOTHER, SIT, STAND, WALK. On April 1st she learned
the nouns KNIFE, FORK, SPOON, SAUCER, TEA, PAPA, BED, and the verb
RUN.