Charlotte M. Mason (continued 8)

4. Show fully why children should be made familiar with the text.

5. What conception should gradually unfold itself to them?

6. Distinguish between essential and accidental truth.

7. In what event may it be said that ‘the truths themselves will assuredly slip from our grasp’?

8. Why should care be taken lest Bible teaching stale upon the minds of children?

9. Describe the method of a Bible lesson.

10. What use would you make of illustrations?

11. What is to be said as to the learning by heart of Bible passages?

XV. Arithmetic

1. Why is arithmetic important as a means of education?

2. How would you test a child’s knowledge of principles?

3. Why are long sums mischievous?

4. What mental exercise should a problem offer?

5. What caution must be observed?

6. How may arithmetic become an elementary training in mathematics?

7. How should a child demonstrate 4 × 7 = 28?

8. How would you use buttons, beans, etc.?

9. Show how you would teach a child to work out an addition and subtraction table with each of the digits.

10. When would you introduce multiplication and division tables?

11. How would you teach division?

12. What is the step between working with things and with abstract numbers?

13. How would you introduce our system of notation?

14. Why?

15. Show fully how you would deal with ‘tens.’

16. How long should a child work with ‘tens’ and units only?

17. What should follow?

18. What rule must be observed throughout?

19. How would you apply the same principle to weights and measures?

20. What part should parcels play at this stage, and why?

21. Show how the child should use a foot-rule.

22. How would you exercise his judgment as to measures and weights.

23. How does the idea of a fraction occur in this work with concrete quantities?

24. What should be the moral value of the study of arithmetic?

25. How does the inferior teacher instil a disregard of truth and common honesty in this study?

26. How would you deal with a ‘wrong’ sum?

27. What should the daily arithmetic lesson be to the children?

28. Discuss the A B C Arithmetic.

29. What is to be said against accustoming young children to the sight of geometrical forms and figures?

XVI. Natural Philosophy

1. Show that childhood is the time for gathering materials for classification.

2. What does Mr Herbert Spencer say as to the value of scientific pursuits?

3. Show that children are able to comprehend principles.

4. Mention some of the phenomena they might readily understand.

5. From the subjects taught successfully in a village school, write a list of questions which intelligent children should be able to answer.

6. ‘The principles of natural philosophy are the principles of common sense.’ Show how this statement should be a key to our educational practice.

XVII. Geography

1. Wherein lies the peculiar educational value of geography?

2. How is geography commonly taught?

3. What sort of information about places do children and grown-up people enjoy?

4. Why is the geography learnt at school of little use in after life?

5. What should a child learn in geography?

6. How should he get his rudimentary notions?

7. How should children be introduced to maps?

8. Why should a child be made ‘at home’ in some one region?

9. Why is it well to follow the steps of a traveller?

10. Mention a few books useful in this connection.

11. How should maps be used in this kind of work?

12. How should a child get his first notion of a glacier, a cañon, etc.?

13. What course of reading might parents aim at between a child’s fifth and his tenth year?

14. How should young children get their lessons on place?

15. How should they arrive at definitions?

16. What fundamental ideas should a child receive?

17. How should he be introduced to the meaning of a map?

XVIII. History

1. What is the intellectual and what the moral worth of history as an educational subject?

2. What is to be said of the usual ways of teaching English history?

3. What, if the little text-book be moral or religious in tone?

4. What is the fatal mistake as regards the early teaching of history?

5. What is the better way?

6. What should a child know of the period in which any person, about whom he is reading, lived?

7. What moral gain may he get from such intimate knowledge?

8. What manner of books must be eschewed?

9. What is the least that should be done to introduce children to the history of England?

10. Why is the early history of a nation better fitted for children than its later records?

11. Why are the old Chronicles profitable reading for them?

12. Name and comment upon a few of the Chronicles upon which children’s knowledge of history should rest.

13. What effect on a child should the reading of such old Chronicles have?

14. Show that children should know something of the heroic age of their own nation.

15. What use may be made of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the British Kings?

16. From what authority should a child get the story of the French wars?

17. Why do Plutarch’s Lives afford the best preparation for the study of Grecian and Roman history?

18. Give two counsels which should regulate the teaching of history.

19. Upon what principles should history books for children be selected?

20. Mention one or two books that lend themselves to narrating.

21. Comment upon Mr Arnold Forster’s History of England.

22. How would you help children to clearness with regard to dates?

23. Mention two or three ways in which children’s minds work if their history books are of the proper quality.

XIX. Grammar

1. Why is grammar uninteresting to a child?

2. Why is English grammar peculiarly hard?

3. Show that the Latin grammar is easier.

4. Show that the Latin affords some help in the learning of English grammar.

5. Why should a child begin with a sentence and not with the parts of speech?

6. Write notes of one or two introductory lessons.

XX. French

1. How should French be acquired?

2. Show that the learning of French is an education of the senses.

3. What are our two difficulties in speaking French?

4. Show that these hindrances should be removed in childhood.

5. How?

6. How might the difficulty of accent be dealt with?

7. What half-dozen principles has M. Gouin made plain to us?

8. Show that the Series method enables a child to think in the new language.

9. Trace fully the steps by which the author worked out his theory.

10. How does he treat the difficulty of spelling?

11. Illustrate the facility with which a child learns a new language.

XXI. Pictorial Art, etc.

1. Upon what two lines should the art training of children proceed?

2. How should picture-talks be regulated?

3. What gains may we hope for from this kind of teaching?

4. Discuss the use of blobs in early drawing lessons.

5. What should be our aim in these lessons?

6. Children have ‘art’ in them. How should this fact affect our teaching?

7. What should we bear in mind in teaching clay-modelling to children?

8. Name methods of teaching singing and the piano which are to be commended.

9. What physical exercises would you recommend?

10. Name some handicrafts suitable for young children.

PART VI The Will—The Conscience—The Divine Life in the Child I. The Will

1. How is the government of Mansoul carried on?

2. Show that the executive power is vested in the will.

3. What is the will?

4. In what respects may persons go through life without a deliberate act of will?

5. Show that character is the result of conduct regulated by will.

6. What are the three functions of the will?

7. What limitation of the will is disregarded by certain novelists?

8. Show that parents blunder into this metaphysical error.

9. Show that wilfulness indicates want of will-power.

10. What is wilfulness?

11. What are the superior and inferior functions of the will?

12. Show that the will does not always act for good.

13. Show that a disciplined will is necessary to heroic Christian character.

14. How would you distinguish between effective and non-effective persons?

15. How does the will operate?

16. Show how incentives, diversion, change of thought are severally aids to the will.

17. What should be taught to children as to the ‘way of the will’?

18. Show that power of will implies power of attention.

19. Show that habit may frustrate the will.

20. Show the necessity for the reasonable use of so effective an instrument.

21. By what line of conduct should parents strengthen the wills of their children?

22. How may children be taught to manage themselves?

23. Show that the education of the will is more important than that of the intellect.

II. Conscience

1. What are the functions of conscience?

2. What is implied in ‘I am, I ought, I can, I will’?

3. What mistake is made by the inert parent with regard to the divine grace?

4. Show that conscience is not an infallible guide.

5. How does Adam Smith illustrate the fact that conscience is a real power?

6. What do we know of conscience?

7. Distinguish between a nascent and a trained conscience.

8. Show that refinement of conscience cannot coexist with ignorance.

9. What are the processes implied in a ‘conscientious’ decision?

10. What may be said of the instructed conscience?

11. What may be expected of the good conscience of a child?

12. Show that children play with moral questions.

13. How would you impart any of the moral ideas contained in the Bible to a child?

14. Show the use of tales in the training of conscience.

15. Show the extreme ignorance of a child’s conscience.

16. How would you instruct children in the duty of ‘kindness,’ for example?

17. What is to be said of the conscience made effective by discipline?

III. The Divine Life in the Child

1. What is the ‘very pulse of the machine’?

2. Show that parents have some power to enthrone the King.

3. Define as far as you can the functions of the soul.

4. What is the life of the soul?

5. Show by the illustration of the bee and the apple-tree what is the parent’s part in quickening the Divine life in his child.

6. Show where the similitude of the bee and the apple-tree fails.

7. By what two deterrent ideas is God most often presented to children?

8. What precautions must a mother take to secure that her children get inspiring ideas of God?

9. What considerations should help us to select the quickening thoughts proper for children?

10. How would you select fitting and vital ideas?

11. Show the danger of confounding ‘being good’ with knowing God.

12. What cautions will the mother observe as to the times and the manner of religious instruction?

13. Make some suggestions for the reading of the Bible.

14. How might a mother give her child the idea of God as Father and Giver?

15. How may children be brought up in allegiance to Christ?

16. How would you bring the thought of their Saviour home to children?

17. Show that the indwelling of Christ is a thought fit for children.

FOOTNOTES:

APPENDIX C

The Examination of a Child of Seven upon a Term’s Work on the Lines indicated in this Volume

Class ib Programme of the Term’s Work, on which the Examination Questions are set

Bible Lessons.

The Bible for the Young, by Rev. J. Paterson Smyth (Sampson, Low, 1s. each); Exodus, Lessons i.-vii.; St Mark’s Gospel, i., ii., iii., iv. Teacher to prepare beforehand as much of each lesson as the children can understand, and to use the Bible passages in teaching.

Recitations.

To recite two poems, to learn three hymns, and a passage of six verses, each, from (a) Exodus, (b) St Mark’s Gospel (part set for Bible lessons). Longman’s Junior Poetry Book (1s. 6d.) may be used, or Miss Wood’s A First Book of Poetry (Macmillan, 2s. 6d.).

Sums.

Chapter xi., A B C Arithmetic (Teacher’s Book, part i., 1s.; Sonnenschein). Tables up to twelve times twelve. Tables should be worked out in money thus: (9×7 = 63 pence = 5s. 3d.).

N.B.—The terms ‘tens’ and ‘units,’ etc., should be used instead of ‘staves’ and ‘cubes,’ etc.

Beginners—Chapters vi., vii., viii.

Books for Pupils, containing exercises only, are published at 4d. each.

Music.

Child Pianist (Curwen & Son), continue. Teacher’s Guide (revised edition).

Singing.

Three French Songs, Chansons d’Enfants (Librairie Ch. Delagrave, Paris, 1s. 6d.). Ten Minutes’ Lessons in Tonic Sol-fa (Curwen & Son). Three English songs from Novello’s School Songs, book xxi. (8d.).

Drill.

Light-Pole Exercises and Calisthenics, from Musical Drills for Standards (Philip & Son, 2s. 9d.). Ex-students take House of Education Drills.

Writing.

A New Handwriting for Teachers, by M. M. Bridges (Mrs Bridges, Yattenden, Newbury, 2s. 9d.), page 2, lines 1 and 2; page 3, line 5. Two letters to be mastered each lesson. Transcribe from Reading Book in New Handwriting and write a little from dictation.

Reading.

Read books used for History, Geography, Tales, and Hiawatha.

Backward Children.—Happy Reader, part ii., by E. L. Young (Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.).

English History.

Sketches from British History, by F. York Powell (Longmans, 1s. 3d.), lessons xx.-xxxi. Mrs Frewen Lord’s Tales from St Paul’s (Sampson Low, 1s.), pages 1-19.

Tales.

The Pilgrim’s Progress (Partridge, 1s.), pages 102-148. The Heroes of Asgard (Macmillan, 3s. 6d.), pages 50-108. Two Tales from Mrs Beesly’s Stories from the History of Rome (Macmillan, 2s. 6d.).

Natural History.[47]

Keep Nature Note-Book. Watch and describe twelve birds. The Birds of the Air, by A. Buckley (Cassell, 6d.), pages 38-79. Children to notice all they can themselves about birds. Wild Nature Won by Kindness, by Mrs Brightwen (Fisher Unwin, 2s.), pages 99-139.

Picture Talk.

Study six reproductions of J. F. Millet’s work (see the Perry Pictures).

French.[48]

The Gouin Method: The Study of French, by Eugène and Duriaux (Macmillan & Co., 3s. 6d.), pages 31, 35, 36, 37. Make new sentences with the words learnt in these Series. Illustrated French Primer, by H. Bué (Hachette & Co., 1s. 6d.), pages 109-112, 141-150.

Geography.

London Geographical Reader (Stanford), book ii. (1s. 6d.), pages 1-14. Book i. (1s.), pages 1-11. Map questions to be worked through with map before each lesson. Description of any rivers, hills, mountains, etc., the child may know of, with plans.

Work.

Six twigs of trees (not done before) in brushwork. For occasional use, Pour Dessiner Simplement, par V. Jacquot et P. Ravoux (Glaisher, 3s. 6d.), cahier ii. Attend to garden (Aunt Mai’s Annual, 1894). Carton Work, by G. C. Hewitt (King & Sons, Halifax, 2s.): make a pillar-box, a match-box, a pen-tray, and a vase. Smyrna rugs (see Aunt Mai’s Annual, 1894). Children make their own designs. Self-Teaching Needlework Manual (Longmans, 1s.): children to be exercised in stitches, pages 1-15. Use coarse canvas and wool; then, coloured cotton and coarse linen.

Questions on Preceding Programme

Bible Lessons.

I. 1. What do you know of Moses as a little boy?

2. Tell about Moses and the burning bush.

II. 1. Tell the story of Jesus curing the man sick of the palsy.

2. When did Jesus say, “Peace, be still”? Tell all about it.

Writing.

Ia. Print

} “The field mouse has gone to her nest.”

Ib. Write

Natural History.

Ia. How does a beaver build his house?

Ib. 1. Tell one story about ‘Blanche.’ What have you noticed about any tits you have watched?

Ia & Ib. 2. Describe a rook, a starling, a chaffinch, and tell anything you have noticed about them.

Geography.

Ib. 1. How can we tell that the earth is round?

2. What countries would you pass through going from England to Russia by land?

3. What are the countries to the South of Europe? Which countries have the most indented coastlines? Mention two inland seas and say where they are.

Ia. 1. Describe a forest in Brazil.

2. Tell about the Indian’s blow-pipe, and a hanging nest. Can you draw a hanging nest?

Number.

Ib. 1. Tom went to school at 6¼; he was 8 years and 3 months at one school, 4 years at another, 1 year and 9 months going round the world, 3 years and 3 months in Corea, and 5½ months in Japan. How old was he then?

2. John had to take three cheques to the bank, £175, 13s. 3d., £30, 7s. 5d., and £89, 19s. 11d. How much did the cheques come to?

3. Find the rent of four houses at £17, 8s. 4½d. a year each.

Beginners—

1. Which is greater, and by how much, a quarter of a hundred or a fifth of a hundred?

2. How many pounds in a hundred shillings?

3. If tops cost 9d. for 5, how much will 25 cost?

Ia. 1. If Jack’s dinner costs 1s. 6d., how much will he have to pay for himself and three friends?

2. If a copy of Robinson Crusoe cost 6s., how many can I buy for £2, 2s. 0d.?

3. How many sixpences are equal to nine fourpenny pieces?

Beginners—

1. How many newts and how many robins have twenty-eight legs between them?

2. His father gave Jack 1d. a week. How many weeks must he save to buy a slate for 4d.?

Picture Talk.

Describe from memory the picture of Millet’s you liked best.

Tales.

Ia. Tell a fairy tale.

Ib. 1. Tell about the trial of Christian and Faithful in Vanity Fair.

2. Tell about Odin’s journey to Jotunheim until he came to the land of giants.

or, 3. Tell a short story from the History of Rome.

History.

1. Can you remember two Scottish proverbs?

2. Tell a story of John Hall, or Wat Tyler, or Robin Hood.

3. Tell what Taswell says about the burning of St Paul’s. What are the words over the north transept door?

Reading.[49]

Father to choose unseen passage, marking words not known.

Recitations.[49a]

Father to choose a poem, a hymn, and two Bible passages.

Singing.[49a]

Father to choose an English and a French song and, (Ib), two Tonic Sol-fa exercises.

Drill.[49a]

Drill, before parents.

Music.[49a]

Examine in work done.

Drawing.

(a) An outline drawing with your brush of a bird and a cat, (b) a brushdrawing of an ash, and a lime twig with leaf-buds.

Work.[49a]

Outside friend to examine.

N.B.—The work suggested in the course of this volume is usually with a view to children in classes Ia and Ib, but many children in their ninth year are fit for Class II. (See Appendix D).

B. B., aged 7½. Class Ib Subjects taken

1. Bible Lessons.

2. Writing.

3. Number.

4. Picture Talk.

5. Geography.

6. Tales.

7. Natural History.

8. History.

9. Reading.

10. Drawing.

The answers of all the children in this class reach much the same standard as those here printed. The children in class Ib range in age from seven to eight or eight and a half.

Bible Lessons

I. (1) When Moses was born, King Pharaoh of Egypt had ordered that all the new-born baby-boys should be killed, and Moses’ mother hid him for three months and at last he grew so big that when he cried he would be heard. So his mother made him a basket of bulrushes and put him in it in the water. And she plastered it together so that the water would not get in. And when Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe, her servants walked along by the river, and when she saw the basket in the river, she asked her maid to bring it to her. And when she opened the basket she saw the baby in it, and she said that this was one of the Hebrews’ children. Then the baby’s sister came and asked Pharaoh’s daughter if she would get a nurse for the baby, and Pharaoh’s daughter said ‘Yes.’ And she brought a Hebrew woman, and it was the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said that she would call him Moses, because she drew him out of the water. Then Pharaoh’s daughter gave the baby to his mother, and she took him home and nursed him and she taught him to be good. And then when he was pretty old he was taken to the palace and there he got a very good education.

(2) When Moses was married, he was out in the field keeping his wife’s father’s sheep when he saw a burning bush. And a voice spoke out from the burning bush and said, “Draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” It was God speaking to him, and God told him to go and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. But Moses said, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh? he won’t listen to me,” and God said that he would be with him. But Moses said, “Pharaoh will not believe that God has spoken to me at all.” Then God said, “I will teach you to make signs before Pharaoh.” But Moses said, “I am slow of speech.” And God was angry with Moses and said that he would send his brother Aaron to do the speaking.

II. (1) Jesus was surrounded with people and there was a man sick of the palsy wanted to see him; and he was let down through the roof on his bed which was only a mattress. And Jesus said, “Rise, take up thy bed and walk.” And the man took up his bed and was cured.

(2) When Jesus was crossing the sea of Galilee with his disciples to the other side there arose a great storm, and Jesus’ disciples thought that they would be thrown into the sea. And they awoke Jesus and said to him, “Master, carest thou not that we perish.” And Jesus woke up and said to the sea and the foam, “Peace, be still.” And his disciples marvelled and said, “What manner of man is this that even the sea obeys him.”

Number

Ia. 1. 6/.

2. 7 copies. 3. 6 sixpences.

Beginners.—

1. 14 Robins. 2. 4 weeks.

Picture Talk ‘The First Step’

In this picture I see a baby taking its first step alone. The father is stretching out his arms to catch it, then the baby toddles to its father.

They are not rich people and they live in a farm, and the father had just left off his work when his wife met him in the garden and told him that his baby was going to walk alone for the first time.

Geography

1. We know that the world is round because if a sailor starts from his home and sails on and on without turning he will come back to the place he started from; if you stand on the sea shore and watch a ship coming to-wards you, you will first of all see the mast of the ship and then the hull last; if you stand on a high place you will see that you are in the middle of a circle.

Tales From ‘Heroes of Asgard’

2. Loki, before he left Jotunheim, told his witch-wife to keep the children indoors, for said he, the Æsir will soon find out that we have a secret down here, but while Loki was away, his wife could not keep Jormungand in the house, because he grew so big, that she had to let his tail out of the door. And Odin saw Jormungand’s tail sticking out of the door, so he dismounted Air Throne, and said farewell to all the Æsir, and then went to Jotunheim, but before he went he taught all the people how to fight and make armour, and not to forget what he had taught them. So he went on and on and on until he came to the Golden Van, and asked him what his education was, and what he did up here. And the answer was, that he gave wisdom, but that it was so dear that many people turned away sorrowfully. Odin said, “What is the price? I would willingly give my right hand.” But the Van said it is your right eye you must give; but Odin didn’t think the price too dear, so he plucked his right eye out and gave it to the Van. Then he got wisdom and set off for Jotunheim. At last he came to the very edge of Jotunheim, and then he peeped over to Jotunheim and saw all the hideous creatures that lived down there; and he hung over Jotunheim two or three days and nights before he went in.

Natural History

1. There was a lady that wanted to have a pair of pigeons, and a friend sent her two. And when she opened the basket she found that the mate had flown away. Then the lady got a mate for the pigeon but the pigeon just pecked at it, so the lady got another one, that was white like herself, and so she kept this one. The female was named Blanche; and every day for four hours Blanche would come in to the lady’s room and take a rest on a great big Bible that lay on the table.

2. Tits are very fond of fat in the Winter. There are four different kinds of Tits, Greater Tit, Marsh Tit, Blue Tit, and the Cole Tit. And sometimes the tits sit at the entrance to a beehive and eat all the bees that come out. They build in old letter-boxes sometimes. The Blue Tits are great fighters, and if you hang a basket outside your window with fat in it, the Blue Tit will hang down and eat all it wants, and act King of the Castle. And the Cole Tit takes away all it wants and stores it up.

Rooks are black and very like crows, and the way you will know them from crows is that they build altogether and crows don’t. When the rook is one year old, it has a grey bald patch on its head.

Starlings look black when you see them far off and when you see them near to you they look purple and white on their backs. They build in hollow trees and in chimneys.

History

1. One day when King James of Scotland was staying with his friend McFarlane, he saw his geese running about in the yard and playing; and the king laughed at them. And that evening they had a goose for dinner and it was so lean and tough that the king could not help saying “McFarlane, your geese mind their play more than their meat.” And always after that people that played more than they worked were called McFarlane’s geese.

Robin Hood and the Foresters

2. One day when Robin Hood was only sixteen, he was walking in the Forest with his bow and arrow, when he met fifteen foresters, who laughed at him when they saw the bigness of his bow. Then Robin got angry with them and said, “I am only out bird-shooting to-day.” But they just laughed at him the more, and he said, “I would wager my head, I hit a deer at twelve score yards.” And they held him to his word, and they staked one hundred shillings against that. Then they sent a deer galloping past him, and just as he was taking aim, one of the foresters jeeringly bade him remember his head was at stake, because he was frightened he would lose his money. And all the foresters marvelled because Robin Hood hit the deer. But Robin Hood said he wouldn’t take any man’s money, except the man’s money who had tried to put him out when he was taking aim; and that, he said, “we will spend on a feast for us all.” Then the man that had lost his money, made a cut at Robin, but Robin dashed nimbly aside, and ran away one hundred yards, and then he turned round, and shot the man that had tried to put him out when he was taking aim. The foresters saw his fall, and all ran for Robin Hood, but he shot them down dead or badly wounded as they came to him. The friends of these foresters got Robin Hood outlawed for this act.

(Children in Classes 1a and 1b narrate the answers to their examination questions, which are written at their dictation.)

FOOTNOTES:

APPENDIX D

The Examination of a Child in his Ninth Year upon a Term’s Work on the Lines indicated in this Volume

Class II Programme of the Term’s Work, on which the Examination Questions are set

Bible Lessons.

The Bible for the Young, by Rev. J. Paterson Smyth (Sampson Low, 1s. each vol.); Exodus, Lessons i.-vii. inclusive. St Mark’s Gospel, chapters i., ii., iii., iv. Teacher to prepare beforehand, and to use the Bible passages in teaching. Answers to the Catechism with explanations as far as the Lord’s Prayer (optional).

Recitations.

Lyra Heroica (Nutt, 2s. 6d.), Boadicea, and A Welcome. Two hymns and two passages of twelve verses each, one from Exodus, one from St Mark.

French.

The Gouin Series; pages 76, 78, 80, 82, 84, 93, from The Study of French, by Eugène and Duriaux (1898 edition, Macmillan & Co., 3s. 6d.). Little French Folk, by C. T. Onions (Simpkin & Marshall, 2s.), pages 15-25. Make new sentences with the words learnt in the Series. Recite two poems from La Lyre Enfantine (Hachette & Co., 1s. 3d.).

Latin.

A First Latin Course, by E. H. Scott and F. Jones (Blackie, 1s. 6d.), pages 1-10, 67-71, and vocabularies. Revise work carefully by means of exercises, and make fresh sentences with all the words learnt. Boys may, if desired, take Latin instead of German; in this case they should take Hall’s Child’s First Latin Book (Murray, 2s.), pages 1-23 in addition.

Beginners, A First Latin Course, by E. H. Scott and F. Jones, pages 1-5, with vocabularies and exercises on pages 67, 68, 69.

German.

Little German Folk, by M. Schramm (The Norland Press, 2s.), pages 16-20 inclusive, to be learnt orally, only.

Drill.

Light-Pole and Calisthenic Exercises, from Musical Drill for Standards (Philip & Son, 1s. 6d.). Ex-students take House of Education Drills.

Music.

Continue Child Pianist (Curwen & Son); teacher using the Teacher’s Guide.

Singing.

Two French songs, La Lyre des Écoles; two German songs, Deutscher Liedergarten (each of these, Curwen & Son, 2s. 6d.). Two new English songs from Novello’s School Songs, book xxi. (8d.). Ten Minutes’ Lessons in Tonic Sol-fa (Curwen & Son).

Geography.

London Geographical Readers (Stanford): book ii. (1s. 6d.), pages 1-22; book iii. (2s. 3d.), pages 1-26; map questions to be answered from map and then from memory, and then in filling up blank map from memory before each lesson. All geography to be learnt with map. Children to make memory maps. Know something about foreign places coming into notice in the current newspapers. The School Atlas, edited by H. O. Arnold-Forster (37 Bedford Street, London, 3s.).

English Grammar.

A Short English Grammar, by Professor Meiklejohn (Holden, 1s.), pages 25-52. Parse and point out Subjects, Verbs, Objects.

Beginners, pages 5-25.

Writing.

A New Handwriting for Teachers, by M. M. Bridges (Mrs Bridges, Yattenden, Newbury, 2s. 9d. post free); practise pages 1, 2, 3. Two perfectly-written lines every day. Transcribe some of your favourite passages from Shakespeare’s Julius Cæsar, with page 6 as model.

Dictation.

Two pages at a time to be prepared carefully; then a paragraph from these pages to be written from dictation or from memory. The Citizen Reader, by H. O. Arnold-Forster (Cassell, 1s. 6d.), chapters vi., vii., viii. (both parts).

Plutarch’s ‘Lives.’

Plutarch’s Julius Cæsar (omitting unsuitable parts) (Cassell’s National Library, 3d.).

English History.

A History of England, by H. O. Arnold-Forster (Cassell, 5s.), pages 1-56 (B.C. 55-A.D. 871). Read from Shakespeare’s Julius Cæsar (Cassell’s National Library, 3d.). Read contemporary parts from Old Stories from British History (Longmans, 1s.).

French History.

A First History of France, by L. Creighton (Longmans, 3s. 6d.), pages 2-22, to be contemporary with English history. Any time over should be given to English history.

Drawing.

Pour Dessiner Simplement, par V. Jacquot et P. Ravoux (Glaisher, 3s. 6d.), cahiers ii. and iii., for occasional use. Twelve twigs of trees with leaf-buds in brushdrawing. Original brushdrawings from scenes in Julius Cæsar. Garden (or section of) drawn to scale;

and, Join the Portfolio of Painting (see The Children’s Quarterly).

Picture Talk.

Study six reproductions of J. F. Millet’s work (see Perry Pictures).

Reading.

Geography, English history, French history, should afford exercise in careful reading. The Morte D’Arthur, Selections by C. L. Thomson (Marshall, 2s., pages 190-238), or, poetry, to be read on Thursdays.

Nature Lore.

(Tuesday) Buckley’s Fairy Land of Science (Stanford), pages 99-123. (Wednesday) The Sciences, by E. S. Holden (Ginn & Co., 2s. 6d.), pages 1-34. Seaside and Wayside may also be used. Keep a Nature Note-book. Record, when you see them, and describe twelve birds and notice all you can about them. (Saturday) Birds of the Air, by Mrs Fisher (Cassell, 6d.), pages 38-79. All members must take in The Children’s Quarterly.

Arithmetic.

A B C Arithmetic, Teacher’s Book, part ii. (Sonnenschein & Nesbitt, 1s.), pages 93-111. Mental Arithmetic and Numeration for five minutes on alternate days. Mair’s Mental Arithmetic (Sonnenschein, 9d.). Steady progress. Much care with tables.

Beginners, 1-27.

Composition.

The Citizen Reader, by H. O. Arnold-Forster (Cassell, 1s. 9d.), chapters vi., vii., viii. (both parts). Selections from Morte D’Arthur. Read and write substance. Young children who cannot write easily may narrate.

Work.

Cardboard Modelling, by A. Sutcliffe and W. Nelson (Philip & Son, 2s. 6d.), or, better, A Manual of Cardboard Modelling, by H. Heaton (Newmann & Son, 5s.). Make a set of furniture for the bedroom of your doll’s house. Make the curtains, rugs, bed linen, and counterpane for this bedroom. Self-Teaching Needlework Manual (Longmans, 1s.). Practise stitches on pages 15-24. Attend to Garden (Aunt Mai’s Annual, 1894).

Questions on Preceding Programme

Bible Lessons.

I. 1. “Take this child and nurse it for me.” Tell what you know about the education and early life of the child.

2. “Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?” “Take off the shoes from off thy feet.” On what occasions were these words used? Tell the whole story in each case.

II. 1. (a) “Come ye after me.” (b) “Arise, take up thy bed.” (c) “Stretch forth thine hand.” (d) “Peace, be still.” Tell all about the occasions when these words were used.

2. Give, as far as you can in the words of the Bible, the Parable of the Sower.

Writing.

Write from memory two lines of A Welcome.

Dictation.

The Citizen Reader, page 79, § 2.

Composition.

Describe your favourite scene from Julius Cæsar, or, the picture of J. F. Millet’s that you like best.

English Grammar.

1. Analyse and parse the words in italics,—

2. Make sentences using the following words, and parse each of them: this, which, herself, many, above, after, once, very, that.

Beginners—

1. Pick out the nouns, adverbs, prepositions, and verbs in (1).

2. Make sentences containing the following words, and say what part of speech each is: her, carry, very, to, on, before, soon, all, since.

English History.

1. “You can put me to death but you will gain more honour if you spare my life.” What do you know of the speaker?

2. What history is there in the words Manchester, Thursday, Saturday, Oxford? Who gave us these words?

3. “From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us.” What do you know about these Northmen?

French History.

1. “Martin has clothed me with his garment.” Tell what you know about this Martin. On what day of the year do we remember him?

2. “Thus did you break the vase at Soissons.” Tell what you know of the speaker.

3. What do you know of Charles the Great?

Plutarch’s ‘Lives.’

1. “Arms and laws do not flourish together.” Who said this? Tell the story.

2. Describe one of Cæsar’s expeditions into Gaul.

Natural History.

1. What are earth-pillars, landslips, and pot-holes? How are they caused? Describe some work of water as a sculptor that you have seen.

2. Make a diagram, giving the names and the sizes as near as you can of the planets. Which planets have you seen? What do you know about Jupiter and Saturn?

3. Describe a rook, a starling, a jackdaw, a thrush. Tell anything you have noticed about them.

Geography.

1. What countries can I visit in going from England by sea through the Mediterranean to the Black Sea?

2. What are the boundaries of Austria, Switzerland, Greece?

3. Draw a map of Northumberland, putting in the river Tyne and the chief towns on its banks.

4. Describe a journey in the Lake District.

French.

1. Recite Les Cerises and the poem learnt.

2. Name, in French, the various parts of a house, and make six sentences, using the words.

German.

1. Tell, in German, all you can about the pictures on pages 18 and 19 of Little German Folks.

2. Make three new sentences with some of the words you have learnt.

Latin.

1. Translate into Latin: (a) The road is not safe; (b) The slave is Roman; (c) Here is a wide road; (d) The town has four big gates; (e) The poet’s daughter is tall.

2. Make sentences, using the words,—sex, Romani, magnae, pila, iratus, cujus, dux, octo, reliqui, vos.

Boys only. 3. Decline fully,—bona malus, niger equus, vir liber.

Beginners—

1. Do the first half of question 2 above.

2. Answer in Latin the questions,—Ubi est porta? Quot portae sunt? Estne servus magnus?

Arithmetic.

1. If a railway guard travels 2303 miles a week, how much does he travel in twelve days?

2. Find the interest on (a) £11, 15s., (b) £7, 16s., at 5% for one year.

3. What sum of money multiplied by 11 will give £38,020, 4s. 9½d.?

Beginners—

1. How much is each of the following numbers—197, 931, 240, 99, short of 1000?

2. If quill pens cost 12s. a thousand, how much would 250 cost?

3. How many florins in 1000 shillings?

Drawing.

(a) An outline of a bird with your brush.

(b) An original brush-drawing from Julius Cæsar.

(c) A birch, and an elm twig.

Recitations.[50]

Father to choose a poem, and ten verses from St Mark and ten verses from Exodus.

Reading.[50a]

Father to choose unseen poem, marking words not known.

Music.[50a]

Examine in work done.

Singing.[50a]

Father to choose an English, a French, and a German song, and two Tonic Sol-fa exercises.

Drill.[50a]

Drill, before parents.

Work.[50a]

Outside friend to examine.

A. A., aged 9 years Subjects taken

Scripture.

English History.

French History.

Natural History.

Geography.

Writing.

Dictation.

Arithmetic.

French.

Composition.

Drawing.

English Grammar.

Plutarch’s Lives.

French

2. Les murs, les portes, la salle à manger, la cuisine, le feu.[52]

Composition Julius Cæsar

My favourite scene from Julius Cæsar is where Mark Antony makes his speech to the people about Cæsar, and they all think it such a good one, and wished to destroy the conspirators who had killed Cæsar. He tells them that he had thrice offered the crown to Cæsar and yet he had refused it, and yet Brutus in his speech had said that the deed was done for the good of the country in case Cæsar should get to be the King, which would not be good for Rome. Antony said that in Cæsar’s will he had left to every one of the people a sum of money, and left his shaded gardens for the public use.

English Grammar

1. Nouns—fairies, heads, snow, hills, frost, beds, rills.

Preposition—on.

Verbs—hide, lies, spoiled, has, crystallised.

2.

herPronoun.

carryVerb.

very

toPreposition.

onPreposition.

beforePreposition.

soon

allAdjective.

sincePreposition.

Were you with her? Will you carry this? Yesterday was very wet. Are you going to London? London is on the Thames. Please walk on before us. We will be there soon. That is all. Since you are not coming I will not come.

Plutarch’s ‘Lives’

1. These words “Arms and laws do not flourish together,” were said by Julius Cæsar in answer to a book that had been written by a greater orator than himself called Cicero. In this he said that the people could not expect him to be such a great orator as Cicero who had studied all his life for Cæsar had to fight and could not study.

2. When Cæsar first went into Gaul to fight against the Helvetians and the Tigurini he sent out his lieutenant to fight the Tigurini. His lieutenant defeated them so he went on to fight the Helvetians who had burnt 400 of their villages, and 12 of their large towns. He marched against them and after having fought them he defeated them and he made the prisoners he took resettle in the land and rebuild the towns and villages they had burnt for fear that other tribes from Germany should come and settle in a country that was left with no inhabitants.

Arithmetic

1.

1000100010001000

19793124099

80369760901

2. If quill pens cost 12s. a thousand, how much would 250 cost?

4)12 3 Ans. 3s. = four 250.

3. How many florins in 1000 shillings?

2)1000 500 Ans. 500 florins.

English History

1. Caractacus was one of the early British chiefs who held out against the Romans for a long time. After he had been fighting many times he was defeated and taken prisoner by the Romans and was then brought before the R. Governor, where he was tried. The Roman Governor wished to put him to death, but he said “You can put me to death but you will more honour if you spare my life.” So after a time he was let go, and the Governor said for his brave words he was to be well treated.

2. Chester or Castra in Latin meant camp, so therefore in the word Manchester it is shown that the Romans had a camp there and that tells us it is a old town.

2. (b) When we use the word Thursday, we are bringing the old Saxon God Thor into our mind, as it was on this day that the Saxons worshipped this God.[53]

(c) When we say the word Saturday, we are again recalling the old Saxon God, whose name was Saturn, the planet which we now have, and it was on this day that the Saxons worshipped their old God.[53a]

3. The Northmen were a wild race who came from Germany and Denmark, and they were always coming and invading England as the Saxons had done before them. Canute was their greatest king and he had many flatterers at his court, and they said that everything would obey him, the water, the sun and the moon, etc. So one day he ordered his chair to be carried to the water’s edge and then he said to the sea “Come no further on my land,” but of course the sea still came on, and his courtiers had to rush and save him from getting very wet. The Northmen plundered the land and burnt it, so that the Saxons all wanted to get rid of them, and some of the Bishops prayed “From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us.”[53a]

Natural History

1. Earth pillars are pillars of earth generally with a stone on the top. Where they are now was once all level ground, but the rain came and washed away the softest clay, then the sun came, and hardened the other into cracks. Then more rain came and washed that away, but occasionally there was a large stone which prevented the water washing the clay away and there it remained beneath, thus forming an earth pillar with a stone on the top. When the stone comes off, the pillar is almost sure to fall down for then it is no longer protected from the rain.

[Diagram of four earth pillars]

1. (b) A landslip is a large piece of land which has fallen away from the top of a cliff, or the side of a hill. It is caused by the rain sinking down through some soil until it comes to a hard rock, and then more and more rain coming, it makes a regular little pond or pool. This makes the foundation of the hill or cliff very unsafe. Then it begins to fall away, and thus gradually the whole part goes down, and that is how the landslip is caused.[54]

1. (c) Pot-holes are round holes at the sides of a waterfall. They are caused by the water coming down and bringing little stones with it, and beating them against the rock on each side of the waterfall, so that it gradually pounds away the side of the rock till it makes it into a round hole. If you look in these holes you will generally find one or two round stones, which have been used by the water for pounding the rock. When the water has broken these stones to tiny little bits, it brings others down, which it uses in the same way, and so it continues to make the pot-hole.[54a]

I have noticed a waterfall in Ireland gradually cutting itself deeper and deeper into the earth, and carrying down the rocks from up above.[55]

3. (a) A rook is a fairly large black bird. It does a great deal of good to the farmers by eating the grubs which are in their fields, though it eats a little corn, but it does much more good than evil. Once several farmers decided to shoot all the rooks round about, expecting to get a very good crop, but instead of this they had only a very little corn, so that they had to induce more rooks to come and settle there again. Rooks generally fly in flocks. They make their nests high up in tall trees, and use the same nests each year, repairing them every now and then in the winter to keep them all right for the next nesting time.[55a]

3. (b) A starling is also a black bird, but it has bright colours on the tips of its wings so that it does not look nearly as black as a rook. It is the smallest of its family, the crow is the largest. It feeds generally upon grubs, though it will eat bread and corn when it cannot get other food. Its eggs are pale blue, and there are from four to five of them in the nest, which is generally built half-way up a tree or in old buildings and barns.[55a]

3. (c) A jackdaw is another black bird, though it has a little grey on the head and a little on the body. It belongs to the crow family and builds its nest very high up, and so is very hard to find. The nest is made of straw and bits of dry grass and other little bits of old stuff. Its eggs are the same colour as the starling.[55a]

3. (d) The colours of a thrush are, on the back a browny grey, the throat and breast are a whity grey with spots of brown, the tail also brown with a little white and spots underneath, and the wings are brown like the back. Its nest is made of dry grass, etc., and other bits of old stuff, and the inside is lined with mud. Its eggs are generally about four, occasionally five. They are a beautiful blue colour with spots of brownish black. It sings very beautifully. Once a little thrush was known to die from having sung too violently, and by that breaking one of its bloodvessels.[56]

I have noticed that the thrush sings very loudly, and that the sort of song he sings is—‘Pretty Mary’ or ‘Pretty Joey.’ When we put out crumbs for the birds in the morning, the thrush does not come so much as the other birds, such as sparrows and black-birds, etc.[56a]

Scripture

I. 1. There had been a law made by the king of Egypt that all the Hebrew children should be put to death so Moses’ mother took her little babe Moses to the river’s side in a cradle which she had made and pushed it out until it went into the reeds on the other side. When Pharoah’s (sic) daughter came down to bathe in the river, she heard the baby crying, and told some of her maids to fetch the cradle and see what was in it. When she found it was a little baby she thought she would keep it, as she had none herself. Before this Moses’ mother had put her daughter to watch what would happen to the baby, and when she saw the Princess take it, she came and asked if she should get a nurse for it. The Princess said to the mother “Take this child and nurse it for me.” So Moses was taken into the palace and nursed there and was treated as a prince.

All royal children were very well educated so Moses was taken to school and had to study very hard. When he had learned reading and writing, he went to college at On, where there was a University and here he studied all the arts and laws of the Egyptians. We know he was a great warrior because we told him coming back in triumph after defeating some of the enemies of Pharoah (sic).

II. 1. (a) Jesus was walking along by the Sea of Galilee when he saw two fishermen, whose names were Andrew and Simon Peter, and they were mending their nets. He turned to them, wishing them to be his disciples and said “Come ye after me.” So they left their nets and followed Him.[57]

(b) Jesus was in Peter’s house at Capernaum and as he healed the people there was a great crowd round about and a man which had palsy could not get in. So his four friends which were carrying him lifted him up on to the roof, and then opened the trap door, and let him down unto Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith He said “Is it easier to say forgive thee thy sins,” or to say “Arise and take up thy bed.” Then He turned to the man and said “Arise, take up thy bed and go to thy house.” So the man was healed.[57a]

(c) After Jesus had healed the man with the withered hand the Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians how they could destroy Him, but Jesus took a boat to sail across the Sea of Galilee to the other shore. As He was going, He fell asleep in the boat. When they got about half-way across a great storm came on, so that the boat was almost full of water and His disciples were frightened, and woke Him up and said “Master, save us, for otherwise we shall drown.” Then Jesus woke and said, “Have ye so little faith, that ye are frightened at this storm.” So He got up, and said to the winds and the storm “Peace, be still” and the storm ceased, and there was a great calm. Then the disciples marvelled and said to themselves “Who is this, that even the winds and the waves obey.”[57a]

II. 2. A sower went forth to sow, and as he sowed some of the seeds fell by the way side and the fowls of the air came along, and ate them up; others fell upon rocky places, where there was no depth of earth, and they sprang up quickly but when the sun came out it scorched them up—others fell among thorns and prickles, so that when they came up, they were choked and could not live, and others fell among good soil and produced fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty, and some a hundred.[58]

French History

1. Martin, who was afterwards made saint, came from Germany. When he was only about ten years old he ran away from home to become a monk, but he was taken by the Romans to be made a soldier. One day while he was a soldier he was coming out of town when he saw a beggar without anything on him who was asking for alms, so he took out his purse but he found he had no money in it so taking his sword he cut his cloak in half and gave one half to the beggar. In a dream that night he saw God clothed in half a cloak and He said to the angels around Him “Martin who is not yet a Christian has clothed me with his garment.” So he took it as a sign that he should be made a Christian and so he went to the Bishop and was baptized. After he left the army, he studied some time in Italy and then came back to Gaul and founded the first Christian monastery at Tours. He went from place to place with his disciples preaching and teaching and he was one of the most famous early Christian teachers.

2. Clovis was one of the great Merovingian kings. When he was only about sixteen years old, he was made king of the Franks. After they had been plundering a church the Bishop of Rheims asked Clovis if he would send him back a silver vase which had originally belonged to that church, so Clovis sent back a message saying he would, if it fell to his share, but otherwise he could not. When all the treasure was collected, Clovis asked if the silver vase could be given to him and all agreed but one man, who said that rather than let him have it, he would break it, so he took his sword and smashed it in little pieces. This was at Soissons. Some time after, when he was reviewing his army, he saw the same man that had broken the vase, and as his sword was hanging not quite properly, he told the man to right it. As the man was doing so, he drew out his own sword, and cut the man’s head off, saying at the same time “Thus did you break the vase at Soissons.” Later on, when he was fighting a battle, he was not yet a Christian, and the fight was going against him, so he called out “If I win this battle, I will serve the Lord of my wife,” she being already a Christian, and as he did win, he was baptized by the Bishop, who had already received the pieces of the vase which had been broken. As he was being baptized the Bishop said to him “Adore what you have burnt, burn what you have adored.”[59]

3. Charles the Great, or Charlemange, as he is usually called, was one of the very greatest Emperors. His empire stretched to the mouth of the Elbe in Germany, to the Theiss in Austria, half of Italy, the whole of France and a small piece of Spain. He was called the Emperor of the West, and had been made so by the Pope. There had not been an Emperor of the West for a long time, there having been nobody great enough for the position. He was a very good king, and had schools built all over the country, and thus he made a Christian empire amidst all the wild races there. He placed Counts over the different parts to see that all was done well there, and if they could not manage anything, they were to send up to Charlemange. He had also two chief ministers whom he sent round to the different places to see that the Counts did their work rightly. He liked to live best at a place in Germany called Aachen, and it was there he died.[59a]

Geography

1. In going a tour from England through the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, I could go first to France, then to Spain and Portugal, then reach Gibraltar, and on one side be Africa, and on the other Spain. Then I would see France again and then Italy with the Island of Sicily. Then I would pass Turkey and Greece, and come to the Straits of Constantinople, and reaching the Black Sea I could visit Russia.

2. The boundaries of Austria are—

North, Germany and Russia. South, Turkey. East, Russia and Turkey. West, Adriatic Sea and Italy.

The boundaries of Switzerland:—

North, Germany. South, Italy. East, Austria. West, France.

The boundaries of Greece are—

North, Turkey. South, Mediterranean. East, Archipelago. West, Adriatic Sea.

4. A journey in the lake District would be very beautiful, especially in summer. Derwent-water is the most beautiful of the lakes, but Windermere is the largest of all. The Lake District is called the playground of England, because people go there to see the glorious scenery. There are many mountains of which Helvyllen is the monarch, but Scaw-fell is higher. There are lots of other mountains with curious names, one is the Pillar another the Saddle-back, and there is a waterfall there which has a lot of water rushing down. The poets Southy (sic) and Wordsworth lived in the Lake District, and Southey has written a poem about the waterfall splashing and dashing. One of the towns is called Ambleside and from there the coachs (sic) start for the lakes.

5. A Map of Northumberland.

This boy has written the whole of his papers, excepting where ‘dictated’ is indicated by the figure ‘1.’ Children in Class II. may write part and dictate part of their examination work, as to write the whole would be tiring for the younger pupils.

Parents and teachers are so often at a loss as to whether the work of the children they are teaching does, or does not, reach a fair average standard, and as to whether their education is conducted on lines too broad or too narrow, that these specimens of children’s work may be of use by way of a fair average standard. The programme of the term’s work for each child is given, as well as the examination questions the children have answered. It will be seen that the plan of their studies is very much the same as would be adopted in the case of advanced students, that is to say, the children read during the term an appointed number of pages or chapters in a considerable number of books written with intelligence. I think that the style of the children’s answers justifies this method of teaching; they speak out of a full and satisfying knowledge of their subjects. It is astonishing what repose of mind children gain when they entirely comprehend their lessons, and that they should remember what they have fully understood is a matter of course. The little girl (Appendix C) has dictated all her answers, but sends specimens of her writing and reading. The boy’s work is partly dictated and partly written by himself. I have indicated the end of each dictated answer. His diagrams, maps, drawings, are very good. His pointing, spelling, etc., have been carefully preserved. Having been educated upon books for three years, spelling and composition have come to him as matters of course. Hundreds of children educated in the same way are constantly producing comparable results. Some children, as one in fifty, perhaps, are inveterately bad spellers, but no child taught in this way fails to compose with ease and vigour. The habit of narration in ordinary lessons makes the dictation of answers to examination questions a very simple matter.

I should add that this work is done during morning school, which lasts two and a half (for the girl) to three hours (for the boy), out of which time half an hour is given to drill and play. No preparation is done in the evenings. The afternoons are spent in field work, handicrafts, etc., but no book work is done except in the morning school-hours.

FOOTNOTES:

Index

Accuracy, 165.

Adam Bede, 69.

Affection as a motive, 144.

Affections, the, 101.

Air,

as important as food, 28;

unchanged, 31;

night, wholesome, 34;

country, 92;

unvitiated, 93.

Airings, indoor, 33.

Alfred, King, 283.

Alphabet, teaching the, 201.

Ants, how to keep, 57.

Application, habits of, 149, 150.

Arithmetic,

the teaching of, 253-264;

a means of training, 260.

Arnold, Dr, 175.

Art, pictorial, 307-313.

Artificial reflex actions, 116.

Asser, 283.

Association,

a mind at the mercy of, 138;

the law of, 157;

a condition of recollection, 158.

Attention,

habit of, 86, 137-149;

wandering, 139;

to things, 141;

what is?, 145;

self-compelled, 145.

Audubon, 59.

Augustine, St, 330.

Austen, Jane, 83.

Autobiography of Mary Howitt, 248.

Avebury, Lord, 56.

Baby is ubiquitous, the, 126.

Bath, the daily, 36.

Bede, the Venerable, 284, 285.

Beef-tea, 32.

Bible,

lessons, 247-253;

method of, lessons, 251;

recitations in, lessons, 253;

the chief source of moral ideas, 336;

the reading of the, 348.

‘Bird-stalking,’ 89-92.

Blood, certain causes affect the quality of the, 25.

Books,

field-lore and naturalists’, 62;

uses of naturalists’, 64;

lesson, 229.

Brain,

conditions of healthy, activity, 20;

all mind labour means wear of, tissue, 21;

a healthy, 96;

incessant regeneration of, tissue, 115;

no limit to recording power of the, 158.

Bridgman, Laura, 195.

Burns, 126.

Calendars, naturalists’, 54.

Carpenter, Dr, 68, 111, 112, 116, 131.

Cerebration, unconscious, 108.

Change,

of occupation, 23;

the child’s thoughts, 167, 325.

Character affected by acquired modifications of brain tissue, 118;

the result of conduct regulated by will, 320.

Charles II., 29.

Charts, history, 293.

Child,

the estate of the, 11;

divine estimate of the, 12.

Children,

are public trusts, 1;

training of, dreadfully defective, 3;

offending the, 13-17;

are born law-abiding, 13;

must perceive that their governors are law-compelled, 15;

should have the best of their mothers, 17;

despising the, 17;

hindering the, 19;

the faults of, are serious, 19;

relationships of, with God, 19;

the, walk every day, 29;

out-of-door life for the, 42-95;

should know field-crops, 51;

should follow the seasons, 52;

should be encouraged to watch, 57;

what town, can do, 59;

get knowledge by means of their senses, 65;

learn from things, 67;

should be made familiar with natural objects, 69;

and mother nature, 78-80;

require country air, 92;

a physical ideal for, 94;

have no self-compelling power, 98;

are incapable of steady effort, 99;

should be saved the effort of decision, 100;

must not be left to their human nature, 102;

habits of, are formed involuntarily, 105;

should learn dancing, etc., at an early age, 113;

should put away their playthings, 130;

should be let alone, 134;

should execute perfectly, 159;

must have desire to obey, 161;

learn, to grow, 171;

learn, to get ideas, 173;

learn, to get knowledge, 174;

literature proper for, 176;

danger of undervaluing intelligence of, 186;

should be allowed some ordering of their lives, 194;

‘only,’ 193;

narrate by nature, 231;

enjoy the Bible, 247;

should know the Bible text, 248;

have art in them, 313;

should be taught the way of the will, 326;

play with moral questions, 336.

Christ, our King, 350;

the indwelling of, 352.

Christianity, the essence of, 350.

Christmas Day and other Sermons, 341, 342.

Cinderella, 138.

Classification, first-hand, 63.

Clay-modelling, 313.

Cleanliness, 124, 127.

Climbing, 83.

Clothing, 84.

Cobbe, Frances Power, 102.

Code of education in the Gospels, 12.

Coleridge, 61, 318, 337.

Common sense, 37.

Compass drill, 76.

Composition, 243-247;

lessons in, 245;

comes by nature, 247.

Conditions of healthy brain activity, 20-37

Conscience,

is judge and lawgiver, 329;

is not an infallible guide, 331;

a real power, 332;

a spiritual sense, 332;

an undeveloped capability in children, 333;

the uninstructed, 334;

the instructed, 335;

a child’s good, 335;

of a child ignorant, 338;

instructing the, 339;

made effective by discipline, 340.

Consequences, natural and educative, of conduct, 148.

Copperfield, David, 69.

Cowper, 22, 86.

Creatures, living, 56-62.

Cul-de-sac, an educational, 89.

Darwin, 107.

Dates in history teaching, 289.

Dawes, the Rev. Richard, 270.

Days in the open, 43.

Decision, a ‘conscientious,’ 334.

Desires, the, 100.

Desks, 239, 265.

Despising the children, 17-19.

Dickens, Charles, 69, 186, 263.

Dictation, 240;

steps of a lesson in, 241.

Diogenes and the Naughty Boys of Troy, 152.

Direction,

in geography lessons, 74;

practice in finding, 75.

Distance, in geography lessons, 73.

Diversion, 324.

Divine life in the child, the, 341-352.

Drawing lessons, 312.

Drills, 315.

Duty of a child, the whole, 160.

Edgeworth, Maria, 148.

Education, by Herbert Spencer, 4.

Education,

traditional methods of, 6;

code of, in the Gospels, 12;

‘the reign of law’ in, 37;

based upon natural law, 96-134;

is the formation of habits, 97;

intellectual and moral, 117;

infant, 125;

in habits favours an easy life, 135;

a science of, 135;

lessons as instruments of, 169-316.

Educational forces, Love, Law, Religion, 99.

Educator, problem before the, 103.

Emulation, 143.

Enunciation, 230.

Esau, 40.

Evans, Mr, 69.

Evenings at Home, 265.

Exaggeration, 165.

Exercise,

mental, 21;

daily physical, 132-134.

Family is the unit of the nation, the, 5.

Farrar, Dean, 56.

Faults of children, the, 19.

Faust, Marlowe’s, 107, 119.

Field lore, 62-65.

Fleming, Marjorie, 223.

Flowers,

and trees, 51-56;

field, and the life-history of plants, 51;

Leigh Hunt on, 53.

Francis, S., 60.

Free-will and habit, 110.

French Home Life, 7.

French,

the, lesson, 80, 157, 300-307;

M. Gouin’s method, 302;

the Series, 303.

Froebel, 179, 185, 197, 198.

Games,

out-of-door, 80;

noisy, 81.

Garden of Eden, the, 128.

Garments,

porous, 36;

for walks in bad weather, 87.

Geography,

out-of-door, 72-78;

pictorial, 72;

physical, 73;

‘distance,’ 73;

‘direction,’ 74;

use of compass in, 76;

‘boundaries,’ 77;

‘plans,’ 77;

local, 78, 271-279;

should be interesting, 273;

how to begin, 273;

maps, 275;

general knowledge of, 276;

particular knowledge of, 276;

definitions, 277;

fundamental ideas of, 277.

God,

relationship of children with, 19;

allegiance to, 38;

the Law-giver, 39;

presented as an Exactor, 345;

the knowledge of, distinct from morality, 347;

the Father and Giver, 349.

Gordon, 322.

Gospels, the code of education in the, 12, 19.

Gouin, M., 304.

Grace, divine, works on lines of human effort, 104.

Grammar, 295-300;

a difficult study, 295;

Latin, 295;

English, a logical study, 295;

first lessons in, 296-300.

Guido’s ‘Magdalen,’ 322.

Habit,

is ten natures, 96-134;

the instrument by which parents work, 97;

may supplant nature, 105;

runs on the lines of nature, 105;

may be a lever, 105;

a, is formed involuntarily, 105;

forces nature into new channels, 106;

lines of, must be laid down, 107;

direction of lines of, 109;

and free-will, 110;

rules our thoughts and acts, 110;

powerful even when the will decides, 111;

the physiology of, 111-118;

the forming of a, 119-124;

a delight in itself, 121;

stages in formation of a, 122;

of music, 133;

of attention, 137;

of application, 149;

of thinking, 150;

of imagining, 151;

of remembering, 154;

of perfect execution, 159;

of obedience, 160-164;

may frustrate the will, 326;

of self-management, 328.

Habits,

moral and mental, 113;

infant, 124-132;

of time and place, 131;

of mind, 135-168;

moral, 135-168;

training in, becomes a habit, 136;

inspired in the home atmosphere, 137;

slipshod, 229.

Hall, Dr Stanley, 198.

Handicrafts, 315.

Havelock, 322.

Head, Captain, 150.

Heidelberg, 159.

Heredity, 101.

Hindering the children, 19, 20.

History,

the teaching of, 279-295;

a storehouse of ideas, 279;

‘outlines,’ mischievous, 280;

early, best fitted for children, 281;

chronicles, 282;

myths, 284;

books, 287;

dates in teaching, 291;

narrating and illustrations, 294;

‘playing at,’ 294.

Home,

the best growing ground for young children, 170;

work, 147.

Honour, the sense of, 128.

Houdin, 86.

Howe, Dr, 195.

Hullah, Mr, 133.

Human nature, 101, 102.

Hunt, Leigh, 53.

Huxley, 23, 116.

Ideas,

children learn, to get, 173;

grow and produce after their kind, 173;

Scott and Stevenson worked with, 174;

value of dominant, 174;

lessons must furnish, 174;

fitting and vital, 347.

Illustrations, original, 311.

Imagination,

tales of the, 152;

and great conceptions, 152;

grows, 153.

Imagining, the habit of, 151-154.

Inattention, 229.

Incongruous, sense of the, 151.

Indian Mutiny, the, 335.

Inertness of parents, the, 332.

Influence, outside, 118.

Initiative, the importance of personal, 192.

Intelligence, the danger of undervaluing children’s, 186.

Intentions, good, and common sense, 37.

Intimacy with nature, 71.

Intimations of Immortality, 11-12.

Jerusalem, 82.

Jesus, our Saviour, 351.

Keller, Helen, 194-196.

Kindergarten,

the, method, 8, 82, 170;

the, as a place of education, 178-199;

the nursery need not be a, 179;

field of knowledge too circumscribed in the, 179;

‘occupations,’ 180;

‘sweetness and light’ in the, 180;

further considerations of the, 182-199;

a false analogy, 189;

Miss Sullivan on the, 195;

the, in the United States, 196;

Mr Thistleton Mark on the, 197;

Dr Stanley Hall on the, 198.

Kindergärtnerin,

the mother the best, 178;

the true, 185, 188.

Kindness, 339.

Kingsley, 58, 71.

King’s Somborne School, 268.

Knowledge,

nature, 61;

attractiveness of, 145;

the doctoring of the material of, 172;

children learn, to get, 174;

diluted, 175;

Dr Arnold’s, as a child, 175;

of God distinct from morality, 347.

Landseer, 309.

Law,

reign of, in education, 37;

‘mind’ and ‘matter’ equally governed by, 39;

antagonism to, shown by some religious persons, 39;

and love as educational forces, 99;

ensures liberty, 164.

Laws of health, 16;

of the intellectual and moral life, 16.

Laws of Thought, Thompson’s, 150.

Lesson,

must recall the last, each, 156;

books, 229.

Lessons,

attractive, 141;

as instruments of education, 169-316;

must furnish ideas, 174.

Life of Wesley, Southey’s, 200.

Life,

out-of-door, 92-95;

the divine, in the child, 341-353.

Light, solar, 94.

Literature, proper for children, 176.

Lives, law-abiding, often more blameless than pious, 38.

Livingstone, Dr, 101, 274, 275.

Logic, J. S. Mill’s, 261.

Lucy, Wordsworth’s, 33.

Lycidas, 225.

Lying, three causes of, 164, 165.

Macaulay’s schoolboy, 30.

Magnetism in the teacher, personal, 188.

Malmesbury, William of, 283.

Manners, good, 132.

Mansoul, the government of, 317.

Maps, 275;

the meaning of, 278.

Mark, Mr Thistleton, 197.

Marlowe, 119.

Masterly inactivity, 5, 134, 192.

Mathematics, the preparation for, 263.

Maurice, F. D., 341, 342.

Meals,

concerning, 25;

talk at, 26;

variety in, 27;

out of doors, 42.

Memorising, 224.

Memory,

a ‘spurious,’ 155;

a record in the brain substance, 155.

Men,

grown, lose habit of observation, 69;

power will pass into the hands of scientific, 71.

Mental effort, rapid, 149.

Mental Physiology, Dr Carpenter’s, 68, 111, 112, 116, 131.

Method,

a way to an end, 8;

kindergarten, 8;

a system easier than a, 9.

Methods, traditional, of education, 6.

Mill, J. S., 261, 323.

Miller, Miss, 217.

Mind,

labour means wear of brain, 21;

and matter equally governed by law, 39.

Modesty, 128.

Modifications, acquired, of brain tissue, 118.

Monmouth, Geoffrey of, 285.

‘Mooning,’ 147.

Moore, the Rev. H. A., 270.

Morell’s Introduction to Mental Philosophy, 68, 329.

Morley, Professor, 283.

‘Mother-games’ too strenuous for children, 190.

Mother, the, the best kindergärtnerin, 178.

Mothers,

owe a ‘thinking’ love to their children, 2;

form their children’s habits involuntarily, 105;

and teachers should know about nature, 64;

must refrain from too much talk, 78.

Music, the habit of, 133, 314.

Narrating, the art of, 231-233.

Natural philosophy, 264-271.

Naturalist, mental training of a child, 61.

Naturalists’ books, 64.

Nature,

diaries, 54, 62, 65;

work most important for young children, 61;

especially valuable for girls, 62;

mothers and teachers should know about, 64;

the teaching of, 65;

intimacy with, makes for personal well-being, 71;

what is, 100;

plus heredity, 101;

elemental notion of human, 101;

plus physical conditions, 102;

human, the sum of certain attributes, 102;

as an educator, 186;

danger of supplanting, 191.

Neatness akin to order, 130.

Newton, Sir Isaac, 54.

Nightingale, Florence, 322.

Nose, a sensitive, 125.

Notation, 257.

Nourishment, mental, 24.

‘Nurse,’ 18.

Obedience,

habit of, 128, 160;

no accidental duty, 161;

must be expected, 162.

Object lessons, 67.

Observation,

discriminating, 47;

grown men lose habit of, 69;

in winter, 85.

Occupation, change of, 23.

Offending the children, 13-17.

Opinion, the force of public, in the home, 58.

Order, habit of, 129.

Overpressure, 66, 146.

Osborne, George, 243.

Othello, 4.

Out-of-door life for the children, 43-45.

Oxygen,

has its limitation, 30;

the essential proportion of, 92.

‘Pacing,’ 73.

Palace Tales, by H. Fielding, 296.

Paradise Lost, 24, 226.

Parents,

may offend by disregarding laws of health and of the intellectual and moral life, 16;

must acquaint themselves with principles of physiology and moral science, 40;

the trust of, must not be supine, 104;

must lay down laws of habit, 107;

must expect obedience, 162;

must reflect on subject-matter of instruction, 169;

must sow opportunities, 192;

inertness of, 331;

have some power to enthrone the King, 341;

must present idea of God to children, 343;

must not make blundering efforts, 344;

must select inspiring ideas, 346;

must teach only what they know, 346.

Parents’ Review, the, 270.

Paul, St, 322.

Persistence, 122.

Persons,

born with the same primary desires and affections, all, 100, 101;

the requirements of, 186.

Perspiration, free, 35;

insensible, 35.

Pestalozzi, 2.

‘Picture-painting,’ 48-51;

method of, 48;

a strain on the attention, 48;

fully and in detail, 49;

the mother’s part in, 49;

a means of after solace, 50.

Picture-talk, 309.

‘Plans’ in teaching geography, 77.

Plato, 185.

Pleasures connected with frost and snow, 85.

Plutarch’s Lives, 233, 286.

Possibilities of a day in the open, 43.

Power, no limit to the recording, of the brain, 158.

Priestley’s, Dr, Lectures on History, 176.

Printing, 234.

Problems in arithmetic, 257.

Pronunciation, careful, 206.

Prospero, 30.

Punch, 94.

Punishments, 148.

Purity, 128.

Pussy Box, 222.

Reading, 199-222;

at sight, 204;

the, of prose, 204;

ordinary method of teaching, 206;

the first, lessons, 207-222;

by sight and by sound, 214;

handwriting, 214;

arbitrary symbols, 215;

sentences, 218;

moral training in, lessons, 221;

for older children, 226-230;

the habit of, 227;

aloud to children, 227.

Recitation, 222-226.

Recollection, 154;

and the law of association, 157.

‘Red Indian’ life, 88.

Reflex actions may be acquired, artificial, 116.

Regularity in infant education, 131.

Religion as an educational force, 99.

Religious instruction, 347.

Remembering, 154.

Rest, 22;

after meals, 22.

Reverence, for life, 62, 166.

Rewards, 148.

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 314.

Richter, J. Paul, 88.

Robinson Crusoe, 152, 187, 232.

Rondes, 82.

Rosamund and the Purple Jar, 148.

Ruskin, 155, 263, 312.

Scott and Stevenson worked with ideas, 174.

Scott, Sir Walter, 223.

‘Sight-seeing,’ 45-48;

how to do, 46;

educational uses of, 46.

Simpson, Sir James, 185.

Singing, 314.

Skipping-rope and shuttlecock, 83.

Smith, Adam, 333.

Smollett’s History of England, 175.

Soul,

the functions and life of the, 342;

what is the life of the?, 343.

Southey’s Life of Wesley, 200.

Spelling,

early, 203;

bad, 240;

the rationale of, 241;

causes of illiterate, 243.

Spencer, Herbert, 3, 4, 265.

Steele, Richard, 223.

Sullivan, Miss, 195.

Sun, the, 73.

Sunshine, 34.

Swanwick, Miss Anna, 225.

System easier than a method, A, 9.

Table for little children, a, 240.

Tact, 122.

Teachers,

should know about nature, 64;

must lay down laws of habit, 107;

mediate too much, 188;

must sow opportunities, 192.

Temper, 166;

not, but tendency, 166;

new habit of, 167.

Tennyson, 52, 63, 69, 330.

Tests applied to children’s lessons, four, 177.

Text-hand, 235, 238.

The Ancient Mariner, 61.

The Heir of Redclyffe, 323.

The Mill on the Floss, 69.

Theology, nursery, 20.

Thermopylæ, 187.

Things, children learn from, 67.

Thinking comes by practice, 153.

Thompson’s Laws of Thought, 150.

Thought, persistent trains of, 114.

Thoughts,

think themselves, 108;

change the child’s, 167.

Time-tables, 142.

Tintern Abbey, 50.

Tolstoi, the childhood of, 182.

Tonic Sol-fa, 314.

Training,

of children ‘dreadfully defective,’ 3;

of ear and voice, 133;

mental, of a child naturalist, 61;

of a just eye and faithful hand, 180;

in habits becomes a habit, 136.

Tramps in wet weather, 87.

Transcription, 238-240.

Trees and flowers, 51-56;

the study of, 52.

Trench, Archbishop, 55.

Truth, essential and accidental, 249.

Truthfulness, 164, 165.

Tuileries, The, 59.

Ulysses, 187.

Vanity Fair, 243.

Ventilation, 33.

Walks,

in bad weather, 85-88;

winter, 85;

garments for, 87.

Watchfulness, 122.

Weighing and measuring, 259.

Wesley, Mrs, 199.

Wilfulness, what is? 321.

Will, 317-329;

executive power vested in the, 317;

what is the?, 318;

persons may go through life without deliberate act of, 318;

three functions of, 319;

wilfulness indicates want of, power, 320;

the, has superior and inferior functions, 321;

the, is not a moral faculty, 322;

the, must be disciplined, 322;

the sole practical faculty of man, 323;

how the, operates, 323;

the way of the, 324;

power of, implies power of attention, 326;

habit may frustrate the, 326;

how to strengthen the, 327;

education of the, 329.

Word-making, 202, 203.

Words a weariness, 141.

Wordsworth, 11, 12, 33, 50, 69, 79, 188.

Work, definite, in a given time, 142.

Writing, 233-240;

position in, 239.

‘W. V.,’ 188.

Zambesi, the tribes of the, 101.

Zeal must be stimulated, 149.

∵ As allusion has been made to the Parents’ National Educational Union and its various agencies, especially of the Parents’ Review School, it may be well to add that information about these may be had from the Secretary. The “Questions for the Use of Readers” are inserted with a view to the P.N.E.U. Reading Course. Persons who wish to become “Qualified Members” of the Union by undertaking this course should communicate with the Secretary, 26 Victoria Street, London, S.W.

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Transcriber’s Note:

This book was written in a period when many words had not become standardized in their spelling. Words may have multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in the text. These have been left unchanged unless indicated below.

Footnotes were renumbered sequentially and were moved to the end of each Part. Several footnotes have multiple anchors. Links from footnotes refer to the first instance. Subsequent anchors are identified with an “a” following the anchor number.

Obvious printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, unprinted, or partially printed letters, were corrected. Final stops missing at the end of sentences and abbreviations were added.

The following items were changed:

Added missing accents to words in Italian in the poem preceding the Preface.

Added missing word: Let them once get [in] touch.

Spelling corrections:

They must be bept [kept]

in consequences from certain premisses [premises]

In this connecton [connection]

but thus [this] much is evident

at the royal vill [villa]