Vanas nad pedagoogilises k nes

This article focuses on the relationship between proverbs and pedagogical situations in bringing up children. The research deals with the life-stories that speak about the childhood in the early 20th century Finland. As research material two collections fromthe Folklore Archives of the Finnish Literature Society in Helsinki have been used. The themes of the proverbs in pedagogical speech were the following: 1) control of one’s own life and living with others; 2) work; 3) livelihood, support and care; 4) Christian way ofliving, and 5) proverbs without a context. As a conclusion it can be said that for a child proverbs are combinations of socio-cultural contexts, people, emotions and information in various situations. For a child as a listener the content of the proverb is, above all,connected with the situation and the person involved, and it serves primarily as a piece of concrete advice.