Part 21 (1/2)

Reference: Katharine E. Dopp, _The Place of Industries in Elementary Education_, pp. 16-24.

_Lesson II._ The two questions raised serve to show the child that the Tree-dwellers needed some of the things that we need. We feel the need of much that they did not have, but we, as well as the Tree-dwellers, need food the most of all. Next to food we feel the need of shelter, clothing, and means of protection.

The child is ready to understand that Sharptooth is a woman who differs from women to-day chiefly in the fact that she did not have as good an opportunity to learn. Help him to be alert to see the admirable traits in Sharptooth's character. If he wishes to have her described, tell him that she was shorter and probably more thick-set than women of to-day; that she probably walked with a bend at the knee; that her forehead sloped backward; that her jawbones were large and strong, her chin small, and that probably her hair was a reddish color. These points were omitted from the lesson because they are not regarded as essential, and their introduction might lead to many questions which the teacher ought not to be expected to be able to answer. They are added here as a help to the teacher who may be questioned concerning these points. Should the teacher desire further information on this subject, she will find it in the references given below.

In places where it is impossible for the children to go to an uncultivated place, the teacher may subst.i.tute for the suggestions at the close of the lesson other work. But she should in some way give the child an idea of gra.s.sy plains, wooded hills, and dense forests. Unless he has such an experience as this he will not be able to deal with the problem of finding a place where the Tree-dwellers might have lived. The teacher's problem at the close of this lesson is the one that const.i.tutes the central thought of the next two lessons. It is this: How can the child get such an experience as will enable him to select a place where the Tree-dwellers might have lived? In these days of cheap transportation there are few schools where it is not possible for some of the children to visit places that are sufficiently wild to answer the purpose. By making use of such experiences of the children in uncultivated places as they have or they can easily get, and by supplementing these by means of pictures, stories, and sand modeling, very satisfactory results can be obtained.

References: Katharine E. Dopp, _The Place of Industries in Elementary Education_, pp. 18, 19, 126, 127; ”Some Steps in the Evolution of Social Occupations,” _The Elementary School Teacher_, January, 1903.

_Lesson III._ The problem of this lesson has already been stated. The questions at the beginning of the lesson serve to help the child to interpret what he has observed, or what has been ill.u.s.trated to him. The scene of this lesson need not be definitely located in s.p.a.ce, for this book is a generalized account of progress, not a description of a particular locality. Should the teacher need a.s.sistance in getting a more adequate notion of a river valley, she will do well to read the following references, as well as the chapters on river valleys in any good textbook on geography or physiography.

References: N. S. Shaler, _First Book in Geology_, pp. 1-4; Frye, _Brooks and Brook Basins. Aspects of the Earth_, chapter on ”River Valleys.”

Winch.e.l.l, _Walks and Talks in a Geological Field_.

Rollin D. Salisbury and Wallace W. Atwood, _The Geography of the Devil's Lake Region, Wisconsin_, pp. 36-58.

[NOTE. This pamphlet may be obtained by writing to Professor E. A. Birge, State University, Madison, Wis., and enclosing thirty cents. It is Bulletin No. 5, Educational Series No. 1.]

R. S. Tarr, _Elementary Physical Geography_, pp. 262-82.

_Lesson IV._ This lesson serves merely to bring out the striking contrasts that the geographical features mentioned in the last lesson present. The child can readily see why it was necessary for Sharptooth to swing from branch to branch instead of walking on the ground.

_Lesson V._ Although the father was always more or less attached to the primitive group, it was the mother and child that const.i.tuted the original family. Not until the development of the patriarchal system in the pastoral stage of culture was the relation of the father recognized as of as great importance as that of the mother.

The data from which the part of the story that deals with the way in which Sharptooth carried her baby was constructed was derived from the practices of contemporary tribes in the lowest stages of culture. It is a well-known fact that all young infants during the first few hours after birth possess the power to grasp and to hang suspended by the hands for several minutes.

References: Loria, _Economic Foundations of Society_, p. 87.

Thwing, _The Primitive Family_.

C. N. Starcke, _Primitive Family in its Origin and Development_.

G. L. Gomme, ”The Primitive Human Horde,” _Journal of the Anthropological Inst.i.tute_, Vol. XVII., pp. 118-33; ”The Evolution of the Family,” _Popular Science Monthly_, Vol. XI., p. 257.

Ch. Letourneau, _The Evolution of Marriage and the Family_.

_Lesson VI._ This lesson is important as marking the beginning of the textile industry. Undoubtedly the motive that prompted the first weaving was the love of the mother for her child, and her desire to keep it safe from harm. The materials were inevitably such as the immediate environment could afford--vines, slender branches, or other fibrous plants. The process at first must have been crude, but savage women very early developed a skill in basketry that we are not able to find among civilized peoples. By encouraging the child to think of the different articles that he uses that were made by weaving, and by examining the beauty of the work, he will be prepared to grasp something of the significance of the simple act of Sharptooth, which was an expression of the same kind of mother love which he enjoys, but which he accepts as a matter of course.

Explain to the child that the Tree-dwellers did not have such music as we have. But mothers as they held their babies in their arms would gently sway back and forth, uttering a soothing sound. The little girls will no doubt enjoy making such a lullaby in their hours of play.

_Lesson VII._ If no child in the cla.s.s knows what kind of banks a river has at the drinking-places, and if there is no opportunity to go to a brook or river to find out, do not state that the banks are low. The fact presented in that way would be almost devoid of meaning. But let the child model a river valley in the sand box or out on the playground showing steep banks in places and in others banks that slope gently.

Then let him think of a herd of cattle feeding on the hillsides. The cattle need water. Suppose that they come up to the steep banks. Can they reach the water? How can the cattle get down to the stream? When the cattle have found a good drinking-place will they be apt to come to it again? By means of such questions as these the child can picture the conditions and the relation of living creatures to them. Such knowledge as this means something to him. He need not try to remember it, for it is his.

Give the child plenty of time in reading the short sentences that picture the cattle in the stream to allow him to actually see the different steps in the process. By considering each point by itself, but yet in relation to the preceding step, the child can get a vivid picture. (For information concerning the wild cattle, see _The Urus_, p. 145.)

_Lesson VIII._ This lesson is introduced to give the child a faint suggestion of the struggle for existence among wild animals. It also suggests something of the dangers to which the Tree-dwellers were exposed. Pa.s.s lightly over these dark pictures and emphasize the fact that it was possible even in those times for Sharptooth and her baby to sleep safe from harm. In contrast to this wild life let the children draw pictures that will ill.u.s.trate the security and comfort of their own homes.

_Lesson IX._ If possible let the child visit a cave; if not, he may take advantage of the tiny streams that may be seen everywhere after a heavy rain or during the thawing of snow. A careful examination of such a miniature stream will enable the child to get all the experience he needs in order to understand the geographical phase of this lesson.

Do not try to teach the child much more than he can observe regarding the way in which caves were formed. A much better opportunity to teach him this lesson is presented later.