iiiii 
 
 ,Kior 
 
 ONGWOOD'S 
 
Class Lt)/5'.ll 
 
 Book 1 7 
 G)l)yiiijlu N" - 
 
 COFYKIGIIT UKPOSIT. 
 
Mary Kingwood's 
 School 
 
 A REAL STORY 
 
 Ideally Presented by 
 
 CORINNE JOHNSON 
 
 PRIALIRY TEACHER BROOKVILLE SCHOOLS 
 
 WITH Introduction by 
 
 W. A. BEER 
 
 FORMERLY SUPERINTENDENT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 OF CLARION COUNTY, PA. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 A. S. BARNES & COMPANY 
 
LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
 Two Copies Received 
 
 NOV 5 1906 
 
 « Cooyri^ht Entry 
 
 QUSsdA XXc, NO. 
 
 COPY B. 
 
 fTlO the thousands of Primary 
 *■• Teachers who have patiently 
 
 read this story in Teachers Maga- 
 
 zine this book is respectfully dedi- 
 
 cated. 
 
 CoRiNNE Johnson. 
 
 Copyrighted 1906 by 
 A. S. BARNES & CO, 
 
Introduction 
 
 Possibly the most potent motive to good 
 teaching is that the teacher see herself teach. 
 This can only be done in idea. The teacher 
 becomes the observer of an ideal school in 
 which she is the ideal teacher and her pupils 
 ideal pupils. 
 
 The "I" in Miss Johnson's story is Miss 
 Johnson witnessing herself as Miss King- 
 wood doing the work of the primary school. 
 
 In my experience as a teacher and as a 
 director of teachers I became convinced that 
 tliis phase of the teacher's life should be 
 emphasized, and as I never had seen a book 
 dealino^ with this idealizinoj of the school from 
 the standpoint of sympathy, I suggested to 
 Miss Johnson that she work it out using her 
 own experience as a basis. It had been my 
 pleasure to see her teach her first school and 
 then six successive successful terms. I had 
 studied her intuitions and talked with her 
 on the pedagogy involved in her act. She 
 iii 
 
IV Introduction 
 
 looked at me and wondered, so she has said 
 in after years, but she continued to grow by 
 native power and careful study of good ped- 
 agogy. 
 
 There are a few things that I think her 
 story shows : 
 
 In its first phase it shows in her geography 
 talks the relation of the human to other 
 material things as they minister to his animal 
 needs — food, clothing, and shelter. Funda- 
 mentally that is geography. 
 
 In its second phase her stories show the 
 relation of the human to other human beings 
 as their respective motives are shown by 
 their achievements. Fundamentally that is 
 history. 
 
 In its third phase her nature work shows 
 the relation of the human to the forces of 
 nature, that is natural science in popular 
 form. Fundamentally, nature study is nat- 
 ural science. 
 
 In the fourth phase her literature work 
 shows the relation that the human bears to 
 life ; to his own life, to the life of his fellows , 
 to the Infinite Life, to all life. This is the 
 idealizing phase of her work. Funda- 
 mentally this is literature. 
 
 Miss Johnson entered into the recital of 
 her experiences with zeal and good judgment. 
 
Introduction v 
 
 My work was simply to edit, and it has been 
 a very helpful experience to me to witness 
 a successful worker put the experience of 
 almost a decade into the short compass of a 
 book that will be as helpful to others as it 
 has been to me, and I am sure also to the 
 author. 
 
 Of one thing we may feel certain, her ped- 
 agogy is sound, for it has stood the test, and 
 what has been done ideally by Miss King- 
 wood, has been done really by the author 
 whom we have so sympathetically followed 
 for the past school year. 
 
 W. A. Beer. 
 
Contents 
 
 I. The First Month .... 8 
 
 II. Second Month 25 
 
 III. The Thanksgiving Month . 35 
 
 IV. The Christmas Month , . 46 
 V. Month of Snow and Ice . . 54 
 
 VI. The Birthday Month ... 64 
 
 VII. Blustering March .... 74 
 
 VIII. The Rain Month .... 84 
 
 IX. The Month of Blossoms . 98 
 
 X. The Month of Roses. . .111 
 vi 
 
Preface 
 
 This prefatory note shall be more in the 
 nature of a personal explanation concerning 
 the preparation of this book than an analysis 
 of the pedagogical doctrine it is intended to 
 inculcate. 
 
 Early in the autumn of 1904, my friend 
 and former superintendent wrote me from 
 New York and asked me to put in writing 
 my experience as a primary teacher and to 
 embody in the story the substance of the 
 material used by me in my work with the 
 little ones. He had observed my work for 
 seven years and expressed faith in my ability 
 to put the matter in attractive form. I con- 
 sented to attem^pt the w^ork on condition that 
 he would outline the work and edit my pro- 
 duction so that it would show what he de- 
 sired it to show. I had no experience in 
 literary work, and while I was ambitious to 
 get into this new phase of the work, I feared 
 for the result. 
 
 vii 
 
viii Preface 
 
 In response to my statement of my inabil- 
 ity to do the work alone he gave me an out- 
 line in the following words: 
 
 " 1. Let us say that every term of school 
 should be a model for every other term of 
 school. The work done for the children of 
 the term of 1904 ought to be in its essentials 
 the very same work done for the same grade 
 of pupils in 1905. The only difference is in 
 the experiences of the children. For in- 
 stance, the children of 1904 may never have 
 seen a flying machine, while in 1905, the 
 county superintendent visits every school in 
 the county outside liis own home, in a flying 
 machine. In that respect the work would 
 change, but essentially a "sail" is a ship on 
 the ocean whether propelled by a sheet of 
 canvas or a turbine. 
 
 "2. The work done in the school of the 
 primary grade should in a vague and indefin- 
 ite sense embody the beginnings of all the 
 sciences and in a relative measure all of the 
 arts. 
 
 "3. The school as an institution for the 
 promotion of the arts and sciences must be 
 lost sight of in the primary school, and the 
 school as an institution for the promotion of 
 man must steadfastly be held in mind. 
 
 "4. The end of the school being the 
 
Preface ix 
 
 growth of the child, the means employed 
 must be conducive to the end and not sub- 
 versive of it. 
 
 " 5. It follows, then, that the essentials of 
 the school in this grade are not that the child 
 may reproduce, but that he shall create. 
 Reproduction in the true sense, means that 
 the child shall be given a pattern experience 
 out of the life of the race, and in the measure 
 that such pattern experience affects him, he 
 must be 'permitted to reproduce it but never 
 required to do so. To give him liberty to set 
 free the divinity that is within him is a means 
 to growth, to require liim to reproduce the 
 thought of another is to make him a parrot, 
 and in spirit a parrot never grows. 
 
 " 6. To sum it all up, a book to be a guide 
 for a primary teacher should set ideals ; (a) of 
 S3niipathy — first, of the teacher in sympathy 
 with the child, second, of the child in sym- 
 pathy with the teacher, presuming that the 
 teacher stands for the world to the child. 
 
 (6) The book should set ideals of the 
 child's never-resting thought. It is a foolish 
 thing to say "you must lead the child to 
 think." You can't prevent him from think- 
 ing. The book must show the best, the most 
 simple, and the most natural thinking of the 
 child concerning his environment. 
 
X Preface 
 
 " (c) The book should show ideals for 
 child action, and, incidentally, it should show 
 an ideal for form just so far as the form work 
 of the grade is presented, which, it seems to 
 me, should be incidentally, but from set pur- 
 pose. 
 
 " {d) Lastly, the book should show the 
 ideal teacher, therefore the book should be 
 written in the third person." 
 
 Much of my work up to this time had been 
 done intuitively, but with this outline it 
 seemed to become more organic and I take 
 this opportunity to thank my former super- 
 intendent for the outline and for the patience 
 he exhibited in editing from month to month 
 my work, and for weaving in pedagogical 
 suggestions that were often by me overlooked. 
 I have asked him to write an " introductory 
 chapter," more fully to set forth the prin- 
 ciples involved. 
 
 I take this opportunity also to thank Dr. 
 Lang, the editor of Teachers Magazine^ for 
 his many kind words while the work was 
 being done. 
 
 CoRiNNE Johnson. 
 
Mary Kingwood's School. 
 
 i 
 
 I. 
 
 The First Month. 
 
 jNE brght September morning Miss 
 Mary Kingwood hastened toward 
 the Longport public school building, 
 which was to be her school home for 
 the next ten months "The old brick," as 
 the children called it, was the place that had, 
 in the dreams ever since her election, played 
 hide and seek in her busy brain. This 
 morning she was in a very interesting state 
 of anxiety about the beginning which must 
 be made. The school Vv^as reputed to be the 
 best in the county in the work of the higher 
 grades. It was said to be far above the 
 average in the formal work of the inter- 
 mediate classes but very little good had been 
 said for several years about the work of the 
 primary room. 
 
4 Mary Kingiuood^s School 
 
 Miss Kingwood was not a beginner. She 
 had a reputation sufficient to secure her 
 election and the promise to the people by the 
 school board that "things will be better." 
 Very soon after her appointment she ascer- 
 tained all the facts available concerning the 
 school, and she wisely consulted the super- 
 intendent about the new conditions with 
 which she was to deal. Later she had sev- 
 eral interviews with the principal — several 
 seemed to her to be necessary. He had 
 opinions. So had she, but at the final inter- 
 view she received the assurance that she had 
 freedom to follow any plan she deemed wise, 
 provided, of course, she kept in mind that 
 the principal, the school board, and the 
 patrons of the school expected great 'mprove- 
 ment in "Number One." The law, as she 
 was given to understand it, was, ' The chil- 
 dren must come from Number One better 
 equipped for the work of Number Two than 
 has heretofore been the case." 
 
 But there was a more hopeful agreement 
 reached at these interviews. Miss King- 
 wood asked to be allowed one half day each 
 week to see the work of the other grades. 
 When asked why she made such a request 
 she replied, " Because I want to have in mind 
 the work to be done by my children next 
 
First Month 5 
 
 term and the next and the next, till they quit 
 the school." 
 
 This demand seemed extraordinary to the 
 principal, but he agreed to try it for one 
 month, saying that he or one of his pupils 
 would teach in Number One when Miss 
 Kingwood was in the other rooms. She 
 left the conference at which tliis agreement 
 was reached with very great satisfaction, 
 while the more experienced participant had, 
 as he afterward said, very grave doubts in 
 his mind. 
 
 The experiences with the superintendent, 
 the principal, and with a few of the patrons 
 she had met were memories to Miss King- 
 wood this September morning, that somehow 
 seemed to her to have an important influence 
 on her work. At every step as she ap- 
 proached the building, her foot came to the 
 sidewalk more firmly, and before she had 
 entered she had resolved — ^what the form of. 
 the resolve was need not be set down here — 
 but her appearance indicated that she knew 
 her power and would not abuse it. She had 
 confidence in the principal and expected his 
 guidance over difficult places. 
 
 She had come to the school-house early. 
 As she entered she met the janitor coming 
 out of the school-room that for the next ten 
 
6 Mary Ktngwood^s School 
 
 months was to be hers. She approached 
 him with outstretched hand and a " Good 
 morning, Mr. Harvey,*' with an expression 
 of good wi 1 and a look of neighborly kind- 
 ness that warmed the old man's heart, so 
 that he murmured to himself as he passed 
 into Number Two, "They told the truth, 
 they did, she's all right." 
 
 The teacher was the first to arrive but 
 soon the children came. Some skipped in 
 with music in voice and action, while others 
 stole in quietly as if in fear. They came 
 singly, by twos, by groups, till more than 
 fifty thronged the not too spacious school- 
 room. Miss Kingwood's heart throbbed in 
 sympathy with the little ones, and as she 
 looked over her school she breathed a mute 
 prayer for a bountiful harvest from this as 
 yet almost unbroken field of human motive. 
 
 She made a quick inventory of the ex- 
 pectancy beaming from the children's eyes. 
 How anxious had they been to get a first look 
 at the teacher! How she wished that she 
 knew the verdict of this most critical of 
 juries! But she must wait, for had she not 
 yet to reveal the motives surging in her heart 
 and urging her to effort ? She must wait. 
 So she quietly, very much like a child, moved 
 -among the fjhildren as they came, and by 
 
First Month 7 
 
 word and touch set at rest many an anxious 
 inqui y. 
 
 " Would she be hke mamma ? " In a well- 
 regulated school this question ought to be 
 answered right. Miss Kingwood knew the 
 power of touch, and by touch as much as by 
 word she answered this question in such a 
 way that the little strangers felt here was a 
 woman who w^ould love them as mamma 
 loved them. It is the act of love by the 
 teacher that assures the child that love from 
 them will be a welcome offering, and many 
 were the pure young lives that brought this 
 offering to the new teacher this first morning 
 of the term. Love for the pupil is the great 
 power in the school, especially in the primary 
 school. The child coming for the first time 
 to the school to enter upon the experiences of 
 the school with peace of mind! A healthful, 
 hopeful state! How much it means! And 
 ove for mother! Eliminate from the ranks 
 any teacher who by word or act so far forgets 
 her mission as to lessen the faith of the little 
 one in mother. 
 
 To the child entering school mother is the 
 ideal woman. Mother is the sweetest, holi- 
 est name on earth. Oh, for more implicit 
 faith in, and love for the mothers of this 
 C^ountry! It is a part of the business of the 
 
8 Mary Ktngwood's School 
 
 school to enlarge that faith and deepen that 
 love. 
 
 This September morning several mothers 
 came to the school, as one of them said^ 
 *' just to get a look at the new teacher," and 
 some came because the ones in whom they 
 were most interested were timid and needed 
 encouragement. Meeting these mothers was 
 a helpful incident for Miss Kingwood. By a 
 few words with the mother she got a glimpse 
 of the inner life of the child. For this she 
 was indeed thankful. And by casual re- 
 marks she learned some things of other chil- 
 dren ; one always does in school work. 
 
 At length the hour for the real work of the 
 school was signaled, the mothers departed, 
 and the little ones hurried and scurried 
 through the room to get the places which 
 each thought suited him or her best. It was 
 a short period of trial for there were dis- 
 appointments, but the spirit of kindness had 
 somehow got abroad and in a little while 
 more than half a hundred children sat look- 
 ing into the teacher's face, expectant, eager, 
 ready for whatever might occur. 
 
 Miss Kingwood had taught, but as she 
 met th s assembly new visions passed before 
 her, visions of responsibility for unshaped 
 human lives. She did not hesitate. Every 
 
First Month 9 
 
 moment was vital. She promptly moved to 
 take the citadel of every little heart throbbing 
 so anxiously in her presence. She had lived 
 near to nature. She loved nature. Children 
 were of nature, and she loved them because 
 they were children, more to her than all the 
 rocks, trees, b rds, everything. Here she 
 differed f om some other worthy teachers I 
 have seen work, who loved some children be- 
 cause they are "so nice." Miss Kingwood 
 loved children because to her the one great 
 fact of nature is life, its source, its need, its 
 destiny. 
 
 This thought was with her at this hour, 
 and as she met the gaze of the children the 
 light of her countenance was a smile, not a 
 *' made to order shaping of lines and twitch- 
 ing of muscles," but a smile that was the 
 index of the light of life illumining her face 
 so that it shone with such beauty (she was 
 not pretty) that every child felt it was real 
 and that it would "not wash off." Nearly 
 all the little ones smiled back their good will. 
 
 So far not a word had been uttered, but the 
 first link in the chain of unity had been 
 forged, and without the soul-killing process 
 of asking names Miss Kingwood asked, " Do 
 you know any songs?" She got the ready 
 answer, and when she said: "Would you 
 
10 Mary Ktngwood^s School 
 
 like to sing ?" she seemed to say to the chil- 
 dren, "I am here to let you do your will. 
 Only will to do some right thing." And the 
 children never thought of the other side of 
 the shield. What is the need of showing the 
 wrong side, anyway? 
 
 Nearly every child had been to Sunday 
 school. After the home, the Sunday school 
 is the next great influence toward righteous- 
 ness, and sad as it is to say it, it is often the 
 first. Of course they wanted to sing. All 
 normal children sing. If they don 't sing with 
 their voices they do sing with their souls, and 
 so they are in unison with those who do sing 
 with voice. One little girl, a bom leader, with 
 a manner worthy of a queen, said, " Please, 
 teacher, may we sing * Precious Jewels'?'* 
 Yes, that would be their first song. How the 
 eyes sparkled ! How the full hearts leaped in 
 the joy of expectation of utterance! How 
 eagerly each one waited for the signal and 
 the keynote! With equal fullness Miss 
 Kingwood gave the answer. That song had 
 cheered her on her way many a time before, 
 and they sang 
 
 "When He cometh, when He cometh, 
 
 To make up His jewels, 
 All the pure ones, all the bright ones, 
 
 His loved and His own. 
 
First Month 1 1 
 
 Like the stars in the morning, 
 His bright crown adorning, 
 
 They shall shine in their beauty, 
 Bright gems for His crown." 
 
 When the singing was ended and the chil- 
 dren had repeated the sentence, " Little chil- 
 dren, love one another," Miss Kingwood 
 knew that the beautiful gate of service had 
 been opened. Cynics may sneer, and wise 
 statesmen shake their heads for fear of too 
 much religion in this sort of teaching, but it 
 is, after all, the only way to civic righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 This introductory exercise gave Miss 
 Kingwood an opportunity to talk with the 
 children. She moved around among them 
 asking them questions, for the purpose of 
 learning individual experiences from one and 
 another of them so that she might be able to 
 "hitch on" new things to these experiences. 
 Wise girl, I thought. Incidentally, she 
 learned the names of a number of the chil- 
 dren and carefully noted them down. The 
 work of this period was the first of a con- 
 tinued series of informal exercises which 
 from day to day were so directed as to reveal 
 to her the experiences and motives of every 
 child under her care. The knowledge of 
 these experiences was treasured up as her 
 
12 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 most valuable resource, and hour by hour it 
 was drawn upon at the proper time and was 
 in her hands the means of arousing the most 
 intense interest in the minds of the children. 
 
 I noticed that opportunity was given to 
 every child in the school at some time to 
 state some experience, and the story told by 
 one child quickened the imagination of the 
 other children, or caused some one to recall 
 a like experience, or prompted the teacher 
 to tell something that she had seen or of 
 which she had read, or perhaps it suggested 
 the teaching cf a new song. Be what it may, 
 an observing one could easily see that with 
 all the excitement and enthusiasm of this 
 hour there was a deep-laid plan back of it 
 all, simple, it is true, but far-reaching in its 
 purpose. Miss Kingwood said one day that 
 she had a conviction that a child learns more 
 in the first six years of its life than in any 
 succeeding six years, and, said she, ** believ- 
 ing this, how necessary it is that these ounda- 
 tion experiences be set in right relation to 
 what is to come after." And again I said, 
 *'A wise girl.*' 
 
 I observed also that the teacher improved 
 every opportunity to encourage the children, 
 as she said, "to utter themselves,'' with pecu- 
 liar emphasis on the "selves." It was a 
 
First Month 13 
 
 delight to her, and I thought to the whole 
 school to have a cliild bring to the recitation 
 a story of rome particular experience that had 
 made good impressions on the child who 
 related the experience, and it was a joy to her 
 to have a child hold up some bright picture 
 which had been found along its pathway 
 from early consciousness to the present ex- 
 periences of the school. The knowledge of 
 these experiences was kept on the lower 
 shelf of her brain, because she considered it 
 the fundamenta'. means for all the work of 
 the term. 
 
 Every morning after the singing, some- 
 times a short exercise, sometimes longer, this 
 hour of counsel was on. It was the great 
 hour of the day. It furnished the material 
 and the motive for all the rest of the day's 
 work, not the ultimate motive, that was per- 
 manent, but the immediate motive was found 
 in this important hour. 
 
 It was never a matter of concern to Miss 
 Kingwood to find something to talk about. 
 One child had a pet at home, another had 
 seen a squirrel in a tree-top the day before, 
 this one had been to the brook and had seen 
 the little fishes swimming in the clear water, 
 and that one had some equally interesting 
 experience to relate. Every one was eager. 
 
14 Mary Ktngwood's School 
 
 and some of them insistent, that he or she 
 might express that which was urging for 
 utterance. And the teacher so wisely di- 
 rected this all-inspiring interest that it bore 
 no semblance to that interest ( ?) which for- 
 merly hung over, and in some schools yet 
 abides with, the everlasting story of the cat 
 and the rat, whether those in themselves 
 interesting creatures be in the hat or on the 
 mat, or elsewhere. 
 
 In short, every "general information per- 
 iod," as one judge of good schools sneeringly 
 called these sessions of "the congress of the 
 children," as a more far-sighted one put it, 
 was a period of most valuable legislation. 
 In this congress hour Miss Kingwood might 
 well be counted a child in her simple manner, 
 but wisdom in simphcity marked her every 
 action. It was an hour of intense interest, 
 and every day when this congress was in 
 session, the living, urging interest was so 
 intense that "mats" and "hats" had no 
 place in the deliberations, at least the reports 
 and the speeches bore no trace of the influ- 
 ence of such inactive objects. 
 
 Miss Kingwood ventured the explanation 
 to me that this was because there was too 
 much of the real thing in their cat stories and 
 rat stories to allow conventional situations 
 
First Month 15 
 
 to enter into the discussions, and the way she 
 said it, led me somehow to feel that she knew 
 what she was talking about. She told me 
 that once in a formal school she had asked a 
 six-year-old boy if he could spell "cat,'* and 
 he rephed with just a bit of disgust in his 
 manner, " certainly I can, I learned that years 
 ago." 
 
 When this term of school of which I am 
 writing began, the flowers were in bloom, 
 many of the lovely fall varieties. The fruits 
 were ripening, and here and there a leaf had 
 received the tints which always carry with 
 them a tinge of sadness. 
 
 Miss Kingwood one morning told them 
 that these tints were wireless messages from 
 a very old and respected king called Jack 
 Frost. This was only at the beginning of 
 the vague talk of sending wireless telegrams 
 but it serves to show how this teacher lived 
 in the present and hnked the living realities 
 with the beautiful imageries ever so dear to 
 the human heart. She said that only very 
 wise people could read the message in the 
 colors of the leaf, but that when one became 
 wise he could always find in them the words 
 "cold weather is coming," and little Tom 
 Baker immediately wrote on his tablet an 
 
1 6 Mary Kingwood^s School 
 
 6 
 
 order to "Mister Santa Claus," that he 
 needed a new sled this winter. 
 
 This letter, coming to the teacher's atten- 
 tion, became common property by her writ- 
 ing it in large letters, correctly spelled, on the 
 blackboard, so that all might see and under- 
 stand, even if they could not spell out the 
 words. Miss Kingwood told so kindly how 
 the child heart uttered its desires to the good 
 old saint, and the little ones did not need to 
 know the letters, for universal language is 
 not confined to Roman script, and every 
 child in the room put into this universal 
 language a message that went up from the 
 leaping heart to the source of every good and 
 perfect gift. Paradoxical as it may seem, 
 not one of these messages had a trace of Tom 
 Baker in it, yet every one of them was all 
 Tom Baker. 
 
 Tom himself had a copyright on the letter, 
 which he kept ever after among his most 
 treasured possessions, but every child grew 
 in this hour by eliminating "sled" from the 
 equation and substituting "doll" or "hood" 
 or some other ideal gift that filled the life 
 that created it. 
 
 The teacher's way of putting it was that 
 she would rather improve an opportunity to 
 draw the child gently away from his desires 
 
First Month 17 
 
 by putting things in relation as nearly as may 
 be, than to set a hard and fast rule that 
 December, and not September, is the time to 
 teach about Christmas, and that since the 
 Christmas lesson is in the December plan, 
 there is where it must be taught. "True," 
 she said to me one day, "it is somewhat 
 easier to give the lesson on corn in the June 
 time when the com is growing in the fields, 
 but sometimes things don't fit, and I would 
 sooner make a cornfield in an old box than 
 to spoil a lesson by fixing a special date for 
 it. Nature does not give us advance notice 
 of our great experiences, and to me it seems 
 that the spiritual growth of children must 
 come without any pre-arranged plans. Pre- 
 arrangement is all right for the multiplica- 
 tion table, but multiplication is another thing, 
 don't you think .^" And I did think so, 
 wouldn't you ? I said to the teacher, "You 
 must believe in the new method called nature 
 study," and she replied, "What else can a 
 child study?" And I thought some more. 
 I referred to the ripening fruit. The chil- 
 dren brought in apples. The first lesson 
 which in any manner took the nature of for- 
 mal instruction was about the apple, because 
 the teacher preferred to be practical rather 
 than poetical. She approached this lesson 
 
1 8 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 on the presumption that all children know 
 something about the things they eat and 
 wear, and out of which houses are built, 
 "but," said she, "some of these dear little 
 ones have not yet been touched by the wand 
 of beauty. Some of them know only the 
 animal needs, and I must of necessity talk to 
 them of food, clothing, and shelter, but by 
 and by you will see them climbing the 
 heights." 
 
 That was a favorite expression of hers 
 when she witnessed their aspirations — 
 "Climbing the heights!" To hear her 
 speak those words was to be thrilled through 
 and through and she said them often to the 
 children and somehow they seemed to under- 
 stand. Indeed, I believe it was a phrase for 
 her to conjure by. 
 
 But the apple, I almost forgot it. It was 
 round, red, and smooth. It served for food 
 lessons, for a geography lesson, and before 
 they were through with it, for a temperance 
 lesson, too. Miss Kingwood, in speaking to 
 Tom Baker one day, said, "Don't worry 
 about strong drink, Tom. Be sure you 
 know exactly what Tom Baker is worth and 
 you will not have any time to think of hard 
 cider. " 
 
 It happened that day that Miss Kingwood 
 
First Month 1 9 
 
 was standing near Tom's seat, and somehow 
 his eager, sparkling eyes were looking deep 
 into hers. As she was about to give Tom the 
 message, both her hands were brought lov- 
 ingly to the sides of the curly head as she 
 pressed his rosy cheeks, and by that act 
 pressed home to the little heart the worth of 
 Tom Baker. Tom got the meaning — rough, 
 rollicking Tom, unruly Tom, who knew 
 little of kindness, looked into the teacher s 
 eyes again, and said, "Not what goes into 
 the mouth, but what comes out of the heart, 
 is that what you mean. Miss Kingwood ? " 
 And as something bright sparkled on the 
 teacher's eyelashes, she replied, "That is it, 
 Tom, and the beauty of it is that what comes 
 out of the heart determines what shall go 
 into the mouth. It is the heart, Tom, that I 
 was thinking about." 
 
 Tom understood, and so did every other 
 child in the room, for had they not already 
 learned that these messages were for them 
 as well as for Tom ? 
 
 The formal work of the school was not 
 neglected, and of course the reading of the 
 script on the blackboard was a most impor- 
 tant and interesting exercise of every day's 
 work. The teacher used the idiom " I see," 
 very often, because she said it was the indi- 
 
20 Mary Kingwood's School 
 
 vidualizing of the child after all, that was the 
 work of the school. A long list of names and 
 words used for names were learned in con- 
 nection with these words, and the forms of 
 the nouns, pronouns, and verbs were changed 
 according to the various modifications of 
 those parts of speech; but no child in that 
 happy company ever saw those grimy skel- 
 etons labeled "noun," "pronoun," "verb," 
 or any of their hideous brood. 
 
 Back in the busy workshop of her brain 
 the teacher was shaping plans which she 
 knew would bring into the consciousness of 
 the little ones the living principles which she 
 recognized as "parts of speech," and w^hich 
 she knew they would recognize when the 
 time for their appearance should come. In 
 this language work the one thing always 
 present in the ideal child-student is the need 
 felt for means to communicate with an absent 
 friend. Miss Kingwood held this to be 
 fundamental, and to give this feeling of need 
 to her pupils she brought them in imagina- 
 tion to commune with papa, mamma, baby, 
 the birds, and all that myriad of absent 
 beings with which the child felt that he held 
 fellowship. 
 
 The song, the poem, the story, were ever 
 at her call. She felt that the means for 
 
First Month 21 
 
 growth were largely stored in the songs, 
 stories, and poems of long ago These must 
 be at the child's command. They were kept 
 in books. Miss Kingwood read from books. 
 She read well. Her reading inspired the 
 children and every one wanted to get for 
 himself out of the books the things with 
 which she had thrilled them. Oh, how they 
 needed to read ! And how soon they learned 
 to read! 
 
 One day she told them a story. Oh, she 
 often told them stories, that was a part of the 
 great plan, but the day to which I refer she 
 told them the story of the three bears. Why 
 this story? Because Miss Kingwood be- 
 lieved that the work of the school is most 
 effective when it continues the work of the 
 home, of the right kind of a home. Every 
 home worthy the name has story-telling of 
 some kind along the way, and to continue the 
 development begun in the home the teacher 
 should know the stories current in the 
 homes. So she told the story of the three 
 bears because it was a "neighborhood 
 story." Nearly every one in the school knew 
 the story and could have told it through, but 
 as Miss Kingwood told it, how they lived 
 through the experiences of the growling papa 
 
22 Mary Kingwood^s School 
 
 bear, the grumbling mamma bear, and the 
 whining baby bear. 
 
 The play element so prominent in the 
 child was utilized with this story. This 
 element is strong in the child at this early age, 
 and the teacher believed in directing force 
 rather than in restraining it. Children have 
 large powers of imitation. They act well, 
 and in order to develop this power Mflss 
 Kingwood agreed with the children that the 
 story should be acted out by certain ones of 
 their number, and she wisely permitted them 
 to make choice of certain parts to be taken 
 by this child or that; and they, little philos- 
 ophers, selected the teacher for a part. 
 
 "The play's the thing," said Hamlet, and 
 it is just as certain to reveal the bear as it is 
 the king-killer. This bear play was a de- 
 light to the children, and they often asked the 
 privilege of playing the bear story. This 
 experience was a means of taking an inven- 
 tory of stock in trade, and the teacher im- 
 proved the opportunity many times. Her 
 observations were of especial value in the 
 succeeding months of the term. After 
 acting the story, the children read it, read it 
 by the whole sentences without missing a 
 word, and this to Miss Kingwood 's way of 
 thinking, was a very significant comment on 
 
First Month 23 
 
 all the "scientific" patent processes of teach- 
 ing reading. 
 
 She always sought to create a feeling of 
 need for the words and sentences, and some- 
 how they always came when needed. Her 
 explanation of the ease with which the chil- 
 dren learned to read was, "When I need 
 certain articles to do a piece of art work, and 
 know where to get the articles, I go after 
 them. I think that is the way with a child 
 learning to read. When she feels that she 
 needs words with which to read and knows 
 where to find them, she will go after them. I 
 believe in getting the child to go after things, 
 and we must not forget that she gets words 
 from others as well as from the teacher.** 
 
 Thus the month went on. It drew to a 
 close. But what a month ! Noon hours and 
 recesses were as fruitful as if not more so 
 than the hours of the sessions. The teacher 
 joined in the plays of the children. They 
 learned to know her better through the play, 
 and she them. In the games, they gave the 
 place of honor and the place of difficulty to 
 the teacher, and when the month closed she 
 had won the hearts of the children, and she 
 felt that by coming in contact with their pure 
 lives she had become a nobler viroman and a 
 better teacher. 
 
24 Mary Kingwood's School 
 
 I observed also that her weekly visits to 
 the other rooms were not without effect. 
 She assumed no air of superiority. She met 
 the other teachers as a learner and never as 
 a critic. They were friends. 
 
11. 
 
 Second Month. 
 
 T""^ HE chill and dreary rains of autumn 
 had no depressing effect on Miss 
 J Kingwood s enthusiasm. During the 
 month just closed she had explored new fields 
 and found new treasures. What a month! 
 Yes, she had met some disappointments, but 
 her love for children as a collective represen- 
 tation of human growth and human possibil- 
 ity had differentiated into love for individual 
 children, and thus her love for the child was 
 intensified, and so was her love for her work. 
 In the future, as she peered into it, she saw 
 herself a successful teacher. And in her 
 visions she saw the children a potent factor 
 in her professional growth. She felt at the 
 threshold of this month that the love and 
 sympathy of the pupil is the strength and 
 hope of the teacher. 
 
 It happened that this Monday morning 
 was the first day of the month, and it seemed 
 25 
 
26 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 to Miss Kingwood that a review of Septem- 
 ber's work was an appropriate beginning for 
 October. Indeed, the entire day was spent 
 recalhng the growing experience of the past 
 month. The best story was told again. 
 The favorite games were played once more. 
 The most helpful songs were sung for the 
 good they had done, and everything that 
 could in any way be made the basis for en- 
 larging the lives of the children was carefully 
 talked over by teacher and pupil. Miss 
 Kingwood led in the work of suggestion and 
 question, but she was only one of the en- 
 thusiastic company. During the day she 
 told several new stories for further use. 
 These she had selected to the end that they 
 might stand in relation to the work that had 
 been done and thus stimulate inquiry and 
 intensify interest. Her chief work for the day, 
 however, was to take careful notice of the 
 suggestions of the children, not as a school, 
 but she made special note of the trend of 
 thought of each child. She said, " To know 
 the impressions received by each child is my 
 greatest desire." 
 
 Her greeting to the pupils was, "Last 
 week we said 'good-bye' to Septem.ber, and 
 now we are beginning a new month. Who 
 can tell me its name ? " Of course a number 
 
Second Month 27 
 
 knew, and she permitted all who knew to 
 answer in concert at her signal. " October" 
 rang out clear and positive from almost every 
 one in the room. The fact that so many at 
 this early age know the names of the months 
 suggests that children in general know a 
 great deal more concerning the things within 
 their environment than teachers recognize. 
 In questioning children about common 
 things Miss Kingwood gave them a chance 
 to *' utter themselves," and in these exercises 
 she revealed the beauty of the child's un- 
 conscious answers to questions witiiin his 
 experience. He comes to this service, not 
 with fear and trembhng lest he may give 
 the wrong answer — the answer is nothing — 
 but with joy, the joy arising from growth, 
 from enlarging hfe because of the power 
 within himself to grow. 
 
 Miss Kingwood regarded the formal work 
 of the day as a matter never to be neglected, 
 and she led the children to express them- 
 selves in complete sentences with the right 
 inflections of verbs, pronouns, and adjectives 
 as well as the best words to use. The an- 
 swers to questions were always put into 
 complete sentences before the exercise was 
 finished, so the "favored" child was indi- 
 cated by the teacher's quietly saying, " Clara 
 
28 3/^2rv K2fic^<i'0(>J'^' ^>:'::rjl 
 
 may tell,'* and Clara promptlv responded, 
 "*Miss Kingwood, this is October.** The 
 language work is the most important work 
 erf the school on the form side, and carefully, 
 by significant look and artless inquiry, she 
 led them to use right language. 
 
 Her influence over the bttle ones reminded 
 me of the stoiy of another teacher and a 
 little boy naturally disposed to be rough and 
 to play the rowdy. After the boy had been 
 in school a short time his mother noticed 
 that he was more thoughtful and quiet and 
 she asked, "Does your teacher teach re^ 
 finement. pohteness.- What does she do?" 
 The little fellow replied. "^Why, she just 
 walks around, talks with us, and we feel 
 polite," Ah, that is the mystic charm after 
 all! It is the way the teacher expresses her- 
 self that leads the children to the same^ 
 
 "October!** What a myriad of lessons 
 grew out of this one word: Observing the 
 interest the child has in his home life Miss 
 En^wood kept the home before them in such 
 a manner as to please them greatly. One 
 morning she asked, "What was mamma 
 doing when you came to school?" How 
 an3dous they were to tell I Of course. 
 Tn^Tiima was canning fruit, as many of the 
 children remembered, so that they might 
 
Second Month 29 
 
 have ** something nice to eat during the long 
 winter niontlis." Another mamma was 
 making clothes for the children, and another 
 was helping papa pick apples to put in the 
 cellar. 
 
 "What did you see on your way to school ?" 
 *' What birds did you notice as you came to 
 school?" *' Were there many ?" This ques- 
 tion about the birds aroused little Paul 
 Thomas, and with eyes sparkling and voice 
 eager, he said, in a tone which meant he was 
 surprised to hear her ask the question, *' WTiy, 
 Miss Kingwood, the birds have all gone to 
 the South, so they would not get frozen this 
 winter." Then he told how he had watched 
 the birds gathering and getting ready for 
 their long flight. From Paul's conversation 
 there arose a long discussion about which 
 birds go south, why they go, and when they 
 would return. One said they went away so 
 that they could get food, and another said 
 they went because they could not bear the 
 cold. Frank Jones said that bobolinks and 
 swallows go first, and after talking the mat- 
 ter over the children concluded that birds 
 that hve on seeds and winter berries stay 
 with us all winter. 
 
 One day, not long after, little Paul came 
 with a list of the names of birds, poorly writ- 
 
30 Mary Kingwood's School 
 
 ten it was, but to him a great text-book on 
 ornithology, and Miss Kingwood used it to 
 the ed fication of the others, and under the 
 inspiration of the honor Paul grew. He had 
 named only those Avhich stay with us, and 
 thus he unconsciously took a long step into 
 the mysteries of natural science. Where 
 there is a leader there are followers, and many 
 of the school wanted to make a list. They 
 did make one. They started the science 
 way. Not book scientists. No, for they 
 all agreed that they would watch to see which 
 birds would be the last to go south. 
 
 The children as they came into the room 
 in the morning always gathered around Miss 
 Kingwood 's desk for a morning talk before 
 school. She said that these confidences 
 between her and her pupils before the open- 
 ing of school and at recess often suggested 
 to her the line of work for the day, and during 
 these periods she was able to outline the for- 
 mal work of the recitation periods. But 
 more than this, in these happy moments she 
 was finding the royal road into the affections 
 of her pupils. She was thus becoming one 
 of them. 
 
 In studying her work and the children 
 Miss Kingwood was delighted when she 
 found how nature appeals to the impressive 
 
Second Month 31 
 
 and responsive nature of the child. Her 
 nature work developed more fully in the 
 study of seeds, grains, fruits, leaves, and 
 birds, but the autumn rains, the chill winds, 
 — a prophecy of winter — and the occasional 
 flurry of snow made rich contribution to the 
 abundant supply. She recognized that noth- 
 ing can better serve to unify the work of the 
 primary school than the observation of the 
 natural phenomena which fall within the 
 field of the child's experience — this phe- 
 nomena observation is commonly called 
 *' nature study," without a comprehension 
 of the meaning of the term. Miss King- 
 wood had no large writ "Nature Study" 
 labels on her blackboard, but the force and 
 value of the process made philosophers of 
 her pupils, philosophers that caught a 
 glimpse of the meaning of God and immor- 
 tality, while learning the sublime art of 
 making bread. 
 
 In the collection of seeds many were 
 brought in fresh from the fruit, and ways of 
 drying them were devised so that hey could 
 be arranged to be kept. The principal 
 caught the meaning and the value of the 
 work going on, and promptly supplied small 
 bottles in which to keep the seeds. 
 
 The topics of interest concerning seeds 
 
32 Mary Kiriff^wood' \ ScJiool 
 
 wen; llicir foriri, size, color, use, srcd-pods, 
 or (;ra<ll('S, rricuus oF traiisporlalion, iu\i\ \mr- 
 po.se. ^i'hey talked of lh(; wings, hooks, and 
 sails. They lold liow ihvy were scallcin^d 
 by wind, watc^r, Ixjisf , and man. The seed 
 of lh(t cljestnut. in ils l)urr was a great de- 
 liglil, an<l 1)11 rr, shell, .'irid fh^sh of the; nut 
 were eagerly o[)serv(;d and fully discussed. 
 'I'his study was inarkcd with great enthu- 
 siasm. 
 
 l'h(! beautiful autumn leaves were brought 
 in and the t;jsk was to find as rriany varietic^s 
 as [lOssibKr. To <h(?er them in th<;ir work 
 Miss Kingwood read to ihcin ** October," 
 l)y Helen Hunt Jackson. I'his day she 
 b(;gan her lesson by saying, " l>o you know 
 there are artists who paint word [)ictures just 
 as beautiful and wond(;rful as those painted 
 with brush and colors ? Whil<; 1 read, you 
 may (lose your eyes and S(^(; the [)ictures." 
 How I wish every teacher <-ould have heard 
 lier read that ])oem! 
 
 They saw the dying golden-rod, they 
 smelled the fragrant grajx's, tlu^y could see 
 the chestnuts falling, and hear thcir«. Then 
 they took their p(Micils and bnislies and 
 paints and mad(; the picture of what they 
 saw, and witlumt any lu'sitancy regarding 
 the color of the leaves, apy)les, and grapes. 
 
Second Month 33 
 
 Judging from IIh'sc piclnrcs, Miss Kingwootl 
 
 <-()n(:lu(iiMl thai the Oclohor color is nd, and 
 
 she said, "Mother Nature dip})ed many 
 
 times into the red [)aint pot to paint piclurcH 
 
 for y<^)H." 
 
 'J'iie re(J ii^aves and the; yellow ones were 
 
 pressed and then mounted and the pupils 
 
 wer<' filKtd with ()< tolxr ;Hid its beauties, and 
 
 through these experiemcs had looked 
 
 through Nature up to Nature's (iod. 'I'hey 
 
 had in a sense felt the poet's meaninj^ when 
 
 he sang: 
 
 '•All are parlH of on<; stupendous whole, 
 WhoBe body Nature is and (Jod the houI." 
 
 In eonneetion witfi these lessons Miss 
 KingwcHxl taught the children an autumn 
 song, "Sweet Summer's (iouv Away."* 
 'I'his increased llu; inlc^rest. Next she gave 
 them the str>ry **S<'edlings on tlu^ Wing."']' 
 
 She had mjide it a rule of her lifc^ to try to 
 s(^(* something hejiutiful evt^ry day, and it was 
 easily ke[)t in this glorious month of October, 
 wh(;n "earth's crammed with heaven," and 
 sh<; had great opymrtunity to clo something 
 for somebody every day. She also noticed 
 how the little children wctc putting into 
 
 ♦WordH \}y Allinj^ham, fronn Fountain Song 
 Book, A. Fluna^^an ()<>., PublisFw^rH. 
 
 I From Cat TailH and Other Tales. 
 
34 Mary Ktngwood^s School 
 
 practice the verse they had learned, " Little 
 children, love one another," for they seemed 
 to derive great pleasure from doing little acts 
 of kindness every day; little acts, we say, but 
 as great in purpose as the martyrdom of 
 Stephen or the hberation of the slaves, only 
 less in their field of influence. 
 
 Miss Kingwood's visits to the different 
 rooms proved a helpful experience to her. 
 One day when she went to Room Number 
 Two, she was very much impressed by the at- 
 titude of the teacher. She was one among her 
 children. Her enthusiasm in the work was un- 
 consciously communicated to all who came 
 in touch ^vith her, and Miss Kingwood left 
 her presence ^vith a fixed determination to 
 still greater effort. 
 
III. 
 The Thanksgiving Month. 
 
 jITH eager faces and with voices ring- 
 ing with exclamations of delight, the 
 children gathered around their teach- 
 er on a bright cold Friday morning in Novem- 
 ber. Snow had fallen and they felt the joy of 
 a bright, winter's day. Where will you find a 
 child with sound body who is not happy with 
 the first snowfall ? These pupils of Miss King- 
 wood came into her presence with overflowing 
 hearts, and she remembered what the Book 
 and the poets had said about snow as an 
 emblem of innocence and purity. She had 
 them leam a new song that morning about 
 the "Beautiful Snow," and as soon as they 
 had sung she permitted one of the pupils to 
 find the verse about washing to be whiter 
 than snow. Then she impressively read a 
 number of verses from the psalm from which 
 it was taken. 
 
 35 
 
36 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 At noon the sun had come out, and as 
 little Ben Parker said, carried some of the 
 snow up to the stars and some of it got away 
 to fill the streams before ice would come. 
 The snow was gone, but its mission had been 
 fulfilled. Instead of the bluster and flurry 
 of the early morning, the afternoon sparkled 
 with sunbeams and Miss Kingwood thought 
 it would be best to improve the perfect day 
 by going to the woods with the children, as 
 this might be their last opportunity till spring 
 should come again. 
 
 When she asked, "How many would like 
 to take a walk ?" they with one voice asked, 
 " Oh, Miss Kingwood, may we go to the 
 woods ?" 
 
 They went, and what a day it was ! What 
 a walk! They discovered secrets of nature 
 that surprised even the teacher. The trees 
 were almost leafless, but here and there a 
 green pine stood framed in with the lighter- 
 colored leafless trees making for the keen 
 eyes the most delightful picture visions. 
 The sky was a beautiful grey, as November 
 skies usually are, but every child was happy. 
 They saw only the bright side of the day. 
 What a wonderful thing is the child heart ! 
 
 And how they talked — talked of the leaves 
 falling, the flowers dying, the preparation for 
 
The Thanksgiving Month 37 
 
 winter, the fallen leaves forming a coverlet 
 for the seeds, the food stored away for in- 
 sects, animals, and man, and Miss Kingwood 
 reminded them that nature seemed to be 
 preparing for a rest. What lessons were 
 learned! Stimulated by their environment 
 one of the children asked if they could not 
 play " 'Come, little leaves, 'said the Wind one 
 day," and as this was a favorite game they 
 all joined in the request for it. That was a 
 royal rehearsal that afternoon. They caught 
 the spirit of the time, and their teacher said 
 she was sure she saw them grow while en- 
 gaged 71 it. 
 
 During the month Miss Kingwood visited 
 several other rooms in the building and came 
 away from them with encouragement and 
 new zeal. She noticed one teacher in par- 
 ticular who made no effort to turn out a 
 number of students exactly ahke, but with a 
 most inspiring disregard for conventionali- 
 ties she allowed the greatest freedom in the 
 way of doing and saying things. Miss King- 
 wood took particular note of this, for she 
 was impressed with the independence and 
 clearness of expression of many of this 
 teacher's class, and she said, "Here is one 
 giving her life that these may have more 
 abundant life," and she went out of her 
 
38 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 presence inspired. While she was in this 
 room they were having a lesson in literature, 
 and under the magic touch of the teacher the 
 children seemed to be inspired; and true 
 teaching inspires all beholders. Miss 
 Kingwood felt the charm of a noble spirit in 
 tune with the poet's holy vision and she re- 
 turned to her own little flock with a halo of 
 glory around her purpose which to her was 
 life, for with her to purpose a line of school 
 work was to do that work. It is true that 
 the children in school appreciate much that 
 seems beyond their understanding, but in 
 literature the heart feels even if the intellect 
 may not reveal the line of life on which the 
 story hangs. 
 
 Out of this room on tliis particular day 
 Miss Kingwood came with conviction that 
 children may memorize poems the meaning 
 of which may not be explained to them, and 
 thenceforth the nobler stanzas of great poems 
 found their way into the child mind along 
 with the simpler rhymes and plainer tales. 
 
 A few days after this visit she brought into 
 the room a picture of Eugene Field, the chil- 
 dren's poet, and placed it where all the chil- 
 dren could see it. She then asked if any of 
 them knew whose picture she had brought 
 for them, and as usual all wanted to tell, at 
 
The Thanksgiving Month 39 
 
 least each one knew some one that he thought 
 it looked like, or that looked like the picture. 
 A number of them said, '*It is Professor 
 Brown." Now Professor Brown was the 
 principal, and the ideal man in the estima- 
 tion of many of the cliildren, if not of all. 
 Strange, how a good teacher takes the place 
 of all others, even of father, in the mind of 
 the child in school. But Professor Brown 
 was the one man they knew, really knew, 
 outside of their homes. Once ISIiss King- 
 wood told me that she was sure the teacher, 
 not only in school work, but in every way, 
 is the model by which the child creates his 
 ideal, and that children are influenced more 
 than we think, by the physical appearance 
 of the teacher. 
 
 To prove her statement she used tliis inci- 
 dent. It happened one day that Miss King- 
 wood wore a black guard on her watch, and 
 one of her pupils when he went home from 
 school that evening and was greeted kindly 
 by his mother, as was her habit, noticed that 
 she wore a gold chain on her watch. Johnny 
 looked at her for a few moments and then 
 asked, "Mamma, why don't you w^ear a 
 black string on your watch like Miss King- 
 wood does ?" 
 
 1 wish that every teacher might realize the 
 
40 Mary Kingwoocl's School 
 
 influence she has in the Hves of the httle ones 
 committed to her care. If we might see the 
 shores to which the waves may reach, how 
 much truer teachers we would be. 
 
 But to go back to our lesson — she told 
 them it was the portrait of a good man who 
 had a little boy of his own, and who loved all 
 little children. Ilis name was Eugene Field, 
 she said, and then she told them stories of 
 his life in such a way that made the children 
 feel that Field had loved them. She laid 
 particular stress on the fact that he was ready 
 at any time to lay aside his work that he 
 might have an opportunity to tell them 
 stories, to sing them (juaint luUabys, or to 
 calm a children's quarrel. She told them 
 how he always bought toys of some kindt 
 a drum, a pop-gun, a dolly, a boat, or candy 
 to take to his own children, or for some little 
 one he perchance might meet. She told 
 them that it was said of Mr. Field that at one 
 time he had gathered together twenty-six 
 dolls and had them ready for any who might 
 be without a doll, and that his great pleasure 
 was to bring pleasure to the one to whom a 
 doll was given. 
 
 And then to my surprise she sat down 
 among the little ones and talked on with 
 them about Eugene Field and his verses. 
 
The Thanksgiving Montli 41 
 
 She said his poems were filled with good 
 things, the things that children like best, and 
 that they had the true child heart, "and," 
 said she, "grown up people all over the land 
 grew to love him just as the children did, and 
 when he was alive they wanted to hear his 
 verses from his own mouth because he could 
 read and tell them better than any one else." 
 
 "One time," she continued, "he took his 
 little boys to a town not far distant where he 
 was to give a reading that evening. During 
 the entire time that he was reading for the 
 people these two little boys sat on the front 
 seat and with eyes and mouth wide open 
 listened to every word their father uttered. 
 When the meeting was over and they had 
 gone to the home of a friend, where they were 
 to spend the night, Mr. Field said to his boys, 
 *Well, boys, how did papa do to-night?* 
 The boys quickly replied, 'Oh, papa, you 
 never did better in your life. * This pleased 
 the great man and he said it was the greatest 
 compliment he had ever received. I think 
 it was a great tribute from a six-year-old 
 boy." 
 
 After Miss Kingwood had talked in this 
 way for some time to the children, and they 
 seemed to realize that Mr. Field was their 
 friend, too, she read for them "Little Boy 
 
42 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 Blue,*' and then told them that if they had 
 gone to Mr. Field's home while he was alive 
 they would have seen the little toys covered 
 with dust just where ^Ir. Field's little boy 
 had placed them the night before the angel 
 came for him. One little girl in the class 
 who read and memorized poems in a re- 
 markable manner said, "Miss Kingwood, 
 Mr. Field wrote * Little Boy Blue ' after his 
 own little boy had died," and noting her 
 intense interest in the matter she asked how 
 much of it she knew. The little girl replied 
 that she knew it all, and Miss Kingwood 
 asked her to repeat it. With voice eloquent 
 with emotion, she began : 
 
 The little toy dog is covered with dust, 
 But sturdy and stanch he stands, 
 
 And the little toy soldier is red with rust, 
 And his musket moulds in his hands. 
 
 That was an elocutionary entertainment 
 worthy the greatest of audiences. As the 
 child went along not missing a word or 
 sound, with her heart throbbing and an ex- 
 pression of something more than of this 
 earth on her face, the school was impressively 
 silent, but the light in the eyes of the children 
 showed that they were living through the 
 story with the reader. 
 
 Following up the interest aroused in this 
 
The Thanksgiving Month 43 
 
 kind of literature, Miss Kingwood in a few 
 
 days gave the children that most beautiful 
 
 poem "The Dutch Lullaby," and told them 
 
 it was one of the most nearly perfect poems 
 
 ever written, and as she read it the children 
 
 seemed to float away 
 
 Over a river of crystal light 
 Into a sea of dew. 
 
 These poems always brought delight to the 
 children and space will not permit even a 
 reference to the many, many lessons inci- 
 dentally learned while doing this work. 
 Miss Kingwood found, as every earnest 
 teacher will find, that time was all too short 
 to do what she felt ought to be done with this 
 phase of her work. 
 
 Another day she took up the story of the 
 first Thanksgiving, and I was astonished at 
 the geography and history work these little 
 ones did. I noticed that on special occasions 
 there was a great deal of formal work, and so 
 it was with this Thanksgiving lesson, but 
 these wise little tots caught the spirit of the 
 true thankfulness of doing for others and 
 in giving to others, and they took especial 
 delight in the lines, 
 
 'Tis loving and giving 
 
 That makes life worth while. 
 'Tis loving and giving 
 That makes life a song. 
 
44 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 And this sentiment seemed to be their 
 motto, the guiding star in their work. 
 
 This lesson on thankfulness was brought 
 to a close the day before Thanksgiving, at 
 which time the children had a literary pro- 
 gram, and every one in the school took part. 
 The parents were invited to come in. The 
 children strung grains of pop corn, brought 
 fruit, and every one was anxious to help 
 decorate the school-room, for mamma and 
 papa were coming to-morrow. A huge 
 "Jack-o'-lantern" was placed in each win- 
 dow, the curtains were drawn, the lanterns 
 lighted, and every one was so full of joy and 
 entered into the occasion with heart and 
 soul so full of purpose that there was no 
 chance for failure. The morrow came and 
 with it the children and their parents with 
 baskets of supplies. These were set around 
 the platform while the exercises went on, 
 and one could see here and there peeping 
 from under covers, such articles as potatoes, 
 apples, bread, meat, and all sorts of food. 
 After the program was completed, Miss 
 Kingwood spoke a few words and the sup- 
 plies were taken by the grown people to the 
 homes of those who were not favored with 
 plenty of food for the next day's dinner. 
 MBny of the parents tarried to talk of Susi9, 
 
TJie Thanksgiving Month 45 
 
 or Jennie, or John, and from this brief con- 
 ference with these earnest mothers Miss 
 Kingwood gained great help for the days yet 
 to come. 
 
 As the patrons left the building on this 
 occasion they remarked one to the other, 
 " They were right, she is different from other 
 teachers we have had." And from their 
 words of encouragement Miss Kingwood 
 concluded that her work so far had not been 
 in vain. She felt that she was getting ac- 
 quainted and that a bond of sympathy be- 
 tween herself and the parents as well as the 
 children had been established, and that as 
 the years went on it would not be broken. 
 
 Her*s was a high resolve that day to live 
 worthy of her opportunity and to bring to 
 these little ones the riches of knowledge 
 through the riches of love and devotion to 
 life and life's enlargement through the means 
 afforded by Nature and Nature's God. 
 
IV. 
 
 The Christmas Month. 
 
 mHE Thanksgiving season to which the 
 children had looked forward with such 
 eagerness had come and gone. But 
 the interest did not abate, because Miss 
 Kings wood always had some new vision, and 
 she was so skilful in drawing aside the veil 
 that the glimpse thus afforded became a 
 mighty power in urging the little ones into 
 exploration of the new-found realms of 
 thought and fancy. 
 
 With the December days she felt new 
 responsibihties. The whole silent world 
 seemed a veritable fairy-land of beauty, and 
 this in itself was an inspiration to Miss King- 
 wood, but while the external environment 
 had its influence, the presence of the children 
 was her great source of strength. 
 
 In spite of the drifts of snow and the biting 
 zero weather, almost every child was present 
 every day. The teacher and her pupils by 
 46 
 
The Christmas Month 47 
 
 this time had become such fast friends that if 
 one were absent it seemed as if one instru- 
 ment out of a great orchestra were silent. 
 They had reached that point at which each 
 seemed to Hve for the other. One mother 
 said, "Miss Kingwood, my Httle boy just 
 loves you." Miss Kingwood felt that it was 
 not so much what she could teach, as what 
 she could do in suggestion, that would enable 
 the children to create for themselves ideals. 
 She believed that the child must himself set 
 free the divinity that is within him, and to 
 that end she planned this Christmas lesson. 
 
 On these winter days the warmth and 
 cheer of the school-room was in marked con- 
 trast with the cold and storm without, and it 
 in fact did service in the work on hand. 
 Then there were days when the calmness of 
 the weather and the whiteness of the snow 
 ctime to her aid. She marshaled all these 
 lorces into her service. The children wanted 
 to sing. Mary Knight had heard "Tiny 
 Little Snow Flakes," and others came to 
 know of it. They wanted to sing it and i* 
 was but a short time till all knew both words 
 and melody. 
 
 They talked of the snow, uses of the snow, 
 winter sports, of the little people of the North. 
 They learned about the Eskimo, the Lap- 
 
4^ Mary Ktngwood's School 
 
 lander, the reindeer, the arctic dogs, and 
 other animals of the far North. Miss King- 
 wood found this a great season for nature 
 study. And, in speaking of the richness of 
 these experiences, she said, "After all, this is 
 the only way.*' I asked her what she meant, 
 and she replied, "Why, these unstudied 
 lessons in nature, these unbidden opportuni- 
 ties for investigation which march in legions 
 before you when you go to seek the better 
 life. I look for facts that will enable the 
 children to build air castles, in the true sense, 
 and nature and the spirit bring facts, facts, 
 facts, all in relation." The joy of the school 
 work is in seeing these relations." 
 
 Following along with experiences of snow 
 and storm, the fuel and food and home com- 
 forts, they came to the place for the story. 
 Miss Kingwood never said, "to-morrow we 
 shall have a story," but when the time came 
 the story was in waiting, and was given in 
 such a way that it accomplished what it was 
 intended to accomplish. On the day I have 
 in mind she read to them Hawthorne's "The 
 Snow Image." No one can know how these 
 children sympathized with the little snow 
 sister, and how they lived through the story 
 as with inspiring voice the teacher read. 
 
 The Christmas spirit was everywhere. 
 
The Christmas Month 49 
 
 The Christmas atmosphere pervaded the 
 work of the entire month. The desire of 
 Miss Kingwood was that the happiness of 
 the children should be unlimited at this 
 Christmastide. Her judicious leading re- 
 vealed the joyous, trustful, unconscious-of- 
 self , the affectionate child-nature, which is the 
 best semblance of what might be on earth. 
 The teacher's part in keeping that pure 
 nature of the child a bit of heaven, we might 
 say, is a sacred trust, and Miss Kingwood 
 realized that the Christmas season is espe- 
 cially adapted to cultivate the joyousness of 
 childhood. 
 
 Of course, the children wanted to talk 
 about Santa Claus. Who ever heard of a 
 Christmas without a Santa Claus ? The 
 children wrote letters to "Mr. Santa Claus,'* 
 and made known to the dear old Saint their 
 wants. Tom Baker's joy was full when it 
 came to this, for ever since the day he had 
 written for a sled, Christmas and the sled 
 had been uppermost in his mind. Some 
 parents were heard to say, *' There is nothing 
 in it," and one asked his child, "Did Miss 
 Kingwood say there is a Santa Claus ? ' ' 
 Oh, if we could but educate the parents who 
 do not understand, we would offer the chil- 
 dren the means for more abundant life. 
 
50 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 Miss Kingwood spoke truly when she said, 
 "Yes, I beHeve in Santa Claus, a real, gen- 
 uine one, overflowing with Christnaas love 
 and good cheer. He typifies Christmas love, 
 or that love which prompts us to make others 
 happy." To her it seemed only a step from 
 the Thanksgiving lesson of gratefulness for 
 the things of earth to the gift of the Christ 
 Child, so from the first day of the month 
 till Christmas Eve there was constant study 
 of things in relation to this, the greatest event 
 of all history. Especially helpful were the 
 periods devoted to the study of the pictures 
 of Jesus as presented in copies from the 
 world's great masterpieces, and wonderful 
 strength was gained by appropriate poems, 
 such as "Christmas Bells," " 'Twas the 
 Night Before Christmas," and "The First 
 Christmas." 
 
 With the children. Miss Kingwood painted 
 a picture, beginning with the nature thought 
 of the meadow, the sheep, the shepherd, the 
 hills around the little Judean town, and, as 
 the picture grew, it took definite shape for 
 the background of the " Coming of the Christ 
 Child." Then when the advent was laid 
 before their vision the picture was complete. 
 Then came the sweet story of the " Babe of 
 Bethlehem." It was given to the children 
 
The Christmas Month 51 
 
 in such a way as to carry them through from 
 His coming to His departure, and left in 
 their Hves the outhne for a motive which was 
 designed to hft them into higher and higher 
 phases of Hving. 
 
 Passing from the historic recital, Miss 
 Kingwood asked, " Shall we make gifts ? ' ' 
 The hearty response was, "Oh, yes, let us 
 give gifts, too." So Miss Kingwood prom- 
 ised them that before long they might make 
 presents for mother and father. God have 
 pity on the child who knows not the love of 
 mother or father! But such a child adapts 
 itself to conditions and selects some one on 
 whom to bestow its love. The time for work 
 came. 
 
 The children were overjoyed at the 
 thought of making gifts and of surprising 
 their parents. Even careless Paul took ex- 
 tra pains with his writing, and Sara worked 
 doubly hard with her numbers. So they all 
 went to work. The busy little fingers fairly 
 flew. Miss Kingwood knew she had a task 
 of vast magnitude, but when she looked into 
 the faces of the children she received inspira- 
 tion for the work, and the gifts were soon 
 finished. They made raphia napkin rings 
 tied with dainty ribbon for mother, and a 
 blotter shaped like a stocking for father. It 
 
52 Mary Ktngwood's School 
 
 was "fun" they said, this cutting and work- 
 ing for others, and when the work was com- 
 pleted many httle hearts throbbed with un- 
 utterable joy. Small as the gifts were, the 
 experience meant so much to the children 
 and their parents. They had learned the 
 beautiful lesson from 
 
 FLOWER AND WEED. 
 
 Unto our Lady's altar 
 
 Two little children came; 
 High through the painted casement 
 
 The sun shone like a flame; 
 Outside the birds were singing, 
 
 The day was nearly gone, 
 And there like frozen music, 
 . Our Mother's statue shone. 
 
 One bore the rarest roses 
 
 Culled from the hot-house store, 
 And one some tiny posies, — 
 
 Just common weeds, no more. 
 And when the gorgeous blossoms 
 
 Shone in a rosy drift, 
 Warm from his tired fingers, 
 
 The poor child laid his gift. 
 
 That night a radiant vision 
 
 Came down from angel-land; 
 Our Lady smiled upon him. 
 
 And the weeds were in her hand; 
 And he knew then not the offering 
 
 Of treasures rare and fine, 
 But the love he gave her with it 
 
 Had made his gift divine. 
 
 -"Selected. 
 
The Christmas Month 53 
 
 The Christmas thought was further em- 
 phasized by having a Christmas tree, and the 
 joyous occasion was fully rounded out by 
 songs, stories, and poems, and as these little 
 voices sang their glad Christmas anthem 
 it seemed sweeter to Miss Kingwood and the 
 many mothers present than their conception 
 of that other song chanted over Judea's hills, 
 and above the plains of Bethlehem, nearly 
 two thousand years ago. 
 
 At the close of this day of special exercises, 
 the teacher wished them a Merry Christmas 
 and with a cheery "Good-bye," she was off 
 for her holiday vacation with her mother, 
 and whether her pupils went to homes where 
 Christmas presents were heaped high on 
 Christmas morning or to homes where 
 Christmas presents were meager and rare, 
 they went with memories and inspirations 
 that made for better life in the days to come. 
 
 They had from the efforts of their teacher 
 been able to obtain that v/hich is better than 
 any material gift — the Christmas spirit. 
 
V. 
 Month of Snow and Ice. 
 
 |HEN Miss Kingwood walked towards 
 the "old brick" the first morning 
 after the Christmas vacation, she 
 went not with fear and trembling, as she had 
 gone on that first September morning, but 
 with her heart full of joy that she was to meet 
 again the little ones whom she had learned to 
 love so dearly, and who had become so great a 
 factor in her life. She greeted the children 
 with her cheery "Good morning, children," 
 and they, with eyes fairly dancing had given 
 back " Good morning. Miss Kingwood, "in a 
 tone that showed that their hearts also were 
 full. She felt that this was a happy moment. 
 Each child was anxious to show to the 
 teacher some gift or to tell about what he had 
 received and what he had given, and she, 
 with her penetrating vision, observed that 
 the joy of giving was to them greater than 
 the joy of receiving. But how unconscious 
 54 
 
Month of Snow and Ice 55 
 
 they were of this growth into better living! 
 
 The Christmas gifts were the source of 
 abundant lessons for the entire forenoon, and 
 around them were woven stories of how this 
 one or that one had enjoyed the Christ- 
 mas vacation. It was a sort of experience 
 meeting, and together they lived through 
 the experiences of the respective members 
 of the little flock, and by this communion 
 they gathered power to enter upon the re- 
 maining weeks of the term. 
 
 During the weeks following Christmas the 
 heavens were full of glory, as one of the boys 
 put it when he noticed the elements in their 
 fury. The driving clouds, the howling wind, 
 the snow-covered earth all contributed 
 matchless material for observation and for 
 discussion, and when the children came in 
 after the New Year holiday Miss Kingwood 
 centered her work around the topics snow, 
 ice, frost, stars, winter clothing, winter food 
 for man and animal, and habits of animals. 
 In short, their work was science of the real 
 sort, supported by literature and song in 
 harmony with the environment. 
 
 It was a glorious month. Miss Kingwood 
 told the story of the Star of Bethlehem and 
 the Wise Men from the East, because she 
 said this great theme not only gave vital life 
 
56 Mary Kingwood^s School 
 
 and interest to the work, but it naturally 
 prompted the children to ask about the stars 
 in the firmament, and she was thus given 
 opportunity to teach certain facts about the 
 solar system, the stars, the seasons. In 
 pursuing this line of work, she discovered 
 that the observations of the children were 
 wonderful and that with their mythological 
 tales they had really acquired a great deal of 
 scientific knowledge. She noted also the 
 great joy that came to them from observation, 
 and she again wrote down in her " observa- 
 tions," "Hitch on to the child's experience 
 if you would lead him with pleasure into un- 
 known fields," and it was into the unknown 
 fields of knowledge and life that she felt they 
 must ever go. Sympathy with all that is 
 true, and sympathy with all fife, was her 
 sheet anchor, and so, as they looked at the 
 stars at night, they resolved to come to school 
 next day with questions and opinions about 
 them. 
 
 One little girl, in her eagerness to express 
 her conclusions said, " Oh, Miss Kingwood, 
 the stars are little suns." This was a wel- 
 come proposition to Miss Kingwood. She 
 wanted them to express conclusions in an 
 unconscious manner, possibly I should say 
 without being self-conscious, or with the fear 
 
Month of Snow and Ice 57 
 
 that they might make a mistake. She 
 wanted the freedom bom of conviction, of 
 knowledge, and again she made an "obser- 
 vation," that if the pupils in the higher 
 grades could be kept free in their expression, 
 what a school one might have with young 
 men and young women who would do the 
 right thing, both in thought and action, 
 unconsciously. This unconscious expression 
 is originality in its truest sense, whether it be 
 giving out knowledge gained from the ex- 
 perience of another or from our own ex- 
 perience. In such expression truth comes 
 at fever heat from the hfe that utters it, 
 because it has become a part of that life. 
 This manner of teaching, said she, would 
 make a difference in our public schools, yes, 
 and a difference in the men and women of 
 the next generation. 
 
 With a definite purpose she took up the 
 "points" on the stars and wanted to know 
 what they indicated, what they are for. John 
 Wallace said, "They give us light," another 
 said, ** They show us the way to go." Among 
 a multitude of answers these two were taken 
 as a basis of further work. "Light and 
 guidance ' ' was the lesson she meant to teach, 
 and poem, song, and story were brought in 
 to make the conclusions definite, relative to 
 
58 Mary Ktngiuood^s School 
 
 certain simple facts in astronomy and navi- 
 gation. They talked of the "Dipper,*' or 
 "Great Bear," the "Little Bear," the 
 "Milky Way," and many other of the con- 
 stellations that parents and interested friends 
 told them about and pointed out to them, 
 and soon the whole school could point out 
 many of the principal ones. Then they 
 wanted to play the Bear story and as one of 
 the boys said, " We put it on again, and this 
 time it was played better than ever*' — wider 
 experience enriches life. 
 
 The children's will was here given full 
 rein. They had grown. So Miss Kingwood 
 began to lead them into constructive work 
 and they drew stars on their slates and tab- 
 lets, cut stars — five pointed stars — and this 
 was great pleasure because to them it seemed 
 a difficult thing to do. They told her it was 
 too hard to do, but she told them that diffi- 
 cult things honestly met and mastered were 
 a means to success. 
 
 Almost every child knew some of the poem 
 "Twinkle, twinkle, little star," by Jane 
 Taylor. Miss Kingwood read it to them, 
 and they all memorized it. It was an en- 
 larging process, the learning of this poem; it 
 brought them into the mysteries of the uni- 
 verse by inquiry — the threshold of knowledge. 
 
Month of Snow and Ice 59 
 
 One little girl said, " We have stars on the 
 flag," and v/hen asked why, she replied, 
 "Because we love them," and another said, 
 "Because they seem to tell us to look up," 
 and Miss Kingwood again observed, " What 
 a wonderful thing is the child mind, surely 
 'a little child shall lead them'." 
 
 Jack Frost was now supreme, and one 
 morning the children came in with fingers 
 and toes stinging with cold. This introduced 
 Jack Frost as a lesson subject. They talked 
 of all the things Jack Frost can do — build 
 roofs for rivers and ponds; build bridges 
 across rivers, as every one wanted to tell, 
 for the high water had taken the bridge 
 across the creek and the children could not 
 cross the stream till the ice came. Now they 
 could cross, and what glee this was. 
 
 Then ice cutting and packing came up for 
 a lesson. Some one said, " Jack Frost makes 
 ice for us so it will be pleasant for us in sum- 
 mer as well as in winter," and after they had 
 told of his varied abilities Miss Kingwood 
 observed that he seemed to be a " Jack of all 
 trades," which pleasantry pleased the chil- 
 dren very much. But what seemed to be of 
 the greatest interest were the pictures on the 
 windows. One had seen trees, another a 
 fence falling down, a fairy, a crooked steeple, 
 
6o Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 high bridges, and all sorts of wonderful 
 things. 
 
 That night when Mary and James Sellers 
 went home they asked their mother if they 
 might watch Jack Frost work. They went 
 to the kitchen, where there was a big fire in 
 the kitchen-stove, and on it the tea-kettle 
 boiling. When their mother found them 
 there and asked them what they were doing, 
 they replied, "Helping Jack Frost.'* Their 
 mother, interested, of course, in their doings, 
 said, "how did you do that .^" and looked at 
 the windows where the magician had touched 
 the glass with the finger of his art. James 
 answered quickly, "We made the fire that 
 boiled the water that made the steam that 
 old Jack worked with." So mother and 
 children watched him work, and as they 
 watched she softly told them stories of the 
 wonders of nature and the wisdom of God, 
 and the next day Miss Kingwood and the 
 school listened with increased interest to the 
 relation of this and other experiences of other 
 children in other homes. And as the gentle 
 voices told what mother had said, tears of 
 gladness came into her eyes, for she knew 
 that after all the mother is the great teacher. 
 
 One evening late in the month Miss King- 
 wood sat at her desk thinking of something 
 
Month of Snow and Ice 6 1 
 
 new to interest the children, when her eyes 
 rested on the calendar. "Why not have a 
 weather calendar?" came to mind. It 
 would teach them the seasons as well as the 
 months and the days of the month, so next 
 day she had them go to work. She began 
 with January and had them mark special 
 days with red crayon. Many of them 
 marked their own birthday as a special day. 
 This she recognized as a good thing to use to 
 teach time. She had them observe the 
 clouds, the direction of the wind, the snow, 
 and rain. 
 
 If the day was fair she allowed some child 
 to mark on the chart a yellow circle, a darker 
 one if the day was stormy, another mark 
 indicated rain, another snow, and so on. 
 Thus they were doing science work uncon- 
 sciously, classifying, the important thing we 
 will all admit, classifying because of investi- 
 gation. She found that every child in school 
 was anxious for the privilege of marking the 
 calendar. "This," said Miss Kingwood, 
 " seems a trifling matter, but I feel sure of 
 results in training the children to accurate 
 observation, and then they get so much in- 
 formation that will be of use in the future, 
 when they come to take up the formal study 
 of geography and natural science." 
 
62 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 The story of Hiawatha proved to be an 
 excellent language lesson for this month. 
 How they loved the Httle Hiawatha, and the 
 grandmother Nokomis, and they were over- 
 joyed, after studying the stars, to have " stars 
 and northern lights" in the story. They 
 became fascinated with Hiawatha's friends, 
 but when it came to hunting and killing the 
 deer, they were spell-bound. Miss King- 
 wood took occasion to show that while the 
 Indian had a need to kill game animals we 
 have a different way of gaining a living, and 
 her lesson on kindness to animals made a 
 deep impression on the children. They sang 
 " The Owlet Song," and their voices rang out 
 clear and strong in both this and the " Cradle 
 Song." 
 
 Miss Kingwood was not a good artist in 
 drawing, but she made pictures illustrating 
 the story, and the children were ever ready 
 to tell the story from the pictures and to 
 draw them, often in a very original and sug- 
 gestive manner. In this lesson she realized 
 how much is to be done in a short time, and 
 this required new and more economic plans 
 of work, so that as the days went by her work 
 assumed a more formal and conventional 
 appearance, but never for a moment did she 
 permit the form to kill, for she knew full well 
 
Month of Snow and Ice 63 
 
 that it is the spirit that maketh aHve; she 
 expressed it "It maketh a Hve school." 
 
 It was a busy month, but the work became 
 more unified, and Miss Kingwood felt that 
 her efforts were bringing results. She did 
 not feel that she had made it a success, but 
 there seemed to be a nearness between the 
 pupils and herself that meant much in stim- 
 ulating the growth of these lives under her 
 direction, and in directing that growth 
 towards a worthy ideal. 
 
VI. 
 
 The Birthday Month. 
 
 mHE days were quickly passing. Half of 
 the school term was over, and what 
 lessons had been learned ! More and 
 more each day was the thought impressed on 
 Miss Kingwood, " We become like the thing 
 we admire" She knew that this was only an- 
 other way of saying that our ideals are the 
 motive which impels us forward, and she 
 could see that in every act the children held 
 her as an authority on every subject, and that 
 she was the model by which ideals were 
 formed by them. 
 
 A mother told her that some little girls 
 were playing school one day. A dispute 
 arose and the fond mother was called to de- 
 cide the question. There was a slight diflFer- 
 ence between the mother's decision and Miss 
 Kingwood 's way, and the ever ready defense 
 was made, "No, Miss Kingwood doesn't do 
 it that way." Realizing the situation, Miss 
 64 
 
The Birthday Month 65 
 
 Kingwood felt the responsibility, and a higher 
 resolve entered into her mind relative to 
 future work. 
 
 In thinking over the work for February 
 she decided that the organizing principle of 
 the month's work should be "love.*' She 
 began with that which comes closest to the 
 little child — the mother love and the home 
 love, gradually through the talks of the 
 month to the love for heroes, working up to 
 love of country, and not stopping short of 
 that greatest of all — the Divine love. 
 
 February, the shortest month of the year, 
 has many attractions for the children, yet 
 Miss Kingwood did not overload "the 
 course" this month, but carefully and de- 
 liberately instilled into their httle hearts the 
 spirit of patriotism. It seemed easy to do 
 this, for the spirit of thankfulness and of 
 giving during the previous months paved the 
 way for this phase of the work to be em- 
 phasized. 
 
 She told them stories of Lincoln and Wash- 
 ington, and when their literary work was to 
 be given, a special program relating to these 
 two great men was prepared. Experience 
 in past years had taught Miss Kingwood the 
 dangers of "the patriotic month." Boys so 
 love to hear of wars, and listen so eagerly for 
 
66 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 martial drum-beats that before we think of 
 it war and fighting are associated in their 
 hearts with the Washington stories. It is 
 very easy for a boy to imagine that great 
 things must be done in order to make a 
 heroic Ufe. Here then was the opportunity 
 to show the existence of quiet, self-sacrificing 
 heroism. In fact every day offered an oppor- 
 tunity to show the children this phase of life 
 as practiced among the poor and lowly, of 
 which heroism the world never learns. 
 
 As Miss Kingwood had often said, it is not 
 necessary to teach certain lessons at stated 
 times, but it seems fitting to teach special 
 subjects at certain times. Not that the chil- 
 dren should be encouraged to be more 
 patriotic in February than in any other 
 month, but as long as America keeps green 
 the memory of George Washington by a 
 National observance of his birthday, so long 
 will February be honored with the best im- 
 pression of love for country. 
 
 "But what can a primary teacher do in four 
 short weeks ?" thought Miss Kingwood. In 
 answer she said, "We will do what we can 
 and leave the rest for the children to learn as 
 they go on in the life way." There are so 
 many things that suggest themselves in these 
 early hours of school life that can only be 
 
The Birthday Month 67 
 
 given a passing word, but the word given 
 without bias is the seed of future growth, and 
 looking into the future with a beautiful faith 
 in the teachers that should come after her. 
 Miss Kingwood carefully planted the seeds 
 of good citizenship at every advantageous 
 point throughout the month, so that in the 
 succeeding weeks of the term she might refer 
 to them as mile posts along the citizen way. 
 
 In visiting the other grades Miss Kingwood 
 noticed at one time that they were writing 
 about James Russell Lowell and at another 
 time about Longfellow, and when occasion 
 offered she talked about these great poets 
 and taught short quotations from their poems. 
 But as the morning talks contained the 
 essence of all the lessons for the day the list 
 of subjects was long and varied. 
 
 At the beginning of the month, keeping in 
 view the growth in natural science, they 
 talked of the length of the days, the tempera- 
 ture, the birds that were back from a brief 
 visit to warmer cHmates, the holidays and 
 short reviews of their lessons about the 
 heavenly bodies. But the history theme was 
 the one Miss Kingwood had uppermost in 
 her mind for this month and all else must 
 center in history. 
 
 Lincoln's birthday coming the first of the 
 
68 Mary Ktngwood's School 
 
 natal days of the great characters to be 
 studied, Miss Kingwood told the story of his 
 life in such a delightful, simple way that the 
 children not only admired but loved him. 
 She told many short stories of his life and 
 work. 
 
 Incidentally the growth of cotton came 
 into the discussion. One child said, "I 
 have a cotton ball, may I bring it?" Of 
 course she could bring it. That was just 
 what was wanted. The lesson with it need 
 not be recited here. The children had 
 pictures of cotton fields. They saw the httle 
 black children with their fathers and mothers 
 picking cotton, filling their baskets, and carry- 
 ing them on on their heads to barns or sheds 
 where it lay until it was thoroughly dry so 
 that it could be sent to the great mills to be 
 made into cloths of various kinds to clothe 
 the people of the world. 
 
 In response to the question, "Who can 
 name something made from cotton?" all 
 wanted to speak at once. This eagerness 
 was controlled by a gentle word, and a long 
 list of articles was named and written down, 
 a short step in a systematic study of the 
 mechanical arts, for before the lesson was 
 done, they talked of cotton gins, spinning 
 machines, looms, print works, wholesale 
 
The Birthday Month 69 
 
 stores, retail stores, dress patterns, thread, 
 needles, sewing machines, and all the atten- 
 dant materials and instruments and mach- 
 ines that enter into the making of a garment. 
 They were getting into touch with another 
 of the great institutions unconsciously, and 
 in future years much of the force that men 
 and women, grown out of this school, would 
 throw into their business relations, would 
 date from these beginnings. 
 
 In connection with the study of the men of 
 this month many lessons in politeness and 
 kindness were garnered up, and the very 
 helpful memory gem, "Politeness is to do 
 and say the kindest thing in the kindest way," 
 was very potent in the control of the class. 
 
 The volume of subject matter that pre- 
 sented itself grew so large that Miss King- 
 wood felt that she could easily have utilized 
 another month; for their work relating to 
 Lincoln, Lowell, Washington, and Long- 
 fellow was so far-reaching that it supplied 
 material for language lessons in every phase, 
 for history, science, geography, sociology, 
 and every other phase of her work as she saw 
 it in relation to the coming school years of 
 the children before her. 
 
 Valentine Day was not overlooked. Miss 
 Kingwood saw its use and noted what a 
 
yo Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 source of pleasure it was to the children. 
 She put it above the vulgar plane. She told 
 the children about the good Saint and how, 
 when he was old he sent loving messages to 
 those who were sick and needed something 
 to cheer them up. They made valentines 
 for father and mother, and had a valentine 
 box in which were mailed valentines to 
 teacher and pupils. Miss Kingwood very 
 thoughtfully dropped in one for each pupil, 
 so no one would be slighted, and when the box 
 was opened several pupils were appointed 
 mail carriers to deliver the valentines. Here 
 again was the lesson of giving, for those 
 who had sent many were happier than those 
 who had received many. 
 
 Then came the study of Washington the 
 boy, always polite, courteous, and thought- 
 ful for the comfort of those about him. 
 She told them how he gave up his desire to 
 be a sailor for his mother's sake, told of his 
 life as soldier and president, and the many 
 stories of liis eventful career, which is of 
 living interest to old and young. On his 
 birthday, Miss Kingwood had planned a 
 surprise for the children. She had taken 
 red, white, and blue paper and let them fold 
 "General's Hats," and when they marched 
 out that evening each one was allowed to 
 
The Birthday Month Jl 
 
 wear this hat. What a delighted company 
 of fifty! They marched hke soldiers down 
 the walk, and as Miss Kingwood watched 
 them, her heart throbbed in response to her 
 great love for every one, and she thought 
 what school would be without any one of 
 them. 
 
 The song they seemed to like best during 
 this month was "America." Every day 
 some one asked, " May we sing * America ' ?" 
 And when they sang it, the very air seemed 
 filled with patriotism. They learned also 
 **The Children's Hour," and as they re- 
 peated the sweet lines they lived through the 
 experiences of the poem with exhilarating 
 
 joy- 
 
 Thus far the month's work had been a 
 continuous pleasure, but the echo from that 
 evening march was soon to come into their 
 lives in painful reality. Its shadow fell over 
 the threshold one day when little James did 
 not come to school. James had not missed 
 a day since school opened in September. On 
 inquiry no one knew why he was not in 
 school. 
 
 Miss Kingwood was concerned about him, 
 but as the weather was bad and a number of 
 children were missing, she supposed he was 
 only out for a day or two because of the snow. 
 
72 Mary Kingwood's School. 
 
 She was not prepared when on the third 
 morning one Httle schoolmate came softly to 
 her desk and told her with choking utterance 
 that James had gone to the better land. The 
 information soon went round and many an 
 aching heart came to the teacher for comfort 
 in the loss of a friend, for here indeed was a 
 community of life and interest, the sweetest 
 that it had ever been my lot to look upon. 
 
 Over and over during the day the little 
 ones came to her and said, " Oh, Miss King- 
 wood, James is dead." During the day one 
 little girl sobbed as if her heart would break, 
 and in response to Miss Kingwood's consol- 
 ing words, she said, "Oh, Miss Kingwood, 
 I feel so sad that James is dead." 
 
 Teacher and pupil alike loved the little 
 brother gone, and as the teacher looked at 
 the vacant seat the tears that she had held in 
 check burst forth, and, in her own words, 
 *'they all had just a good cry." 
 
 But the duty of the day called them to face 
 the trial, and it was most appropriate that 
 their memory gem learned in the early part 
 of the term, should be brought up now, and 
 "Little children, love one another** never 
 sounded so sweet as it did that sad February 
 morning. In the hour of deepest gloom 
 there is always a day star, and one lovely 
 
The Birthday Month y^ 
 
 ciiild raised her hand and when permitted to 
 speak, said, "Please, Miss Kingwood, let 
 us sing * Precious Jewels/" The manner 
 in which they sang showed that they felt 
 that one jewel had been added to the Mas- 
 ter's crown. 
 
 At noon one careless boy who had often 
 annoyed the teacher, came to her and said, 
 *'Here, Miss Kingwood, is five cents. Papa 
 and mamma are away, but I got this out of 
 my bank. Please get some flowers for 
 James." The fountains of life had been 
 touched and the boy's spirit had been in a 
 measure freed to start on a perilous journey, 
 eagerly looking for another Miss Kingwood 
 in the other grades as it went along. Would 
 he find her ? This was my question. 
 
 The sorrow for the loss of the one lamb 
 from the flock was great and was shared by 
 all, but Miss Kingwood came to her work 
 with renewed purpose, so to live that she 
 might look back upon her association with 
 these little ones without regret. This reso- 
 lution was to her the bread of life. I would 
 that every teacher might feed thereon. 
 
VII. 
 Blustery March. 
 
 mHE death of little James cast a gloom 
 over the entire school. Many times a 
 day something was said which made 
 teacher and pupil alike think of the little one 
 who had gone from them. Miss Kingwood 
 tried with renewed efforts and greater zeal to 
 interest the pupils along new lines and with 
 new stories — not that they might forget James 
 — no, for he had exerted an influence over each 
 little life, and Miss Kingwood 's life as well, 
 that could never be taken away. It was an 
 influence of nobility that abided like a sweet 
 incense as the days went by. She felt the 
 uplift of sweet sorrow and knew its value in 
 shaping life to noble outline, but she felt also 
 that there should be no morbid sorrow 
 allowed to leave its trace in the young lives. 
 She wanted as little of sadness for the child 
 life as it was possible to have, for she knew 
 that in the future trials must come, and in 
 74 
 
Blustery March 75 
 
 the unrevealed years there would be many 
 periods of passing through the Valley. Her 
 purpose was to temper the soul to power, 
 power to stand in the hour of need. To this 
 end stories of trial and ultimate triumph, 
 poems of need and felt need satisfied, and 
 songs of triumph over loss and sorrow made 
 up a goodly portion of the new lessons these 
 days. The meaning of the quotation " gold 
 tried in the fire," was by story and kindly 
 word worked into the moral fiber of this 
 little band of workers. 
 
 Februrary had been a busy month, and 
 now that March was here with its blustery 
 days many new lessons were suggested. 
 
 One morning after the last bell had rung, 
 some one asked, "Miss Kingwood, may we 
 sing 'Father, We Thank Thee?'" She 
 met the note of prayer in the child's voice 
 with the keynote of the song. And what a 
 prayer it was as they sang it ! It seemed to 
 reach up to Him who cares for these little 
 ones. 
 
 Father, we thank Thee for the night, 
 And for the pleasant morning light, 
 For rest and food and loving care, 
 And all that makes the world more fair. 
 Help us to do the things we should, 
 To be to others kind and good, 
 In all we do, at work or play, 
 To grow more loving every day. — Amen. 
 
76 Mary Kingivooirs School 
 
 The most natural way of opening the work 
 of the day seems to be with music, and a*s 
 they sang this morning they seemed to dwell 
 in a spirit realm, in a realm that put away 
 thoughts of play, or work — indeed every 
 child seemed to be holding the Infinite 
 Hand. It was a moment of worship, a 
 sacred time. 
 
 As I have said before, Miss Kingwood was 
 a wise teacher, — wise in many respects, 
 especially in her aptness to follow the way 
 suggested by the children when eager to 
 enter new fields. So whenever she observed 
 the state of mind that was so apparent this 
 morning she quietly led them into the rich 
 realms of literature. This was the hour for 
 that work anyway, she thought, before the 
 mind l)ecame weary or disturbed by the 
 experiences of the day. Sometimes she gave 
 them only a line, " a literary gem, " or '* mem- 
 ory gem," as so many say. 
 
 This morning she felt that the occasion 
 was at hand to enter into a study of wider 
 range and deeper meaning, and reminded 
 them of a good man who loved children, 
 whose birthday they had celebrated a short 
 time before. The man was Longfellow, the 
 children's friend. She related a number of 
 attractive anecdotes about the good poet, and 
 
Blustery March 77 
 
 ID simple phrase told them how lie clothed 
 in rhyme the deepest meanings of human 
 life, illustrating her statement by reading a 
 line here and there from his poems in such a 
 way that the little hearts responded to the 
 call to live with Longfellow in his realm of 
 higher and better life. 
 
 And then with deep meaning shining from 
 her eyes she read to them " The Rainy Day. '* 
 She stood with the poet on the spirit side of 
 this natural presentation of an overmastering 
 spiritual truth, universal in the human race, 
 and as her life flowed through her words into 
 the soul life of the children, she got the ans- 
 wer, in sympathy, if not in full interpreta- 
 tion, and in that hour she felt the thrill of 
 joy that comes from life uplifting other life. 
 
 She said to me that we do not give children 
 enough of a chance with these great poems 
 of universal content. We persist in giving 
 them something easy and childlike, forget- 
 ting that childlike means Christlike. " And'* 
 said she, " we select matter for them that has 
 no broadening and deepening force for them , 
 when we might be giving them the very 
 bread of life as it is given to us in the world's 
 best books. " 
 
 She believed that the best literature read 
 to the child becomes in a measure far greater 
 
78 Mary Kingiuood^s School 
 
 than we think, a part of their Hves, and cited 
 the hterature quoted by many of the world's 
 greatest characters to show the abiding 
 and Ufe strengthening words which came 
 into their hves in earhest childhood. 
 
 After Miss Kingwood had read the poem 
 one little boy volunteered to say, "Why, 
 Miss Kingwood, he thought his life was Uke 
 the weather in the fall. He ought not to 
 mind the bad, there is always some good.'* 
 Not a very elegant way of putting it to be 
 sure, but somehow this seven-year-old boy 
 had caught the spirit of the writer, and think 
 of it, these little children in the first year 
 grade asked if they might memorize this poem . 
 Some time afterwards a thoughtful httle girl 
 suggested that if the sun shone all the time 
 and we had no cloudy and rainy days we 
 could not know the worth of sunshine. 
 Teachers who have had experience of dark 
 and dreary days will realize the force of the 
 child's observation. 
 
 The warm spring days were near at hand ; 
 they meant much to this primary school. 
 The children sowed seeds. Some brought 
 glasses, filled them with water, and with 
 their own little hands placed a layer of cotton 
 on the water and put the seeds there. 
 
 The child revels in the sense of ownership 
 
Blustery March 79 
 
 — so let him have it whenever possible. Be- 
 cause they sow the seeds themselves they 
 watch the development and growth of seeds 
 with greater interest. 
 
 In planning her work, Miss Kingwood 
 attached full value to the fact that these chil- 
 dren had not known many springs, and that 
 as children they would not know many more. 
 With this truth in mind she strove to enrich 
 every hour of this springtime for every child 
 under her care. The world does not hold in 
 her storehouse of experience many periods so 
 full of pure and sweet pleasure for the child 
 as the springtime, and Miss Kingwood felt 
 that not one moment should be marred by 
 any hard and fast rule of conduct concerning 
 their observations and conversations about 
 spring and what it was giving them. 
 
 Several of the children placed their glasses 
 on their desks, and waited, showing plainly 
 by their manner that their expectations con- 
 cerning the outcome of their experiments 
 were not very definite. Day by day they 
 watched. They noted the seeds swelling 
 and were overjoyed when the covering burst 
 open to let the leaflets out to climb upward 
 in the light, and the rootlets to creep down- 
 ward in the water below the cotton. Every 
 
8o Mary Kingwood's School 
 
 little investigator showed in his face the joy 
 of revelation. 
 
 At this stage of the work Tom Baker let it 
 be known that he was still in the ranks by 
 asking, "Miss Kingwood, why is it that the 
 roots go down into the water and the leaves 
 and stem come up into the air?" And in 
 such a gentle and unassuming way this 
 teacher talked to Tom Baker, and through 
 him to the class, of the Wisdom that enables 
 the roots of the plants to seek for the needed 
 elements in the soil, while the stem and leaf 
 seek other elements in the atmosphere, and 
 bless Tom Baker, he didn't know, but at 
 recess that day he was heard to say to his 
 chum, "Say, Bob, isn't it funny that a chest- 
 nut tree will pull chestnuts out of the same 
 dirt from which an oak tree pulls acorns ? ' * 
 Miss Kingwood heard the words and her 
 heart throbbed in unison with this seeker 
 after the wonderful facts of nature. 
 
 Among the children the plants were indeed 
 helpful and inspiring. They observed that 
 the sprouts of those in the dark were white 
 while those in the sun were green, and this 
 time Bob wanted to know why. The ques- 
 tions were fruitful of helpful suggestions in 
 the answering of them and the children were 
 happy, triumphant in their work. 
 
Blustery March 8i 
 
 Some time after this the teacher asked 
 them to bring twigs. They brought the 
 pussy-willow, maple, horse chestnut, lilac, 
 apple twigs, and others. They had a twig 
 party, and each child introduced his guest. 
 The pussy-willows always bring their wel- 
 come with them, and the teacher who does 
 not want to lay the bunch of pussy-willows 
 caressingly against her cheek has lost some- 
 thing from her nature that was her best in- 
 heritance, and that the children will sadly 
 miss without knowing what it is, but which 
 leaves them with a sense of loneliness and 
 deep loss down in the heart that nothing can 
 supply. 
 
 Miss Kingwood believed that if you had a 
 troublesome boy who never thought of you 
 as anything but a teacher, you should let him 
 occasionally see the loving human side of you. 
 ** Why not," she said, " be a child again, a 
 child among the children and be true enough 
 to enjoy this spring with the children in 
 their way — the natural way ? " 
 
 When the life in the twigs that had been 
 brought in had been encouraged to "push 
 out the tips," and the apple and the lilacs 
 really had little flower buds the delight of the 
 children knew no bounds and that little 
 surprised "oh" of dehght brought more real 
 
82 Mary Ktngwood'' s School 
 
 joy indications than all the wealth of summer 
 in its time could bring. 
 
 Miss Kingwood had asked the children to 
 watch for the first bird to come back, and for 
 the first flower. Children are apt to see the 
 bluebirds and the robins long before the 
 teacher does, and one day Johnny, not over- 
 bright ordinarily, came running in breath- 
 lessly with "Oh, Miss Kingwood, I saw a 
 robin!'* That report aroused the school 
 and many lessons were learned about how 
 the birds return, how they get their food, how 
 they build their nests, and this discussion 
 supplied material for conversational language 
 lessons for many days as well as for geogra- 
 phy, science, and number work. 
 
 Many times the children would ask for 
 stories, and perhaps would designate some 
 particular one which was a favorite. But 
 Miss Kingwood had a new one this week, 
 and as she read Ruskin's "The King of the 
 Golden River," the children saw that Hans 
 and Schwartz were men of stone because 
 they did not serve those w^ith whom they 
 came in contact. They were all in sym- 
 pathy with Gluck when he was ill-treated by 
 his brothers, and were delighted when they 
 found that Gluck, who gave water to those 
 that needed it, made himself a helper and 
 
Blustery March 83 
 
 friend and by doing for others gained true 
 happiness for himself. 
 
 Miss Kingwood's success, or at least part 
 of it, depended on these stories — she taught 
 after the manner of the great Teacher, though 
 cycles of years have passed by since He 
 taught upon earth. Miss Kingwood studied 
 His life as the God-man who taught daily 
 through His stories, not in dusty, crowded 
 school-rooms, but by the roadside, on the 
 mountainside, or on the brow of a hill, at 
 the seashore, or from the deck of the ship, — 
 anywhere, out in Nature's broad arena. 
 
 In meditation and prayer this teacher had 
 so much contemplated the life and work of 
 the Man of Galilee gis a teacher of men, that 
 she felt that His every act while upon earth 
 was a teaching act, and so she believed that 
 every act of hers, whether by look, movement, 
 or spoken word was a teaching act, and in 
 striving to be like Him in her work she im- 
 plicitly believed that for her was given the 
 promise " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
 the least of these, my little ones, ye have done 
 it to me." 
 
VIII. 
 The Rain Month. 
 
 jAIN! Rain! Rain! It seemed as if it 
 were never going to stop, but the pu- 
 pils in Miss Kingwood's school did not 
 care — not they — whether the day gave sun- 
 shine or shower. That school -room always 
 seemed bright. It not only seemed bright, it 
 was bright, for the beauty of a devoted life 
 shone in that school through rain or shine. 
 If the day were dark and rainy, then Miss 
 Kingwood would have the children sing their 
 brightest songs, and by planning new games, 
 and telUng some story sweeter than any she 
 had yet used, she drove away the shadows. 
 The day of which I write was rainy, dark, 
 dreary, but all through the long wet, weary 
 day. Miss Kingwood encouraged the children 
 by a more gentle touch, a kinder word, a 
 more helpful look. This day she drew 
 heavily on her resen-e power, and words of 
 praise fell here and there even while she 
 84 
 
The Rain Month 85 
 
 knew that there were many more errors made 
 this day than was customary with the Httle 
 ones. She did not flatter, she did not use 
 extravagant language, but with the most 
 praiseworthy care she examined every effort 
 and saw only the good, and with the master- 
 ful touch of a leader every good thing done 
 this day by every child was brought into full 
 view. Her power to do this in the day of 
 trial marked her as an extraordinary teacher. 
 A rainy day in her school always made the 
 right thing popular. 
 
 Miss Kingwood once told me of a child in 
 another school who was working at home at 
 a task. The child's brain was weary and 
 looking into her mother's face at eleven 
 o'clock at night, she said, "Mamma, do 
 you suppose the teacher will say it is good ? ' ' 
 "Doesn't she ever tell you if your work is 
 well done?" asked the mother. The child 
 with a sigh replied, " Not very often. " Miss 
 Kingwood said, "Oh, what a lesson for 
 a teacher lies in that weary little one's ques- 
 tion!" 
 
 Under the impulse of that sigh, she scanned 
 the whole horizon of her field of effort, and 
 ever after that she tried not to withhold the 
 word "fitly spoken." Her heart was over- 
 flowing with love and sympathy for these 
 
86 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 intrusted to her care. Every true teacher 
 should be like her in this respect, thought I. 
 Truly the Great Teacher was her model. 
 
 "I wonder," said Miss Kingwood one 
 morning, " how many know the name of this 
 month." She got a ready answer. "And 
 how many know the season of the year?" 
 she asked. They had learned about the 
 springtime in the weeks past, but the awak- 
 ening of nature in this month had new 
 charms for all. In March, they thought of 
 frost and mud, but April had brought shower 
 and sunshine and the rainbow. One even- 
 ing after a refreshing shower, just before 
 time to close school, some one noticed a beau- 
 tiful rainbow and they all at the suggestion 
 of the teacher went to the window to see it. 
 Then she told them the story of the pot of 
 gold at the rainbow's end, and read them the 
 little poem, "Where the Rainbow Ends." 
 
 I. 
 
 Keep on, my chillun, 
 
 E'n wid glory you'll be friends— 
 De gold's over yander 
 
 Whar de rainbow ends. 
 
 II. 
 Keep on, my chillun, 
 
 In the black, black night; 
 Tie up yo' troubles 
 
 Wid a rainbow bright. 
 
The Rain Month 87 
 
 III. 
 Keep on, my chillun, 
 Wid amazin' grace ; 
 De gold's in the rainbow 
 Ef you'll only run the race. 
 
 — Atlanta Constitution 
 
 This talk on the rainbow was one of the 
 best I ever knew Miss Kingwood to give. 
 She led the children into the mysteries of 
 light and color with as much grace and ten- 
 derness as she had brought them to learn of 
 the flowers, birds, and animals, and her story 
 of the meaning of finding the gold at the end 
 of the rainbow was so simple and so absorb- 
 ing in interest that I felt myself grow under 
 the magic of its meaning. She told how an 
 over-ruling Providence permitted us to form 
 convictions and to be led foi*ward by them, 
 and that many times we failed to do the 
 things we set out to do; when we met 
 such failures we were apt to think our 
 efforts wasted, but said she, "the very fact 
 that we feel dissatisfied is the best proof that 
 we are growing better, that is the meaning of 
 the story of going to the end of the rainbow. 
 If we are faithful we never reach where it 
 seems to be. The promise of more, and 
 more, and better life is but the rainbow 
 showing us the way." 
 
 How the eyes of the children danced when 
 
88 Mary Kingwood^s School 
 
 they talked of the rainbow. It called up 
 their story of Hiawatha, in which Nokomis 
 told the little Hiawatha that flowers of many 
 colors fade on earth ; they do not perish but 
 blossom in the rainbow, the heaven of flowers. 
 This lesson brought to mind other stories 
 about blossoms, and in the evening they 
 looked up to see the blossoms of heaven, the 
 stars. The next day they wanted to talk 
 about the stars, and after that for some time 
 they kept account of the starlit and moonlit 
 nights, and sadly spoke of the nights when 
 the heavy veil of clouds shut off from sight 
 these orbs of heaven. But not long after, at 
 the morning hour when they were to report 
 about the starlight and the moonlight, they 
 came with a different story. The preceding 
 night had given them the first thunder storm 
 of the season. The little ones told of that. 
 Some with terror depicted on their faces, 
 told of the "awful black clouds with such 
 fierce shapes," and of the "terrible light- 
 ning" and the "loud thunder," and if you 
 could have witnessed the teacher's face at 
 this time you would have been able to read 
 volumes there. When the children had 
 given their version of the storm, she told 
 them that she would read them a poem, and 
 then, I think because she was a student and 
 
The Rain Month 89 
 
 admirer of David P. Page, she read them 
 
 God moves in a mysterious way 
 
 His wonders to perform, 
 He plants His footsteps on the sea 
 
 And rides upon the storm. 
 
 Then she talked to them in her simple, 
 childlike way of the forces of nature and 
 specially of the wind and electricity. It 
 was not what the expert might call a schol- 
 arly talk, but at the bottom I could see a 
 profound knowledge of scientific principles, 
 and I said to myself, " It does pay to be well- 
 informed if you would teach the beginner." 
 
 After the storm had been discussed they 
 talked of other things that had been observed 
 that morning. The pavement that morning 
 seemed to be covered with earth worms, and 
 some of the children wanted to know if they 
 had come down in the rain. This question 
 was followed by others and before they left 
 this subject they had learned the earth 
 worms' manner of living, their habits, and 
 the uses to which they are put by men. 
 
 After a most interesting hour in this science 
 work, or "nature study," Miss Kingwood 
 had a story that was in direct relation to the 
 state of mind in which she had brought the 
 class, and she read them the story of " Carl 
 and the Earth Worms."* From that story 
 
 *Sarah Wiltse Kindergarten Stories. 
 
QO Mary Kingwood\^ School 
 
 they received a revelation about these crea- 
 tures and were very much impressed with the 
 facts given in that interesting narrative. 
 
 The children of this school grew with the 
 awakening of nature. The blossoming of 
 the trees was an ever-changing panorama of 
 delight. The green foliage, the tinted petals, 
 the fragrance of the blossoms were a series of 
 signals to their alert senses, and under the 
 inspiration of the eyes filled with wonder and 
 with joy. Miss Kingwood read or quoted the 
 best of literature relative to this holiest time 
 of the year and with a sweetness that never 
 seemed to wane she told the little ones that 
 unless we live up to the fullness of spring's 
 message and see in the upspringing flowers, 
 the blooming of the trees, the singing of the 
 birds, the leaping water in the brooks, and 
 in the storm clouds, the meaning of God's 
 message to the world we do not live as well 
 as we ought to live. She told them that as 
 the years go by and spring after spring 
 bursts on our lives we should get this revela- 
 tion from the All Wise Father clearer and 
 clearer with each succeeding year, and with 
 one consent the children said, "Miss King- 
 wood, we will try to find the good in every- 
 thing." And the teacher said, "Let us be 
 good." 
 
The Rain Month 91 
 
 This lesson showed the philosophy of Miss 
 Kingwood's teaching. She believed that no 
 heart that has been cold, selfish, and un- 
 helpful to others or that has been completely 
 absorbed in material things after the fading 
 of the leaves in the fall is ready to catch the 
 meaning of the tender budding of the new 
 leaf time. To be in touch with spring is to 
 be in touch with the best tilings life holds. 
 True to this philosophy, she so directed her 
 work that in every lesson teacher and pupil 
 together read the message of love and of 
 more life and lived up to it. This is what 
 they learned one morning during the month : 
 
 Good morning, sweet April — 
 
 So winsome and shy, 
 With a smile on your lip, 
 
 And a tear in your eye. 
 
 There are pretty hepaticas 
 
 Hid in your hair, 
 And bonny blue violets 
 
 Clustering there. 
 
 Miss Kingwood had asked them to watch 
 for the first wild flowers and this little poem 
 led them to think that perhaps some were 
 hidden, and indeed, it was not long till these 
 flowers were brought to the school-room. 
 
 Along about this time when the work of 
 the school seemed to her to be going on 
 
92 Mary Kingwood*s School 
 
 nicely. Miss Kingwood noticed that the 
 people, parents and others, were talking 
 about the school and that they spoke of the 
 difference between this term and former 
 years. They told her that they had noticed 
 that the work of one month fitted nicely into 
 the work of the preceding month, and this 
 made the teacher's heart glad. She had 
 struggled for continuity and relation in her 
 work, and while she had never uttered such 
 a thing, now she felt she was getting a por- 
 tion of her reward in that the work she 
 planned had been recognized to be as she had 
 tried to make it. She felt more than ever 
 satisfied that the lessons learned each day 
 were for all time and for eternity. 
 
 The lessons of February's great men were 
 not forgotten in March or April, but the in- 
 fluence of the lives of Lincoln, Washington, 
 and Lowell was an abiding presence every 
 day, and she firmly believed it would endure 
 and grow in power. It was a very common 
 occurrence for a pupil to say something about 
 these great characters, and what was said 
 usually brought about spirited discussions 
 relative to the motives of these men, and 
 after every such discussion it was evident 
 that all were more firmly convinced that the 
 
The Rain Month 93 
 
 great motive of each of these great citizens 
 was service — to do good for others. 
 
 Miss Kingwood's abihty to tell a story was 
 a source of wonderful power to her. Stories 
 about kindness to animals, good habits, 
 truthfulness, bravery, and devotion to duty, 
 were told in such a convincing way that 
 without saying so in words she brought the 
 children to see that to do good and noble 
 deeds, not to win praise, but simply to be 
 good and noble is the mark of true greatness 
 and that it is the worthy purpose that marks 
 the man, and is after all the important thing 
 in life. 
 
 The warm showers had taken away all the 
 snow and ice and had filled the streams. 
 One morning when the creek nearby the 
 school-house was running full of water, great, 
 big, awkward Tom Carey, who had seemed to 
 be in a sort of stupor all winter came rushing 
 into the house and up to Miss Kingwood's 
 desk. Her heart leaped with joy at the sight 
 of his face. It was illumined with an in- 
 spiration which she had never seen before, 
 and in her joy she held out her hand to Tom. 
 He was no longer awkward. Unconsciously 
 he took her hand with the grace of a lover, 
 and as he stood looking into her face he said, 
 "Miss Kingwood, they are building a big 
 
94 Mary Kingwood's School 
 
 bridge right across the creek. They are 
 going to build a railroad across it and run 
 cars over it." "What will they do that for, 
 Tom ?" asked the teacher, and then, with the 
 light fading in his eyes, he said, "They say 
 to haul wheat from Chicago to New York.'* 
 And then, remembering how hard it had 
 been for Tom to get any meaning out of 
 their geography stories. Miss Kingwood 
 asked one of the other boys to go and bring 
 the United States map. When it had been 
 hung on the wall, Miss Kingwood, with 
 infinite patience, showed Tom the location 
 of New York and Chicago, and then told 
 him to think out over the earth from this 
 bridge till he could reach New York, going 
 over hills, across bridges, and through tun- 
 nels, and as Tom closed his eyes and thought. 
 Miss Kingwood stood in silence till he opened 
 his eyes and the light that shone there when 
 he first came to her desk had come back. 
 From that hour Tom Carey was a new crea- 
 ture, in touch with the world's great struggle 
 for existence. 
 
 When the bell rang and the opening exer- 
 cises had been completed. Miss Kingwood 
 said, " Tom Carey tells me we are to have a 
 new railroad and since we are thinking about 
 railroads I want to read you a poem by John 
 
The Rain Month 95 
 
 G. Saxe called "Riding on the Rail," and 
 then she read from memory, thanks to her 
 teacher while in a country school, the whole of 
 the poem beginning 
 
 Singing through the forests 
 
 Rattling over ridges, 
 Shooting under arches, 
 
 Rumbhng over bridges. 
 Whizzing through the mountains 
 
 Buzzing o'er the vale, 
 Bless me, this is pleasant, 
 
 Riding on a rail. 
 
 This aroused unbounded enthusiasm and 
 Tom was all eagerness for each new develop- 
 ment. Miss Kingwood wanted to tell about 
 hauling freight, but she seemed to think that 
 to talk of numbers so large as were involved 
 in hauling wheat would be lost time so she 
 began with speaking of a quart measure of 
 wheat. She had a measure at hand. She 
 talked of a peck, and of a bushel, and then 
 led them to think of 600 bushels in a car, 
 then she told them how many cars it would 
 take to haul one year's crop of wheat by say- 
 ing that if it were all loaded on cars at one 
 time the cars would reach clear across the 
 continent two times. She did not expect 
 them to understand this, but she wanted to 
 impress their minds wiih. the immensity of 
 the matter of growing wheat, and Tom Carey 
 
96 Mary Kingwood^ s School 
 
 seemed to get an idea. The lesson was really 
 for Tom, and then as soon as she could do so 
 wisely she passed to other subjects related to 
 the raising and hauling of wheat and an 
 excellent lesson on the making of bread and 
 feeding the poor was the result. 
 
 Easter came the latter part of the month. 
 The Easter lesson was not omitted. Each 
 child wanted to tell of Easter eggs, and after 
 they had had their hour Miss Kingwood 
 explained how it seems natural to talk about 
 eggs at Easter because of the new life soon to 
 be awakened. In the opening exercises they 
 learned many gems of literature appropriate 
 to the time. " Consider the lilies how they 
 grow! They toil not, neither do they spin, 
 and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all 
 his glory was not arrayed like one of these." 
 It also seemed appropriate that they read 
 the message of the Easter lily, *' Be pure, be 
 white, be clean." The Easter lesson yielded 
 a rich return in historic interest in the Man 
 of Galilee. 
 
 The month was drawing to a close, and 
 while Miss Kingwood often grew weary from 
 the duties of the day and burdened in spirit 
 with the responsibilities of the future, anx- 
 ious also with regard to the past, yet she 
 always came to each day's service with the 
 
The Rain Month 97 
 
 fullness of preparation. Every day added 
 to the meaning registered in her life of her 
 service with these little ones. Here were 
 fifty animated beings, souls whose destiny 
 would largely be shaped by her service. She 
 felt that every look, word, act, counted for 
 life-making, and she felt that no one could 
 tell the joys and sorrows, the triumphs or the 
 failures, the comforts or the privations that 
 the future had in store for these her httle 
 ones. 
 
 Her constant desire was to make school 
 life for them as pleasant as possible so that it 
 might be said of her, "She hath done what 
 she could," and if this desire were to be ful- 
 filled she knew that she must bring to these 
 little ones the full measure of service, and 
 that she must come to that service with clean 
 hands and a pure heart. 
 
IX. 
 
 The Month of Blossoms. 
 
 mHE closing day of April made Miss 
 Kingwood think of work for the new 
 month upon which they were about to 
 enter, and these questions arose : " How shall 
 I give a fresh side to my work to-day ? In 
 what new way can I present truth ?" These 
 questions and myriads of others came thick 
 and fast to her daily. She aimed to be a true 
 teacher, and her ideal of a true teacher was 
 that she should day by day so adjust the en- 
 vironment of her pupils that each one might 
 f or himself or for herself set free that of the 
 Divine life which was struggling for utter- 
 ance in the human life. 
 
 Each morning as she opened school, with 
 simple devotional exercises, each Htt'e one 
 seemed to realize the perfect freedom ac- 
 corded to all to ask what they wanted to do 
 or to have done. And the school life with 
 these children had so grown into unselfish- 
 98 
 
The Month of Blossoms 99 
 
 ness that rarely .did one pupil make a request 
 that was not heartily joined in by the others. 
 It seemed to me to be merely a question of 
 which one "got the floor,'* and it encour- 
 aged the on-looker mightily to see the deU- 
 cate tact with which Miss Kingwood re- 
 garded the rights and privileges of every 
 member of this "congress of growing life.'* 
 As I have said before, there were no favored 
 ones except those favored by the consent of 
 the whole. 
 
 This particular April morning of which I 
 am thinking was one over the skies of which 
 Mother Nature had hung a heavy curtain of 
 clouds, and it seemed most appropriate that 
 six-year-old quiet, lovable Martha Simpson 
 should ask that they be allowed to sing, " Let 
 a Little Sunshine In." Miss Kingwood 's 
 eyes beamed the ready answer, and how they 
 sang that song under the canopy of the 
 shadow of April clouds! The chorus drove 
 away the clouds from within, and the sun- 
 shine truly shone out of fifty pairs of joyous 
 eyes in a way Miss Kingwood said she had 
 never seen before, and then she mused, 
 " perhaps it is because I have let more sun- 
 shine in." Anyway, that song was a noble 
 anthem of both prayer and praise. Under 
 its beneficent influence personaUties and self 
 
100 Mary Ktngwood^s School 
 
 were forgotten. There was no fear of 
 teacher, no concern about making mistakes, 
 no nervousness because of expecting criti- 
 cism. They were free, and I thought, "in 
 this hour these children have had their 
 affections quickened, and within them love 
 of pure thought has been wonderfully 
 strengthened and intensified." 
 
 Ever when she came to the close of a busy 
 day. Miss Kingwood more fully realized 
 that it was not methods nor devices, but the 
 spirit of the school and the personality of the 
 teacher that make for the more abundant 
 life — the end for which she was constantly 
 striving. And it was because of this daily 
 self-examination in connection with her 
 estimate of each individual child that had 
 caused her to be spoken of as not like other 
 teachers. 
 
 Some time in March a new girl had come 
 into the school. She was the daughter of a 
 poor mechanic, plain of feature, with lovely 
 black hair and entrancing eyes, but above 
 all and over all she had a sweet soprano 
 voice. She had lived in Baltimore, but had 
 not been in school many months. She was 
 a modest little tot, never doing anything for 
 praise, but always wanting to do something 
 for others. Her voice was gentle and to hear 
 
The Month of Blossoms loi 
 
 it in song would make one as glad for the 
 shadow as for the sunshine. It was wonder- 
 ful the effect her voice had upon the other 
 children, and her sweet manner of speaking 
 had much to do with making the voices of 
 the other children pleasant and gentle. She 
 learned the school songs quickly, and sang 
 them with such grace that the school invol- 
 untarily and unconsciously, I think, recog- 
 nized her as leader. The children would 
 wait for Marjory Harper to start the songs, 
 and she came into leadership, not only in 
 song, but in their games, not because of fine 
 clothes, for she wore no rich garments, not 
 because of the social standing of her parents, 
 for they were not society folk, but because of 
 her own worth. Miss King wood had read to 
 them that beautiful poem, "For I'm to be 
 Queen of the May, Mother, I'm to be Queen 
 of the May," and as May was approaching 
 the children united in the request that they 
 have a May-day party, and have a queen, 
 too. 
 
 Every one was exultant in the thought of 
 the happy May-day, and when the time came 
 to find a queen, Marjory Harper was elected 
 by the unanimous demand of the children 
 that she take the place of honor. Just when 
 this momentous matter had been decided. 
 
102 Mary Kingwood^s School 
 
 the teacher of music came in and asked Miss 
 Kingwood if she might take Marjory with 
 her to another room while she taught a 
 special class in music, saying that she had 
 some exercises that she was very anxious to 
 have Marjory hear. While Marjory was 
 gone, Miss Kingwood asked why they all 
 wanted Marjory to be their May queen. 
 One said, " Because she is always so happy, 
 it just suits her to be queen." Another said, 
 "Because we all love her. Miss Kingwood." 
 Another, "Because she loves to do all she 
 can for us, so she ought to be our queen." 
 And Tom Baker, growing Tom, said, "Be- 
 cause she helps you, Miss Kingwood, in 
 starting songs, and when we learn new 
 songs, she helps us learn them." Wonder- 
 ful, wonderful, what influence one exerts on 
 another, even in a First Primary school. 
 
 Miss Kingwood had noticed that Marjory 
 was always dressed plainly, though she was 
 always neat and clean, but her dress hardly 
 seemed appropriate for Queen of the May. 
 Miss Kingwood had often wished that she 
 might help her to better clothes for certain 
 occasions. However, observant of the child's 
 high spirit, she had not ventured upon this 
 delicate service, but now it only needed a 
 suggestion relative to costumes secured for 
 
The Month of Blossoms 103 
 
 such times as May-day, and the present con- 
 dition was provided for. One Httle girl 
 said, "Marjory may have my pearl beads," 
 and each brought some article of wearing 
 apparel or suitable jewelry which was prized 
 highly, and from these offerings for the 
 costume of their queen, Miss Kingwood and 
 the children soon had Marjory fitted out in 
 queenly robes ; and when they looked on her, 
 clothed also in her glad smile of joy that she 
 had been thought worthy of their love, every 
 heart was full of joy even to overflowing. 
 
 The formal work of the school had not 
 been neglected. The children read the 
 stories they loved and with such expression 
 as would surprise many pupils in higher 
 grades. One phase of their work that they 
 all enjoyed especially was the lesson in 
 phonics, and in this, as in all their work. 
 Miss Kingwood let the children's imagina- 
 tion lead them to the vocal organs which were 
 used in giving the sounds, and by this means 
 their progress in vocal exercises was much 
 more rapid. For instance, she led them to 
 associate the puff of the steamboat with the 
 letter p, and, wise little tots, they called it 
 the "steamboat letter." Many similar ex- 
 amples were used. The program was so 
 arranged that at the close of this period every 
 
104 Mary Kingwood's School 
 
 day the teacher of music and drawing came 
 in for a few minutes for the work, and she 
 said she learned much from these pupils and 
 that she enjoyed the exercises as much as the 
 children did. 
 
 Although some work had been done in 
 studying birds, May seemed to be the month 
 above all others for this delightful exercise, 
 for all the birds had returned by this time. 
 The lessons on building the nests, who builds 
 them, and who feeds the baby birds were all 
 of the greatest interest. Every day during 
 the nest-building period the children made 
 observations and could tell the exact ma- 
 terials used for each different bird's nest, and 
 they knew where the nests were built. Tom 
 Baker said, " The birds should be loved and 
 protected for their beauty, for their songs, 
 and for their usefulness." Some one else 
 suggested that birds are like people — the 
 father and mother making the home, and 
 getting food for the children. 
 
 Later in the month they had a special 
 "Bird Day," and each one represented his 
 or her favorite bird. One said, " Oh, Miss 
 Kingwood, may I be a robin?" Another 
 wanted to be a bluebird, and so each made 
 his choice, and Miss Kingwood prepared for 
 the day, "The Burdens of Birdland." The 
 
The Month of Blossoms 105 
 
 day's exercises were a great lesson for all, 
 and as the fond mothers and fathers gathered 
 into the school-room that day and heard the 
 earnest plea of the children for the birds, the 
 lesson they received was one they could not 
 have obtained from books. In harmony 
 with the spirit of the time, Miss Kingwood 
 taught them Lucy Larcom's poem, "The 
 Merry Brown Thrush." 
 
 Miss Kingwood, I observed, was devoted 
 in her preparation for each day's work. She 
 thought about each coming hour. She felt 
 the responsibility resting upon her who 
 attempts to guide fifty pure young lives 
 aright. She realized that children crave for 
 activity and more life, and in order to help 
 them get into this larger field of experience 
 she herself must go forth into the light of 
 things, and have nature for her teacher. 
 She felt that she must go into nature's realms, 
 open her eyes, and see the great, wide, beau- 
 tiful world, that she might know and love it. 
 
 The study of natural science in common 
 e very-day phrase, which the '^educators" call 
 " nature work," was the feature of this school, 
 and the conversations were very much like 
 those which had taken place in April, but the 
 teacher wisely led them into new fields, and 
 the blossoming vegetation opened for the 
 
lo6 Mary Kingwood's School 
 
 children a wonder book indeed. They called 
 May the " blossom month." Surely you will 
 agree that that was a good name for this 
 incense-laden time. 
 
 The study of the blossoms gave splendid 
 opportunity for the teacher to use the knowl- 
 edge she had gained by her course in botany, 
 but no "bookish" terms ever marred the 
 delightful exercise of comparing the blossoms 
 of the apple, pear, peach, and cherry trees. 
 Many were the delicate distinctions of form, 
 color, and fragrance that were noted and 
 expressed in right terms under the teacher's 
 guidance, and petal, sepal, filament, and 
 anther, were as readily and as properly used 
 by the children as were beak, wing, tail, or 
 plumage when speaking of birds. But I 
 observed that it was not these technical terms 
 that Miss Kingwood was striving to teach — 
 she had from the beginning set a high value 
 on comparison and classification as a part of 
 the educative process, and these powers were 
 ever under the most careful direction. From 
 observing her skilful management of these 
 nature lessons, I said, " The teacher who can 
 waken the soul-sense of little children to the 
 beauty, charm, and purity of apple blos- 
 soms and can lead the little ones to talk in 
 right language of their experiences with these 
 
The Month of Blossoms 1 07 
 
 blossoms, is a teacher indeed," and I further 
 said, "She is a greater teacher who can so 
 direct these experiences that the child can 
 never again look upon the flowers unmoved 
 or pass them by unloved. This is great 
 work for May, and because Miss Kingwood 
 has been able to do this thing, she has given 
 these Httle ones the more abundant life." 
 
 Each day some one would ask Miss King- 
 wood for a story, and if a primary teacher 
 has no time on her program for a story every 
 day, she should not let another day pass 
 without making correction of that program. 
 The story used may be new, or it may be one 
 used often before. Good stories may be told 
 many times. Children maintain their in- 
 terest in the story of real life and they live 
 through its experiences time and time again. 
 I agree with that wise woman who said a 
 primary teacher should be a fairy among 
 children — a real story-teller, but with good 
 story-telling goes good reading of stories, for 
 by the reading the teacher brings the chil- 
 dren to understand that the stories come from 
 books. Knowing the stories are printed in 
 the books creates a felt need for reading. 
 Out of the felt need arises the desire, and out 
 of the desire comes the determination to 
 read, and then — learning to read is a short 
 
io8 Mary Kingwood' s School 
 
 and most pleasing experience. Miss King- 
 wood was full of this doctrine and so she read 
 to the little ones. At this particular time she 
 read Andersen's story of the "Five Little 
 Peas." In this story there is much envel- 
 oped for the children to think about. It was 
 a piece of literature in sympathy with what 
 they had been talking about, and with what 
 they had been doing with their little gardens 
 wherein they had watched the seeds develop 
 into plants. 
 
 In this school the work of each month was 
 a natural prelude to that of the next, and 
 Miss Kingwood believed that if they were to 
 have a beautiful June they must have a 
 sweet May. She fully realized that to this 
 end much depended on her. She had another 
 self-examination : " Had she enough of the 
 spirit of the springtime yet to know the full- 
 ness of May? Had she 'Brushed the cob- 
 webs from her head and swept the snow 
 banks from her heart ? ' and opened that 
 heart to every injfluence that would make 
 teacher and pupil happier and better?" 
 
 The quickening everywhere, the upspring- 
 ing of fresh life on every hand, and the joy of 
 bird-note should crowd out the petty worries 
 of school life. Miss Kingwood believed 
 that acquaintance with nature is a sovereign 
 
The Month of Blossoms 109 
 
 remedy for the worst boy. She would take 
 this wayward child who tried her patience 
 beyond endurance almost, out into the fields, 
 to the clear meadow brook. She would help 
 him catch its words as it went gurgling on- 
 ward to the sea. She got to the soul of the 
 boy by revealing to him her soul, and the 
 fact that his last paper was "all blot" didn't 
 weigh a feather on the wrong side. Out 
 there in the fields or woods, blots, confused 
 writing, every wrong thing was seemingly 
 forgotten, and she sought after the child 
 heart and usually found it, for she often said, 
 "Don't censure the child. It may be my 
 error that has caused him to go the wrong 
 way; I will try to make this last week of May 
 my best week." 
 
 Toward the close of the month Miss King- 
 wood thought she should at least make men- 
 tion of Memorial Day, but her lesson con- 
 cerning it and what it stands for was tactful 
 indeed. She told the children just a fittle of 
 the great theme. She knew that all children 
 take great delight in listening to stories of 
 bravery in battle. They are great hero 
 worshippers. But she avoided telling them 
 of the horrors of war except in the most 
 meaner outline, just enough to understand 
 that the North and the South once were at 
 
no Mary Kingwood^s School 
 
 variance, the cause of which they would more 
 fully learn as they grew older. Then in her 
 quiet way she read them "Under the Sod 
 and the Dew," and told them that Memorial 
 Day had been set apart to remember in 
 quietness and with grateful spirits those who 
 had suffered for our country. She told them 
 that our great nation paused on this day to 
 think of the brave men who thus suffered, 
 and that we should remember them for the 
 sacrifice then given. 
 
 The love for the flag was strengthened by 
 the Memorial Day lesson, and patriotism and 
 loyalty were magnified in their lives. 
 
The Month of Roses. 
 
 mHE closing days were near at hand and 
 though Miss Kingwood reahzed that 
 the time was near when she must leave 
 these little ones whom she had learned to love 
 so dearly, the interest in the school was as in- 
 tense as ever, for it was the growth of life into 
 more abundant Hfe for them that was the 
 subject nearest to her heart, and she wished, 
 if possible, to make the last days the best 
 days. Are not the last days of the term as 
 full of opportunity as the earher part of the 
 term? This was a question of moment to 
 her, and as she had throughout the term 
 learned the dispositions and experiences of 
 these children, now at the close this knowl- 
 edge seemed to increase her opportunities 
 and responsibilities. They had been her 
 almost constant companions for nearly ten 
 months and this experience was large with 
 meaning to her. 
 
 Ill 
 
112 Mary Kingwood's School 
 
 To many teachers, June is looked upon as 
 simply a new month with thirty days, no 
 more — unless it be final examinations and 
 the close of school. Miss Kingv/ood thought 
 this should not be the feeling of the teacher, 
 for she said, " June belongs to the children. \ 
 In a friendly talk with me she said, " Every 
 hour should bring every child some gift of 
 grace. Soul food must be stored away dur- 
 ing June to last until the beginning of the 
 next school term. June is crowded with 
 opportunities for the highest type of teach- 
 ing, and only those chiWren who come under 
 its blessed influence will be happy." 
 
 So I thought the regular routine of school 
 work must go on daily, but these glorious 
 June days should illuminate the work until 
 every little heart throbs under the inspired 
 touch and comes to feel the instinct of " up- 
 ward striving," for 
 
 What is so rare as a day in June? 
 
 Then, if ever, come perfect days, 
 Then heaven tries the earth if it be in tune, 
 
 And over it softly her warm ear lays; 
 Whether we look or whether we listen, 
 
 We hear life murmur or see it glisten. 
 
 Miss Kingwood thought there is so much in 
 June for which we should be grateful, that she 
 wished to have the children absorb enough 
 
The Month of Roses 113 
 
 of the June feeling and June loveliness to carry 
 in their hearts all year, and not have them lose 
 one day of God's inspiring out-of-doors. 
 There were so many lessons in their nature 
 work. The first flower brought in was the 
 violet. Some called it "Johnny-jump-up." 
 They studied the plant life, the different 
 varieties of violets, their color,and their uses. 
 Tom Baker asked, " Why are plants or blos- 
 soms of different colors ? " The teacher told 
 him the color was to attract the insects to the 
 blossoms. In talking of the use of the violet 
 little Mary Jones said, " My sister has violet 
 perfume." 
 
 From this and other conversation lessons, 
 they came to the conclusion that some flowers 
 give fragrance and beauty only, while others 
 give us fruits, medicines, and even clothing. 
 
 Another flower that comes early and stays 
 late is the clover blossom. This was a flower 
 so plentiful that every child could have one, 
 and as a result many things were learned 
 about the clover; but what seemed to impress 
 them most was that it slept at night. The 
 leaf as well as the blossom occasioned com- 
 ment, and when little James brought a four- 
 leaf clover, excitement ran high; Miss King- 
 wood read them that beautiful poem 
 
114 Mary Kingwood^s School 
 
 "the four-leaf clover." 
 
 One leaf is for hope and one is for faith, 
 
 And one is for love, you know, 
 And God put another one in for luck, 
 
 If you search you will find where they grow. 
 
 They asked to have it read and re-read, and 
 finally all memorized it. 
 
 True to nature, April brought buds ; May, 
 leaves ; June, flovrers, and the flow^ers brought 
 their companions, bees and butterflies. 
 There seemed so much to talk about that the 
 days were far too short. Daisies and roses 
 were other flowers brought during the month, 
 and Miss Kingwood did not think it was too 
 late to learn to sing " Where Do All the Dais- 
 ies Go ? " And she read them that interesting 
 little story of Andersen's "The Daisy," 
 Some one asked if the flower's work was done 
 when it fades, and this gave opportunity for 
 a simple explanation of the purpose of vege- 
 table life, and never was Miss Kingwood 's 
 power better shown than in this talk to show 
 that the perfect plant must bring forth seed, 
 which, when planted and nourished, would 
 bring forth seed again by passing through 
 the stages which they had noted in their 
 study of the plant. 
 
 Each child was permitted to tell his or her 
 favorite flowers, and when they entered upon 
 
The Month of Roses 115 
 
 the discussion of the mission of the flowers 
 or blossom, one timid Httle tot suggested that 
 flowers make the world bright and beautiful 
 and people happy. In these hours of com- 
 munion with and about the flowers, they 
 really got into the spirit of June. 
 
 The fourteenth day of the month brought 
 **Flag Day," and these little ones, some of 
 them only six years old, joined in three 
 hearty cheers for " Old Glory," and mightily 
 enjoyed the story of Betsy Ross and the first 
 flag, and the younger ones seemed to get into 
 the spirit of the day as freely as the older 
 ones. 
 
 One of the poems in their readers was the 
 charming httle poem, "Bed in Summer," by 
 Robert Louis Stevenson. This they read 
 and greatly enjoyed, and the manner in 
 which they read it indicated that it expressed 
 the experience of every one of them. 
 
 x^gain and again in her self-examination. 
 Miss Kingwood would wonder if she were 
 leading these children aright, and she would 
 say to herself, " What have I to show for this 
 year's work.^" But she knew that after all 
 success in its true sense is not measurable 
 at the end of ten months, especially in a 
 primary school. The work of these first ten 
 months is only the beginning, but it is the 
 
Ii6 Mary Kingwood^s School 
 
 foundation for a whole school life, and what 
 is done at the beginning can only be meas- 
 ured at the end, but if the teacher feel it her 
 duty to radiate a loving, sympathetic nature, 
 for the benefiting of humanity, and do that 
 duty, she will also feel that in a measure, at 
 least, she has been successful. 
 
 Looking to the close of school, the princi- 
 pal announced that sometime during the 
 month there would be an educational meet- 
 ing at which the teachers would hold a con- 
 ference to review the work of the term and 
 to mark out lines of thought relative to the 
 next year's work. At this conference he 
 asked Miss Kingwood to give an outline of 
 her philosophy of teaching. The principal, 
 in a very kindly, encouraging manner, ob- 
 served that they had all been helped by Miss 
 Kingwood 's work, and that it was the unan- 
 imous request of the teachers that she tell 
 them the motives that carried her forward 
 so well with her teaching. In a most gra- 
 cious manner Miss Kingwood responded by 
 saying: 
 
 " Until the principal asked me to tell you 
 about my motives, I had not stopped to 
 think what they might be. I am sure I never 
 expected to be asked to tell my associates 
 what should be done. I have always been 
 
The Month of Roses 1 17 
 
 anxious to think the school all the way 
 through from the first primary to the high 
 school, and that is why I asked permission 
 to visit the other rooms. I wanted to imag- 
 ine every one of my pupils as he or she went 
 through the respective grades. I have tried 
 to be free in the thought that in the elemen- 
 tary school the greater portion of the child's 
 study is the process of thinking individuals, 
 but I have long felt that it is more important 
 for the child to think the image of the object 
 when the object is absent, than it is to think 
 the object when it is present to the senses. So 
 my work is largely planned to have each 
 child the possessor of a well-trained memory. 
 But the memory of images is of little value 
 unless it is also stored with true precepts, 
 right sentiments, and high determination. 
 I think that experiences which make for the 
 growing life into better and better life are the 
 most important phases of the school life. 
 The child explores new fields by means of 
 experiences of the past used in memory as 
 interpreting means, and it seems to me that 
 in every new experience the new must be 
 explained by the old, and believing this, I try 
 to have every act of the pupil make for larger 
 life by way of taking out of the unknown 
 some new thing and making it a part of him- 
 
Il8 Mary Kingwood's School 
 
 self. To do this I try to make every day's 
 work a preparation for the next day's work, 
 every week's work a preparation for the next 
 week, and every month a preparation for the 
 next month, and so it must follow that every 
 year's work must simply be the work of the 
 next, only in a lower degree. I mean that 
 something of all that is taught in the second 
 year must be taught in the first, and so on 
 throughout the entire school course. Every 
 lesson in number, every geography lesson, 
 every poem memorized, and in fact, every- 
 thing I do is an effort to outline each suc- 
 ceeding year's work, then, when I have done, 
 I feel that I have given every child a start in 
 the whole school course. I hope I have not 
 failed." 
 
 This was a clear statement of her creed. 
 It had an influence on those assembled, for 
 those present knew that Miss Kingwood had 
 not failed. 
 
 The closing exercises of the school were 
 very simple. They consisted of recitations 
 and songs, but during the exercises there was 
 a something — a medium — that seemed to 
 carry a message from Miss Kingwood to each 
 little heart, and she in return received a reply, 
 and when "good-byes" were said, both 
 teacher and pupils felt in fullest measure the 
 
The Month of Roses 1 19 
 
 sadness of parting from those we love. The 
 closing moment had come. Miss Kingwood 
 could not speak. Her heart was full to 
 overflowing. In her final self-examination 
 in this closing hour, she looked into the elo- 
 quent eyes of the httle ones and trusted that 
 strength had been given her, that through 
 her striving, some unfortunate tendency had 
 been checked, some evil habit corrected, 
 some soul awakened, some eye opened to 
 beauty, some lonely heart comforted, and in 
 those eyes she believed that she could read 
 that she had been enabled so to adjust the 
 environment, both material and spiritual, 
 of these children, that they in turn had been 
 enabled to set up for themselves ideals which 
 had grown and would continue to grow in 
 beauty and strength, and which, finally, in 
 most beautiful lives, though perhaps un- 
 known to her, would set the seal of approval 
 on her efforts. 
 
 Then, when they had all gone and the 
 presence of this teacher was no longer with 
 me, I said, "After all, it is the personal in- 
 fluence of the teacher that counts most with 
 the pupil. It is the teacher's character, her 
 dominant personality, which determines the 
 success or failure of every school year." 
 The End. 
 
NOV 5 1906 
 
LIBRARY Oh UUNUHtSts 
 
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