gather data from which to study the cause of the changes and their effect on life, man, animal, and plant. Frosty mornings, cold winds. low temperature indicate that it is a lack of heat which is the cause. This subject may be taken up as the study of meterology, observations taken every morning and kept for refer ence. All animal and plant life is preparing for the change which goes on. We have no more the song of the birds; why have our feathered friends left? Where have they gone? Their journeys might be described, how far they go, how much they see. The stories of The Storks, by Hans Andersen, and The Swallow Parlia ment help to enhance the picture in the child's mind. What is the condition of the birds that stay here during the cold months? How do they withstand the cold, and what do they feed on? What does the lively squirrel do to get ready for frost and snow? Look at his nest. How warm it is, lined with moss and leaves. See all the nuts he has stored for winter; and what about his coat? The fur has grown so thick that it will take a biting frost and keen wind to sting the little body. (The story of The Three Squirrels should be given at this point.) In this way coverings of animals should b studied; comparison may be made of animals bearing fur and wool with those covered with skin alone and scales and hair. HOW THE LEAVES CAME DOWN. It is quite time you went to bed." "Ah!" begged each silly, pouting leaf, Dear Father Tree, behold our grief, So just for one more merry day To the great Tree the leaflets clung, "Perhaps the great Tree will forget Come, children all, to bed," he cried; I saw them; on the ground they lay, White bed-clothes heaped upon her arm, Replied, "Good-night," and murmured Our own preparation for winter, our change What other means of protection have the animals? Study how some animals like the squirrel have their nests in hollow trees, sleep ing most of the time. How some have caves and holes in the ground, some hide in rocky fissures or under stones. The earth-worm digs his burrows deep enough to escape the frosting in regard to 1, material; 2, color; 3, thick and lines them with dead leaves. The right way of studying science at any time is to take the children to see the natural environment of the object studied; when this is impossible the next best thing is to have as many forms of life as we can in the schoolroom. A squirrel, fish, and turtle in the room will show many of the points mentioned. The growth of a tree is a picture of life. The children should watch carefully all the changes that take place in the trees. Just now the coloring of the leaves, their dropping off the tree, the bare tree are points of interest. Difference between winter and summer cloth ness, and 4, texture. 1. Causes of heat; causes of lack of heat. 2. Note the children's ideas of cold and heat. 3. Artificial heat, fire, stoves, grates, furnaces, steam heating, etc. 4. Materials used to get fire: a, wood, kind, quality; b, coal, kind; c, Read, or better recite, to them the beautiful, matches. 5. Materials used for stoves, fursimple poem by Susan Coolidge: naces, etc. 6. The necessity for air in burning. Picture the Northland before people knew the use of the fire. When snow and ice came, animals and man must leave. Read from Longfel low's Hiawatha the story of Kabibanokka. It illustrates beautifully how man overcame the natural forces, cold and frost, when he found and could utilize fire. LITERATURE. Poems, songs, and stories have been suggested in connection with the outlines of science and history. THE THREE SQUIRRELS. Yes, Mother Squirrel is in a great hurry; she runs in one, two, three up that tree trunk, for in the top of the tallest oak tree she has her nest, with three young ones in it. She must leave them often to go out for food, but she has not far to go, for all around the oak tree are bushes laden with hazel nuts. When she comes to the nest with the nuts in her mouth the little ones begin to fight for them; then Mother Squirrel plays with them and tells them to be quiet, nice little squirrels. They must not romp too much in the nest or one might fall out, and the little squirrels are still too young to climb and run-and worst of all she knows there is an eagle not far away that likes squirrels too well. One day Mother Squirrel saw some beautiful acorns on a tree some distance from her home. She told the little ones to be quiet and she would be back soon, she would just get some of those nuts. Little squirrels don't know how to tell time, but, oh, the mother stayed so long. Why didn't she come back? It grew dusk, still she had not come, and soon night was there and no mother yet. The little squirrels could not sleep. Where was that warm, soft cover they used to have? Where was the kind little mother? Oh, the night was very long. Every time the branches moved near the nest the little ones thought, "It is she-" But it was only the wind playing with the leaves. At last the sun rose, the birds began to sing, a new day had come,-but the little squirrels in the nest cared not, they were alone. Soon all the nuts that were in the nest were eaten. So a new unknown sorrow began. Who should feed them? Who should care for them? All that day the little squirrels had nothing to eat, and when night came with rain and storm the motherless three were hungry, wet, and cold. The storm grew worse and worse; rain, thunder and lightning were followed by gusts of wind that shook the mightest trees in the forest. A crash came, a dreadful crash. The little squirrels did not know what had happened. They were too frightened to look out of the nest. Little by little it became calm, again the sun rose. The trembling, frightened little ones in the nest looked out. broken the old oak tree; now the top was resting in the hazel bushes. The beautiful fall days passed. Bird after bird stretched its wings, called good-bye to the dear forest, and flew southward. The frogs, grasshoppers, and bees were heard no more. "What does this mean?" asked the squirrels of each other. But one was no wiser than the other. And look at the trees, what is happening to them, such colors, red, yellow, and brown? Some little sparrows were twittering in a branch near by the squirrels' nest. "Do you know what is happening to the forest?" asked the oldest squirrel of the sparrows. "Yes, indeed, that I know," answered one wise little sparrow, and he threw back his head with great importance. "Don't you know? Winter is coming, that is all." The squirrels looked just as puzzled as before. Did they dare to ask again? "But what is that, winter? Tell us, please, kind sparrow." "Oh," said the sparrow, "certainly I will. Soon all the leaves fall off these trees, snow, cold snow, and frost will cover the ground. Oh, it is dreadfully cold, nothing can live here then. We are just getting ready to move to town. Good-bye!" And off were the spar rows. "What shall we do?" asked the squirrels of each other. "We can't fly away, we shall certainly die from cold. If only mother were here, she might know what to do." When the squirrels looked out of their nest the next morning there was white, glistening snow all over the ground. No, they could not understand this. "Are you cold?" asked one. "No, are you?" "No," they all said. What was it? "Oh, how funny and big you look." "So do you," cried the others. And sure enough, each one had a thick, warm fur coat on. Let the frost come, the little squirrels will not mind it. Hints on Teaching Primary Language I. HE writer who expresses himself by means of effects, as far as he can, attains two objects: (a.) He aouses the interest of the reader by exciting the mind to find the cause of the effect given. By thus stimulating the imag ination of the reader he gives pleasure. This is a very important gain. (b.) In the second place, he expresses himself more tersely. He cuts off unnecessary words by "suppressing the obvious." This is another great gain. So we want to suggest some exercises that will have these two objects in view, viz.: (a.) Exercises that will train pupils to express themselves in such a way as to arouse the greatest What was that? Could they believe their own eyes? possible mental activity on the part of the reader or hearer. (b.) Exercises that will train Nuts, thousands of nuts all around! The storm had them to suppress all that is unnecessary to the clear expression of his thought. In the primary grades, let effects be called "hints." This last is a simpler term. Also, let the divisions be indicated as follows: (a.) Hints that tell a happening. (b.) Hints that tell feeling. (c.) Hints that tell the kind of person. But do not try to teach pupils these divisions or definitions of them. The divisions are given for the teacher's use. They will help her to indicate to her pupils what they are to do, and gradually the pupils will learn to use the divisions. SOME LESSONS IN THE FIRST GRADE. The first step. Impress upon children what "hints" are. Not by definitions, but by numerous examples. The following lessons were taken just as they were given to the class. It will be seen that the teacher selected ordinary things which she had lately seen. They were real, they were fresh, they were of the children's environment, and the children were in full sympathy with them. Teacher-"The other day a little boy came to me, and said, 'Will you please cut my apple in two?' What did that tell me about the boy?" Pupils "He was polite." "He wanted to give somebody a piece." Teacher-"When I cut it, one piece was larger than the other. I watched him when he went out. He gave the larger piece to a little boy out there. What hint did that give me?" Pupils "He was good." "He was kind." "He was not selfish." Teacher-"I saw some girls make a play-house of leaves out on the play-ground, and a little boy came along and tore it down. What did that tell me?" Pupils "He was a bad boy." "He was not kind." "He was mean." Teacher-"This morning I saw one girl striking another on the back. She struck her ten times, and then stopped. She counted every stroke. What hint in that?" Pupils "It was the other girl's birthday." "She was ten years old." Teacher-"Yesterday I saw a little boy go up to a large dog, and put his arms about the dog's neck. What did that tell me?" Pupils "The boy loved the dog." "The dog loved the boy." "The boy was kind." Teacher "When the bell rang at noon, a little boy, instead of falling into line in his order as he came, crowded in ahead of a little girl. What did that tell me?" Pupils "He wanted to lead." "He was not polite." "He was selfish." The second step. In such manner the teacher had been drilling the pupils for several weeks. She had also been asking them to interpret the effects in the stories she had read to them. To-day she had given them a story, but had not asked them to interpret the effects. But when she called them to the language class, she said, "You may tell me any 'hints' that you saw in the story this morning, and you may also tell what the 'hint' means." means." The following will illustrate what was wanted and obtained: 1. "The mother made the youngest daughter do all the work. She was selfish. She liked the other daughter better." 2. "The little girl went to the fountain, and a poor old lady came along, and wanted some water to drink. The girl washed out the pitcher, and gave her some. She was neat, for she washed out the pitcher. She was kind, and polite, too." Then the teacher called out effects of mood by saying: "You may give me a 'hint' that tells me how somebody felt." Pupil-"A little girl asked her mother to tell her something to do." Teacher-"She was restless, and did not know what to do with herself." Pupil-"I see a boy leaning over the table with his elbows on the table, and his head on his hands." Teacher-"He is inattentive in class, and I am afraid he is a little lazy." The teacher next called for "hints" that tell the kind of person. Pupil-"I heard a boy calling a girl naughty names." Teacher-"He is not kind, not polite, not a gentle man." Pupil-"I saw two boys striking each other." Teacher-"They were playing." MOST OST of the editorial space for this month has been reserved in order to give publication to the first of what promises to be an excellent series of articles by Mr. J. K. Stableton on "A Study of Boys Entering the Adolescent Period of Life." These articles had not been planned for at the beginning of the year, hence the necessity of making room for them. They cover such a vital period in the child's life and one so generally neglected that I am pleased to be able to present them to the readers of the MONTHLY. Child study has as much of importance to offer to high school teachers as to those of the grades and should receive from them equal, if not greater, attention. Professor Stableton has few if any superiors in interesting boys to complete at least the high school course and to become useful members of society. I believe this study will reveal to us the secret of his success. This and other contributions along the same line will certainly prove suggestive and helpful to teachers in the higher grades who wish to become more efficient in their work. I wish to call the especial attention of reading circles to a couple of articles which appeared in this department last month, the one on "Secret Languages of Children," by Dr. Oscar Chrisman, and the other on "Heredity," by Dr. H. K. Wolfe. These articles represent the beginning of a series to follow later on, and are written by men whose investigations in the field of child study will warrant our placing great weight on their conclusions. The article on "Secret Languages of Children" is full of suggestions and furnishes sufficient material for a profitable meeting. Let this subject be the nucleus for a reminiscence study, bringing to light all the secret languages used · by the people in the community. Many questions will be suggested, such as: Why are secret languages used? How general are they? Can this instinct be turned with profit in the teaching of language? in the teaching of literature? How? ture? How? A report of the meeting, includ ing the secret languages brought out by the study, would be greatly appreciated by Dr. Chrisman, and might be very useful to him in the preparation of future articles. The contribution by Dr. Wolfe on "Heredity" will bear the most careful reading. It is condensed, but nevertheless clear, and gives a fair summary of our present knowledge upon this important subject. We hope to have this article followed by another on the influence and effect of environment. The better we understand and appreciate these two fundamental factors in education the truer will become our methods of instructions. WE should be pleased to receive condensed reports of the various child study meetings and copies of such original studies as might prove helpful to others if published. * * * ALL material for this department should be received by the 10th of the month preceding the date of its publication. Lack of promptness on the part of contributors will necessitate the holding over of their articles until the following month, thus disarranging the plans of the department. THE Woman's Club of Lincoln, Neb., has a large and prosperous child study department under the direction of Dr. Katherine B. Wolfe. Among the subjects offered for discussion dur ing the year are: Parental influence, mental development, period of adolescence, moral nature, and religious training. Such meetings and discussions by the mothers mean better schools. AMONG the letters on my table is an interesting one from Supt. W. H. Sanders of Rensselaer, Ind., in which he says: "We are using the child study department of THE NORTH WESTERN MONTHLY as a basis for child study in our teachers' meetings, and are much interested in the work." This letter is simply one of many showing the increased interest in child study as a topic for teacher's meetings. THE following new books received by this department during the month will be found of interest: 1. The Kindergarten System: Its origin and development as seen in the life of Friedrich Froebel. Translated and adopted from the work of Alexander Bruno Hanschmann for the use of English kindergarten students, by Fanny Franks. Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., London, and C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, N. Y. 253 pp.; $2.00. This is a condensed translation of Hanschmann's Life of Froebel, but contains all that is of value to English readers. 2. The Story of Jean Valjean, from Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. Edited by Sara E. Wiltse, published by Ginn & Co., Boston. 1022 pp.; 90 cts. This book appears under the title Classics for Children, and will be greatly appreciated by teachers of reading and literature in the high schools. While the language is simple, the thought and feeling is too mature for children below the high school. The editor says: "At that age when a youth first begins to feel the dawn of all great possibilities in his soul he will always be strangely stirred by a hero who combines the physical strength of a Sandow, the independence of a Father Jahn, the moral force of a Phillips Brooks into one impres sive personality." This story will certainly arouse the higher emotions of the youth and aid greatly in the development of character. 8. A Working System of Child Study for Schools, by Maximilian P. E. Groszmann, Pd D., late superintendent of the Ethical Culture Schools, New York. C. W. Bardeen, publisher, Syracuse, N. Y. 70 pp.; 50 cts. A very suggestive little book for beginners in this field. 4. The Common School and the New Education, by M. P. E. Groszmann, Pd. D. C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, N. Y. 46 pp.; 25 cts. 5. The Subconscious Self and Its Relation to Education and Health, by Louis Waldstein, M. D. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 171 pp.; $1.25. The book is written in a popular style, and is an attempt to show "that our mental personality is represented by the sum of all the impressions which have been deposited in our memory during our lifetime, impressions which depend primarily, as has been indicated at the outset, upon peculiarities of organic structure performed in us." 6. Seeing and Doing: A Manual of Drawing, by Miss Gertrude A. Stoker, special teacher of drawing in the public schools of St. Paul, Minn. St. Paul Book & Stationery Co., publishers. 55 pp.; 30 cts. Miss Stoker claims to have founded her method upon psychological principles, beginning drawing as a means of expression, placing practice before theory, drawing from nature before copying from models. 7. Studies in Psychology. University of Iowa. Vol. I. Edited by Geo. T. W. Patrick, Ph. D., professor of philosophy, and J. Allen Gilbert, Ph. D., assistant professor of psychology. 70 pp.; 50 cts. Among the valuable studies which this volume contains are: Researches upon School Children and College Students; The Effects of Loss of Sleep; Effects of Practice in Reaction and Discrimination for Sound, etc.; Fatigue in School Children; Right- and Left-handedness. Kindergarten and Child Study T is doubtful if there was ever a reformer in religion or education whose work did not suffer sooner or later in some degree from ardent followers who miss the spirit in their strict following of the letter of a leader. We have heard the complaint from east and west that kindergartners are the most conservative of all teachers in the late effort to understand child life through observation of children instead of by books about them. Richter long ago said: "A diary about an ordinary child would be much better than a book upon children by an ordinary writer." It is well known that Froebel found the material of his Mother-play book in studying the current songs and baby plays among the common people by the fireside and cradle. We knew the charm of pat-a-cake before the Mutter und Kose-Lieder was compiled, but there are a few kindergartners who would not have a woman hold her baby without the last translation and commentary on Froebel in her hand. I would not detract from the value of that which Froebel gave to the world, but I would plead with kindergartners everywhere to observe the children themselves two hours and study Froebel one hour, remembering that advances have been made in physiological psychology and biology that must modify some of the details of kindergarten methods, or the kindergarten will suffer as much from bigotry as any religion ever did. German children are not to give us a basis of knowledge of child life; it would be as absurd |