lace industry, of prohibiting laws, of the Patron Saint and of the quaint and curious costumes worn by workers and of their centuries old customs, as well as peculiarities of customs, that make him familiar with the uttermost parts of the earth.

There is another thing about the geographical doll worth considering. Fashions from Paris and Berlin are crowding national costumes of the world to such an extent that it makes the artistic and judicious grieve. The children learn to know a country by the costumes of its people. Holland instead of being a land of canals and wind-mills only, is found to be the home of children who wear wooden shoes, and of women whose heads are adorned with the queerest headgear that it is possible for human ingenuity to invent save, perhaps, the hats of Corean men. History, far away history, the Thirty Years War, and the disasters of a flood when a dyke breaks, he learns of these when he studies of the canals, but, oh! the legends and folklore he unearths when he begins to study the origin of the multitudinous petticoats and head covering the women wear, and the voluminous trousers of the men, their pipes, and their quaint silver buttons.

Switzerland will become something besides a mountainous region, filled with hotels for the benefit of the tourist; it will be a wonderful little Republic, bounded on every side by a monarchy and inhabited by an honest and industrious people, who still wear the peasant costume with grace and dignity. The child will wish to know why the Berne maidens wear chains on the corsages, why the special cut and material buttons and feathers, why the curious coiffure, why the queer little knob on the straw hat, etc.

The teacher will have to describe and explain the gorgeous velvet costumes of the Spanish men, and why the women wear large mantillas, and why in the Canary Islands the mantillas are made of soft, white cashmere, instead of black lace or other material, and why white is the color of mourning in the Orient.

One of the most interesting bits of history will be the origin and use of the faldetta, the huge black silk hood worn by the women of Malta, which covers the head and all of the face but the eyes.

In an article published in a late number of the Medical Record, a physician of wide experience speaks of a class of

A Story Picture

girls, which is larger than the casual observer would believe, because without thinking much about it, the casual observer and many another is possessed of the firm conviction that mother-love is inherent in the heart of every girl child.

Here is what the doctor says concerning a well-defined group of girls:

"They have all the 'ear marks' and every other mark of an 'old maid.' I dislike extremely that term, but I use it to bring to your mind a psycho-physiological portrait wellknown to those who have studied the young. Almost of necessity, and without exception, they are destined to become 'old maids' not 'bachelor girls,' that variety of genus homo, without whom life were hardly worth the living, and whose royal generous mother hearts (mothers in every sense save in the physical definition), do more than their share in caring for and educating the little children of the world. These 'old maid' children, undernourished, overstrung, nervous, dyspeptic, cranky; these little neurasthenic bundles of suffering humanity ought to have our kindliest sympathy and our most skillful care. Now, how can you better practise preventive medicine, as it were, prevent neurasthenia, than by bringing these little girls' physiology up to the normal standard?

"We must embrace the opportunity to produce a psychic effect of great value in our little girl, by encouraging her to nurse her tiny imaginary child. I said 'imaginary child.' Do not give her a cold china-headed doll, nor one of those celluloid fetuses, nor even her rag baby; there is no possible opportunity for imagination with them. Let the mother make a long, narrow fold of a soft Turkish towel, warm it thoroughly, especially the double end; that will represent in the little girls' imagination, the baby's head, and then place the warm towel inside the night-robe against the little girl's breast, and tell her to nurse her baby, and then go to sleep. Go away, now, and leave the little girl to her own thoughts."

The dolls of commerce, arrayed in the picturesque costumes of foreign countries, represent specific personages, and convey to the child mind characteristics of manners, costumes and customs, that it would be impossible to convey by oral teaching, or even by pictures. Costumes take on value that fashion never possessed; foreign coinage and exchange on moneys are quickly learned by sending dolls on trips through

various countries; indeed the rudiments of foreign languages might be learned in this way, almost without effort.

Do not confound these geographical dolls with the everyday toys of children, for when playing by themselves, the little ones seldom care for these dolls. It is well that they do not, as the manikins would lose much of their educational value and attractiveness if they were given over wholly to play.

The object of this article is to impress upon its readers the value and necessity for Doll Museums in this country. The Board of Education in every city should become possessed of a collection of native and foreign dolls, for the use of primary schools. Throughout the length and breadth of our land there should be a cordon of them established.

If the expense is thought to be too great at first, they could easily be established on a lending basis-like the traveling libraries - each one devoted to a certain country or period, and exchanging with other museums at specified times. Details are of minor importance, and could be satisfactorily arranged and altered at any time; the main point is to establish the museums, or to start with a few specimens a doll collection, that will grow enormously with comparatively little effort.

Primary Studies in Poetry

ANNA WILDMAN Christmas Times

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In the hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads,
And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap-
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old fellow so lively and quick

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled and shouted and called them by name.
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer! now, Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Bilxen!
To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall,
Now, dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky,
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each tiny hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.

His eyes
- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all his stockings- then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside, of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle;
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

-Clement C. Moore

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

Where was this house to which the visit of St. Nicholas is described? Was it in town or country? What kind of house was it large or small? Of what was it built-brick, wood, or stone? How do we know whether or not it had a porch? How many stories high was the house? How many rooms were on the first floor? How many were on the second? Draw a plan of the second floor. Draw a plan of the room in which the father and mother slept. Imagine that you are standing in this room and tell all that you see. Draw a picture of one of the windows. Draw a picture of the fire-place, with the stockings hanging beside it.

What were the only sounds to be heard in the quiet house on the night before Christmas? What sounds could be heard outside before the arrival of St. Nicholas?

How many children were there in this family? Give their names and ages and describe each. Write a story in which you tell what each child was dreaming on this Christmas Eve. What kind of man was the children's father? Describe their mother.

Was the night clear or cloudy? How do you know? How did the air feel-cool or very cold? When had snow fallen? How deep was it? Was it hard or soft? Where was it besides on the ground?

How large was the lawn? Were there many trees on it? How did they look in the moonlight? Draw either a plan or a picture of the lawn?

What kind of clatter (1. 9) did the father hear? What is the meaning of lustre (1. 14)? Of miniature (1. 16)? How large was the sleigh? About how large were the reindeer? Describe them.

Can eagles fly fast? Why had St. Nicholas named one of his reindeer Comet? Why was one called Cupid? What do Donder and Blixen mean? (Thunder and Lightning.) What is a hurricane (1. 25)? Give the meaning of obstacle (1. 26).

About how tall was St. Nicholas? Of what color was the fur in which he was dressed? How did it feel to the touch? How did the "ashes and soot" change the color of his clothes? What color were his eyes? Can you smell the smoke from his pipe? What toys did St. Nicholas put into each stocking? Were these what the children had wished for? How did St. Nicholas know what to bring them? Draw a picture of the stockings as they looked after being filled.

Show how thistledown flies (1. 52). Where did St. Nicholas go? Write a story telling about his visit to another home. Learn this poem for recitation.

From a New Angle III

A Talk on Language

(Continued)

Rorlund "Allow me to ask what you will do in our society?" Lona "I will let in fresh air, Pastor."

N

-Ibsen's "Pillars of Society"

WOW," began the teacher, turning over several more pages in her wonder-book, "we have reached the subject of stories and that is the place in the work where I used to meet with the most sorrow of soul. I can't begin to tell you how many scores of hours and pounds of nervous energy I once wasted in puzzling over the discrepancy between my ideals of accomplishment and the results I actually succeeded in getting. It seemed to go steadily from bad to worse and I was beginning to think that the list of my specialties, to put it charitably, surely did not include the teaching of primary language, when a chance bit of eavesdropping set me to doing some thinking of my own, and eventually saved the day for No. 2, Evergreen Building."

The visitor leaned forward eagerly. She wanted to hear the bit of eavesdropping and what she could gather of that "thinking of my own," for, all unconfessed to others, the work in story-telling had always been the bugbear of her teaching career. The teacher noticed her deep interest, smiled appreciatively and hurried on.

"One Friday evening, after an unusually hard and 'upset' week, I went with a friend of mine to hear a literary program given by a certain society of a neighboring college. Among the numbers offered was an impromptu speech and the speaker chose a rather deep psychological subject, giving us a talk on the 'Dual Personality.' At the close of the program, my friend lingered a moment to speak to several friends who were present. Just before we went home, I had my attention attracted to a short conversation carried on just behind me. I think I can quote it word for word, for it was something said in the course of this little talk that gave me the new point of view that I had always needed and that never had been brought to my attention.

"The first voice, a girl's, spoke suddenly and almost right into my ear, "That was a fine speech of yours, this evening, Mr. A.' The answer to this came in a voice that I recognized at once as the voice of the young man who had made the impromptu speech. Thanks,' he said, 'I am glad that you enjoyed it, but I am afraid that I chose a rather deep subject for an "open" meeting. Did you feel that?'

"Not in the least,' the first speaker assured him. 'You talked so fluently and gave the points in such an interesting way that I did not think at all about the difficulty of your subject.'

"Well, as to that,' and the young man laughed a little reminiscently, 'I don't see how I could have talked in any other way, than I did, especially on that topic. You see, I have been interested in that line of things for several weeks. I can't tell you when any subject in any branch has attracted me more. In fact, I have spent all my spare time for three or four weeks in reading up interesting things on "Personality." When you are as taken up with a subject as all that, it is the most natural thing in the world to talk about it. I am so full of that subject that it is a relief to get a chance to give it to somebody else.'

"Moral,' said the girl, 'keep yourself eternally interested to the limit, in some subject and then the impromptu talks, required at odd moments in Clio Society, will cease to be a fear and a torment,' and they both moved away.

"When you are as taken up with a subject as all that, it is the most natural thing in the world to talk about it.' Somehow that sentence stayed with me and the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to throw new light upon the solution of my language problems. In thinking it all out, I remembered some very 'illuminating things.' One was the fact that the language work did not "take a slump" until about the middle of the year. As I ran over in my mind the list of the longer stories that I always dreaded as laborious 'grinds' there suddenly dawned upon my mind the reason why they were so hard to teach. Of course, that was easy to see now. Things were much less difficult in the fall, because the children were always so full of interest. This last fact was not hard to explain and that explanation gave me the first hint to work by. Every primary teacher knows that the work during the first month of a primary-school year is carefully planned so that there will be the smallest possible gap between what the children do at home and what they will be asked to do at school. We always talk of home and home folks and plays and pets because that is what the children of primary age are most deeply interested in. What primary teacher has not been fairly enraptured by the spontaneity and enthusiasm with which little beginners always tell their thoughts on anything they know something about! My problem had now resolved itself into this How was I to fill my little people so full of interest in one and all of the subjects that came under the language work, that they would speak right out of their enthusiasm and do it with enjoyment? Then there was the gradation of the work that must

be planned out, step by step, with one end in view and that end, of course, the conservation, not of energy, but of interest." "I have already given you the work for the first months. Now there remained the important task of making the transition from the work on descriptions of objects to that of narration. After a little close thinking, I originated some new games that helped us wonderfully, so much so, that I have used them ever since. Take them if you care to do so."

The visitor then took down the first one of the devices which the teacher called her "Riddle Games." The initial step was much like the plan used before. The pupil selected described one of the pictures in the room and the others pointed it out from the description. After this became easy to do, a chosen boy or girl described the appearance, that is, personal features and clothing, of some child in the room and the other pupils found the child described from the details given. This was varied by combining it with a few features of the old game of "policeman." It was played in this manner:

Select six or seven children and stand them in a row out in the front of the room, where they may be very clearly seen by the other little folks. Have the children in their seats look very closely while the teacher counts ten, after which the line of pupils passes out into the hall. Select two children, one for the policeman and one for the parent who is seeking the lost child. The last named pupil approaches the policeman and says, "I am hunting for a very small girl with blue eyes and brown hair, braided into two long braids. She wore blue hair ribbons and a blue and white woolen dress trimmed with small blue and white buttons. Her shoes and stockings were brown, etc." At the close of this description, the policeman goes out into the hall and brings in the lost child, identified by means of the detailed description. "After a while," said the teacher, "shorten the observation time by limiting the count to eight, then six, and lastly four."

The next step or change of the "Riddle Game" took up the common domestic animals. Here was the first attempt of the children in describing something not directly before. them. A child, either alone or one of a line of several pupils, gave his riddle in this manner: "I am a small animal. My body is long and rather slender. I have a black, smooth, silky coat, a long tail and two bright eyes as yellow as gold. I have four feet with long curved claws, hidden away at the end of each toe. I catch mice and love to drink milk. I make two sounds. I can purr and mew. What is my name?" The pupil who guesses the name correctly in turn becomes the impersonator and so the game is carried on -"and," admonished the teacher in giving her final word of instruction in relation to this device, "if the pupils are not checked, they will act out the movements of the animal and even attempt to imitate its cry. Better than this, they will often surprise you with the number of close observations they have made and especially so in relation to the habits of animals and birds. They will tell you just how the squirrel sat when they saw him eat an acorn one day, and illustrate the description with all the gravity in the world. The freer they are in playing, the greater will be the results and their enjoyment in this game, which is almost always the favorite

one."

The "Animal Game" was varied by substituting the wild for the tame animals. This, so the teacher testified, was always intensely interesting, especially to the first-grade boys. The children, who had not seen very many of the circus wild animals, were often helped out by using good animal pictures, first, giving descriptions with the picture before them, and last, giving the same details with the pictures removed.

During the months of October and November, the riddles were changed and became "vegetable riddles," the children giving them in this way. "I am a vegetable. I am bright red and grow on a big green vine. The vine is propped up with sticks when I begin to grow large and heavy. I am made of thin skin, a fleshy, red pulp and many seeds floating about in clear juice. I am boiled, scalloped or made into soup. What am I?" Here, too, so the teacher warned, the children would actually go through the motions of preparing and cooking the vegetables, that is, if the school-room atmosphere were free enough to eliminate all sense of restraint. After the vegetables had served their turn, fruit was substituted and the fun went merrily on. Even after this stage of the

work was past, the children always enjoyed going back at times to the old, much-loved "Riddle Games." During the winter, they asked their riddles, using trees and hot-house flowers as subjects. Later on in the spring the wild flowers were introduced into the work.

After the riddles, the teacher explained her "Trade Game." This was an advance step, since it brought in the greater use of imagination while it still utilized the old ideas of guessing. The children were told to choose a trade and then they were called upon, one at a time, to describe their work. The form of this description was as follows. "My name is Mr. Brown. I have a little shop down town. I work with a leather apron tied about my waist. My tools are sharp, curved needles, waxed thread, small wooden pegs and a neat little hammer that goes 'rap-a-tap-tap.' What am I?" Answer. "You are a shoemaker." Here again, it was the natural and general thing for the children to accompany their description by making the motions that illustrated it.

"There is one more much-used game in here," the teacher went on, closing her book, "but it had best come in later, that is, after we have considered the story-telling a little further. The stories, especially those presented in the first primary, ought to be chosen most carefully. In the beginning, they should be very short and full of action. A story that is suitable for this work, must fairly bristle with verbs. That is why it is such a good plan to begin with the fables." "Which ones?" came the eager question and in reply the teacher named the following:

"These, as you see," remarked the speaker, "can be very effectively carried out into action. My experience and observation both have taught me to believe that the children who make the best story-tellers are those who really see the events described as clearly as if they were actually taking place before them. It is much easier to visualize an action than a person, who is brought before the mind, detail by detail. This is also the reason that the stories should be short. It is far less of a task to picture a short train of events than a prolonged course of action; therefore we ought, by all means, to teach very brief stories just at first.

"Oh, yes, and here is another pet idea of mine. When the little people have learned three or four fables, it is great fun to have them acted out in pantomime. Carry the whole story through to the end and then ask those who have not been participating in the acting to tell which fable it is. Sometimes we have selected our actors and had the story illustrated, step by step, just as it was told. In employing this device, a backward pupil will often be so carried away with his interest in the little drama, that he will surprise you by the smoothness and fluency of his story-telling. The use of the pantomime guessing game is of inestimable value to pupils who are not especially gifted with imagination, since it is much less difficult to bring before the mind something that has been there before, and in the case of boys and girls of this type, you have, by this bit of dramatizing, furnished a stock of remembered pictures upon which the pupil may draw at need. The fables are one continuous round of events and the movement centers about familiar things. The needs of the child-nature are satisfied by the swift, decisive action, for children do love to have 'something happen.""

"When the fables have had their day, what then?" and the visitor reminded the teacher that it was getting late.

"Then it is time for the story with the refrain," was the quick answer. "You have heard about this before, I am sure, and, if you have ever taught primary children, you understand just how much they love to say the same thing over and over again. Every teacher knows the list of these stories from the 'Little Red Hen' to the "Three Bears,' and not forgetting 'Chicken Little,' in which the little tots fairly revel.

"The 'Nature Myths' should properly come in next," the speaker hurried on, "but experience has shown me that the jump from the refrain-story to the more abstract nature

myth is too large and, just here, we use our 'Imagination Game' to bridge over the chasm. This device is the pride of my heart so listen! I begin it by passing solemnly about the room and touching walls, doors, desks and various objects. I say, very impressively, pointing perhaps at a door, "This is the gate to the park.' Then I touch a row of desks and inform the interested children, 'Here is a row of trees, and,' touching the next row of desks, 'this is the other row, on the opposite side of the road.' Then I look upward and say, 'I can only see tiny glimpses of the blue sky, because the branches meet and form a roof over my head. This is the lake,' I go on, indicating a certain expanse of the schoolroom floor, 'and this is a park seat.' Before I finish, the window stick has become a beautiful oak tree, casting its ripe acorns, the kindergarten table has turned into the park pavilion and the hall has taken on all of the pretty features. of a rustic arbor. Then I begin the real train of events. I enter the door, step into the hall and pause a moment, go slowly up the aisle between the two rows of desks, seat myself for a time on the bench before the 'lake' and then go over to the corner under the oak tree, where I gather two hands full of acorns. As soon as I am through there are plenty of little people both eager and willing to tell me what I have been doing. They give me accounts of my actions in a surprisingly smooth and unconscious manner and then they take the game into their own hands. At first, they imitate my method of procedure almost exactly, but as time goes on, the originality of the different children displays itself in many quaint and amusing ways. For instance, a boy seated himself upon a bench one day, and then suddenly screamed and jumped up to inform us that a toad hopped out from under the seat and almost scared him to death. Another child walked over to a certain little girl's desk, rapped on the top of it and when the occupant, entering at once into the spirit of the thing, said, 'Come in,' he removed his hat, stepped a trifle nearer and asked the little girl if she would like to go to the park. At this, a prolonged conversation occurred between the little girl, a very imaginative child, and her supposed mother. Of course the child in her seat did the talking for both parties. At last she turned to the waiting boy with, 'All right, mother says that I can go,' and the two started gaily off together. You may be sure that before their excursion came to an end, they enjoyed a large number of remarkable adventures. During the time that we use this game, our school-room becomes a great number of things. It is the woods and we watch a large nutting party at its operations, or it is a farm, with a number of most realistic animals all carrying out their respective activities in a very trueto-life fashion. Sometimes it is the post-office or the grocery store or the meat market. As it suffers these rapid, kaleidoscopic changes, our little imaginations develop by leaps and bounds until we are ready to enter into the fanciful atmosphere of the nature stories. In the meantime, is the Language period an interesting part of the day's work or no? All that needs to be done, in order to settle that question, is to drop into our room, when we are watching some lost child wandering about in the midst of a large enchanted forest and our hearts are fluttering with anxiety lest she fail to find the way out. In a moment you would see the reason why my boys and girls, all 'like Language.""

While Stars of Christmas Shine While stars of Christmas shine, Lighting the skies,

Let only loving looks

Beam from our eyes.

While bells of Christmas ring,
Joyous and clear,
Speak only happy words,
All love and cheer.

Give only loving gifts,
And in love take;

Gladden the poor and sad

For love's dear sake.-Sel.

Nature Study Excursions in the Primary Grades

December

The snow had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night
Had been heaping field and highway
With a silence deep and white.

Every pine and fir and hemlock
Wore ermine too dear for an earl,
And the poorest twig on the elm tree
Was ridged inch deep with pearl.
-Lowell

December is one of the happiest months for the children, for it brings to them Christmas and the Christmas tree. How many children there are and grown people, too, who do not know the name of this tree which helps so much to brighten the festal season! Yet how the children love it and all other trees of the evergreen variety! So while the interest is keen and there are so few living things in the out-of-doors, December presents an ideal time for studying trees of the conebearing type. Almost every town has several varieties of these trees; but the teacher will have to look them up before planning her lessons. Only three weeks are planned, because of the Christmas vacation.

First Week

Topic Evergreen Trees

Type Pine and Spruce.

First Excursion

Before taking the children out for their morning walk, talk a little about Christmas and the tree. Have the children tell about different trees they have had. How do the evergreen trees differ from other trees they know? When there is time tell the children: "Why the Evergreen Trees Keep their Leaves all Winter" in "How to Tell Stories to Children," by Sara Cone Bryant.

When out-of-doors, take quite a long walk, and see how many different kinds of evergreen trees may be seen. Notice the variance in length of needle. If there is no snow on the ground, gather cones to be classified in the same way as were the oaks.

Second Excursion

The long

Topic The White Pine, or any species of pine. This is one of our most beautiful evergreens. slender needles look like really tiny darning needles. Count the number of needles in a package. The cones make one think of another kind of cone which the children like in summer? What is it? What birds like this tree? Notice the scaly bark. What do you notice coming out from it? What do we call this? Do you think you could make maple sugar of this? Do you know what its use is? Explain how the pitch is gathered and converted into tar, rosin, and turpentine. Show samples of these different articles when you return to the school.