[Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, Stamford Borough.

  • Stamford (England). Borough Council
Date:
1968
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1968] / Medical Officer of Health, Stamford Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    18/66 page 16
    hamonious play. The haimony is natLU’:.lly now and again disrupted, but hardly more so than would be expected tanong more fortunate chil'lron. communications ’’One of the outstr.nding fe .turos of the playgroup in its early stages Was the lack of the right sort of noise. There was plenty of crying for the usual reasons, but ver^^ little chatter bet'./ecn the children. They were cc.pable of demonstrating liking - by putting oai am around another child and dislike by thumping another child; vciy few other sentiments were expressed. In the past eight months thc^^ have begun to communicate verbally, their vocabulary has increo.sed at a rj,te that is considered much more rauid thou is nomal at tlioir ages - although some are still Yory limited, others arc besginning to catch up with their peers. Imagination ’’The lives and experiences of these children are so limited and so lacking in stimulation that their iiOwginations are Yciy undeveloped c.g, two stalwart boxes, of the orange box ty]pG v/ero found in ti-.o kitchen. They ivero carried into our room end we av/aited developments they v/crc ignored. It was suggested that we might drive out in the two ’’cars - still no roaction; they were then turned over and vtg played energetic jumping off games. Since then, in gradual std.gos, these boxes h;ive boon in turn trains, racing cars, aeroplanes and ships in wliich they have sailed the seven seas. Here is high adventure. The girls now play together in the yendy house - day to day family activities such as eating end putting to bed arc acted out in a normally grossly exaggerated fom. Possessiveness is less determined, they are beginning to recognise the needs of others, there is some progress tovairds shcvrlng. Concentration ’’Now that the children have learnt to play and their interest has been aroused they very evidently concentrate for much longer periods. Some of the older children nov; finish a simple jig-sa.w puzzle or a clay model, and a few of then will listen enthralled to a short story, (Listening to stories was an entirely new experience for then fll), /J.though stor^,’’ tine is still enjoyed or oven participated in by as many as had been hoped for; nevertheless, tills development of pov/ers of concentration plus an introduction to the written v/ord and a very simple pattern of fom and orderliness, must help them to settle in more c^.sily at Priiiary School. Before going on to brief individual reports, the benefit derived from the
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