chair in which she was trapped. In "Cinderella," let the children make up the balance of the story from the point at which the Prince begins to hunt for the owner of the glass slipper. "Jack and the Beanstalk," "The Myth of Bacchus," and the "Myth of Persephone," are stories which may be treated in this way:

If you prefer not to treat the well-known myths and stories in the manner suggested, invent a story and have the children tell how the character gets out of the dilemma into which you put him. The following story has been used successfully in this way:

"A boy left Sacramento one day to visit his uncle, who lived in San Francisco. When he reached the depot, there were two trains ready to pull out. One was for San Francisco and one for Stockton. The boy got on the Stockton train and did not know he had made a mistake until he was several miles from home."

The pupils were asked to make up a story telling how the boy got to the place he wished to reach.

Tell the story of the Klondike with its attendant difficulties as dramatically as possible to your older pupils, bringing out the dangers and perils of the North, together with the great riches to be acquired there. Be sure the title you use is of intense general interest, say, "A Boy's Trip to the Klondike." Make out for your own use a series of points after the style of the following:

1. Ned Anderson reads of great discoveries of gold in the North, and decides to undertake the trip to the gold fields.

2. What his mother said, on consulting her, of the great dangers of the trip.

3. What the father said.

4.

His sister's argument for and against the trip.

5. Voyage north on the steamer. Storm at sea.

6. Two startling experiences in the gold regions; escape from a snow-slide; in the Yukon rapids.

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7. Return home.

Make each of the points you decide upon the subject of a paragraph. Give your pupils the opening sentence to each paragraph to hang their thoughts on," and have them complete the thought of the paragraphs. Deal only with one paragraph at a time, and before you give the leading sentence of a paragraph, let the preceding paragraph be completed.

This exercise is for your highest grade. Practice upon a simpler exercise involving but one paragraph may be used in preparing the pupils for a more extended exercise like the foregoing. Select subjects that fire pupils' imagination and appeal as much as possible to their own experiences.

Plant in a flower pot a root of dill, sometimes called sweet anise, and put the plant in a sunny place in the school room.

In

the spring, when the plant has attained some size, secure some of the caterpillars of the common anise-butterfly (Papilio Polyxenes), and put them on the dill. Have children watch the development of the insects till they are full grown. Allow the full-grown insects to escape into the sunshine. Butterflies cannot be kept in captivity; and the young children should not be encouraged to kill and mount them. Get the eggs of this butterfly as well as the caterpillars. Watch the eggs hatch. Lead the children to be on the lookout for strange and startling changes in the insect's life. After this spontaneous study of the insect has gone on for a month or more, have the children tell orally its life-story. Finally have the children write their versions of the story. Encourage individuality of expression. Correct the faults of expression, but do not scold about them. Let your criticism be largely the praise of good points.

If the Papilio Polyxenes cannot be found, use some other insect, potting the plant it lives on. The caterpillar of the monarch butterfly lives on the common milk-weed, and has a wonderful life-history. The little fox butterfly lives upon the mallows.

The common wasp's nest, found so often clinging to the roofs of sheds and outhouses, if placed in a glass jar with the parent wasps, makes an interesting study upon which the children may write. Cover the jar with paper, and puncture the paper with many pin-holes to let in air. Feed the insects with sugar and water. Your children can see the whole process of the young wasp's growth.

Put the following on the black-board, or mimeograph it for your pupils to work from:

"There was one time, after a heavy storm in the mountains, found in the drift wood under a bridge over a valley stream, family of young foxes. A school-boy saw one of the baby foxes, caught it, took it to school, and gave it to his teacher. The teacher showed the fox to her school, and asked the boys and girls to write a story telling where the fox came from and how it got under the bridge. Tell the story you would have told had you been in that school."

USE OF PICTURES

The prime charcteristic of a good picture for a basis of composition work is suggestiveness. The picture should readily suggest a story. A picture involving animal or human life and representing a distinct incident is to be preferred. For example in the

story of "Johnny-look-in-the-air," a representation of Johnny staring vacantly into space and walking over the brink of the river, would almost certainly suggest a story to the average child. The celebrated painting by Landseer, of a dog who has saved a child, is also an example of a picture full of suggestiveness. The Helping Hand, by Renouf, The Angelus, by Millet, The Highland Shepherd's Chief Mourner, by Landseer, and The Flood, by Kiorbe, are examples of famous pictures which can be used by teachers in connection with composition work.

These pictures can be found in the language books suggested for teachers' use*, or cheap, but at the same time very artistic reproductions, can be purchased.

History in the Elementary Schools

II. The Course of Study

In the first article of this series an attempt was made to show that all instruction in history should recognize both the utilitarian and the idealistic views of the subject. This furnishes, perhaps, the most essential criterion of the course of study. If history is to be taught at all, it must be based upon a proper conception of the ultimate elements in the development of our civilization. The test of the curriculum next in importance is the answer to the question, Is the course of study adapted to the natures and experiences of the children?

One of the most helpful and suggestive little monographs bearing upon this question is "The Curriculum and the Child," by Dr. John Dewey, now of Columbia University. The thesis of this pamphlet is the necessity of recognizing both the logical and the psychological basis of the curriculum. The exposition of the proposition and the arguments adduced by the author are peculiarly adaptable to the course in history. To get the point of view of the child, to reach its standing ground, to make a start at all, doubtless we must be psychological. On the other hand, to induce children to acquire the large body of organized knowledge without which they can have no adequate nor correct conception of real history, the instruction must be both logical and chronological. The determining factors, therefore, in a well-balanced course in

*See Bulletin in English issued by State Normal School ot San Jose, 1904.

history in the elementary schools would appear to be: (1) Recognition of the utilitarian or material basis of civilization. (2) Proper appreciation of the value of the interpretive or spiritual side of history. (3) The point of view of the child-the psychological criterion. (4) The knowledge side, subject-matter, logical and chronological arrangement.

Keeping in mind these creteria, let us consider, briefly, a workable course of study. In the first place I shall issue a ukase to the effect that history should be taught as a separate subject in every grade, from the first to the highest in the elementary schools. If extensive correlations are to be attempted, history should furnish the core. This dictum, probably, is subject to discussion, but space forbids in this article. In the lower grades the psychological factor should be more in evidence; in the grammar grades the logical should predominate. In primary grades, to a large extent, the materialistic, interpretive, and psychological factors harmonize, the logical and chronological may be neglected. Primitive civilization would, therefore, furnish the theme in these grades. Not the primitive civilization of any particular peoples, except for illustrative purposes, but primitive civilization in general. This should consist of simple, realistic and dramatic accounts of the development of the arts of living, grouped, perhaps, around the following main topics: Dwellings, clothing, securing and preparing food, war, social organizations, etc. Out of these will spring æsthetical, ethical, and culture ideas and the opportunity for the introduction of much interpretive matter in the way of myths, fairy tales, folk-lore, poetry, drama, etc. Illustrations may be drawn from ancient sources, e. g., Egyptian, Persian, Hebrew, Greek, Roman, Teutonic. Also from modern sources, as the Indians of North and South America, Esquimaux, native Africanders, Bushmen, etc. The latter sources will very materially increase the air of verisimilitude of the instruction. An attempt should be made in the first four grades to develop in the consciousness of the pupils a series of impresionistic pictures showing the general sweep of all civilization from the untutored savage to the dwellers in the cities.

In the fifth and sixth grades the logical and chronological factors should begin to be prominent, but still the movements and ideas developed therefrom should be general and universal rather than particular, though many specific stories, anecdotes and personages will be introduced, for the purpose, however, of developing general notions and composite pictures. Here an attempt should

be made to teach something concering the civilization of the mediæval period in Europe as exemplified in England, France, Spain and Germany. Such general topics as feudalism, chivalry, monastic life, warfare, etc., can be taken up with great interest and profit. From the logical side the work in these two grades forms a background or introduction to the formal study of the history of the United States, which occupies the next two years. Ample opportunity is afforded by the topics of this period to introduce much matter along the interpretive side. Ballads, epics, dramas, romances relating to this phase of civilization exist in abundance and should be used liberally. On the psychological side it has been fairly well demonstrated that children in this stage of development are hero-worshipers and that romance of action appeals strongly to them, but they are getting over the more purely imaginative stage and now demand "real" history. The myth and the fairy tale do not appeal to them so strongly and must be superseded by tales of real heroes.

In the seventh and eighth grades the psychological must give way to the logical factor. The "culture epoch " theory, "immediate interest," "line of least resistance," all must surrender to the tyrant knowledge. Not alone because it is customary and demanded by the voice of the public, but because it is best in the present state of society and education, must these two years be devoted to the work of acquiring a comprehensive and fairly accurate notion of the history and government of our own country. I do not concede, by any means, that the process of securing such a broad and accurate conception of the history of the United States is necessarily devoid of immediate interest, nor that the psychological criterion is actually lost sight of. But it must be conceded that many phases in the development of the constitutional and institutional history of our nation do not specially appeal to pupils of this age. Nevertheless these things must be taught, the work of the instructor being directed towards developing a higher and more permanent interest, which is, after all, the only kind worth the effort.

The last article will take up materials and methods appropriate to the course above sketched.

State Normal School, San Diego, Cal.

W. F. BLISS.