In the present number the forces of the material universe are called to mind, beginning with the life force in plants and animals. It is not intended as a book of learning; the subjects preclude any considerable reach in that line; they are such as would become matters of knowledge later on, and are for a graded school what intercourse with older people supplies in intelligent outside life, - beckoning hands to attract to something which will reward investigation. Selections at the close of the book match the subjects treated, namely, plant life, physical forces, animal life, aspects of weather, and the sky bodies. Some of these should be read to the class before the pupils read them. The author is indebted to Miss S. E. Brassil, whose notebook was drawn upon for lessons four, five, eleven, and twelve; and to Miss Mary A. Lewis, Superintendent's Assistant in the Cambridge elementary schools, for corroboration as to the interest of children in the "invisible things" which underlie "the things which do appear." Selections from current juvenile literature are acknowledged as used. Thanks are due to The Macmillan Company for consent to the use of two stories from Little Meadow People. LANGUAGE FOLLOWING the sentence-structure teaching of the preceding book of the series, the lessons of the present number provide for its application in constructive work. Pupils are at the age when something may be expected of them in response to what is given. The call of Lesson I is for points of resemblance and differ ence between plants and animals. The expression of these gives opportunity for much that is better adapted to oral than to book teaching. Accompanying Lessons II to VI a number of familiar plants may have their stories told, as, for example, the sweet pea, nasturtium, geranium, and others which may be made to grow in the schoolroom. There are stories and poems which well cover this ground, and which will add pleasure to the course. Corn, potatoes, wheat, and the garden vegetables should have their special features interpreted, and, generally, the stories of a few foreign plants whose use is common should be sought in books of information. Leaf and flower buds with their wrappings, as introduced in Lesson VII, suggest the collection of specimens and pictures by the children, and the beginning of a herbarium and notebook. Annuals and perennials come next, and stories of their coming and going may be called out by questions. It is taken for granted that lessons on evergreen and deciduous trees are already included in nature work, and that this book will be rather in the way of supplementary teaching. The sun and light present more ambitious topics than belong to the grade, but the common phenomena which would match the stories of the book will be entirely practicable, and many boys will prefer this work to that upon plants. The story of a blind child, the path of the sun across the sky, the length, breadth, and height of an actual shadow, the setting up and watching of a sundial, double mirrors, etc., will reward lessons upon them. Heat stories may be much more extended than the book affords space for, and fire is a never-exhausted field of incident. Cautions may be inculcated which will save pupils from endangering life and property. Later pages of the book are not less suggestive than these which have been brought to notice, but by the time that a class and its teacher have gone thus far together they will need no guiding suggestions. Animal life from the standpoint of the creature itself follows the line of the new books upon animals, and story writing seems to be in the very atmosphere. While the lessons have been prepared under the impression that much will be done with them where time and circumstance allow, it is also true that the simple reading of the lessons may be relied upon to awaken interest and wonder, inspire love of nature and pleasure in outdoor life, and influence choice of reading. |