That Multiplication Table

Device No. 1.

The other day day I saw an interesting exercise in connection with a test on the fundamental facts of multiplication. The children stood in a circle. One child ran around the circle and tapped another on the shoulder and said at the same time "6 x 9." When the child tapped replied" fifty-four," he had the privilege of taking the place of the child who tapped his shoulder. A new question was asked and so the game continued. They all wanted to be "it" and so had a "specific purpose" in drilling themeselves on the multiplication table.

Device No. II.

Pin a card on the breast of each child in the class. Let another child run to a place in front of the class and hold up a card with a number upon it, calling at the same time the name of a child in the class. The child called upon must immediately reply with the product of his number and that on the card of the one in front of the class. If he doesn't reply in a reasonable length of time, another child is called. When a correct answer is given the child who gives it changes places with the one in front.

Children's Eyes

Teachers do think enough of the importance of teaching children to take care of their eyes. What does it profit a child if he masters the whole course of study and ruins his eyes?

Make them realize that their eyes are their most valuable possession. By word and example train them in right habits of using their

eyes.

Many people incline their heads forward when they read. This is a bad habit, rather keep the head erect and raise the book to the desired angle.

Unless glasses are needed, the normal eye can see to read with the book about fifteen inches away. It is a bad habit to hold it closer. Indistinct or bad type and too small a type should always be avoided.

Make children feel how important it is to have good light and from the proper direction.

On dark days require a minimum amount of close attention with the eyes. In those dark periods that so frequently precede a storm, drop all eye work and when so doing, tell the children why and thus give them an object lesson in hygiene of the eyes.

Never allow a pupil to read with the sunlight reflected directly from his book, with the strongest light shining in his face, nor with the light over his right shoulder.

Teach children to rest their eyes frequently by looking at objects across the room, or in the distance through the window. Have you ever had the refreshing experience of going out of doors on a clear, winter's night after several hours of book study, and gazing for a few moments afar into the starlighted sky?

Last but not least teach children that pure water is the best medicine for the eyes.

The Pussy Willow

Perhaps you may think, because I am buttoned
And folded and wrapped in my little cloak so,
That I always dress this way in all sorts of weather,
With never a frill or ruffle to show.

But it's only because I have come out so early,

That only Jack Frost and the winds are astir, They're hard on the dresses, but under my wrappings Is my pretty new party dress hidden with fur. You'll see if you come to Miss April's spring party, It's airy and dainty, a beautiful dress! Jack Frost's not invited-he's a jolly good playmate But he's rather too rough for a party, I guess.

Forest Trees

Children, have you seen the budding
Of the trees in the valleys low?
Have you watched it creeping, creeping
Up the mountain, soft and slow?
Weaving there a plush-like mantle,
Brownish, grayish, reddish, green,
Changing, changing, daily, hourly,
Till it smiles in emerald sheen?

Have you seen the autumn frostings,
Spreading all the leafage bright,
Frostings of the rarest color,

Red and yellow, dark and light?
Have you seen the glory painted
On the mountain, valley, hill,
When the landscape, all illumined,
Blazons forth his taste and skill?

Have you thought the resurrection
Seen in Nature year by year

Is a symbol of our rising

In a higher, holier sphere? Children, ye are buds maturing;

Make your autumn rich and grand, That your winter be a passage Through the gates to Glory-land

-Mother Truth's Melodies.

The Song of the Blacksmith

With a cling-a-ling!

My hammer I swing,

To shape the round iron shoe

For the horses to wear

On their hoofs so bare,

To help in the labor they do.

With a puff and a blow

My furnace will glow,

And make the fire sparkle and shine, The iron to heat

For my hammer to beat

And curve the shoe rounded and fine.

I'm a blacksmith gay,

And I labor all day

In the soot, and smoke and heat;

And I love my work

And nothing I shirk,

To put shoes on the brave horses' feet. -Martha Moses in Child Garden.

The Children in the Rain

Out in the rain, with wind-kissed cheeks,
Mable, and Bessie, and Little Boy Blue
Were making a world of water and earth
Planned like the maps in the books they knew.

A mimic ocean was hollowed out,

Where winding rivers and brooks might flow Ranges of mountains stretched by the sea, And islands dotted the bay below.

"The rivers are running too fast!" cried Bess, "Our ships will be ruined, what shall we do?" "Bring heaps of dirt from the old sand bank And make a dam," said Little Boy Blue.

In to dinner went laughing Bess;

Boy Blue and Mable followed her call; The rain poured down in a torrent wild, And away went dams and ships and all! Islands and capes were washed awav,

The whole world was wrapped in a raging flood, And when, next morning, the sun came out,

A desert stretched where their ocean stood.

- Selected

once was a bird,

March!

The changing month!

The Southern Association at Madison, March 8-9.

The City Superintendents at Milwaukee, March 29-30.

The North Wisconsin meeting at Ashland, April 12-13.

The Sheboygan high school now enrolls 430 pupils.

The teachers of Price county have organized a declamatory and oratorical league.

Morvin N. Duel is the new principal of the Withee high school, succeeding T. H. Lage, resigned.

The Merrill high school held a "county fair" last month and netted over $100 for the benefit of the athletic association.

The north Wisconsin teachers' association will be held in Ashland, April 12-13. Supt. J. F. Wilson of Ashland is president.

A. T. Torgy, for the last six years assistant secretary of state, has resigned and is now Wisconsin field agent for Silver, Burdett & Co.

Iola has voted $17,000 to be used for an addition to their high school building. There was not a single vote cast against the proposition.

The night schools at Manitowoc have reached an enrollment of over 250, and owing to the lack of space many applicants have been turned

away.

printed form a prospectus of their work, including the course of study, list of alumni, school officers, etc.

The school board of Union Grove has made a rule refusing to grant a diploma to any pupil attending the high school who uses tobacco or liquor in any form.

Supt. Jesse A. Van Natta of Iowa county issues his annual report in pamphlet form which includes a school directory of the cities and villages of that county.

The Superior normal school has issued bulletin No. 31 on "A Partial and Suggestive Outline of Wisconsin History" by A. M. Royce, head of the practice department.

A ward school building in Ripon was destroyed by fire last month entailing a loss of $20,000. Fire occurred at $20,000. Fire occurred at noon when there were no children in the building.

The schools of Oshkosh, Kenosha, Superior, Milwaukee, Ashland, and LaCrosse have semiannual promotions and celebrated the event last month with formal graduating exercises.

Supt Sylvanus Ames of the eastern district of Dane county issues a publication called "School Bulletin" in which he keeps in touch with the school officers and teachers of his district.

Miss Bertha K. Olson, associate supervisor of practice teaching at Stevens Point normal school, will be first assistant in the training school of Taylor county to open next September.

Mr. Herman Erb, president of the first national bank of Appleton, has given $2,000 to Lawrence College to provide a German library for the use of the students and faculty of that institution.

The firm of J. A. Lyons & Co., of Chicago has been changed to Lyons & Canahan, the last named gentleman coming from the publishing house of Ginn & Co., to cast his fortune with Mr. Lyons.

Mr. H. L. Van Dusen, who some years ago was principal of the Jefferson high school, died