Part 13 (1/2)

If this direct ht as well put the little drama aside, and say plainly: ”It is foolish to be nervous; it is dangerous to s better than those who are narrow-minded”

All these abstract statements would be as true and as tiresoht not fix them in his mind, but he would not act upon them

But, put all the artistic warmth of which you are capable into the presentation of the story, and, without one word of comment from you, the children will feel the draether by the feeble utterance of one irresponsible little hare Let thenity and calm of the _Lion_, which accounts for his authority; his tender but firlorious finale when all the animals retire convinced of their folly; and you will find that you have adopted the same method as the _Lion_ (who must have been an unconscious follower of Froebel), and that there is nothing to add to the picture

QUESTION VI: _Is it wise to talk over a story with children and to encourage the questions about it_?

At the time, no! The effect produced is to be by dramatic means, and this would be destroyed any attempt at analysis by means of questions

Theof the story is (or ought to be) a purely artistic one which will reach the child through the medium of the emotions: the appeal to the intellect or the reason is a different method, whichthe fragrance of a flower or the beauty of its color, it is not the moment to be reminded of its botanical classification, just as in the botany lesson it would be somewhat irrelevant to talk of the part that flowers play in the happiness of life

Froe questions on the part of the children, because they are apt to disturb the at in entirely irrelevantof the story, the child often remembers the irrelevant conversation to the exclusion of the dramatic interest of the story itself[47]

I re what I considered at the time ato the Story of the Little Tin Soldier, and, unable to refrain fronized the futility, I asked: ”Don't you think it was nice of the little dancer to rush down into the fire to join the brave little soldier?” ”Well,” said a prosaic little lad of six: ”_I_ thought the draught carried her down”

QUESTION VII: _Is it wise to call upon children to repeat the story as soon as it has been told_?

My answer here is decidedly in the negative

While fully appreciating thethemselves, I verythe form of mere reproduction I have dealt with this matter in detail in another portion of my book This is one of the occasions when children should be taking in, not giving out (even the ree that there _are_ such moments)

When, after much careful preparation, an expert has told a story to the best of his ability, to encourage the children to reproduce this story with their iift of speech (I aroup of children) is as futile as if, after the perforreat artist, some individual ive _his_ rendering of the original rendering The result would be that the musical joy of the audience would be completely destroyed and the performer himself would share in the loss[48]

I have always maintained that five minutes of complete silence after the story would do more to fix the impression on theit The general statement made in Dr Montessor's wonderful chapter on ”Silence” would see on the telling of a story

QUESTION VIII: _Should children be encouraged to illustrate the stories which they have heard_?

As a dramatic interest to the teachers and the children, I think it is a very praiseworthy experily But I seriously doubt whether these illustrations in any way indicate the impression made on the mind of the child It is the same question that arises when that child is called upon, or expresses a wish, to reproduce the story in his oords: the unfamiliar medium in both instances , unless he is an artist in the one case or he has real literary power of expression in the other

My own impression, confirmed by many teachers who have made the experiment, is that a certain a joy in the atteet nowhere near the ideal which has presented itself to the ”inner eye”

I re that on one occasion, when she had told to the class a thrilling story of a knight, one of the children immediately asked for permission to draw a picture of him on the blackboard So spontaneous a request could not, of course, be refused, and, full of assurance, the would-be artist began to give his iht's appearance When the picture was finished, the child stood back for a e for himself of the result

He put down the chalk and said sadly: ”And I _thought_ he was so handsome”

Nevertheless, except for the drawback of the other children seeing a picture which ht be inferior to their own mental vision, I should quite approve of such experi as they are not taken as literal data of what the children have really received It would, however, be better not to have the picture drawn on a blackboard but at the child's private desk, to be seen by the teacher and not, unless the picture were exceptionally good, to be shown to the other children

One of the best effects of such an experiive the impression one wishes to record, and which would enable him later on to appreciate the beauty of such work in the hands of a finished artist

I can anticipate the jeers hich such re to their own theory, I ought to be allowed to express the matter _as I see it_, however faulty the vision may appear to them[49]

QUESTION IX: _In ay can the dra be used in ordinary class teaching_?

This is too large a question to answer fully in so general a survey as this work, but I should like to give one or two exa could be introduced