THE AIM AND METHOD.
Reading edition
A machine, turned by a crank, has been made to speak words, but nothing below a human being has been able to get thought from a written or printed page and convey it to others. To make the machine requires a vast amount of labor expended upon matter; to get the thought requires the awakening of a human spirit. The work of the machine is done when the crank stops; the mental work, through internal volition, goes on to ever higher achievements.
In schools much labor has been spent in trying to produce human speaking-machines. Words are built up out of letters; short words are grouped into inane sentences such as are never used; and sentences are arranged into unnatural and insipid discourse. To grasp the thin ghost of the thought, the little human spirit must reverse its instinct to reach toward the higher, and, mole-like, burrow downward.
The amount of effort spent in this way, if given to awakening thought, would much more effectively secure the mechanical ends sought, and at the same time would yield fruit in other fields of mental activity.
The matter selected for these higher and better purposes must possess a human interest. The thoughts that bear fruit are those with roots set in past experiences, but which, outgrowing these experiences, reach out toward new light.
In this little book we have again given the initial steps of science rather than the expression of scientific results. Beginning with familiar forms of life, the pupil is led to see more clearly that which is about him, and then to advance into the realm of the unknown with assured steps, in the tried paths of investigation and comparison.
While giving prominence to the facts that inform, we have not been unmindful of the fancy that stimulates. The steady flow of description is frequently interrupted by the ripple of story and verse. While we have made no effort to secure the favor of Mr. Gradgrind by looking at facts only on their lower side, we trust that our effort may prove of some service in the anxious work of parent and teacher.
CONTENTS.
lesson page
I How Fowls Look. 11
II What Fowls Do. 15
III Chickens' Ways. 18
IV Stories about Chickens. 20
V How Ducks Look and Live. 25
VI Stories about Ducks. 27
VII How Geese Look and Live. 30
VIII How Geese Behave. 32
IX What Geese can Do. 35
X About Turkeys. 37
XI About Swans. 39
XII Doves and Pigeons. 42
Three Little Doves. 45
XIII The Little Wren. 47
XIV The Singing Thrush. 49
XV Robin-Redbreast. 51
XVI The Blackbird and the Cat. 54
XVII How Canaries Live and Sing. 56
XVIII A Song of Summer. 58
XIX How Parrots Look and Talk. 60
XX Stories about Parrots. 63
XXI Birds of Prey. 67
XXII Long Legs with Feathers. 70
XXIII Bo-Peep and the Rook. 72
XXIV The Mouse and its Ways. 74
XXV Stories about Mice. 76
XXVI White-paw Starts to see the World. 78
XXVII What the Mice Saw in the Farm-Yard. 80
XXVIII What White-paw Saw in the Kitchen. 83
XXIX White-paw's Account of the Great World. 85
XXX The Death of Poor Puss. 87
XXXI Field-Mice. 89
XXXII How the Rat Looks and Lives. 91
XXXIII Stories about the Rat. 93
XXXIV About Rabbits. 96
XXXV More about Rabbits. 98
XXXVI How the Hare Lives. 101
Alice's Bunny. 103
XXXVII Something about Squirrels. 104
XXXVIII More about Squirrels. 106
XXXIX The Flying Squirrel. 109
The Owl. 111
XL Bo-Peep and the Squirrel. 112
XLI How the Mole Looks. 114
XLII How the Mole Works and Lives. 116
XLIII About the Porcupine. 118
XLIV About the Woodchuck. 120
XLV Mrs. Brindle's Cowslip Feast. 122
XLVI The Frog and its Home. 124
XLVII From Tadpole to Frog. 126
XLVIII More about Frogs. 128
XLIX The Friendly Toad. 130
L The Snail and its House. 132
LI The Fly and its Ways. 134
LII The Animals' Ball. 136
NURSERY RHYME.
Goosey, goosey, gander! Where shall I wander? Up-stairs, down-stairs, In the lady's chamber! There sits the lady, Folding up the clothes; In comes a blackbird, And nips off her nose!
