A programme for children under five
Nursery rhymes, stories, and music
Today the under-fives are to hear again a favourite story, by Ruth Simonis , about a little boy called Tim and his horse White Star. It was Derby Week when we received the following in a letter from the mother of a little boy: ' On seeing the photograph of the Derby oh the cover of this week's Radio Times, he immediately started shouting " White Star wins! White Star wins! Hurrah! " As he had never seen a race and knew nothing about horse-racing, I was mystified until I remembered the story of Tim and his horse which we had some time ago.' One aspect of this anecdote which interested us was its evidence of how our small listeners may remember for a long time the stories they hear in these programmes, though the fact may not be revealed unless brought to light by a chance happening. But even more significant, we thought, was the example it afforded of the power of association to recall past incidents; for the welding together of past and present experiences, the combining and re-combining of them, with the consequent enlargement of knowledge and understanding, represents an important facet of the intellectual development of small children.
Elizabeth A. Taylor