Child's Way/Volume 13/Issue 1/Text

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childs way

baha - jamal 138 b.e., Vol. XII, No. 1

child’s way is a publication of the National Spiri-

tual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States.

child’s way is published bi-monthly in January,

March, May, July, September and November in

Doylestown, Pennsylvania. child’s way is intended

for the five to twelve year old child and strives to:

= develop the child’s awareness of the oneness of humanity

= increase the child’s conscious awareness of his spiritual nature and the need for its develop- ment

= provide practical approaches to viewing life’s difficulties

= develop the child’s reasoning power and stimu- late his love for the order of the universe

= provide a standard by which the child may learn to relate to others with love and justice

= assist parents and teachers in developing all of the child’s hidden talents and virtues

Subscriptions: U.S.A. $6.00 per year, 2 years for $11.00 Foreign $8.00 per year, 2 years for $15.00 (U.S. funds). Single copies $1.50. Subscriber and business correspondence should be addressed to: child’s way/Baha’i Subscriber Service

415 Linden Avenue

Wilmette, Illinois 60091

Manuscripts and other editorial correspondence should be addressed to:

child’s way/Radpour

6446 Ridge Lake Road

Hixson, Tennessee 37343

Manuscripts should be typewritten and double spaced throughout. Children’s contributions of art are preferably line drawings of black on white. Children’s contributions are welcome, however, in any form. Return postage should be included if manuscript is to be returned.

child’s way Editorial Committee:

Mary K. Radpour, Mildred MccClellan,

Rita Leydon, Janet Richards, Keith Boehme.

Editor: Mary K. Radpour Art Direction: Rita Leydon Production: Rita Leydon

Printed in the U.S.A.

Dear Children,

Did you ever stop to think that all the good things that human beings desire come from the earth? Diamonds, rubies, and gold are found in the earth; all the good vegetables and grains we eat grow in the earth; and even the creatures who give us their wool, their milk, their honey -- they too would not live without things from the earth.

And yet the earth is what we walk on and for the most part ig- nore. Baha’u’llah says we must re- spect this earth which gives us so much and asks from us so little. Some of the stories in this issue of Child’s Way are about this respect for the earth. Do you know some ways of showing your love for the world you live in? Tell us about them.

Love, gr edn

[Page 1]WwarArs

Issipe?

| Do you know what

day it is? Perhaps not; check it out on page 4.

Does Little Flower have a song? Do you? See if you can figure it out on page 6.

What's in a wave? Water? Air? Power? Find out on page 10.

Find out what love can do on page 26.

What’s a UNIPAR? A bird? A plane? A friend? Meet him on page 30.

Editorial What’s Inside? 1 Letters From Our Friends 2 Our Baha’i Calendar 4 Little Flower’s Special Song 6 a story by Bob Rosencrantz Waves 10 a thinking exercise by Guy Murchie Sa’di’s Story 12 a selection from THE GARDEN OF ROSES translated by Marzieh Gail It’s a Small World 14 alook at you and me and the world by Kit Osborn

A ““Dot-to-Dot’’ Activity 16 by Rita Leydon

The Ayyam-i-Ha Surprise 18 a fantasy by Judith Conlin

A Visit from McMousie 23 by Debbie Bley

Did You Ever Wonder? 26

a song from COME AND SING

Song to a Whale 28 a poem by Joan Taylor UNIPAR 30

a new feature from the Office of the Treasurer Read to and with your Child 32 a Parents’ Page by Dr. William Diehl

Illustration Credits:

pgs. 4-5, Rita Leydon

pgs. 6-9, Rita Leydon

pgs. 10-11, Judith Hennessy pgs. 12-13, Elizabeth Filstrup pg. 15, Patti Hoffmann

pgs. 16-17, Rita Leydon

pgs. 18-22, Donald Boone-Wallis pgs. 23-25, John Solarz

pgs. 26-27, Rita Leydon .

pgs. 28-29, Walter Zimmerman pgs. 30-31, Paul Lample

Back Cover, Elizabeth Filstrup [Page 2]Lei FERs Fre SUR FRiERDS

Dear Child’s Way, Dear Child’s Way, My name is Arya Czerniejewski. I have always wanted a Baha’i I am seven years old. Iam going to pen pal. I have my own typewriter. grade two at school. I live in Park I like to type letters. So here is my Ridge. I like to read Child’s Way. address: Love, Arya PO. Box 6637

, Bellevue, Washington 98007 Here is Arya’s drawing of herself Necka K : 8 reading Child’s Way: BR ORBEAH. De

Here’s a poem by our 9 year old Alison Gregg, age 9, sent us this friend, Kean Theng Oh: drawing of a dove:

Spring is lovely;

Spring is nice;

Smell the air;

It smells like blooming blossoms! Flowers are pretty too;

Spring is the best;

See the little birds in the trees; Aren’t they cute?

Sometimes forest fires burn up a forest, which is bad;

Summer is the time for fun and play.

Why do the ants work all day?

Swimming, swimming, that’s what I like.

Fall is the time to rake up leaves.

I like it, don’t you?

Winter is creamy white?

Winter is the time for ice-skating. [Page 3]Dear Child’s Way,

I am Wendy Dawn Cason. I live in northwest Houston and we go to every Feast. We are going to

meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified.’’

Love, Wendy, age 9%

start children’s classes in about 4 weeks. We’ve gone to the last three conventions. I have a bro- ther named Aaron. My mom is named Frances and my dad is named Jeffrey. I would like to end my letter with a prayer and here it is: “Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the

P.S. Here is a picture of me!

= Ww7, u) an ",

[* _ <

4 r x

These Baha’i children from Green Bay, Wisconsin, had an exciting Rid- van. They made roses for the special day out of brilliant tissue papers in many colors of pink, rose, and red. Since Baha’u’llah had shared the many roses in His original Ridvan celebration, so did these children share their roses. Each child made one rose to keep for himself and one to give away to a special guest at the Ridvan meeting. The children were ready at the beginning of the meeting to greet each guest; then they sang some songs to make the guests happy, and then the children each went to get arose to share with a grown-up friend. Finally, the little children passed out all the plates, napkins and cups as well as the refreshments, which they had either made all by themselves, or assisted a grown-up in making. It was a delicious holiday!

[Page 4]Our Baha’ı Calendar

oday you’re going to learn a whole new way to measure time! Child’s

Way has begun to follow the Baha’i calendar, and this issue is for the months of Bahaa, Jalal, and Jamal. Can you find important days in your life on this calendar? Your birthday? Your spring vacation? How about April Fool’s Day, May Day, or Mother’s Day? On this calendar there are some important holidays you already know about. Can you find Naw- Ruz? How about Ridvan?

Naw-Ruz, or the Baha’i New Year, is on Saturday, March 21st in 1981 A.D. on the Christian, or Gregorian calendar. On the Baha’i calendar, it falls on Jalal, the 1st of Baha, 138 B.E. (Baha’i Era). Can you name the following days with the new calendar? (Answers are upside down at the bottom of the page.)

Monday, March 30 Tuesday, April 7

Saturday, April 25 Thursday, May 14

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we ee. [Page 5]March, April & May 1981 A.D. Baha (Splendor), Jalal (Glory) & Jamal (Beauty) 138 B.E.

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[Page 6]LITTLB FEOWERS

SPECIAL SONG

by Bob Rosencrantz

“c S unrise is special, isn’t it?’ whispered Little Flower. After a time grandfather nodded yes not moving his gaze from the colorful sky. The dew still hung from blades of grass. Only the birds broke the silence as they chirped from distant pine trees. They sang sunrise songs. ‘‘And the birds, they’re special t00?’’ asked Little Flower.

“Our Creator is generous,’’ grandfather answered. ‘‘He gives each its special song. Love of the sunrise is His gift to me. When I watch the rising sun my heart soars.’’

And what is my special song? Little Flower asked with her eyes. Grandfather smiled a kind smile, placed his forefinger on his lips in the sign of silence, then returned his gaze to the colorful sky. Little Flower sat snuggled against grandfather’s warm chest in the dawn. She thought and she thought, wondering what her special song could be.

Joey dumped the bucket of swill under the warm morning sun. The pigs ran squealing to breakfast. ‘‘'Hear those pig grunts?’’ Joey said.

“Yes,” Little Flower answered.

“Grateful grunts,’’ Joey stated.

“Grateful grunts?’’ his sister asked.

‘Yes, those grunts are pig language for ‘thank you.’

“Pigs are polite,’’ Little Flower concluded. ‘‘Joey, did you know there’s a song in grandfather’s heart?’

‘Yes,’ Joey said matter of factly. [Page 7]

“Grandfather knows a lot about what’s in a person’s heart,’ Little Flower continued. ‘He knows our Creator put a special song in each of our hearts.’’ Joey rubbed a piglet behind her ear. “I bet being kind to pigs is the special song in your heart,’’ Little Flower said. She wondered if there were words to her brother’s song.

“Suey, Suey, Suey,’ called Joey. “Why do you like pigs so well?” asked Little Flower.

“Grandfather says animals talk in my heart,” replied Joey. Little Flower closed her eyes tightly. She listened hard. She heard piglets saying, ‘Thank you.’ But they weren’t in her heart. They were in front of her at the pig trough. Little Flower thought and thought. The more she tried to think about what was special about her, the sadder she became. She felt Joey guide her head to his shoulder.

Holding her chin in her hands, Little Flower sat in the soft garden dirt and watched her mother work. Little Flower thought and thought. It’s easy to see that mother’s special song is a green thumb, thought Little Flower. Little Flower knew that having a green thumb did not mean your thumb was the color green. Having a green thumb means you’re able to help plants grow. Mother’s thumb was certainly green yet, beautiful brown. Little Flower watched as mother knelt weeding her garden of vegetables. Mother pulled out all the small weeds close to the plants. Just as carefully she left the weeds that looked like grass in the open areas between the rows of plants. “Mother, tell me the story about why you leave the grassy weeds, please.” [Page 8]

“Oh, very well,” mother teasingly sighed. For she had told the story many times. ‘As you know it has to do with bugs — foolish bugs. You see to a bug’s way of tasting, green weeds are like your favorite pudding. Whereas vegetables, healthy as they are, certainly taste like vegetables and certainly do not taste like pudding — even to a bug. Foolish bugs care more for pleasing tastes than they care for healthy bodies. And so I leave the grassy weeds for them. In turn the foolish bugs leave the vegetables for wiser children.” Foolish bugs have an unwise song in their heart, thought Little Flower. But even a foolish bug had a song she thought. And then Little Flower became very sad for she began to think God had forgotten to give her, her special song. ‘“What’s troubling you dear?’’ asked mother.

“Most everybody is special,’ Little Flower said. ‘“Grandfather is special at watching sunrises. Joey is special with pigs. And you have a green thumb.”

“And that makes you sad?’’ said mother.

“It’s just that everyone has a special song except me,’ Little Flower answered softly.

“Ahhhh. I see. No wonder you’re sad. Of course, you have a spe- cial song,’’ mother reassured. [Page 9]

“What is it?’ asked Little Flower.

“I wish I could say. But you must discover your special song for yourself,’’ mother said.

“I may never discover it,'’ pouted Little Flower.

“God has not forgotten you. Be patient,’’ mother said. Grown-ups were always saying be patient, thought Little Flower. Then mother began weeding and humming a happy tune. Mother hummed. Little Flower thought. The more mother hummed and the more Little Flower thought, the sadder Little Flower became. Just as the cor- ners of the little girl’s mouth had sagged as low as they ever had, she heard someone whimpering. ‘Little Flower, would you see what’s wrong with your younger brother?’’ called mother.

Erick was holding his barefoot off the field dirt. “Sticker... sticker. Owwww,' Erick complained. Knowing exactly what to do, Little Flower jerked the sticker free. ‘‘Owwww!” called Erick.

“It’]l be better soon,” Little Flower promised. Erick crawled into her lap. His sister held him tightly. And in that moment, for it’s only a moment that a busy little brother will sitinalap...inthat mo- ment as Erick smiled ..... in that special moment, Little Flower’s heart sang. = [Page 10]_ WOVES

What is an ocean wave made of?

by Guy Murchie

j f you take a quick look at one, it seems to be made of salt j

water, and a few bubbles, and some foam, and maybe alittle - - :: piece of seaweed. But if you keep looking at it fora whole min- ute, you will notice that, as the wave moves along, it does not take the water with it. No, the water rises up as the wave passes, then sinks down again behind it, and the bubbles and foam go in &. circles: up and forward upon each wave, down and backward be- tween the waves. The wave is not made of water but of some- thing else — something called energy. And energy is not water. And it is not land, and not air but something strong and myster- ious that you cannot catch hold of. It is something that, we might say, is like a little piece of God.

“_ Reprinted from an earlier Child’s Way.

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12 [Page 13]Ba'dt's Skorq

translated by Marzieh Gail

Sa’di was a great Persian poet who, though he lived about 700 years ago, still is loved by those who admire great poetry. He wrote a book called The Garden of Roses. Here is one of its stories, in which be tells of the times during which he lived as a wanderer and beggar:

DIDI DIDI DIDI I DIDI I DIN DIDI DIDI DEI DI EDEN DE

I once spent a year or so in the Great Mosque at Damascus, a retreat by the tomb of the Prophet John.

It happened that a king who was known for his tyranny came by on a pilgrimage. After he had duly offered his prayers and made his petitions, he looked in my direction and said: ‘Because the pious dervish is striving toward Heaven, and righteous in his ways, take thou some heed of me, for I live in a dread of a powerful foe.”

I told him: ‘If thou wouldst be safe from a powerful foe, then show mercy to the feeblest of thy serfs, All Adams sons are limbs of one another; Made of one dust is every brother and brother; And should one member ever suffer harm, The other members tremble in alarm.” a

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13 [Page 14]14

its a Small World

by Kit Osborn

D id you ever stop to think about how what we do affects people

and places that we’ve never seen?

For example:

if I build a house where lots of rabbits have been living, they may all go to live in my neighbor’s garden;

if my school builds a big black-topped playground and parking lot, whenever it rains all the water which used to seep into the ground now runs off into the ditches and from there to the creeks and rivers; if it rains a lot, there may be floods;

if I throw candy wrappers out of my car window as I travel, and so does everyone else, soon the countryside will be covered with what we threw out;

if I burn all my old newspapers because they take up too much space, I may have wasted enough wood pulp (from which news- paper is made) to equal a whole tree;

if I keep all the lights in my house on all the time, I’m using ener- gy which someone else may need just to keep warm;

if Task my Dad to pick me up from roller-skating all alone, instead of car-pooling with my friends, I'm using gasoline that may be needed to run a factory in Africa, or buses in Equador.

Sometimes it’s hard to know how one action we take can affect

other people. There are scientists who study how living things are all dependent on one another and the earth; they are ecologists. One ecologist told us this story:

In a village on the island of Borneo there used to be many insects,

and people didn’t like that, for they got sick from the diseases carried by the insects. So health workers used an insecticide called DDT to get rid of the insects. It worked. The insects died. But then so did the lizards who lived on the roofs that were sprayed with DDT. Then [Page 15]cats ate these dead lizards, and they died from the DDT. And then there were no creatures in the village to kill the rats, so there were rats everywhere! Health workers had to bring in new cats to kill the rats. They did this by dropping the cats into the village from air- planes in parachutes! Can you imagine that?

Does all that sound complicated? Perhaps it is, but we can make it simple if we just remember that some things which we think are good can have bad results, and some things which we think are bad are per- haps not so bad as we supposed. If we’re smart, we’ll think all these things through ahead of time, before our actions lead to a problem we didn’t expect! =

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17 [Page 18]18

Ayyam-i-“Ha “Surprise

by Judith B. Conlin

(> Bunny was humming to herself as she bustled about her

cozy kitchen. The floor had been polished till it shone. Starched

ruffled curtains were hung over sparkling windows, and cookies cut

out by Gramma’s new carrot shaped cookie cutter filled the cookie

jar. There was a pretty bouquet of clover right in the middle of the large round table. Gramma smiled in satisfaction.

Grampa Bunny was sitting at the table reading his newspaper, try- ing to look grumpy. He slid his glasses down to the end of his nose and snorted, ‘‘What is all this fuss about, Matilda? One would think you’d never had a Ayyam-i-Ha dinner before.”

Gramma smoothed her apron with her plump little paws, wriggled her nose tickling Grampa with her whiskers, and giggled, “You don’t fool me for a minute with your snorting, Mr. Bunny. You’re just as excited as I am that our three dear grandbunnies are spending Ayyam-i-Ha with us.”

Grampa snorted again, but there were laugh wrinkles around his eyes. Before he could say anything else, the kitchen door burst open and three lively creatures hurtled in and out of Gramma’s open arms and then scrambled onto Grampa’s lap. Grampa snorted and pre- tended they had knocked him on the floor. The three little bunnies looked at him worriedly, then tried to pull him up.

“Now, Honey, Funny, and Runny,’ Gramma scolded tenderly, “you should know by now that Grampa’s only fooling you.’

The worried looks vanished and the three little bunnies danced round and round. Honey and Runny were little girls, Funny Bunny was their triplet brother. Honey Bunny got her name because she had such a sweet tooth. Runny Bunny got her name since she loved to run and was very fast. Funny Bunny’s name came from his love of jokes and laughter. [Page 19] [Page 20]

[Page 21]

The three little bunnies suddenly stopped dancing and their three little noses began to twitch. ‘‘Oh, Gramma, is that carrot pie we smell?’’ they cried.

Gramma’s long ears quivered and her plump little body bounced as she chuckled, ‘‘Of course, it is, my dears, and this year I have a sur- prize for you.”

She popped open the oven door and there were three carrot pies. “IT made you each a pie,” she said, “and they’re golden brown. T’ll set them on the windowsill to cool.”

Gramma quickly removed the pies. The triplets once more climbed on Grampa. Gramma could hear them whispering as she climbed the stairs to prepare their beds for the night. She finished her work quickly and was hurrying back to the kitchen when the parlor door- bell rang. Mrs. Mouse, who lived next door, wanted to borrow some extra blankets, as she was having company for Ayyam-i-Ha too. Gramma got the needed articles, saw Mrs. Mouse off, and then turned her eager feet once more to the kitchen.

But Gramma’s kitchen was strangely silent. Opening the door, Gramma was surprised to find it empty. No Grampa. No Honey. No Runny. No Funny.

Gramma looked at the windowsill. Instead of three pies there were now only two. Gramma leaned out the window but could see nothing. “Miss Wren, Miss Wren,” she called to a little bird in a tree, “someone has stolen one of my pies. Did you see who did it? I must get my pie back.”

Miss Wren twittered with embarrassment, ‘Oh, Mrs. Bunny, I don’t know how to tell you, but Isaw one of your own grandbunnies grab that pie and run. I saw the other two little ones and Mr. Bunny run after him, but they didn’t catch the little thief.”

21 [Page 22]

22

Gramma’s eyes filled with tears. One of her darlings had stolen his own pie. ‘Why would he do such a thing,’ she wondered, “and which one did it? Maybe it was Honey who had such a sweet tooth. Of course, Miss Wren said they couldn’t catch him, so maybe it was Runny who was always so very fast. Then again, Funny might think it was a very good joke. Such naughty bunnies. I shall surely give the little thief a thump when I find out who it is.’’

Gramma’s thoughts spun round and round. She sat down at the table trying not to cry.

Suddenly the door opened and there were Grampa and the triplets.

“Look, Gramma,’” cried the little ones, dancing around once again, ‘we took your pie to the pie contest and it won the first prize blue ribbon. We told Grampa we knew it would.”

“Oh, you darlings,’’ cried Gramma, laughing and crying and hug- ging and dancing. Grampa pushed his glasses down to the end of his nose and

snorted, ‘What is all this fuss about, Matilda? One would think you’d never won a blue ribbon before.”’

But there was no way he could hide the big grin on his face and soon he was dancing, too. It was going to be a very happy Ayyam-i- Ha day. =

za [Page 23]avisit fromMcemausie

by Debbi Bley

MN

I t started as an ordinary Saturday. My sister and I took my wagon and went on a newspaper drive, spending our afternoon asking our neighbors if they wouldn’t mind giving us their old papers, which I loaded up and pulled behind me in my favorite, red wagon (the old battered kind).

Just as we got to the Polanskis’ house, we heard a “squeak-squeak- ing’ — just like a mouse! I looked at Sue, and she gave me a grin. “Oh, Thornton! Do you think that it could really be him?’

“I think it just might be our favorite blue mouse. He’s long over- due for one of his visits,”’ T answered her.

We stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, to listen again for any more squeaks, when right before us, about three inches from the ground, a blue nose appeared in mid-air! It was soon followed by four furry paws, and sixteen tiny, blue toes, then we saw all of him!

“Tt’s Bluewhiskers Squeaker McMousie!’’ we cried. _ er —

“Just let me smooth my fur, and say ‘how-do-you-do’ CC I to my favorite two children, Thornton and Sue!”

“My,my, ” he said, and he stood on tiptoe to look into my wagon. ‘I can see I’d best go.

Yes, yes. I think, really, I ought not to stay.

With your important work, I’d just be in the way.” Nr And he turned away from us, and started to go! ‘“Wait! Don’t go, Bluewhiskers!’’ we called out quickly. ‘“We’re never so busy that we

don’t have time for an old friend — especially for you, you furry old mouse! We’ve missed you, don’t you know?”

That mouse blushed with pleasure, to the tip of his nose. With his blue fur, the blush turned his face a bright purple.

“Besides, what’s so important about collecting old newspapers? I’m just doing it for Scouts,” I said. “I didn’t think that it was any big deal, but you seem to have a different feeling about it, Blue- whiskers.”’

“You’re right,"” said McMousie. ‘You just don’t think yet of the world out beyond you. But I’Il help you get a picture of how the things that you do

not only affect you, but all the world, too.” 23 [Page 24]24

=

vn

“You mean what we’re doing, right now, in Polanskis’ yard, can affect someone else? That’s pretty hard to imagine....'’I said.

(“I'm glad we didn’t have to collect all 45 tons,'’ Sue whispered to

me.)

Sue and I held conference quickly, whispering to each other, while Bluewhiskers paced in front of us. We had no idea!

Sue and I were surprised to learn this from Bluewhiskers. We had no idea that something as simple as recycling old papers could save so many trees, and that our little wagon-load was helping that! But then

“Well, let’s think for a moment. Really use that young head! Are you alone on this planet?’’ Bluewhiskers said.

“Are you all alone, or aren’t there others:

Aunts, uncles, and cousins, friends, strangers, and mothers,

I

Bears, wildbeasts, mooses and little moose-brothers; Plants, rocks and flowers, sunlight and air, moonlight and starlight, and oceans out there!

88 IN ern

“We’ll look at connections, how all life is chained into one giant circle, and how it’s maintained. We’ll get a peek at the world, and its harmony, through a science of nature, called ECOLOGY.

“Let’s imagine some children, two thousand or so, with one thousand red wagons, lined upinarow, stacked with newspapers, they’d gathered like you, weighing forty-five tons (give or take one or two).”

“Well, forty-five tons of old scrap paper mess

can save lots of trees. Would you give me a guess

as to how many trees would not need to be cut

if you reused that paper? Now, what’s your guess-what?”’

“Time’s up!’’ said McMousie. ‘“What’s your answer, then?” Sue answered, “One hundred?’’ I guessed, “Maybe ten?” McMousie said, ‘Higher than that, my young man. Forty-five tons of old newspapers can

be collected and used all over again

and this saves over seven hundred and fifty trees.

It takes years to grow fine, tall trees, such as these.”

I thought of another question. “Bluewhiskers, what would happen if

people didn’t care, and just cut down any or all trees, anywhere, or everywhere?’”’ [Page 25]“A good question, Thornton,” Bluewhiskers told me. “IT was going to ask you that, eventually.

Without trees, whose roots hold the earth in their grip, mudbanks would slide, and rocks — how they’d slip! and the rich, fertile topsoil — away it would blow.... Desert would come, and the forest would go.

Animals like me would lose their homes.... So — thinking about this, now what do you know?”

Bluewhiskers crawled up and sat on my knee, while Sue and I thought about all we’d just heard.

“Well,” I began, “I used to think that what I did mattered only to me; at the most to my family. But now I see that what I do hasan effect on lots of other things in the world, even if I can’t see them.”

“Yes, Thornton,” Sue said. “I know now that the earth is our own, wherever we live. If we don’t take care of one part of it, we hurt all of it.”

Bluewhiskers said, ‘‘I really am proud of you two —

my best friends and students, Thornton and Sue.

There’s something else good that you’re doing, you know. When everyone sees you, your wagon in tow,

they may take your example, and maybe they’ll go and take more than newspaper to arecycling center, cans, bottles, iron, boxes, and rubber to enter

back in circulation for our use again.

We’d all be less wasteful with what earth gives to man.” 2

“Bluewhiskers, how can we thank you today?”

I asked him, and he said, ‘“There might be away... What I mean to ask is, if you wouldn’t mind,

a ride in your wagon would be ever so kind.”

He walked over to it, ‘I'll ride for a while,

if you’d please help me climb on that newspaper pile.’’

Sue took his left paw and I took the right one, and we lifted him gently up onto the stack. He looked like a king on the top of that heap! He leaned back, resting on a pile of old funnies, wrapped his tail around himself, and sighed contentedly. We pulled him along. It had been an enchanted day for Sue and for me.

We turned around to tell Bluewhiskers, but all that we saw were two big blue eyes, quivering whiskers, and paws, and they faded be-

fore us, before we had time to blink, leaving only his whiskers, then

one last, sly wink. a

25 [Page 26]26

DID YOU EVER WONDER ?

by Susan Engle from tbe COME AND SING album.

Gm Dm

Did e- ver won - der why God sent

you

R' Gm

v—_.

us Ba - ha — ’uw - Ilah? Did you e - ver won —— der —

Dm_ A? m m

Be Love is the an - swer. Love holds the

—_

u-ni- verse to - ge - ther. Love is the an - swer —

IS —_—i

en

>

N [Page 27]

[Page 28]Oo z

®)

play my harp to you

the key of F will do -- \ In your dim, dark watery world the sound should feel familiar

to your senses.

You who prow! the ocean floor in search of plankton

leap through air in spurts of joy care for your sick and sorrowful

your mystery is ours --

We too must dive deep explore the world within us -- perhaps we touch

our ancient memory in you.

You who play, talk, care, grieve teach us to live on earth

as you live in the sea.

©

[Page 29] [Page 30]30

H: My name is Unipar. That’s short for “Universal Participa- tion.’ Maybe you have seen my picture on the Treasurer’s Letter which is read at Feast. I always encourage Baha’is to contri- bute to the National Fund.

I work in the Office of the Treasurer at the National Center, along with many other Baha’is. We help the National Spiritual Assembly watch over the National Fund and try to help it grow strong. It is im- portant for the National Fund to be strong because it is used to spread the Baha’i Faith in this country and all around the world.

The National Fund has a goal for contributions every Baha’i month. Sometimes it seems like this goal is hard to reach, but regular contributions from all the Baha’is makes it easier to win this goal. Every contribution helps -- no matter how small and unimportant it may seem to the person who gives it. This story about a raven ex- plains why: [Page 31]

No matter what goal you set for yourself, no matter how impossi- ble it might seem, you can do it if you work at it bit by bit, a little at a time, day by day. And when every Baha’i gives a little bit to the National Fund every month, we will find that it is easy to win that goal, too! =

One hot day a raven was very thirsty. He could not find water anywhere. As he was flying past a farmhouse window he saw a pitcher. He leaned over and tried to drink, but the water was too far down for him to reach. Poor raven!

Then he had an idea. He flew outside and picked up a small stone in his beak. Then he flew back to the pitcher and dropped the stone in the water. Again and again he flew back and forth dropping more stones into the pitcher. Each time the level of the water became higher and higher. Finally the raven was able to reach over and take a big drink!

31 [Page 32]32

PARENTS FASE

READ TO AND WITH YOUR CHILD

by Dr. William Diehl

c H ow can I help my child do better in school?’

“How can I help to make sure my pre-school child is ready for first grade?’

These and similar questions are often voiced by parents. Baha’i parents, who are aware of the standards of excellence and academic distinction that are pro- moted in the Writings, are particularly concerned about helping their children. So what should Baha’i parents do?

One of the best things parents can do is also the easiest. Decades:of reading re- search show consistently that good readers tend to come from homes where parents read to and with them. In other words, the method of teaching reading, the personality of the teacher, the type of school or classroom, the size of the class, or the type of reading series used do not seem to necessarily make a big dif- ference in how wella child learns to read. The parents and the home environment are what often makes the difference. Parents, it turns out, are the most important educational influences in a child’s life.

This comes as no surprise. The Writings continually encourage parents to be teachers. In the Kitab-i-Agdas, the fathers are enjoined to instruct their ‘son and daughter in the art of reading and writing and in all that hath been laid down in the Holy Tablet’’ (Synopsis and Codification, p. 15-16).

It is important that parents not only realize that they have responsibility for teaching their children to read, but that they can teach their children to read. A degree in education or specialized training is not needed. If a parent can read, she can help her children learn to appreciate reading, to enjoy reading, and to read. While there are a percentage of children who require special help from trained educators, the majority of children can improve reading just with a parent’s help.

How should a parent help? With pre-school and early elementary children, a parent can best help by reading to and with the children. In fact, a parent is really teaching the child to read the same way she taught the child to speak. The child learned to speak because the parents spent hours talking to and with the child. The child, in turn, began to experiment with sounds, to understand that words represent objects or events, to form simple and then complex messages, to form generalizations about language, and so on. Research suggests that, in fact, children learn to read in about the same way they learn to speak. So by exposing children to lots of print -- to books and magazines and signs -- parents can greatly facilitate the learning of reading. While this will not guarantee that a particular child will learn to read, it will help to ensure that a child has had more reading experiences and a greater motivation to learn to read by the time the child enters school.

How can you help your child with reading? Here are the three main things for pre-school and early elementary school children: [Page 33]|

1. Read to the child every day. Make the reading an enjoyable experience and part of the daily routine so that the child will learn that reading is both fun and an integral part of life. As you read to the child, remember that the child is not a pas- sive observer, but is actively trying to make sense out of things. The child may want the same book read dozens of times as she tries to understand how the story line works or how the written symbols represent ideas, etc. Or a child, especially a young one, may only want the pictures read, and will not pay attention to the words at all; such a child will, with enough exposure to books, begin to see the correspondence between the print and the pictures.

2. Read with the child. A big part of learning to read is learning how to predict what will come next and learning how to use the context of a story to ‘“guess at”’ an unfamiliar word or idea. In reading with the child, the parent reads parts of the book and allows the child to “read” (or predict or guess at) other parts. The child will, of course, make mistakes, but she is learning how to think with print.

Probably the best type of material to use in reading with children is material that is predictable. In other words, things are provided in the story that help the child make sense and predict what will come next. Stories that are well illustrated help a child. Stories that repeat key phrases or themes are especially useful, and children tend to enjoy them. For example, folk tales and ‘classics’’ tend to be repetitive (e.g., The Little Red Hen, with its repetition of ‘Not I” said the cat. “Not I’ said the rat, etc.). Certain of the Baha’i prayers and Writings are likewise predictable (e.g., ‘“Blessed is the spot, and the house, . . .’””). Rhyming poems are also predictable since certain sounds are repeated (e.g., Dr. Seuss books).

In reading with a child, a parent might: e read all but the last word in a line and have the child ‘“'quess at’’ the word. e read a portion of the story and then ask the child predicting questions, such as, “What do you think will happen next?” “Why did __—_____ happen?”’ “Where will he go next?” e read several pages then ask the child to “tell me what this page says.’ e encourage the child to use illustrations, rhymes and repetitive elements to predict. e substitute something nonsensical in the story and say, ‘Was that right?”

3. Let yourchild see you reading. If the parent values reading and lets the child see that reading is used to solve problems, or to worship, or for enjoyment, then the child is more likely to also value reading. This is perhaps the best encourage- ment you can give a child to become a good reader. a

Dr. William Diehl was on the faculty in Reading Education at Indiana Univer- sity, and has recently assumed a position at the University of Georgia. He is the author of several monographs and articles and the editor of three books dealing with aspects of reading education. While his specialties are in secondary and col- lege reading and adult literacy, he has been active in researching and teaching about early reading. Dr. Diehl has taught at the middle school, high school and college levels for seven years. He has also been actively involved in Baha'ı educa- tion — as children’s class teacher in South Carolina and Indiana, as a member of National Education Committee taskforces, and as coordinator of a literacy/con- solidation project being tested in South Carolina. A Baha’i for eight years, Dr. Diehl has served on LSAs in South Carolina and Indiana and was a member of the DTC of Central South Carolina.

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