Page:First steps in mental growth (1906).djvu/57

 entertained by being shown pictures in magazines, R. began to turn through the leaves of books in order to see what was in them. Sometimes the magazine or book was so held as to allow the leaves to roll off the thumb; at other times, he held the book in his right hand, striking the leaves with the tips of the fingers of the left hand.

Twenty-eighth month.—The child rested a book or magazine in his right hand, as an older person might, letting the leaves fall off the left hand.

Thirty-sixth month.—Held book in the right hand and turned the leaves by placing the fingers of the left hand at the top edge of the page.

Learning to use a pair of scissors.—In the last week of the twenty-sixth month I tried to teach R. to use a pair of scissors. After watching me, he properly placed the thumb and forefinger in the handles, pulled them apart so the blades were open, but he didn't understand what to do in order to get the blades to close. He was in a predicament; he had the scissors open and did not know how to shut them. I then took hold of his hand, pressed the thumb and finger together. This I did a few times and he caught the motion and proceeded forthwith to cut, somewhat clumsily, the edge of a piece of paper. Improvement in the use of the scissors was rapid, so far as cutting merely for the fun of it was concerned. I tried on several occasions, in the latter part of the third