oral or written, has but little educational value. The habit of doing things well can not be established too early in the school. The moral and ethical value, to say nothing of the educational advantages of clean, neat written work, is sufficient reason why no lower standard should ever be tolerated or accepted by the teacher.

DRESS.

The influence of neatness in dress has an important bearing on the school. Children are great imitators. No slouchy, uncouth person has any right to go before children as their teacher. This is true

both from an educational and an ethical standpoint. To gain the respect and admiration of the pupils is no small matter to the teacher. It makes discipline easier and inspires better work. Neatness in dress does not imply the height of fashion, but the teacher should at least wear clothing of a good quality and especially clothing that fits. Gaudy clothing always seems out of place. Plain, simple attire, with few adornments, seems best. Cleanliness, of course, greatly enhances the effect. For the teacher to be neat and clean at all times in personal attire is to add to his respect and influence.

A READING LESSON IN THE SECOND

GRADE.

ALICE ROBERTSON.

In preparing a reading recitation every teacher is confronted with the question, "How shall I conduct this lesson, so that the child will get the most out of it?" The chief aim of the teacher in the recitation, and especially in the primary grades, is to lead the children to form good habits of reading.

First in importance is the habit of thinking of what they are reading. The child should form accurate and clear mental pictures as they appear in the reading lesson. Next we should strive to form in our children the habit of judging upon what they read. If we can get our children to ask a question when a part of the lesson is not clear to them, much is accomplished toward this habit. A child who is free to express himself is uttering. judgments. Then the child, to become an independent reader, must work out new words for himself. He must cultivate the habit of trying first one sound and then another until he has the word. Sometimes the teacher may put a letter on the board and ask him to give its different sounds.

Lesson II.

Aim to prepare the children to understand the selection. (a) Did you ever visit a place where things were sold to get money for poor people?

What were some of the things that were for sale?

Where were these things gotten that were sold?

What was this place called?

(If sale is given, tell that it is sometimes called a fair.)

on

(b) These words, previously worked out phonetically, have written large slips of paper. Hold for an instant before class, then have pronounced by some one. (It may be necessary to take a short period. from each lesson for drill on these words.) Lesson III.

Aim to have children get, by questions, clear pictures of what is in the lesson. Read lesson over silently.

Why do you like this little girl? Can you see her? Tell about her. How did she show that she was very fond of her doll?

Why did Blue-eyes go to this fair? What did she do with Belle? What did the old lady think? Why did she think the doll was for sale?

Did Blue-eyes sell her?

Do you think she did right?
2. Oral Reading.
Lesson IV.

Aim-Correct expression in oral read

this morning. Did they sing? Where were they going? Why? Get them to tell all they know about them. Use charts and draw different kinds of birds on the blackboard.

In teaching direction ask the children, What direction did you come to school from home this morning? Where do you live? On what side of the street do you live? Who lives next door to you on the right? Who on the left? What street in front of your home?

Where does the sun seem to rise? Where does it set? Face the north in the schoolroom; face the east; face south; face west.

In teaching distance, ask how far is the courthouse from the schoolhouse? How far from home is the school? How far are you from me? How long is that pencil? Let them guess how many inches long is the desk, book, hand; then use the ruler or tapeline and have them measure the sandtable, blackboard and various other things in the schoolroom.

In teaching the divisions of land take the country around you and ask if the country is hilly or level? What do we mean by hilly? Model a hill on the sandtable. Have the pupils to understand the hill you modeled on the sandtable is only a miniature hill. Have them to measure the hill, then draw it on the board. What is a mountain? The difference between a mountain and a hill? Have the children to model it in the sand, then draw it on the board and paper. In this way go through all the divisions of land, having the children do the work while you direct them.

PRIMARY READING.

Miss Blank has a class of the youngest first-grade pupils, and being ready to give them their first lesson in reading, she called them to her. Birds had been the subject for several mornings past, so their lesson in reading was to be on the woodpecker. Not having a stuffed specimen, the next best thing was to use a life-sized woodpecker, which had been previously drawn in colors on the board.

Pointing to the bird she asked, "What do you see?" Almost instantly the entire class called out "a woodpecker." Knowing that this was just what they would do (her object being to secure the attention of the class) she now requested them to hold up their right hand and keep their lips closed, when she again asked the same question. This time selecting one of the little fellows she received the answer, "a woodpecker."

Emphasizing the word see, she secured the answer, "I see a woodpecker." After a few more questions, she drew from them the desired sentence, "I see a bird."

A number of the little ones were called

upon to repeat the sentence. They were now told that the chalk would say the same thing that they had been saying. So she wrote upon the board, "I see a bird." The class was now dismissed to be called again a few minutes later, when the sentence "The bird has a red head," was developed in the same manner. The next day, finding that every little one in the class could distinguish the two sentences, a third was given by one of the children, in the form of a question, "Has the bird a nest?"

In a few days she was ready for the words, and taking the first sentence she asked, "What did you say last?" The answer came, "bird." Then, "What did you say first?" When "I" was given. In like manner every word in the little lesson was recognized. She was not surprised one morning when one of the brightest in the class told her that he could "spell bird," and another little one could spell "red." Miss Blank was not quite ready for "letters" at this time, but finding that the children were ready, she let them grow as fast as they wished.

GEOGRAPHY WORK III.

A third day we were compelled by force of circumstances to use the time of geography recitation without our text-books. It appeared to us that every one in the class actually knew some facts in local geography and we selected the son of a Methodist minister who had lived for two

We

years at Vincennes, to start us on that topic. He described the wide and fertile valleys of the Wabash with their fields of corn and tried to show why corn, rather than other grains was the chief product of the soil. He urged the point that their great fertility made the raising of corn very profitable, but we pushed the matter out a little further and found that until a few years ago large starch works were located at this place and after these were destroyed by fire, distilleries took their place, thus giving a home market for corn; and for this reason, the class decided, it was the chief grain produced. But these conditions had not always been so; there was a time when this fertile spot attracted other people, and then before we knew it, we began drifting into history. learned from another pupil in the class that he had read of many large mounds near Vincennes and this boy verified these statements by saying that he had seen them. They were large mounds and were covered with large trees in some places which showed they had been there a long time and those who built them were known as Mound Builders. After these people the Indians came and as they, too, raised corn and used it as food, they built here one of their largest villages. But the name Vincennes is not Indian, so that gave us a question to answer. All the girls knew it was a French name, hence these people must have been here, too, and lived here. The boy helped us here by telling us that a part of the city of Vincennes is still called "Frenchtown," because the residents speak French. He also knew of the houses still standing, built of mud and straw more than a hun

dred years ago. So many things were crowding into the history here that we found it necessary to continue this another day, if our books should not come.

PRIMARY HISTORY.

MRS. E. B. SHELDON.

The purpose of the history work in the third and fourth years is to bring children in closer touch with their environments; to show them that system and law are

necessary to permanent and successful organization; that growth has been gradual but steady; and that as progress depends upon them they must learn to bring themselves into proper relation to law and system. That this work may be logical it is thought best to begin with the growth of the village into the town. The following questions are suggestive:

We call the place in which we live a town. What was it before it was a town? What was here before the village? Who lived here then and in what kind of houses did they live? When white men came what kind of houses did they build? How did the village become a town?

Just west of us is a village: Beside the difference in the number of people and houses, what other difference is there? If the town has laws and officers that are different from those of the village they must both obey some of the same laws. The village and town are parts of what? These must all obey the laws of what? Where are the state laws made? In the succeeding lessons the officers of the town and their duties will be considered. Those of the county and state will follow, showing their interrelation and dependence upon each other. In this way it is believed the pupils will see the purpose and benefit of the work.

CHILDREN'S MOTIVES.

Do we ever question ourselves as parents and teachers of children, concerning the part that we play in causing them to become conscious wrongdoers? The motives of children are essentially different from those of adults. They do not know sin or evil and are, in the natural state, incapable of sinful or evil motives. No act is, in itself, and independent of motive, wrong. At the worst, the acts of children before the age of reason can be truly classed only as inexpedient, undesirable, unsuitable or harmful.

When we call a child "naughty" or "bad," we are going back of his act and finding or attributing a motive. We must, perforce, do this, as there would be no

-George Eliot.

sense or justice in calling an act, regardless of its motive, bad.

When we have once attributed an evil motive to a child in the commission of an act, we have implanted in his mind the idea of the connection of such a motive with such an act. We have done him in this an incalculable injury. The harm done has a twofold aspect. In the first place he smarts under the sense of the injustice done him in accusing him of wrong where no wrong was meant; in the second place, he gets his first lesson in associating wrong motives with acts; the next step is for him to associate the two himself in some new form of combination.

The initial steps in making "sinners" or "reprobates" of children are often thus taken by parents who would give their

own souls to save them from the consequences of sin in this world and the next. Children who are brought "under conviction of sin" at an early age may become bright and shining lights through conversion and keep in the straight path always. They are quite likely, however, to become more hardened, reckless and daring in wrongdoing than others who do not come from such strictly religious homes.

Why is this? The reason is not a difficult one to find. It is because the child has been made to believe from the first that the various inexpedient, inappropriate and mistaken acts which he committed were sins and should be as burdens on his conscience. From the period of infancy this load has accumulated under the well-meant but sadly mistaken ministrations of those over him. By the time he really reaches the age where reason should in the normal course of things assume its sway, he is oppressed by the feeling that he is already a hardened sinner. It is easy to see why recklessness takes possession of him at this stage and why so many "parsons' sons" verify in their lives the truth of the old adage.

This is not an argument for laxness in correcting mistaken tendencies. As Froebel says, there is a third something between the child and the adult which the child should be educated into an appreciation of; and he should be brought early to realize the existence of this standard of what is right, just, pure, upright and honorable; he should be brought early to a desire to shape his own life by such a standard. Froebel says farther that conformity to such a standard should be, if necessary, sternly insisted upon. But while sternness may sometimes be necessary, it should never in the early stages of child-training at least take the form of impugning the child's motives.

Indeed, the persons most successful in managing men and women, whether big or little, are those whose apparent faith in their motives never wavers except in the presence of absolute proof of wrong motives.

Emerson tells us somewhere that if we would find a man great we must treat him greatly, or words to that effect. Our new education (which is not so new after all except in adopting some very old but sadly overlooked truths), tells us that we can cause a person to become whatever we wish by assuming that he is already in desire and intention what we would have him to be.

POLITICS IN SCHOOL.

Of course partisan politics have no place in schoolroom discussions. But as the schoolboy, in our country at least, is irrepressible in his interest in politics the question is, "How shall we furnish a safety-valve for his enthusiasm?"

It is becoming quite common to hold an election in school on election day. Sample ballots in sufficient numbers can usually be obtained at the nearest voting place. Arrangements for conducting the election on the Australian plan are easily made. An inspector, clerk and judges are appointed. A few words may be said by the teacher regarding the rights of each to his individual opinions and preferences. A little explanation may be given of the rules and then if the school is given some work to do the election will go on quietly and without friction. It is interesting to watch the genuine dignity and seriousness of purpose with which each pupil leaves his seat, takes the blue pencil and ballot from the clerk and retiring to the booth, places the mark in the proper place and then returns to his seat with an air which indicates that he has done something toward saving his country.

No reasonable objection can be made to this. The voting is secret, and a judicious teacher can make of it a lesson in fairness and regard for each other's rights as well as an object lesson. The latter would not seem to be altogether unneeded, as a part of the education of the coming man, since in the presidential election of 1896 several thousand ballots cast in this state were thrown out because not properly marked.