Part 19 (2/2)

_The Story._ The function of the story is to supply the child with racial experiences that will enrich his own more narrow personal experience. It is not intended merely to please but to _present facts_ in a form which the child can understand. By using the simple form of a sequence of sentences, each sentence standing by itself, less difficulty is presented to the child in reading than if the paragraph form had been employed. The greater ease with which the young child reads this style, together with the fact that the rhythm in a majority of the stories is of a character in keeping with the subject, and readily appreciated by the child, seem to justify the use of this style for a few months of the child's life.

_Things to Do._ The teacher should use her judgment in regard to how many of these suggestions it is best to carry out in the school hours.

In schools where little work has yet been done in pantomime, drawing, modeling, and other kindred modes of activity, it will probably be the better plan to have many of the suggestions carried out in hours of play. If the teacher takes an interest in what the child does outside of school hours as well as in what he does in regular recitation and work periods, and if she utilizes the experiences of the child that are gained in informal ways, she will have no difficulty in securing the heartiest cooperation in the work of the school. Where constructive work has already been introduced, the teacher will have no difficulty in selecting from the suggested activities those that are best adapted to her purpose. She should always feel free to subst.i.tute for any of the printed suggestions others that may more nearly meet the needs of the child in the locality in which she lives.

TYPICAL MODES OF ACTIVITY

”If there is one principle more than another upon which all educational practice, not simply education in art, must base itself, it is precisely in this: that the realization of an idea in action through the medium of movement is as necessary to the formation of the mental image as is the expression, the technique, to the full play of the idea itself.” --_John Dewey._

_Gesture and Pantomime._ The muscular sense is the foundation sense from which all the others have been derived. Perceptions through sight and hearing are uncertain, often requiring to be verified by the use of the muscular sense or even by the use of smell or taste. Knowledge gained through the use of sight and hearing may be superficial; that which comes through the use of the muscular sense is wrought into the very fiber of one's being.

Among the more simple modes of using the muscular sense are gesture and pantomime. They are within the reach of every teacher. They require no materials. A worthy idea and the desire to communicate it are the essential conditions for profitable work. Gesture and pantomime are too powerful tools in education to be used carelessly. The teacher should aid the child in discovering the real motive which animated the character to be represented. She should appeal to the best in the child.

In so doing she will be able to use gesture and pantomime in such a way as to transform activities, which when undirected are liable to degenerate into vicious habits, into activities of great moral significance.

Teachers who have tried gesture and pantomime as a preparatory step to other modes of activity have found it invaluable as a means of securing a genuine growth of imagery and free expression in a variety of forms.

_Play._ It is now well known that many of the child's spontaneous plays are idealized reproductions of the serious activities of primitive people. It is possible to make a much larger use of these plays than has yet been made. It is hoped that the suggestions that are scattered throughout the pages of this and the succeeding volumes of this series will enable the teacher to make a large use of this most important educational force.

_Sand Modeling._ Almost every child has had experience in sand modeling before coming to school. The part of the teacher is to enable him to make use of this habit with reference to new ends. One who has not learned through experience the value of this art is scarcely in a position to realize what a stimulus it is to the growth of definite images of geographical forms. When based upon observation, as it always should be, it is unsurpa.s.sed as a mode of developing and communicating adequate conceptions of topographical features. Sand pans should be provided so that there will be at least one pan for every two children.

If each child can have a pan, the conditions will be still more favorable. Whether sand pans are available or not, every primary school-room should be supplied with a large sand box--two or three if there is room for them. Excellent results have been attained in many schools by modeling typical areas and representing in a graphic way the life of the place. If the sand box is lined with zinc, rivers and lakes may be represented with ease. In case there is no zinc lining, water may be represented by the use of tin foil, or by gla.s.s which may be laid in the bottom of the box, leaving only such portions uncovered as are needed in order to represent the water. Moss, twigs, gra.s.s, stones, toy animals--all help to make the scene more lifelike. By sprinkling the sand with lime water it hardens so as to keep its shape for a long time.

_Clay Modeling._ Although clay does not respond so quickly to the touch as sand, it preserves its shape more easily. The more skill that the teacher has in clay modeling the more freedom she will feel in the work, but she should not hesitate to make use of this mode of expression even though she has to learn with the child. The aim is not so much to secure finish in details, or a result similar to that reached by other people, as it is to secure the growth of the image and freedom in expression.

Only by leading the child to compare the result of his work with the image in his mind does the image grow. By so doing, and by referring to the real object when present, the child gradually gains control over this mode of acquiring and communicating ideas.

It costs but little to supply a cla.s.s with clay, for the same material may be used again and again. It is desirable, however, to have a sufficient supply to permit the preservation of the best work for some time. Clay may be bought ready mixed at art stores and in kindergarten supply stores. The common gray clay costs two or three cents a pound.

Artists' clay costs five cents a pound. A cheaper kind can be obtained of manufacturers of sewer pipes. The teacher will find suggestions regarding the use of clay in Frye's _Child and Nature_, pp. 36-8; Kellogg's _Forty Lessons in Clay Modeling_; Prang's _Art Instruction in Primary Schools_, First Year, pp. 27-39, Second Year, 32-43; and in Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith's _Froebel's Occupations_, pp. 32-43.

Excellent articles ill.u.s.trated by the work of children appear in _The University Elementary Record_, which is published by the University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

_Basketry._ The materials of which baskets are made are less pliable than clay or sand, yet the child of seven is able to manipulate some of them. Where possible he should be encouraged to exploit his environment in the search for raw materials that are adapted to this purpose.

In many localities tough gra.s.ses, willows, rushes, or other pliable materials are present, and even though the child finds little that is adapted to the purpose, the mere search for materials enables him to appreciate the value of the commercially prepared ones and aids him in picturing these materials in their raw state. The pleasant days of autumn should be used for collecting such supplies as are available at that time. These may be prepared for use and stored until they may be needed later in the year. If the child makes a ball of braided gra.s.s he will find many ways of using it later in making baskets, mats, cradles, sandals, or anything which he may choose to make of it.

Where natural materials cannot be obtained, commercially prepared ones may be subst.i.tuted. Raffia, uncolored or colored with vegetable dyes, rattan reeds, and splints may be obtained wherever kindergarten supplies are kept, as well as in large seed stores and in most of the department stores in large cities. Of the many books that are appearing upon the subject probably none is more suggestive with reference to the significance of the art than George Wharton James's _Indian Basketry_, and none more helpful with reference to mastering the processes than Mary White's _How to Make Baskets_.

_Drawing and Painting._ Since these arts were originally derived from gesture language, it is not strange that gesture and pantomime are the best means of preparing the child for these modes of communication. The child who has difficulty in expressing his image by means of drawing and painting should be given the opportunity to experiment by means of pantomime until his image has become so clear that he can express it in a less real way. Few children fail to draw and paint reasonably well when afforded this opportunity that should be denied to none. In order to secure the best results the teacher should be careful not to repress spontaneity by criticising too severely; on the other hand she should induce the child to make such comparisons of his work with his image and with the object when present, as to prevent the formation of careless habits of work. Although water colors are used in some schools, such materials present more difficulties than it seems worth the while for the child to encounter. More satisfactory results have thus far been reached by the use of blackboard crayon, colored crayon, and charcoal.

_Language._ When the child talks about what he has experienced, his language is almost invariably simple and direct. The lessons in this book afford ample opportunity for the use of the fundamental forms of language in communicating actual experience. Many of the stories may well be supplemented by stories that the child tells himself. Care should be taken, however, to keep the child within the limits of what was possible during the age to which his story refers. Much benefit is derived from allowing the children of the cla.s.s to dramatize a story after they have read it and represented it by means of pantomime.

Although there is ample room for written work, it is _oral_ rather than written language that should receive emphasis at this time.

_Field Lessons._ The geographical phases of the work are referred to so frequently throughout the text as well as under the special suggestions for each lesson, that little need be added at this time except to emphasize the fact that the teacher should make use of every opportunity to cultivate in the child an intelligent interest in his natural environment. Perhaps nothing will contribute more toward developing this interest than field lessons. The value of these lessons will depend upon whether an adequate motive is aroused in the child for taking the trip and upon whether he is given the opportunity to make use of the experience gained in a practical way. There are schools in crowded quarters of large cities where it does not yet seem practicable to take an entire cla.s.s out on a field lesson. But it is always feasible to make use of informal observations that the child makes from day to day as well as the results of trips that have previously been taken by some members of the cla.s.s. During the time that this book is used it is hoped that at least two or three of the following field trips or excursions may be made:

1. To uncultivated spots on hillsides, in the woods, and on natural meadows to find--

(_a_) A place where the Tree-dwellers might have lived.

(_b_) Wild foods, and to discover if possible the reasons for abundance or scarcity of certain forms.

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