A product of the school-room in every sense is this new plan-book. The author worked the plans out day by day for use in her own school, because she felt the need of a definite purpose and plan of procedure for each day, and with no thought of publication. The benefits derived from these outlines and the interest manifested in them by her superintendent and associate teachers led the author to submit them to the publishers, who first brought them out in TEACHERS MAGAZINE, and now, so cordially were these papers received, present them in book form. It is hoped that the work will prove especially helpful to young teachers who have had but little experience in selecting and adapting material to the comprehension of small children. Believing that a knowledge of things near at hand should be acquired first, the author has taken this principle as a keynote and has endeavored to present the lessons in a manner to arouse curiosity, engage attention, and inspire a desire to investigate surrounding conditions. An attempt has been made in the nature lessons, which are taken from the life round about, to enlist sympathy with, as well as to awaken interest in, animal life, with the hope of discouraging the naturally destructive instincts of childhood. To develop in the child the power to express his thoughts has been the primal object in the language lessons. The difficulty has been too often that the child has no thoughts. Poems, stories, pictures, legends, and games supply this deficiency, and call into play the esthetic faculty. To make him acquainted with the peoples and customs of all lands, as well as familiar with the primitive conditions which pertain in his own land, has been the object of the geography lessons. Special days and birthdays of American heroes and poets have suggested the work in history. Busy work and drawing correlate closely with the other subjects and always have a definite aim. ALICE MAUD BRIDGHAM Auburn, Me. 165076 |