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S. Gushing Co. —Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 'CU5 15779 /^VVnX) I NORMAN TRIPLETT PREFACE In the following pages an attempt has been made to present to the common school teacher and the student of education the vital elements of modern practice in the elementary school^ illustrated in such a way as to stimu- late further use of the methods described. Theoretical ideals have been adapted to ordinary school work. Noth- ing has been advocated here which has not already had successful application and thorough trial. Every illus- tration is taken from classroom practice. Emphasis has been placed upon topics which the aver- age teacher needs to consider. Experience in supervising several thousand teachers in three different states has been the basis for conclusions as to what topics teachers need most to know about and to have illustrated. Educational theory developed in leading American universities has been made use of. Originality is claimed only for the selection of topics and for the illustrations. The many teachers and supervisors with whom I have worked should by all means be mentioned as a chief source of information and inspiration. Recognition for materials taken from other books or magazine articles has been given throughout the book. George E. Freeland. University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. vii ^^f CHAPTER I The Application of Educational Theory TABLE OF CONTENTS II The Problem Method Ill The Project ♦^V Motives ^ V The Doctrine ok Interest in Practice VI A School Subject TAU(;ni' 'I'iihoccjii Interebth VII Utilizinc a CoxMMON Interest VIII The Development of a Natural Interest IX The Selection and Emphasis of Subject Matt-er X Selection and IOvalua'iion in English ^ XI Selection in Arithmetic, Spelling, and Writing XII Methods Which Foster Heai/ih . XIII Less Sedentary Pracjtkjes and Methods . XIV The Individual-Social I^alance . XV Methods of Adjusting School Work to Individ- ual Needs . . . XVI The Socialization of Instuuciion 1-5 6-44 45-74 75-9(> 97-111 112-140 141-173 174-188 l89-2i2' 213-235 236-265^ 266-290 291-312 313-340 341-367 368-404 IX EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION American education has entered the experimental period. Already various problems pertaining to the con- struction of curricula and to methods of organizing schools and teaching the various branches of instruction have been subjected to critical examination according to scientific procedure. A considerable body of accurate data bearing upon the values of studies and economy and efficiency in educational practice has been secured. But what we have achieved thus far has served mainly to increase our interest in the experimental investigation of every phase of our educational work. Leaders of edu- cational thought are becoming convinced that the system of education developed by our forefathers^ while perhaps well adapted to the needs of their times, is not equally well adapted to the needs of our own time. But tradi- tional education still has many active and vigorous ad- herents ; there are those among us who maintain that the educational policies which we of to-day have inherited from our predecessors are the product of many centuries of trial and testing and we should be exceedingly slow to make modifications either in the subjects taught or in the manner of presenting them to pupils. The problems involved have become so subtle and complex that they cannot be disposed of by mere expression of opinion, and xi Xii EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION this is the chief reason why there is a constantly deep- ening behef that we must assume the attitude of the unprejudiced investigator toward every vital question that is in dispute. In the experimental study of educational problems American investigators are following two plans which are complementary. In the first place^ complex situations are resolved into their component elements, and the various factors are each subjected to experimental treat- ment under controlled conditions so that the student can observe and record the behavior of the phenomena he is studying. It is hoped that in due course every perplexing problem in education may thus be broken up into its fac- tors and each brought under careful scrutiny so that its traits, force, and value may be determined. But parallel with this microscopic study of problems must run ma- croscopic investigation, — the investigation according to scientific method of the educational process as a whole. Investigators who are capable of such work must be con- stantly incorporating into a school as a unitary, living organism the results of the study of particular problems. It would not do to continue our schools according to the traditional program until investigators had studied every detail of the curriculum and methods of teaching and of organization of school systems, and then attempt to con- struct de novo a school based on the principles developed by this experimental investigation. These principles should be tested and embodied in school practice as fast as they are established by scientific inquiry. This is the EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION xiii only effective way to determine whether the modifica- tions in educational procedure suggested by experimental study are feasible and whether they work out well in practice under the usual conditions environing American schools. The present volume comes under the macroscopic type of educational investigation. For many years Professor Freeland has served as superintendent and supervisor of schools and has had the direction of an elementary school connected with a college for the training of teachers. This school has been conducted in an experimental at- mosphere. Professor Freeland has kept in close touch with educational research throughout the world and he has been given freedom to test in his demonstration schools all new and apparently sound conceptions of edu- cational values and methods. This has given him an opportunity to determine what modifications in our tra- ditional practice are desirable and practicable at the present time. In the following pages he has presented his conclusions regarding these matters together with the data and arguments upon which they are based. This volume appears at a critical moment in the his- tory of the world. Our habits of life are being profoundly modified by the war^ and when peace comes again on earth we will be under the necessity of developing economical methods in all our activities. It is keenly felt, not only in America, but also in Canada, England, France, Italy and probably in Germany, that we must speed up edu- cationally ; and particularly we must avoid waste in all XIV EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION school work. We must strive to make every hour of a pupiFs time count effectively toward preparing him for the needs of life. We must eliminate topics which have been taught heretofore but which will not be of as much consequence in the future as other subjects which have not yet found a secure place in the course of study. We must investigate ways and means of teaching every topic in order to make it seem worth while to pupils and so that when they master it they can utilize it in solving one or another of the social, intellectual, esthetic, or industrial problems of daily life. So far as it can be done, we must arrange the work of the schoolroom in every detail so that pupils will like and not detest their tasks. Profes- sor Freeland treats all these matters in the spirit and according to the method of the unprejudiced searcher after truth. He gives the results not only of the investi- gations conducted in his own schools, but he compares the conclusions he has reached with those attained by other investigators. So the parent, teacher or layman who reads this volume will gain a clear view of the most reliable thought of the times concerning the studies which should be taught in our elementary schools and the most effective way to present them. He will also see how a school should be organized and conducted so as to de- velop the social impulses of pupils in order that they may cooperate with one another and live together in peace and harmony. M. V. O'Shea. The University of Wisconsin, August, 1918. MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE MODERIT ELEMEI^TARY SCHOOL PRACTICE CHAPTER I THE APPLICATION OF EDUCATIONAL THEORY Theory versus Experience The Practical View. There should be no gap between good educational theory and successful experience. Theory which cannot be applied is useless. Even though it point to necessary reforms and contain the accumulated wisdom of a century, theory must lie dormant until it falls into the hands of someone who can apply it or illus- trate it in such a way that others can use it. On the other hand, experience without theory is blind. A teacher may succeed in a way through pure intuition, but not for very long, and he is always liable to the grossest of errors. In order to achieve the highest success it is essential that a proper combination between theory and experience be made. The following cases are illustrative of a situa- tion which the modern educational world is striving to overcome : Illustrations of inadequacy from the side of theory : A large number of books have been written upon educational subjects. Many of them are useless because the authors have B 1 2 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE not taken into consideration the actual school conditions under which their theories must be applied. Some are too critical and may be classed as entirely destructive. Some are too general and make no concrete applications. Others contain theory which would injure any school that tried to apply it. Many so-called "educators" appear to show a disdain for the practical work of the teacher. They teach their theory as a subject entirely apart from actual experience. The re- sults they aim at are such as ''the understanding of educa- tional terms, the acquisition of the author's viewpoint, the ability to quote authors, give definitions, etc." Such training in theory will, of course, be of little practical help. Illustrations of experience which needs a basis in theory : There was, a few years ago, a man in the middle west who was head of a department of rural schools in a normal school. His attitude toward all educational theory was one of suspicion. He considered that everj^thing in the preparation of a teacher was subordinate to experience, regardless of the conditions under which experience occurred. He lacked ideals and principles as well as the scientific viewpoint. He was a good illustration of a large body of teachers who are overbalanced on the side of experience. A teacher in a large city is fairly successful because of her intuition and personality. She insists that educational theory cannot be applied. She has discovered ways of doing things which are ''all her own." From experience she has found that they succeed. However, her disregard for educational theory and scientific experiments has caused her to commit many blunders. Her results are those that were desired a decade ago, but they are out of harmony with modern tend- encies. Her selection of subject matter is poor. She blunders in the direction of stressing the course of study to the disad- vantage of the health of the children; she does not recognize knowledge aside from the requirements for her room; she THE APPLICATION OF EDUCATIONAL THEORY 3 knows nothing of socialization. The mistakes to which she is Uable could be continued through several pages. All of these illustrations are typical. They represent attitudes that are prevalent. Before we can help our schools very much we must have harmony between those who stand for theory and those who represent experience. Neither attitude, taken alone, is practical. The Significance of the Term '' Practice.'' Practice has come to have large significance in the professions of medicine and of law. It means theory which has been discovered and tried in successful experience. It is the aim of this book, as expressed in the title, to utilize the word ^^ practice/' with all it signifies, in a discussion of education. Experience alone cannot satisfy the demands of modern practice, and only theory which has been suc- cessfully applied can be called practice. The Modern Tendency to Study Practice. During the last decade the tendency to study schools and to try theories under actual school conditions has been growing rapidly. A great deal of our modern theory has been formulated in the schoolroom. The successful teacher and the superintendent of to-day look upon the school not only as a workshop in which certain educational re- sults are to be achieved, but also as a place where new ideas may be evolved and discoveries made. This has elevated the work of the teacher, for, with this viewpoint, he is no longer merely a workman with a daily routine ; he is also an explorer and a discoverer. The modern training schools in universities, teachers' 4 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE colleges, and normal schools have been working to develop practice. Usually it is found that the student who has finished his courses in the subjects he is to teach and has taken all his educational theory cannot apply in the class- room what he has learned. The training school provides the opportunity to practice under sound supervision. A desire to realize all that is best in theory is usually a dom- inant motive here. When the student has been properly exposed to modern practice in such a school, his expe- rience has been worth more to him than several years at trial and error would be. The many recent surveys of schools and school sys- tems are another proof of the tendency to study practice. These surveys are valuable both for the suggestions of the surveyors and for the descriptions of the practices which were found most successful. McMurry's ^^ Ele- mentary School Standards/' ^ for example, is a most val- uable book because in it are incorporated descriptions of actual classroom practice with suggestions and illus- trations of ways to improve it. This Is a Period of Realization. We are now living in a period of realization. During the next decade the ordinary common school is going to participate in the fruits of the works of such educational leaders as Dewey, Hall, Judd, Cubberley, and others. There is a great call from teachers and administrators for concrete illustra- tions of practice which embodies the philosophy of great educational leaders and is in accord with scientific results. J Worid Book Co. THE APPLICATION OF EDUCATIONAL THEORY 5 Many schools and school systems have already been able to put into practice ideals and theories that are bound to revolutionize the work of the regular common school. Such schools as the Francis Parker, the Horace Mann, and the schools of Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Seattle, and many other large cities are doing work that should be re- ported in order that it may be known by teachers every- where. Teachers often declare theories to be impractical when they have already been practiced with success in both private and public schools. It is to acquaint the teacher and the student of education with such practice that this book has been written. The Trend of Modern Practice Advancement Has Been Along Four Lines. The modern school is developing its practice along four special lines : 1. The development of a new methodology which works through the use of problems, projects, motives, and interests. 2. The selection of subject matter that is worthy of the time and the efforts of pupils. 3. Teaching in a way that will conserve rather than injure the health of children. 4. The realization of an individual-social balance which will adjust itself to the needs of individuals and at the same time employ the social motive and satisfy the demands of the community. Practice in these four fields will be described in detail and illustrated concretely in the chapters which follow. CHAPTER II THE PROBLEM METHOD The Relation of the Problem to Other Phases of Method ^^OuR chief concern is not for school subjects in these days of progress ; it is for children. There was a time when children were not considered, and the teacher taught arithmetic, grammar, or spelling. To-day these subjects are taught better than ever before because they are seen in their true values, — as so many different means of developing boys and girls. No teacher has the modern viewpoint unless he regards his problem as one of properly meeting and dealing with human beings rather than one of subject matter. He does not ignore the latter, but he makes it secondary to the former. Four special means have been developed in achieving the aim stated in the preceding paragraph : the problem, the project, motive, and interest. V The common points and peculiarities of these should be understood in order to use any or all of them properly. The Problem. The problem is used to appeal to and develop the child's thought.^ It is more important that a child learn to think than that he memorize subject mat- ^ Thinking is used here to designate some form of organization, evalua- tion, and judgment on the part of the child. Concrete illustrations are given in the pages which follow. 6 THE PROBLEM METHOD 7 ter. He memorizes in order to think better, but if he is not taught to think, his memory will be useless to him. Man is a thinking being and has reached his high state of existence through his thinking. We present the various subjects in the form of problems, therefore, in order to develop in the child the ability to think. The Project. The project may be defined in relation to the problem as something which the child is interested in doing and which may involve thinking, but need nob always do so. He may make a map as a project. If it involves much thinking, it may contain problems. He may wonder where sugar comes from and in solving this problem may take up several projects. Motive. The term ^^ motive " is applied to that part of a lesson which furnishes the child a reason for studying and reciting it. A grade card may be used to stimulate good work, but this is a type of motivation little used in the modern school. A desire for self-improvement, when properly established, furnishes a better motive. Motives may be used to make otherwise irksome tasks immedi- ately pleasant to children. In its modern sense the term has come to embrace anything that may be used as an incentive. The only danger in such usage is found in the tendency to ignore the more fundamental pur- posive motives which underlie all school work and to assume that the child's endeavor means nothing to him beyond the attainment of some specific immediate goal. In all school work there should be as much immediate pleasure as it is possible to bring about ; and motivation 8 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE has been a large factor in making school tasks less irk- some to children. But there should also be definite reasons in the child's mind for doing his school work well even when there is no immediate motive for it. He should learn to work for the more remote motives as well. Interest. The broad term '^ interest " has been treated in the past in a very indefinite way. To secure it the school has found it necessary to develop its specific phases. Projects are organized interests. Interests are basic in the motivation of school work. Thus motives and projects are names for specific developments in the modern use of interest. However, aside from motives and projects, there should be retained a definite school procedure based upon the interests of the children. The Use of the Four Types. Wherever any of these four types of modern methodology have been treated, either in books or in magazine articles, there has usually been a confusion of terms. It has not been so dis- couraging, however, in practice as in theory. The con- fusion lies in the fact that these methods are insepa- rable in practice ; it is possible to separate them only in theory. Just as soon as concrete examples are furnished, confusion enters. The teacher who uses a problem has no reason for wanting to separate it from the projects, motives, or interests of the children. He has every rea- son for wanting to combine it with them. The lesson may primarily be a project, yet it should be interesting and well motivated. The proper stimulation of thought should also be brought about by presenting the various THE PROBLEM METHOD 9 parts in problem form. We need not be alarmed, then, if we fail to keep these different features separate in prac- tice. In the chapters which follow they have been in- termingled freely. The chapter devoted to The Prob- lem Method, or that on The Project, merely uses the problem or the project as a central theme. The illus- trative material, which is taken from practice, contains a proper balance of the other phases of method. If the teacher makes suitable use of problems, projects, motives, and interests as the basis of his methodology, he need not fear if their exact division is somewhat confused in his practice. This is likely to be a good indication rather than a bad one. It is essential that a proper balance of these four be maintained. If the school employs any one of them to excess, results are likely to be one-sided. Too much of the problem procedure may develop a distaste for thinking. The project, if used to the exclusion of all else, is likely to become artificial. Motivation is chiefly used as a means, while the overuse of interest is likely to lead to a lack of seriousness. The exact amount of each is difficult to prescribe, but if we use all of them, our practice is not likely to suffer. Purposes, Results, and Limits of the Problem Method Developing the Ability to Think. As we go upward through the grades, we should find children growing in power of thought and in independence in attacking and solving the problems they meet in school and in life. 10 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Much that is purely mechanical will be enjoyed by those in the four lower grades, and this is the place for most of the rote learning necessary to accuracy in English, arithmetic, and spelling. If the child masters the little intricacies of these subjects early in the curriculum, he will be free to turn more to the thought side of life in the upper grades. However, from the very beginning, the proper stimulation of independent thinking is worth while. In the upper grades emphasis should be placed upon thought although some drill should be retained. In the lower grades drill should be the chief method, but thought work should not be entirely neglected. Under such a scheme the child in the grades is often able to de- velop an insight into his books and the life that is going on around him that was not expected of the grad- uate of the high school a decade ago. This result is largely due to the development of the problem method. Work which was formerly a matter of assignment by the teacher, the recitation of the pupil minutely following his directions, is now left to be or- ganized by the pupil around some central problem which is a part of his own interests and life. He is in this way encouraged to do a great deal of thinking, and his recita- tions and examinations are marked from the standpoint of his ability to marshal facts, which means more than merely memorizing them mechanically. This function develops, with exercise, to a degree which the school, until recently, did not seem to realize. The why of events in history, reasons for institutions THE PROBLEM METHOD 11 in civics, comparisons of places in geography, and the values to himself and others of everything about him should be made a basic feature of the child's instruction. This ability to compare, evaluate, understand, and con- clude is the larger mental power of which memory is only an important part. Results of Mechanical Method Compared with Those of Thought Method. The results of the thought method become evident whenever there is opportunity to com- pare children who are thus trained with others who have been unfortunate enough to be trained in a school which employs the old mechanical method exclusively. At a recent summer session opportunity for such com- parison was afforded by the heterogeneous enrollment of children from several schools. The backward, depend- ent attitude of some and the thoughtful, aggressive initiative of others were in such contrast, both in the schoolroom and on the playground, that we decided to look for the cause. With but few exceptions it was found that these traits had been developed by the methods used in their respective schools. Some of the children seemed to depend so much upon adult guidance that they were hardly able to get into the school building without first being formed into lines, and when reciting they were dependent upon the teacher's constant leadership. They had no specific wants, pur- poses, or desires of their own that were in any way con- nected with the work of the school. A usual complaint, when asked a question which it took some thought to 12 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE answer, was, " I do not understand what you want/' and a common question, after a feeble attempt, was, " Is that what you want? " The wants of the teacher were their only incentive, and to satisfy them was the sole aim in reciting. They could do very well outside the realm of independent thinking. Rules of grammar (exact book definitions), the multiplication tables, and spelling in vertical columns had been their chief mental diet, and all such work they did exceptionally well. When it came to applying these mechanics, however, they were lacking. Dangers of Superficial Thought Methods and of Over- rationalization Admitted. When one speaks of teaching children to think many practical teachers are likely to suspect him of advocating a regime in which immature minds, without proper training, are allowed to grapple with problems and questions that are beyond them, and in which the necessary grounding in the mechanics of the common branches is ignored ; the result being a product which is fairly glib at discussing in a shallow way most of the great issues of the day, but is inefficient, unstable, and incapable in every line of endeavor. Some over- enthusiastic believers in rationalization, it is admitted, have stood for a program that would bring about such results, but the school that properly employs the thought method is successful from the mechanical side as well. There is a difference, however, between the ihechanics and the fundamentals in the modern school and those in the school of our fathers or in schools which still cling THE PROBLEM METHOD 13 to traditional methods and subject matter. This differ- ence is found in the care that is used in determining the relative importance of different mechanical facts. The modern interpretation is that many of these facts are not fundamental to any useful accomplishment ; form- erly everything that fell under the heading of grammar, arithmetic, spelling, or history, was taught regardless of its use. There is a tendency in some schools to over-rationalize the mechanics of arithmetic, for example. The effort to develop addition, subtraction, division, and multiplica- tion through reasoning often approaches a condition which has fittingly been described as ^^ painful." There should be some thought work to establish in the child's mind the basic arithmetical concepts. But for the most part these concepts will not be fully formed until he has become a man. There is no reason for assuming that he should fully understand everything that is taught him. All of us make use of laws and principles every day about which we know very little. We must properly evaluate thought, else our methods will become as bad from the thought side as were those of the old school from the mechanical side. It is best in many activities not to stop to think. Rather than to attempt to explain at every step, the modern way is to connect that which is purely mechanical with some problem or interest of the learner. The drill thus be- comes a means to an end and is used to supplement the child's thought. 14 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Characteristics of the Problem Establishes Habits of Independence. The problem should be used to exercise initiative, power of organiza- tion, and independent thinking. It teaches the pupil to use his own intellect in arriving at conclusions ; the books he has read, the words of the teacher, and his ex- perience being nothing more than valuable aids. School problems and those met with in life should be united as much as possible, so that the child will carry his think- ing attitude out into the world with him. Children Ask Intelligent Questions. One of the char- acteristics of a problem lesson is the intelligent questions of the children. In the old school the teacher asked all the questions, and a recitation was used to discover how well the child had mastered the subject matter of the text- book. To-day the children are doing a great deal of the questioning and the teacher must be well prepared in order to help and direct them. When this type of lesson is properly conducted, the teacher's knowledge is taxed to a much greater extent than it is when he does all the questioning and holds the discussion closely within the limits of a few pages in a text. Teacher in Background. Another significant change which this method has brought about is noted in the rise in prominence of the part played by the class as com- pared with that played by the teacher. He is no longer the center, but keeps in the background as much as pos- sible. The children are made to feel that they are doing the work and that they are responsible for its success. THE PROBLEM METHOD 15 The child is taught that his recitation must be satisfac- tory to himself and his fellows as well as to his teacher. School work conducted after this plan is bound to re- sult in more independence on the part of the children. Rational Memory Developed. The problem method does not neglect memory but uses it to some definite pur- pose. In addition to recognizing fully the value of mechanical memory it exercises and develops the rational memory. Thus^ while textbook definitions are not to be memorized; the child is required to understand these definitions and give them in his own words. Following this he is given constant opportunity to apply them. The ability to relate and group facts, to remember them because they are connected with something of importance to him, is the problem's contribution to the child's mem- ory training. After considerable training of this nature, he is able to read and remember the contents of entire books. Longer Individual Recitations. The use of the problem furnishes opportunity for longer individual recitations. When the attention must be focused for the organiza- tion of a recitation to last several minutes, all the mental powers employed receive their full share of exercise. The results of class work in which the children merely answer the questions of the teacher, often by one word, and rarely by more than a sentence, cannot be very ex- tensive or lasting. Opportunity must be given each child to formulate and give a good long recitation as often as the time and the needs of the class will permit. 16 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE The Problem Assignment One of the most common uses of the problem is its use in the assignment of lessons. It establishes some- thing specific for the child to think about and gives him exercise in selecting the materials which will best serve the ends in view. A commonly used mechanical method of assigning a lesson in geography is as follows : ''Read from pages 12 to 17 in your texts and be ready to report on what you find there." But the problem assignment makes an appeal to the child from the standpoint of something definite that is worth attending to and about which he may gain information by reading his text. The following problem, for example, was one given a sixth-grade class in geography : To-day we have been studying the location of Kansas as a representative of the central states in relation to Washington as a representative of the Pacific states. (Washington being the home state, it and the Pacific group were studied first and made the basis of all comparisons.) To-morrow we shall discuss industrial relations and trade between these two sections. Consider the following suggestions in your work : 1. Compare the products and discover, if you can, why both sections grow some crops that are the same, while some things are grown in one section that are not grown in the other. 2. Note trade relations which might come from outside connections. As an illustration take Washington's connections with the Orient. THE PROBLEM METHOD 17 3. Study the railroad routes, the difficulties of trans- portation, freight rates (these may be obtained by the teacher, or even better by a member of the class from the local freight agent), and think of the possibilities of profit and loss from shipments both ways. Might it not be better to pay more for some of the products usually obtained from Kansas and buy nearer home ? 4. Look into the manufacturing industries of each sec- tion, and see if you can find any value in trading with Kansas from this standpoint. Please continue this problem along other lines than those suggested. You will find material in your text on pages 17-21, 96-104, and 208-210. I have on my desk several books which will furnish further information. Anyone who finds time is welcome to use them. You may also find valu- able material in magazines or newspapers. In our geography collection you will find : 1. A number of post cards on which are descriptions of some Kansas cities and industries. 2. Samples of products from Kansas. 3. A catalogue of railroad and steamship folders. In addition to these sources of information you may be able to find some one who has been to Kansas who can tell you of conditions there. If there is anyone in the class who has been through the central states or has lived there, his knowledge may be able to help us very much in the solution of our problem. ^ Advantages in Problem Assignment. These two il- lustrations reveal the following advantages of the prob- lem assignment over the page assignment : ^ This assignment may seem burdensome for the teacher, but, after learning to handle lessons from the problem standpoint, such an assign- ment is no more difficult than naming so many pages. c 18 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE 1. The problem of industrial relations furnishes a center around which the lesson is organized. 2. Individual effort is encouraged. The pupil is given opportunity to choose various means of obtaining infor- mation and is not tied down too closely. He is even encouraged to launch out for himself and attack the problem in a new way and to search for sources of informa- tion which have not already been suggested. 3. The textbook is not too closely followed nor is it discarded. It is used to the fullest possible extent ^ but it is not allowed to limit the teacher or the children. This is a feature of instruction which every teacher must work out for himself. A wise use of the text, not allowing himself to be dominated by it, necessitates his constant attention and effort. 4. Opportunity for weighing values was furnished to both teacher and pupils. This is a very important feature of the thought method. The teacher must select and reject subject matter if the most valuable material is to be given to the class. The children also must be given constant opportunity to exercise their intellects in choosing objects upon which they will concentrate their energies. By learning to employ their time prop- erly they receive good lessons in self-mastery. The ability to recognize and disregard the unimportant is necessary to success in any field. 5. Sufficient material was furnished so that the bright- est child had opportunity to do his best, while the state- ment of the problem did not impose any standard upon THE PROBLEM METHOD 19 the average and slow children which would discourage them. Results Come Slowly Degree of Definiteness Varies. This assignment may have been made more definite, or it may have allowed even greater freedom to the children. The ability and disposition of the class must be the chief factors in deter- mining just how specific the assignment shall be. .One or two specific questions or suggestions which may cause a major or a few minor problems to be the center of the lesson may be sufficient. The following are illustrations of such suggestions in history : 1. What was the immediate cause of the Civil War? What was the general cause? Why do you think as you do? 2. Compare the North and the South at the beginning of hostilities : a. In industries, b. In agriculture, c. In man power. d. In ideals. Sometimes it is beneficial to stimulate the problem at- titude by the method of stating the assignment. For example, the child may be asked to " prove " proposi- tions. The following are illustrations from a seventh grade class : Prove that the democratic ideas of Jefferson were a necessary and a good influence at the time he was elected President. In order to prove their values, you will, of course, need to know what they were and the conditions of govern- ment at the time. 20 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE A much less difficult assignment was furnished another seventh grade in the questions : 1. Would you have voted for Jefferson? Why? 2. What effect do you think the death of Hamilton had upon politics at the time? You will be expected to discuss these points intelli- gently and to know the facts concerning them as reported in the book, as well as to give your own opinions. In geography a teacher gave as an initial assignment on Holland the following : Holland is a very small country, yet it is very important. Study your lesson with this in mind. You can find out why this is true in your books which tell of Holland. It has long been the custom in leading schools to stimulate thought in reading by allowing the child to look for something in the story and to acquire his prac- tice in reading by reporting it. Such a method may be used even in the first grade. Instead of saying, ^^ Henry, read the next," the teacher says, " Henry, tell us what the Little Red Hen said to the Pig " ; or, '' Will you all look carefully and see who will be ready first to tell us what Big Jumbo said to the Camel? " Unquestionably such a procedure is upon a much higher plane than the purely mechanical " next " or ^^ page so and so." The teacher should understand that if a class has previously been held down to prescribed pages, he must not expect the same results as from a class that has been trained in organization and thinking. Right here lies one of the most common causes of failure. After a few THE PROBLEM METHOD 21 attempts without any reaction on the part of the chil- dren, the teacher often goes back to the old way. As one young teacher in our recent summer session expressed it, she had " tried the problem method and it didn't work." Inexperienced Classes Need More Direction. A wise course to follow is to make the first assignments of this kind very definite. Page and paragraph under each reference may be given. Thought and reaction will be stimulated by asking a series of questions on each point. As the class develops independence, less specific assign- ments should be given. Finally the place may be reached where only the statement of the problem is necessary, and the children will have developed the initiative and ability to find the parts of their texts, references in books and magazines, and materials in school and outside which give the information they desire. Following this they evaluate the information and organize it, bringing the different facts to bear upon the problem as it exists at the time, discussing present needs and possible future de- velopments. Perfection in this work cannot be attained in the ordinary elementary school and is often not at- tained in the college. However, it will be surprising to any one who has not been in close contact with the work to see how much ability of this nature an elementary school class will develop. Teacher Must Learn to Organize and to Think. The teacher who tries the problem method for the first time must not expect to find his own work as easy as is the page 22 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE assignment. He will have to know his subject matter better, and he must be acquainted with the sources of information. He also may find it very hard to evaluate and organize, for probably his own training did not de- velop these abilities. Like that of the class, his ability will grow with experience. It may take years to learn to conduct a class in such manner that each child will be properly stimulated and the class be given freedom but at the same time held to suitable, definite requirements. The best the young teacher can do is to try. In any case little will be lost by breaking away from the page method. Lack of Materials No Excuse for Using Page Methods. Lack of materials is often given as a reason for not at- tempting this kind of work. But whatever the local situation may be, even if the text is the only book ob- tainable, the problem is always adjustable, and it is bet- ter to use the one book to develop independence and initiative in finding and applying the information it con- tains than to read and recite it by pages. The materials used in the assignment given for illustration are obtain- able in any locality. If the school has no collections or museums, a week's effort by the teacher and pupils will usually result in a very creditable beginning. By keep- ing a good lookout and adding constantly to what is on hand the teacher can soon have a suitable collection of railroad folders, booklets of information about various parts of the world and its industries, post cards, and sample products. THE PROBLEM METHOD 23 Further Illustrations in Geography The illustrations which follow have been found valu- able in certain localities. They are given only to indi- cate in a concrete way just how the method is applied to various types of subject matter. The problems used in any community should be related to local industries, interests, government, or other features. When it is possible, the problems should be discovered by the class, but this cannot be expected at first. A superior teacher is always on the lookout for problems. They are never lacking. As the painter discovers scenes and the writer finds stories, the real teacher discerns great lessons in what the uninitiated call commonplace. Grade four. Home geography, including the local town or city, county, and state, should be studied in this grade. These problems are taken from the neighborhood of Greeley, Colorado. 1. The locational and industrial relation of city to the surrounding country. 2. The same for the city and surrounding country (home county) and the rest of the state, with a few relations to the whole United States. 3. In the study of industrial relations the sugar industry, being especially important in this place, is studied in detail. A large number of problems are solved in following it. Some of them are : The problems that arise in planting and cultivation. Soil, care, and obtaining labor. Harvesting (problems involved and how they are met). The relation between the farmer and the factory. Not considered in all its legal details. 24 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Making sugar. Factory visited. Sirup made at school. Care of sugar. Some of the problems met with in selling it. The values and uses of sugar. Value of this industry to the home locality. People employed. Money circulated. 4. Other industries and products are considered with- out going into so much detail. The amount of detail depends upon the time that is left after finishing the foregoing. Another illustration of the problem method in home geography is that furnished by a school in a small western town. The teacher, after carefully planning the problems, took her class to the grocery store. There they came in contact with the products of the local industries and raised many questions which were given them as problems to w^ork out for their school work, the teacher being care- ful to select only those problems that would lead to a wide acquaintance with the field which she already had planned to cover. The following is a sample problem : Canned goods. On the shelves were found but two brands, ''Sun- burst" and "Kaw Chief." Where were these canned? Why only these two? Groceryman questioned, said it was due to the location of the wholesale houses and to the railroad connec- tions. Railroad lines followed, and the cities studied. THE PROBLEM METHOD 25 Why were these cities the center of the canning in- dustry ? This led to the question of just what was canned. It was found that corn was canned several hundred miles from the home town, and was also one of the chief crops of their locality. Why was not corn canned in their home town? And so on did this apparently insignifimnt problem of canned goods on the shelves of the village grocery store lead them. Fifth grade problems. North America, the northwest and north central section under special consideration for the week. Lurnbering a type industry. A lumber yard is visited. Here the children take down in their notebooks all the different kinds of lumber, their values, and the various ways in which the lumber is cut : lath, shingles, flooring, and siding. The problem of where the boards came from and how they were brought to this yard is projected. Geographies and other books read, teacher questioned, and lumber dealers questioned. After several of the lumber centers have been discov- ered by them, they locate them on their maps, consider approxi- mate distances, get freight rates, look up railroad connections on their railroad folder maps. How were these boards taken from the trees ? Lumbering in the great woods studied through pictures on post cards, reading in texts and in other books. Transportation of lumber to mills. How does the lumberman live? If possible a man who has been a lumberman, or some one in the community who has been in lumber camps, should be consulted. Often the children are able to prevail upon this person to come and speak to the school. 26 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Other large problems which grow out of this and which may be taken up if time permits are : The different kinds of mills for cutting lumber, shingles, and lath ; The protection of the forests. Bring in as much of the work and preparation of the forest ranger as appears profitable. All of the above, it must be kept in mind, arises out of a visit to a lumber yard in the child's own neighborhood, thus connecting this vast industry and the country it covers with his ow^n home. After such a visit he thinks, reasons, remembers, and reads, and questions everyone who can give him information. Every time he passes this lumber yard he looks upon it with new interest, and his own home town seems more a part of the great world about w^hich he studies at school. The Weather May Stimulate Thought. A hot day may be made the basis of thought and study that wall reach to the ends of the earth. The temperature is taken during every hour of the day by a committee appointed from the class. The length of the day and the length of the night are noted. The time of year is considered. A basis for comparing these conditions wdth those of other parts of the world is formed. A rainy day may be used in like manner. A commit- tee measures the rainfall for the day. The extent of the local storm is studied. This is followed by a study of storm conditions throughout the w^orld. The reports of rainfall for different months in various sections of the THE PROBLEM METHOD 27 COMPARATIVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES Dec. 1 Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sept. Oct.' Nov. Greenwich, England. . . Olympia, Wash. . . . 40 41 38 39 40 40 42 44 47 49 53 55 60 59 63 62 62 63 57 57 50 50 43 44 Isle of Wight, England . . Aberdeen, Wash 43 41 41 40 42 41 43 44 48 48 53 53 59 57 62 60 62 62 59 58 53 52 48 45 York, England Victoria, British Col. 38 41 38 39 39 40 41 43 45 47 50 53 57 57 60 60 59 60 55 55 48 50 43 44 Cambridge, England Tacoma, Wash 38 40 38 38 39 40 42 44 46 48 52 54 58 59 62 63 61 58 57 58 49 50 43 44 Plymouth, England . . . Toledo, Oregon .... 43 45 42 43 43 44 44 46 48 48 52 53 58 57 61 61 61 60 58 59 51 54 47 49 Valentia, Ireland .... Bandon, Orego* .... 45 47 45 45 45 45 45 47 48 50 52 53 56 57 58 58 59 58 56 56 51 52 48 49 Edinburgh, Scotland Olga, Wash 40 41 39 39 40 40 41 43 45 47 50 53 56 57 58 59 58 59 54 55 48 50 43 44 Aberdeen, Scotland . . . Pt. Crescent, Wash. . 38 38 38 36 38 37 40 40 44 45 48 49 54 53 57 56 56 56 53 52 47 47 42 42 Braemar, Scotland . . . Pt. Simpson, British Col. . 35 37 34 34 35 35 36 38 40 42 46 48 52 53 54 56 54 57 49 52 43 47 38 40 Hebrides, Scotland . . . Tatoosh Island, Wash. . . 43 43 42 41 41 41 41 44 44 46 48 50 52 54 55 56 55 56 53 54 47 50 45 46 Nantes, France Roseburg, Oregon .... 41 42 40 41 42 43 45 47 51 51 56 57 62 61 66 66 65 66 60 61 53 54 45 46 Roscoff, Brittany, France Astoria, Oregon .... 46 44 45 41 45 43 46 46 50 49 53 54 58 59 61 61 62 62 59 59 55 54 49 47 Paris, France Washougal, Wash. . . . 37 39 36 37 39 40 43 45 51 52 56 55 62 60 65 65 64 65 59 60 51 53 43 47 Helgoland, Germany. Kuper Is., British Col. . . 38 40 36 38 35 40 37 41 43 47 50 52 57 59 61 62 62 62 58 56 51 49 42 42 Lille, France Nanaimo, British Col. . 37 40 36 36 38 39 42 42 48 47 54 54 60 58 63 64 63 63 59 57 51 50 42 43 Brussels, Belgium. . . . Tzouhalem, British Col. 36 39 34 35 36 39 40 42 47 48 53 53 60 58 63 63 62 62 58 56 49 49 41 44 Utrecht, Holland .... Matsqui Prairie, Br. Col. . 36 36 34 34 36 36 39 41 46 48 53 54 60 59 63 63 62 62 57 56 48 50 40 41 Kiel, Germany Quamichin, British Col. 37 39 34 35 34 36 37 42 44 47 52 54 60 59 63 63 62 62 56 55 49 49 40 43 Koenigsberg, Germany . Bella Colla, British Col. . 29 31 27 25 27 29 32 36 42 44 52 52 60 57 63 62 62 61 56 54 46 45 35 36 Leipzig, Germany .... Linnville, N. C. (Mts.) . . 32 32 31 31 37 30 46 40 54 46 62 58 65 63 63 66 57 65 57 59 47 49 37 40 Karlsruhe, Germany . Stuttgart, Germany . 34 33 33 33 36 36 41 41 49 50 56 56 63 63 66 66 65 65 59 59 49 50 40 40 Highlands, N. C. (Mts.) . 35 34 35 42 50 58 65 67 66 60 51 42 Nuremburg, Germany . Oakland, Md. (Mts.). . . 30 29 29 28 32 26 38 37 46 46 54 56 61 64 64 66 63 65 56 61 46 48 37 37 Gratz, Austria Deer Park, Md. (Mts.) . . 28 28 26 26 31 25 38 37 48 45 56 57 62 63 65 67 63 65 57 60 48 48 36 37 Czernowitz, Austria . Somerset, Pa. (Mts.) . . . 26 28 23 26 25 26 35 36 47 46 58 57 65 65 68 68 67 67 59 61 48 49 35 39 Data like the above should form the basis for a rational understanding of comparative features in different parts of the world. The child should not memorize these figures but should use them in his thinking. Extremes of temperature are better than these averages. 28 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE world are studied; and the child learns the moisture con- ditions of his locality as compared with those of other places in his own country or even on the other side of the world. Combine the rainfall and heat reports (not average but monthly); and the child will have a means of determining the crops that may be grown in distant places. After predicting what may be grown in a certain place; the pupils read in the text to find how near the pi'ediction is correct. When they are mistaken, the problem of why they misjudged is a good one. Fifth and sixth grade children who have studied the farm products of one locality are quick to see that another with almost iden- tical rainfall and temperature is likely to grow the same even though it is far distant. Sixth grade problem. Foreign countries are to be studied. A boy who has a good stamp collection is asked to bring it to school. This projects the problem of governments different from our own, yet having direct postal relations with us. Letters may be written by the class to some of the different countries. A letter directed to the U. S. Consul asking in- formation about his neighborhood is likely to receive a reply. A rubber tire made at Akron, Ohio, may serve to project a problem connecting the home town through that city with South America. Materials Must Be Selected with Care. Any thought- ful teacher will be able to find plenty of materials in his home community to connect it with almost any part of the world. There are several distinct aspects of proper THE PROBLEM METHOD 29 dealing with this material in order to assure success in its use. They are : 1. Materials which it will be possible to follow must be chosen. 2. Those which have the widest connection with the places or industries which the teacher has planned to consider^ and those which are likely to provide greatest opportunity for thought work and individual investiga- tion should be selected. 3. The reference material must be gathered and pre- pared by the teacher in order that the class need not waste time in searching for it or overlook it entirely. 4. The materials that are to be studied should be organized by the teacher at the beginning of the term, so that they will be properly related and fit into his course of study. It would be impossible to succeed in this type of work by bringing in things from the community merely because they have a connection with the rest of the world without first considering the relation of such problems to the other work of the school. Problems in Arithmetic Arithmetic Primarily a Mechanical Subject. Arith- metic has been very much overestimated as a thought- developing subject. It demands a specialized type of abstract association rather than thought in the modern sense of the word. The modern thinker is one who works in the world of action rather than in the abstract, and his thought employs mathematics as a means of 30 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE solving the larger problems depending upon arithmetic; geometry, calculus, or trigonometry. The study of arith- metic can aid in developing such ability only in the meas- ure that it is brought to bear upon problems which the children find in the world about them. Most arithmetic work should be recognized as purely mechanical. In this respect it is little different from spelling. We must insist upon children learning how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide; and the only way to learn is to practice. There is little reasoning in learn- ing to multiply fractions or to add decimals, and only a slight difference is found between work of this type and the solution of problems in interest after the method has been explained. If the child forgets the method, he must learn it again. His success depends entirely upon his memory. Subject Valuable but the Chief Method Is Drill. This attitude in no way minimizes the value of this subject, which provides an essential mechanical basis for business, engineering, farming, and most of the activities of civ- ilized life. However, we will be more successful in teaching it if we recognize that the chief method should be drill ; motivated, to be sure, in every possible way, but, nevertheless, drill. This necessitates a large use of problems in the four fundamentals, and in fractions, decimals, percentage, interest, and mensuration, selected so as to provide exercise in the measure that the chil- i dren show a need for it. These problems may be pro- vided by the teacher and written on the board each day, THE PROBLEM METHOD 31 but it will be a saving of time to select them from some good text. Life Problems. However, in addition to this work, a large amount of exercise in concrete thinking should be provided. The child, while developing the ability to solve the artificial problems furnished by his teacher or text, should be taught to think of the application of the ability he is acquiring to the larger problems of life. If he realizes that his progress in percentage will be a direct help in the problem of saving money ; that his ability to solve problems in interest may be used in advising his parents whether or not to buy a piano on the installment plan ; and that the construction of his own home or the new house that is being built around the corner involves the constant use of mensuration, he is likely to associate his school arithmetic with his everyday thoughts. From the third grade up arithmetic should be used in connection with actual life problems in addition to those taken from books. In the lower grades one period each week can profitably be given to the development and solution of problems of the local community in which the use of arithmetic plays a part, while in the upper grades a larger amount of time may be given, depending upon the extent to which the children react to the plan and the local problems that are available. This work, when carefully planned, brings new interest into the arithmetic class, and if persisted in throughout the school course will develop the habit of intelligently applying arith- metic. 32 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Arithmetic Not Used Enough in Everyday Life. It is remarkable how many persons there are who have been well trained in mathematics in school but who never use it in life. They trust the clerks to make correct change for them ; the bank keeps track of their balances ; the merchant is implicitly trusted to give them their correct accounts ; interest on installment purchases is forgotten or disregarded until it is due ; the plumber, the plasterer, or the painter works for them and sends in a bill. They pay it without knowing whether or not the charge is just. A mild sensation was caused when one of our boys dis- covered in his concrete arithmetic work that his family was paying for a house on the installment plan under a contract which did not furnish them with the means of calculating the amount of interest payable before the prop- erty would be turned over. A girl of thirteen discovered that her father had been paying eight per cent interest for six years thinking all the time that he was paying seven. A boy whose parents were building a new house figured the cost of the plumbing supplies and found that the only company they had consulted was charging $185 to put in materials which he could purchase for $42. Concluding that this was too much he obtained bids from several other companies. He learned a life lesson when he discovered that no two of them were the same and that a reputable concern would do the same work for $110. These are type incidents of common experiences in a school in which life problems are made a regular part of the work. THE PROBLEM METHOD 33 Life Problems Supplement Regular Work. It is a mistake to try to confine all the arithmetic to life problems. Although these furnish some drill, they can- not be provided so as to furnish sufficient exercise to the class unless we make them as artificial as those in text- books. More is gained by staying with the regular arithmetic, within functional limits of course, and doing this better by associating it with life. The purpose of life problems is to develop the habit of using arithmetic in connection with the larger concrete problems of life. As pointed out in the preceding paragraph, many of these have a large mathematical element but are not properly met by the majority of people because they are loath to use even the mathematics they have been taught in school. The safest method is to use life problems as often as children will bring them in. This will depend upon the method the teacher employs in presenting the plan. Illustrations of life problems involving a use of arith- metic. Problem : How may I learn to save and also help my parents to save? 1. I may start a bank account. (Every school should have its penny savings bank, which is merely a system of receiving money at school and depositing it in a local bank. Any banker will be glad to arrange for such a scheme. The city of Toledo reports that the sum of $25,000 is deposited annually in its public school savings accounts, carried on in connection with applied arithmetic.) ^ ^ Under the stimulus of the War, Thrift Stamps were sold at school in most communities. We should continue something along this line. 34 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE 2. I may add the monthly bills. (These may be brought to school and the children be allowed to compare monthly expenditures. There is danger here of invading the privacy of the home, and this must not be urged too much. The incorporation into the school work of the monthly bills, if continued throughout the year, has been found to please the majority of parents. The average father appreciates any interest his children may take in the family expenditures. The tact of the teacher has a great deal to do with the results.) 3. I may keep books of my own expenses, so that I will know at the end of the year where my money has gone. 4. I should make myself as profitable to my family as I can, and, at least, not become a burden. a. By helping at home with chores and work. Problems Involved : A man's work is worth 35 cents per hour. (The children should discover this by finding out what men in the community are paid for their work.) A boy's work should be worth 15 cents per hour. Every hour I work I am saving 15 cents for my family. (This may be continued until the child has calculated and discussed saving in relation to the cost of his shoes, cap, stockings, etc.) Other large problems, some of which alTord even greater opportunities for applied arithmetic than the one given above, are : The construction of a building (covering every- thing in practical mensuration). Problems in construction and cost of the cement walk in front of child's home. Should be taken up when the children are able to see a cement walk under construction. Does it pay to keep an automobile? How much per month and per mile does it cost the family to own the machine ? THE PROBLEM METHOD 35 A live boy or girl may take great delight in reporting at regu- lar intervals on this problem. Renting or buying a garage. Value of the home garden. Profit and loss in chickens, rabbits, etc. (Should not be undertaken unless these are kept track of for a full year.) Cost of pets. Problem of the best expenditure of a certain amount of money at Christmas. Home Economics problems : Shall we buy or bake bread ? Cost of parties, various menus, etc. Problems Must Come from Lives of Children. All of the above problems are valuable to the extent that they are taken up by the children in connection with every- day life. Inferences drawn from them are likely to per- sist through life. Thus they should be followed to re- liable results before any conclusions are formed. This work is not designed to train children in the peculiar arithmetic of different vocations, and must not be put in the same class with the varying types of vocational arithmetic made up of artificial problems. Life prob- lems must come from the children, and the teacher should never do more than suggest. Those of the class who do not care to take up life problems may be well supplied with regular textbook work If properly managed, however, the life-work day will be eagerly looked forward to by the entire class. Community Problems. In addition to life problems (those taken from the lives of the individuals in the class) 36 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE many schools are supplementing the regular arithmetic with community problems. In relating arithmetic to the industries of the community, we are using it to form a rational attitude toward, and a better understanding of, the local problems the child constantly meets, and to whose existence he is usually oblivious. The city of Indianapolis prints a 58-page booklet of these problems. In the introduction it is maintained that '^A rational presentation of the processes and principles of arithmetic can be secured as well through material repre- senting real conditions as through material representing arti- ficial conditions." The problems are taken from lumber yards, buildings under construction, a brush and broom factory, gas plant, bakery, a canning factory, veneer works, a dairy and milk depot, fire department, city market, city hospital, tax- ation in the city of Indianapolis, government of Wood- ruff Place, a branch of the city library, cement walks and street improvement, construction of boulevards, railway passenger service, transportation, insurance, and the stock market. Although they furnish more or less drill they are not given primarily for this purpose. Their chief value is civic. From dealing with problems which are daily met by his townspeople, the child will get a more sympathetic attitude toward and a constructive interest in what they are doing. Problems are based upon accurate data, and inferences drawn from the re- sults obtained may be relied upon. THE PROBLEM METHOD 37 Problems in History History and civics are well adapted to the problem method. Memory work in these subjects has now be- come incidental. Wide acquaintance and insight on the part of the children is the modern aim in teaching them. Dates are remembered because they are tied up with is- sues of importance, and the time element may be en- tirely disregarded unless it is a factor in bringing about events. Information is not neglected in teaching history or civics by the thought method ; their facts are unified and given purpose and direction. The method here is much the same as in geography. The present is used as a basis of comparison. Children are taught to compare constantly the problems of their ancestors with those we are meeting to-day. Thus, the Colonial period may be studied under the large problem of adjustment to the New World. Thought must be constantly exercised in grappHng with the problems which confronted the colonists. The following prob- lems furnish a basis for a complete problem study of this period. They furnish central and connecting themes in studying the many apparently unrelated events : 1. Adjustment to new geographical conditions. (a) Climatic, (b) agricultural, (c) natural surround- ings. 2. Getting along with the Indians. (a) Differences between the two peoples in (1) mode of living, (2) beliefs and customs, (3) temperament, (4) methods of warfare. 38 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE 3. The problem of government. (Covers a large field and contains many smaller prob- lems.) 4. Religious problems. (Different beliefs, toleration, persecution, power of minister, etc.) A complete development of these four problems will bring the children into contact with a great deal more history than could be taught by following a textbook. In learning to look upon the facts of history as factors in the solution of problems, they lay the foundation for the interpretation of all the history which follows. As soon as a child has learned to think in terms of history all its difficulties disappear. For example, let anyone take up the Missouri Compromise and try to learn its terms in an unrelated way ; then let him try to learn them as re- lated to the problem of slavery and the conditions which existed at the time. By the first method the task is practically impossible, especially if these terms are to be retained for very long. Using the second method, if the conditions are properly grouped, one may be able to predict many of the terms, and, once having followed the remedies proposed to meet the problem with which Congress was dealing, the difficulty of memorizing becomes insignificant. Problems in Home Economics This subject, so often taught in a purely mechanical fashion, readily lends itself to the thought method. To bring greater efficiency into the home it is necessary to THE PROBLEM METHOD 39 develop a thinking attitude toward home problems. Mechanical efficiency is good enough on the part of servants, but those who manage homes need to be able to organize. In making plans for the year the teacher should first consider the living conditions in the homes of the girls who are going to take the course. Too much planning is usually done upon the mechanical side without ref- erence to this more important feature. Granting that certain mechanical principles are furnished by a skirt, others by a middy blouse, and still others by under- garments, it is still not profitable to practice them in an unrelated way. The following problems furnished material for a year's work to a seventh-grade class : As a girl in the seventh grade I have many home inter- ests and duties. I should acquire some definite abilities to be more helpful and valuable as a part of my home life. 1. What should I learn about the home in order to make myself more useful ? a. I may make some of my own clothes. h. I may help in mending clothes. c. I may help to beautify the home and make decorations for it. d. I may help to save : By learning how to buy. By making proper use of materials purchased. By conservation. e. I may help to keep the home clean and sanitary. Problem a further developed. 40 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE In making my own clothes what is the best garment I could attempt at this time? It should be useful, and yet simple enough for me to make without unnecessary destruc- tion of materials. Discussion follows. Here the teacher is afforded opportunity to explain why the girls should not attempt to make different garments which may be mentioned. Meet- ing this problem now will save no end of trouble and dissatis- faction later on. The girls will also be interested in the ex- planations of the teacher and give thoughtful attention because they have a definite need for knowing what the teacher is telling them. This furnishes a motive for 'Hheory lessons." Apron selected as the first problem. Sub-problems : What materials f Motive furnished for as wide a study of materials as the teacher wants to introduce here. Use of sewing machine. The child gives better attention and learns more quickly how to use the machine when the explanation of it is a part of a piece of work that is to follow. As much is mastered in one lesson of this kind as can be done in a week when the sewing machine is taken up unrelated to the plans of the children and preliminary to anything definite in the way of its use. I must keep the machine in good condition so as not to lose time in my work. Directions as to care of machine. Design of apron. As wide a study as seems profit- able. Decoration. As much individuality as possible. Throughout the entire course each new step is de- veloped in relation to the children's realization of their need for doing just what is planned in connection with the different large problems a, b, c, d, and e. A happy THE PROBLEM METHOD 41 zest for the work is a result, and the school tasks will develop a more thoughtful attitude toward the problems of the home as well as being definitely helpful in solving some of them. Illustration of Mechanical Method Which Failed. The mechanical method so often employed by teachers of home economics causes the girls to dislike sewing and cooking, or to conclude that such work at school has no connection with the tasks of the home. The following shows how one teacher failed in her work although she took up the same materials used in the above illustration. Preparatory work : 1. Thread, a study of the different colors, sizes, and thread materials. 2. Stitches, study of and practice in making different kinds. 3. Seams, study and practice. 4. The sewing machine ; a study of its different parts. Preliminary practice on the machine until an ability to handle it was fairly well developed. Drawings made of parts of the machine. First task: make an apron. Materials : selected by the teacher without dis- cussion. Design : furnished by teacher. (The fundamental idea being that children should not be permitted to take part in choosing what they are to do, they being too ''immature." Materials and designs should be taken up in special courses and not be brought into a course in sewing.) 42 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE In a few weeks the children were disgusted with the work, and the task of disciplining them was almost im- possible. By the end of the fifth week the majority had brought notes from their parents giving various reasons why they should withdraw from the course. Problems and Topics One often hears the question, '^ What is the essential difference between the problem method and the topic method?" The answer is this: the problem furnishes more opportunity for thinking on the part of the chil- dren. A topic may be developed as a problem, but it is not always so treated. A child may recite on a topic in somewhat the same way he does on a page. Needles, thread, and sewing machines were very uninteresting when considered as topics in the home economics work described on the foregoing page, but as parts of a prob- lem which the children desired to solve they furnished vital aids and were considered worth knowing about. The best method of answering this question is to treat one subject from the two standpoints. This may be done as follows : Roads. Treated topically as a lesson in civics. 1. Number of miles of roads in home county. 2. Names and general direction of chief roads. 3. Taxes levied to support roads. 4. Road laws for drivers. 5. Number of miles of paved roads in home county. 6. A description of the different materials used in paving. 7. The number of bridges in the home county. THE PROBLEM METHOD 43 8. The duties of the road overseer. 9. Description of methods and machinery used in im- proving roads. Roads. Treated as a problem in civics. 1. Why do we have roads? Is there any advantage to the members of this class in having roads ? Besides the fact that roads make it possible to travel, the children try to find : Relation of roads to the price of farm products. Their relation to the cultivation of farms in distant places. The relation of their condition to : Delivery of U. S. mail. The doctor and his patients, (being a factor in the successful treatment of disease) . The passage of tourists through the local county (bringing in the value of tourist travel). The consolidation of schools. Other similar topics. 2. How may we improve our roads? Study of roads already in existence in order to determine how well they meet the demands outlined and studied under point 1. Do we need any more trans-state or continental roads ? In this connection note roads in existence and study what large highways go through the state but not through the home county. What soil and drainage conditions have to be met in improving the roads? Study of bad roads and especially bad places near the city, with a consideration of means of improving them. Are the taxes levied sufficient to maintain the roads as they should be maintained ? 44 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Study of the taxes of the county. Question officers in charge of roads on this point. How should we go about increasing taxes? We must be careful not to be unjust. We must not overburden the people with taxes. In this connection, what other taxes are they paying? The problem may be continued until all the nine divisions of the topic have been included. In the problem development we see a marshaling of facts and topics in such a way as to produce conclusions and constant thinking, not only as the problem progresses but even after it has been completed. In addition, there is now a constant relation between topics which were comparatively isolated under the topic method. One may say that topics need not be thus isolated, and the answer is, ^' Certainly not ; we should organize them into parts of a problem." In the measure that topics are organized, related, and brought into the child's individual life, they approach problems. CHAPTER III THE PROJECT Characteristics, Uses, and Values Problem and Project. As explained before, the proj- ect is different from the problem in that its essential feature is the provision of something to organize, in- vestigate, or accomplish, rather than to stimulate thought. It may be a problem or a part of a problem, and it may embrace problems. The more good problems a project affords the better it is for educational purposes. To afford something to do, the project must necessarily arise from the interests of the children. The method may be illustrated by quoting a description of its use in the Horace Mann School. George D. von Hofe says, ^^ The sixth-grade pupils in the Horace Mann school are studying science regardless of every artificial division. The class chooses a project, something that has attracted attention and in which they are vitally interested. The teacher then presents the information to follow not the so-called logical development found in textbooks, but the trend of thought of the pupils." ^ It is not possible to separate the project from the prob- lem method. Some persons define the project as the 1 Teachers College Record, May, 1916, pp. 240-246. 45 46 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE " end-point " of the problem. Many of the illustrations given in the preceding chapter could be called projects. However, the project view adds distinctly to the success of problems. Provides for Longer Assignment. The distinct ad- vantage of the project over the old topic or question and answer method is that it provides for continuous work on the part of the pupil rather than assignment from day to day. It thus allows for weighing values and organization of material along vital lines by both teacher and pupil. Consider these points in the follow- ing illustrations : Project in history : Territorial expansion in the United States. In following this project the class will read widely in the text and in reference books. The work may take up two weeks and end with a debate. The two weeks' work is bound together in the project. The children think constantly about the various issues involved during the period. They not only know about this and that acquisition, but they live over and think out the general principle of expansion. Project in mathematics : Eighth grade mensuration. To study the mathematics involved in the construc- tion of a house. Practically every problem in functional mensuration will be discovered in the project. The children will be study- ing mensuration on a higher plane after an introduction of this kind. Some connection with a house that is being built in the community may be kept up during the entire study of mensuration. Such a project will not succeed unless drill problems aside from the construction of the house are intro- THE PROJECT . 47 ducecl. Too often it becomes more house than arithmetic. This, of course, would not be an arithmetic project. Project in Civics : To study city government in order to know how to improve our own. This will include a study of the home city. Many visits to different public places will be a part. Public men will be questioned and will be asked to speak to the class. During it all every child knows that his lesson for several weeks will center around city governments. Of course this will be very definitely divided among different days, but at the same time the child is interested in his daily lesson he is also interested in the larger project of which it is a part. By doing such work the pupils are trained in inde- pendence in investigation. They learn how to follow out an undertaking. Does Not Replace but Aids Regular Work. The proj- ect is brought into the school not in opposition to the regular work but as an aid and a supplement to it. When we speak of discarding logical order, only that part of logical order which has proved a drawback to teaching is meant, and order is by no means discarded. Instead, there is substituted the natural order, the order of in- terest and purpose. The textbook is used as a '' refer- ence handbook," and its contents are mastered and related to the child's life, not necessarily in the order given in the book but in the order of the development of the project. That which is learned in this way will be retained because it is made a part of life. Most of the knowledge gained in the old way of servilely following the text is forgotten as soon as examination time 48 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE passes, and often, to the chagrin of teachers, even be- fore it arrives. Supplements School Work. The project serves to keep the child interested in wholesome work in the hours after school. It takes the place of old style home work, which was usually nothing more than an addition to dis- agreeable school tasks. Harmful recreation is also by this means supplanted by occupations both wholesome and educational. The construction and maintenance of a wireless plant, for example, is a project which will lead a boy into profit- able fields, will keep him ^^off the street," and will provide a stabilizer for his disposition. Parents will find it a profitable investment to spend money on a boy in this way, and teachers will reap ample reward in better school work for any time they spend in fostering such a project. The Part Projects Have Always Played in Education. The project is new only in the sense that it is becoming a definite term in educational literature and is receiving wider recognition in school practice. It is a universal means to education and growth and has played a large part in all education ever since learning has been an at- tribute of mankind. Long before arbitrary logical pro- cedure had established its blighting control over our schools, the method of the teachers, the wise men, or medicine men was essentially the project. The learner came to the teacher in order to learn how to achieve some definite end he had in view. Even before the existence THE PROJECT 49 of teachers, savage man learned of the world about him through his projects. The projects which led him to go out upon the water were, without question, at the basis of the origin and evolution of navigation. If he con- structed weapons and improved upon those in existence during his time, we may take for granted that his work did not grow out of a general study but was a definite part of a special project in which he was interested at the time. All of us owe the chief elements of our education to projects. For illustration, a man moves from Colo- rado to Washington. This move is made the basis for more definite gain in knowledge of geography, sociology, finance, and in a dozen other special branches than any amount of logically arranged but unrelated courses could accomplish. The use of the project is the nearest the school has come to connecting education with every- day life. The Part Projects Have Played in the Development of Great Men. It is well worth our consideration that eminent men have been educated primarily outside of schools. Many of them were failures in school. Any- one who reads the lives of great men will be struck by the part their projects have played in their education. Ex- amples, selected from the field of science and typical of the life of any great man, are given here : Agassiz received his education chiefly through his own investigations and projects. Before he was ten years old he had made extensive experiments. He studied animals, their structures, habits, and haunts. His proj- 50 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE ects ranged in extent from the study of living fishes in a homemade aquarium to the observation and imitation of mechanics. At twelve he had a collection of animals and plants that was famous throughout the country. Edward Drinker Cope started scientific projects of value at the age of seven. During a sea voyage to Bos- ton with his father he kept a diary which he filled with drawings of ^' jelly fish, grampuses, and other natural objects, seen on the way." He was greatly attracted by the museum of the academy of natural sciences at Philadelphia and made drawings of a great many of the old skeletal remains before he was nine years old.^ Marsh, Wyman, Gray, and Newcomb began in a similar way. Humboldt, Hugh Miller, Jefferies, and Audubon had wonderful collections and spent their boyhood gathering specimens and living with nature. A friend of Audubon describes the latter 's room as follows : '^ On entering the room I was surprised to find it turned into a museum. The walls were festooned with all sorts of birds' eggs, carefully blown and strung on a string. The chimney piece was adorned with stuffed squirrels, raccoons, opos- sums, fishes, frogs, etc.'' A laboratory in the cellar, a newspaper, and a tele- graph line between his home and that of a boy friend were projects which played fundamental roles in the education of Edison. Like illustrations from every field of human accom- plishment could be furnished. The teacher need only 1 Jordan, David S. Leading American Men of Science. Holt, 1910. THE PROJECT 51 read the biography of any great man to see the impor- tance of his projects to his education and success. Importance of the Child's Project. The projects of youth are more important to education than are those of the adult. When the habit of attacking situations and following them to successful solution is formed early in life, the individual rises to a higher plane of en- deavor. He learns to go ahead without waiting for aid. He uses the information authorities furnish him only when it works. Success in life is closely associated with the early development of these abilities. A child in the sixth grade who has followed out several good projects probably has acquired valuable information and abilities which ordinary schooling could not have developed in a lifetime. The wireless plant in the physics department of a leading college was constructed by a professor of physics under the supervision of a boy who had learned what he knew in the home project of constructing one in his own back yard. Must Be Related to the Lives of the Children. The use of artificial projects will not help in the treatment of any subject. The old logical method is not bettered un- less we put life projects in its place. For example, the subject '^ water " may be taken up by a class and all sorts of interesting facts about it developed from maga- zine articles. If the children are really interested in water, if it is a life project, then it will be worth while. But if it is imposed upon them by the teacher, the time had better be spent in regular work. 52 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Scope of Project. We have not as yet found projects enough to take the place of regular class work. In sub- jects like home economics, physics, and woodwork, they make up the largest part of the work. In English, arithmetic, history, and civics we find many opportuni- ties for projects, but not to the extent that we can do away w4th drill or iViechanical procedure. The project is likely to embrace several subjects and furnish a motive for drill, the pursuit of information, and the exercise of thought in motive and pursuit. If wisely employed, it is brought into the school only when it will make a sure contribution and stimulate better work. Whenever it is used to the disadvantage of good work in school, it becomes a distracting influence, and the teacher must judge between its value and that of the course of study. Ordinarily it is best to stimulate in- dividual home work upon projects in addition to those connected with school studies. This does not mean that we are to neglect any worthy project a child may have, and it must be admitted that many of them are more educative than school tasks, but the possibilities of their school application are limited. As explained later in this chapter, the school must give due recognition to the educational value of the work a child does outside of school requirements. A wise use of projects in the regular school work re- sults in the establishment of centers of investigation. Research may in this way be undertaken in the elemen- tary school, and as a result of following out several good THE PROJECT 53 projects in addition to or as a part of a regular course of study, the children will learn how to investigate for themselves. The regular work is in this way strength- ened because of the greater interest of the children and the increased amount of reading or other special work they do. When the critical points in a subject are grouped in projects^ their mastery loses most of its dif- ficulties. The Red Cross campaign which was carried on in De- cember, 1917, made a splendid project for many schools. Its history was investigated and reported on by the his- tory classes. It was made the basis for oral and writ- ten composition. The children were organized at school and learned vital lessons in civics by taking part in the campaign to enlist members. The different rooms bought memberships. The children in the lower grades cut bandages ; those in the upper grades undertook more difficult tasks. Many schools that had never used proj- ects and did not know of their vital educational sig- nificance took hold of the Red Cross idea and made good educational material of it. The question is, when will schools learn that their communities and the regu ar sub- jects abound even in ordinary times with projects just as interesting as this one, which can be related even more closely to the work of the school ? Projects in which the entire school may share, and receive intellectual training at the same time are : Morning exercises. Special day programs. 54 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Making the school more attractive. Creation and development of museums and collec- tions. Organization of the noon period. Enlistment of the community for food conservation (or other purposes). Beautifying the home town or city. Projects in Special Subjects Woodwork. In woodwork the project method has now almost universal adoption^ taking the place of the old task method. The child learns the handling and care of tools, how to construct joints, and all the general features of this work by making articles which are useful to him. In making a sled, for example, he must study models and woods and submit his definite plan. He then makes the different parts, the runners, joints, and bindings. Each day he cares for his tools and bench and leaves them in good order. The teacher's function is to see that his powers are fully exercised, that the project is not too difficult, yet furnishes the exer- cise to develop the abilities for which the course was designed. ^ Mechanics. In the upper grades many schools are offering courses in mechanics embodying work with metals, the principles of physics, and some chemistry. A report of several individual children from a class in this subject in which projects were made the basis of the work is given for illustration. THE PROJECT 55 Report of Eighth-Grade Class in Physics 1. General attitude of teacher. We give such a course in order to instruct the boys in the practical value of physics. A law is brought up when the time comes to use it. The pupil reasons things out for himself with an occasional suggestion from the teacher. These boys covered in their three months' work the following : The fundamental principles of electricity, some me- chanics, heat, and sound. 2. The attitude of the class. The class is very enthusiastic as a whole. Discipline is easily brought about by threatening to dismiss a boy from class. Several of the boys liked to put in extra time. 3. Report of the work of each individual. B. F. : Made a thermostat which took up the expansion of metals, the conductivity of metals, etc. Made an electric toaster ; in this he worked out a new type in vertical elements, and the toast is held in place by springs. In this the prin- ciples of the length of wire to heat required, insulation, and heat through resistance were involved. He did considerable shop work, such as cleaning and repairing. His attitude was quiet, thoughtful, diligent, and he showed a desire to do the best work at all times. C. B. : Made a candy floss machine that made excel- lent floss, and he was called upon to demonstrate it to college classes. Made an electric switch, a telegraph key, and an electric toaster. The principles involved in his work were centrifugal and centripetal forces, gearing, wheel and axle, insulation, conduction, and connections. He was sometimes not so interested as he might have been. At the time of the floss machine he showed greatest interest. Is making a water motor to use at home with the floss machine. ^6 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE C. G. : Made a thermostat, electric toaster, and an electric switch. He is slow to finish up things. He is espe- cially interested in working around the gas flame and some work of that nature is being prepared for him. Behavior good. G. R. : Made a vibrator whistle, a toaster, a switch, and a telegraph key. The vibrator was the only thing he made that involved principles not already stated for other boys. This boy is not so much interested in machinery as he is in construction. He does not like to use his head. Books have been furnished him, but he can find nothing in them that he wants to make. E. I. : Made a thermostat, two toasters, a telegraph key, a wireless outfit, a wireless detector. His work has been especially good. Works fast and accurately. He will spend extra time whenever he has the opportunity. His lathe work is very good. In other subjects he is fair, and none of the teachers of the regular school subjects would have imagined that he would work very hard at anything. H. S. : Repaired an old motor that he already had, made a steam engine that would run, and is now working on a Meccano set for his younger brother. The steam engine involved quite a few of the principles of heat and mechanics. His behavior has been very good, and he shows independence and ability to reason out things for himself. In his regular school work he had often been hard to discipline. Special extra work : The boys made Christmas pres- ents. One boy spent evenings and nights for a considerable time working on an electric toaster for his aunt. Some of the toasters were superior to those that the retail dealer charged from three to four dollars for. The materials cost about thirty cents. Along with this work the boys read widely in books and magazines on mechanics. They were furnished THE PROJECT 57 with a large number of references, and it was not found necessary to require that they read them. It was hard to keep them from reading and discussing physics during other periods. The amount of information they gath- ered outside that necessary to the construction work made a valuable addition to the results of the course. Why are junior- and senior-high-school general science and physics so often taught in a dead and uninteresting manner when such live projects in these subjects are to be met at every hand ? What boy who can make a wire- less outfit; or who is allowed to fix his bicycle as a part of his regular physics, would not like the study? History. A project in history may be of such nature as to provide work for the entire class, or it may be purely individual. The history of Thanksgiving, Christ- mas, and other holidays, the life of a great man, or an ordinary topic, such as the settlement of the Northwest, or adjustment of the nation to the present war condi- tions, may serve as a project for investigation which would be preferred by the class to regular course-of-study work. A teacher may be able so to organize the course of study into interesting projects that nothing will be missed. The following is an illustration of the Colonial period taught through projects : The names of the leading characters are compiled by the teacher, and sources of information about them are collected. The following make a good list : Miles Standish, John Smith, James Oglethorpe, Lord Baltimore, Jefferson, 58 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Madison, Monroe, Washington, Edmund Randolph, Roger Williams, Stuyvesant, Penn. The following topics are compiled and references on each topic noted : Family life in the colonies. Pohtical life in the colonies. North American Indians. The work of the French. The work of the EngUsh. The Cathohcs. The Puritans. Each of the colonies. Education in the colonies. Relation between the colonies and England. As the work progresses, the teacher finds opportunity to suggest or allow (it is better to allow than suggest) different individuals or groups to specialize upon one of the characters or topics. Before the course is completed, every member of the class reads the hfe of some eminent man and looks up data on one of the special topics. Some of the children read several biographies and investigate several topics. All of the class Usten to these special reports and discuss them. The opportunity for a project is likely to come acci- dentally and without notice. For this reason it is bet- ter for the teacher to have material like the above ready to suggest at the proper moment. With stimulating teaching a boy is very likely to want to know more about John Smith than the ordinary lesson gives him. When his questions indicate that the psychological moment has arrived, the teacher should be ready to allow him to read and report on the life of Smith for his regular his- THE PROJECT 59 toiy lesson. On the appointed day he gives a ten minute recitation in his best EngHsh. When a group of chil- dren make a special investigation, an entire recitation period may be turned over to them with profit. A group of sixth-grade children after making a study of '' Life in the Virginia Colony " finished their project by dramatizing and playing it before the entire school. The following books were read as projects in history by an eighth-grade boy. He reported on each before the class. The Life of Lincoln — Project, Pioneer Life and the Development of a Great Man. The Life of General Butler — Project, A Participant of the Civil War. The Story of iEneas — Project, Semi-mythical History. The Story of the Moors — Project, Religious Strife. Winning the Northwest — Project in Itself. Hugh Wynne — Project, Individual Life During the Revolutionary War. Geography. Geography furnishes many projects and may be organized about the special interests and investi- gations of the children to such an extent that a regular course of study may be covered without bothering with any artificially arranged order. Fourth-grade geog- raphy, organized into projects and based upon ordinary textbooks such as Tarr and McMurry or Brigham and McFarlane, is given here for illustration. The following topics are selected as centers of interest. 60 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Food, Clothing, and Shelter Industries The Earth as a Whole Land Water Air Climate Maps These topics make up the ordinary course of study. The teaclier has in mind that these subjects are to be cov- ered by the class. She organizes them into projects in the fol- lowing manner. Discussion is started on each topic by bringing up some- thing interesting to the children. The text is not brought into the work in the treatment of any topic until it can be made use of to satisfy the pupils' wants. It is referred to continually in supplying information for which their projects call. They read all of it several different times, each time in relation to a different basic interest. Many other sources of information are used. Illustration : Clothing. The clothes of the children made the basis. It is found that wool, cotton, silk, and leather are represented. The question of where these came from is brought up. Also the question, how they came to their present state. When the class is desirous of investigating the matter further, the pages in the geography on which information is given are referred to, and the project is to obtain all the information they can concerning their clothing. The informa- tion in the book does not begin to satisfy a class which has been properly stimulated. THE PROJECT 61 Further illustration : Maps. The ordinary course of study demands that the children learn the basic principles of reading maps in the fourth grade. Map making and reading makes a fine project. The teacher begins without reference to the maps in the books. The plan is to ask the children to locate something in a room so that some one could go to the room and find it. This fur- nishes a splendid game. After learning how to represent the different parts of their own room in diagrams, they go to the school yard and then to their home town and community. This furnishes a background for the question of the representation of distant places, the home country, and the continent. The children have become so interested in their project of representing places to each other that they take up the maps in the book as a regular part of their interest. Having developed in their game of representation all the basic features of map making, such as scales and color- ation, they never suffer from the misconceptions which children so often acquire due to the confusion of the map with the place it represents. There is a distinct advantage to the teacher in plan- ning the entire course he has to cover in relation to pos- sible projects. The plan of the year is constantly before him, and the difficult parts of the work can be made centers for projects. Their special difficulty is in this way eliminated. As mentioned before, the ordinary course of study is found inadequate to meet the demands of the children when they attack it in an intelligent man- ner. The teacher finds that, instead of being pushed for time in which to cover what is required in the course, it 62 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE is difficult to provide enough subject matter to keep the class satisfied. Projects in Nature Study. Nature study should be taught by the project method. The teacher has an initial advantage in this subject in that he will not be hindered by logically arranged textbooks. There are few texts in use, and the one which has had the widest circulation is distinctly on the project order. ^ Illustrative projects in this subject are: 1. The arrival of the birds in the spring (any or all grades) . Constant watch for the first arrival of each kind with reports at school. A study of the habits of some of these (both from books or magazine articles and from life). Their nests. Eggs. Food and methods of finding it. (Watch them.) Value to man of the insects they destroy. How they care for their young. 2. Mushrooms. (Intermediate or upper grades.) Children collect the different kinds and bring them to school for identification. Read of the poisonous nature of some and methods of detecting these. Make the spore test and others at school. (Each child should be allowed to make the test.) Survey the community and teach the children to tell each edible variety ; warn them of the danger lurking in ones which to all outward circumstances appear innocent. ^ Hodge, C. F. Nature Study and Life. THE PROJECT 63 3. Snakes. (Any or all grades.) Catch the different non-poisonous varieties and bring them to school. The teacher should illustrate that they are not dangerous. Make a study in books and magazines of the value of snakes, toads, and lizards to man. Teach the children how to tell the poisonous kinds, and ascertain which of these are found in the local community. Other live and interesting projects may be found in the study of hundreds of varieties of wild life found in the home community, and concerning which the public library will furnish plenty of material in books and magazine articles, which may be related to the children of the lower grades, read to those in the intermediate grades, and read by those in the upper grades. . ^ Home Projects Educational Value of Home Life. When the final test of the efficiency in life of a given individual is applied, it is usually found that his life outside of school was a larger factor in the development of vital abilities than his schooling. The child spends approximately one third of the time he is awake in school. Presuming that everything he does there is of great educational value, the one third of his life spent in school is not likely to have as much influence upon him as the two thirds spent outside. When we remember that most children live a more active, aggressive life outside of school than inside, the dominance of the home and community life in their education cannot be doubted. Many individuals succeed in life with little or no school- ing. We find such persons, highly educated both tech- 64 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE nically and academically, playing leading roles in every walk of life. In fact, it is a common occurrence to find school-trained men living neighbors to others who have had practically no schooling, the latter being more suc- cessful in their respective vocations, reading more and better books, and leading a larger life socially. This need not indicate that the school has been a failure,^ but such occurrences demonstrate the value of the forms of education which are found outside of schools. It must be kept in mind that every individual, whether he is a success or a failure, is self-made. Those who have good schools to attend have an advantage ; those who have good homes are even more fortunate ; but those who are trained under the proper school-home stimulus and guidance have an ideal educational environment. To the extent that the school enlarges the everyday life of the child, it will be successful in truly educating him. What he gets there must be a part of him ; he must try to assimilate and use it. In order to bring this about, the school must reach beyond the five and one half hours of its daily program and become an organizing and stimu- lating factor in the entire life of the child. Recognition of Home Work by the School. In the past the school has been too exclusive. It placed too much stress upon where and under what regulations an achieve- ment was made. The actual educational value of the work ^ Studies show that the school-trained man usually excels, but this is true only if he is a student in life also. Many well-schooled men fail because they do not grow beyond their schooling. THE PROJECT 65 an individual did was not made the basis of recognition. In fact, schools constantly ignored everything that was not done within four brick walls and under a prescribed course of study. In some places it was the custom to use the energies of the school to belittle good work done out- side of its sphere of influence. Only recently have school authorities come to evaluate properly home and com- munity work in their schemes of crediting the individual with educational progress. The modern school realizes that a child's home work is not a disturbing factor in his education, but that it is part of his training even more important than school work. Teachers used to remonstrate with parents for providing too much for their children to do outside of school. To-day we realize that the boy who must milk and care for a cow and the girl who must help manage and take care of a home are provided with educational gold mines which may be worth far more as stabilizing influences and agencies of development than many of the tasks performed in school. In recognizing home work and utilizing it in the child's education, the school faces a many-sided problem. Any scheme is better than ignoring it, but the proper corre- lation of home and school work is no easy task. Methods of Recognition. Three definite ways of recognizing home work have been developed by school authorities. They may be described as follows : 1. Work at home is made a substitute for and is al- lowed to take the place of school work. This method 66 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE was first developed by Superintendent Alderman of Oregon. He noted that many children were living prac- tically useless home lives. It was difficult to get them to do their school work, and in conferring with parents he found that they were making every possible sacrifice and doing all the work at home themselves in order that their children might have their time for advancement in school. Concluding that work, like charity, is best when it be- gins in the home, he set about devising a means of stimu- lating home work. He talked the matter over with the children, and they agreed that everyone should help at home. Following this he began to substitute the per- formance of home tasks for portions of regular assign- ments at school. When the regular algebra lesson had been ten problems, he cut it down to five and substituted five home tasks for the other problems. He claims that the immediate result was better work both at home and at school. However, experience has shown that Alderman's rather spectacular results will not continue after the spell of newness has worn off and the substitution of these home tasks for school work becomes a part of the regular program. In doing away with a part of the school assignments we admit that they were not neces- sary. Either the subject is not worth requiring, or the amount of work we have been giving in it is more than is necessary to provide for proper advancement. But when we properly select our subject matter in the school, it is impossible to substitute home tasks for it. If a child THE PROJECT 67 cannot read, he will not be helped by being allowed to split kindling at home in place of reading. It will not be advantageous to add to his reading credit for home work not connected with reading. There must be some better method of recognizing home work. 2. A second method is to add home work to the regu- lar school list of subjects. Cards are sent home at regu- lar intervals. The parents fill them out with state- ments of the number of hours the children have spent in the performance of different home tasks. ^' Home work " is given a place on the report card and the grade in it is used along with those in the regular school sub- jects in calculating the child's general average, which is made the basis of his promotion. This method has advantages over that of substituting home work for that of the school. Definite recognition is given any work a child may do at home. By stimu- lating home work and giving it a place on the report card along with the work of the school we dignify and elevate it in the eyes of the children. Some recognition of this type must be retained. There are some conditions which make this method inadequate to meet the situation. The work of the school is to educate. It must do more than recognize. When we record that a child has spent thirty-seven hours helping her mother at home and give her a grade for this work, we are not allowing for the factor of improvement. She may be doing it as so much drudgery and in the most slovenly and disadvantageous manner. In merely re- 68 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE cording a grade on the basis of so many hours, the school may be confirming her in slovenly work. This problem becomes more prominent as the months and years pass by and the school continues to give a child a grade for the same routine work. Some definite means should be employed to stimulate the child to improve his outside work and educate himself by it. Also, the work of the school and that of the home are not properly correlated by this method. It is a decided step in advance over the old method of sacrificing the home life for the school, but it does not go far enough. 3. The modern method is that of the school-home proj- ect. The school in this way not only stimulates home work but provides for its improvement and organization. If a boy cares for a cow at home, the school, by stimu- lating this work as a project, makes it one of the most valuable educational features of his life. The work is made much more interesting to the boy when he finds that his old drudgery and routine is only one phase of a many-sided project which is interesting at home and may be made a part of his school work. Methods of Organizing School-Home Projects Survey. In order to secure a basis for successful or- ganization, the teacher should first of all make a survey of the projects that are possible in his community. The interests and home duties of each child are tabulated. The data obtained in this way is made the center of a school-home campaign. THE PROJECT 69 The following home activities were tabulated for the sixth grade in the month of January at the University Heights Elementary School, Seattle, Washington. Reading books. Piano lessons. Knitting. Work on farm. Making clothes. Making quilt. Clubs. Painting. Carpenter work. House work. Care of pets. Making toys. Swimming. Collections. Care of furnace. Saving money. Home games. Delivering papers. Violin lessons. Going to movies. Growing flowers. Caring for live stock. Chopping wood. Mechanical drawing. Art work. How to Deal with These Projects. After the teacher knows what boys and girls are interested in outside of school work, his task is to have each child concentrate upon one or several of his interests and make reports of progress in them. Any of the interests noted in the fore- going sixth-grade survey may amount to very little if allowed to go along without any attention. Most of them may be developed into very vital and dominating fea- tures of the child's life if the teacher will pay some atten- tion to and encourage them. Usually he can refer the child to books or articles which will help in carrying on the project. He can show how to make the interest worth while, and he can keep up interest so that much more will be accomplished than if the project had not been given recognition. Thus Reading Books becomes a project of Reading as Many Good Books as Possible During the Term. The 70 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE child reports on them to the teacher, who mentions other good books to him. He knows that the teacher is in- terested in his reading during the entire term, wants regular reports about it, and will always be glad to hear about it. He knows that his grades will be affected by the way he goes at this project. Painting or carpenter work after school hours, instead of being done in a haphazard fashion and only to while away the time, becomes a live issue when taken by a child as his home project. He becomes a student of painting. He learns of the different kinds of paints. He notes painters at work : sees how many brushes they use, how they hold the brush, how they mix their paints, what they do to boards before they paint them, etc. He follows carpentry in the same way. I have seen boys learn almost everything there is to learn about a trade by following it as a home project for several years. For a project a boy learned enough to paint his father's house in such a way that the paint out- lasted that put on by regular painters. He followed this by contracting painting during a summer. Other proj- ects may be developed in the same way. Illustration of a School-Home Project in Detail. The following is the story of how one child was stimu- lated by his teacher to take care of a pen of chickens as a home-school project. J reported in a seventh-grade class that he was caring for chickens at home, and that he would like to work with them as a project which would receive recognition at school. THE PROJECT 71 He had eight hens and a rooster. He was feeding scraps and some grain. He knew httle or nothing about chickens or their care, had read nothing about them, did not know the values of the different kinds of stock, and knew nothing of feeding for greater egg-laying. For two years he kept chickens as a project. In that time he read widely in books and magazines. The class visited his home several times. Any child who wanted to know anything about chickens usually went to J for in- formation. He took great pride in his knowledge and accom- plishments. The teacher told him to write to the State Agricultural College for reading and information. It was not far from his home and he made a trip there to see the chickens they had and to talk with the '^authorities" about chickens. In his own pen there was gradually produced a great change. He found that none of his chickens were of good stock, that two hens did not lay at all, and that the feed he was using was not the right kind for laying hens. He sold his old stock. He learned to buy pullets in order to get eggs in the winter. He sprouted oats in the cellar at his home in order to have green food in the winter. He re- constructed his pen and house to make them warmer. He kept a definite daily record. He learned how to make chickens "pay." During the entire time he had a large and vital interest. He would often hurry home from school to learn how his chickens were doing and in order to work about his pens. He soon knew different poultry magazines and read them. He knew every chicken ranch within several miles. He competed at shows and won several prizes. The monthly footings of one of his account books are given here for illustration. .82 Paid feed 1.95 1 doz. pullets 6.00 Paid grits 0.25 0.67 Paid feed 1.60 72 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Purchased on Sept. 14th, 4 hens for which I paid $3.00. Account for Sept. Paid $3.00 for hens Gain, 1 egg, Value $0.02 .50 for feed. October Hens' gain 33 eggs @ 30cts. per doz. November Hens gain 12 eggs @ 40 cts. December Hens gain 20 eggs (w, 40 cts. January Hens' gain 133 eggs @ 40 cts. 4.40 Paid. No feed purchased February Hens gain 160 eggs @ 30 cts. 4.00 Paid feed 1.80 Definite School Time. At least one school period per month should be given over to reports by the children on their home projects, and a period every two weeks can often be used to advantage. Great interest in these re- ports should be shown by the teacher, and whenever possi- ble the child should be encouraged to bring sample prod- ucts with his report. A record should be kept of each project undertaken, and written and oral reports required concerning its progress. The teacher and the entire school may some- times go to the child's home to see some interesting de- velopment. Bees swarming, a brood of chickens of a special variety, an unusually good garden or lawn, or a wireless apparatus may make profitable such a visit. These excursions are always followed by awakened iji- THE PROJECT 73 terest on the part of the children who made the call and also on the part of the pupil whose project was good enough to be visited. The great problem is to keep the child interested until he reaches the place where his project is of educational value to him. If he starts a garden, for example, he is likely to lose interest after ten days or a couple of weeks. The definite school attention given his project will help overcome the laziness and lack of persistence of the average child. When the atmosphere of home achieve- ment is made to pervade the school and is kept there throughout the year, good results are bound to follow. We must make this work a vital part of our teaching and must not fear to give it regular school time if it is to succeed. Its value in the proper development of chil- dren is so great that any amount of time properly spent in this way will not be wasted. Exhibits. A method which is certain to stimulate home projects is to have several exhibits of combined school and home work during the year. One in the middle of the year and one at the end of the year, or one every three months will provide good stimulus. A single exhibit at the end of the year is not worth much, for school being out, the spirit created results in no action. The exhibit in the middle of the year will afford suggestions to the school and the community which will be carried out in prep- aration for another one coming. Those who have shown good results will be encouraged to do even better in order to reveal improvement^ and those who have not 74 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE been able to do very much will receive suggestions from this first exhibit. There is a special advantage in having children to- gether after an exhibit of this kind ; they talk for weeks about the different objects of interest, and teach each other how to succeed at the various projects. The greatest excitement I ever saw among school chil- dren was caused by a home school exhibit given in the middle of the year by the training school at Greeley, Colorado. The materials were brought Thursday eve- ning and Friday morning. The different grades appointed committees to arrange their space, and the children and people of the town were admitted Friday afternoon and Saturday. Interest was so great and enthusiasm ran so high that some of the teachers voted against a second exhibit because they thought it would cause " over- stimulation." Any teacher who will carefully organize his school and community and carry out two or three of these exhibits during the year will be fully convinced of the power of this method to generate interest. If prizes are given, care should be taken to prevent rivalry and jealousy. It is better to give a large number of inexpensive awards than a few that are costly. The task of organizing the prize system in a way that will avoid injustice and the resulting dissatisfaction is a dif- ficult one, and unless plenty of time can be given to it, it may be better to have the exhibits without awards. Exhibits succeed well either way. CHAPTER IV MOTIVES In bringing children to the place where they under- stand that school work is provided for their benefit and is not imposed upon them, the modern school has made it possible to teach a great deal more in the same time than did the traditional school. The subject matter that is taught is also more effective in fitting the child for life. Thus a double gain has been brought about by motivation. Satisfying Needs Some Problems in Satisfying Needs. The funda- mental feature in motivating school work for children is to select subject matter in accordance with their needs and to show them that they need it. There are three definite problems which the teacher must face in doing this. 1. He must constantly study his class. Each group of children will present its special problem for the live teacher. Until he has made a survey of their capacities, he cannot proceed with his instruction. His course may be before him, but he knows that much time will be wasted and many children may be turned against the sub- ject or receive a bad start if he plunges them into it with- 75 76 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE out first adjusting it to their needs. The first problem is to make a survey of the class. Following this a con- stant study of the different individuals will be necessary. The human beings we teach must ever be kept in mind when we plan the work they are to do. 2. The course of study should first of all provide for the definite needs of those who are to follow its require- mentS; but it must also be constantly readjusted in ac- cordance with these needs. The teacher may have little to do with the shaping of the coui*se and may be required to teach one that has been made for him. In such a case he will have to devote his energies to readjustments. ThuS; instead of blindly teaching his course^ he will study it constantly with the idea of reshaping different parts to make them effective in overcoming specific weaknesses of the children or useful in satisfying their growing ambitions for learning or improvement. 3. A special feature of method is the harmonization in the minds of the children of the course of study with their own specific needs. A large amount of time may profit- ably be spent in this harmonizing process^ for after it is once accomplished, the capacity of the class is so much increased that results are not to be compared with work done by a spiritless group which feels that it is merely performing tasks to satisfy the teacher or the school authorities. The average child, when he sees that he really needs to know that which he is required to learn, is likely to learn a great deal of it without the aid of a teacher. His entire school life is in this way placed MOTIVES 77 upon a higher plane. He reaUzes where he is going and is Ukely to exert himself not only in trying to get there but also in devising special ways of getting there. More Reliance upon Children^ It is often surprising to what degree children realize what is good for them and how willing they are to do ordinary school work when they are allowed to initiate it instead of being re- quired to do it without consideration. To most adults who love freedom a task laid on from the outside is irk- some; and many grown men and women say they felt the same way when they were children. / Mark Twain may be taken as an example. He said he always disliked anything which bore the resemblance of a yoke. ^^ Tax- ation without representation " was given as the cause of the Revolution in America. The colonists maintained that they would have been glad to do anything for the mother country which a body of their own representa- tives should decide was right. 'C A mistake of school teachers has been to impose tasks upon children who are willing to do these very tasks but who immediately rebel when forced into them. It al- ways takes the joy out of good work to be robbed of the responsibility for it. We must take the time to allow rather than require children to learn. ;• Education after this intelligent method is certain to be more lasting than it was under the old suspicious regime^ which created many of its own difficulties by its coercive methods. Illustrations in Arithmetic. A teacher in the second grade found that her course suggested that the children 78 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE learn the combinations to twenty, the multipHcation tables to the fours, acquire some basic ideas in liquid, dry, and linear measures, learn to a certain extent the values of different pieces of money, and solve the easier examples in making change. She first made a study of the class and found, as is always the case, that many of the children already knew a great deal of the subject matter thus prescribed, that some of them knew a little of it, and others had no arithmetic knowledge at all. This took about two periods at the beginning of each new topic. As each division of the subject was taken up, the necessity for learning it was explained to the children. They were allowed to talk freely about the value of knowing how to add and subtract, how to measure, make change, etc. A marked interest in these values was shown, and a better working spirit resulted. Some of the children came to school with lessons prepared in ad- vance, showing that they had been working at home. One boy learned all his multiplication tables. There was a lack of response on the part of a few. The special failings of these were studied by the teacher. These children were told of their weaknesses and in overcom- ing them they were afforded a special motive for doing hard work. Children in the eighth grade may even take part in discovering their own needs. An illustration of such work and its results is given in the words of the teacher : While studying the individual needs of my class I re- quested each individual to keep in a notebook a record of his MOTIVES 79 daily work. Four days a week we graded the papers in class and one day I graded them and returned the papers to the children. Our work was in interest and our problem was to develop the ability to get correct answers. In his notebook each child kept track of the special difficulties which made him inaccurate. The faults were divided into three types, (1) carelessness, (2) mistakes in method, and (3) mistakes in addition, division, multiplication, or subtraction (if these occurred in fractions or decimals it was noted). I collected these notebooks once each month, and the children by fol- lowing their notes soon found wherein they were weak. Many of them would come to me and talk about their peculiar mis- takes. There were, of course, a few who did not seem to care, but even these were more interested after they had learned just why they were not accurate. They knew that their lessons were designed to meet their specific needs, and that they were not being imposed upon by being required to work useless problems. A page from one of these books is included here for illus- tration. Problems Attempted Correct Care- lessness Method Mistakes Add. Div. Mul. Sub. Sept. 9 Sept. 10 Sept. 11 Sept. 12 Sept. 13 Sept. 16 4 4 4 4 4 4 1 3 2 1 4 1 2 1 2 2 3 2 3 1 1 l(dec.) 1 1 1 This boy soon found that his arch enemy was carelessness. By watching himself closely he was able to improve in his 80 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE average score in accuracy. This record furnished a motive for increased effort. Following this procedure we were not long in eliminating all difficulties in method. Our chief problem soon became one of eliminating carelessness. Addition was a stumbling block because the pupils forgot to "carry." The zest showed by the entire group in discovering and striving to eliminate the sources of their failures was encouraging. Tenacity on the part of the teacher is essential in the successful development of such a plan. After a week or two the class is likely to drift back to the old slovenly program of working without any definite end in view. This is very likely to occur when the teacher does not keep the children's records in mind or give them due at- tention during the class periods. When the children understand that the plan is going to be a definite part of their work^ and when their records are given due atten- tion by the teacher, they will settle down to a study of themselves which is likely to carry over into life. After a month or two has passed, enough data to give the child an indication of his special weaknesses will have been accumulated. Overcoming these self-discovered defi- ciencies is usually sufficient motive for good hard work on his part without further stimulation by the teacher. However, there will always be a few who will not respond to treatment of this nature. There is no rosy road to success in practice. ( Many teachers fail because they expect their schemes to work without friction from the very beginning. Sometimes they merely propose them MOTIVES 81 to the children and expect them to blossom and bear fruit without further work. We cannot repeat too often that the persistence of the teacher in continuing any good plan until it begins to show results is essential to its success. ^ A fifth-grade teacher gave attention to the large num- ber of occasions for adding, dividing, multiplying, and subtracting fractions in the local community. Three boys were making a garden together. How were they going to divide the products so that each would have his proper share? The class decided to give flowers which cost a dollar to one of their number who was sick. What amount should each child pay ? The teacher then offered to pay half as much as the class. Did they know now how to discover what each should pay? Once or twice each week a part of a period was given over to a discus- sion of the need for learning fractions. Examples from the community which the children needed to know how to solve were brought in by them and the teacher. The result was a class which knew that it was learning some- thing of value. These values were constantly kept in mind throughout the year, and whenever a child found that he could use his knowledge of fractions in his daily life, he was given opportunity to tell of it at school. Decimals may be, and are in many places, taught in the same way. Our chief use of decimals is found in trans- actions which involve money. Children in the fifth and sixth grades where decimals are usually taught often take part in transactions involving money. One teacher 82 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE found that a large number of problems which would show the children their need for decimals could be discovered by calculating the cost of articles which the children wanted to buy or had bought. Part of a period once and sometimes twice a week was given over to a discus- sion of these needs. The prices of roller skates, sleds, dolls, mittens, etc., were investigated by the children, who came to class with accurate data collected from the stores. Definite needs for knowing how to add, divide, multiply, and subtract these figures, which involved decimals, were revealed in this way. As an introduction to a study of interest a class was allowed to make a study of the uses of interest in the community. They found that liberty bonds were to run for a certain number of years at 4 per cent. Persons of their room had purchased several of these. How much were their profits to be ? Many of them found that their fathers had borrowed money at different times and that interest was charged for this. One boy heard his father tell a man that his home didn't pay in a financial way, for it yielded only about 4 per cent after taxes and repairs had been deducted. The work he had been having in class caused him to notice such a statement. He brought the entire problem to school. Several of the families rep- resented were paying for homes on the installment plan. The children were soon convinced that it was necessary to know how to solve interest problems in order to suc- ceed in a financial way. In other words they realized that they needed the very work they were doing in school. ♦ MOTIVES 83 It must be kept in mind that such problems cannot be found in sufficient numbers to furnish all the drill the class may need. The work, at least under present school conditions; seems to succeed best when the life needs of the children are brought in now and then to let them see that their regular work is developing abilities which they are going to need in life. Needs in Writing. It is not difficult to collect from the local community many examples of the necessity for rapid and legible penmanship. First of all the child will want to write real letters. This furnishes a splendid motive for most children through the fourth grade. The teacher allows them to write letters at school to friends and relatives. They practice in order to be able to write these letters quickly and legibly, and great zest is usually taken in the work because they feel that they are doing it with some definite and useful purpose. Above the fourth grade the vocational motive may be relied upon to furnish stimulation to the majority of children. They may be asked to bring to class the needs which their parents find for writing. Special incidents are related about certain persons who wished that they could write better. The Ayres scale may be taken by the children to the business men of the town, who are usually willing to underline the degree of perfection which should be reached for success in their particular occupa- tion. With these local needs before them the children have good reasons for trying to improve their writing. When a score of seventy is made, the child should be 84 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE excused from further practice. Little difficulty in the way of motivation will be found when this definite goal is added to the study of the local needs for swift and legible writing. The children know that their work has been designed to satisfy their needs and that when they have achieved the degree of success that is necessary they will not be required to practice further. Language Based upon Local Needs. In the four lower grades the children are easily made to understand that they must be able to speak fluently and accurately if others are going to comprehend what they say. There should be a large amount of story telling by the children to each other in these grades, and the motive and pur- pose of it all is to develop their ability to tell stories in a way that will interest the group. A child has a definite reason for preparing his story and saying well what he has to say when his success depends upon his ability to please the class. Written expression may be motivated in the same way as writing. The children should constantly be made to understand that what they write will be read by someone and that they must learn how to write accurately and fluently, else those to whom they write will not know what they are trying to say. These two motives furnish the basic reasons for oral and written speech throughout the grades and even in life. In the upper grades a great deal of speaking to his fellows should be required of every child. His written composition can be made a form of communication with MOTIVES 85 the teacher and the rest of the class. The children are asked to tell and write of things which will interest the group, and the reaction of the group is made the criterion of the success of the speech or composition. As in the other subjects a study of the community will show many needs for being able to speak and write well. The children may be allowed to discover that the lawyer, the minister, and even the business man are called upon to make speeches ; that the first two are quite dependent upon their ability to speak. Many ex- amples of times when local persons wished they could speak better can be collected in any community. The necessity for being able to express oneself accurately in writing may be shown by finding business men in the community who have selected special persons from a large number of applicants because of their well-expressed letters. It will be found that others have not been se- lected because they wrote poorly composed letters. Many persons are now earning money by writing for maga- zines. Children who appear to have gifts should be encouraged by being told that they may be able to do something like this. In a certain small town the local newspaper gives the boys and girls who excel in their Eng- lish, positions as reporters when they graduate from high school. In the last ten years fully a dozen of these boys have become editors of newspapers, and a large number of others have become reporters for dailies in the cities. This practice has furnished the basis for better English com- position in the upper grades and high school of this town. 86 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Former graduates of a school; the grown-up brothers and sisters who have taken commercial courses and have obtained good positions and find the ability to compose fluently and accurately very essential to suc- cess, are often willing to come and talk to the children about the necessity for learning to write well early in life. In grammar grades every means at the teacher's dis- posal should be used to foster self-criticism and the study by the child of his own peculiar needs in English. A notebook like that suggested for arithmetic should be kept. In this will soon be collected the special points in expression^ punctuation, spelling, etc., which cause him trouble. He should be encouraged and stimulated to make his oral and written work focus upon these needs. Then when he writes and speaks or studies punctuation and grammatical construction, he will know that he is working with the definite goal of overcoming his own weaknesses in a subject which is essential to his larger success in life. A few notes from a '^ Self-Study Book " of an eighth- grade girl are given here for illustration : FEBRUARY Oral Written Date 3d Too many ands and whys 7 their for him 3. Number of pronouns set for sit hasnH come (not came) MOTIVES 87 Oral Date 7th 9th Too many ands 6 (T. suggests that I should try to have in mind what I am going to say, for the and shows that I stop to think in the middle of my sentence.) their for him 2 {Someone is singular and should be followed by a singu- lar pronoun.) saw not seen for past (This is just habit, for I know better.) 12th Too many ands 2 (Teacher said that my speech was free from ands in the first half which showed that when I had prepared I didn't need to over-use them.) 14th Written Comma 5 Spelling until (not two Us) committee (double in every case) paragraph 3 Comma 5 (In a series, like John, Henry, and I, I must always have a comma before and.) spelling 88 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Enough has been given to show the method used. The value of this scheme has been proven. For three years I regularly observed oral Enghsh and collected all the compositions written by eighth-grade children in the Training School at Greeley. Children wrote themes throughout the first year and constantly made the same mistakes, although they were plainly marked and the usual method of teaching the correct forms was used. In six months, with the definite self-study campaign and the individual notebook in use, a very noticeable gain in both interest and results could be seen. Getting the children to keep these books is rather dif- ficult at first. They must be taught to write well in them and keep them in good form. The expression and punctuation in them should be graded at least every three weeks, and definite attention given to them in the regular class periods. When properly handled by the teacher they soon become a great source of interest for the children and furnish a splendid motive for the im- provement of written and oral English. The form given in the illustration was finally evolved as providing full opportunity for recording all mistakes and comments of value and at the same time picturing accurately the child's progress in eliminating them. The numbers after the entries indicate the number of times the mistake was made in a speech or a composition on that day. These books were found to be very helpful to the teacher. He, as well as the children, can tell by them whether or not improvement is going on. A special MOTIVES , 89 caution is necessary to the teacher who expects daily improvement, for children are likely to be erratic in their progress. A child may make a very bad record after several weeks of apparent improvement, and while this should not be overlooked, too much can be made of it. Progress in written and oral English comes slowly, and many failures and what seem to be backward steps will have to be encountered. The teacher must also be very careful in grading and be sure of himself in mark- ing mistakes, for nothing is more confusing to children than the failure of the teacher to mark the same way twice. Children's Needs in Reading. When the child is learn- ing to read, it is not difficult to keep him reminded that a new world will be opened to him as soon as he has gained the ability to interpret the printed page. His attention should constantly be called to signs and printed matter which he meets in daily life. When stories are told him, he should be told that as soon as he can read, he will be able to get thousands of stories from books. A thoughtful teacher can find material in any commu- nity which will be useful in keeping before children their need for learning to read. An illustration of motivation of this type is found in the work of the Horace Mann School and is described in Teachers College Record.^ The two basic ideas in the work are : (l) the provision of material which will lead the child to see his need for reading, and (2) the selection 1 Sept. 1916, pp. 330-343. 90 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE of those materials which have the strongest appeal and are the most effective. The quotations which follow are taken from this article. The first definite step in the work was to acquaint the children with their own names in printed form. . . . Some difficulty had been experienced in distinguishing the proper chairs for individual children according to their size, and we decided to print their names on cards and fasten these to the backs of the chairs. . . . The children needed but a few minutes to learn the appearance of their own names and they never made a mistake afterwards. Several children soon learned to recognize other names as well as their own. Boxes of colored crayons had been distinguished up to this time, by a paper of the proper color pasted on the ends of the boxes. ... An outfit of No. 17 Superior Type was provided, and in the holder which is furnished, the words red, yellow, blue, green, etc. were set up. The children did the printing, which is simply a stamping process, and cut the labels and pasted them on the boxes. A key card was made on which were pasted squares of paper of various colors. The names of the colors were printed beside the squares. Separate small cards each containing a sin- gle colored square and other cards of the same size each con- taining a corresponding word were provided. The puzzle was to match up all the colors and words, using the key card first and then discarding it. This puzzle was very popular. . . . Many other puzzles involving the reading of words, phrases, or sentences were invented, and in all of them the element of individual control was present so that the children could use them entirely alone and know whether work was correct or not. Reading, making, and using signs offered a rich field for MOTIVES 91 interesting activity. Signs, which are everywhere about the child in a city environment, are an early source of interest in the printed symbol. Often in connection with their build- ing with the big floor blocks the children made crude attempts at reproducing such signs as For Rent, Bank, and Keep Out. It was not at all uncommon for them to notice the signs about the school and college buildings and in the neighborhood and to attempt to find out what they told. They always asked about a placard that was occasionally placed on the door of the room announcing, ''This room is not open to visitors to-day," picked out the different words and asked what they were. They discovered the meaning of the words Push, Pull, In, Out, and showed interest in such signs as, Take East Elevator, Take West Elevator, Please Keep off the Grass, and many others. The children also made signs for themselves. Several small sets of type, which are inexpensive, were bought. With these outfits the children love to print their own names, vari- ous signs for their dwellings, stores, hotels, boats, engine houses, banks, and other enterprises. Other environmental interests were drawn upon for ma- terial. Matching names to pictures, reading descriptions of pictures in story books, etc. It is interesting to note that the teachers in the Horace Mann School place even greater stress upon motivation and the interest aroused in the children than they do upon immediate results ; and this is right, for the realization of their need for reading will cause children to learn and grow when they are not in school. In the description of results we find : 92 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Other much more important results than the remembering of words (although this was not neglected) in beginning read- ing were accomplished. The children's consciousness of the significance of reading and of its importance to them was increased. . . . They turned eagerly to books without the slightest pressure from the teachers and showed great per- sistence in mastering the difficulties encountered. An Informal Attitude Is Necessary when Needs Are Made the Basis of Study. It goes without saying that all unnecessary formalities must be discarded if children are to be taught to discover their need for what they are taught. The modern school is likely to grade the ques- tioning child higher than the one who servilely follows directions. '' What is its use to me? " or " Why do I need to know that? " is a very appropriate question for children to ask. The child's learning is put upon a higher plane when he begins to ask such questions and to consider his school tasks in this light. He should be encouraged in this, not regarded as a nuisance on account of it. This attitude may be illustrated in problems of dis- cipline, for it is here that unnecessary formalities occur most often. The teacher and the children may right- fully question the need for such practices as the follow- ing : 1. Forming in straight lines at the door whenever a group leaves the room. 2. Marching like soldiers when moving about within the school building or on an excursion. MOTIVES 93 3. Sitting with fingers interlocked on the desk when assigned tasks are completed or when waiting. 4. The prohibition of whispering, idling in the school- room, etc. In all these cases the children should be taught that they are not formal duties and may be dispensed with as soon as it is clear that they are not needed. If the pupils can come into the building in an orderly way on their own accord, they should be allowed to do so with- out military requirements. They should be allowed to speak to each other when they show that they can do so without disturbing their own work or that of the room. Freedom of any sort should be limited only when a definite need for such Hmitations can be revealed to the children. Discipline is thus motivated when the children reahze that it is necessary. A splendid motive is furnished them to act as they should do when by so acting they are relieved of unnecessary restraint. Disciphne then be- comes the same in school as in life, for the reason for civil laws is that they prevent individuals from interferinc: with others and society at large. When one shows that he needs them, artificial restraints are imposed upon him by these laws. Psychological Moments May Serve as Motives When something special is happening in the commu- nity, when the children are doing something outside of school, or when a child has made an important discovery. 94 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE school work is motivated by connecting these occasions with it. This will necessitate a flexible application of the course of study, but courses of study are made to be adjusted. When they are rigidly followed in logical se- quence, motivation is hard to secure. A fact that is well motivated can be taught '^ out of order " and will be re- membered and used. Illustrations of the use of psy- chological moments in different subjects follow : Hygiene. Suppose it has been discovered that the city water is contaminated. Notices appear in the papers that it is not fit to drink without being boiled. In both civics and hygiene the classes go to studying the water question. They learn a great deal about pure water, its necessity, the reason why water is some- times impure, and how the city may go about insuring pure water for the people. A contagious disease has broken out in the neighbor- hood. It may be measles, German measles, scarlet fever, or some other disease. It is made the basis for a study of contagious diseases, the laws that have been passed in the city and state in regard to them, and the duties of citizens in case they or their families are affected. A child is burned. The burn is treated and made the reason for a study of burns. A child cuts his hand. The occasion is used to teach hygienic care of wounds. Arithmetic. The assessor is calling at different homes. The occasion is used to teach taxes. As much is made of the local tax situation as possible. MOTIVES 95 The farmers are selling or storing their corn, wheat, beets, etc. Markets, prices, and the contrasted ad- vantages of selling and storing are studied. There is a liberty bond campaign on. This is used as a motive for studying percentage, bonds, etc. The prices of food, clothing, and shelter have increased during the war. This is used as a motive for figuring costs. Investigations are made and the problems dis- covered are used in the classes. It is time to plant a garden. What will it cost before it is finished? It is Christmas. What will the cele- bration of the holidays cost ? What does a Thanksgiving dinner cost? Geography. The war in Europe furnishes motivation for almost all the geography that can be taught. What effect upon the war would the entry of Holland have had ? What was the real significance in territory, men, guns, sup- plies, etc., of the Russian collapse? What would Pan- Germany have been if the hopes of the Junkers had been realized, etc., etc. ? There are plenty of psychologi- cal moments here. McMurry used the Mexican situation to motivate a study of Mexico. Should the United States intervene in Mexico ? This furnished a basis for gaining a knowl- edge of the country, for no one could answer intelli- gently without being acquainted with conditions in Mexico. The increasing cost of automobile tires may bring up the question of the rubber industry. The price of shoes 96 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE may bo related to the hide situation. Wool, cotton, etc., have the same local connections. Woodwork. 1 {('pairs are necessary in the school. The class in woodwork makes th(;rn. ('hairs are needed for the primary class. They are made; in the school shop. A play is to ])(^ givc.Ti. I'hc woodwork classes make the e(|uipnierit, c^tc. Home Economics. Orange marmalade is made for the soldiers. Dr(;ss(;s are made for an orphan asylum. The girls ikkmJ dresses. They make them. Other illustra- tions could be given. History. An (Section campaign is going on. Political parties are studied in school and the election used as a constant motives Thcj war, (jf course, furnishes motive for evc^rything lic^re. Instincls, Inlerestfi, and Play an Motives Th(.' factor of ii(n;(;ssity lias b(!(;n placed first in this discussion because.' the n(JC(^ssary work of the school should not })e interrupted })y motivation (entirely through instincts, int(irests, and play. Back of any oth(;r motive we must constantly ke(;p in the child's mind a realization of the need in \\\('. for what he is learning. Then if w(^ can make; th(i work nion^ interesting in tlie immediate sense, so much th(; better, and motivation cannot be mistaken, as it sometimes is, for a substitute for school work rather than a powerful aid and a necessary basis for it. The fundamental feature of motivation is i\\i) realization by the learner of his need for that which he is learning. CHAPTER V THE DOCTRINE OF INTEREST IN PRACTICE Interest a Universal Doctrine. It would not be over- stating the case to say that every great teacher has be- Heved in and practiced some form of the doctrine of in- terest. I have at hand quotations subscribing to its use from Plato, Aristotle, Quintilian, Latini, Comenius, Rabelais, Vittorino, Kant, Froebel, Herbart, Meumann, Hall, Dewey, Suzzallo, McMurry, Thorndike, Judd, Burnham, and a large number of others. Practically no one of importance has taken issue with the principle ; the following quotation is an explanation of practice. " The Francis W. Parker School [Chicago] stands for the proposition that work to be really profitable need not be irksome, but, on the contrary, where interest is stimulated, habits of attention and industry are more easily formed and are more enduring than where the reluctant mind is urged to tasks the uses of which are not understood. This does not mean that the distinc- tion between work and play is to be confused. The same positive and sustained effort, the same persistence, deter- mination, and concentration — and the development of these qualities is essential to education — are required by the child in his work as by the adult in his ; the in- H 97 98 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE centive of interest is felt by each, not as turning work into play but as making work pleasant." In the directions to the teachers of the Indianapolis public schools the following statements may be regarded as furnishing the basic principles : ^' The primary requisite is a teacher with intelligence, sympathy, ingenuity, spirit, and, withal, the power to interest children. " The wise teacher guides but does not repress. The child will master the more difficult tasks as well as the easier ones provided he works under the stimulus of interest." These statements might be taken as representative of the attitude of those in control of practically every large city in the United States, while the superintendents of a great many smaller cities as well are stressing in- terest in their instructions to teachers. The two quo- tations which follow are chosen at random and represent what might have been taken from any one of a hundred other sources. '' The English class admits the child to a world of beauty and new interests." Berkeley, California, Course of Study of the Intermediate Schools, Section on English. '^ For the word artist, in its widest acceptation, means to me the man who takes pleasure in what he does. So it would be desirable were there artists in all trades — artist carpenters, happy in skillful raising of beam and THE DOCTRINE OF INTEREST IN PRACTICE 99 mortise, artist masons, spreading plaster with pleasure, artist carters, proud of caring for their horses, and of not running over those in the street. Is it not true that they would constitute an admirable society? " Quota- tion from Rodin, and given as the basis of art work in a report of the Kankakee, Illinois, public schools. Practical Features Practical Use Difficult. Anyone who has conscien- tiously tried to interest a group of live boys and girls knows that it is a many-sided problem. The student in the normal school is taught the/' fundamental neces- sity " of interest in instruction and at the end of his methods course is fairly bubbling with enthusiasm to apply this new philosophy. He goes out to teach arith- metic, grammar, or whatever the subject may be and finds this " fundamental necessity " the most conspicu- ously and continuously absent of all teaching requisites. What shall he do? Teachers Form Wrong Attitudes. It is to be feared that a large per cent of our teachers adopt one of two evils. One group soon sees the uselessness of training in pedagogy and ceases to attempt to use it, resorting to continued coercion, scolding, and prodding to obtain the desired results. The other group goes to the extreme of developing interest through continuous entertainment. In fact, some find difficulty in seeing anything in the in- terest idea aside from entertainment by the teacher. A young lady who was doing her practice teaching was 100 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE recently heard to say, '■' My training teacher continues to demand that the children be interested in their geog- raphy, and I fear I shall have nervous prostration if I have to keep that class interested much longer. I have tried field trips and found them interested, but not in the subject at hand. I have tried every method of con- ducting the class I can think of. I guess I shall have to stand on my ear for them to-day." But the Teacher Must not Confuse Interest with Dis- cipline. No teacher can hold the attention of a class day after day unless he is able to discipline them when the necessity arises. Requirements and coercion are necessary elements in teaching school even upon the interest basis, but they do not do away with the neces- sity of interest. Also the ability of the teacher to radi- ate inspiration, to hold the attention of the children through force of character is just as necessary. Interest should always help in disciplining a school; but other means may be necessary at times. Knowledge of Children Fundamental. AVith both of these abilities stated as being essential in the successful teacher, we are ready to study the problems of teaching as they are related to the interests of the children. Here lies a rich field, and ample rewards will come to any teacher who enters it. Knowledge of the inner life of the pupils, or the lack of it, determines the majority of successes or failures in the teaching world to-day. '^ I tremble," said Jean Paul Richter, " when I see some rough grown-up hand blundering with these tender THE DOCTRINE OF INTEREST IN PRACTICE 101 buds from childhood's garden, marring the bloom here and disturbing the deHcacy of structure there." In order not to go astray the teacher should have a clear understanding of interest before he attempts to apply it. He must consider such questions as its values, why he is applying it, its limits, and its many and sometimes con- tradictory phases. These working principles, as deter- mined by successful practice, are outlined as follows : I. Interest Is Basic but Needs Adult Guidance. The interests of the child are one of nature's provisions for his guidance. What is interesting to him is in a general sense likely to be good for him. It is to be kept in mind that he is not a piece of plastic clay depending upon the teacher for his formation. He is a creature with inner life, desires, and interests of his own. He is a product of the centuries, a creation of evolution, and he is still evolving. All his education is to be a process of inner reaction to external stimuli. Education is to emancipate his powers. It can create nothing within him. Inner reaction is always necessary in the learning of any truth or in the development of any ability. Nature has also supplied the child with other means of guidance. He lives through a long period of immatur- ity, during which he is more or less feeble and plastic. He is made to be dependent upon parents, teachers, and society. One of his chief interests lies in his desire for human companionship, his need of adults, and his natural obedience to them. This fact does not conflict with the use of his interests in his development, but is one of the 102 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE 1 most evident of those interests. Consider the following examples : It will be found that most children are interested in all school work when they enter school, indicating that their natural tendencies are in harmony with learning. In refusing to work with these natural interests and guide rather than oppose them the school often develops a distaste in children for learning. Some statements of children on this point are : ^' I like to read but not in school." ^' I love flowerS; but I don't like them the way they are used in nature study." ^^ I like to work with tools, but the work in manual training seems almost to suffocate me." In the olden-time school the children were often not in accord with their work because their interests were not considered. Those who were the brightest and most capable were the ones who were often most out of harmony with their teachers. It would be safe to say that a majority of the successful men and women of the past century were not enthusiastic in their school work. Their success was achieved by work outside the school under the inspiration and direction of parents, relatives, or friends. Hegel, Napoleon, Thackeray, Brow^ning, By- ron, Darwin, Edison, Burbank, Spencer, the Stevensons, Mark Twain, Riley, Ruskin, Goethe, Cardinal Wiseman, and Chatterton, are names which could be used to head a list of successful persons who were not successful in school. The list, if completed and made to include those THE DOCTRINE OF INTEREST IN PRACTICE 103 who were fairly successful in life, would probably extend through the remainder of this book. The modern school, however, is bending its energies to discover as early as possible the special interests of the child. When these are found, all the work of the school is related to them. Thackeray or Mark Twain would have reveled in the work as carried on in many modern schools, and school authorities would not be long in dis- covering and developing their special powers. Illustrative Cooperation. The report of an eighth-grade teacher on guidance and interest properly combined is given below : " H. was interested in art. He wanted to draw every- thing. His ability in the school subjects was fair. ^' I decided to encourage his art. I told him that if he would get his school work at home he could take our study hour for art, and that I would get the criticisms of an artist on his pictures. The scheme worked from the beginning. His interest in the school tasks was better and in art and painting his progress was almost spec- tacular. I later allowed him to take the arithmetic period on days when we were having drill problems and explanations of problems which had been previously tried by the class, upon his promising to give special atten- tion when he was there. It was understood that if he fell behind in the arithmetic he was to go back to the old way. He did not fall behind." There is a practice in some cities of allowing a child to take a special subject which is interesting to him and 104 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE advance in this course as fast as he can regardless of his abilities in other lines. If he is especially interested in jewelry design, he may be allowed to continue with regular work in the sixth grade and take up special work in the high school. This is made a regular practice in many schools with the children who are over age. Result of Ignoring Interest. A child of this type might have been given a wrong start in life by being forced to work upon the school tasks in which he was retarded. The following illustration is a common case : Girl, age 15, in seventh grade. Has failed three times. Leaves school. Works in a laundry for five years. From the age of ten she had showed marked proficiency in art and in sewing. She was always happy when working at either of these. She continued to sew for herself, and now and then for others, until she was quite proficient. School authorities never paid any attention to her interests. After five years in the laundry she took up sewing in a department store. Gradually worked to the top during the ten years that followed. As she achieved one success after another, self-confidence, which had been lost in school, came back to her. She became known as one of the most capable employees of the store. Her interests in other fields increased. It had taken fifteen years to overcome the false start the school had given her. The first point in regard to interest is to utilize it but not follow it entirely in the work of the school. Wise guidance by adults must in no way be diminished, but THE DOCTRINE OF INTEREST IN PRACTICE 105 the test of the wisdom of this guidance is the amount of inner reaction and zeal for the work displayed by children. 2. Interest Leads to More Difficult Tasks. Interest in the normal child does not turn toward the easier tasks but involves hard work. Interest means more than just hard work, however. It means inner reaction to this work, causing the child to do his best not merely because he likes his teacher or is afraid of him. The pedagogy of interest urges continually the development of inde- pendence, self-realization, and will power (the inner force which drives the individual ahead without compulsion). It is never satisfied with the mere objective result, the completion of the task at hand, although this is, of course, essential ; but it looks to the development of the inner life of the individual as a result of his activities. Hard work, good work, interest, and happiness go to- gether. The old proverb, ^' Of course I know what happiness is for I have done good work," lies at the base of the pedagogy of interest. Every child who is real- izing his inner nature, his true self, is doing good hard work and enjoys it. Illustrations of Hard Work as a Result of Interest. During the last four years I have collected many in- stances of children doing a great deal more than the school required. They solved more than the number of arith- metic problems assigned. They wrote compositions when not asked to do so and begged to take their readers home in order to master a difficult selection or finish an interesting one. A good method of teaching reading, 106 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE and especially upper-grade literature^ is to study a new book by reading only half of it in class, making it as in- teresting as possible. Then permit the children to take the book home and finish it. In the school at Greeley we found many of the chil- dren coming to school long before time to begin in the morning and staying in the evening as long as we would permit them to. The following are typical illustrations : Six eighth-grade girls dramatized one of their selec- tions in literature. They met in the evenings after school; asked the teacher to help them, and worked much harder than they did in any of the regular lessons. X came to school one morning with the multiplication tables all mastered. The grade in which he was work- ing did not require more than the fours (2d grade). He had learned them at home in order to " surprise " his teacher. A child wrote fifteen themes during a term when only ten were required. A boy who was considered lazy in school worked hard every evening in a home garden and studied his regular lessons better than before as a result of the teacher call- ing attention to his garden and recognizing its importance. Tom Sawyer made all sorts of disagreeable work en- joyable to his fellows by pretending that it was fun. John Locke found that top spinning would become disagreeable to a child if presented in the same manner as his school work. THE DOCTRINE OF INTEREST IN PRACTICE 107 3. Use of Interest a Standard. Interest does not conflict with standardization but is a step beyond it. Where the standard is wrongs that is, when the stand- ard set up by adults is not a real measure of the most desirable ends of education, it is to the child's interest to ignore the standard. The great movement for tests and standardization that is now going on is just the experi- mental beginning of a new scientific treatment of results in education. It goes hand in hand with the larger move- ments to study children. The leaders of this movement do not intend to ignore child interest any more than the child student intends to ignore objective results of teaching. The teacher of to-morrow must know the standards of education as well as the interests of the children. Knowing both, he must harmonize them. The entire idea of standardization is centered in the problem of using the better schools as standards to which to bring up those that are not reaching children as they should. Tests and measurements are being developed to help in this work. The proper use of interest and the development of the better interests of children is one standard which may be universally applied, and which, if lacking, will prevent a school from taking its place among the better schools, no matter how many objective accomplishments its pupils may have. In surveying a school the following tests for interest may be used : 1. What per cent of the children come early to school at mornings and noons? 108 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE 2. Tabulate carefully just what they do at these times. 3. Ask each child to write down his ten favorite occu- pations, being sure to state that he is to include both those in school and those outside of the school. Study the influence of the school upon his choice of activity. 4. Ask every child to write down the calling he intends to follow when he becomes a man. Have him explain why he has chosen as he did. 5. What school subjects does he like best? Why? Which ones does he dislike most? Why? 6. What books does he read at home? Get the extent of his reading. Books may be classified as A, B^ C, D, and E grade. It will help a teacher to make such a survey at the beginning of a school year and again at the end of the year. In comparing the two he can, to some extent, dis- cover the influence the year's work may have had upon the interests of the children. He is also furnished with data which may be worth a great deal in dealing with practically every problem which may arise in teaching all subjects and in the control of the school. A teacher who discovered that a child had a collection of butterflies at home made it the basis of a closer acquaintance with him. It furnished a concrete base for the transforma- tion from an indifferent, troublesome attitude into one of active interest and cooperation. 4. In Absence of Interest Requirements Are Neces- sary until Interest Can Be Developed. In practicing the doctrine of interest one must admit that it is often neces- THE DOCTRINE OF INTEREST IN PRACTICE 109 sary to force a child into a task before he will become in- terested in it. There is sometimes an inertia to be over- come. This plan is legitimate only when its limits are realized. Too often the advocate of such methods uses them upon all occasions and continues to coerce all through his teaching. If a child continually rebels against his school workj something is wrong, and a study of his peculiarities, his home life, and his parents will often give a clew to the difficulty. As an illustration of the development of an interest after a period of set requirements, let us consider the case of a boy in the lower grades who did not want to learn to read. The following is the teacher's report : Sept. 28. J does not apply himself. His health is good, and his handwork is excellent, but any task such as reading, arithmetic, or spelling seems to develop a nervousness in him. He plays with his hands, the muscles of his face twitch, and his entire body seems to rebel when he is required to apply himself mentally. Sept. 30. Decided, after trying my best and not being suc- cessful in interesting him, to require that he do the work assigned to the class each day, having him work during a part of the handwork period on his reading and arithmetic. Have not given up the idea of finally interesting him, however. Oct. 5. He is interested in finishing his tasks so that he may have full time for handwork. He is showing some improve- ment. Oct. 10. Was the best in the class to-day. I seized upon this opportunity and praised him highly. Oct. 21. Is showing interest in the subject matter that is being read. 110 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Throughout the remainder of the year his work was considered good enough not to necessitate special reports, and he was promoted. In the next grade his teacher kept him interested but did not require good work in the subjects that were hard for him. She encouraged his handwork and allowed him to remain idle during the reading period. When he was called upon, he did poorly and was reported as backward in this subject. At the end of the year he was much behind his class, but, since the rules of the school forbade failing a child for deficiency in only one subject, he was promoted. His new teacher decided that she would make a special problem of him. She wrote a note to the parents asking them to come and confer with her. They came and she found them willing to cooperate. They reported that he never read at home, but that they would give him special practice for fifteen minutes each day in books selected by the teacher. Having discovered that he was inter- ested in ships, the ocean, and wild animals, she selected " The Swiss Family Robinson,'^ in a special edition of words of one syllable. This book was quite difficult for him. Following this the teacher and the parents kept before him the necessity of his learning to read and did everything they could to interest him. In all their work they did not scold or mistreat him on ac- count of his backwardness. The mother soon reported that he was showing a marked interest in the story of The Swiss Family and a decided improvement in his school work was noted. In six weeks he was reading THE DOCTRINE OP INTEREST IN PRACTICE 111 widely and had become one of the best readers in his grade. Summary If a teacher keeps in mind the foregoing propositions, his practice of the doctrine of interest will surely produce good results, and he will be safe from running counter to other principles of education. For working con- venience these propositions may be summarized as be- low : (1) that interest is the central guiding principle in the child's life, but that it must be subjected to adult guidance ; (2) that interest requires hard work and is only a pseudo-interest if it turns to the easier tasks ; (3) that its use should raise the standard of a school and bring larger and better results as measured by accepted standards ; (4) that conflicting interests and apparent aptitudes to do wrong are a part of every child's make-up and must be dealt with in a helpful, far-sighted way ; and (5) that it is often necessary to require a child to do what is good for him until such time as his interest may be developed, remembering never to cease attempting to interest him. CHAPTER VI A SCHOOL SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS Children Interested in School Subjects. If properly presented, subjects taught in school are interesting to children. In order to develop them in an interesting way the teacher must relate them to the developing interests of the children, must never do anything to make them disagreeable, never make the accomplishment of a school task a punishment, and always insist upon and bring out the joy there is in doing profitable work well. All subjects have some specially interesting features. These should be studied and brought to the front by the teacher. Let us consider the following illustrations : Arithmetic. Many children are natural mathemati- cians. AVhenever one is found the teacher should take special pains to keep the interest alive. Often by sug- gesting to the children that they might go ahead and learn a multiplication table, solve some advanced prob- lems, or some like work, the teacher' will find that chil- dren who have not been good at the regular work will take special interest and do surprisingly well. The best work is never accomplished until the development of the children is carefully investigated and their interests aroused. 112 A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 113 Geography. When geography is made an acquaint- ance with the world and its life and connected with the everyday life of the child rather than a reading and re- citing of facts from a book, most children find it a re- markably interesting subject. They are interested in primitive life, the way children in other countries live, in how their own clothes were made and brought to them, and, above everything else, in travel. History. The knowledge of the development of peoples is a remarkably interesting subject. It must constantly be related to the child's own life at present. It must develop gradually from the purely individu- alistic into the social. It m.ust constantly have the personal touch. English Taught through Interests As an illustration, an extended discussion of teaching English through interests is given here. That every nor- mal child is interested in reading, speaking, and writing his mother tongue cannot be disputed. It is only when this work is made artificial that children object to it. The baby mumbles to himself and to any one else who will listen to him. Just as soon as he can wield a pen- cil, he wants to write. Just as soon as he learns to recognize a few letters, he wants to read them whenever he gets a chance, providing, of course, that some of his many other interests are not claiming his attention when a book is thrust upon him. 114 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Poetry and Rhythm The most fundamental expression of the language in- terest is that of reading, memorizing, and constructing poetry. Rhythm, and especially word and song rhythm, appeals to the child shortly after birth. Geneticists have pointed out that the world and solar systems, the seasons, and even the days come and go in rhythm. In the child is born the rhythm of the heart and respiratory organs, and the love of rhythm ; his response to the sooth- ing melody of the lullaby may be his first automatic har- monizing with nature. The mother's instinct to sing to her child and rock him is nothing more than her un- conscious adaptation to his own rhythmical nature. The singing of the mother leads up to the nursery rhymes and Mother Goose stories which fit the nature of all normal children. When the child has become saturated with his Mother Goose, his literary education has gone far along its way. Most children in this period begin to construct verses of their own, and this is the beginning of literary composition. The child, like the race, begins, if he begins naturally, with composition in verse. His words come with the sway of his body or the patter of his feet or with the drumming of his hands. Let us take for example a few rhymes collected by Norman Triplett in his observation of a little girl. To- wards the age of three she began to make up rhymes. The first one was written down when she was just past her third year. Swinging her body as she hung to the bed post, she said : A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 115 ''I wis' I were a baby, And had a yittle scare, I'd jump upon the bed. And I wouldn't give a dare." On seeing a worm she made up the following : 'Worm, worm, where have you been? I have been to grow in the nice warm ground, And I come to see you in a jaybenjay, And a seebensee and a seebensay." And with a bee for her subject, she broke out : "Wets dance a yittle song Said the yittle honey bee I'm a pretty yittle songer. " The next line was lost to the observer. Triplett observes that this child and her rhymes is but an illustration of what the great mass of children are doing. This is especially true of those who have been brought up on the better grades of child literature. Poetry in School Work. Throughout all the grades the average child is very fond of rhythm, alliteration; and the jingle of word accents. If in his school work they represent so much drudgery, most of the rhymes the child learns there are dropped as soon as he gets outside the door, although thei:e are quantities of jingles that he would gladly learn if his teacher would only look at that side of his nature and allow him to do so. When the school has failed to furnish something worth while 116 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE to utilize this energy, the child usually expends it in sing- ing some low-class rhythmic jumble, repeating to a dron- ing tune something like the following : ''I know something and I won't tell Three little niggers in a peanut shell." or "Mary is mad and I am glad," etc. This does not entirely satisfy him, but since he does not have access to anything else, he sings away until he has sung the love for rhythm out of his soul, and it will be hard to revive it again. Educational Values. If plenty of good material is supplied, the children will revel in it, will read widely, memorize, and if encouraged, will compose verses. Their reading is in this way furthered, their sense of appreci- ation developed, and a motive is supplied for composition and writing. The exercise in composition may take up all the rules of punctuation, capitalization, etc., that are taught in the regular language lessons. It is not dif- ficult to get children to write, punctuate, and spell their very best in order to make their verses appear the best possible. Reading and Memorizing Poems. In every grade an impetus will be given to reading and literature work if a large amount of good poetry occupies a definite place. Children should be encouraged to memorize as many selections as they will, each child being allowed to choose his own selections. The teacher should know the selec- A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 117 tions which he thinks will interest the class and should give them from memory as well as read them. Unless it is impossible to interest him in anything, a child should not be required to memorize. Many splendid poems are detested by the children because of enforced learning. We must constantly keep before us the idea that our purpose in teaching literature is to develop the child's natural interest in it and to lead this interest into new fields, developing an appreciation of the best literature. Memory work will not be successful until the children voluntarily carry it on. The teacher, of course, must give suggestions and make the recitation of memorized verses a regular part of the program. A child should never be required to memorize literature as a punishment. The following list of books contains child poetry suit- able for the first eight grades. The first ten furnish ample material and are preferred by the children. R. L. Stevenson, Child's Garden of Verses, E. F. Betts, Richards, Bellam}^ and Goodwin, Burt, Patmore, Mother Goose, The Complete, In My Nursery, Open Sesame, Poems Every Child Should Know, The Children's Gar- land of Verse, Rand,McNally& Company. Stoker Little, Brown & Company. Ginn & Co. Doubleday, Page & Co. Macmillan Co. 118 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Chisholm, The Golden Stair- case, Putnam's Sons. Shute, The Land of Song, Silver, Burdett &Co. Hazard, Three Years with the Houghton Mifflin Poets, Co. Tower, Gold Nuggets of Education Literature, Publishing Company. Lucas, Book of Verse for Children, Holt. Repplier, Book of Famous Houghton Mifflin Verse, Co. Whittier, Child Life in Poetry, Houghton Mifflin Co. Wiggin and Smith, Golden Numbers, McClure. Wheeler, Mother Goose Houghton Mifflin Rhymes, Co. Norton, Heart of Oak Books, 1 and 2, Heath. Field, Eugene, Love Songs of Child- hood, Scribner's. Henley, Lyra Heroica, Scribner's. Bryant, New Library of Poetry and Song. Lear, Edward, Nonsense Book, Little, Brown, &Co. Wiggin and Smith, Posy King, Doubleday, Page &Co. Matthews, Poems of American Patriotism, Scribner's. A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 119 Olcott, Rossetti, Field, Eugene, Story-Telling Poems, Sing Song, With Trumpet and Drum, Houghton, Mifflin &Co. Little, Brown, &Co. Scribner's. Composition in Verse. Children from the second grade through the eighth respond very readily to the suggestion that they write verses. A verse composition period every two weeks stimulates interest and there is usually an oversupply of material. Each child may have his poetry book in which he saves his best verses. The room may have a book in which the best products of the class are written down. If it is saved from year to year, this book will prove interesting to new classes and will inspire them to do their best in order to leave a good record for the next class. The following verses were taken from a fourth-grade book : Night, beautiful night. The Golden stars are shining Against the blue satin lining. The moon, whose face is so tender. Has dressed in silvery splendor. Oh, night, beautiful night. Thy dress is silvery bright, Shinest too thy silvery light, Night, beautiful night. Adrift, Adrift, Adrift, Afloat, Baby sails in a silver boat, Adrift; Adrift, Adrift, Afloat, 120 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Slumbering in the peaceful night. Slumbering under the stars so bright. Soft, airy moonbeams float down Alight on baby's snowy white gown. Adrift, Adrift, Adrift, Afloat, Baby sails in a silver boat. Adrift, Adrift, Adrift, Afloat, The stars are shining o'er her head, While baby's asleep in her downy bed. Be careful, be careful, says Kit to Kat, The tree is very tall, And you are very fat. Be careful, be careful, oh, please don't fall. It is very, very dark. So please do be careful It makes me so scareful. Dip the little stars, O moon. Dip them over the sky so soon, Tell them ever to behave. Tell them to be true and brave, Dip the little stars, moon. Dip them over the sky so soon. The sonnet given below was written by a high-school boy who had done considerable verse composition in the grades. It was written to illustrate the peculiar structure of the sonnet. To MORNTNG Rosy Dawn, when your first flushes pink The East, then purple grow, then fade to blue, A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 121 And the great orb of light with golden hue Shoots his ten thousand beamlets o'er day's brink, And all the stars into oblivion sink ; When all the world is bathed in cooling dew, And all the earth's creatures rise to life anew, Man wakes, and from the cup of time doth drink. O, who can tell what he shall drink to-day Of sorrows or of joys ere night will come? Perhaps he may be turned to lifeless clay. And yet, he may reach fame, or foes o'ercome. So, not on death he recks nor has a care. Two sides of life he knows, but views the fair. Special Advantages of Verse Composition in Grades Increases the Amount of Writing. By utilizing the natural interest we secure opportunity for extensive ex- ercise of all the powers that are involved in writing verses. The results in amount of written work done by the children are often many times that which is required in regular courses of study. Longfellow was not an ex- ception when he wrote the jingle of " Mr. Finney's Tur- nip " during an hour of penance. The sonnet " To Morning " given for illustration was thought out by a boy who carried newspapers in the early morning. The people hurrying to their work, the sky as he watched it each morning, and the animals browsing in the fields ap- pealed to him, and he philosophized with this sonnet as a result. But think of the powerful lever a natural interest may be when an upper-grade boy, hurrying through his task of delivering papers in the early morn- 122 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE ing while his teachers are still asleep, finds time to busy himself with a school task, and, even more important, one which he is not required to perform. Some verse books of certain fourth-grade children represent more composi- tion in one term than is required of a college class in Eng- lish composition for the same period.^ Exercise in English. The work should represent the best children can do in writing, spelling, rules of punctu- ation, capitalization, and correct usage. The interest in making verses is thus being used in teaching the regu- lar work in English. In this work children often ask the teacher to furnish lessons in punctuation in order that they may be able to write their rhymes without making mistakes. The use of the dictionary is encouraged, and crudities in expression are commented upon by the class, the child who makes them being required to correct his work. Concrete illustration of work in verse writing, eighth grade. Teacher : This is our day for original poetry. What have you been writing during the last two weeks? (A 20-minute period every two weeks was given in this case.) Several hands go up. Of twenty-seven children four have written nothing ; several have written as many as six different poems. One girl is writing a ^^ play." Teacher : Our time is limited. Select your best verses and we will listen to as many as we have time for. ^ This statement is made from comparisons of actual requirements. A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 123 A child reads a poem. The class criticizes it. Most of their criticisms are complimentary. Some, however, point out deficiencies which may be improved. This is repeated until the period is over. The teacher asks the children to pass in their verses, written in regu- lar form, in ink, and upon regulation composition paper. Those who do not have verses are required to pass in compositions. These papers are marked and the criticisms of the teacher discussed at the next composition period. Composition and The7ne Writing Must Be Approached from the Child's Standpoint. This often disagreeable part of English instruction is being vitalized and made interesting to children by being made an expression of their inner lives rather than a task laid on from the outside. They are led to want to write, this being the primary aim. of English instruction. After the child wants to write, the task of getting him to want to write clearly and correctly is simplified. On the es- tablishment of both of these desires on the part of the children, technical features are met and solved in a great deal less time than under the old method where the teacher spent all his time with* the subject matter he had planned to teach, ignoring the necessity of first establish- ing a desire for it. ' Children Are Naturally Interested in Writing. When one considers this work from the standpoint of the chil- dreU; he finds that it is naturally interesting to them, 124 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE and that the teacher who reports his class '' dead and dis- interested '' is usually the cause of the condition. Chil- dren delight to express themselves in writing when this work is made a vital part of their lives. In harmonizing this interest with the process of improving it the follow- ing principles have been found basic : 1. The subject matter of the class in composition must be primarily the subjects about which children write. The correction of errors is permissible only when chil- dren are constantly aware that they have something to express but realize that they have difficulty in expressing it in a manner to convey best their thoughts. The task is accomplished by holding a large part of the work to a discussion purely of subjects in which children are in- terested. Fluency and confidence thus precede and accompany the development of accuracy. A classroom illustration: Seventh-grade teacher : ^^ As we came to school this morning we noticed the beautiful hoar frost which covered the grass and the trees. I have heard you talking about it and am interested in your descriptions. I have heard some splendid uses of ad- jectives in your descriptions to each other. Wouldn't you like to try to describe some of the scenes or objects which appeared especially attractive to you? Let us talk them over first. Then as we write we will try to express ourselves in a manner that will as nearly as pos- sible do justice to the picture we are trying to describe. Close your eyes and think of the appearance of the world covered with its glittering coat. It appealed to A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 125 me in a way that is beyond my power to express, and I know that some of you will think of words and sentences which will add materially to my own thoughts. Let us try to help each other appreciate this treat nature has given us." The children volunteer descriptions of scenes. When they reach the point where they are all interested in doing their best to describe the morning, the teacher sug- gests that each write his description. A further illustration : The teacher and class visit a house which is under construction, an orchard, a factory, a public building, a river, or some other place of special interest. The class recite to the teacher in the same manner as if the recitation were going on indoors. They try to find words which will do justice to the situation as they see it. This is followed by writing what they see. Pictures, preferably prints of the great works of art, are brought into the schoolroom. The children singly and in groups attempt to pose the picture (posing is not profitable above the fifth grade). They interpret it as best they can. This is followed by an attempt to ex- press in writing the feelings and thoughts the picture leaves with them. 2. Children must feel that what they write will be of vital interest to the teacher and to their fellows. Every opportunity must be used to let the children know^ that what they write means something to someone, aside from the fact that it affords an exercise in English. The teacher should refer in class to what has been said in com- 126 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE positions, and expect the theme writing to be looked upon by the children as a means of communication with their teacher and with each other. If a boy writes of a fishing trip^ further questioning about his story will form a nucleus for closer relations with his life outside of school and will indicate that his teacher really notes what he has to say in his composition. This, in itself, will cause him to be more accurate. He soon learns that what he cannot tell his teacher orally may be fully and adequately expressed in written composition. There is nothing more stimulating to good work in composition than the feeling that someone sympathizes with and wants to read what the child has to say. He learns then to pour out his joys, his sorrows, incidents of interest to him, his plans, ambitions, hopes, and fears. A teacher cannot hope to succeed in interesting a class unless he is interested in each child's individual life. Oral English. In oral English the same procedure that has been indicated for written composition is neces- sary. We must first develop fluency and an interest in speaking before we can succeed in establishing accuracy in form. The methods that have just been outlined for written composition are being used, as well, in oral com- position. When the child reaches the place where he is interested in his speaking and wants to use correct forms, he carries the work out of the schoolroom into his every- day life. No amount of technical schoolroom require- ments can equal the development of this desire. It is impossible to get worth-while results in oral English A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 127 when only thirty minutes in twenty-four hours are de- voted to it. A boy in the fourth grade was heard to say^ — '^ I don't say 'ain't ' in school because the teacher is so cranky, but y' betcher life I make up for it when I get outside." And in many schools the sentiment towards correct Eng- lish is such that children who use it outside of classroom work are not popular with their associates. The atti- tude and methods of the teacher are to be blamed for this condition of affairs. The home or special commu- nity may be a partial cause, but no teacher can account for complete failure to arouse a better attitude towards correct usage by transferring the blame to the home. One of the first questions in surveying a teacher's work in English is, '^ Has he been able to establish a desire for and general use of good English, or do his personality and methods cause the children to dislike and suspect it? " Story Telling. One of the best means of creating good oral English is story telling. It is being given a definite place in all grades, but a marked effort is being made to strengthen it in the upper grades because it has been found that as children grow older their love for good stories, well told, does not diminish, as was once thought, but increases. The method in general use in the better schools is to give a definite place in the week's program to story tell- ing. During this period the teacher and the children tell stories. They prepare for this hour by practicing their stories until they can tell them in good English and in a 128 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE way to interest the class. This method provides a regu- lar period for the refinement of oral English. By pre- paring for it and relating it to the deep interest in stories which is a part of every child's nature, we provide an or- ganized means for improvement. This method is much superior to the old way of merely correcting chance er- rors heard in the classroom. The teacher still continues to correct them wherever and whenever he' finds it help- ful to do so, but he does not rely entirely upon this means. When a child realizes that his story is appreciated more when he does not halt in speech, use the '' run on " con- struction, or neglect tense and number, he has reasons of his own for learning to speak correctly. Children under these conditions often ask the teacher to correct them and point out the mistakes they tend to make.^ Interest in Literature Somewhere between eight and fourteen years there may appear a stage in the child's life when he takes an interest in reading. He reads for his own pleasure and picks his own reading. As a rule he does not care for selections that his teachers have chosen for him, although a teacher who understands him may be able to direct his reading. This reading interest is usually not developed in the classroom, yet it is just as important as anything that may be accomplished in the classroom so far as 1 A list of stories for each grade, with bibUographies, is furnished in a recent book by Cross & Statler, " Story Telling in the Upper Grades," Row, Peterson, and Co., Chicago. A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 129 English is concerned. But since it does not come under the course of study nor turn upon the books that are taught in the classroom; it is not always recognized in school. It has too often been our idea to develop an interest in books by a forced study of them, but such forced study usually kills all desire to read, see, or even hear about such books for the remainder of life. The difference in results from the two methods — the first watching for the interest, feeding it, and striving to make it grow, the second expecting it to develop as the result of compulsory work and assigned tasks — cannot better be illustrated than by two examples. The first one is quite widely known ; it is the story of how James Whitcomb Riley first read Ivanhoe, but it furnishes such an illuminating contrast to the second illustration, also concerning Ivanhoe, that both are given here ; the two different attitudes with all their results can be portrayed in no clearer manner. Riley said that he did not get along well in school. School did not appeal to him ; the subjects were dull and uninteresting. One Friday when he had broken most of the rules he was asked to stay after school. Instead of whipping him, the teacher took a copy of Ivanhoe from his desk, when everyone was gone, and read two chapters aloud from it. Riley said that it made a deep impression upon him, and he asked to take the book home. For the next two days he read at every spare moment and finished the book. He became interested in reading other books and 130 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE points to this incident as the beginning of everything worth while in his career. Bright boys and girls seem to be a great deal like Thackeray, who said, '' I had a natural taste for every book that did not come in the school course." Let us compare this incident in the life of Riley with the other Ivanhoe case. A high school freshman was told that there were two books which he must read in his freshman year for his English requirements. One of these was Ivanhoe. As soon as he heard of the book, his mind began to picture it as a ponderous volume full of " good English," which meant to him so much drudg- ery. As the year wore along he kept putting off his task, but he finally went to the library and found the book. Its cover at once verified all his suspicions. There it was, the heavy volume. Was there not some short cut ? Down to the bookseller's he went, and there he found a treatise which, it was claimed, would furnish one with all the necessary facts for an examination on Ivanhoe. The little book was purchased and read. The exami- nation time at last appeared, and, true to the claims of the advertiser, the boy was passed with a good grade on his knowledge of Ivanhoe. " About six years later," he continues, '' I was shut up in a small town with nothing to do or to read. As I searched the shelves of the village school for something that might be of interest, the old loathing was again awakened at finding a copy of Ivanhoe. With many misgivings I again started to read the book which had A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 131 been fought off so strenuously in high school. But as the pages went by, I found that I could not leave it. " Since that time I have hunted up other books which had gone the way of the ' concise treatise/ David Copper- field, Silas Marner, and other treasures. In most cases I have had about the same awakening as occurred with Ivanhoe." The amount and the type of reading a child is doing outside the requirements of the school is a good test of the efficiency of instruction in literature. When chil- dren develop a dislike for high class literature, the method , of teaching it should be revised. Importance of Forming a Habit of Independent Reading Reading is a means of development which is open to everyone. An interest in reading has often made the difference between a common and a great man. Those who have had no other opportunities have educated themselves entirely through reading, and, on the other hand, those who have had the best of schooling find it hard to go far if they have not formed a taste for im- proving literature. President Eliot of Harvard has said of the reading in- terest : " From the total training during childhood there should result in the child a taste for interesting and im- proving reading which should direct and inspire his sub- sequent intellectual life. That schooling which results in this taste for good reading, however unsystematic or eccentric this schooling may have been; has achieved a 182 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE main end of elementary education ; and that schooling which docs not result in implanting this permanent taste has failed. Guided and animated by this impulse to ac- quire knowledge and exercise his imagination through reading, the individual will continue to educate himself all through life. Without that deep-rooted impression he will soon cease to draw on the accumulated wisdom of the past and the new resources of the present, and as he grows older he will live in a mental atmosphere which is always growing thinner and emptier. '' Do we not all know many people who seem to live in a mental vacuum, — to whom, indeed, we have great difficulty in attributing immortality because they ap- parently have so little life except that of the body ? Fif- teen minutes a day of good reading would have given any one of this multitude a really human life. The up- lifting of the democratic masses depends upon this im- planting at school of a taste for good reading." Almost every great man is a great reader. Very few can be found who do not point to their reading as an important factor in their development. Let us consider the value of a reading interest in the life of Thackeray. What is true of him is representative of what will be found in the biographies of most exceptional persons. In his boyhood he went to three different schools, and did extrern(;ly iK)or work in all of them. All his life he was deeply disgusted with the English schoolmaster. He says, ''I always had my doubts about the classics. When I saw a brute of a schoolmaster whose mind was as coarse as any ploughboy's A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 133 in Christendom, whose manners were the most insufferable of all heaven's creatures, whose lips, when they were not mumbling Greek and Latin, were yelling out the most brutal abuse of poor, cowering little gentlemen — . A man will slap you on the back, and call you names because you won't learn, but I never could take the proffered deUcacy. The fingers that offered it were too dirty." This picture is representative of his boyish experiences with schoolmasters. T. F. Boyes, one of his companions, says of him. ''No one in those early days could have believed that there was very much work in him, or that he would ever rise to the top of any tree by climbing." Thackeray's one passion seemed to be vested in reading novels. He says, ''I had a natural taste for every book that did not fall into the school course." Even late in life he cherished the idea of retiring to the country and feasting on books. He says the following of his first novel, ''As some bells are ringing hard by, making a great holiday, clanging in the summer afternoon, I am reminded, somehow, of a July day years and years ago in a garden, and there was a great clanging of bells. I remember a little boy lying in that garden reading his first novel. It was called The Scottish Chiefs." Reading has played a large r61e in the lives of successful men in all fields. It served as a foundation to the legal practice and public career of Lincoln. Edison says that he early learned to ^^ tear the heart out of a book.^' A successful scientist recently said, ^^ I believe that my spontaneous reading has educated me a thousand times as much as did my schooling. '^ 134 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE The Development of the Reading Interest Good Taste a Matter of Growth. A number of men who have acquired the reading habit say, when ques- tioned, that they went through different stages of de- velopment in their choice of books. Some of them read hundreds of the five-cent paper-back, blood and thunder stories, such as Buffalo Bill, Tip Top Weeklies, Jesse James, Diamond Dick, and Nick Carter. They passed through this kind of reading like a traveler journeying through a country never to return again. Gradually they grew out of it, and ever afterwards such stories merely aroused their disgust. Girls go through the Augusta Jane Evans and Mary J. Holmes stage in some- what the same manner. Teachers and parents should learn that such reading does not always result in evil. A forced check to it often results in secrecy. One man says that he had hundreds of Jesse James stories hidden in the barn loft. Many gangs of boys circulated among their members all of these books they could get hold of. A man whose reading taste is quite cultivated tells of its development in the following words : " I graduated from five-cent Nick Carters to ten-cent novels ; then I went to Sherlock Holmes, and next to the Edgar Allan Poe type of reading. This was at the age of ten or twelve (somewhat younger than ordinary). Soon my reading became a source of great delight, and at about thirteen I went into pseudo-psychological, scientific, and mystic works. '^ A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 135 Later he read all the works of Herbert Spencer. Then he read Darwin, Pearson, and Hall. Finally he took up the study of eugenics and is now holding a responsible position as lecturer on this subject. His reading pre- pared him to gain a graduate degree at one of the greatest American universities, yet his schooling was not enough to give him the ordinary high school diploma. Age of Beginning. The reading interest has usually started between the ages of nine and twelve. And although it may start earlier or later than this period, in those with whom it stays eleven is the age at which it most often begins. Statements of persons who have acquired the taste for good literature are given below : 1. ^^ From about the age of ten I have been interested in books and reading. They have always held a kind of mystic charm for me. Whenever as a boy I saw a large case of books, I would be overcome by a feeling of reverence and awe. This reading interest was started at home. My father and mother used to read to each other and talk about the books they had read. Their reading fascinated me, and I began to read for myself." 2. ^^ My interest in books started when I was about eleven years old. Previously I had followed mechanical pursuits, but several causes, among them a teacher who had become a companion to me, led me to develop an interest in reading. At that time I traded a lathe — I had saved for years to get the money to buy it — for a set of encyclopedias," i 136 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE 3. '^ At the time my brothers were hunting and fish- ing I turned to books. My mother noted this and sup- phed me with all the books she could afford. I never cared for outdoor sports much after that. At present my chief delight is in reading." Developing Interest in Literature at School Morning Exercises. At morning exercises it is a good custom to read selections from different authors, — as Kipling, Burns, Tennyson, and others. When the chiU dren are interested, the teacher may announce that the book from which he has read will be on his desk, and that those who wish may borrow it. If the teacher has chosen wisely, the book is likely to be read by a large portion of the class. Regular School Period. One of the best methods of stimulating this interest is to give a school period a week to it. The regular English lesson for that day is a dis- cussion of the books that have been read during the week. The results are apt to justify all the school time spent in this manner. It makes a most interesting period to the children, and the descriptions of books lead others to re^d them. There is a great difference between individuals. These differences between individuals are to be enlarged upon rather than blotted out. We could not overcome them if we wished, and we should not wish to. Undoubtedly, the person who is interested gets more than the one who isn't; but that is Hfe. We have ignored individual in- A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 137 terests too long in our schools in attempts to bring the backward child up to a plane that he himself cares nothing about coming up to ; and in doing it we have ruined in- terests which might have been developed far beyond any school requirements. Someone has taken the trouble to investigate how long it would take an ordinary high school boy to read all the books covered in the regular literature of the first eight grades. The time it took him was pitifully short. Be- low is given an illustration of what an eighth-grade boy did in one half-year under the plan of one period a week spent on what the children were reading outside of class with free discussion among the children. The books were read by a boy who was about average in a class of twenty. Books and magazine articles read by an eighth-grade boy, September 1 to January 30 : BOOKS MAGAZINES By WilUam A. : 1. A West Point Cadet, 1. Seven Numbers of Capt. Malone. American Boy 2. A West Point Lieutenant, Capt. Malone. 3. A Texas Blue Bonnet, EmiUa Elhott. 4. Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party, Emilia Elliott. 5. Two Ways of Becoming a Hunter, Harry Castleman. 6. The Missing Pocket Book, Harry Castleman. 138 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE BOOKS 7. The Haunted Mine, Harry Castleman. 8. Elam Storm, Harry Castleman. 9. Frontier Boys in the Grand Canyon, Theodore Roosevelt. 10. Frontier Boys in Colorado, Theodore Roosevelt. 11. Winning His Y, Barbour. 12. Whispering Smith, Spearman. 13. Captain Chub, Barbour. 14. Crimson Sweater, Barbour. 15. Williams at West Point, Hugh Johnson. 16. Last of the Mohicans, James Fenimore Cooper. The teacher should keep a record of the books that are preferred by the children. Then from time to time he can make lists and post them for those who wish to read interesting books. The lists posted should contain only good literature. It will be noted that some of the books reported in the list given are not what may be called '^ A " class. The teacher must be careful not to attempt to force taste, and although he should not refer them to lower class literature, he need not rail against it. The A SUBJECT TAUGHT THROUGH INTERESTS 139 taste for good literature is developed by surrounding children with high-class books suited to their interests. When they get to where they choose Kipling, Dickens, Alcott, and like authors of their own accord, the end is achieved. A list of authors whose books are both interesting to children and excellent literature is furnished here for those who find difficulty in selecting books to meet the two re- quirements. The number of children's books written by an author is placed after his name, but the numbers do not include all the books by an author. Adams, Joseph, 2 Alcott, Louisa May, 16 Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, 21 Andersen, Hans Christian, 5 Andrews, Jane, 5 Baldwin, James, 6 Barnes, James Beard, Daniel Carter, 4 Beard, Lina, 2 Blaisdell, A. F., 4 Blaisdell, M. F., 2 Blackmore, Richard D. Blanchard, Amy Boyesen, Hjalmar, 2 Brooks, Elbridge Streeter, 5 Bunyan, John Burroughs, John, 3 Butterworth, Hezekiah, 2 Cervantes, Miguel de Chapin, Anna Alice, 3 Chubb, Percival, 2 Clemens, Samuel L.+ (Mark Twain) Coffin, C. C, 5 Cooper, James Fenimore, 2 Cross, Mary A. E. (George Eliot) Custer, Elizabeth B. Dana, Richard Henry De Foe, Daniel Dickens, Charles + Dodge, May, 3 Dodgson, Charles L. Dopp, Katherine E.-h Du Chaillu, Paul Eggleston, Edward, 3 Ewing, Julia, 5 Field, Eugene, 2 Foote, Anna, 2 Gordon, Chas. W. 140 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Grimm, J. L. and W. C, 3 Hale, Lucretia P., 2 Hale, Edward Everett, 8 Harris, Joel C, 5 Howells, William Dean, 3 Hughes, Thomas Jewett, Sarah, 3 Johnston, Annie F. Kaler, James Otis, 2 Kingsley, Charles, 2 Kipling, Rudyard, 6 Knox, Thomas Wallace Lagerlof, Selma Lang, Andrew (Editor), 3 Long, William J., 5 Mabie, Hamilton W., 5 McDonald, Etta, 8 MacDonald, George, 3 Malory, Sir Thomas, 2 Miller, Joaquin Mitchell, S. Weir Moores, Charles W., 2 Morley, Margaret W., 6 Nicolay, Helen Page, Thomas Nelson, 3 Parkman, Francis, 2 Porter, Jane Pyle, Howard, 6 Ramee, Louise de la Richards, Laura E., 4 Riley, James Whitcomb + Roberts, Charles G. D., 2 Roosevelt, Theodore + Saunders, Marshall Scott, Sir Walter + Scudder, Horace, 4 Seawell, Molly E., 4 Seton, Ernest Thompson, 7 Spyri, Johanna, 3 Stevenson, Robert L.+ Stockton, Francis R., 4 Stoddard, Wilham Q., 2 Stowe, Harriet B. Stuart, Ruth McEnery, 2 Swift, Jonathan Tappan, Eva March + Taylor, Bayard Tomlinson, Everett Verne, Jules Warner, Charles Dudley, 2 Weed, Clarence M., 4 Whitney, Adeline, 3 Wiggin, Kate Douglas, 5 Wiggin, Kate Douglas and Archibald N., 5 Wilkins, Mary Eleanor, 3 Wright, Henrietta C, 2 Wright, Mabel O. Wyss, Johann Yonge, Charlotte Mary, 3 CHAPTER VII UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST Illustrations of Interests which May Be Used as Incentives The Social Interests. The desire to do better work when others are present^ the mterest in cooperation, com- petition, etc., furnish incentives for good work in school. These have been given detailed consideration in the last three chapters of this book. Interest in the Opposite Sex. This plays a part in every phase of life and becomes of greater importance as the children increase in age. The teacher cannot afford to ignore it. The old method of prohibition of every in- terest in each other by boys and girls did not succeed. Whether this interest will become an uplifting influence in the life of a child or a degrading one will depend upon how it is dealt with. Many boys as well as girls are stimulated to successful effort by it. Interest in Investigation. This has been made a large factor in instruction by all successful teachers. Froebel in " The Boyhood of Man " tells us that it is a mistake not to select our subject matter with this interest in view, for, he says, when it is neglected, a valuable feature of the child's nature is likely to suffer for want of function. He mentions the study of botany as an example. When 141 142 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE the child is not encouraged to investigate flowers until he gets into high school, the time is likely to have passed when he can become interested in this study. We must seize upon this interest whenever it appears and give due recognition for independent investigation in any subject at any time. The Dramatic Interest The dramatic interest has been chosen for detailed treatment in this chapter because it is receiving a great deal of attention in modern practice. It has been used with the greatest success in such schools as the Francis Parker School and the Speyer School. The tendency to express our thoughts and feelings not only in language but through gesture and bodily atti- tude is common to the race. Hall and some of his stu- dents have studied the dramatic instinct and have fairly well established its racial character.^ It finds expression all through life and is not confined to any one period. Use and Misuse Dramatization furnishes a splendid medium for the in- teresting study of school tasks. Its benefits will depend upon how wisely it is used. The dramatic instinct is not used as much as it should be in the average school, but in some schools it is much overdone and not organized to advantage. The advantages of a wise use of this interest are : ^ Curtis. The Dramatic Instinct. Houghton Mifflin Co. UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 143 1. The child's natural love for full bodily expression is utilized in making school life and unpleasant duties less irksome. 2. The more bodily expression we have in school, the less children will suffer through enforced confinement. The dramatic is a step toward a less sedentary program. The large values of this new tendency are given in a special chapter in this book. 3. The natural emotional life of children is given op- portunity for proper expression. The feelings are being given more attention in education than heretofore, and, as the basic element of mental life, they deserve it. There is purification in proper emotional expression, and when children have opportunity for such, they are likely to be more wholesome in their reaction towards the me- chanical side of school work and in their lives outside of school. 4. Facts are better remembered when experienced in this manner. The lesson is expressed more fully than reading and ordinary recitation could bring about ; the mind is ready and eager for the work ; and more repeti- tion under concentrated attention may be demanded. These are special features of economic learning as estab- lished by psychological experiments, — full expression by the learner, a slight emotional state to give the attention an edge, and constant repetition. 5. A motive for special preparation is furnished. The child is to give his interpretation of a chosen piece of history, civics, or literature to his fellows. This brings 144 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE up a real life situation. Beyond the result in the teacher's grade book is the reception of his work by his fellows. This feature alone is full justification for large use of the dramatic. The more life motives and actual life experi- ences we bring into school the better will be the results of education. Some disadvantages due to misuse are : 1. Overstimulation and lack of effort. Children often become overstimulated and take merely a superficial attitude toward their work. The teacher may do too much of the work for them and not demand study and thoughtful reactions. Classes in serious work may thus drift into a continuous discussion of how to write plays, and too much time will be spent in dramatizing and act- ing parts of the work to be covered while other more important parts are neglected. 2. Too much dramatization. Too much dramatiza- tion, even though carefully selected and well organized, is possible. This is only one of a large number of life interests and it can be overworked. Dramatizing History In the lower grades most of the history work is taught through action. Thus, little need be said about such work before the fourth grade. In the study of primitive life the children build huts or wigwams, make pottery, weave baskets, make bows and arrows, and act as wild men act while they are studying these men. In some places the children go so far as to form communities UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 145 out of doors and carry on the different occupations of the community in their childish dramatic interpretation. But as we go upward through the grades there is more and more " seat work." Teachers seem to think that the children have passed the time when they desire to express in action what they learn, and that the time has now come to learn merely to recite. A child learns of the adventures of John Smith of Virginia from his book, tells it to his teacher, and then is supposed to know it. He is given no chance to put himself into the life of the time through making a play of the exploits of Smith, and then realizing his funda- mental instinctive nature by acting it. His final meet- ing with Smith is probably in the examination, where his old friend is brought forth to remind him of his in- ability to memorize the contents of a textbook. As the classes are usually conducted, only the most striking events in Smith's career, if we continue with Smith as a type, are learned ; nor can we expect anything more to be learned. The many little incidents and settings that go along with these more striking things and make up the real history of the people under consideration, their customs, their worries, and their methods of seeking pleasure are rarely felt by children who study history through recita- tions and examinations only. A dramatization of one of the many features in the Hfe of Smith given at the close of the study of this section of American history reveals many facts which otherwise would not have been noted, 146 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE and which along with many of the things already learned are clinched in the minds of the children. At the close of the work interest culminates in the play, which may be given to the entire school. The usual dull review which is to be followed by a test cannot be compared with the dramatic review. For an example of this sort of work^ a play that was composed and written by sixth-grade children under the guidance and help of a teacher is given on page 148, to indicate what may be expected of an average group in this grade. It is by no means the best sixth-grade product that could be shown. It is regarded as valuable because it is average. It is presented to emphasize the point that most teachers can do dramatic work with their children. The more work of this kind that is done, the easier it will become. Method of Constructing. The method of constructing a play will depend upon the previous training and ex- perience of the children. If they have not had much experience in dramatizing, the teacher may lead them by suggesting a plot and characters. The pupils then give their ideas of what should be included, but the teacher is the judge of what shall eventually go into the play. Each member of the class keeps a record of the play as it progresses, and each one is supposed to study his his- tory in order to be able to throw light upon any char- acter or any speech he is to make. Such considerations as whether or not a character would make the speeches that are proposed, reckoning from his personal char- UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 147 acter, his interests, his place in history, and the customs of his times, may furnish material for profitable discus- sions. Real thought is called for by this kind of history work, and careful study usually accompanies the con- struction of a play if the teacher work^ to stimulate it. The teacher must not be overcritical. A sensitive child is likely to withdraw from participation in the discussion if his notions are not given due respect. Sometimes it is even better to use a speech or direction of an inferior type in order to make the play representative of the entire class. Anyone knows that the teacher should be able to write a better play than the class could work out. But a finished play is the last thing that is to be sought in this kind of work. Children care for macrocosms, not microcosms, and everyone who views children's produc- tions should understand this. As children continue with such work they show wonderful improvement. If the class is fairly good in English composition and has had some dramatic work, the teacher may allow each child to write a portion of the play each day for his his- tory and English work. This can be done more quickly and with better results, if the class as a whole decides upon characters that are to be represented, and also if the general structure of the play is first settled upon. Then the teacher can go over them, select the best plays, and read them to the class. Something from the work of each child should, if at all possible, be chosen. The class may then decide upon some of the special speeches and settings. After the teacher and the class have 148 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE chosen the characters and those who are to play the parts, each character may be allowed to work over his part, and if there is anything that he thinks he could better from the standpoint of the correct interpretation of the character he is to play, he should be allowed to state his position, and if it is good, he should be allowed to change the speeches or settings that are not suitable. Children who have had much practice are able to work out the parts of characters, and these can then be worked together by the class. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH This play was written and given by the children of the sixth grade under the direction of the practice teacher, Miss Anna B. Davis, ^ Training School, State Teachers College of Colorado. Scene 1. Setting : Landing scene in Virginia. Characters : Smith, Gosnold, two guides, several men, cap- tain of the ship, Father Newport, few Indians. Scenery : Rocks, chest, charter, chains, flag of England, cos- tumes. (Captain and all his men enter. Smith follows led by two guides. Indians peek behind trees). Smith — Captain, now that we are off the ships, may I be released ? Captain (gruffljO Release Smith. Now bring forth the chest, Gosnold, with the charter. (Chest is brought, opened by captain, and he hands the charter to father Newport.) 1 Under the training teacher, Miss Amy Foote, an American History play is given each year. The punctuation, capitahzation, and spelHng of these illustrations are those of the children. UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 149 Captain — We will let Father Newport read the charter. Father Newport reads — I, the sovereign power of England, grant to you, my people, all the privileges of free persons, native of England, in such a manner as if you were born and personally resident in said realm of England, and you shall have a government according to such laws as shall be by myself or you established ; so that the said laws conform or agree as nearly as possible with those of England, and do not oppose the Christian faith, or in any way withdraw the people in those lands from our allegiance. For carrying out these laws for the sovereign power of England, I do appoint from among you colonists the following : Gosnold as governor, Winfield, Ratcliff, and Smith as subject to his rule. These above mentioned men shall govern the colony of Virginia in accordance with the laws above stated. Signed : King James I, of England. (All salute Gosnold as governor) . Captain — This would be a lovely place for a settlement. Gosnold — What are those funny brown people behind the trees looking for ? (Indians always peeping from behind trees). Ratcliff — Trees are plentiful for building, and, indeed, there is a fine stream. This is an ideal place for a settlement. What say you governor? Captain — I say let us have Gosnold plant the flag. (Gosnold takes the flag to center of stage ; all surround him and kneel to the flag). Gosnold — I, governor of Virginia, take possession of this land for our king, James of England. The settlement shall be called Jamestown in honor of that great sovereign. Father Newport — Aye, Aye. (Crosses himself and all bow heads). Curtain. Scene 2. Setting : Powhatan's settlement. Characters : Pocahontas, Indian maidens, Powhatan, Indian braves, Smith. 150 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Scenery : Trees, wigwam, corn, clubs, stones, log, skins, blan- kets, costumes. ! (Powhatan is seated on a log with Indian braves gathered around him. Pocahontas is seated at the side of the stage with Indian maidens around her. As the curtain goes up, loud yelling is heard off the stage, and all turn in that direction. Smith is brought in by the Indians. He is bound in ropes.) First Indian — ■ (To Powhatan) Captured heap big pale face medicine man. Know too much. Second Indian — Talk to stars, (points) Much wise pale face. First Indian — Capture one. Kill two. Second Indian — What do with him ? Indian maidens show much curiosity. Powhatan (grunts) — Hold council to see if pale face live or die. (Powhatan and his men go to one side to hold council). (Smith is noticing Pocahontas who now comes up to him). Smith — (Giving Pocahontas a mirror) Here is something for you my pretty maiden. Pocahontas doesn't seem to know how to handle it. Smith shows her how to look into it. Then she shows it to the other Indian girls. Pocahontas — Any more for Pocahontas ? Smith — Yes, here are some beads for you. (These she also gives to other Indian Maidens.) Pocahontas — (Returning to Smith) Tell Pocahontas where pale face came from. Smith — (Sitting beside Pocahontas) I came from a land far across the great sea. It is called England. One time when I was a little boy, I wanted to go and fight for my country. I had to fight a tribe called the Turks. These people were mean and cruel and our fight was hard. While there, I was chosen by our side to fight one of these Turks by myself. I killed him and likewise two others, who attempted the same thing. At last we were taken as prisoners and sold into slavery. My master was mean and cruel, but I finally escaped and returned UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 151 home. When I reached England, a crowd of men were going to come to this country. We landed near here and made a settlement we called Jamestown in honor of our — (Powhatan and braves come over hurriedly). Powhatan — Pale face knows too much. Heap bad. Must die. I hold war dance. (All Indians except Pocahontas and Powhatan dance around Smith). Pocahontas — (Kneeling before her father) Save pale face for Pocahontas. Powhatan — No, Away, bring clubs and stone. Pale face must die. (Stone and clubs are brought and Smith's head is placed on stone) . Pocahontas — (quickly kneeling before Powhatan) No kill good pale face. Pocahontas no want you to. Powhatan — Why ? Pocahontas — He gave Pocahontas this, (shows mirror) and this (shows beads). Powhatan — No, Pale face must die. Away, Pocahontas. Strike. Pocahontas — (Bending over Smith and sheltering him from the upraised clubs) No kill him. Pocahontas like him. Heap good Pale face. Powhatan — Away braves. (Leads Pocahontas forward.) Po- cahontas, you are my brave little daughter. Smith — (Who has been unbound) (Placing his hand on Pocahontas' head) God bless you child ; God save you for this brave act. You are a heroine. Curtain. Scene 3 Setting : Jamestown, Virginia. Characters : Maidens, Pocahontas, Smith, Settlers, Rolfe, Powhatan, Indian braves, Ratcliff, Winfield. Scenery : Chairs, benches, flags, inside of a house. 152 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Smith — It is about time, Father Newport, that the maidens were arriving from England. Ratdiff — Ah, you weary nie talking about those maidens from England. They are always on your mind. Winfield — Yes, I do say. Let's go fishing, Smith. I wonder where Rolfe is. Ratcliff — I wouldn't wonder if he hadn't gone fishing himself. (Rolfe enters by back door). Winfield — Hello, Rolfe, we were just speaking of you. Where have you been? Rolfe — I have been to the ships. Here are some letters from England. Ratcliff — Have the ships arrived ? Rolfe — Yes, just this moment. Smith — I told you so, and here come Father Newport and the Maidens now. Welcome to you all. (Father Newport and maidens enter. Among the latter are Miss Betsy, Miss Katheryn, Miss Molly.) Father Newport — Captain Smith, this is Miss Betsy. (Betsy courtesies.) Captain Smith this is Miss Katheryn. Cap- tain Smith this is Miss Molly. Sir John Rolfe this is Miss Betsy, Miss Molly, and Miss Katherj^n. (All courtesy) . Betsy — We had a lovely trip but it seemed so long before we reached our settlernent. Pocahontas — (Comes in hurriedly and runs up to Smith) Ah, Pale Face Smith, the Indians are coming, and I fear they are going to kill us. Kill me too? Hide Poca- hontas. Rolfe — May I hide Pocahontas ? Smith — Yes, but be careful. Katheryn — Oh, here come some horrid Indians. (Men get their guns.) Smith — No, Men, put down your guns. We will greet them as friends. (Powhatan and braves enter.) UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 153 Smith — Why, Friend Powhatan, what is the meaning of this? Are we not friends ? Powhatan — Heap big Pale face, afraid you take lands from me. Smith — No, indeed. We have a crown for you from King James of England. Bring the crown men. Powhatan — Crown for me ? Smith — Yes, and here it is. Kneel now Powhatan. Powhatan — I no like to kneel. (Men push Powhatan down on his knees). Smith — (Placing crown upon his head) Just a fit? Now you are king of Virginia. Powhatan — (Rising) Heaps good pale face men. Smith — (Grasping Powhatan's hand) Let us be friends from now on in this new world. Curtain. The End. A history play should be as true to life as it is possible to make it, and the children should get their material from real history whenever it is available. The children could not get a copy of the charter for this play, although they made a good search. They went over a number of books and undoubtedly learned much from such work. They did find copies of other charters, and the clauses in their play charter were made with the knowledge of how other charters read. In Smith's story of his former life the experiences that he related to Pocahontas were based upon the " Life of John Smith,'' but his giving of presents and the entire conversation were imagined by the children. They felt as if Smith had given her some- thing in order to win her sympathies. Such reasoning will compare well with discussions in college classes as 154 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE to what certain characters in fiction said and did when the author does not state. Take, for example^ the dis- cussion of whether Portia in the ^^ Merchant of Venice " meant to give Bassanio a hint of the right casket in the little song that the players gave while he was choosing. If such discussions are valuable in the study of fiction by advanced classes, they are decidedly so in the study of history by sixth-grade pupils. In presenting their play, the individuality of the children was allowed full realization. In criticizing, no definite directions about how to play a part were given by the teacher, but the child was told to think just how the character he was interpreting would act on the occasion in question. The scenery, costumes, and stage management were all taken care of by the children, a stage manager having been selected from among them. The teacher often gave him suggestions, but stayed in the background as much as possible. All this will de- pend upon the versatility of the pupils and their experi- ence. All announcements to the audience should be made by a stage manager. The teacher should work towards entire management by the class, but this can- not be expected too soon. English The value of all this work to the English of the stu- dent cannot be estimated. Every pupil keeps a record of the play as it progresses each day. His copy should be in good penmanship, and the punctuation should be an UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 155 example of his best. The large amount of punctuation in writing a play makes a very valuable exercise in this field, and its value is due largely to the fact that it is not ^^ punctuation for punctuation's sake " or '^ just punc- tuation study/' but the child has his very real life reason for the use of punctuation in his play. He has a motive for it. The same is true for spelling and capitalization. The work of making up the speeches of the different characters has a value added to that of ordinary composi- tion, for here the study of, and an insight into, human character is necessary in order to conceive what a speech is to be. The children soon learn that each play has its funny person, its villain, its hero, and its heroine. They also take greater interest in and have greater insight into the significance of plays that are studied in literature after having constructed a few themselves. Children can usually be prevailed upon to make the English in their plays an example of their best, but the teacher must be careful in this and stop before the interest has been killed on account of her too critical attitude towards structure. Improvement will be more likely to result as evolution rather than revolution. After long practice, if continued attention is given to this side of the work, the child shows great improvement. It is well to allow him the opportunity to construct beyond his ability to reach perfection. Another great advantage that arises from the con- struction of their own plays is the increased confidence that it gives children. When a child reahzes that he 156 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE can make a play that is appreciated by an audience and that such work is not the product of geniuses or wizards; his enthusiasm to do original work is hkely to increase. Children write long plays outside of regular class work and bring them to class to consult with their teachers. Recently in our school a group of children found their own subject and asked the teacher to help them with it outside of the regular school sessions, volun- teering to spend an hour a day uiitil they were ready to play it. This illustrates the highest aim of education, as has been mentioned before. Whenever a child shows a desire to do such work, the teacher should note it and give him due recognition. A girl in the eighth grade read at home a large number of the plays of Shake- speare after being started in this manner. A dramatization of Rip Van Winkle is given as repre- sentative of such work in English. The children began this story with the knowledge that they could dramatize it if they desired to. As they neared the end of the study each one wrote out an entire dramatization of the story. The eighteen little plays from which this one was made are now on file. The best ones were selected and some of them were read to the class. The final product repre- sents a combination of the work of every student in the class. When such a story is dramatized and played, it goes into the hearts of the children and will never be en- tirely forgotten. The child's consciousness that he is actually representing a character causes him to feel the position of that character more strongly than any amount UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 157 of reading would. The piece becomes a part of him and he a part of it. DRAMATIZATION OF RIP VAN WINKLE This was done by an eighth grade. Act 1, Scene 1. Scenery. The home of Rip Van Winkle, a very neat place, with a table in the middle of the room and chairs around. A fire place at one side. As the curtain goes up, we see Rip talking to his dog. Rip. — Poor Wolf, we have a hard time of it. (Enter Dame Van Winkle). Dame — (Sweeping floor) Idle again you lazy man. Why are you not out in the garden working? You sit around from morning till night and what you do amounts to absolutely nothing. Fd be ashamed of myself if I were as lazy as you. (She chases Rip out, threatening him with the broom). Rip — (as he goes out) Guess I'll take a stroU down to the tavern where I can have a jolly time with friends. (Dame Van Winkle goes to empty cupboard and sighs as she goes out) (Enter children, who chase around and knock down chairs, and Dame Van Winkle comes in and shakes the boy) Dame — Now young man you pick up that chair. Boy — Oh, mother's so cross. She is scolding all the time. qIyI — Yes, and poor Papa, he never does have a good time at home. (Enter Dame Van Winkle going to cupboard) Boy — Say, Ma, may I have a piece of bread ? Dame — No, there isn't any, and your father is too lazy to go out and work for any. Now you children get out of here and get to work in the garden. Curtain. i 158 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Act 1. Scene 2. Scenery. Before the King George Inn, with a tree to one side. At the door of the inn stands the inn keeper. Under the tree are chairs upon which are seated Dutch farmers talking about their crops. Inn Keeper — (FilUng cups with Ale) Well, I see there was quite a frost last night. You fellows got your crops all in? Brom Dutcher — Yah, I tell you vot, I got mine all right. But Rip, I tell you vot, the frost his all got. Nicholas Veder — Yes, I know Rip didn't get his in because he has been helping me. Brom Dutcher — Veil, Veil, here he comes now. (Rip enters looking downcast but when he sees his friends, brightens) Van Bummel — Come on, come on. Rip, and join us. Rip — (Drinking Ale) Well, Brom Dutcher, how goes the work in the field? Need any help? Everyone — What about your own crops, Rip ? (Laughter) Rip — (leaning back in his chair) Well, as I was saying — Enter Dame Van Winkle. Dame — Here you are, lazy man, you loaf here at the tavern and never turn your hand to do a thing useful. Here it frosted last night and the pumpkins are all spoiled. Our fence is down, and the cow has gone. Oh, if I had my broom. (Waves her hands and chases Rip out) Dame — (turning to inn keeper) Well, what are you smiling about. You are the very cause of Rip's laziness. Oh, if I only had my faithful broom. (Exit Dame Van Winkle.) (As Curtain goes down, the men shake their heads and say, "Poor Rip") Scene 3, Act 1. Scenery. Rip going up the mountain with his dog and gun. Rip — Well, it is getting pretty late. I must be going home. UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 159 Voice — (In hollow drawnout tone) R-i-p V-a-n. W-i-n-k-1-e, R-i-p V-a-n W-i-n-k-1-e, (Rip looks around but sees nothing) Voice — R-i-p V-a-n W-i-n-k-1-e. (Enter little man with keg on his shoulder and he motions Rip to come and help him) Rip — Why, that must be one of the villagers. I will go and help him. (Rip and little man carry keg across stage. Curtain drops quickly, and then rises, and we see little men playing ten pins. Enter little man and Rip.) Rip. My but that was a heavy keg. (Little men motion for Rip to pour them some ale. Rip obeys and while they are playing he drinks, until he falls asleep.) Curtain. Scene 4, Act 1. Scenery. The tavern scene with Dutch farmers, discussing the disappearance of Rip. Inn keeper — Wonder where Rip has been keeping himself. I haven't seen him for two or three days. My how I miss him. He's such a jolly old chap. Farmer Jones — E's promised to 'elp me in my cornfield, but I 'avn't seen him this week. E's so obligin'. Another Farmer — Kind o' thought he would be around to help me with the pumpkins, but he' hasn't showed up this week. I surely miss the old fellow. Van Bummel — (laughing) Wonder if his wife scared him out. (everyone laughs) Poor old fellow. He has a hard time of it and all the children of the village look lost without him. (Enter Dame, peering about her) Dame — What have you lazy fellows done with my husband ? He hasn't been home for three days, and the fields are all going to waste. Inn keeper — Don't know, Ma'am, hasn't been around here. 160 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Nicholas Veclder — I saw him going hunting with his com- panion, Wolf. Dame — Yes, but the old cur came home. Van Bummel — Perhaps he shot himself. I'll go and see if I can't find him. Farmer Jones — The Indians might have carried him away. Dame — Shot himself, Indians, indeed. Oh, he'll be home to get something to eat. (Exit Dame) Inn keeper — I wonder where Rip is. (As curtain goes down Rip's friends shake their heads.) Act 5, Scene 1. Scenery, a mountain scene. As curtain goes up we see Rip asleep on dry leaves. (Rip lies asleep for awhile then stirs and wakes up.) Rip — (rubbing his eyes) Have I been asleep all night ? (arises) What will Dame Van Winkle say? Wolf, Wolf, Wolf, (Whistles) Oh, he'll be back pretty soon, I guess. He is just chasing a rabbit. (Picks up rusty gun barrel) Why, this is not my gun. Those little mountain scoun- drels. They just gave me that wine to get my gun. Well, I'd better hurry home now. (Stops) What ex- cuse shall I make to Dame Van Winkle? Curtain. Scenery. — Union hotel in the rear. To right is a flag pole from which stars and stripes wave. As the curtain rises a group of politicians are seen about the door. A man — (Waving his arms) The rights of citizens must be observed. What did George Washington and the heroes of 76 fight for if not for liberty? Rip — Oh, that wicked flagon. It has addled my poor head sadly. As I passed through the village I saw no one that I saw last night. I see strange faces at the windows, strange names on the doors, and my own house has gone to decay. The doors are off their hinges and the windows UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 161 shattered. A half starved dog, that looked like Wolf, my very own dog, growled at me. Dame Van Winkle was not there. I called for my children but my house was empty, so I came here to find some friends, but they are gone too, and these men are strangers to me. What has become of the old tree? Is that a night cap up there? (Men stroke their chins and so does Rip, and he finds that he has grown a foot beard) And what has happened to my beard? (goes over to look at picture of George Washington) Why, that is not a picture of King George. My, where am I? I thought I knew every one but these men are strangers. Orator — (Drawing Rip aside) On which side do you vote ? Another — Are you Federalist or Democrat ? Gentleman — What brought you to election with a gun on your shoulder? Rip — Alas, Gentlemen, I am a poor man, a native of the place, and a loyal subject of the king, God bless him. The Crowd — A Tory, a Tory, a spy, a refugee, hustle him, away with him. Orator — He came here to do no harm, but just to look for friends. Man — Well, who are they ? Name them. Rip — Where's Nicholas Vedder? Man — Nicholas Vedder ? Why he is dead and gone these eighteen years. There was an old wooden marker in the churchyard that used to tell all about him, but it too has rotted and gone. Rip — Where's Brom Dutcher? Another — Oh, he went off to the war. Some say he was killed at the storming of Stony Point. Others say he was drowned in a squall at the foot of Anthony's Nose. I don't know. He never came back. Rip — Where's Van Bummel, the schoolmaster? Another — He went off to the war too. He was a great miUtia general and is now in Congress. M 162 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Rip. Full of despair — Does nobody know Rip Van Winkle? A Man — Oh, Rip Van Winkle, there is Rip Van Winkle leaning against a tree. A Man — Who are you and what is your name ? Rip. God knows, I am not myself. I was myself last night, but I fell asleep on the mountain. They changed my gun and everything is changed, and I am changed, but I cannot tell my name nor who I am. (Enter Judith) Judith — Hush Rip, hush you little fool. The old man will not hurt you. Rip — What is your name my good woman ? Judith — Judith Gardinier. Rip — And your father's name ? Judith — Ah, poor man, his name was Rip Van Winkle, but it is twenty years since he went away with his dog and gun, and never returned. His dog came home without him, but whether he shot himself or whether the Indians carried him off we do not know. I was but a little girl then. Rip — Where's your mother ? Judith — Oh, she too has died a short time since. She broke a blood vessel in a fit of passion against a New England peddler. Rip — I am your father, young Rip Van Winkle once, now old Van Winkle (all stand amazed) Old Woman — (coming from the crowd) Sure enough it is Rip Van Winkle. Welcome home again old neighbor. Why, where have you been these twenty long years ? Rip — The day I went away on the mountain, I heard a voice calling me. I looked around and suddenly I saw a man carrying a keg. He motioned for me to come and help him. So I did. We carried the keg into the mountains where we saw little men playing ten pins. They motioned for me to pour out some ale, so I obeyed and when they UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 163 were not looking, I took some, and liking it very much I took some more until I fell asleep, and when I awoke everything was changed. Judith — Well, father come home and live with me. Rip — But Dame Van Winkle. Oh to be sure. Rip and Judith exit. Curtain. The End. Dramatizations for Entertainments The stimulation of appearing before the public and the poise that comes from such work has been long recog- nized by teachers. The use of the dramatic in the man- ner that has been indicated will take the place of the ^^ rhetoricals " that have been such a bugbear to many children. Those who are sensitive about performing be- fore the public can gradually work up to it without the dread that comes from the thought of an individual ap- pearance. Then if large sections of the regular school work can be prepared by the pupils and teacher for presentation to parents on special days, the work of the entire school takes on a dignity that it would not pos- sess, had the teacher gone outside to choose selections for exhibitions. Regular work then is something that can be given a special charm for a special time as well as being useful for every day. Parents are likely to take more interest in the regular work as a result. As a usual thing more children take part when some school subject is dramatized, and even those who do not take part in the presentation can feel that it represents their own efforts, for they have helped to create it. As part of an entertainment given for another grade 164 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE and for some of the mothers, an eighth grade with the help of their teacher conceived the idea of presenting in a dramatization some of the work they had been doing in hygiene. Most of the different activities of this sub- ject such as first aid, cleanhness, and correct Hving habits lend themselves very nicely to dramatization. The teacher formulated the general idea for them and let them work around it. The ideas of an adult mind, gained by the children in their class work or given directly by the teacher, are evident in the play that follows. Many little features which the teacher might have left out but which appealed to the children are just as evident. One special factor that the teacher must guard against is the desire of the children for too much of the ridiculous. Note, for example, the names of the characters in this play. More or less of this may be allowed, but the children should be led to see that it has its limit, and that the funny section will be more powerful if it follows some- thing that is quite serious and instructive. Quite a study upon this very point was carried on by an eighth-grade class in the construction of one of their plays. One of the boys went so far as to collect examples from master plays. Such wide interests, which are probably the real aim of instruction in classes, are continually developing when we appeal to the child's instincts and individuality. In this play the children worked with great enthu- siasm to learn all the first aid measures so that they might do them very quickly without tiring the audience. They UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 165 planned and furnished their own costumes. The boys who were to appear as deacons wore long coats and small mustaches. The girls made an appearance that was quite representative of an old-fashioned ladies' aid society. The making of the entire play together with the practice that was necessary for giving it took up a thirty-minute period daily for two weeks at' the end of the term. It made a splendid review of some of the essential features of the work together with a good exposition of the cen- tral idea of their course^ that they must act, not talk, about cleanliness. Plays like this one can be made and given by children anywhere. They make splendid entertainments. A HYGIENE PLAY. ''Be Clean and Keep Cool.'' Act 1, Scene 1. Characters. Lizzie B. Dorothy B. ^ Hyacinth N. Alphonse T. Susan S. Gaston D. Maudell C. SaUie W. Lena S. Susan's daughter. A ladies aid society is meeting at the house of Lizzie B. The ladies are occupied with sewing. Hyacinth (looking out of the window) — If here don't come Deacon Alphonse and Deacon Gaston. Sallie — Prepare yourselves, ladies, for an inspection of your teeth. ^ These names are examples of eighth-grade humor. They do not ap- peal to the adult mind, and it might have been better for the teacher to require more ordinary names. 166 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Susan — We never have an aid meeting without old Alphonse bothering us about our teeth or Gaston talking [about germs and, dear me, this time we have both of them. Enter Alphonse and Gaston. Alphonse — As I was saying, Gaston, you can't get the germs until you get them out of the mouth. Sallie — Well, Alphonse, what is the latest in tooth powder? Maudell — How many members have you for your Mouth Hygiene Society? Alphonse — Ninety-five and you five will make it one hundred. But I will not stop until I make it a thousand. Lizzie — I would like to know who said we were going to join. Hyacinth — I would like to join, but tell us what this society means, Alphonse, and what good will such a society do? Alphonse — I will be glad to explain. (While Alphonse is explaining Gaston examines the place for germs with a large microscope, taking from his pocket a box of disinfectant powder, which he sprinkles in various corners.) The mouth hygiene society was first formed in Cleveland. Its main purpose is to get the public to ward off disease by cleaning and caring for their teeth. Do you know that nine tenths of all the people do not care for their teeth as they should? Also it is true that a room full of people, who have dirty teeth is a fearful source of contamination. There are about thirty-two square inches of surface in every mouth. Think of fifty persons in a room. Thirty-two times fifty makes 1600 square inches or over eleven square feet. Suppose we had a surface of over eleven square feet through which the air we breathe would have to pass every minute, and would you like to have that surface clean or would you want it covered with slime, dirt and germs? But the air we breath in a crowded room is passing in and out of the mouths of everyone there continually. Moreover, if we want a race of strong, healthy people, they must have good teeth from childhood to old age. The first set is just as important as the second. UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 167 Susan — Well, well, Alphonse, this seems to be a splendid idea, and I am sure all of us would like to join. Now if we could only get old Mrs. H. to join. She is always too untidy and I don't believe a toothbrush has ever seen the inside of her house. Alphonse — Mrs. B. will you please pass the water. (Lizzie brings out a pitcher of water with one glass and when his turn comes Gaston refuses) Gaston — I refuse to drink from this glass on account of germs. Lizzie — What? Germs? I see no germs. This is clean water and the glass has been carefully washed since dinner. (Gaston takes out magnifying glass and holds it over the top of the glass of water shaking his head. He sum- mons Mrs. B. to come and look) Lizzie — What are those millions of little specks ? Gaston — Just as I have told you, you are looking at germs. Do you know that there is a law against the common drinking cup? Would you drink from a cup that other people and strangers have used? Any amount of the germs on this cup may be disease germs. The germs you saw undoubtedly came from the mouths of the per- sons who just used this glass. All — Germs ? Do we have germs ? (Maudell has a coughing fit) Gaston — More germs. Mrs. C. should have put her hand- kerchief to her mouth to keep us from catching her cold. Hyacinth — Wet feet, drafts, exposure, and such things cause colds. You don't mean to tell us that there is a cold germ? Gaston — These things, you mention, never cause colds in them- selves. If your system is in good order and you do not get the germs from another's cold you will not take cold. Drafts are good for the healthy outdoor man or woman. (Gaston and Alphonse start to leave.) Gaston — Good afternoon. Ladies, I hope you will keep clean and avoid germs. (Ladies draw chairs up close together and start gossiping) 168 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Sallie — If old Mrs. H. could have only been present : she needs such advice so much. All — That is just what I think. Susan — You know, she sweeps with a dry broom and never dusts anything besides the tops of her chairs and table. You could write your name in the dust on her table legs. Lizzie — And, Law, do think how she sends those kids to school ; hair uncombed, faces dirty and clothing never brushed. Maudell — I wouldn't allow my children to associate with them. Sallie — And that is not all, the other day her little girl came over to my house and she was a sight to be seen. Her finger nails were long and had never been cared for. They were even green under the ends, and what is more I saw her putting them into her mouth and biting them off. Hyacinth — That boy's hair looks like a Russian thistle and he pulled out a handkerchief that hadn't been washed since last Winter. Susan — My children certainly never get into a state like that. (Enter Lena S., Susan's daughter, with Dorothy H.,the daughter of the woman of whom they have been talking. Lena is very dirty and untidy but Dorothy is exception- ally clean in a white dress) Lena — Say, Ma, Dorothy came over and, Ma, may we make candy, and Ma, we couldn't find a clean dish so may we wash the dinner and breakfast dishes ? Lizzie — Why, Dorothy H., how did you get so clean? Susan — Why Lena, what made you come over here looking like that ? Lena — That's the way I usually go. Ma. You know it is, Ma, and I just wanted to ask a question. (Susan puts hands over face) Dorothy — I've been keeping clean for an entire month. The last teacher in our district taught me how. I went to UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 169 school for six years and made the highest grades in my class in hygiene, and you know, I always thought that hygiene was only to study so that we could make grades and pass. The last teacher Miss Useful, taught me that a grade didn't count much, but that I gained knowledge in order to use it. I told Ma, and Ma said that the teacher was crazy, but the more we thought about it, the more we thought she was right, and so we started in to use our knowledge. You should see the difference in our house. And we get books that tell us how to clean up. It is such fun to be really doing things. Maudell — Well, Dorothy, you certainly show it. What do you do in the house? Dorothy — Sam and I clean our teeth just before bed time every night. We both help Ma with the house work. Before school in the morning we wash dishes, sweep, and make the beds. It takes such a short time after you get at it. And then, I feel so much better in school after helping Ma at home. Lizzie — Why didn't your Ma come to aid society Dorothy? Dorothy — Ma said that she had often spent her time going out and talking when her work at home was not done up, and said she hadn't any time to lose today and didn't feel that she could afford to say anything about other people being dirty when she wasn't clean at home. SaUie — Well, Dorothy, I am certainly glad your mother has reformed, and Ladies I am going straight home and clean up my house. All — That's just what I am going to do. (All go and leave Lizzie at home alone) Lizzie — Well, dear me, I guess they are right. It is so easy to talk but so hard to do. (She moves a rug under which a large amount of floor sweepings have been hidden, and begins to clean them up) Curtain. 170 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Act 2, Scene 1. Characters. Doctor Thompson Lizzie B. Mrs. C. Susan S. Sallie W. Mrs. Dr. T. Mrs. A. Mrs. E. Mrs . P. Mrs. H. Dr. Thompson is giving lessons in first aid to the injured to the members of the Ladies Aid Society. The ladies very rapidly and accurately perform his directions, one standing in front of the other and exchanging places. Dr. T. — Now the square knot, the head bandage, the sling, the arm bandage, the hand bandage, the eye bandage, the ear bandage. As the ladies do the work one of them explains each band- age. They have practiced these until they can do them very rapidly and the audience does not get time to become tired. Dr. T. — Now, Ladies, you have remembered your lessons on bandages very well. Let us see what you remember of your lessons on poisons. If you were to take strychnine by mistake, Mrs. B., what would you do? Mrs. B. — I would first take warm water and mustard, then strong tea, but I might be so overcome that I could not do anything. Dr. T. — What would you do to help her, Mrs. Q. ? Mrs. Q. — I would do as she has suggested and then try arti- ficial respiration. Dr. T. — But first of all, Mrs. Q. you should keep cool. Sup- pose, for example, that some person, who had been poi- soned, would rush in here, and I, a doctor, couldn't keep cool. What would happen to such a person? The first thing to remember is to think carefully before you act. Suppose, Mrs. P. that there was no mustard on hand. Mrs. P. — I would make her drink all the warm water I could get her to take. UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 171 Dr. T. — But above all, Mrs. P., keep cool. (At this juncture, Dr. Thompson turns to the audience and asks them to name any poison, and he points out a lady to give the antidote. Antidotes are either against acids or alkalis and are thus easily learned. Then as Dr. Thompson is looking into his grip, Mrs. A. rushes in poisoned) Mrs. A. — Help, help, help. I took a tablespoon of carbolic acid. I thought it was spirits of Nitre. (Dr. T. jumps, pushes over table full of bottles, and with his hands in his hair shouts.) Dr. T. — What shall I do? What shall I do? Mrs. A. — Help, help, I am burning up. Mrs. H. — Being as Dr. Thompson doesn't ''keep cool," I guess I will have to use the knowledge he has taught me. Now, Mrs. E. get me some lime, quick. (Mrs. E. jumps up and down) Mrs. E. — Where shall I get it? Mrs. H. — Knock a piece of plaster off the wall. (Mrs. E. obeys and dissolves plaster in water) Mrs. H. — Now, Mrs. A., drink this quickly. (She drinks) Mrs. A. (After they have watched her breathlessly for a few minutes) My, such a relief. Tell Dr. Thompson that I am ever so much obliged for his timely aid. (Enter Dr. T. looking somewhat abashed and trying to appear amused) Dr. T. — I am sorry, ladies, that such an occasion arose, but I thought it best to leave the room and let you ladies show your skill. Mrs. Ether — Did you hear about the big fire last night? Mrs. Peroxide — Yes, but how did it start? Mrs. Ether — Why didn't you know ? (Enter Mrs. Thompson, screaming, and with clothing on fire) Mrs. T. — Help, help, I am all on fire. (Everybody losey presence of mind) 172 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE (Grocery boy enters with a box of groceries. He drops his box, grabs a rug and rolls Mrs. Thompson on the floor in the rug, smothering the imaginary flames.) Mrs. B. — to Grocery boy — How did you ever think of that? Grocer Boy — I learned that many years ago at the State Teachers College. • Dr. T. — Very well done, bring on my carron oil and bandages. He dresses wounds on arm. Dr. T. — Ladies, you have done very well today and so that your children may also profit send them to the State Teachers College. Summary of Uses and Misuses Dramatic material may be used in the lower grades without much organization or drill. If the children who read "The Circus Primer/' for example/ play the dif- ferent animal parts now and then^ interest is bound to be added, and they more than make up the time by the greater zest they put into the regular reading lesson. Indian and Esquimau life, stories they are told, and holiday happenings all furnish splendid dramatic material and are brought down to the level of the children in this way better than by any other method. In the upper grades longer plays with more careful organization furnish incentive for wide reading in regular subjects, and provide splendid practice in written and oral English. However, this is only one of the many race and indi- vidual interests which every child inherits and may be given too much time and attention. One or two plays like those given for illustration are enough for a term. UTILIZING A COMMON INTEREST 173 There is little danger of doing too much dramatizing in the lower grades. Close attention and careful organ- ization by the teacher are necessary at all times. The actual good that will result from a study of the work to be dramatized and the practice in written and oral Eng- lish will depend upon the ability of the teacher to direct and inspire the class to do hard work. The result with- out such direction may be a type of work that it would have been better never to have attempted. The dra- matic is to be used as an incentive for, not as a diversion from, school work. CHAPTER VIII THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATURAL INTEREST Nature's Provisions. The child, is naturally provided with many interests. They play a large part in his edu- cation. In the measure that the school recognizes and supervises the development of these interests, the more valuable they become. Allowed to grow up in their wild and natural state, interests often deteriorate and are lost, or develop in directions that are not profitable. Some natural interests are : 1. The love of nature. Such an interest makes an admirable avocation in almost any calling. The man or the woman who has properly developed it will be happier and more efficient. The school should do every- thing in its power to foster it. 2. Toys. Every child has and is interested in toys. Proper choice of toys by parents and education through toys would easily supply the material for a volume. A child may be helped in his education by the provision of proper toys. The school can often play a large part in stimulating this interest by the recognition of work done with toys, by influencing parents to provide proper toys, etc. 174 THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATURAL INTEREST 175 3. Constructions. To make things is often a delight. Many men receive great enjoyment from the construction interest all through life. I know one man who builds a boat every spring. When the winter gives place to warmer weather, he says that the smell of tar and paint gets into his nostrils. For his exercise during the spring months he builds a boat. He can usually sell it for more than the materials cost him. Thus his interest in constructing furnishes an inexpensive avocation and splendid exercise of the non-violent sort. Manual train- ing should have as one of its chief functions the de- velopment and preservation of this interest. The Collection Interest Many other interests could be named. The teacher need but study his classes to discover them. To illus- trate ways of relating the school to a natural interest the development of the collection habit has been chosen. The Universality of Collections. The collection inter- est is such a universal phenomenon of child and adult life that it has been designated by many as an instinct. It is considered here as an illustration of an interest which may be guided and developed by the school. ^' The treasures of children/' says Burk, '' are cherished by them with feelings of sacredness, pride, and importance which can hardly be appreciated by the adult unless he be blessed with a bit of foohsh sentiment himself or pos- sessed of a vivid memory penetrating back into the recesses of his own childish heart." She records that 176 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE one boy had as many as sixty-six collections before he was ten years old, fifty-five of which were still being continued. Every normal child collects. What he collects would be hard to classify. In the earlier years the instinct is more or less blind. It seems to be the mere desire to hoard different objects that are attractive to the col- lector. There are close connections with our ancestors in these activities. There was undoubtedly a time in the life of the race when hoarding meant survival. This is true to a certain extent even to-day. But in the past when crops were not so sure, when communication was not so good, and when transportation was not so easily accomplished, the ability to hoard, especially such things as food supplies, must have been a valuable asset to individuals and races. In the animal world it is seen in bees, ants, squirrels, and many other creatures, and undoubtedly it is necessary to survival there. In more civilized times this interest has changed and does not have such close relation to the rest of the life of the collector. Yet it is an instinct just as clearly as it ever was. The housewife who puts up fruit in the fall usually gets more pleasure from the mere realization of an instinctive desire to collect than from the thought that she is putting away something for future use, al- though the motive of future use may be a part of the collecting interest. But the woman who is putting away her fruit for the winter gets great pleasure from the mere joy of putting it away. J THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATURAL INTEREST 177 This is the test of the instinct. It is pleasant in the immediate sense^ and it is useful in a more remote sense if rightly used. The financier wants more money, not especially that he may have more of the desires of life for himself or others that money can buy, but for money itself, as much as he can get of it. Land, houses, ships are all a part of his desire to achieve, and achievement in such cases is little more than a perversion of the hoarding and collecting interest. It is one of the deepest and biggest interests in life, and it has not been given its proper place in the schools. One might say of collections what has been said of many other things, ^^ Let me see the collections of a boy or man, and I will tell you what sort of person he is." The Significance of Spontaneous Collections Most great men have been great collectors. In visit- ing recently a university president it was noted that one of the chief interests in the life of this man seemed to be his collections. He had begun collecting as a boy, and his home, his rooms at the university, in fact every corner of any of the places he frequented was occupied by some sort of collection. He had hundreds of them, from ref- erence catalogues to collections of butcher knives. An- other man, the president of a normal school, says that his entire life has been devoted to collecting. The chief thing in his school is the large space given to museums. But one need only turn to the biographies of great natu- ralists to see what an important part this interest played N 178 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE in their lives ; and for another side of it one need only look into the lives of the great financiers to find that they began to save very early in life. In the one case the col- lecting interest took a scientific turn ; in the other a turn toward more worldly possessions. It has been said of one of the great American naturalists that he had such a passion for collecting that he could not be trusted in a museum ; for he would be sure to steal any strange specimen which he might need to further his own col- lections. Naturalists who had especially wonderful col- lections were Agassiz, Baird, Burroughs, Wilson, and Thoreau. The hoarding of the miser seems to be a perversion of the collecting interest. There is usually something lack- ing in the life of the miser. One who has friends and family and a healthy supply of other interests is not likely to develop such a trait. George Eliot in ^^ Silas Marner ^' gives us a good picture of a case of this kind ; she also shows how a little girl came in and sup- plied the necessary stimulation for better traits in the same nature. Some Educational Values of Collections Persistence in Orderliness. One of the hardest habits to form in children is order. Continued watchfulness on the part of parents or teachers is almost impossible. Another and better method of bringing about orderliness is to allow the child to have possessions of his own and encourage him to keep them in order and to classify and THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATURAL INTEREST 179 arrange them. Collections serve this purpose admi- rably. The boy or the girl who keeps a collection through a number of years and keeps it in order will have gained something from it in the way of orderliness that will never be entirely lost. The collecting interest is valuable for this reason if for no other. Anyone who has tried to keep collections for a considerable time will readily ap- preciate this. Such a person knows how difficult the task is and the value to the child of a collection kept throughout a number of years. The average college student is unable to keep a card catalogue of the references which he wishes to preserve. It is so hard to keep and care for, and interest is so tran- sitory, that such a catalogue is usually allowed to scat- ter or is soon entirely forgotten. Those who have been collectors in childhood have little trouble in keeping these catalogues. The increase in a student's efficiency from such practice could not be measured, but it is un- doubtedly true that if a graduate of a normal school or college had conscientiously carded and filed away all the valuable suggestions and references he might have re- corded during a college course, his efficiency as a teacher would be multiplied indefinitely. Librarians continually complain that their greatest bother comqs from letters from students who have gone out to work, but who have forgotten even the names of the textbooks they used while in school. The point of interest here is that the practice and ability gained from keeping collections in childhood increases the ability of the adult. 180 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Moral Value. Another advantage of having and keeping a good collection is the self-respect that comes to a child from doing anything well. The collection is also a measurable thing in Boyville. The respect that accrues to a boy who has a fine collection of stamps^ tags, birds' eggs, bird nests, butterflies, etc., is a very good reward for his work. Such a reward is the real life prize for which all of us work : the acknowledgment of good work by those who understand us and the tasks we are trying to do. The moral value alone of keeping a collection is enough to make it worth fostering. A Center for Life Interests. Even more important than the two values just mentioned are the life interests re- sulting from collecting. Most collections are those con- nected with nature study. Thus the child who keeps a collection of bugs, bird nests, or stones, things which arouse interest in the great world outside, usually keeps his interest in nature all the rest of his life. An investi- gation of adults who have kept collections reveals that a collection of some sort once having been made, the interest goes far into life. A man who collected stones when he was a child says that stones have been interest- ing to him ever since. When he goes walking, and often he would not go if it were not for this interest, he likes to pick up peculiar stones, and he thinks of his old col- lection although he has long since ceased to keep it up. Another says the same of birds and bird nests. And so it continues. This survival of the collecting interest is illustrated in the autobiography of Herbert Spencer, THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATURAL INTEREST 181 If collections touch life in such a manner, it will be well to cultivate them and direct this energy into fields that are likely to be especially valuable. Special Collections Scientific Collections. From making scientific col- lections of stones, bugs, butterflies, or flowers, a boy may develop a scientific turn of mind which will be very valuable to his life career. His desire to investigate the true nature of his treasures may lead him to study topics that are quite technical. His reading may take this direction and may mean the turning point in his life. When reading becomes valuable to the boy for getting information along the line of his activities, it has be- come something more and better than an interest in wild tales from fiction. A boy who had a collection of butter- flies had read at the age of eleven more books in this field of science than the ordinary college graduate who may have taken half a dozen required courses in biology in his work for a degree. He says of his reading : '^ Most books don't give you what you really want, but I have read a few, maybe a couple of dozen in the last three years, since I began my collection. Among them are ' Ways of the Six-Footed,' ^ Insect Life,' and ' Butterflies West of the Rockies.' Comstock also has a fair book, and I read an interesting book on ' English Butterflies ' not long ago. I have studied Holland's big books continually, that is, Holland's ' Moths ' and Hol- land's ' Butterflies.' " 182 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE One need have no fear about the reading interest of this boy. The collection may serve as a motive for much of the boy's school work. His story telling may be based upon rambles and experiences with his collections^ and this may give occasion for an endless amount of constructive criticism of his English. He may acquire the ability to speak correctly and to describe accurately from telling of such experiences. He may write compositions about his collections. Often he brings more valuable infor- mation to the class in these compositions than the teacher is able to give. For example^ when a class wanted some real information about how to make a collection of moths and butterflies^ the composition below was written by a boy in the seventh grade, and read to the classes. The result was a great burst of interest by a large number of children, and a knowledge of moths and butterflies soon became common property of these grade children. The values of moths and butterflies, which ones were destructive, with actual examples of each one, their methods of propagation, and their life habits made a foundation for home and school work for some time. A Boy's Description of His Collection BUTTERFLIES ^ The first thing to get to start an insect collection is a cyanide of potassium bottle, a net, one or more cases. I recommend 1 The punctuation and spelling, as well as the entire composition, are duplicated from the work of a seventh-grade boy. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATURAL INTEREST 183 Riker mounts 8 by 12 inches. Moth balls should be put in- side the cases to keep the moths out. Pins and mounting blocks (all sizes) are necessary. Mounting blocks are just blocks with grooves through the middle for the body of the moth or butterfly. All these things can be obtained from the Kny Scheer Co. N. Y. When you see the moth or butterfly you want, you must get your net and try to get him in it. After this is done squeeze the thorax so as to stun the insect, then put it in the cyanide bottle where it soon dies. This jar or bottle is made by putting ten cents worth of cyanide in the bottom of the jar, then put some plaster paris over it and punch holes in the plaster paris so that the fumes may come through. After the insect is dead take him out and put him on the mounting block. Stretch him out so as to make him appear as lifelike as possible. Wrap thin thread around the block and over the wings lengthwise of the body. Wrap until close to the body and then tie the string. Leave for three or more days. Then put in the case by removing the glass lid and inserting the insect on the cotton just as you want him to appear. Put moth balls just under the corners. Three of a kind make a good case, male and female, and underside. The Eastern insects are generally more attractive than those of Colorado. The moths are usually prettier than the butter- flies. They come in families as you will see from the names. There is the Papilo family, the Agrynnis family, and many others. The names of the ones I have are as follows : Butterflies : 1. Vanessa Antiopa. 2. Limochores taumas. 3. Hesperia Xnthus. 4. Hesperia Montivaga. 5. Satysies alope (leaf wood nymph) 184 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE 6. Pholosora cattillus (west common black) 7. Chrysophanus helloides (America copper) 8. Bassilarchia Astynax. 9. Chrysophanus — (America copper) 10. PhoUsora Ubya (east common black) 11. Hyapshila phylalus. 12. Erynis metea. 13. Arosia plerippus (milk weed) 14. Basilarchia disippus. 15. Colias somelas (Sulphur) 16. Colias interior. 17. Tertas Mexicana. 18. Nathatis iola. 19. Colias Eurytheme (giant sulphur) 20. Omega Noston Euryetice (brimstone) .... etc., etc., continuing to forty different kinds of butter- flies and twenty-one different kinds of moths, with the state- ment at the end that he had several kinds that he could not name. Stamp Collections. A stamp collection formed the basis for almost expert knowledge of geography by an eighth-grade boy. Without a doubt he knew more about countries in many remote parts of the world than did any of his teachers. It is admitted that he had stamps from colonies of which the writer had never heard. A great deal of interest and value was added by a few sug- gestions from the teacher. He classified his stamps under the headings of mother country and colonies. He soon came to know all the colonies and islands with in- dependent local governments of all the great nations. He would constantly look these up on maps, and when- THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATURAL INTEREST 185 ever he found a stamp from a country or colony that he did not know of, he would immediately find it on the map, noting whether it was a dependency, and, if so, to what country it belonged. He made special studies of the countries from which his stamps came. The knowledge of geography in such a case is not the main good result of the collection. The ability to do re- search work at an early age and the habit of independent investigation when the teacher or taskmaster is not over him emancipates such a boy. If no accident occurs, his future is assured. The boy who had this stamp collec- tion had been quite a cigarette smoker before his interest developed in his project. He quite forgot his smoking in his eagerness for all kinds of work after this, and he was advanced a grade in school because he had clearly demonstrated his ability to do high school work. In high school his work was of the highest grade. This boy's work was the result of contact with a teacher who fostered his life interests and took interest in him as a boy. Collections to Be Made by Teacher and Children for the School. Children who become interested in such collections as private enterprises should be encouraged. Geography Post cards. Pictures. Museums of products. Railroad folders containing maps and descriptions. 186 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Steamship folders. Special literature advertising farm crops, business oppor- tunities, and resorts. Coins. The school which has a few of these collections will not only have a large and growing body of material that will furnish a center for its geography work, but an in- terest in objects of the nature collected will go with the children into life. They are likely to bring rare gifts to the school. These collections and museums should be made a regular source of information concerning every new country or industry studied, and the more that is made of individual interest and donations the larger the results will be. It is often surprising how large and valuable a collection may become in one year. History Collections Old histories and source books. Historical documents. Flags. Historical pictures. Buttons on which are pictures of presidents or other his- torical characters. Coins. Nature Study Butterflies and moths. Birds' nests. The collecting of birds' eggs should be discouraged. The boy is not hard to control in this matter. TJob sub- THE DEVELOPMENT OP A NATURAL INTEREST 187 stitution of the nest, which may be taken after the birds have reared their young and left, works quite well. Other collections from nature are : Stones. Seeds. Pressed Flowers. Shells. Both historical and nature collections are valuable to the school and furnish a decided help in the study of these subjects. The description of the values to the in- dividual that may come from any one of the above col- lections might take up an entire chapter. Collections to he Discouraged The collecting interest is general in the sense that it does not attach itself to any one type of article. Objects in nature come nearest to holding first place. But the field of endeavor is likely to depend upon environment and upon suggestions from other persons. Energy that may have been applied in wholesome and valuable fields is often dissipated in the collection of objects that are degrading. A collection of this type is tobacco tags. Almost every man has collected them sometime in his boy- hood. They lead boys to gutters, to trash piles and sweepings from hotels and pool halls, and into the alleys behind grocery stores. No one can question the dehght of a boy, who, after going to the bottom of a trash heap, finds a strange new tag. But a study of his in- 188 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE terest will convince one that it is easy to turn him toward nature or geology or something where the energy which is being wasted on tags can be used to advantage. Com- mon as it may be there is no need of the tobacco tag, cigar band, or cigarette picture collection. It results from chance association, nothing more. It is foolish to rail against such collections or at- tempt to forbid them. The only sure method of getting rid of them is to substitute something more valuable. A keen insight into boy nature is necessary in order to do this ; children turn their energies into many strange channels. A number of useless collections that are quite common are : Horses counted, white or black. Bald-headed men counted. Trade marks. Envelopes. Knots in ropes. Labels. It is not a sin to indulge in such activities and often they furnish a channel for surplus energy which it might be hard otherwise to control. But the same energy should be used to positive advantage. It is often sur- prising how quickly a child will turn to more worth-while endeavor at the slightest suggestion. Finally, we have an interest which will function more or less, whether or not we recognize or use it. If the school ignores it, the result is likely to be the same as with anything else that grows wild and uncultivated. CHAPTER IX THE SELECTION AND EMPHASIS OF SUBJECT MATTER One of the most important functions of the teacher is the selection of subjects and parts of subjects for special emphasis. Some subjects must be given more time in the day's program and more space in the curriculum than others. Also parts of any giv.en subject should be taught with greater emphasis than other parts. There are facts in every branch of learning which need not be brought into the school at all; and every teacher, as he plans his work, should conscientiously ask himself whether the material he is requiring the children to spend their time and energy in learning is worth while. But even when it is evident that the subject matter being taught is valuable, there is always room for much thought on the question whether the children might not be engaged in something far more profitable to them. ^' For everything we gain we lose something else " ; while we were refining the ability to write by practicing long after the necessary speed and legibility for com- plete living has been reached, we might have taught the children how to keep books. In this case it is worth while to be able to write better than " very well," but 189 190 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE not as essential to most of us as a hundred other abilities which might have been improved during this time. To some material the child need have little more than a good exposure ; while some should be mastered as an integral part of his life. The school of the past did not properly differentiate between these classes of subject matter. It followed the slogan which we hear now and then given in criticism of the schools to-day, ^' It makes little difference what you do just so you do it thoroughly.'' " Thoroughness " when blind is just as bad as its op- posite. One may be a thorough villain. In school a child may be forced to waste most of his growing years in ^^ thoroughly " covering a curriculum which unfits him for success in life. In geography and history, for example, ^' local color " may be brought into any lesson in order to stimulate interest. How the Hindu boy goes fishing and the kind of fish he catches, and John Smith explaining the com- pass to the Indians are bits of local color well worth considering ; but they serve as mere incidents. A study of the life of Longfellow may serve as a setting for the literary appreciation of his works if it is made with this specific aim. There is no value in requiring the class to memorize and be able to give in a test the dates of his birth and death, or the times and places of the chief incidents in his life. In hygiene the child may be shown a model of the human spine, but we no longer require him to know the number of bones therein. Undoubtedly such a model should have the correct number, but this is SELECTION AND EMPHASIS 191 an incident. Concrete illustrations might be given of a large number of materials ranging in value from those given as incidents to such important knowledge as the necessity for, and the proper methods of, caring for the teeth, the acquisition of the habit of reading good books, and accuracy in the fundamentals of arithmetic. When we have covered any subject, certain definite valuable parts of it should be retained, and these should be the parts upon which children are examined. The remainder of the subject need not be considered further. The ability to select that which is vital must be developed by both teachers and children. Too much time has been wasted on the unessential. Anyone who will visit schools may see whole recitations and even months of them devoted to unimportant features of a subject while the vital elements are being entirely neglected. Illustrations from Geography From studying the work in geography as it is offered in ten of our leading cities and in several well-known private schools, it appears that the attitude towards this subject and the selection for emphasis of its various elements may be summed up as follows : Below the fourth grade geography, history, reading, story- telling, and handwork are so combined and correlated that geography is not a separate subject. Thus the geography which furnishes an interesting story, that which is connected with a historical event, and the portions which may lend themselves to illustration in handwork or furnish good read- ing selections are chosen as being especially valuable at this time " 192 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE The three grades, fourth, fifth, and sixth, are rapidly being fixed as the period in which geography is taught as a separate study. This, of course, does not include commercial geography. The elements which are being emphasized are : 1. Thorough understanding of the locational, business, and commercial geography of the home city, county, state, and nation. 2. Constant comparison with home conditions in the study of other places. 3. A thorough understanding of the world in the aspect of its larger elements ; that is, continents, oceans, large rivers, mountain ranges, leading countries, and important cities. 4. As much specific study as time will allow of the various world elements, i.e., peoples, industries, places of interest, and products which can be related to the lives of the children and be given meaning and significance to them. Considering the above principles representative of the ideals of our most successful schools, any teacher may evaluate lessons and courses of study in geography so as to teach in such manner that the class will acquire a good body of essen- tial and valuable knowledge, which will form the core of the work. Wide contact and reading should form the background. Too often children are required to memorize facts which are not important, contacts are not wide, and nothing definite is retained. Some illustrations of facts of comparative value are : Valuable information : 1. Important facts about the home city are the locations of the chief buildings, as post office, library, parks, places of business, etc., the names of the streets and a knowledge of numbering so as to be able to locate any address with ease, an understanding of the city's growth and size, imports and exports, manufacturing and other industries, railroads, tele- phones, and the Hke. One may proceed to the county by study- SELECTION AND EMPHASIS 193 ing in a comparative way other cities in the same county, the value of the surrounding country to the home city and the value of the city to the rest of the county. The state and nation may be studied in the same way, by making constant comparisons with local conditions and by revealing the influ- ences of each upon the other. 2. In studying foreign countries their connections with the home country must be a constant part of the work. London is a great commercial center, for example. How does it com- pare with New York? Why are New York and London such large cities? What are ten other large cities of the world? Why have all of them become large cities ? What does America export to and import from England? Are the industries of the home community represented in this commerce? Are we, therefore, dependent upon business success in London? etc., etc. Worthless information sometimes required : 1. Memorizing long lists of cities with the location of each. 2. The "bounding" of various states or counties, espe- cially distant ones. 3. Studies of coast lines requiring the ability to outline and name bays, capes, peninsulas. 4. Memorizing specific lengths of rivers. 5. Memorizing the names of state capitals. Often the capital of a state is a very unimportant place. 6. Memorizing the names of the capitals of all the coun- tries of a continent, as South America. Only the capitals of the leading world powers need be learned, and these usually for some other reason than the fact that they are capitals. In fact, it may be said that a wrong emphasis has been made in geography because of too much pure memory work not connected with any definite purpose. Once let the teacher begin 194 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE to teach of places and industries for their specific values to the children, and mistakes are not likely to be made. A noted American educator expressed his opinion of the old-style memory work he had gone through in geography by the statement, ''I regard my knowledge of these facts as very important. I may be called upon to use it at any time. If, for instance, a burglar should come into my house to-night, place a pistol at my temple, and tell me to name all the bays and capes of Massachusetts or forfeit my life, I could name them for him and thus save myself." The Development of the Present Attitude towards Subject Matter. Three definite periods have marked the growth of the subject matter which now makes up the American elementary school curriculum. They may be described as the traditional, the hypercritical, and the evaluating periods ; the last is the product of the strug- gle between the first and second. Since there are still many representatives of the traditional as well as of the hypercritical, it is well that we consider the essential elements and basic principles of these periods to secure a better understanding of evaluation and selection. The Reactionary or Traditional View During the latter half of the nineteenth century school authorities held sway in a manner that almost approached divine right. Anything that pertained to the school was to be taken as a matter of course. Those who did question were looked upon as having aligned themselves against the forces which were working for the betterment of mankind. It was during this period that a Boston SELECTION AND EMPHASIS 195 superintendent said he would like to see the person who could find anything the matter with any school in that city. This is an instance of the typical attitude of satisfaction among schoolmen everywhere. During this time most of the curriculum which we have inherited was becoming established. Due to lack of criticism little care was used in its selection. Much was incorporated as the result of accident. A teacher, after an extended period of trial and error practice, might suddenly come into control of a school system. Never having been schooled in educational values, he naturally selected the high points in his own experience as the standard for his schools. Change came slowly or not at all. Knowledge was looked upon as an end in itself. The highest aim was as broad an acquaintance with the subject matter of the school as it was possible to attain. No discrimination was made between facts of different value, and the application of the knowledge gained at school was not to be doubted or specifically questioned. Of course, it did not function. Its value was merely assumed. The subjects taught were those whose materials were easiest to obtain. Those which demanded the least equip- ment on the part of the school and of the teacher natu- rally came to the front. This was true, not because anyone maliciously planned such a program, but on ac- count of the general lack of inquiry into school practice everywhere. Parents paid their taxes and were as in- terested in the advancement of their children as they are 196 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE to-day, but everyone seemed to assume that sending them to school was the final parental sacrifice. Once he was successfully through school, the future of the child was considered assured. Spelling, reading, arithmetic, writing, American history, and geography were stressed as the " essentials," and now and then a few other sub- jects such as music, drawing, and manual work were allowed to come in as ^^ side lines." This view, to be sure, has not entirely passed. There is always a minority who like to find themselves in har- mony with tradition. This group also finds ready re- cruits from the great mass of incapables who cannot attain the modern standard. Apparently the large body of traditional supporters is a product of the tradi- tional school; they are specialists in its subject matter; they earn their living by teaching it. It is too late for them to change, so they band themselves into societies and use every means they can to uphold what they do. Eliminate those who have financial reasons for up- holding the unselected subject matter of the old curricu- lum, and few would be left to defend it. It is readily understood, for example, why a teacher who cannot speak or write correct English will advocate diagraming and parsing in the place of teaching effective speaking and writing. The Hypercritical View The period of establishment having passed, the work of the more active schoolmen was no longer necessary in arousing intellectual sluggishness to a proper support of SELECTION AND EMPHASIS 197 education. Their energies were now turned towards the reform and improvement of the schools. This grad- ually led to an attempt to establish education as a science and teaching as a profession. The great leaders of the new movement were sane in their criticisms and sure in their recommendations. They set up the needs of the child as paramount to the demands of the curricu- lum. They studied childhood and established a concrete foundation for the discovery of what these needs were and how the old curriculum violated them. They gave us a general philosophy of education which it will take the world centuries to live up to. Following their lead, however, there has sprung up a body of critics who are more destructive than construc- tive. They seem to think it the duty of an educator to criticize that which is. These persons may be said to hold the hypercritical view. The hypercritic is in the same class with the political agitator. His development has been brought about by a series of circumstances. First of all, those who are temperamentally unstable and pessimistic will always be overcritical of any line of work they enter. We find them in all the professions and trades. Second, there will always be a group who have ideal theories which they have not had opportunity to practice ; they cannot realize that giving advice is not difficult, but that carry- ing it out is another matter. Third, there is much theory which would be found wanting if applied in actual school work. 198 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE The difficulty of distinguishing between the hyper- critic, who has no basis for his statements nor anything to take the place of what he would destroy and the con- structive educational student is one of the factors in the lack of progress in practice. The public knows that if it follows the traditional view it is not likely to create new difficulties for itself, and that in taking the advice of its critics and trying to live up to their prescriptions, unknown difficulties worse than those at hand may be encountered. As a hindrance to advance- ment the hypercritic is the hardest problem the true reformer has to deal with. The Modern Study of Values During the last decade we have seen leaders in educa- tional thought joining hands with the administrator in solving the tremendous problems which the latter has to face. Instead of condemning from the outside, educators have gone inside and have sympathetically considered the values of what they find. The many careful surveys containing constructive recommendations are examples of this new union between theory and practice. To be sure, the educational ^' expert " often finds that many of his basic principles and theories will not work when he comes to apply them to an actual school. He also finds that the ability to wield school machinery is a science in itself ; for in helping the public in one way, it is very possible to injure it in several others. SELECTION AND EMPHASIS 199 Principles Underlying Evaluation The first question which faced those who were striving properly to evaluate the work of the school was : '^ On what basis shall we judge this work ? " The old attitude, as explained above, was almost a worship of the mastery of subject matter regardless of its application. A new spirit of criticism was beginning to condemn the course of study as being without any value. Function in Life the First Principle. There is no disagreement among educational leaders to-day concern- ing the basic principle in the evaluation of school subjects. Their use in life or functional value is the first measure that should be applied. The school is fast eliminating subjects and parts of subjects which have no life values. The idea of function must not be limited to purely vocational values. To be able to earn it is no doubt a basic element of complete living but not necessarily all of it. Subjects of social value and those which teach one to appreciate the world in which he lives must also be included. The ability to spend spare time in wise and profitable recreation must be developed, and training which will insure physical and mental stability is just as necessary. The principle of function is not narrow but it is definite. There are four specific ways in which subject matter may function in the lives of those who take it. These are : 1. The development of physical and mental health. Play, physical training, hygiene, and physiology come directly under this function, and are the most important subjects 200 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE in the curriculum because physical and mental health are essential to the full realization of any of the other aims of life. The school has not appreciated until re- cently how large a part it plays in developing or injuring the health of children. It is hard to convince some teach- ers that it is more essential to the child's development that he play well, than that he study arithmetic or gram- mar, but we are progressing, and the time will come when at least one fourth of our regular school session will be spent in some form of play. 2. Training which ivill develop the ability to earn a living, or to produce something of economic value. Woodwork, mechanics, printing, commercial branches, home econom- ics courses, and agriculture have been included in the ele- mentary school curricula of many of our leading schools as pre-vocational subjects. These are gradually finding a larger place and are being given more time. From the fifth grade up, an hour a day should be devoted to some type of definite pre-vocational training. 3. Social development. A third factor is the develop- ment of the child's social nature. He must be trained to live at peace with his neighbors and willingly to shoul- der social responsibilities in living up to his duties as a citizen of his community, his country, and the world. Discipline, civics, history, some parts of literature, and free social relationships between the children contribute directly to this function. 4. Culture and recreation. Education must place man upon a higher plane by giving him the power to enjoy SELECTION AND EMPHASIS 201 the world about him in a better way than he could if he merely indulged his instincts. Any subject which con- tributes to the development of the ability to appreciate better things is quite worth while. Culture, however, has been a very ambiguous term in the past. It is gradually being coupled with recreation by modern edu- cators. This both elevates recreation and makes culture practical. Music, art, literature, history, nature study, and the modern languages are in this class. Any subject, however, may be cultural and recreational if it is taught in the right way. The fundamentals of the common branches are essen- tial to the development of any of these functions, and are regarded everywhere as the common basis. The Objective in Teaching Every Subject. Every sub- ject in our present elementary school curriculum can be made to function in all of the four ways described above. The chief duty of the teacher is to select the useful and discard the useless parts, and to use methods which will relate the materials selected to the lives of the children as embracing these four functions of subject matter. Illustrations of the application of these principles to various subjects : Geography. The illustrations of the selection of vital facts in this sub- ject, as given earlier in this chapter, bring out all the four elements of the usefulness of subject matter. In studying, the home city health conditions should be one of the chief features considered. The child should study the water system, considering at all times the possibilities of con- 202 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE tamination. He should know how his city ranks with others from the health standpoint. In fact, in studying the activities of man anywhere upon the face of the globe, the teacher should constantly impress upon the children the necessity of vitality and health in the pursuit of any occupation. When the child has finished his course in geography, he should have a better understanding of the necessity for him to keep up and further his own vitality. Geography, of course, in its studies of industries, occupa- tions, manufacturing, etc., should have a direct vocational bearing. From it the child should learn ways and means of travel, the values of different industries, and possibilities of vocations. This knowledge will form a general background for any vocation. Geography can be taught so as to have large social influ- ence upon those who study it. In learning of the various elements of the home community, state, and nation, the child should come in contact with facts which will make him a better and more efficient citizen. In learning of the relation of his own nation and community to foreign countries, his social consciousness is enlarged. The City of Indianapolis has recently taken a great educational stride by combining its history, civics, and geography courses. The study of geography may be made to function jn the culture-recreational direction by developing the child's interest in the rest of the world. This knowledge should be valuable to him in ordinary conversations, reading, and travel. Thus, if properly selected, the subject matter of geography may be made to fit into every phase of the function of educa- tional subject matter. That it has not done this in the past is due entirely to the facts that were selected for teaching and the methods of presenting them. There is plenty of valuable material in the subject. SELECTION AND EMPHASIS 203 History. History, when properly selected, also furnishes good material in all four fields. Health and vitality can readily be shown to be a basic feature in the exploits of great men and in the destiny of peoples. Washington succeeded, first of all, because he was a vital man. Every boy or girl who studies the exploits of great men should be impressed by this fact. The Roman empire declined because the vitality of the people was sapped by easy hving and by over-indulgence. History abounds with instances which may be used to impress upon children the necessity of vitality. Vocationally, history is being vitalized by substituting for the study of wars and of battles the history of the growth of industries. A study of the heroes of peace, and the large part that is always played by labor and the industries in the advancement of any nation either in war or in peace is bound to help the vocational viewpoint. History, like geography, has large social values. It is readily evident to anyone who will study the teaching of history in the German schools that this has had a direct influ- ence in bringing about the world war. A knowledge of history should enlarge the vision and sympathies of the student as well as make him better informed. The subject is invaluable from this angle. History should be so taught that the child will want more of it. He will thus read and discuss it for his recreation. Such recreation is highly cultural. Methods of teaching for both health and social values are considered in later chapters. They are neglected more often than the other two. 204 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE A Second Vital Principle Is to Make Subject Matter and Methods Conform to Physical and Mental Growth of Children. Much waste is incurred and immeasurable injury is inflicted upon those whom we teach when we force them too early into tasks which they would master later on as a matter of growth and when we defer instruc- tion in subjects which can never be mastered unless their elementary phases are studied early. To adjust rightly the subject matter and methods of the school to the growth of children is not fully possible with our present knowledge. Meumann has collected the experimental data up to 1910. It has taken two large volumes, and with all the problem of adjusting school practice to child growth is not yet solved. There is a consensus of opinion, however, among practical leaders regarding a few basic features of the application of this principle. These will be considered in a general way since space does not per- mit the bringing in of experimental evidence at this time. They are : 1. The mechanics of the common branches should be learned as early in the school course as is compatible with physical and mental health. They form the basis for all other school work and are mastered with less dif- ficulty early in life than at a later period. This state- ment may seem to run counter to the proposition which has been so well demonstrated in experiment that up to the age of twenty or thereabouts the ability to memorize increases. But there are two factors in mechanical learn- ing : the first is the act of learning or memorizing ; the SELECTION AND EMPHASIS 205 second is the retention and application of that which is learned. All the experimental evidence collected by Meumann points to the fact that those subjects which must be retained throughout life and which form the constant basis of all mental activities should be learned early, for retention is best at this time. The experiments of Penschew, Radossaljewitch, the Paris Commission, and Meumann, all coincide upon this point. ^ Children retain better than adults. This idea is also in conform- ity with the law of Jost, which is, that of two associations equal in, all other respects the older is remembered best. In accordance with this law, then, one who has learned the multiplication tables at the age of seven will retain them better, all other factors being equal, than one who learned them at the age of ten or twelve. Likewise a foreign language, although learned more quickly by the adult, is mastered better and may be applied to a greater extent by one who learns it as a child. The multiplica- tion tables, addition, division, and subtraction, correct usage, pronunciation, and punctuation in English, one foreign language if any is to be learned, spelling, and the bodily habits connected with writing should be stressed in the lower grades. The question of health and spontaneity has been raised in this connection. A number of our leading educators have, with good grounds, urged that little children should not be subjected to the strenuous methods which were so commonly used in learning mechanical facts a decade ago. 1 Meumann's Vorlesungen. Englemann (publisher), Leipzig. 206 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Long periods of drill during which undivided attention was demanded, the old disciplinary methods which re- quired children to sit still and in specifically designated positions, and lack of reaction by teachers to the spon- taneous manifestations of the children, all resulting in injury to bodily health, overstrain of the sense organs, and the stagnation of the imagination and emotions, are common features of the school which teaches mechan- ical facts regardless of everything else. It would be bet- ter for the children and for the state to close our schools than to teach in such a fashion ; and when we emphasize the necessity of acquiring the useful mechanics of the com- mon branches early in life^ we must not in any way allow the teaching of these mechanics to run counter to any of the other vital principles of selection and emphasis. By making the principle of function come first, and by in- cluding as the most vital element of this principle the fostering of mental and physical health, the danger of physical injury is eliminated before the question of teach- ing the mechanics arises. If learning them is a physical detriment to the children, mechanics should be discarded. However, all the objectionable factors respecting the learning of mechanical facts in the first two grades or in any of the grades, for that matter, can be reduced to two : (l) overstrain due to periods of work which are too long or too strenuous requirements, and (2) bad methods which tend to make too much of the mechanical, and do not allow freedom for the unfolding of the child's nature in its rational development. An illustration of reading, SELECTION AND EMPHASIS 207 writing, spelling, and arithmetic being taught in the first grade with large results and without any of these ob- jectionable features is found in the Francis W. Parker School. Here the work is related to the interests of the children and is not allowed to interfere in any way with their spontaneity or health. In the Horace Mann School, reading, spelling, and writing (or printing) were for several years made a part of the work of the kindergarten.^ Good results were obtained without any objectionable methods being used. 2. Abstract association must not be expected in the lower grades ; it is only beginning to develop when the child leaves the elementary school. Following this principle we must strive to make our methods and mate- rials as concrete as possible. The child in the elemen- tary school is a realist. He must see, touch, and hear the real materials concerning which he is taught. He must do more as well as talk more. In accordance with this idea the school is turning more to life illustrations, museums, and laboratory methods in its instruction. Books are not being discarded, and prob- ably more is gained from their use than ever before, because of a better understanding of their real values ; however, they are not allowed to take up as much time as they once did, and memorizing their contents in the old mechanical way is not considered worth while any more. To-day the child is taught to read a book in order to find information about something which he is studying in a 1 Teachers College Record, Sept. 1916, pp. 330-343. 208 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE concrete way, and what he finds there is not to be con- sidered the end of his lesson. The great out-of-doors; manufacturing estabhshments, social life and institu- tions, concrete objects, specimens, and books make up the modern text. 3. The child must be regarded as a growing organism. Therefore, the results of his work must be judged from the standpoint of his development and not in a commer- cial or business sense. If a growing child make$ a mis- take, we must regard his mistake as an indication of his immaturity or of unsatisfactory methods which were em- ployed in his teaching. In no case is he to be personally judged upon the basis of his instability. It was once the custom to place the burden of responsibility upon the child. Now, although children are not condoned for making mistakes or for wrong actions, the burden of responsibility is placed where it rightfully belongs, upon the shoulders of parents and teachers. For example, it was once the custom to assign hard tasks and fail all those who could not accomplish them, schools being judged as efficient if they were able to make the requirements so difficult that a large number of chil- dren failed. To-day we are standardizing our require- ments and are measuring results by judging the teacher's efficiency in bringing a class up to the best modern stand- ards. It is usually an indication of poor teaching or im- possible requirements (which are as injurious to children as are tasks that are too easy for them), if a large number in a class is failed. " Mortality like gout," said McAn- SELECTION AND EMPHASIS 209 drew, '^ is a fashionable disease." But the school world is making progress in dealing with this, its ancient ail- ment, and in some places we are already seeing an aver- age acceleration rather than the old fifty per cent retard- ation. In large cities where educational machinery has been a difficult problem, and in places where educational progress has been slow, retardation is still large ; but in the next few years this problem is going to be attacked and solved. The fluctuation found in a child's learning any new skill is an important factor here. In general it may be said that the younger the child the greater will be the fluctuations in his advancement. Teachers have not understood the significance of this fact. They have expected constant progress. Those who have been measuring education have failed to consider unexplain- able fluctuations as much as they should. The child learns by spurts. His ability advances and recedes. To- day he may do well and to-morrow, without any appar- ent reason, he may fall far below this attainment. When we know more about these fluctuations, we will be able to deal in a better way with them, but at present we can at least recognize their existence and not expect con- tinuous advancement. The failure of pupils to live up to expectations at critical moments has been a source of great discouragement to teachers. In the light of the facts both teachers and supervisors must learn not to judge recitations or the development of children by single observations. 210 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE It is impossible in this volume to consider in detail all the many phases of selection and methods of teaching school subjects in accordance with child development; the three elements of this principle which have been con- sidered here have been preferred on account of the larger attention they are receiving in leading schools. The Selection and Emphasis of Subject Matter in Accordance with the Difficulties Which Are Encountered in Learning It. A great deal of tinie has been wasted by teaching subjects and parts of subjects that are difficult at the same level with material which is easily learned. The critical features of a subject must be discovered and stressed. The parts that are easily learned, or that may be mastered through association without being brought into the classroom, should be known by the teacher and taught accordingly. Thus, there are two elements to this principle of selection. 1. The selection of facts and processes which the chil- dren need to know and which are especially difficult to master. These must be placed before the child at the moment his mental growth has reached the place where he can study them to advantage. They should be stressed and associated with his life activities in every pos- sible manner, and they should be reviewed and selected for special emphasis as often as it is profitable to do this. When the most difficult of the useful subject matter is not stressed in this way, we leave the education of the child who is finishing elementary school in a very chaotic state. When he should have been overcoming the SELECTION AND EMPHASIS 211 critical difficulties of the common branches, we have al- lowed him to drift over the hard places and leave them behind him. His life, which becomes more complex after the elementary school period, does not allow him opportunity to overcome the weak places that the school has left in his mental make-up. He is left in a difficult position. Many adults testify that they would have profited vastly had they mastered in the elementary school such accomplishments as accuracy in the fundamentals of arithmetic, the habitual use of correct English, the ability to express themselves in writing, the ability to stand on their feet and say what they wish, and a hun- dred other features of adult life which can be developed in childhood if the critical difficulties are analyzed and overcome. 2. The avoidance of overl earning, of teaching the child what he already knows, and of allowing the work of the school to become too easy, is managed by constantly eliminating from class discussions subjects and materials which do not need stressing. This element of principle three is important from the . standpoint of economy of time. When we spend school hours having the child spell words which he already knows, practice writing when he has already attained satisfactory speed and legibility, work at addition when his speed and accuracy are good enough, and perform like tasks, we are wasting his time. It is disintegrating to their characters for children to work constantly with materials which are too easy for them. They come to school eager and willing to learn, 212 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE but if they do not need to make any effort to master the subject matter assigned to them, they soon lose all in- terest in hard work. The laziness and inability of chil- dren in upper grades is often due to teaching methods used in lower grades. They have been taught to avoid work and are not to be blamed for their condition. The application of these principles will be considered in relation to several school subjects in the chapters which follow. CHAPTER X SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH The Function of English. English, being the mother tongue, is one of the most valuable subjects in the cur- riculum. It should be made a central feature of the ele- mentary school for it is essential from economic, so- cial, and cultural standpoints. The realization of these values, however, depends upon what is taught in the subject called English. It is possible for children to be taught so as to reach a high state of perfection in the use of English before they leave the elementary school. It is also possible to teach the subject without any improve- ment resulting in reading, writing, or speaking. It must be kept in mind that English is taught in order to teach children to speak, write, and read fluently, accu- rately, and correctly, and to enjoy and appreciate good literature. There is no other reason for the exist- ence of this subject as a part of the elementary school curriculum. Oral Expression. The most important function of English is the development of the ability to speak. In a recent address President Benjamin Ide Wheeler of the University of California said, ^^ The greatest possession a boy or girl can have is the English language ; to be 213 214 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE able to stand on his own two legs and say things." This expresses the consensus of advanced educational thought as regards the value of the abihty to speak compared with other values in English. From the day he enters school the child should be taught to speak both fluently and effectively. Not a week should pass without each child being given oppor- tunity to make an extended recitation in which he must organize his thoughts and express them to his fellows. Constant practice accompanied by constructive criticism is necessary to develop the power to speak. In schools where oral English has been stressed from the beginning, eighth-grade graduates often excel in quality and effec- tiveness of speech college seniors who have not had this early training. This is not an overstatement of the case. For several years I have given the same tests both in speaking and writing to college seniors, and to eighth-grade children who have had oral English training Not considering in- dividual exceptions, the eighth grade usually excelled the seniors. This was due, no doubt, to the difference in training. Those who are in college now grew up for the most part in schools which taught English '' to train the mind," or for some other general reason just as indefinite. The ability to speak received practically no training and, of course, was not developed. The ineffectiveness of courses in English as they were maintained a few years ago, and as they are found in many places even to-day, may be witnessed by observation of a few high-school SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH 215 or college recitations. Students who have had eight or ten years of the old style English or " grammar for its own sake " either plead inability to tell what they know or appear most pitiful in their bungling attempts to ex- press themselves. Full-grown college seniors will stand on one leg with face averted or turned to the floor and mumble recitations which cannot be understood three paces away. Often they succeed in giving only a small fraction of what they would like to say and in leaving, per- haps, an impression just the opposite of the one intended. There is only one method of overcoming this difficulty. We must begin as early as possible and train constantly in speaking. Heredity is a factor in the backwardness of many, but it is by no means to blame for the situ- ation described above. It has been found that most dif- ficulties in oral expression are readily eliminated by prac- tice. Not only must every lesson in all subjects be an English lesson, but we must also have a daily period affording opportunity for practice and for constructive criticism of the effort. Written English. The necessity for being able to write effectively is met with in all vocations — in some, of course, m.ore than in others — in social life, and in the cultural aspects of living. Its importance is second only to the ability to speak. Comparisons between modern elementary schools which stress the functional elements of English and schools of the old type which teach English with no specific purposes reveal the ad- vantage of emphasizing fluent, accurate, and effective 216 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE writing. This function may be developed by constant practice under constructive criticism, and the earUer, within reasonable limits, that it is begun the better. In the Francis Parker School the children in the first grade express themselves in writing and make diction- aries of the words whose use they are to master. By the time these same children finish the eighth grade, their ability to express themselves in writing has been de- veloped to a state surprising to those who have not witnessed the written work of elementary grades in a school of this type. Reading and the Study of Literature. The ability to read and interpret the printed page is essential to progress in most vocations. It is also necessary in order to learn of social developments that one may become a better social being ; and it has great culture-recreational value. However, if we teach literature and reading from this standpoint, our methods and the subject matter stressed must be quite different from the methods and subject matter of the traditional school. The following factors are being made the central features of courses in modern schools : 1. Silent reading is more important than oral reading. The ability to read orally in such a way as to entertain others is of very little use to the average person. Only the few who become entertainers will need such an ability to a very great extent. Silent reading, that which in- terprets the printed page, is the reading which must be stressed. Too much emphasis has been placed upon the SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH 217 ability to read with good expression; not enough atten- tion has been given to the development of the ability to ^' tear the heart out of a book/' to know what to re- member and what to neglect, and to supplement problems and projects by covering a large amount of literature rather than by memorizing the statements of a text. 2. Literature studied from the cultural standpoint must be so taught that it will function in the direction intended. Too often when a book is studied in school the work is associated in the child's mind with pain and drudgery, and after he has finished it, he never volun- tarily refers to it again. He is usually through with the author forever. Wide acquaintance with good books, the fostering of the reading habit, and the selection of high class material which appeals to children are three vital factors in teaching literature. Illustrations of Functional English. In developing the above abilities the topics below should be stressed. It is easier for the teacher when these are made the essential features in his course of study, but with any course to cover it is possible to place more stress upon the im- portant elements. Daily practice in speaking by every child, when possible. Written work at least once per week by every child. The reading of a few good books in every grade, a partial reading of a large number of others, and the fostering and stimulation of the reading habit. Grammar and the mechanical features of speaking, writing, and reading to the extent that they are helpful in a functional 218 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE way. There have been many so called functional outlines of grammar facts. The one which follows was made by Miss Amy Foote, training teacher in the State Teachers College, Greeley, Colorado. It is given in full here on account of the remarkable success of Miss Foote's work in developing power in children to speak, write, and read effectively. The Study of Grammar Sentence Used as a Basis of Study 1. Sentence as a whole clearly vocalized. (a) Subject clearly vocalized. (6) Predicate clearly vocalized. (c) Kinds of Sentences as to meaning. 2. Sentence types. (a) Simple : The function of this sentence is to express with utmost clearness a single idea — to give emphasis. (b) Compound : The function of this sentence is to express an idea which contains two or more equally important notions. (c) Complex : The function of this sentence is to express the central idea in the independent clause, but at the same time to modify the chief idea with clearness and correctness. In this connection, a comparative study as to the most effective use of the three types of sentences as to structure and use should be made — each word, phrase, or clause should be placed in the sentence where it stands for the most in making the sen- tence correct, clear, and elegant ; no needless word or words should be used ; no necessary word or words should be omitted ; and great care should be exercised in selecting the choicest words. SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH 219 . Modifiers. (a) Subject : (1) Word, (2) Phrase, (3) Clause, (6) Predicate : (1) Word, (2) Phrase, (3) Clause, Function. Must be known for agreement, proper emphasis, punctuation, etc. In this connection, modifiers should be considered a means of expansion of thought, hence the child should become conscious of the relative emphasis each group affords. One can now see how the parts of speech become at once needful and alive instead of isolated, disjointed scraps of facts : they are truly tools or so much timber with which the child builds up his house of speech. We need to know the names of our vari- ous tools only as we come gradually to need them as we pro- gress from our homesteader's one-room, subject-and-predicate house, as ''Snow falls," to our last and great house, the com- plex sentence. 4. Parts of Speech — with onl}" such divisions as are of practical, everyday value. (a) Noun : (1) Kinds. Proper — for capitalization. Common — for comparative study. (2) Form. Possessive — especially emphasized. (6) Pronoun : (1) Kinds. Personal — for agreement. Relative — for agreement. 220 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE (2) Properties. Case — for correct form. Person forms — especially emphasized. (c) Adjective. (1) Kinds. Proper — for capitalization. Common — for comparative study. (2) Properties. Comparison — for correct forms. (d) Verb. (1) Kinds according to use. Transitive — lay, set, etc. Intransitive — lie, sit, etc. Copulative — followed by nominative. (2) According to form. Regular, or weak. Irregular, or strong. Study the Principal Parts of the Verb, selecting 40 of the most commonly misused to drill upon. (3) Tenses. Present — Present Perfect. 1 For cor- Past — Past Perfect. J rect forms. Future. Special emphasis should be placed upon the agreement of the verb and its subject in number and person. (e) Adverb. (1) Properties. Comparison especially emphasized. ('/) Preposition. (1) Its object, e.g., ''between him and (J) me," etc. (g) Conjunction. (1) Kinds. Coordinating; subordinating. SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH 221 Used as tools in compound and com- plex sentences and of use to the child only in helping to show the relationship of one part of the sentence to another. (h) Interjection. (1) Function — Emphasis and surprise. Punctuation introduced early in this study with the sentence as to meaning, and carried on throughout study. Seeing all elements with which the class is capable of deahng, in relation to the entire sentence, results in completeness of syntax ; viewing each part in relation to what it enables one to do in expressing thought results in clear-cut structure, hence improvement of speech, clearness of expression. 5. Composition — development of paragraph sense. (a) Oral. (6) Written. Much attention to organization — rela- tive values and initiative by children. (1) Original. (2) Reproduction. (c) Paragraph Structure and Content. (1) Indentation. (2) Margin. (3) Topic Sentence (subject sentence). (4) Developing Sentences (predicate sentence). (5) Rounding out sentence. (d) Subject Matter. (1) Personal Interests — persons, places, things. (2) Narration and description. (3) Letter writing. (a) Social notes — invitations, etc. (6) Social letters. (c) Business letters — telegrams, ad- vertisements, etc. 222 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE (d) Form. (1) Salutation. (2) Complimentary close. (3) Place of date, address. (e) Envelope. (1) Placing of address. (2) Spacing of address. 6. Study of literature and reading. (a) Long stories. (5) Structure. (1) Narrative steps ^ A feeling for structure — growth of plot — to be read rapidly. (a) For thought and picture of times. (h) Oral interpretation. (c) Short story or '^ cuttings." (1) Oral interpretation. (2) Character study. (3) Humor of theme, etc. (4) Narrative structures. (d) Dramatization (discussed in detail in a former chapter). (e) Poems. (1) Music. (2) Pictures. (3) Power to inspire. (4) Feeling for structure. 7. Most valuable and economic use of textbook should be emphasized. Selection in English Based upon Growth of Children Many Difficulties Overcome by Growth. There are, no doubt, special psychological stages in the child's de- velopment at which times it would be best to teach def- SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH 223 inite groups of facts, but individual differences are so large and experimental data are so difficult to obtain that general rules are hard to formulate and even more dif- ficult to apply in teaching. The best rule to use, after a decision has been made regarding the functional ele- ments, is to expose the children to such groups of facts as soon as they are able to comprehend their significance. Then review them in all possible relations as often as profitable results seem to follow. Many difficulties in- curred in the lower grades will be overcome as the chil- dren advance. A large number of mistakes will be automatically eliminated by explanations which can only be understood in the upper grades where opportunity is allowed the children to apply the grammar they learn. Agreement, tense forms, use of comma, transitive and intransitive verbs {lay, lie, etc.), and other topics must be taught when special instances involving them occur in the lower grades. Correct and effective usage should be mechanized as a matter of habit, if possible, before the use of incorrect forms becomes habitual. Mechanics in Lower Grades and Rational Relations in Upper Grades. Everything which is a matter of mechanical memory should be mastered as early in the curriculum as possible without running counter to any of the other important factors in the child's development. When children come from good homes and do not associ- ate with companions who use inferior English, it is pos- sible to develop good habits of speaking and writing without teaching grammar. But every child is sure 224 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE sooner or later to come in contact with incorrect usage and should be taught those facts of grammar which will make it possible for him to discover correct and effective forms for himself when he is in doubt. If we make this aim the basis of our English work, it will be necessary constantly to connect every lesson in grammar with the writing and speech of the children. Special emphasis will have to be placed upon the use to him of every fact in grammar that he learns. In examining and testing we must base our records upon an understanding by the child of this use as well as upon a knowledge of the facts and processes. Illustrative Course of Study in English Based upon Function and upon Growth of Children. Experience in a number of schools has proved that the course which fol- lows may be taught with success in the grades suggested : The work in the lower grades may seem too difficult, but if taught informally and made an outgrowth of the lives of the children good results may be obtained in all the three functions of English. Grade 1 Oral English : Constant practice in listening to and telling stories, telling experiences, and reciting lessons. Direct state- ments, clear enunciation, and telling language should be en- couraged and stimulated. Written English : A fair grasp of the simple sentence prop- erly punctuated and capitalized. The writing of records, letters, and stories. (Writing may be objected to in first- grade work, but children are very anxious to write here, and they should be allowed to write in the simplest way. Formal SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH 225 requirements should not be made in this work, but it should grow out of the interests of the children. An example of such work as done in the Horace Mann School is described in the Teachers College Report, September 1916, pp. 330 to 343. A description of work of this kind will be found in the catalogue of the Francis Parker School.) Instruction in the use of capitals for the daj^s of the week, months, proper nouns (taught as special instances, of course), and the pronoun I. The use of the period and the question mark. The use of the larger muscles and materials stressed. Lists of words written and bound into booklets by the children. Literature and reading. Ability to use phonics as an aid in pronunciation should be developed. A reading vocabulary of from 250 to 400 words may be acquired in this grade by the average child. Acquaintance with a large number of good stories, and the reading of a number of primers and one or two first readers should be a central feature of the work. Reading is learned through wide association rather than by memorizing the selections of one or two books. Poetry and prose selections which are interesting to the children should be memorized. A great deal of dramatizing should be done. Grade 2. (Review and reestablish all the results of the preceding work.) Oral English: RetelHng stories, telhng short stories for the first time, some practice at planning short oral composi- tions; insistence upon clear seeing and thinking as a part of telling. Refining and improving oral English stressed in this grade. Here the children may be taught to desire correct usage, and this desire is likely to be retained. If it is not formed in the two lower grades it may be impossible to establish until after graduation from high school. At this age children respond to arbitrary assurance that certain language forms Q 226 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE should be used because they are right. Later they drift along by using any language they find satisfactory in obtaining what they want. The overcoming of habitual usage becomes a harder problem each succeeding year. Written English : Papers written on anything of interest in any of the school work or on outside interests. One at least each week, its length depending upon the individual child's abilities. Stress sentence structure, and proper punc- tuation (all simple sentences). Teacher and children plan compositions together. Correct use of capitals made habitual ; the comma introduced, abbreviatioris such as Mr., Mrs., and initials of personal names taught. A writing vocabulary from 300 to 500 words may be established in this grade. Literature and reading : Study in silent reading by telling what is found on the different pages before a story or selection is read orally; reading books to find special information de- manded in projects and problems ; reading and dramatizing selections from first and second reader; wide acquaintance and pleasant association with the thought to be stressed rather than the ability mechanically to interpret a few selections. The ability to use phonics in the interpretation of words would be perfected in this grade. The ability to read well is not being stressed so much for the first two grades as it formerly was. Reading is one of the most unhygienic subjects on ac- count of the eyestrain necessitated. Two ten or fifteen-minute periods a day suffice. This is one of the subjects in which growth is a large factor. Small children have been forced to undergo nervous and physical strain in learning to read in the first two grades selections which natural growth would have overcome and the strain avoided. Backwardness in oral reading need have nothing to do with a child's advancement. He may never need this ability. The non-necessity for glib oral inter 'pr elation cannot he stressed too much. It is hard for the small-town principal or superintendent to get away from ' SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH 227 the fact that the children need not be able to do good oral read- ing for him when he visits a first-, second-grade or third-grade room. The more hygienic purely memory subjects are tak- ing the place of the large amount of reading once taught in the first two grades. Grade 3. (Review to reestablish abilities already acquired.) Oral English : Story telling ; dramatizing stories ; increased development of language consciousness. Story telling used by children in connection with all content subjects such as literature, history, geography, and nature study. Stress ability to speak correctly and effectively on every possible occasion. Written English : The beginning of a feeling for paragraphs and divisions of thought ; capitals in the cases of first word in a line of poetry, first word in a direct quotation when it begins a sentence, the interjection ; more association with the use of the comma; habitually correct use of the period and question mark ; some knowledge of quotation marks and the exclamation point. Stories told them by the teacher are written by the children. At least once, each week the teacher and the class write on the board a story that they all know. ' They try to tell it in their own words in the best possible way. The members of the class discuss the paragraphing and the words used while the teacher writes. Grammar facts which must be made to function in the oral and written work of the children as they are taught : Atten- tion of children called to dependent clauses and the abiUty to recognize them developed ; a functional method of illustrat- ing these clauses is to call attention to them when they precede the main clause. A use of the comma is thus learned. Some knowledge of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and subject and predi- cate may be acquired in this grade. There is nothing rational about these elements of grammar, and they are learned more 228 MODKRN KLEMENTAUY SCHOOL PRACTICE readily if introdu(;o(l in i\\v, third j!;nid(', than if left until the iip[)fT ^rad(!S. Literature and readinj^: A variety of reading used to de- v(;lop facility in interpretation and a taste for good literature ; dramatizing nrid ncting stories with more; specific attention by th(; children t^o costuming, stage setting, and the language used; reading orally and nuMnorizing many selc^ctions of good poetry. Aft,(!r bcutoming int,er(!st,{!(l in a reader the child should be encouraged to tak(; it horm; and finish it. Grade 4. (Review to nsestabUsh abiliti(;s already acquired.) Oral English : From the fourth through the eighth grades morning (!X(!r(;ises should be a (constant motive for the prepara- tion by a child or a grouf) of children of som(;thing sf)e(;ial, either a rec;itation in a n^gular sul^ject, a play, or a dialogue. The work is crit icizcd by the class and the teacher from the standpoint of effectiveness, beauty, and clearness. Ability to use effective L'nglish dev(;l()p(Hl V)y stressing its use on every occasion. Written I<]nglish : More attention to clearness and beauty of style ; ability to think in paragrai)hs dev(;loped further ; punctuation l)y use of period, qiu^stion mark, exclamation point, comma; capitalization continued. Short papers written, for use in i(H;itations. Some writt,en work at least once each week should be done ; dictation by the teaciher of paragrai)hs designed to bring into f)lay tlu; me(!hani(;al a})ilitj{;s which the children are developing. Grammar facts, which must b(^ inad(; t,o function in the oral and written woik of ihv, children as they are taught; continuation of subject .'ind predicate, dependent clauses, nouns, verbs, and adjectives; introduction of adverb. lie.'iding and literature^ : Wide (exposure to good litc^rature. Silent i(niding and ability t-o pick out, the most important parts of texts and n^ference 'oooks in geography, nature study, etc., stressed; study for aM)reciation. SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH 229 Vovii Ui'iM'Mt GiiADEH. (Roviow essontiiil and difTicult ele- ments constantly.) Vov llie four lower grades six'cific, tn^atment was furnished for each p;rad(; Ixu^ause it is in the first four ^ra(l(;s that we usu.'illy rnak(^ the mistaken of doinp; litllc; or nothing; besides developing; th(^ nhihty to r(;ad orally. In \,\\v. fifth, sixth, s(;v(!nth, and ei^lith g;rad(;s, the funei.ional ]*jng;Hsh as outlin(;d ill the fiist i)Mrt of lliis (;hapt(;r should be presented, as uui(;h as possible beiii^ mastered in each ^r.'ule, with (constant n;- vi(.'ws. lU)U)Vv th(; (;hiid (inislies i\w. eighth g;r.'ul(! he should be abl(! to sf)eak, write, and read (hiently and (^fhuitively. The Seleclion for Stress of the. Most Difficult Features of English Studies of Children's Mistakes. There h.ive been ([uite a number- of stiubes oFornl nud wiMtten mistakes of chihbcn. These have been i.'ibul.'ited .'iiid (jornpared vvitli the result tha,t we now lia^ve a list of (lidi(;ult featun'S which is fairly r(^prescntativ(\ Studies have been made in the eh'Hientary schools of ( 'inc-inn.'Ui, Kansas (vity, Boise (Idafio)^ and in a nuird)er of other plnces. (Jhart- eis ' h.'is n^cently reviewed all 1, hose studies, and has made ii (course of study for Kansas ( ^ity ba.se(| ii|)on his findings. In selecting; for empliasis special diflicultic^s in 10ng;lish it is always better to nuike a st^udy of tlie hx^al (tommunity and l)as(^ t^he work in P^nglish upon tJi(^ discoveries. Teachers and i)Upils will both attack sucth a course witli g;reater zc^st, for tliey know thnt, ihry are working; U{)on their own ])roblems. I^]n,i;iisli diirKmlties nre often du(^ to the coll()(|uinl iri'eg^ul.'irit ies of the l,'ing;uag(^ of the ' lOtli Year liook of the Society for tlio Sficiil,ili(^ Study of Edu- cutioii, 1017. 230 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE community. Thus, a course designed to overcome these is likely to be quite effective. Majority of Inadequate and Ungrammatical Expres- sions Due to the Repetition of a Few Common Errors. In studies of children's errors it has been found that the majority of mistakes was due to the constant repetition of a few common errors. The large functional elements which seem to cause trouble are : 1. Self-consciousness. This is the arch enemy of all beginners in learning to speak and write effectively. It may be overcome by a wise use of sympathy and en- couragement on the part of the teacher. It is difficult for a child to overcome mistakes and at the same time not hinder expression by becoming self-conscious. A great deal of practice will assist in dealing with this trouble. We must constantly keep before the teacher the fact that he must encourage expression and develop fluency before he can cure any of the child's language ills. The school has too often in the past served to dry up the source of expression. Children get the idea that it is better to say nothing than to make a mistake^ and, following their idea to its logical conclusion, they learn to say nothing. When they leave school, they find that they cannot express themselves as well as those who have never gone to school. This situation is very noticeable when we apply the same idea to the teaching of foreign languages. After taking French, for from three to six years, university and college graduates usually go out without the ability to speak the language. They SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH 231 were taught to have so much respect for exactness and so httle stress was placed upon fluency that they mas- tered the former but were not able to say anything upon which they could use their ideas of exactness. Hap- pily this situation in the teaching of foreign language is being rapidly overcome. In a few years teaching which does not enable those who study a language to speak it will not be tolerated. Exactness and correctness are very worth while, but they have no place unless at the same time fluency is developed. 2. The second large difficulty met with in developing the ability to speak and write fluently, effectively, and correctly is subject matter. Children and adults com- plain constantly that they have nothing to say. They are not conscious of the great world of action, life, death, struggle, pain, and joy which greets them at every step and waits to be interpreted. The same difficulty is probably at the foundation of both 1 and 2 : lack of fluency. Children and adults must be taught to see, hear, and feel the elements of the great world by which they are surrounded. Then they must practice telling and writ- ing them. Like the artist who paints the commonplace but by bringing a certain element of it into the foreground shows its true value, the person who speaks and writes must be able to express the subtle features of life and the world to his fellows. One who has developed this ability will find it valuable to him in gaining friends, in living a truer and larger social life, in following his voca- tion, no matter what it may be, and in enjoying life in 232 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE any locality. Yet with all of these values ability in English expression is one of the hardest to develop, and must be constantly before the teacher and the class. We must learn to find subjects. Children must learn that thousands of them are everywhere they go ; they must learn to recognize and develop them. Live language teachers are stressing this feature of English and are realizing that it is one of the central problems. The ability to use correct mechanical English is not to be compared with it, either in functional value or in diffi- culty of attainment. 3. The ability to organize what is to be said or writ- ten is a third vital accomplishment difficult to develop. After fluency is assured, organization must be made a constant part of English instruction. Children and adults have great difficulty in collecting their scat- tered thoughts and in joining them together in speech or in writing. The ability to organize the various thought elements pertaining to a subject so that proper emphasis will be given to each element, so that sufficient repetition is given every important thought, and so that all will be said that should be said, and said when it should be said without unnecessary statements, is difficult to develop. Some teachers contend that children in the grades are not mature enough to be instructed in this feature of speaking and writing. It must be understood that such work will have to be given to children on their level of comprehension. When it is so given, grade school chil- dren respond even more readily than college and uni- SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH 233 versity students who have not been taught to organize in the grades or in high school. Constant Stress of the Three Foregoing Elements of Speech and Writing. These three features of speaking and writing must be back of all work in English in the elementary school, the high school, and the university. They are the fundamentals of English. They develop fluency and effectiveness They are the most difficult features to teach. Therefore, they should be stressed whenever and wherever possible. Teachers in the past allowed these fundamentals to be crowded out of the course of study by the mechanics of English, or even worse, by such word juggling as is involved in diagram- ing, analyzing, and parsing. Whatever we do from the mechanical standpoint, and useful mechanics are very essential, we mmst not neglect the larger and more fundamental functions. Special Difficulties. The mechanical difficulties which have been found to cause the most trouble are given here in the order of their difficulty. Only the useful mechanics are included. They should be introduced early in the elementary school course and repeated as often as profit- able or until mastered. Special attention should be given children who master them through individual efforts. Every child should know that he has conquered an enemy worthy of his efforts when he has overcome one of these difficulties. From the ten or twelve studies pre- viously referred to and with three years' comparative observation of eighth-grade and college students as an 234 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE aid^ the following have been selected as the mechanical ^^ demons " of English. List of difficult English usages in order of difficulty : 1. Verbs: (a) Transitive or intransitive — lay, lie, sitj and set most often misused ; learn and teach important. (6) Copulative — to understand that a pronoun used in the predicate is nominative (It is I). (c) Tense — see, do, come, give greatest trouble ; go, run, ring, sing, drink, ask, give, write are among the most difficult. About fifty irregular verbs should be used in drill. {d) Correct use of may and can more difficult on account of greater necessity for use than shall and will. (e) Subjunctive mood — should be taught only in the specific cases where it gives trouble. Only the past and present of the verb to be are important. (/) Infinitive, to illustrate that modifier should not separate it. (Not, to quietly sit down, but, to sit down quietly.) {g) Number — disagreement with subject quite common. 2. Syntactical redundance (use of superfluous forms and words as, where are you at, overuse of and, etc.) — very common error and constant drill and attention necessary to overcome it. 3. Pronouns : (a) number : Everyone open his book (not, their books), etc. (5) Case : It was he, I saw him, etc. (c) Gender, especially for general use of he. 4. Punctuation — (a) Comma in series, especially be- fore and. Following dependent clause, preceding main clause, other uses of comma. (6) Period, question mark, semicolon, and colon. SELECTION AND EVALUATION IN ENGLISH 235 5. Nouns — (a) Capitalization of proper nouns. (6) Collective for verb agreement and agreement of modifiers. (c) Possessive case for correct written forms. 6. Adjectives — (a) Comparison most important feature and demands a great deal of drill. (6) Capitalization of proper adjectives, (c) Not to be confused with personal pronouns and nouns (center for central, etc.). 7. Adverbs — to prevent their use for adjectives and to prevent the use of adjective for adverbs (good for well most common). The comparison of adjectives has already been given as very important and the same may be said of the comparison of adverbs. 8. Prepositions — followed by the obj ective case ; pronouns afford special difficulty. (He said it to John, Henry, and me.) 9. Double negatives — important in oral usage but rarely mistaken in written work. 10. In any analyzing, diagraming, or parsing, examples which bring out functional difficulties should always be used. Such sentences as the one given above, '' He said it to John, Henry, and me," should be used in this work. If this is done, drill is more likely to help usage, for it will throw the difficult elements of usage into the foreground. No Time for Technical Grammar. There is no place in the curriculum for grammar which has no definite bearing upon spoken or written usage. Technical gram- mar should not be taught in the elementary school. Its place should be taken by '' Functional English." It will take all the time we have to teach well that which is use- ful, and the mind will be developed just as well by work- ing hard upon useful English as upon useless word juggling. CHAPTER XI SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC, SPELLING, AND WRITING Arithmetic ■ Functional Values. Arithmetic is an important sub- ject but it has not always been taught in a way to bring out its values. Parts that are not important have often been stressed to the entire neglect of parts that are vital to social and economic needs. Those who have been trained in school arithmetic only cannot solve the prob- lems of life. This is not due to the fact that they have received too little training in the solution of problems^ but that the problems they solved were not the type which furnished exercise in the arithmetical knowledge that is useful in life. The following phases of arithmetic have been discovered by investigators to be processes which must be stressed in order to make this '^ practical " subject truly practical : 1. Accurate and fairly rapid ability to add, divide, multiply, and subtract. The old school taught these fundamentals in a way that did not secure accuracy and speed in their use. In many places they were so taught that a child would have to begin at the beginning of a table or at the beginning of a song and repeat all that 236 SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 237 came before the combination he wanted to use. Another faihng was that the multipHcation tables, long division, etc., were taught in specified grades and learned fairly well there, but they were rarely referred to again aside from chance use in percentage, interest, or mensura- tion. The modern way is to stress these fundamentals constantly, to require children to learn them not only in tables but each combination separately, and to insist upon accurate and fairly rapid solution of problems in- volving them. Throughout all the grades short drill periods in them should be given. 2. Business transactions. Everyone must engage in business. If money is saved, it should be invested. We must all buy and sell. Almost everybody should keep accounts. Most men come in contact with mortgages, and many of them could have been saved a great deal of trouble by a small amount of vital instruction concern- ing them. Life insurance is a problem which everyone must face. If he is entirely ignorant of it, he is bound to be imposed upon by unscrupulous agents. In fact, our business and economic relations with other persons, especially in this growing commercial nation of ours, demand that we greatly increase the teaching of practical commercial mathematics, and that we decrease the old- fashioned formal exercise type of work in this important subject. The following topics are being called for by business men.^ 1 16th Yearbook of the National Society for the Scientific Study of Education. 238 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Saving and loaning money. Mortgages. Modern banking methods. Building and loan associations. Keeping accounts. Investing money. Bonds as investments. Real estate as investment. Marks of a good investment. Taxes, levies, public expenditures. Profits in different lines of business. Life insurance as protection and investment. Partial payments (buying on installment plan). Any one of these topics is large enough to take up a school year, and the time is rapidly approaching when they will be closely studied in high schools in place of a great deal of the mathematics which is necessary only to such occupations as surveying and engineering, callings which are not likely to be engaged in by many. As stated, we must all engage in business, and the better we are equipped in the fundamentals of it, the more successful we will be in managing our own affairs. Wilson has stated that the American people lose over $60,000,000 a year in bad investments. The enormous amount of pain and suffering which must follow the loss of small savings by those who have had no training in business and are ignorant of even the fundamental truths could be partially avoided by the proper teaching of these sub- jects in school. To teach them in a vital and functional way, however, will necessitate the reeducation of our SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 239 teaching force. It is a sad truth, but teachers do not know the important simple facts about the above topics. It is the duty of every teacher to stress concrete business transactions as much as possible no matter what his course of study may call for. In teaching these subjects the ability to solve long and difficult problems is not so important as the under- standing of their application and the ability to solve the ordinary business problems of everyday life. A superintendent of one of our large cities gave an oppor- tunity to his son, who was in the fifth grade, to apply his mathematics to the purchase of his own shoes. It was agreed that the boy should have $14.00 per year (the amount he had asked for) to buy shoes. Although he was good in regular school arithmetic, his father noted that when he needed to solve the little problems con- nected with the purchase of shoe strings and the mending of shoes, he always went to his mother for help. A teacher can help the child in making this transition from school arithmetic to that of life by giving life problems along with those taken from the text. This has been dis- cussed in the chapter on " The Problem Method.'^ 3. The ability to add, divide, multiply, and subtract common fractions. The common fractions are almost always small. Very little work should, be done with large fractions. 4. An understanding of decimals. In English-speak- ing countries the use of decimals is almost entirely con- fined to transaction^ involving money. In connection 240 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE with their work in decimals the children of the fifth and sixth grades should become thoroughly familiar with mak- ing change. To make change is a common necessity, and it is surprising how awkward and incapable even college students are in doing it. Somewhere in the grades a definite course involving practice with sterilized money should be given. Real money is better than a substitute. 5. Mensuration. The ability to solve problems in- volving the common linear, square, and volume measures is quite useful. The long explanations and difficult prob- lems on spherical surfaces and volumes should be dis- carded. How to find the area of a circle should be the limit in circular mensuration. 6. Simple tables of weights and measures and their use in problems. If the foregoing are taught well, no time will be left for non-functional work, such as long problems involving greatest common divisor, least com- mon multiple, long problems in large fractions, com- plex and compound fractions, cases in percentage (use equation method), cube root, etc. Long peculiar exam- ples of the puzzle type which do not develop accuracy or the ability to solve concrete problems should be omitted. The functional method stresses accuracy, a few prob- lems well solved, constant attention by the child to his own difficulties, and drill upon the special useful arithmetic features in which the children are lacking. Then, if time is left, it should be given to enlarging the work in business arithmetic as outlined under 2. SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 241 The Disciplinary Value of Mathematics. Mathematics, more than any other subject, has been advocated for its disciphnary value. It is impossible to decide from ex- perimental evidence whether any subject wiU train gen- eral powers or develop abilities transferable to other subjects. In teaching from the functional standpoint we need not worry about securing disciphne, for if there is such a value in mathematics, it will be greater in the useful portions than in the useless. If we are able to train the power of sustained attention, the ability to think logically, etc., by requiring the child to solve use- less problems, we can, of course, achieve the same end in a better way by using only useful materials. Without doubt, methods which require concentration, initiative, and independence of children should be used. They should constantly solve problems which do not " come out even," and which have no ready-made answers to tell them whether the work is right. They should learn to rely upon themselves and to be fairly sure that they are correct in their practice problems ; otherwise they never can trust their calculations when they try to use their arithmetic in life. Selection of Arithmetic Based upon the Growth of Children. More of purely memory work than is or- dinarily done should be given in the two lower grades. In reacting from the overconfining methods of the tra- ditional school many teachers have almost entirely neglected arithmetic in the first and second grades. The result has been that in the third and fourth grades R 242 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE children are so overburdened with drill that they learn to hate it. This difficulty is overcome by teaching the memory phases in an interesting way in the two lower grades. During the second year it is possible to teach in fifteen minutes a day all the addition combinations to twenty^ the multiplication tables, and subtraction. This would be too much to require since there are always a few children in each grade whose ability to memorize has not developed. Therefore, just how much shall be taught will depend upon the class. Too often the child's interest in learning useful arithmetical facts is not taken advantage of in the lower grades. He is given games to play until he gets into the third grade. Then, after being merely played with for two years, he is confronted with a heavy program. Children like to learn to add, multiply, and subtract in the first grade. Under wise teaching, they will be given enough such work to en- courage them. As explained in a previous chapter, there are many advantages in learning the useful fundamentals as early in the curriculum as possible. Little need be added to the discussion of this phase of selection of arith- metic. If the mechanics are mastered in the lower grades, plenty of time will be left for the development of the functional and logical applications in the upper grades. Selection of Especially Difficult Features of Arithmetic. The special difficulties in arithmetic have not been studied as much as have those in oral and written English. How- ever, they seem to exist, and by overcoming them the SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 243 child is often able to master the subject in a way that would have been impossible under old-style general in- struction. A preliminary study of the phases of arith- metic which need special stress is given below : 1. Accuracy. After constantly studying for a num- ber of years the causes of mistakes in the solution of problems by children, I have come to the conclusion that inaccuracy in the phases of the work which they are supposed to know is the great difficulty. They soon acquire methods of solution, and the ordinary teacher rarely fails to correct errors resulting from mistakes in reading problems. But the small mistakes in addition, division, multiplication, and subtraction with integers, fractions, and decimals lie at the base of the majority of incorrect solutions. It must be admitted that accu- racy has not been stressed and fought for as it should have been by teachers in the past,^ and those of to-day will have to do more than they are doing in order to bring about habits of work and of thinking which will eliminate the '^ little " mistakes so ruinous to any form of calculation. Accuracy will not come with mere drill or practice. The child may be confirmed in making his mistakes by constantly repeating them in drill. The following means are being employed to secure accuracy : (a) From the very beginning of work in arithmetic the child is told that his work will be worthless if he makes 1 Accuracy must not be confused with old-fashioned " thoroughness 'J which was not selective and was usually a waste of time. 244 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE mistakes in the parts of it which he is supposed to have mastered. No work should be credited which contains such mistakes. Inaccuracy usually results from lack of attention at a time when such inattention is inexcusable if the assignment is worth anything. Teachers too often grade a paper two thirds correct when the only reason the result is wrong is that the child was not careful with an easy addition^ or something as simple. If from the first lesson he is taught that arithmetic is a science which is worthless without accuracy, he is likely to form habits in accordance with the requirements. (6) Fewer problems should be assigned and more atten- tion should be given by the teacher to the work of the chil- dren. Too often long assignments are given, and the teacher does not have time to see that accuracy is made the fundamental feature of the assignment. The chil- dren solve their problems in a lazy fashion and are more likely to be injured than helped by the work. Many times the work is not done at all, and the child forms the habit of avoiding work by discovering that requirements need not be lived up to. In this respect American teachers may learn a lesson from those in France, where great pains are taken to see that each individual child avoids making mistakes. They explain that it is better to prevent mistakes than cor- rect them. In any case the practice of making assign- ments which the teacher is unable to follow up must be avoided, and no more work in arithmetic should be assigned than can properly be taken care of. This is SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 245 more necessary in a subject which is valuable only for its exactness than in one where the child's versatility may be exercised. Extreme care, therefore, should be exercised in making assignments and in dealing with the work of the children after they have brought their papers to class. A good method is to return them to the children and to require that they study and drill upon their mistakes. Follow- ing thiS; the paper is again returned to the teacher, who files it as a concrete record. At the end of the month these papers are sent home along with the report cards. A child should never be permitted to crumple his paper and toss it into the waste basket before he has made a careful study of his mistakes. Both parents and children soon learn to expect the monthly budget of corrected papers, and they like them better than they do the re- port cards. In this way every problem that the child solves is given due attention, and as a result of his feel- ing the greater importance of his practice efforts, the accuracy of such work is bound to increase. (c) Arithmetics with ready-made answers should be discarded. A set of answers for a teacher who is over- worked may be worth while, for by using them he can tell whether or not to look for mistakes in a problem and may save a great deal of time in this way. But these answers are the cause of inaccuracy and dependence on the part of the children. When his answer is not right, the child may keep working until it is. This allows him to develop a trial and error method of procedure. 246 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE After working several years in this way he is never satis- fied with his result unless it is confirmed by an " answer." When he has reached this stage in his mathematical edu- cation, he is almost worthless so far as any life uses of the subject are concerned. Mechanics, contractors, business men, and engineers are in accord with this conclusion. Children must be taught to depend upon their own answers. 2. Common Fractions. Next to accuracy in the fundamental processes common fractions cause more trouble than any other phase of arithmetic. This is probably due to the fact that our arithmetic instruction has been too artificial. The examples in the texts usually ^^ come out even." Those in life rarely do. Thus, after six or eight years' training in solving problems which are made so that the common fraction may be avoided, it is little wonder that children and even adults have trouble. The remedy is to put problems which contain common fractions in every grade above the one in which fractions are introduced. The fraction is difficult because it has really become uncommon in the exercises of the school, but still quite common in life. As mentioned, only the fractions with small denominators need be bothered with for the others have little functional value. 3. Decimals. These cause much trouble for the same reason that fractions do. They are taught in one grade and are not reviewed. A child in the eighth grade who took up decimals in the sixth is likely to have forgotten how to point off, especially in division problems. The SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 247 only way to avoid this difficulty is to make more use of them. 4. Constant drill in every grade in all the fundamentals. It is not enough to teach a child long division in the fourth o-rade, fractions in the fifth, decimals in the sixth, etc., and then expect the regular work to take care of the exercise he needs in these subjects. A short period of drill (from three to eight minutes) should be given daily in all the functional fundamental operations until they have become second nature. This drill period will not take the place of the use of these fundamentals in the solution of problems, but it has been found very useful when treated as a supplement to such work. Spelling The Functional Value of Spelling. SpelHng is valuable chiefly for conventional reasons. Few persons misspell so badly that those who read cannot understand what they have written. He who does not spell correctly, however, will find difficulty in securing positions through correspondence, and is likely to be rated as poorly trained by certain classes of society. The handicap caused by inability to spell is out of proportion to the actual need for the ability, but few will n^ed to undergo such a handi- cap if school authorities will profit by the knowledge developed by modern investigations of the teaching of spelling. Early Development of Spelling Consciousness. The child should learn to spell as early in life as it is possible. 248 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE He must develop a spelling consciousness early in the grades and learn to give attention to peculiar words and to take pride in correct spelling in all his writing. It is impos- sible to teach the child to spell if his attention to the words he learns goes no farther than the spelling lesson. He should be interested in learning to spell difficult words whenever he needs to use them. This spelling consciousness and interest in learning to spell are fundamental in the development of spelling abil- ity. Therefore, just as good English should be made a central feature of every lesson, correct spelling should be taught in all written work. Not until the child has ac- quired the habit of being careful to spell correctly when- ever he writes is his spelling ability assured. It is im- possible to teach him to spell all the words he is likely to write in life, but the spelling consciousness will cause him to master new words and to use the dictionary in spelling those of which he is doubtful. The Poor Speller Is the One Who Needs Teaching. Too much was made of good spelling and too little atten- tion given to bad spelling by teachers in the past. Most of the methods used tended to help those who did not need help, and little or nothing was done for those who were poor spellers. The old method of ^^ spelling down ^' al- lowed good spellers to perform while poor spellers listened to them. The method of calling attention to the person whose record continued to be 100 per cent and ignoring those who did not get 100 per cent produced like results. Good spellers usually inherit their abilities. It is not a SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 249 mark of good teaching to have a record on the blackboard showing that one or two children in a room have been perfect in spelling throughout the year. After the spelling consciousness has been formed, the teaching of spelling should focus upon those who find diffi- culty. The others are likely to learn to spell no matter how they are taught. This subject does not need to be taught to all children above the sixth grade. In the seventh and eighth grades and even in high school an intensive cam- paign should be carried on in order to help the poor spellers. By evaluating our materials and methods and by making them conform to the needs of the individuals who are to be taught, we can do a great deal for poor spellers even after they have entered college. Merely to pronounce words which are to be written in vertical columns will not help these persons. Methods of Studying and Learning. There has been great advancement during the last decade in our knowl- edge of how children learn. We no longer assign a long list of words to be learned, require that they be written in a spelling book, and then never refer to them again. The following points are being stressed in spelling method- ology to-day : 1. Not more than two or three new words should be given each day. These should be accompanied by several review words taken from previous assignments. 2. The method of studying difficult useful words and writing them in vertical columns is worth retaining. It has been claimed that ability to spell gained in this way 250 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE does not transfer to the use of these words in writing com- positions and letters. However, investigations point to transfer of from eighty-five to ninety per cent. Cornman, who first studied the subject, concluded that there is little if any transfer from column to dictation work. Wallin contradicted this statement and went to the op- posite extreme. Cook and O'Shea tend to confirm the conclusions of Wallin. Tidyman and Brown found con- siderable transfer but not so much as Wallin or Cook and O'Shea. It is important to all such conclusions that the investigators discover how many of the words they teach are already known by the children. When Tidyman and Brown did this, they found about twelve per cent loss. This means, therefore, that of every eight words learned in vertical columns, seven will be spelled correctly in dictation.^ 3. Constant use should be made of the words learned and words which are used by children should be selected for their spelling lessons. It is not worth while to learn to spell words whose meanings we do not understand. The teacher must insist that the child be responsible for his spelling in all his writing, and that he attempt difficult words in this writing. Often the child does not use the word he wants because he is afraid of spelling it incorrectly. Some definite means should be employed to stop such a prac- tice ; it is more common than one not closely connected with the work of children would imagine. The develop- ment of a good writing vocabulary is stimulated in chil- 1 See Elementary School Journal, Dec. 1917. SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 251 dren by giving attention to the words they use, giving better grades for wide usage, and recognizing in regular class periods individual efforts in this direction. Spell- ing is only a tool, and the child should be impressed constantly with the idea that it is better to use a good word, even though he misspell it, than to substitute an unsatisfactory easily spelled one for it. 4. In their study of words the children should be taught to concentrate upon pecuUarities rather than to at- tempt to learn by many repetitions. The old method of repeating each word twenty or thirty times orally or in writing is being discarded. 5. For most children words should be visuahzed. This may be accompHshed by exposing them on flash- cards to the class, or by writing them on the blackboard. The visual exposure is followed by oral pronunciation. The word is then removed from the child's sight and he writes it from the visual-auditory imagery which he has. This gives him a large visual picture of the word accompanied by both auditory and motor impressions. In order to write it correctly after a momentary exposure, he must concentrate upon its pecuUarities. This insures attention with all the mental powers. The old repetition method became a sort of automatic process after a few words had been learned by it, and the child might repeat the letters in a word a hundred times and not remember them any better for it. Some General Difficulties. Two special methods of studying words are (1) grouping words which fall under 252 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE specific rules^ and (2) studying individual words which are difficult owing to peculiarities of spelling. Under (l) the largest group is the phonetic. The majority of the words that are commonly written are spelled just as they sound. The first step in learning to spell, therefore, is the mastery of letter sounds and their application in spelling. P^oUowing this, every word which is not spelled as it sounds will call attention to itself because it is different from the majority of words. If a good grounding in phonics is not accomplished early in the school course, spelling is bound to be diffi- cult, for the child will have nothing to go by except his memory of individual words. The common method of grouping words into families is not very helpful. The child must have a wide experience in sounding and spell- ing phonetic words which are not related or grouped. The fundamental feature of this work should be to de- velop the ability to spell by using the letter sounds and to learn as early as possible the words which are not spelled as they sound. The large phonetic groups of words are the only ones that are usually taught through the principles involved. A Few Rules May Help Poor Spellers. Poor spellers, especially poor visualizers, should be given every rule that is likely to help them. Many of the so-called ^' rules of orthography " have so many exceptions and are so long that they are more confusing than helpful. Adults who are naturally poor spellers, and who have overcome to a certain extent their incapacities in this SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 253 field, testify that certain rules have been quite help- ful to them. The rules which follow are given in the order of their importance based upon the use made of them by several hundred college students. These rules are usually remembered by catch words rather than in sentences. They are given here in the forms in which they are most often used. 1. Alice (i follows I and e follows c), a word used by a great many persons in order to remember that when e and i form a digraph having the sound of long e, the e precedes the i after c and s. In most other cases the. i precedes {receive, believe, retrieve, etc.). 2. Coming, used to remember that when a word ending in silent e takes a suffix beginning with a vowel the e is generally dropped. (Exceptions : words ending in soft c and g retain the e when able is added, — traceable, manageable, etc.) Coming or a similar word is also helpful to many in keeping in mind that when such a word has a final e, the consonant is not doubled before a suffix. 3. When a syllable beginning with a consonant is added to a word ending in e, the e is retained with the exception of such words as — duly, truly, awful, judgment, abridg- ment, acknowledgment, and argument. 4. Lying or dying, used to remember that words end- ing in ie change the ie to y when a syllable beginning with i is added. 5. Altogether, used to help remember that compounds of all usually drop the final I. The poor speller must also 254 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE learn that other compounds of EngHsh words usually retain the word in full. The exceptions like joyful, fulfill, pastime, until, and wherever, must be memorized. Almost Everyone Uses Rules. Three weeks' drill on these five rules given to a poor speller in the eighth grade improved his spelling fifty per cent. A study of the different ways poor spellers strive to spell correctly will convince anyone of the necessity of a few rules such as the above. However, they should be few and learned concretely from words. These will not insure accurate spelling ; they will merely increase the ability to spell. As a rule the poor speller constructs rules for himself from his word experiences. These are very likely to be incorrect and have more exceptions than words to which they apply. One college student re- ported that he had formulated for himself rule 3 given above, but that he did not know that there were any exceptions. He was caused a great deal of trouble on one occasion by. applying his rule and at that time learned of the exceptions. Those who insist on ignoring all rules and in teaching by special individual words cannot escape from the fact that most persons are using rules no matter how they were taught, and that the ma- jority of the rules used are incorrect and misleading, for they are made up of a few striking experiences of the person who uses them. Some General Difficulties. Prefixes and suffixes cause a great deal of trouble. Consider for example the prefix mis : when the poor speller learns that there SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 255 is only one s in this prefix and that the s is doubled only when the root word begins with s, the whole diffi- culty with words beginning with mis is overcome. The doubling of consonants is another great difficulty. Some reference has been made to this in the above rules, but it is very difficult to find rules which are helpful in this case. It is well for the poor speller to learn that monosyllables usually double /, I, and s when at the end of the word. Other letters are not doubled unless for special reasons. The exceptions, clef, as, has, is, his, us, of, if, gas, yes, thus, was, are common words and are usually learned through association. If any rule is taught, the exceptions to it should be memorized. A university professor reports that he must constantly look up small words such as bug and gas to find whether or not to double the final consonant. He found this rule quite helpful. This man, it must be understood, was a poor speller. He could not remember individual words. As previously stated, it is for just such persons that speUing is taught. They cannot be taught to remember how to spell all the words in the dictionary. They must be taught phonics, a few useful rules, and the common difficult words, and this must be followed by as wide an association with common words in writing the English language as is practicable. A poor speller who does little writing will find it almost impossible to become a good speller. The rules and special difficulties which are given above are only illustrative of a type of study which must be 256 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE made before we will be able to help the poor speller as much as we should. When the teacher knows just wherein the child who makes mistakes is weak, he can help him in an intelligent way. Every poor speller should be made the subject of special study. This is not diffi- cult. The child is usually willing to cooperate. The peculiar method he uses to overcome the difficulties he meets, and a record of his type mistakes will give the teacher a cue as to how to help him. The Selection of Special Words to Teach. There have been a number of careful studies of vocabularies, and lists of words have been made which have been quite helpful to the teaching of spelling.^ No one who is acquainted with advancement along this line still clings to the old method of teaching words regardless of their difficulty or the likelihood of their use. With the exception of the ^^ hundred spelling demons '^ selected by Jones, none of the compilers have selected lists which should be taught because of the special dif- ficulties of the words. The problem of the usefulness of 1 Eldridge, R. C. Six Thousand Common English Words. Ayres, L. P. Spelling Vocabularies of Personal and Business Letters. Russell Sage Foundation, N. Y. 1913. Jones, W. F. Concrete Investigations of the Material of English Spell- ing, U. of S. D. Vermillion. Cook, W. A., and O'Shea, M. V. The Child and His SpelHng, Bobbs- Merrill, 1914. Studies have also been made by Studley and Ware, a list made at Johns- town, Penn., and another by W. E. Chancellor. From the above lists Pryor compiled one for the elementary grades. This is found in the 16th Yearbook of the National Society for the Scientific Study of Educa- tion, 1917, 86-110. SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 257 words has been fairly well solved. But it is not neces- sary or possible to teach with the same emphasis all the words a child is Hkely to use. Special words which he is Hkely to find difficult must be taught and constantly reviewed. Words giving trouble to children in the grades, especially eighth graders who were ready to enter high school; to college students, and to poor adult spellers have been selected from the Ayres, Jones, and Pryor lists for the list which follows. Common words in children's vocabularies are mostly learned by constant association with them. The adult is likely to have little difficulty with most of them. The minimum essential list of Pryor con- tains many words which are not difficult for any child and may be taught by usage. It is necessary to base the Hst selected for stress upon the difficulties of children who are finishing the grades, college students, and poor adult spellers in order to find those words which are not Hkely to be learned by association and usage. This list makes no claims at completeness ; it is given not only for its usefulness but to illustrate the principle of selection in accordance with special difficulties. The difficult parts of the words are italicized. A List of Useful Difficult Words Based upon Three Years' Experience in Using Other Lists GRADE ONE In the first grade the child should be taught to spell common words which are phonetic. His interest in spell- ing should be stimulated, and in all his writing he should 258 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE spell correctly. A great deal of oral spelling should be done in this grade. No special list can be selected, for it will depend upon the literature used in reading. GRADE TWO A great deal of phonetic spelling should be done in this grade continuing the work of the first grade. In addition to this the child should be introduced to a list of words which are not spelled as they sound. Words which form a slight transition should be used at this time. The following have been selected with this purpose. Many of these will be learned by association later on, but they are useful in making a transition from the purely phonetic words to those which are spelled contrary to the rules of sound. add bring deep eveninj air brought dirt eye asleep burn done fair August carry do iew aunt ca^ch doctor first been chair does foot bear change dollar iour better claim door fourth hill coat down fresh bi^rd comb draw; front blacfc come drink Ml blue couM drown girl boat count each. goes boil cross early- God bread dead eight good bright dear even grass SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 259 great here new they grow jump only took guess knew own were hali /cnife root write hair lard said wrote hang large says you head leaf shoe young hear lesson sky your heard meet soap heart near teeth GRADE THREE about bmld daughter /lonest above bric^ge dinner hour across brindZe divide inqmre &ct bitry double island afraid busy earn its again butter earth (no apos- almost button easy trophe) animal carried else jail SLUSwer circle enough knee appear clean explain tough apple climb family learn arrest close February leather a^^end c^oth field leave avoid coarse fierce lemon beauty coZor figi^re lightning because common fortitne (no e) between cough forty lose blossom coi^ntry friend (not oo) board cousin frwit macMne bo^^om crowd grain measure breakfast daily heayy miller breath dangfer hoarse minute 260 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE miss picture severe tried money piece sleigh until much pleasant stopped walk (not tch) 1 primary sure (not sh) * watch music prompt tMe wear notice prove thread w/iich obey qwart there whistle o'clock reach their whole often ready threw wrap once ri6&on through women parlor rough tired GRADE FOUR able collar neighbor separate Siche inquire neither several according furnace ninety shoulder a^^owed guard palace soldier angel (not le) ^ guide parade stairs afiac/c itself pass throat author justice pigeon to-morrow begiwmng l?/ing pleasure traveler biscwz't lonesome pledge trial breathe master practice trouble canoe ma?/or raisin unless carnage metal region viKage chain mettle roof weather chief mischief saticer weigh civil mountain scholar lyrong GRADE FIVE Siddress already arrive beat against agreeable awful (not awe) ^ beet 1 The wrong form is given in these cases so that the teacher will empha- size the correct spelling. Incorrect practices should not be mentioned before they are made. SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 261 birth de6t heaven passenger berth defeat height persiiade bruise describe (not th) 1 poitr busmess destroy hospital^ press cannot di^erent instead promise can't disappoint jowrney roll cement familiar judge scratch coast famous langitage succeed collect favorite length success column fever mail tear course fi/th male victim coitrt finaZ medicine view damage firm merely GRADE SIX assure Sithletic command general accept attendance commii^ee genuine acquaintance baggfage complete glorzous appetite balance convenient giiest appreciation breast criticise imagine arrival bargain develop interrupt assist benefit dictionary innocent attempt brief di^erence luncheon SLvenue calendar disappear mountain acknoi(;le(ige captain engage necessary advertise catalogue entire oblige (not d) ^ annual certain estate occasion apply contain existence o^ice appoint career factory o^icial appreciate cemetery favor particular arrange c/iaracter fina^ty patient 1 The wrong form is given in these cases so that the size the correct spelHng. Incorrect practices should not they are made. teacher will empha- be mentioned before 262 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE pavement preliminary special superintendent peculiar privilege strength testimony private receipt salary unfor^iinate pursue resta2^rant secretary valuable proceed recogm;2e session volume physicmn recommend similar vacant practical religion su^icient witness If these few hundred words are mastered by each child and the remaining time given to his own peculiar mis- takes and difficulties, greater efficiency in everyday spelling will result. There are very few useful difficult words which are not included in the above lists. In addition to this list there are many peculiar words with which children will experience little difficulty if the peculiarity is pointed out to them. Such words as catarrh, words which begin with qu, those that begin with silent k, such as knife, the ch words which do not sound the h, as chord, character, etc., make up a small list easily mas- tered through association. The days of the week, stress- ing Wednesday, the months of the year, stressing Febru- ary, the seasons, holidays, and the common proper names of a community should be taught.^ Writing The Function of Writing. Writing is a medium for expressing the English language through written words. Its conventional value has decreased considerably in the last decade. This is probably due to the increased use ^ The Everyday Spelling Books, Bobbs-Merrill, are modern and scientific from all standpoints. SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 283 of typewriters. However, if it is possible to attain without too great effort, the abihty to write well is very worth while. The conventional reaction to good or poor writing is similar to, although not quite so strong as that for spelling. It is out of proportion to the actual value of writing, but since it exists, no child should be allowed to suffer unnecessary difficulties in social and vocational life because of neglect of this side of his edu- cation in the elementary school. There is better reason for spending time in developing the ability to write rapidly and legibly than there is for spending time in technical grammar or a great deal of our arithmetic. Legibility and a certain amount of speed are the only essentials in writing. The ability to wield the pen in an artistic manner may be valuable to a few who desire to become pen artists, but since most persons will write only to communicate their thoughts, writing from the artistic standpoint should have no place in our elementary school curriculum. The law of diminishing returns, when ap- phed to writing, wou d probably fix a score of seventy on the Ayres Scale as the Kmit beyond which practice is unprofitable. Points to Stress in Teaching Writing. In developing proper speed and legibility the teacher should stress the following : 1. Position. The child should habituate himself to the proper position for good writing as early as possible. He should sit with his back balanced in a position of rest. Too often the teacher's admonitions regarding position 264 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE cause the child to become rigid and to take a position which constantly subjects him to strain. Position is very important in the acquisition of the ability to write rapidly and well ; and if a straining position is acquired, the child's writing will always be cramped and will become worse as he continues to write. 2. The method of holding the pen or pencil. This should afford an easy restful grasp. The pen or pencil should not be held too close to the end. 3. Maintain the uniform slant of letters and the align- ment of the words across the page. It is not necessary to teach any special slant, but all the letters should have the same slant. 4. A definite, legible ideal for each letter which should be persisted in through all the grades. When the above points are emphasized, the child has something definite to work for in improving his writing. These elements have been found to be the important ones in the development of the ability to write rapidly and legibly.^ If they have been constantly emphasized as basic features, the child should have little difficulty in attain- ing a score of seventy by the end of the sixth grade. He should work toward being excused from practice when he reaches seventy in everyday work. From the standpoint of both hygiene and efficiency all writing periods should be short. From ten to fifteen minutes is sufficient. The muscular movement is not ^ Experiments reported in 17th Yearbook previously referred to. See also Freeman : The Teaching of Handwriting. Houghton Mifflin Co- SELECTION IN ARITHMETIC AND SPELLING 265 necessary, although most speciaHsts in this subject insist upon it. School administrators agree that it is desirable, but many are not requiring it. Some children are so dis- turbed by being required to use it that results are not worth this extra effort. It becomes especially obnoxious when all writing in all subjects is supposed to be done by muscular movement. The use of the typewriter in all occupations which require very much writing has made the acquisition of any special movement unnecessary. Those who find special difficulty with it do not need to go through six or seven years of agony for such a valueless accomplishment. CHAPTER XII METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH It is not the intention in this chapter to attempt to treat of school or child hygiene but rather to give to the average teacher methods and practices which foster health and to point out those which militate against it. There are so many peculiar ideas about hygienic methods of dealing with school work that it seems wise to consider in a book on practice those features of the subject which may and should be employed every- where. Hygienic Methods More Efficient. Everyone should understand that there is no conflict between hygiene and the most effective, lasting, and rapid learning. Learn- ing cannot be lasting or profitable if physical and mental health are impaired. Learning never demands that chil- dren he injured. Wherever education and vitality seem to be opposed to each other, there is a mistaken theory or inadequate administration. Modern schools, that is, those which truly represent modern theory, are protect- ing health and at the same time are obtaining results which in both quality and quantity surpass those of the traditional school. One of the most important factors in the efliciency of some modern schools is the large 266 cfi H fH « K <; o ^ - CO 5! CO ;^ ^ " H W Z « H Q cc J * ^ ►^ o 2 o h3 H S .^ 5 t* «3 r f^ ^ ^ ^ O ^ ?^ 17 Q CO d 1^ •< ►"• tD h3 :?; S W ■ ^ Ui ^ .«2 h3 « W H ^ ^ ^ o ^ >^ fe W g ^ t-1 O (H O g P3 H H K H <) p P to p ^ U O WW g ^ S « « £ w ^ ^ < m 'z ^ 5 w O ^ h3 « M iri M METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 267 amount of attention given by the teachers to making their instruction both mentally and physically hygienic. Health Methods Growing in Popularity. The matter of more healthful methods and practices is being given great consideration by schoolmen in all countries. In Monroe's "Cyclopedia of Education^' a great deal of space is given to this sub j ec t . Burgerst ein devotes over four hun- dred pages to it in the second edition of his handbook. He emphasizes the hygienic importance of the mental habits formed by education and of the secondary effects of instruction. In Rapeer's " Educational Hygiene/' ^ A. S. Beik makes the statement, " The demands of instruction should be fitted first of all to the child's innate ability, stage of development, and condition of health, after which he should be given as nearly as possible optimum conditions in which to work ; work and rest should be properly alternated in order to avoid injury from over- fatigue ; finally regard should be had for the laws of mental health, care being taken to develop proper habits of attention, association of ideas, and emotional response." Health and the Early Development of Special Abilities Rapid Early Development Should Be Watched but Not Opposed. There was a time when educational thinkers and leaders, in reacting against the cramming of unselected subject matter into the heads of small children, created the impression that precocity in itself was dangerous. This idea soon gave a wide prevalence to the notion that 1 Scribner's, Boston, 1915, p. 585. 268 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE mental labor or activity of any sort, especially when connected with school subjects, is not advantageous be- fore the age of six, eight, nine, or ten years, the age limit depending upon the bias of the person making the state- ment. However, a study of the data upon which such con- clusions were based shows that arrests, neuroticisms, special failings in essential mental and motor abilities, and ill-health in a large per cent of " especially bright " children are due to the methods used by teachers and to the ignoring of certain fundamental factors of growth such as exercise, a suitable amount of play, proper social environment, etc. The exceptional mental ability may have been developed at the expense of more important features of life ; of itself it could not have been the cause of the evil results. In fact, school authorities are beginning to expect better results in regular school work and an earlier mastery of the fundamentals of such sub- jects as arithmetic, spelling, writing, etc., as an outcome of using methods which foster rather than militate against children's physical growth and happiness. An American physician ^ who has made a study of pre- cocious children with reference to their health concludes : " Of precocity, the relationship to neuroticism has often been declared ; but our analysis will show the error of this view unless it is greatly qualified. While it is true that many children apparently precocious in an intel- 1 Williams, T. A. (M.D.)- Intellectual Precocity. Ped. Sem. Vol. 18, 1911, pp. 85-103. METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 269 lectual sense are unstable mentally, incapable of sus- tained effort, and become adult nonentities without special capacity, yet these misfortunes are by no means functions of the precocity of these individuals ; but are due to faulty bodily hygiene, intemperate and ill-timed mental labor, and to excessive emotional stresses in an individual who has not learned to master the moods. " As a matter of fact proper mental labor is needed for sound psychic health. Physiologists know that a dis- used organ is more liable to disintegration or to become dis- eased than one which is regularly used. " What is true of structure is true of functional power. From ballet dancer to violin virtuoso, artists must be trained from early youth. It may be objected that this is true because muscular agility is required, but this objection is only superficial, for the dexterity of an artist is made possible not in virtue of superior coordinations of movements themselves but by means of the superior speed and accuracy of the guiding mental processes which reside in the brain." Feeling Tone and Social Disposition Important. Dr. Williams goes on to say that the most important element of instruction, whether given early in the child's life or later, is ^^ feeling tone." If he is happy in his work, it is not likely to injure him. This happiness is also essential, he says, for rapid and thorough learning. He gives a number of pathological cases which he has cured by ^^ reeducation," and he constantly maintains that there is no scientific evidence for ^^ the facile accept- 270 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE ance of slovenliness and inefficiency as a normal quality of young children." Extraordinary abilities in school subjects developed by a very young child should be watched closely by teachers and parents. Dolbear/ who made a study of precocious children of the past and present, came to the conclusion that all such cases should be closely observed by those who have them in charge. If, as Miss Dolbear says, many are " very much spoiled " and their indi- vidualities have been developed to the neglect of their social natures, their training has not been wisely con- sidered. Many suffer physically. Others have poor motor control. The Sidis child is mentioned as being especially deficient in both social and motor abilities. Factors to Keep in Mind. The teacher is not likely to go astray in dealing with such cases if he follows the following principles : 1. Is the ^^ bright " child vital and healthy? If not, he should be encouraged to do less indoor sedentary work and to play out of doors as much as possible. His men- tality should not be ignored, and he must be given tasks that are worthy of his efforts. These tasks should be of short duration, however, and should not keep him indoors for long periods. 2. Does the child who is extraordinary in his school work get along well with his fellows? Many so-called bright children are often the dullest of companions and playfellows. They fail in later life because they * Precocious Children. Fed. Sem. 1913. METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 271 have not used their brightness in learning the ways of the social world. When such a child is discovered in school, the teacher should urge him to play more with his fellows. He should be taught that the ability to take and hold his part in a good game is just as impor- tant as being able to recite well in school. Such a child should not be allowed to come to the teacher with stories about impositions upon him by other children. He must learn to hold his own in the great world outside the schoolroom. 3. Any indication of nervousness, overemotional re- action, or faulty motor adjustments in such children should be looked upon as very grave, and the teacher should do everything he can to alleviate such difficulties. If they are allowed to run, the future of the child is not hopeful. The proper hygienic surroundings with removal of strain of every kind will do much to relieve these troubles. 4. When the child is normal in every other way, when he plays well, cooperates and does not quarrel unduly with his companions, and when his emotional attitude is one of healthy accomplishment and joy in living, he should be given every opportunity to use his powers to the fullest extent. However, it is usually best to sug- gest that he develop powers and do mental work out- side the course of study. Such a child will not be bene- fited nearly so much by hurrying through the school re- quirements and finishing early as he will by devoting his extra abilities and energies to something of importance 272 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE to him. The common school furnishes httle more than a common education. The child who is capable should reap the rewards to which his capacity entitles him. The following outside activities are suggested for such children : 1. Physics, electricity, wireless, etc. 2. Music, piano, violin, voice. 3. Wide reading in books of a high economic, social, and cultural value. 4. Chemistry ; a laboratory at home and constant experiments developed Edison's present power and mentality. 5. Gardening, nature study, biology, the care and study of animals. Agassiz was famous for such works at the age of ten. Burbank was developed in this way. 6. Extra energy spent in learning a trade. John Rennie, the great English engineer, received impetus and a basis for his career by working at odd times with a blacksmith. The reason for developing outside interests for these children is that they tend to become and to appear ab- normal if they are in the same classes with children who are both larger and older than they. As he approaches adolescence this type of child should have some dominant life interests to which to devote his extra energies in this period of stress. The four principles given here should, of course, be applied in our treatment of normal children. The pre- cocious or '^ extra bright " child, however, needs especial METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 273 attention from this standpoint. The backward or de- ficient child needs attention of a different nature. Backward Children The Slow Child Needs Encouragement. Special care should be exercised with backward children in order that they may not become nervous under the strain of knowing that they are not coming up to expectations. The teacher's motto should be '' encour- age." Every means should be exhausted to discover and eliminate the causes of backwardness. If the child has poor health, the parents should be informed, and ways of improving his health should be suggested. If it is evident that he is naturally slow, every opportunity to make him happy with his lot should be taken advantage of. His special capacities should be brought to the front. If he has any powers, he should be told of them. Too often the school is a means of causing backward children to become more backward. Due to constant scolding and failure in school many persons who are fairly capable lose confidence in themselves. Others become soured on the world and society when they might have become happy efficient citizens under proper stimulation and encouragement in school. Unimportant Defects Should Not Be Emphasized. Very often unimportant types of backwardness are made too much of by the school. I have in mind a boy who was held back in school and made nervous because of inability in oral reading. A teacher who did not 274 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE overstress this type of performance so encouraged him that he was able to skip a year's work. His attitude towards both school work and life was materially im- proved. Backwardness in only one subject should never be allowed to retard a child. Arrested Development Peculiar Arrests Very Frequent. One of the most important problems of mental hygiene in the school is to teach in a way which will prevent arrests and destructive by-products. The dangers of arrests have long been recognized by leaders in education. Many years ago Dr. W. T. Harris spoke of them as follows : '^ A severe drill in mechanical habits of memorizing or cal- culating, any overcultivation of sense perception in tender years, may so arrest the development of the soul in a mechanical method of thinking as to prevent further growth into spiritual insight." ^ Although such cases have been noted and commented upon now and then, they have not been brought to the foreground as they should have been in books on method. One of the best studies of arrests is that made by Dr. Norman Triplett. He discovered that many individuals in X college classes were sufferers from poorly directed or overzealous pedagogy applied to them in childhood. He collected these cases and reported them.^ '^ About 700 of these cases have been collected/' he writes. " It is not 1 Psychologic Foundations of Education, p. 142. 2 Pedagogical Arrests and Peculiarities. Ped.|Sem. Vol. 12, 1905, pp. 141-157. METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 275 difficult to find them ; indeed the majority of most classes find that they have some phase of the so-called arrests." They occur in most of the "common branches." They should be expected here, for the traditional school is likely to overstress this side of education and to teach such subjects as geography, history, reading, writing, and arithmetic regardless of all pedagogical principles. Some of the arrests described by Dr. Triplett are : Geography. Overemphasis of places on maps and of map-drawing has resulted in the development of a map imagery which cannot be overcome. When the in- dividual wants to think of some place on the earth, a map comes up instead. These cases are always found among persons who are visualizers Peculiar methods and practices have been continuously used until a special image is welded into the child's consciousness, and he is never able entirely to eradicate it. Some statements that illustrate this are : ''We drew the coast line so often, especially the New England coast, that each indentation as it appeared on the map stands out as vividly as it did then ; the result is that I never think of those bays as bodies of water but as small blue spots on the map." "At eight years of age I entered a class in M's geography, a textbook with supplementary atlas. Several years were spent upon map questions ; today the mention of even a famil- iar place suggests a map rather than a picture of the place." Methods of Preventing. Such cases, and they are quite frequent and of many varieties, reveal that teach- ers must teach more concretely, use more thinking and 276 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE less drill and memorizing, and sound children constantly as to the concepts they are acquiring. Overdrill and extreme requirements in the memorizing of symbols must be avoided. Arithmetic. Constant pressure with scoldings and threats often develops an unfortunate mental attitude towards this subject which is carried through life. A child, who, properly taught, may have mastered the essentials of arithmetic, may lose , this ability entirely. It must be kept in mind that in every class there are likely to be one or two children who are by nature lack- ing in this type of intelligence. It is best to let them work slowly and acquire the subject by growth rather than bring about overstrain. " Counting " is a type of hysteria. A nervous individual who has been strenu- ously trained in mathematics may acquire a mania for counting. " Counters " are not always caused by over- pressure or overdrill in arithmetic, but it can readily be seen that severe pressure in this subject would aggravate hysterical natures. Weird number forms are also often a result of bad methods of teaching. Special Causes of Arrests. That peculiar attitudes towards any subject may be developed in children by improper teaching methods cannot be doubted. The teacher should, as far as possible, avoid doing anything which is likely to fix the child's attitude against a sub- ject, or develop a method of thinking which will keep him '' in a rut," or militate against his progress. Some special causes of arrests are : METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 277 1. Too much stress placed upon a subject too early in life. 2. Threats or overstrenuous demands by teachers. 3. Failing a child for deficiency in a single subject. 4. Overdrill and not enough appUcation. 5. Constant association with symbols and not enough concrete work. Home Study Over thirty years ago the Boston board of education passed a resolution as follows : " Home lessons in arith- metic should be given out only in exceptional cases." President Walker of the board said, " Over and over again have I had to send my own children, in spite of their tears and remonstrances, to bed, long after the assigned tasks had ceased to have any educational value and had become the means of nervous exhaustion and agitation, highly prejudicial to body and to mind ; and I have no reason to doubt that such has been the experi- ence of a large proportion of the parents whose children are habitually assigned home lessons in arithmetic." ^ An important factor of home study is the character of the home. For example, Schmidt, quoted by Burnham, found in one city 25,679 dwel ings in cellars ; 3385 dwell- ings on the fifth story ; 343 still higher; 560 ground stories with 175 to 200 tenants each ; 154 with 226 to 250 in- 1 Burnham, W. H. The Hygiene of Home Study. Fed. Sem. Vol. 12, 1905, pp. 213-230. Dr. Burnham is quoted largely in this section because he is the only American who has gone far into the field of the hygiene of instruction. 278 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE habitants each ; and 6 with a still larger number of people. Further it was reported that there were 1749 common kitchens, and the climax of misery was found in 4086 dwellings which consisted only of a kitchen. In dwellings with only one heated room the number of inhabitants was 14,100.1 Then the work a child must do outside of school, the fact that he will probably be helped more through recreation than study, and the slovenly habits formed by dawdling over irksome tasks, all point in the direction of fewer home assignments. To quote Burnham further : '^ The trend of opinion now is rather strongly against the giving of home tasks. The opinion of hygienists is that it leads to overpressure, at least in many individual cases. The opinion of many school men also is that it leads to deception and slovenly work, and that only a minimum amount is necessary. " In the case of the poor, where home conditions make hygienic study impossible, or where so much work must be done by the pupils that there is no time for study, the allotment of home tasks should be altogether con- demned. In the case of the well-to-do, where the par- ents wish to share in the education of their children and where outside tasks like instruction in music, domestic duties, or the 1 ke may be quite as mportant as the school work, the allotment of home tasks is likewise undesirable. The safe rule wouM seem to be that no home work should 1 Berlin in 1904. Burnham notes that many of our own cities are not far in advance of this. METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 279 be prescribed ; but where this seems desirable, sugges- tion for spontaneous work on the part of the pupil may well be given." The best time to study is during the day at school. There should be provided, from the fifth grade up, ample study periods. At this time the children should be taught hygienic and effective study methods. Child Health and Arithmetic Length of Periods. In the study of this subject grow- ing children must be confined within school buildings and must sit in school seats. It is apparent, then, that there is a limit to the amount of time which may be profitably spent in this way. Too much time, especially in continuous periods, not only militates against vitality but also results in less rapid and less thorough learning. Kirby, Thorndike, Burnham, Stone, Rice, and Brown report that less time spent more efficiently will result in better learning in this subject. This is true especially in drill work. The time which may profitably be spent in ordinary arithmetic does not exceed fifteen minutes per day in the primary, twenty minutes per day in the intermediate, and thirty minutes per day in the upper grades. Burnham ^ suggests, — ^^ If in 16 per cent of the school time pupils learn as much arithmetic as in 20 per cent of the time, hygiene suggests that the superfluous time de- ^ Arithmetic and School Hygiene. Burnham, W. H. Ped. Sem. Vol. 18, 1911, pp. 54-73. 280 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE voted to the subject had better be spent in play out of doors. It is not for hygiene to minimize the importance of arithmetic ; but with so many subjects crowding the curriculum the problem whether too much time is spent on arithmetic although primarily a pedagogical question, becomes a hygienic one also." Nervous Tension and Over-stress Should Be Avoided. If the best results are to follow, the teacher should do everything possible to prevent anxiety and worry, men- tal strain, and tension in the study of this subject; for it seems more than other subjects to be the cause of worry and nervousness in children. Burnham gives the following case among others : '^ A boy of ten is working a sum on the blackboard. He stumbles and blunders unaccountably. The teacher in her pedagogical zeal goads and nags him, and finally humiliates him by bring- ing into the class his younger sister from a lower grade to perform the example for him. Within ten days the same boy is ill with endocarditis, a disease to which chorea too often seems to be prodromal.'^ This is, of course, an exceptional case, and many teachers know from experience that such results do not always follow this kind of treatment. But the teacher should also know that some children undergo undue nerv- ous strain because mathematical association is so difficult for them. These individuals should be closely watched and shielded rather than scolded at critical times. The child's nervous balance is worth many times as much to him as is the arithmetic. And it must also be kept in METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 281 mind that when the former is in any way threatened the latter is bound to suffer in the long run. If the child appears delicate, undernourished, nervous, or especially backward in this subject, the teacher should be especially careful not to add to the difficulties by his method of teaching. Time to Begin Arithmetic. By making it a part of their lives and by teaching it for no more than fifteen minutes per day, arithmetic may be made quite profitable to children in the first grade. It does not have the draw- backs of reading, which requires continuous use of the fine eye-muscles. Some of the time that has been de- voted to reading might with profit be given over to arith- metic. Games which involve elementary arithmetic, memory work, and concrete arithmetic involved in money, measuring, and counting may be taken up without dif- ficulty in the primary grades. Before he finishes the third grade the normal child may be taught all the multiplication tables, addition, subtraction, and most of division. If no more than fifteen minutes a day is de- voted to the subject in the lower grades, if the teacher is constantly on the lookout for overstrain, and if individ- uals who are backward are not discouraged but encour- aged, more arithmetic than is ordinarily completed in the fourth grade may be finished by the end of the third. The objections raised by Burnham, Kilpatrick, and others to arithmetic below the age of eight or ten years are limited to the three factors : (1) too much time given in the lower grades, (2) the undue strain resulting from un- 282 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE sympathetic and oppressive methods, and (3) too early introduction of abstract association. The Hygiene of Motor Subjects Drawing and other forms of art work, writing, wood- work, and sewing as a group of motor subjects furnish many problems in instruction as related to health. The hygienic elenient in teaching these subjects is very im- portant. " For lack of it at the present time," says Burnham,^ " many errors prevail, and there is often failure to give suitable opportunity for the development of this form of artistic speech." From the standpoint of hygiene the following features are important. Vision. The teacher should keep in mind that the younger the child the less developed are his eyes, and that in the lower grades very little work should be done which will require minute inspection. Basketry, weav- ing, drawing, needlework, and writing must be carefully watched from this standpoint. Many children are in- capable of good motor work because of poor vision. The teacher should strive to discover whether the child's vision is normal and whether or not he is color blind. This defect is usually found in from two to four per cent of boys but hardly ever in girls. Teachers who think that the introduction of more mod- ern motor subjects will insure a more hygienic program often violate the laws of visual hygiene by using too fine materials. 1 The Hygiene of Drawing. Ped. Sem. Vol. 14, 1917, pp. 289-304. METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 283 Position. When a child is required to work at a motor subject for a regular daily period, the position he assumes is of great importance, not only to the efficiency of the work, but also to his general physical well-being. In woodwork the bench should be of such height as to allow work which may be done without constant bending at the waist. In the vocational schools of many European countries the development of a health-stimulating posture is made a vital part of instruction.^ In drawing, painting, and writing, the following prin- ciples of position should be kept in mind by the teacher and adhered to by the children. The teacher should not make position a cause of nervous tension by being too rigid in the enforcing of rules. Every child should understand that his posture will affect his circulation, breathing, growth, endurance, and finally, his efficiency. Good postures are the most restful and are never rigid. 1. The upper part of the body should rest at an easy erect position. 2. The surface of the paper should be in a place which will not require undue strain either in stretching or cramp- ing the muscles. 3. The left hand and arm should be used to hold the paper and in no way subjected to strain or cramping. 4. The shoulders should by all means be kept in an easy, restful position and at equal height. 1 See Burgerstein and Netolitzski, Das Handbuch der Schulhygiene. 284 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Length of Periods. In woodwork and laboratory cooking long periods are not unwholesome. If an in- formal attitude is taken by the teacher, these subjects are likely to be restful. In writing, continuous practice for improvement should not last over five minutes in the lower grades, ten minutes in the intermediate grades, and fifteen minutes in the upper grades.^ Sewing, especially of a fine nature, is very hard on the eyes. The teacher must arrange so as not to have long periods of close work. Materials. Materials which are unwholesome or which interfere with good work are not only inefficient but harm- ful. Drawing crayons often contain arsenic. Children should be protected against the least possibility of any- thing of this nature. When the materials are inadequate or interfere with the child's performance, nervous tension is very likely to ensue. A scratchy pen, a penholder not suited to the child, and paper surface that interferes with writing are likely to cause unnecessary worry. Good materials, but not necessarily intricate or expensive ap- paratus, should always be provided. Reading Importance of Health Methods in Reading. Since school authorities place more stress upon reading than upon any other subject, and since it is involved in the acquisition of knowledge in every other subject, it is very important that proper hygienic methods and mate- 1 Large list of Experiments given by Thompson, METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 285 rials be used in teaching it and that hygienic habits be formed by those who read. Reading also involves the constant use of the eyes. These sense-organs, which are basic to all life occupations and activities, are often injured by the work imposed upon the child in school. That children should be thus handicapped and injured in the name of education seems almost beyond belief in this enlightened day and age ; but it is nevertheless true that they are. Publishers and book agents continually claim that they do not go to the expense of making hygienic books because teachers and school authorities do not demand or buy them. When a publisher does produce a proper book, he finds that a cheaper book is available and that there is no sale for his. The time is coming, although slowly, when there will be a hygienic minimum for every book published, and stringent laws will be made concern- ing books that are to be read by children especially. In the meantime the least we should do is to stress hygienic methods of using the books that are on hand. When Should Reading Begin ? The important factor in beginning the proper teaching of reading is not to wait too long. When taught rightly, reading may well begin in the kindergarten. Many hygienists have made the mistake of confusing all reading with the improper methods, long periods, and oppressive practices of the traditional school. Burnham wisely suggests that formal instruction be deferred. But the modern school is en- tirely doing away with the old formal methods. The work is being related to the child's natural life and in- 286 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE terests all through the grades. In the Horace Mann kindergarten instruction in reading is quite profitable, and; since injurious methods are not used; no bad effects follow.^ Length of Periods. All reading periods should be short. In the lower grades it is better to have two ten- or fifteen-minute periods than one of twenty or thirty minutes. In the intermediate grades not over twenty minutes should be continuously devoted to reading. Protective Methods, (l) In the first and second grades children should not be required to keep the place while a pupil reads. The constant attention to the page does not allow the fine eye muscles opportunity to relax. The educational value of " keeping the place " is too small to compensate for injury that might result. The child is not likel}^ to learn much about reading by fol- lowing another's recitation. There is greater incentive to the reader in expressing his paragraph or page to a group which is interested in his performance than to one which has its eyes glued to books. If the child attends to his book only when he is to read; there is little op- portunity for overstrain. By long observation it has been found that find- ing the place when called upon is of even greater educational value than keeping it. The child must keep in mind what is being read and must use his reading ability to glance rapidly over the page and find the place where the last reader stopped. Any 1 Described and reference given in the chapter on Motives. METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 287 teacher who will try conscientiously for three weeks the method of allowing the child to read to the class while it keeps its books closed, and of giving each new reader the page but allowing him to find the place for himself, is likely to be an advocate of the system. Tried for a day or two with inexperienced children, or with those who have been trained merely to follow the reader, success should not be expected. Everything that is worth while must be worked for. With proper exercise children soon develop great ability to find the page when the teacher has given the number. They scan it rapidly and are ready to read almost as quickly as when they have been required to keep their eyes upon the lines. A very advantageous and hygienic exercise in reading is to read a sentence or a paragraph, name the page, and see how quickly all the children can find the place. It is very important that the delicate and immature eye muscles of small children be protected from strain or continuous contraction. Reading by small children should be continually alternated by looking away from the book. (2) Another method which is valuable from the learn- ing standpoint and likewise hygienic is to ask children to read a paragraph and then, looking away from their books, tell the vital parts of it. Illustration : Teacher : " Who can tell us what the elephant said to the camel? When you are ready, stop reading and look at me. After I have seen that you are ready, you may 288 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE find out how the camel answered him, if you want to, while some of the others are trying to catch up." Question follows question throughout the recitation. The children read silently and after each question they look away from their books to recite. A more advanced class may read and report under some such direction as the following : ^^ Will you all read the next paragraph and be ready as quickly as possible to tell us the important addi- tions to our story that you find there? " It will readily be seen that both of the methods sug- gested are in line with the modern attitude towards read- ing and are effective in helping the children to gain power in silent scanning. Position in Reading. We cannot be too careful that children have good light, falling upon the book and not shining into their eyes. Teachers often do not like to go to the trouble of constantly adjusting shades or of moving the children about. Time spent in this way is well spent and is bound to be a large factor in producing better results. The children should sit in a free position with bodies erect. There is no special advantage in holding the book rigidly in the left hand. This is a custom which prob- ably grew up from some accidental beginning and is now almost a fetish with some teachers. It is probably better to hold the book in both hands. The teacher should allow the child to use the most natural and restful method. Materials for Reading. Teachers should band them- selves together to fight for hygienic books. We shall METHODS WHICH FOSTER HEALTH 289 never get them unless we assert that hygiene is a minimum essential, and that interesting and educative contents is worth while only if this minimum is complied with. It costs more to put out a hygienic book than to put out one where the laws of hygiene do not have to be fol- lowed. The print should be of correct height, weight, and spacing. The correct size is given here.^ Grade 1 ^^The children cannot see it now.'' Grades 2 and 3 *' She must climb the tree. She held on, first to one branch and then to an- Grade 4 " On the way down, an Indian who was in a canoe stole something from the ship. One of In order to make attractive pictures, which are more in demand than hygienic materials, publishers are often forced to use paper with a very high finish. Whenever possible the teacher should give preference to the text printed on paper that does not reflect the light. The books and materials used in reading should be watched closely so as not to become sources of contagion. 1 According to Terman in The Hygiene of the School Child, u 290 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Children should not wet their fingers in their mouths and then use them to turn pages. Whenever a book comes in contact with a child who has a contagious dis- ease, it should be burned rather than fumigated. Fumi- gation is a very doubtful method of removing contagion from books. It is rarely possible to do it effectively. Summary It might be said by way of summary that hygienic methods are natural methods. Anything that runs counter to the child's natural growth or spontaneity is not likely to be either efficient or hygienic ; further, in dealing with extra bright or with backward children special care should be taken to prevent nervousness and arrests. And, lastly, in teaching every school subject larger and more permanent results will follow if care is taken to use methods which foster health. CHAPTER XIII LESS SEDENTARY PRACTICES AND METHODS Less Sedentary Programs The Hygiene of the Program. Textbooks on school hygiene used to insist upon a definite program of sub- jects based upon the supposed curve of work. Arithme- tic or some '' difficult " subject was placed first in the day because the child was supposed to be more capable at that time than later. Experiments have proved that the curve of energy or ability to work depends upon so many factors that it is impossible to fix with surety a program based upon it. However, all our evidence points to the necessity of a balanced program. Subjects which allow or employ physical activity and those, like music, which secure re- laxation should be alternated with subjects which use specific mental powers or those which are confining. Monotony retards learning, especially with small children. The constant use of a single brain function, as in any work requiring mechanical memory, or the use of small muscles, as the eye muscles in reading or the finger and forearm muscles in writing, should be avoided. Both the efficiency of children's learning and their health are benefited in this way. But the most common reason for 291 292 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE a varied program is to balance seat work, which is con- fining to both body and spirit, with work which allows for physical relaxation and activity. Relaxation Periods. In addition to the arrangement of subjects to avoid monotony, overstrain of functions or small muscles, and too long sitting, special periods for relaxation and light exercise should be provided. These are usually placed at the end of every fifteen or twenty minutes in the lower grades and at the end of every thirty or forty minutes in the upper grades. The relaxation period should last from five to eight minutes. A good game followed by stretching exercises will make the relaxation period both interesting and profitable. In the lower grades of many schools rhythmic exercises and folk dances are used in these relaxation periods. Illustrative Programs. The two programs which fol- low were used for a year in the grades indicated. Re- sults proved that time was not wasted by the relaxation and exercise periods. Both grades covered more work than was required in the state course of study. In some subjects they finished over three times the amount sug- gested in the state course. FIRST GRADE 9 : 00 to 9 : 10 Opening Exercises 9 : 10 to 9 : 20 Phonics 9 : 20 to 9 : 25 Rhythm and Folk Dances 9 : 25 to 9 : 40 Reading 9 : 40 to 9 : 50 Spelling 9 : 50 to 10 : 30 Play M w w H W ►J O O K u '^ w - O rf} P (In Q W « /. P P w ^ « ^ 1 ^ W K > H ^ O W LESS SEDENTARY PRACTICES AND METHODS 293 10 : 30 to 10 : 45 Arithmetic or Numbers 10 : 45 to 10 : 55 Rhythm and Folk Dances 10:55 to 11: 15 Reading 11: 15 to 11:20 Relaxation 11 : 20 to 11 : 40 Nature Study 11 : 40 to 12 : 00 Language and Writing 12 : 00 to 1 1 : 30 to 1 1 : 45 to 2 2 : 05 to 2 30 Noon Intermission 45 Art 05 Music and Rhythm 20 History EIGHTH GRADE (Junior High) 9 : 00 to 9 : 30 Arithmetic 9: 30 to 9: 50 Study 9 : 50 to 10 : 30 Play (dancing for girls and drill for boys three days) 10:30 to 11: 00 English 11:00 to 11:20 Music 11 : 20 to 11 : 25 A short game followed by stretching exercises 11:25 to 12: 00 Study - 12 : 00 to 1 : 30 Noon 1 : 30 to 2 : 00 History or Civics 2 : 00 to 3 : 00 Manual training, metal work, or physics for boys, sewing and cooking for girls. 3 : 00 to 4 : 00 Commercial branches, art, printing, or study Long Play and Physical Training Periods. It will be noted that a forty-minute period each morning is given to play and physical exercise in both the first and the 294 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE eighth grades. Schools are rapidly moving in this direc- tion. Play is by far the most important subject in the curriculum. Teachers should guard its time even more jealously than they have insisted upon full time for arith- metic and grammar in the past. The forty minutes a day spent in vigorous activity and in learning the hun- dreds of lessons which boys and girls must learn to get along together must not be regarded as time given to re- laxation. Vital and necessary lessons are being learned every minute children are together in these more or less free periods. Consider^ for example, the following illus- tration, the experience of a city superintendent when he was a boy in the sixth grade. Hundreds of like experi- ences are to be found on every playground in the country. A Lesson Learned in Play. When I was a boy, during the hockey season it was the custom to search for sticks with which to play this game. When I was about eleven years old, I had a singular experi- ence with such a stick. I found it on a fallen peach tree* one afternoon, and as soon as I had trimmed it, I knew that I had found the perfect hockey stick, the prize in which all boys delight even more than in playing the game itself. Early the next morning I hurried to school in order to exhibit my find. The first boy to arrive was considerably older than I, and I prized his judgment very much. I showed him my stick. To my surprise and chagrin he did not react to it in the way I expected. He lifted it, shook his head, and informed me that it was too heavy and commented that peach was not a very good wood anyway. LESS SEDENTARY PRACTICES AND METHODS 295 Seeing that his words and attitude had had the intended effect upon me, he adroitly changed the subject. Then after all my interest and ambitions in the fine stick had reached a low ebb, he turned to it and offered to ''take it off my hands" for ten cents. He, being much larger than I, might be able to use it a little. I was willing and the bargain was made. As soon as the other boys began to arrive, the boy who had purchased my club became the center of attraction. The stick was, without doubt, all that I had believed, and he had imposed upon my inability to trust my own judgment. Dur- ing the entire season the stick which I had found and had parted with so foolishly was the idol of every boy in the school. This experience taught me a lesson that has been worth much more to me than most of the learning I acquired in the classroom. It and many others like it have made me socially able to take care of myself in all classes of company. I regard this ability as essential and fundamental. It is not the intention here to discuss the many and varied educational values of play. The teacher should understand that the modern school is considering very seriously its obligation in this respect. Teachers often worry about time spent in such a way. The fact that much of the old-style arithmetic and practically all of the old type of grammar is a waste of time does not seem to bother teachers nearly so much as the possibility of time being wasted in play. We must all take the stand that play is the most vital element in our school program, and we must 'ive up to our ideas in this matter by insist- ing that the child play as well as study and recite. Many educators who have children of their own testify that they feel quite doubtful whether they would be benefited by 296 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE the work of the school if it were not for the social and physical development which comes from free association during the mornings, noons, and recesses. Recesses and Relaxation Periods Promote Efficiency. There have been many experiments both in American and European schools which illustrate the value of recesses to regular subjects in the program. The increased sup- ply of oxygen that comes from healthy activity in the open air together with the better flow of blood and lymph seem to give the child energy for higher achievement. Experiments by European investigators have led most countries there to adopt a program in which a recess of from ten to fifteen minutes follows each school period. As far back as 1881 a French law provided for the hour being divided into a forty-five-minute recitation period followed by a fifteen-minute recess. In 1883 the same program was tried in Hessia. In Bavaria in 1891 a like plan was adopted. In 1905 the Austrian school deputa- tion adopted a plan with a ten-minute recess after each school period except the second, which was followed by a fifteen-minute recess. In Saxony in 1908 a plan some- what like this was adopted, and in 1911 all the schools of Prussia were placed under a like regulation. In the Danish Folk High Schools a period of one hour each morning is given to physical exercise. The tremendous influence that these schools are having upon the social and intellectual development of rural Denmark would indicate that such a scheme does not interfere in any way with intellectual growth. LESS SEDENTARY PRACTICES AND METHODS 297 Beginning over a quarter of a century ago with Kraape- lin, hundreds of experiments have been made to formulate, if possible, tabulated evidence of the value of relaxation and exercise periods. Thorndike has pointed out that many of these experiments were unscientific and that the experimenters were wrong in attempting to establish general fatigue as the cause of the fall in achievement by the pupils when rests were not provided. Whether they relieve monotony or fatigue is not important in the pro- vision of recesses and relaxation periods. The fact that they are essential is evident. Experiments point to un- questionable value to the rest of the program of a suitable amount of time devoted to play and exercise. Fried- rich, Laser, Griesbach, Janusche, and a large number of others in Germany ; Burnham and Thorndike in America ; Winch in England ; Binet in France ; Schuyten in Bel- gium ; Mosso and Bellei in Italy ; Axel Key in Sweden ; Teljatnik in Russia; and Burgerstein in Austria are scientists who have made careful experiments proving the value of recesses to the work done during the regular periods. Longer Noon Periods. In many schools a noon period of only one hour is allowed. In addition to this teachers often keep children at school for part of this noon inter- mission. When a child must go several blocks, eat his lunch, and return to school in this short time, a physical and mental strain is likely to result. Since education is solely for the children, and' since health is the most fun- damental feature of all education, the school cannot afford 298 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE to continue such a practice. In many places and es- pecially in schools in the suburbs of large cities the teach- ers bring lunches and regard the noon intermission as extra time which they are forced to give the schools. The shorter they can make it the better it is for them. These same teachers dispense with the regular fifteen- minute recess whenever they have the slightest excuse, and ^^ let out early " in the evening.^ In order to enjoy his noon meal leisurely and not have to hurry to school just after eating, the child should be permitted a full hour and a half at noon. Two hours would be better, and the time will probably come when school authorities, considering that the health of the children is paramount to personal desires of teachers, will provide for a full two-hour noon intermission for growing children. School Furniture Which Stimulates Activity. The old-fashioned desks and seats which filled the entire room and confined the children in a doubled-up position all day are being superseded by movable chairs and mov- able tables. These are usually placed around the edge of the room and the center is left open for motor activ- ities. In this open space the children play games, stand or sit on the floor, or gather about the teacher to hear a story or to take part in a recitation. These movable tables and chairs were first introduced in the kindergarten. At present many schools have adopted them for the first ^ The teacher should never keep a child in at recess for punishment. This is injurious and slovenly discipline. Many cities forbid it. LESS SEDENTARY PRACTICES AND METHODS 299 grade; a few have them in the first, second, and third grades, and one or two schools have the tables and chairs through all eight grades. The new adjustable seat and desk are not as hygienic as tables and chairs, for the point to be emphasized here is that no seat can be constructed which will be satisfactory for a growing child to sit in all day long. The opportunity for movement must be pro- vided. The movable tables and chairs solve this prob- lem. They would, of course, be as bad as any seat and desk if the children were required to sit in one place for long periods. It is the duty of the teacher to see that the children do not sit overlong. With proper movable furni- ture it is possible to make a program and to use methods which stimulate a sufficient activity on the part of the children. Hygienic chairs and tables can be purchased at less expense than seats and desks. All school sup- ply houses have them for sale. Thus there is no reason why they should not soon become standard equipment. Less Sedentary Methods An Experiment with Feeble-minded Children. In the school for feeble-minded at Waverly, Massachusetts, the experiment of allowing the children to stand or sit at their tables while they worked was tried. It was soon evident that during the short periods in which they were required to work indoors the children preferred to stand. After a time none of the children would sit, and the classes were conducted standing. This is one of the many advantages which feeble-minded children have over 300 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE normal children. A child should sit only in order to rest. As school is maintained in many places to-day the children are made lazy by being forced to sit quietly for the greater part of the school day. School Subjects May Be Taught by Active Methods. All the regular subjects taught in our schools at the present time may be so organized and treated as to be learned as well or better than they have ever been and at the same time be far less sedentary. The American teacher has a great advantage in having the use of a blackboard. With hygienic crayon and erasers half the children may be kept working at the board in all subjects which ordinarily confine them to their seats. Groups of children may gather about the teacher and discuss a lesson, standing as well as sitting. Reading and literature lessons may be organized into informal dramatizations and from five to ten children, according to the number of parts, may be allowed to stand and read while they act in movement, voice, and gesture the parts they play. Illustrations in Arithmetic. Second grade : In learn- ing the combinations to twenty, large dominoes, about four by eight inches, were used. The teacher made them from ordinary inch boards. The spots were about one half inch in diameter. The children gathered in a circle upon the floor and as each child played he re- ceived credit for all the spots on both ends of the column. The entire class was responsible to see that he received the proper credit. He wrote his credits in a vertical column on the board, and at the end of the game, he LESS SEDENTARY PRACTICES AND METHODS 301 added his column while the rest of the class gathered about him to see that he did it correctly. Fourth grade : In the corner of the schoolroom a play store with a counter and shelves was located. The shelves were suppHed with empty merchandise boxes, and toy money was provided for the children. Four clerks and four customers could work at a time, and the remainder of the children were delegated to be responsible for each clerk and his customer. After a few rapid trans- actions the clerks and customers were changed. Any teacher who tries such a scheme will not only be teach- ing in a less sedentary way but will soon see how little his regular arithmetic work is functioning when the children are asked to make ordinary simple transactions. Eighth grade : The teacher made specific plans to use the blackboard for half of the class each day. The children at the board were assigned special problems which brought out their weaknesses so that the teacher could correct them. There is little advantage gained by merely sending groups to the board. A specific plan must be made to utilize the board work to ad- vantage. Then the children will be benefited both by the less sedentary method and by the organization of the work. In mensuration work many courses of study call for the measuring of the rooms, buildings, and grounds as part of the work. This not only makes mensuration more concrete but also furnishes arithmetic which does not demand constant sitting. 302 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE Informal Attitude in Teaching. Strain is avoided by letting the children feel that their unconscious and trivial movements are not regarded as important to school discipline. A child should feel that he may yawn, stretch his muscles, wiggle, or turn around now and then without in any way interfering with the work of the teacher or that of the school. He should not feel that he must sit rigidly in his seat while explanations are being made or that he must sit up straight in his seat with his hands locked together on his desk when he has finished a task and has nothing to do. Just as soon as possible children should be allowed to talk to each other when they find it necessary. They should understand, of course, that they must not interfere with each other's work. A child should not have to ask the teacher when he wants to borrow a pencil or a knife, or when he finds it necessary to leave the room. Discipline should mean a feeling of freedom on the part of the children and should be positive and not negative or confining. It usually takes some time to develop a class or a school to this stage of discipline, but there are many good schools where it has been achieved. Discipline and restraint become minor issues in such schools. These schools are more efficient, of course, than the old type of school, which makes discipline its largest prob- lem. From the standpoint of achievement, discipline is merely friction and lost motion. It is more or less necessary but should be dispensed with whenever possible. LESS SEDENTARY PRACTICES AND METHODS 303 Instruction Out-of-doors The Necessity for Out-of-door Life. Activity , both mental and physical, is at its best when not restrained within doors. Man has evolved in the great world out- side. His constitution is not made to withstand con- tinued confinement. This is especially true during the period of formation and growth. The growing child should spend every minute he can in the open air, and we need not fear for his education if we keep him there most of the time. Children naturally love the great world out-of-doors. This love is merely the functioning of their instincts of self-protection. The increased activity which children show when out-of-doors is a good reason for carrying on school as much as possible outside of the schoolhouse. Many of the magnificent brick school build- ings built a few years ago stand to-day as monuments of the barbarism which parents and school authorities practiced upon growing children. Our modern knowl- edge of sanitation condemns them. The great white plague is nothing more than the result of overconfine- ment. It is worth the consideration of every teacher that the most prevalent disease of the teaching pro- fession is tuberculosis, occasioned, no doubt, by living in schoolhouses.-^ If the early training of children has so powerful an effect upon them all through life, should we not first of all cultivate this love of the out-of-doors which is natural to every child ? Should we not strive to fix the outdoor 1 Terman, L. M. The Teacher's Health. Houghton Mifflin. 304 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE habit and do everything in our power to cause the child to want to live in the open, to find his pleasures there, and to acquire learning and health at the same time ? Should the school make such an aim the central feature of the curriculum, we should soon grow a race that would have little need for doctors and patent medicines. Sick Children Often Learn Faster and Grow Healthy When Taken Out-of-doors. Hundreds of experiments with open air schools ^ have proved that sick and un- healthy children learn more rapidly and increase in vigor when allowed to work in the open air. A university pro- fessor says he is able to keep his eight-year-old boy in fair health only by insisting upon his playing out-of- doors all day Saturday and Sunday. The child comes home each Friday evening in a worn-out condition. On Mondays his vitality is greatly increased. During vaca- tions his health improves greatly. This is a special case, it must be admitted, and the ordinary child prob- ably goes along without the ill-effects of overconfinement coming to the surface. Searching examinations usually disclose them, however, and they are all the worse be- cause hidden. Teachers can find no excuse for keeping children within doors from nine to twelve and from one to three except that tradition demands it. The open air school is a long step in the right direction. It has been used mostly thus far for children who were admittedly too sick to undergo the confinement of the ordinary school. In every case wonderful improvement 1 See Watt's Open Air. LESS SEDENTARY PRACTICES AND METHODS 305 has been noted. If open air is a good cure for so many forms of child ailment, then why is it not a good pre- ventive for sickness? Why is it not also the best tonic that those who need to grow can have? There is no definite way of proving these points experimentally, but it seems established that healthy children should do more and better work out-of-doors than indoors. Out-of-door Teaching Must Be Well Organized and Definite. Teachers are likely to find that children can- not be managed as easily outside of the schoolroom as they can inside of it. This is often due to the fact that a pupil often thinks his schoolroom attitude should be dropped as soon as he gets outside the door. He is rea- sonably willing to study geography, history, and like sub- jects so long as he has to stay in a schoolroom, although even inside it is not always easy for the teacher ; but as soon as the schoolroom is left behind, the lessons studied there are to be left behind also. This speaks badly for school work, and some persons have described it as being fit to exist only when confined within " four brick walls." An outdoor class now and then is valuable in this con- nection if for no other reason ; children should be made to understand that a school subject may be worth while out in the sunshine and is in no way confined to work with a textbook inside the school building. Class work out-of- doors is one of the first steps in making the school con- form to the principle that education is life. In planning an out-of-door lesson the teacher must first of all be sure that every child will have something 306 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE to occupy him for the entire period. Inside, when a child has nothing to do, he can be confined in his seat. Out in the open it is impossible to confine him. It is much harder to discipline a class out-of-doors than within the schoolroom. The inner impulses of the children, the many distracting influences of the great world about, and the tendency to act differently outside of school from inside will all have to be adequately met by the plans of the teacher. The following is an illustration of a plan of a sixth-grade teacher which succeeded : I resolved to take my class out-of-doors where we could both be gaining in health and studying nature first hand every day that I could adequately conduct the work there. After my first attempt at going to find a bird nest which the boys knew about, I resolved that I would have ample material on hand to keep every child interested and busy during our entire trip and that every individual should understand just what his duties were before we left the room. I also talked with the children about our opportunities to go out-of-doors for work now and then and made them realize that if we were not alert and busy, persons passing would think that they were not receiving proper training. I planned good lessons in other subjects, such as arithmetic and English, and said that those who did not want to study the subject at hand and give attention every minute of the time we were out could remain inside and study the regular way. It was necessary to require children to remain inside only once or twice during the term, but I found that I must plan my subject and know it more specifically than when presenting it indoors. Some illustrative lessons were : LESS SEDENTARY PRACTICES AND METHODS 307 Evergreens and conifers : I remembered that in botany I had studied some about evergreens and conifers. On my way to school I noticed that there were several varieties of these trees on some vacant lots right next to the school yard. I knew that these trees could be closely connected with the geography work, for there were several kinds of pine, they probably contained pitch, and they illustrated beautifully the struggle for existence, adaptations in leaves and branch forms, etc. I was surprised, however, at the amount of study it took for me to be able to take the children into this grove of trees and teach them first hand. I collected pictures, went to the lumber yards and obtained pamphlets and catalogues, studied boards, and read in botanies. The work paid, how- ever, and I soon collected material to serve for four or five out- of-door lessons which resulted in a better acquaintance with the children and a great burst of interest on their part in all school work. We studied the different kinds of conifers and learned to tell them apart. We studied and read of the products of these trees. We went to a lumber yard and studied the dif- ferent kinds of boards. Our reading was much more effective as a result. Sugar : As a culmination to a study of this industry we visited a sugar factory. A man in the community who was very well acquainted with all the processes of the manufacture of sugar was induced to go along and explain to the class. Mushrooms : I noticed that there were many varieties of edible mushrooms growing close to the schoolhouse. I ob- tained books (there is a government bulletin on mushroom culture) and learned to detect the different kinds. I talked to the children about them, and one Friday afternoon we went to a place where I knew they grew and the children discovered and discussed the varieties. During the entire remainder 308 MODERN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRACTICE of the year the effect of this trip was evident. The interest in mushrooms never entirely died out. Now and then a child would ask me a question about them and tell me of some new variety or new bed. One day I noticed an artist at work painting a scene. This gave me an idea : why could not children go out-of-doors to do art work now and then. In the spring I carried this plan into execution and found that the children responded beauti- fully. I later used the same method in English. I took the class out into the school yard and told them that they might describe something they saw. I had often done this with pictures inside the schoolroom and I soon learned that it can be done even better by going outside. By managing my work in such a way as to make every child feel that he was doing even better school work when out- of-doors, and by planning definitely and carefully, I was able to avoid criticism by the community for my innovation. I received many comments of the complimentary type, for I saw to it that no one could assert that the class was not in perfect order and working diligently every minute that we were out. Many persons who would never have seen our work stopped to look and listen. Illustrations of Outdoor Work in Regular School Subjects Geography. In the study of soils, rivers, bays, capes, peninsulas, and islands, the teacher will find good illus- trative materials in any small stream or rivulet. In large cities there may be none near enough to visit, but in the majority of schools very little difficulty will be experienced in discovering such a stream. This work is done out-of-doors in many schools to-day. The Iowa State Teachers College recently published a bulle- < Jl H O D >H H « O o < 5 w