Page 305 - The Story of My Lif

Saturday the schoolchildren had their tree, and I took Helen. It was the first
Christmas tree she had ever seen, and she was puzzled, and asked many
questions. “Who made tree grow in house?

Why? Who put many things on tree?” She objected to its miscellaneous fruits
and began to remove them, evidently thinking they were all meant for her. It was
not difficult, however, to make her understand that there was a present for each

child, and to her great delight she was permitted to hand the gifts to the children.
There were several presents for herself. She placed them in a chair, resisting all
temptation to look at them until every child had received his gifts. One little girl
had fewer presents than the rest, and Helen insisted on sharing her gifts with her.
It was very sweet to see the children’s eager interest in Helen, and their readiness
to give her pleasure. The exercises began at nine, and it was one o’clock before
we could leave. My fingers and head ached; but Helen was as fresh and full of
spirit as when we left home.

After dinner it began to snow, and we had a good frolic and an interesting lesson
about the snow. Sunday morning the ground was covered, and Helen and the
cook’s children and I played snowball.

By noon the snow was all gone. It was the first snow I had seen here, and it
made me a little homesick. The Christmas season has furnished many lessons,
and added scores of new words to Helen’s vocabulary.

For weeks we did nothing but talk and read and tell each other stories about
Christmas. Of course I do not try to explain all the new words, nor does Helen
fully understand the little stories I tell her; but constant repetition fixes the words
and phrases in the mind, and little by little the meaning will come to her. I SEE
NO SENSE IN “FAKING” CONVERSATION FOR THE SAKE OF
TEACHING

LANGUAGE. IT’S STUPID AND DEADENING TO PUPIL AND TEACHER.
TALK