Montessori Elementary Materials - English Restoration --- # Chapter 20 - Appendix II ## APPENDIX II ### SUMMARY OF THE LECTURES ON PEDAGOGY DELIVERED IN HOME AT THE *SCUOLA MAGISTRALE ORTOFRENICA* IN 1900 This appendix contains a summary of a few of my lectures delivered in 1900 in the Scuola Magistrate Ortofrenica in Rome and published in pamphlet form for the benefit of the teacher-students who were attending that course. A number of distinguished physicians were at the same time lecturing in the school on various subjects—such as Psychology, Esthesiology, Anatomy of the Nerve Centres, etc. I had reserved for myself the teaching, or rather the development, of a special pedagogy for defective children, along the lines previously laid down by Itard and Séguin. In the summary of these old lectures of mine are included some of my experiments with certain subjects taught in the elementary grades. They show that the origin of my present work with older children is to be sought in my teaching of defectives. I still possess, as documentary relics of this course, a hundred copies of a pamphlet entitled: *Riassunte delle lezioni di didattica della Profssa Montessori, anno 1900, Stab. Lit. Romano, via Frattina 62, Roma.* More than three hundred teachers followed my course, and are able to bear witness to the work done there. I republish the following excerpts not because I consider my work so important as to merit the preservation of\[424\] all the documents touching on its origin, but to prevent the giving of undue prominence to those remnants of my earlier attempts and studies which are still to be found in the Scuola Magistrale Ortofrenica in Rome. > "The child should be led from the education of the muscular system to that of the nervous end sensory systems; from the education of the senses to concepts; from concepts to general ideas; from general ideas to morality. This is the educational method of Séguin." > > However, before we begin education, we must prepare the child to receive it by another education which is to-day regarded as of the very first importance. This preparatory education is the foundation on which all subsequent education must be based, and the success we obtain in it will determine the success of our subsequent efforts. by preparatory education I here mean *hygienic education*, which in defective children sometimes includes medical treatment. That is why the educational method for defectives is sometimes described as *medico-pedagogical*. > > Those who realize that importance of feeling and internal sensation in education will understand that the bodily organism must function properly in order to respond to our educational efforts. We must preserve good health where good health exists: we must restore it where it is lacking. > > We are therefore under strict obligation to pay close attention to nutrition and to the condition of the vital organs. Every one is aware of the close relation existing between general sensibility and morality. Criminals and prostitutes show very scant sensitiveness to pain and to tactile stimuli. The same situation is frequently apparent in defectives; hence the necessity of restoring the tactile sense with adequate attention to hygiene. > > We cannot educate the muscles to perform a given coordinate movement if they have lost their power of functioning (as in paresis, etc.). Education, properly so-called, must be preceded by a medical treatment to restore the muscles, if possible, to good health. \[425\] It will be impossible to educate, for example, the sense of hearing, if some pathological situation has produced partial deafness. We cannot educate the sense of smell if the excessive excretion of mucus prevents external stimuli from acting on the ends of the sensory nerves. Obviously, we need a medical treatment to remove these diseased conditions. ### MEDICAL EDUCATION > *General baths:* When not too prolonged they develop the sensibility of the nervous papillæ. They give tone to the cellular and muscular tissues, especially to the skin. > > *Hot and cold baths* given alternately are a powerful educational instrument in attracting the attention of a child to his external environment. > > *Local hot baths* may be given to areas deficient in sensibility. For instance, try bathing the hands if tactile education proves impossible, or bathe the feet if the defect in standing upright or in walking comes from the insensitiveness of the soles. > > *Local cold baths:* Given to the head while the patient is entirely covered in warm water are a tonic to the scalp; they facilitate the knitting of the bones of the skull and the formation of wormian bones, preventing also cerebral congestion. They stimulate and regularize the cerebral circulation. Such baths are particularly useful for hydro-cephalics and micro-cephalics, but all patients are benefited by such baths, which are the most generally useful of all. > > *Steam baths* develop perspiration which at times is completely absent or partial in defectives, causing serious physical disturbances. These baths, furthermore, predispose the nerve ends to the most intense sensitiveness. > > Such baths are, however, not to be used on epileptics or on children suffering from rickets, weak circulation or general debility. > > In general, *local steam baths* are used especially for hands and feet, and also for the tongue. > > *General cold baths* are used in cases of super-excitation, motor-hyperactivity, excessive sensitiveness to pain and touch. These baths must be accompanied by constant cold lotions on the head. > > Baths may be accompanied, with good results, by *massage* and *rubbing*. > > *Rubbings* may be given dry or with water, alcohol, aromatic creams or ointments. > > Local rubbings may be applied: (a) *To the spine*, carefully avoiding the lumbar region so as not to excite the sexual sensibilities. Dry rubbings should be made with a piece of flannel and continued until the skin reddens. They are especially useful after hot baths followed by cold douches. (b) *To the chest* to stimulate respiration. (c)\[426\] *To the abdomen* to correct various internal disorders (here, however, massage is more efficacious). (d) *To the joints* (rubbings with aromatic creams and with alcohol are very effective). > > A brief rubbing with alcohol or creams can be followed with good effect by massage in the case of abdomen and joints. Massage on the abdomen stimulates circulation in the intestines and intensifies and regularizes the movements of the muscular walls. > > Massage has a surprising effect on the muscles of the joints; it shocks the muscular fibers in their innermost parts and sets them in motion; it regularizes the functioning of the muscles by reducing excessive contraction and restoring deficient contractibility. Emaciated muscles are regenerated, the muscular bulk is vigorously augmented, while the fat tissues are absorbed. > > The repetition several times a day of bathing, rubbing and massage has produced real miracles of physical regeneration. ### FEEDING > Intestinal disturbances have a direct influence on the functional power of the central nervous system. They merit, therefore, special consideration. For in defectives an intestinal inflammation may produce symptoms of meningitis, and a disorder in digestion even unattended by fever may occasionally give rise to convulsions. > > The hygiene of feeding which is almost the same as that for normal children must therefore be rigorously observed. > > The general rule is list the children should have regular meals and be allowed nothing whatever to eat between meals. It is commonly believed that a piece of candy or a bit of fruit given between meals has no bad effect. This is a common error of many mothers, who by allowing such slight irregularities in diet, become the unwitting cause of serious illnesses in their children. When we say that children should be fed at mealtimes, we mean that *nothing* should be given them *except* at meal times; nothing, not even the most innocent confection; not a crumb of bread, not a drop of milk. This severity has the quantity and quality of food allowed in each. > > *Number:* For children between 2 and 7 years: 4 meals a day; for children between 8 and 14 years: 3 meals a day.\[427\] These meals should be at regular hours, and followed without exception by a period of mental rest, which must be provided for in making up the daily program of lessons. > > We need special researches as to what type of activity may be allowed children during digestion and what organs may be active without damage to the child while the stomach is taxed with the labor of digestion. A few things are clear. The children should be sent out of closed rooms where their play raises more or less dust, and kept in well-ventilated places, if possible, in a garden or in a woods well supplied with aromatic trees. The best thing a child can do immediately after a meal is to take a short walk in the open air without much exertion. > > *Quantity:* In the case of children between 2 and 7 years of age, there should be two full meals and two luncheons. After the age of 7 there should be one lunch and two full meals. We cannot be more specific. > > *Quality:* In the case of defectives it would be useful for the doctor to order a diet day by day after having examined the diaries of the nurses as is done in hospitals. For it may be possible to introduce into the food elements which constitute an actual cure for certain diseased conditions and preventives of certain kinds of attacks. In food we should realize the distinctions between the elements which build tissues—true food substances, and others whose function is purely stimulatory—alcohol, coffee, tea, etc., which should be used only occasionally. > > Among the food substances properly so-called are the albuminoids (proteins), fats, and carbo-hydrates (sugars, starches, wheat and potato flours, etc.). The fats are the least digestible foods, but they produce the greatest number of calories. > > The proportion of the different elements in the food should be determined by the amount of albumin, which constitutes the real food element. Albumin is of both vegetable and animal origin. Its animal forms are more nutritious, more easily digestible, and products more calories than the vegetable forms. The foods which produce animal-albumin are milk, eggs, and meats. Vegetables themselves furnish what is known as vegetable-albumin. Children up to 8 years of age are supplied usually with the following albuminous foods: eggs, milk and\[428\] vegetables. For children between 6 and 8: eggs, milk, fish and vegetables may be provided. Older children may be given chicken, veal, and finally beef. > > Though for normal children a restricted meat diet is desirable, in the case of defectives a rich supply of meat as well as of albuminoids in general is to be sought. Their treatment resembles that of weak convalescent patients whose strength is to be restored. The meats best adapted to such children are those containing large amounts of mucilaginous substances and sugar (veal, lamb and young animals in general). Vegetable *purées*, fat gravies, butter, etc., are to be recommended in these cases. > > For *nervous children*, fats, oils, acids, and flours should be avoided. > > For *apathetic children*, who experience difficulty in digestion, tonics and rich seasonings should be used, such as spices, which have come to be almost excluded from ordinary cooking, especially for children. Spices may well be restored to the diet of institutions for defectives, since they have the additional advantage of permitting mixture with irons, of which they neutralize the taste. > > Questions of food depend largely upon the individual condition of the children. The important thing is to avoid "the school ration." This is all the more true of beverages. > > *Beverages:* While stimulants are usually to be excluded from the diet of normal children of 7 or under, it is often desirable to introduce tea, coffee, etc., into the meals of defectives. This should be done, however, only in the daily diets ordered by the physician for individuals. > > *Nervous children* should be restricted to milk and water for their meals with some moderately sweet drink (orange juice, weak lemonade, etc.) after eating. > > *Apathetics*, showing atonic digestion, may have coffee either before eating or during their meals. > > Special education is necessary to accustom the children to complete mastication. Such practice in the use of the organs of mastication assists also in the later development of speech. > > \[429\] ### EXCRETION > Among the physiological irregularities that appear among children special importance attaches to excretions. > > *Defecation:* Among defectives especially, so-called "dirty children" are often so numerous that special sections have to be made for them in institutions. Such children show involuntary losses of fæces and urine, as in the case of infants. Most frequently the defecations are of liquid consistency though sometimes the reverse is true. Our remedial effort should be in two directions: we should try to regularize the operation of the intestines by giving solidity to the excretions; secondly, we should endeavor to strengthen the sphincter muscles. > > A strict observance of the diet hygiene outlined above, especially as concerns regularity of meals and mastication of food, will assist in the attainment of the first object. We should try in addition to regularize defecation by stimulating it at regular intervals (to be gradually increased in length) through light massages and hot rubbings on the abdomen. > > To strengthen the sphincters general tonics (iron, strychnine), and local tonics (such as cold "sitz-baths," cold showers and electric baths) may be used. Suppositories may also be used to advantage in stimulating sphincter contractions and accustoming the muscles to constrictive action. > > *Urine:* some defectives show involuntary loss of urine, especially at night, up to very advanced ages. Epileptics are particularly predisposed to this. The treatment is analogous to that just described. Beverages should be carefully supervised. Diuretics and excessive drinking in general should be avoided. > > *General recommendations:* Local baths, and rigorous cleanliness to avoid any stimulus to onanism. > > Education can do much in the treatment of this situation. Urination should be regularly suggested to the child before he goes to bed and when he wakes in the morning. In special cases it might be well to waken the child once or twice during the night for the same purpose. This defect is often associated in a child with some abnormality in the phenomena of perspiration. > > *Perspiration:* The sweat has almost the same composition as\[430\] urine, and perspiration is a process supplementary to the action of the kidneys. It has been observed that often in defective children perspiration is either entirely lacking or limited to certain areas (the palms of the hands, the nose, etc.). It is absolutely necessary to stimulate and regularize perspiration over the whole surface of the body. This may be done by hot and steam baths, by dry rubs with flannels (long sustained if necessary), by woolen garments constantly worn next to the skin, and other similar mechanical devices. We must, however, absolutely avoid the use of special diaphoretic drugs, which often bring about a fatal weakening of the organs of perspiration. The treatments we have suggested above are, first of all, harmless, but besides they contribute to the general toning and sensitizing of the skin. > > *Nasal mucus and tears:* Tears are often lacking in defectives. On the other hand nasal excretion is very abundant and replaces the tears, which are often so rare that some children reach a relatively advanced age without having wept. In such cases there is a predisposition to certain diseases of the eyes; and excessive nasal excretion prevents the functioning of the olfactory organs. > > For this we recommend inhaling of hot vapors and of fragrant irritants, which correct the excessive excretion of mucus and exercise the olfactory sense. Usually the regular secretion of tears follows as a matter of course. > > *Saliva:* One of the most unpleasant abnormalities in defectives is the continuous loss of saliva from "hanging lips." But the effects are not only unesthetic. The continuous over-excretion of saliva makes the inner organs of the mouth flabby and swollen. The tongue and the organs of speech in general gradually lose their contractive power, and articulation is ultimately rendered impossible. Taste and tactile ability often disappear altogether. Mastication becomes difficult and deglutition irregular. The secondary effects on the digestive organs are bad. We possess a variety of efficient curatives and educational treatments for this defect: *first*, general tonics; *second*, local cold douches on the lip muscles, electric massage of the lips; *third*, the use of licorice sticks, large at first but gradually reducing in diameter, to be introduced between the lips to stimulate\[431\] the sucking activity and the exercise of the contractive muscles. This will ultimately give the necessary muscular tone. The lips of the child should be closed mechanically from time to time to force him to swallow the saliva and to create the habit of deglutition. ### CLOTHING AND ENVIRONMENT > The principles of hygiene must be extended to the dress of the child and to the environment in which it lives. > > *Clothing:* The child's clothes should be so made as to be easily put on and off. They should not hinder normal functioning of the body (breathing). They should afford no opportunity for dangerous vices (onanism). If the child can dress and undress without difficulty, it will learn the more readily to look after itself even in those little necessities of daily life where partial undressing is necessary. Special attention should be given to stockings, which affect the development of sensitiveness in the soles of the feet and also concern the process of learning to walk. > > *Environment:* Just a few reminders: for defectives perfect ventilation of course; but the walls and furniture should be upholstered in the case of impulsive defectives or of defectives who do not know how to walk. There is danger in furniture with sharp projections and in toys which may be thrown about. A "child's room," the luxury of which consists in it hygienic location, its elastic walls, and its very emptiness, is the best gift a rich family can make to the education of a defective child. ### MUSCULAR EDUCATION > Muscular education has for its object the bringing of the individual to some labor useful for society. This labor must always be executed by means of the muscles, whether it be manual labor, speaking or writing. In a word, the intelligence must subject the muscles to its own purposes and, that the muscles may be equipped for such obedience, it is necessary to prepare them by some education which will reduce them to coordination. Muscular education in defectives accordingly has for its object the stimulation and coordination of useful movements. > > \[432\] > > It prepares: for exercise; for the activities of domestic service (washing, dressing, preparing food, setting and clearing the table, etc.); for manual labor (trades); for language (use of the vocal organs). The preparation consists in bringing the child to *tonic quiescence* in standing posture. The child must learn first to stand still with head erect and with his eyes fixed on the eyes of the teacher. From this position of *tonic quiescence* we must pass to exercises in *imitation*. We obtain *tonic quiescence* by a variety of procedures, the variation depending upon individual cases. We must stimulate the apathetic and the sluggish; we must moderate the hyperactive; we must correct paresis, tics, etc. In other words, medical education must precede pedagogy itself. It may be a question of applying medical gymnastics both for active and passive movements, alternating this treatment with massage, electric baths, etc. > > Let us note one or two motor abnormalities which are easy to detect in defectives. *Atony:* the child does not move; he cannot stand; he cannot sit upright nor execute any movement whatever. *Hyperactivity:* this is characterized by almost constant *incoordinated* or disorganized movements which have no useful purpose, e.g., jumping, beating, tearing up of objects within reach and so on. Such patients are dangerous to themselves and to others. ### MECHANICAL MOVEMENTS > (A).—*Movements executed upon the person of the child:* sucking of the fingers; biting of the nails; constant stroking of some part of the body. These movements are caused by imperfectly developed sensibility; the children stroke or caress, for example, that area of the skin which possesses greatest tactile sensitiveness, etc. > > (B).—*Movements executed upon surrounding objects:* rapping on tables; constant and careful tearing of pieces of paper into small bits, etc. This too is associated with some sensory pleasure on the part of the patient. > > *Rocking:* (a) *with patient reclining:* the head is nodded from left to right, from right to left; (b) *with patient sitting:* the trunk is rocked backward and forward; (c) *with patient standing\[433\]:* the whole bod; rocks from left to right, the whole weight resting now on one foot and now on the other. Difficulty and hesitation are experienced in walking. These motory defects proceed from the difficulty experienced by the child in finding his center of gravity, his equilibrium. > > *Inability to perform local movements:* (a) Inability to move certain of the fingers, the tongue, the lips, etc. From such defects arises the impossibility of performing certain simple manual exercises (bringing the finger tips of the two hands together; taking hold of objects, e.g., inability to button, etc.) and the inability to pronounce certain words; (b) Inability to contract the lip and sphincter muscles (loss of saliva, involuntary defecation). > > *Atony* and *hyperactivity* may be overcome by appropriate educational remedies which we will now discuss. Local agitations disappear with the general education of the senses; while rocking is cured by exercises in balancing. > > (A).—*Stimulate active movements in the atonic child until he is able to stand erect in tonic quiescence.* > > Begin by stimulating the simple movements, gradually working up to the most complicated. We have a sure guide for this education in the spontaneous developments of movements in the normal child: he begins with the easiest spontaneous movements and gradually arrives at the harder ones. > > The first movement which develops in the child is the *prehensile* act (grasping). Next comes the movements of the lower joints used in creeping and walking; next the ability to stand; and finally the ability to walk alone. *Grasping:* if no external stimulation is capable of interesting the defective of low type, grasping cannot be stimulated merely by presenting to the child some object or other which might seem to be interesting for color taste or some other quality. In such a case we must have recourse to the instinct of self-preservation, to that innate fear of void which defectives almost always have. The child feeling himself fall will instinctively grasp at some support within his reach. This is the simplest point of departure for our possible development of the grasping faculty in the defective child. > > *Method:* The hands of the child am mechanically fixed around the rung of a ladder suspended to the ceiling. Then\[434\] the child in left to himself. Since his fingers are already around the support he needs only to clench his hands to find support. He may not succeed even in this simple act the first time. The teacher must patiently repeat the exercise, always being ready, of course, to catch the child if he should fall. In this exercise the defective is very much alarmed as a rule and all his muscles are as a result more or less stimulated. > > Likewise based on the instinct of self-preservation is the *swing*, where the defective must cling to some support with his hands to keep from falling. > > Finally a *ball* is hung from the ceiling and swung in such a way as continually to strike the child in the face. To protect himself he must keep it away by seizing it. > > In still lower types we must have recourse to the instinct for nutrition which exists even in such children. > > *Standing:* Under this heading we include also the movements which precede the actual attainment of the standing posture. To overcome the sinking of the knees, which impedes standing, the *swinging chair* may be used. The seat must reach nearly to the child's feet and the knees are tied to the seat. The child's foot, as he swings, strike against a board. This exercise prepares the lower joints to hold themselves in position when resting on a plane surface. Next the child is placed on *parallel bars*. The bars pass under the arm-pits and support the child while his feet rest on the floor. In these exercises we try to stimulate the movements which appear in walking (exercises of the lower joints). Next we exercise the muscles which support the spinal column. The child is made to sit down: first the spine in upright against the back of the chair; finally it remains upright when the support is removed. Little by little walking can be produced if the child is taken away from the bars and supported with a simple *gymnastic belt*. The exercise is continued until he can be left entirely without support. > > When the child has learned to walk we can *command* him to stop in the position of *tonic quiescence*. > > (B).—*Moderation of hyperactivity by forced quiescence.* > > In hyperactive children the arms must first be restrained by holding them tight in our hands. The movements of the lower limbs may be checked by holding the child's legs tight between\[435\] our knees. Finally the child may be kept entirely quiescent with his legs held between the teacher's knees, his arms in the teacher's hands, with the trunk pushed back and held firmly against the wall. By a similar process he can be kept quiet while standing; then later in a position of *tonic quiescence*. > > *General Rule:* Exercises of the limbs beginning with the arms should precede those specifically directed toward the spinal column. Séguin says "*tonic quiescence* is necessarily the first step from *atonic quiescence;* or if you wish, from a disordered activity to an activity which represents harmony between the muscular system and the mind." > > We noted above that the posture of *tonic quiescence* involves a fixity of gaze on the part of the child. This is the point of departure for the development of coordinative movements and *imitation* of what the child sees the teacher do. ### EDUCATION OF THE FIXED GAZE > If the child is kept in the dark for some time and is suddenly shown a bright light he will experience the sensation of *red*. > > Keeping the child in a dark room for a shorter time a sudden light will attract his gaze. > > Move the light along the wall until the child's gaze follows it. > > Next, in a light room, the child is shown a red cloth kept in motion; a red balloon hung from the ceiling keeps striking him in the face. > > After these preparatory exercises the teacher can try to get the child to fix its eyes on his own and to maintain the fixed gaze. Here use may be made also of the sense of hearing (words of command, encouragement, etc.). > > Finally to obtain complete fixity of gaze, one may use the large mirror, before which lights may be passed. There the child can gaze at his own face and at the face of the teacher, which will be kept motionless and which the child may come to imitate. > > *Exercises of imitation:* (1) The child is taught to become acquainted with himself. The various parts of his body are pointed out to him and he is made to touch them. This continues up to the point of distinguishing right from left. Begin\[436\] with the larger members of the body (arms, legs, trunk, head) to be named in connection with movements of the whole body. Then pass to the smaller members (the fingers, knuckles, the organs of the mouth), to be referred to respectively in the education of the hand and in the teaching of speech. > > (2) The child is taught coordinative movements relating to gymnastics (walking, running, jumping, pushing, etc.). > > (3) Movements relating: (a) to the simpler forms of manual labor (exercises of practical life: washing, dressing, picking up and laying down various objects, opening and closing drawers); (b) to more complex kinds of manual labor (elements of various trades; weaving, Froebel exercises, etc.). > > (4) Movements relating to articulate language. For this educational process the following general rules are to be followed: first, movements of the whole body must precede movements of specific parts; second, only by analyzing complex movements in their successive stages and by working out their details point by point can we arrive at the execution of a perfect complex movement. > > This latter rule applies especially to manual education and the teaching of language. When movements of the whole body have been obtained it will often be necessary, before going on to movements of particular members, to alternate the educational cure with the medical: (1) to overcome the weakness of some of the muscles (perhaps of some finger), use local electric baths, passive gymnastics, etc.; (2) for retractions, retarded development of aponeurosis of the palms, etc., use orthopedic treatment. > > Gymnastics, manual labor, trades and speaking are special branches of teaching, that usually require specially trained teachers. ### EDUCATION OF THE SENSES > Outline for examination. > > *Sight:* Sense of color. It is necessary to call the attention of the child several times to the same color by presenting it to him under different aspects and in different environments. The stimulus should be strong. Other senses tend to associate themselves with the chromatic sense, for example, the stereognostic and gustatory senses. Whenever the teacher gives an\[437\] *idea* she should unite with it the *word*, the only word which is related to the idea. The words should be emphatically and distinctly pronounced. > > (1) *Pedagogical aprons:* The colors are presented on a large moving surface, as for instance, an apron worn by the teacher; e.g., a red apron. The teacher points to it, touches it, lifting it with noticeable movements of the arms, continually calls the attention of the child to it. "*Look! See here! Attention!*" and so on; then saying in a low voice and slowly, "*This is* (and then in a louder voice), *red, red, red!!!*" Now take two aprons, one red, the other blue; repeat the same process for the blue. There are three stages in the process of distinguishing between colors: (a) "This is ... *red!*" (b) "Your apron is *red!*" (c) "What color is this?" Then try three aprons, red, blue, and yellow, bordered with white and black. > > (2) *Insets*—color and form. The red circle, the blue square. There are three stages: (a) "This is *red, red, red!* Touch it! Do you feel? Your finger goes *all the way around, all the way around*. It is *round*, it is *round, all round*. Put it in its place!" (b) "Give me the *red* one!" (c) "What color is this circle?" > > (3) The dark room. A Bengal red color is shown: "It is *red!*" The color appears behind a circular disc: "It is *red!*" The blue is shown behind a square window: "It is *blue, blue, blue*," etc. > > (4) The child is given a circular tablet of red sugar to eat and a square lump of blue sugar. He is made to smell a red piece of cloth strongly scented with musk; or a blue piece of cloth scented with asafetida, etc. > > (5) The color chart. > > (6) The first game of Froebel. > > The first pedagogical material given should contain the color already taught. The notion of color should be associated with its original environment. > > *Shapes: Solids, Insets:* The procedure is always in the three stages mentioned. (1) Show the object to the child. (2) Have him recognize it. (3) Have him give it its name. > > *Dimensions:* Rods of the same thickness, but of graduated length. First the longest and the shortest are shown. The\[438\] child is made to touch them and interchange them "Pick up the *longest!*" "Place it on the table!" etc. Repeat this exercise, adding some intermediate lengths; again finally, with all the rods. Next the rods may be disarranged; the child is to put them back in order of length. Notice whether the child makes an accurate choice in the confused pile of the graduated dimensions; or whether it is only by placing two rods together that he comes to notice the difference between them. Notice how long it is before the child makes an accurate choice in the pile and of what degrees of difference in length he is accurately aware. > > Try the same exercise for *thickness:* prisms of equal length, but of graduated thickness, using the same procedure in analogous exercises. Games may be used for the estimation of distances. > > *The tactile sense proper:* One board with a corrugated surface (like a grater) and one smooth. Another board with five adjacent surfaces of graduated roughness. Similar exercises may be used in the feeling of cloths (guessing games). > > Games: The child is blindfolded and lightly tickled. He must seize what is tickling him, putting his hand rapidly to the irritant. ("Fly catching," a game for the localization of stimulants.) > > | Liquids |   | Astringents | > | ------- | - | ----------- | > | Glues | > | Oils | > > *Tactile muscular sense:* > > | Elastic bodies |   | Balls    |   | Rubber | > | -------------- | - | -------- | - | ------ | > | Non-resilient bodies    | Wooden | > > Use skins, leather gloves, and various kinds of cloths for feeling. > > *The muscular sense:* Balls of the same appearance, but of graduated weights. Differentiation of coins by weight. > > *The stereognostic sense:* Recognition of elementary forms, of rare objects, of coins. > > *Thermal senses:* Hot liquids, iced liquids; relative warmth of linen and wool, wood, wax, metal. > > \[439\] > > *Olfactory sense:* Asafetida, oil of rose, mint, etc., > > | Odors of   |   | Tobacco smoke | > | ---------- | - | ------------- | > | Burned sugar | > | Incense | > | Burned maple | > >   > > | Odors of burning  <br>substances   |   | Wood |   | Various applications to<br>   practical life. | > | ------------------------------ | - | ---- | - | ----------------------------------------- | > | Straw   | > | Paper | > | Guessing games   |   | Wool | > | Cotton | > | Edibles | > > Odors of foods (practical life): fresh milk, sour milk, fresh meat, stale meat, rancid butter, fresh butter, etc. > > *Taste:* The four fundamental tastes (guessing games). Instructive applications to practise in the kitchen and at meals. > > Tastes of various food substances: > > | Exercises of practical life   |   | milk gruel (milk and flour); | > | ----------------------------- | - | ---------------------------- | > | diluted wine; | > | sweet wine; | > | turned wine (vinegar), etc. | > > The practise of the senses begins in the lower classes in the form of guessing games; in the higher classes the education of the senses is applied to exercises of practical life. > > *Hearing:* Empirical measurement of the acuteness of the sense of hearing. Specimen game: the teacher about 35 feet away from the blindfolded children and standing where an object has been hidden, whispers the words "*Find it!*" Those who have heard her will be able to find the object. Having removed from the line the children who have heard, the teacher steps to another place about a yard nearer and repeats the experiment to the children who are left over, etc. > >   > > *Intensity of sound:* > > Throw to the floor metal blocks of various sizes, coins of graduated weight.\ > Strike glasses one after the other according to size.\ > Bells of graduated size. > > \[440\] > >   > > *Quality of sound:* Produce different sounds and noises. > > | Bells   |   | of metal | > | ------- | - | -------- | > | of terracotta | > > Open Bells.\ > Closed Bells.\ > Strike with a wooden stick on tin plates, glasses, etc.\ > Identify various musical instruments.\ > Identify different human voices (of different people).\ > Identify the voice of a man, a woman, a child.\ > Recognize different people by their step, etc., etc. > > *Pitch:* Intervals of an octave, of a major triad, and so on; major and minor chords. However, musical education requires a separate chapter. > > *Sound projection, localization of sound in space:* The child is blindfolded. The sound is produced; (1) in front of him; behind him; to the right; to the left; above his head; (2) the blindfolded child recognizes the relative distance at which the sounds are produced; (3) the child decides from which side of the room the sounds come; he is made to follow some one who is speaking. > > *The horizontal plane:* This is the first notion imparted to the child concerning his relationship to the objects about him. Almost all the objects the child may perceive around him with his senses rest on the horizontal plane: his table, his chair, and so on. The very objects on which the child sits or puts his toys are horizontal planes. If the plane were not horizontal, the objects would fall, but they would strike on the floor which, again, is a horizontal plane. Place an object on the child's table and tip one end of the table to show him that the object falls. > > *Guessing game for the plane surface:* This game serves to fix the notion of the plane surface and at the same time trains the eye and the attention of the child. > > 1\. Under one of three aluminum cups is placed a small red ball, a cherry or a piece of candy. The child must remember under which cup the object is hidden. The teacher tries herself and fails, always raising the empty cups and returning them to\[441\] their places. The child, however, finds the object immediately. > > 2\. The teacher now begins to move the three cups about on the plane surface. The child has to keep his eye on *his* cup and never loses sight of it. > > 3\. Repeat this exercise with six cups. > > *Checkerboard game:* This serves to teach the child the limits and the various divisions of a plane. The squares are large and in black and white. The whole board should be surrounded by a border in relief. Various points are indicated on the plane: forward, backward, right, left, center, by placing a tin soldier at each point indicated. The soldiers may be moved about by the child in obedience to directions of the teacher: "The officer on horseback to *the center*": "Standard-bearer *to the right*, etc.!" Finally, make all the soldiers advance toward the center of the board over the black squares only; then over the white squares only, etc. > > These notions may be applied to exercises of practical life. The children already know how to set the table without thinking of what they are doing. From now on, the teacher may say: "Put the plates on the *plane surface* of the tables!" "Put the bottle *to the left!* *In the center!*" etc. Have a small table set with little dishes, having the objects arranged in obedience to commands of the teacher. After this, we may proceed to the Froebel games on the plane surface with the cubes, blocks, and so on. > > *Inset game as a preparation for reading, drawing, and writing:* After the child knows the different colors and shapes in the inset, the color tablets of the big inset can be put in place: (1) on a piece of cardboard where the figures have been drawn in shading in the respective colors; (2) on a cardboard where the same figures have been drawn merely in colored outline (linear abstraction of a regular figure). > > *Inset of shapes where the pieces are all of the same color (blue):* The child recognizes the shape and puts the pieces in place: (1) on a cardboard where the figure is shaded; (2) on a cardboard where the figure is merely outlined (linear abstraction of regular geometrical figures). Meanwhile, the child has been touching the pieces: "The tablet is smooth. It turns round and round and round. It is a *circle*. Here we have a\[442\] *square*. You go this way and there is a *point;* this way, and there is another point, and another, and another; there are *four points!* In the *triangle* there are *three points!*" Then the child follows with his finger the figures outlined on the cardboard. "This one is entirely round: it is a *circle!* This one has four points: it is a *square!* This one has three points: it is a *triangle!*" The child runs over the same figures with a small rod of wood (skewer), etc. ### SIMULTANEOUS READING AND WRITING > At this point, we may bring in the chart with the vowels, painted red. The child sees "irregular figures outlined in color." Give the child the vowels made of red wood. He is to place them on the corresponding figures of the chart. He is made to touch the wooden vowels, running his finger around them in the way they are written. They are called by their names. The vowels are arranged according to similarity in shape (reading): > > o e a\ > i u > > Then the child is commanded: "Show me the letter *o!* Put it in its place!" Then he is asked: "What letter is this?" It will be found at this point that many children make a mistake, if they merely look at the letter, but guess rightly when they touch it. It is possible accordingly to distinguish the various individual types, visual, motory, etc. > > Next the child is made to touch the letter outlined on the chart, first with his forefinger only, then with the fore and middle fingers, finally with a little wooden skewer to be held like a pen. The letter must always be followed around in the way it is written. > > The consonants are drawn in blue and arranged on various charts, according to similarity in shape (reading, writing). The movable alphabet in blue wood is added to this. The letters are to be superimposed on the chart as was done for the vowels. Along with the alphabet we have another series of charts, where, beside the consonant identical with the wooden\[443\] letter there are painted one or more figures of objects, the names of which begin with the letter in question. Beside the long-hand letter, there is also painted in the same color a smaller letter in print type. The teacher, naming the consonants in the phonic method, points to the letter, then to the chart, pronouncing the name of the objects which are painted there, and stressing the first letter: e.g., "m ... man ... m: Give me *M!*" "Put it where it belongs!" "Follow around it with your finger!" Here the linguistic defects of the children may be studied. > > The tracing of the letters in the way they are written begins the muscular education preparatory to writing. One of our little girls of the motory type when taught by this method reproduced all the letters in pen and ink long before she could identify them. Her letters were about eight millimetres high and were written with surprising regularity. This same child was generally successful in her manual work. > > The child, in looking at the letters, identifying them, and tracing them in the way they are written, is preparing himself both for reading and writing at the same time. The two processes are exactly contemporaneous. Touching them and looking at them brings several senses to bear on the fixing of the image. Later the two acts are separated: first looking (reading), then touching (writing). According to their respective type, some children learn to read first, others to write first. > > *Reading:* As soon as the child has learned to identify the letters and also to write them, he is made to pronounce them. Then the alphabet is arranged in phonetic order. This order is to be varied according to individual defects made apparent while the child is pronouncing spontaneously the sounds of the consonants or vowels, or the words illustrating the consonants on the charts. We begin by showing the child and having him pronounce, first, syllables and, then, words which contain the letters he is able to pronounce well. Then we go on to the sounds he has trouble with, finally to those he cannot pronounce at all (linguistic correction). The phonomimic correction of speech requires special discussion. In primary schools speech correction should be in the hands of a specially trained teacher, like gymnastics, manual training and singing. Should no defects\[444\] in speech appear in the child, the letters of the alphabet should be taught in the order of physiological phonetics. > > Beside the big long-hand letters should be placed the small letters in print type. The letter is taught; then recognition is prompted by asking as each large letter is reached: "I want the little one like it." The two types of letter appear also on the illustrated charts. Next the printed letter is shown, with the request: "Give me the big letter that goes with it." Finally: "What letter is it?" The little letters are not "touched," because they are never to be written. ### DRAWING AND WRITING > The child is given a sheet on which appear a circle and a square in outline. The circle is filled in with a red pencil, the square with blue (insets). Smaller and smaller circles are next given, also circles and triangles. They are variously disposed on the page. They are to be filled in with colored pencils. Then comes the tracing. The black lines are followed around with colored pencils: the circle, the triangle, the square. This comes easily to the child who has been taught to trace with the wooden skewer the figures outlined on the inset-charts. Writing follows immediately on the exercises in tracing with the skewer on the charts of the written alphabet. Some help can be given the child by having him darken with a black pencil the letter written on the copy book by the teacher. As the child writes, his attention should be directed to the fact that he is writing on a *limited plane surface;* that he begins at the top, moving from left to right and little by little coming down the page. > > Séguin's method began with shafts and curves. His copybooks for the shafts were prepared as follows: the shaft to be executed by the child was delimited by two points, connected by a very light line. In the margin of the pages appear two shafts to be executed by the teacher. Similarly for the curves: ( ( ( (. He has the printed capitals drawn as combinations of shafts and curves: B, D, etc. \[445\] ### SIMULTANEOUS READING AND WRITING OF WORDS > The child, through sensory education, has acquired some notions of color, shape, surface (smooth and rough), smell, taste, etc. At the same time, he has learned to count (one, two, three, four points). Uniting all possible notions concerning a single object, we arrive at his first concrete idea of the object itself: the object lesson. To the idea thus acquired, we give the word which represents the object. Just as the concrete idea results from the assembling of acquired notions, so the word results from the union of known sounds, and perceived symbols. > > *Reading lesson:* On the teacher's table is the large stand for the movable alphabet in black printed letters. The teacher arranges on it the vowels and a few consonants. Each child, in his own place, has the small movable alphabet in the pasteboard boxes. The children take from the box the same letters they see on the large stand, and arrange them in the same order. The teacher takes up some object which has a simple word for a name, e.g., *pane* ("bread"). She calls the attention of the child to the object, reviewing an objective lesson already learned, thus arousing the child's interest in the object. "Shall we write the word *pane?*" "*Hear* how I say it!" "*See* how I say it!" The teacher pronounces separately and distinctly the sounds of the letters which make up the word, exaggerating the movements of the vocal organs so that they are plainly visible to the children. As the pupils repeat the word they continue their education in speaking. > > A child now comes to the teacher's desk to choose the letters corresponding to the sounds and tries to arrange them in the order in which they appear in the word. The children do the same with the small letters at their seats. Every mistake gives rise to a correction useful to the whole class. The teacher repeats the word in front of each one who has made a mistake, trying to get the child to correct himself. When all the children have arranged their letters properly, the teacher shows a card (visiting-card size) on which is printed (in print-type letters about a centimeter high) the word "*pane*." All the children are made to read it. Then some child is asked to put the card where he finds the word written before him; next, on\[446\] the *object* the word stands for. The process is repeated with two or three other objects, with their respective names: *pane* (bread), *lume* (lamp), *cece* (peas). Then the teacher gathers up the cards from the various objects, shuffles them and calls on some child: "Which object do you like best?" "*Lume!*" "Find me the card with the word *lume!*" When the card has been selected, all the children are asked to read it: "Is Mary right in saying that this is the word *lume?*" "Put the card back where it belongs!" (i.e., on its object). In the subsequent lessons, the old cards, with the objects they stand for removed, should be mixed with the new ones. From the entire pack the children are to select the new cards and place them on their objects. A primary reading book ought to present these words next to a picture of the object for which they stand. > > In this way the children are brought to unite the individual symbol into words. When they have been taught to make the syllable, the reading lesson may be continued without the use of objects, though it is still preferable to use words which will, if possible, have a concrete meaning for the children. > > *Writing:* The children are already able to use the cursive (writing) alphabet which corresponds to the small letter (print-type) that is neither "touched" nor written, but is merely *read*. They must now write in hand writing, and place close together, the little letters which they have assembled in the movable alphabet to compose words. As each word is read or written for every object lesson, for every action, printed cards are being assembled which will later be used to make clauses and sentences with movable words that may be moved about just as the individual letters were moved about in making the *words* themselves. Later on, the simple clauses or sentences should refer to actions performed by the children. The first step should be to bring two or more words together: e.g., *red-wool*, *sweet-candy*, *four-footed dog*, etc. Then we may go on to the sentence itself: *The wool is red;* *The soup is hot;* *The dog has four feet;* *Mary eats the candy*, etc. The children first compose the sentences with their cards; then they copy them in their writing books. To facilitate the choice of the cards, they are arranged in special boxes: for instance, one box is labeled *noun:* or its compartments are distinguished thus: *food*, *clothing*,\[447\] *animals*, *people*, etc. There should be a box for *adjectives* with compartments for *colors*, *shapes*, *qualities*, etc. There should be another for *particles* with compartments for *articles*, *conjunctions*, *prepositions*, etc. A box should be reserved for *actions* with the label *verbs* above; and then in a compartment should be reserved for the *infinitive*, *present*, *past* and *future* respectively. The children gradually learn by practice to take their cards from the boxes and put them back in their proper places. They soon learn to know their "word boxes" and they readily find the cards they want among the *colors*, *shapes*, *qualities*, etc., or among *animals*, *foods*, etc. Ultimately the teacher will find occasion to explain the meaning of the big words at the top of the drawers, *noun*, *adjective*, *verb*, etc., and this will be the first step into the subject of *grammar*. ### GRAMMAR **NOUN LESSON** > We may call persons and objects by their *name* (their *noun*). People answer if we call them, so do animals. Inanimate objects, however, never answer, because they cannot; but if they could answer they would; for example, if I say *Mary*, Mary answers; if I say *peas*, the peas do not answer, because they cannot. You children *do* understand when I call an object and you bring it to me. I say for example, *book*, *beans*, *peas*. If I don't tell you the name of the object you don't understand what I am talking about; because every object has a different name. This name is the word that stands for the object. This name is a *noun*. When I mention a noun you understand immediately the object which the noun represents: *tree*, *chair*, *pen*, *book*, *lamb*, etc. If I do not give this noun, you don't know what I am talking about; for, if I say simply, *Bring me ... at once, I want it*, you do not know what I want, unless I tell you the name of the object. Unless I give you the *noun*, you do not understand. Thus every object is represented by a word which is its *name* and this name is a *noun*. To understand whether a word is a noun or not, you simple ask "Is it a thing?" "Would it answer if I spoke to it!" "Could I carry it to the teacher?" For instance, *bread*. Yes, *bread* is an object; *table*,\[448\] yes, it is an object; *conductor*, yes, the conductor would answer, if I were to speak to him. > > Let us look through our cards now. I take several cards from different boxes and shuffle them. Here is the word *sweet*. Bring me *sweet*. Is there anything to answer when I call *sweet?* But you are bringing me a piece of candy! I didn't say *candy:* I said *sweet!* And now you have given me sugar! I said *sweet*. If I say *candy*, *sugar*, then you understand what I want, what object I am thinking about, because the words *candy*, *sugar*, stand for objects. Those words are *nouns*. Now let us look through the noun cards. Let us read a couple of lines in our reading books and see whether there are any nouns there. Tell me, are there any nouns? How are we to find some nouns? Look around you! Look at yourself, your clothes, etc.! Name every object that you see! Every word you thus pronounce will be a noun: Teacher, clothing, necktie, chair, class, children, books, etc. Just look at this picture which represents so many things! The figures represent persons and objects. Name each of these figures! Every word you pronounce will be a noun! **VERB: ACTION** > Mary, rise from your seat! Walk! Mary has performed a number of *actions*. She has *risen*. She has performed the *action* of rising. She has *walked*. *Walk* stands for an action. Now write your name on the blackboard! *Writing* is an action. Erase what you have written. *Erasing* is an action. When I spoke to Mary, I performed the action of speaking. (Just as the noun was taught with objects, here we must have actions. Objects represented in pictures will be of no use, since actions cannot be portrayed by pictures.) > > The next step will be to suggest a little exercise of imagination. Look at all these objects! Try to imagine some action which each might perform! A *class*, for instance; what actions might a class perform? *Store:* what actions might take place in a store? Let us now look through our cards after we have shuffled them. Next try our reading book. Show me which of the words are verbs. Give me some words which are verbs (infinitive). \[449\] **NOUN** > Persons, things (proper and common nouns). Singular, plural, masculine and feminine. The articles: "Choose the article that goes with this noun!" etc. **VERB** > Present, past, future. I am performing an action now. Have I performed it before? Did I do it yesterday? Have I always done it in the past? When I walk now, I say I *am walking*, I *walk*. When I mean the action that I performed yesterday, I say: I *was walking*, I *walked*. The same action performed at different times is described differently. How strange that is! The word referring to an object never changes. The beads are beads to-day. They were beads yesterday. *Actions*, however, are represented by words which change according to the time in which they are performed. To-day I *walk*. Yesterday I *walked*. To-morrow I *shall walk*. It is always *I* who do the walking, *I* who perform the *action* of walking; and I walk always in the same way, putting one foot in front of the other. The objects you see perform an action always perform it. Do you see that little bird which is flying—which is performing the *action* of flying? It was flying yesterday. It flew at some time in the past. To-morrow also, that is, at some *future* time, if the little bird lives, it will fly and it will fly always in the same way, beating its wings to and fro. You see what a strange thing a verb is! It changes its words according to the *time* in which the action is performed. It is different according as it represents action in *present* time, or action in *past* time, or action in *future* time. Now, see! I am going to take out some of my cards and make up a little sentence: > >  > > Now I am going to change the word which stands for the time when the action takes place. In place of the card *now* I am going to use this one: > > \[450\] > >  > > Is this a good sentence? No! Supposing we change the time of the verb: *Yesterday George ate an apple*. This makes good sense. Put these cards back now in the boxes where they belong. **ADJECTIVE** > Every object possesses certain *qualities*. Tell me what you can about this apple. It is red, it is round, it is sweet. What qualities can you find in this chair? It is hard, it is brown, it is wooden. What about your school-mates, the children? Are they good, are they pretty, are they polite, are they obedient, or are they naughty, impolite, disobedient, disorderly? Let us look through our cards to see whether we can find words which stand for the qualities of objects. Supposing we select some from the drawer of the adjective and some from the drawer of the noun. Now let us place beside each noun a card which makes sense with it: here, for instance, I have *Charles*, *red*, *quadruped*, *transparent*. Does that mean anything? Well then find me some adjectives which will go well with *Charles*. Adjectives are words which stand for qualities of a given object. They must go well with their noun. Find me some adjectives which fit well with the noun *dog*. They must be words which stand for some quality of the dog. Now put all the cards back in the compartments where they belong. (This latter exercise is very instructive.) > > In this method of teaching grammar we make use of objects and actions directly relating to life. Such lessons may be made more attractive with story telling, etc. The teaching of grammar at this period should be extended as far as is possible without forcing the pupil. ### OBJECT LESSONS > There should be concise and vivid descriptions of some object. The attention of the child should be sustained by changing the tone of voice, by exclamations calculated to excite the child's curiosity, by praise, etc. Never begin with the *word*,\[451\] but always with the *object*. All the notions possessed by the child should be as far as practicable in a given case applied to his study of the object. First it should be described as to its qualities; next as to its uses, then as to its origin; for example, Here is an *object!* What color is it? What is its shape? Feel of it! Taste of it! etc. If possible, have the child *see* the use of the object and its origin in every possible way. Just as the concrete idea of the object is imparted by verbal description and by various appeals to the senses of the child, so the different uses of the object should be brought out in *describing actions* which the child *sees* performed with it before him. This, of course, is an ideal which the teacher should try to realize as far as possible. The object should be shown the child in different circumstances and under different aspects so as to give it always the appearance of something new and something to excite and hold the attention of the child. Take, for instance, a lesson on the word *hen*. Show a paper model of the hen, the live hen in the courtyard, the stereopticon slide of the hen; the print of the hen in the reading book; the hen alive among other domestic fowls; pictures of the hen among pictures of other birds, etc. Each new step should be taken on a different day and each time the word should be connected with the object. Write the word on the blackboard; make up the printed card for the card file and put it in its proper box. "Who wants to take the blackboard out-doors? We are going to write some words in the yard. Now in your reading books there is the figure of the hen. Next to it is the word *hen*. Write this word in your copy books. Who can repeat what we have said about the hen? Write down what you know about the hen." The amount of information given about a particular object will depend, of course, upon the class. The simplest description should be followed by one more minute, passing thus to speak of uses, habits, origin, etc. The writing of a simple word may be developed into a written description. But the lessons on the given object should always be short, and they should be repeated on different days. For the lessons on trees, plants, and vegetables, a garden is necessary: the children should see the seeds planted, a growing vegetable, a picture of the fruit, etc. If possible the domestic use of the garden\[452\] products should be demonstrated. This applies also to flowers. The blackboard with crayon should never be lacking in the garden. For object lessons we need toys to represent furniture, dishes, various objects used in the home, tools of different trades, rooms and the furniture that goes in each, houses, trees, a church (to build villages), etc.; dolls equipped with all the necessaries for dressing. There should be a shelf for bottles containing specimens of different drinks; various kinds of cloths (for tactile exercises); the raw materials out of which they are made, demonstrations of the way they are manufactured, etc. Show also specimens of the various minerals, etc. ### HISTORY > History is taught first on a little stage with living tableaux, gradually advancing to action; second, by descriptions of large illustrations and colored pictures; third, by story-telling based on stereopticon views. The teacher should strive for brevity, conciseness, and vivacity in descriptions. Historical story telling should, as in the case of all other lessons, bring about additions of printed cards to the word boxes. Various information of the seasons, months of the year, etc., should be imparted by illustrations and pictures. Every morning the child should be asked: "What day is it? What day was yesterday? What day will to-morrow be?" and "What day of the month is it?" ### GEOGRAPHY > 1. Exercises on the plane for the cardinal points, with various gymnastic and guessing games. 2. Building games out of doors. Make a lake, an island, a peninsula, a river. 3. Carry the houses and church into the yard and construct a small village. Put the church on the north; the schoolhouse on the east; the mountain on the west; in front of the school place the national flag. 4. In the classroom fit out a room with its proper furniture to be placed on a map of the room outlined on a large chart. As the furniture is removed, make a mark on the map to indicate where each article was. Make a little village in the same way, houses, church, etc. Take away the church, etc.; mark the place of each object on the map as it is\[453\] removed. Then identify each spot. "Where was the church?" "What was over here?" etc. Thus we get a conception of the geographical map. Read the map, making use of the cardinal points. 5. Physical characteristics of regions may be shown by clay modeling to represent hills, etc. Draw outlines around each model, remove the clay and read the *geographical map* resulting. ### ARITHMETIC > The children are to count: 1 nose; 1 mouth; 1, 2 hands; 1, 2 feet; 1, 2, 3, 4 points in the insets; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 soldiers on the plane. How many blocks did they use in the building? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Thus for the elementary steps in counting. ### COMPUTATION > Computation should be taught practically in the store from the very beginning. The shopkeeper sells 1 cherry for 1c. The children have 2c and get two cherries. Next they get two nuts for 1c. Place 1c on the counter and place 2 nuts beside it. Then count all the nuts and there are 2 for 1c, etc. The child must give him 1c in change (2 + 2 = 4; 2 - 1 = 1). In money changing it will be observed that at first some children recognize the coins more easily by touch than by sight (motor types). ### WRITTEN NUMBERS > Charts with the nine numbers: one for each number. Each chart has picture representing quantities of the most varied objects arranged around the number, which is indicated by a large design on the chart. For instance: on the *1* card there is one cherry, one dog, one ball, etc. Yesterday the shopkeeper sold one cherry for 1c. Is the cherry here? Yes, there is the cherry! And what is this? *One* church! And this? *One* cent! etc. What is this figure here? It is the number *one*. Now bring out the wooden figure: What is this? Number *one!* Put it on the figure on the chart! It is *one*. > > Now take the charts to the store. Who has 1c? Who has\[454\] 2c? etc. Let us look for the number among the charts. The shopkeeper is selling three peas for 1c. Let us look for number *3* among the charts! Numbers should be taught in the afternoon lesson in the store. The designs representing the figures should be shown the following morning. Next time the charts with the figures previously taught should be taken to the shop to be recognized again. Other numbers are brought out in the new computations. The figures for the new numbers then taught in the store should be shown the following day, etc. To make the store interesting, the topic lesson on the objects offered for sale should be frequently repeated. The child should be taught to buy only perfect objects, so that on receiving them he may examine them carefully, observing them in all their parts. He should give them back if they are not perfect or if mistakes are made by the shopkeeper in giving them out. For instance: A spoiled apple should not be accepted. "I refuse to buy it!" Beans should not be accepted for peas. Again the child refuses to buy them. He must pay only when he is sure he has been served properly (exercise in practical life). > > The storekeeper will make mistakes: first, in *kinds* of objects, to sharpen the observation of *qualities* by the children who purchase; second, in the *number* of objects given, to accustom the child to purchasing proper *quantities*. ### ODD AND EVEN NUMBERS > Even numbers are red. Odd numbers are blue. There are: movable figures in wood; red and blue cubes in numbers corresponding to the figures on them; finally, charts with numbers drawn in color. Under each design are small red and blue squares arranged in such a way as to emphasize the divisibility of *even* numbers by 2 and similarly the indivisibility by 2 of *odd* numbers. In the latter case one square is always left by itself in the center. > > | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | > | - | - | - | - | - | - | > | - | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - | > | - | - - | - - | - - | > | - | - - | > > \[455\] > > The child places the movable numbers and the cubes on the figures on the charts. The teacher then makes two equal rows of cubes to correspond to the even numbers (red). The division is easy! But try to separate the odd numbers (blue). It is not possible! A block is always left in the middle! The child takes the figures and the blocks and arranges them on his table, imitating the design on the chart. He tries to make two equal rows of cubes for the even numbers. He succeeds. He does not succeed in doing so with the odd numbers. The numbers which can be divided thus are *even;* those which cannot be so divided are *odd*. > > *Number boxes:* On these boxes are designed red and blue figures identical with those on the charts. The child puts into each box the number of cubes called for by the figure on the box. This exercise follows immediately the work on odd and even numbers described above. As the child transfers each series of cubes from his table to the boxes, he pronounces the number and adds *odd* or *even*. > > *Exercises in attention and memory:* A chart of odd and even numbers in colors is placed on the teacher's desk in view of all the children. The red and blue cubes are piled on the teacher's desk. The teacher passes the wooden figures to the children and tells them to examine them. Immediately afterwards the children leave their seats, go to the teacher's desk, and get the numbers which correspond to their own figures. On going back to their places they fit the cubes under the corresponding figure in the arrangement just learned. The teacher is to observe > > 1\. Whether the child has remembered the color of his figure (frequently a child with a red number takes the blue cubes). > > 2\. Whether he has remembered his *number*. > > 3\. Whether he remembers the proper arrangement. > > 4\. Whether the child remembers that the chart from which he *can copy* is before him on the stand and whether he thinks of looking at it. > > When mistakes are made, the teacher has the child correct himself by calling his attention to the chart. \[456\] **COUNTING BY TENS\ (*For more advanced classes*)** > In the store ten objects are sold for one cent, e.g.: > > (10 beans), one cent for each *ten*. > > One ten = ten, 10. > > Two tens = twenty, 20. > > Three tens = thirty, 30, etc. > > From forty on (in English from sixty on) the numbers are more easily learned because their names are like simple numbers with the ending -*ty* (Italian -*anta*). > > Charts should be prepared (rectangular in shape) on which nine tens appear arranged one under the other; then nine cards where each ten is repeated nine times in a column; finally, numerous cards with the unit figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, to be fitted on the zeros on the cards where the tens are repeated nine times. > > 10—10—20\ > 20—10—20\ > 30—10—20\ > 40—10—20\ > 50—10—20\ > 60—10—20\ > 70—10—20\ > 80—10—20\ > 90—10—20 > > Some difficulty will be experienced with the tens where the names do not correspond to the simple numbers: 11, 12, 13, etc. The other tens, however, will be very easy. When a little child is able to count to 20, he can go on to 100 without difficulty. The next step is to superimpose the little cards on the first chart of the tens series, having the resultant numbers read aloud. > > *Problems:* Problems are, at first, simple memory exercises for the children. In fact the problems are solved practically in the store in the form of a game; buying, lending, sharing with their schoolmates, taking a part of what is bought and giving\[457\] it to some other child, etc. The store exercises should be repeated in the form of a problem on the following morning. The children have simply to remember what happened and reproduce it in writing. *Problems are next developed contemporaneously* with the various arithmetical operations and computations (addition, multiplication, etc.). The teacher explains the operations starting with the problem, which becomes for the children a very amusing game. The problem, finally, becomes an imaginative exercise: "Suppose you are going to the store to buy," etc., etc. We can ultimately arrive at real problems that require reasoning. In the store the teacher illustrates the various operations on the blackboard, using simple marks at first: "You have bought 2c worth of beans, at three for a cent. Let us write that down: III—III. Then let us count. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. There are six. > > |   | III III | > | - | ------- | > | Well, then,  | 3 + 3 |  = 6. | > > We can also say: 2 groups of III equals 6; twice, three, six; two times three, six; 2 × 3 = 6. How much is 3 + 3? How much is 2 × 3? How much is 3 × 2?" > > The following morning, when the written problem is given, the child should have before him for reference the computation charts with all the combinations possible. > > The transition to mental computation will come after this and not before. **Sample Cards** (Addition) | 1 + 1 = 2 | 2 + 1 = 3 | 3 + 1 = 4 | | --------- | --------- | --------- | | 1 + 2 = 3 | 2 + 2 = 4 | 3 + 2 = 5 | | 1 + 3 = 4 | 2 + 3 = 5 | 3 + 3 = 6 | | 1 + 4 = 5     | 2 + 4 = 6     | 3 + 4 = 7 | \ (Multiplication) | 1 × 1 = 1     | 2 × 1 = 2 | 3 × 1 = 3 | | ------------- | --------- | --------- | | 1 × 2 = 2 | 2 × 2 = 4 | 3 × 2 = 6 | | 1 × 3 = 3 | 2 × 3 = 6     | 3 × 3 = 9 | \[458\] > Subtraction in the same way. The development of these various operations followed logically on the practical exercise in the store, where multiplication proved to be a product of sums, division, a process of successive subtractions. > > In our classes we have arithmetic lessons every day. The afternoon practice in the store prepares for the theoretical lesson of the following morning. Accordingly, on the day when the practical exercise occurs, there is no theoretical lesson and vice versa. > > The decimal metric system applied to weights, measures and coinage is taught in the same way. The store should be equipped with scales, weights, dry and liquid measures, etc. All kinds of coins should be available, including bills up to $20 (100 francs). Work in the store should continue to be not only a help toward arithmetical computation but also toward the preparation for practical life. For instance, when cloth is sold, some attention should be given to its actual market value; its qualities should be emphasized by feeling, etc.; and the child should be taught to observe whether the storekeeper has given him the right amount and the right quality. Money changing should be made ready and easy. The money which the children spend at the store should be earned by them as a reward for their application to study and their good behavior. ### GENERAL RULES > To attract the attention of defective children strong sensory stimulants are necessary. The lessons, therefore, should be eminently practical. Every lesson should begin with the presentation of the object to be illustrated by the teacher in a few words distinctly pronounced with continual modulations of the voice and accompanied by vivid imitative expression. The lessons should be made as attractive as possible and, as far as practicable, presented under the form of games, so as to arouse the curiosity of the child: guessing games, blindman's buff, store-keeping, the sleep walker, the blind store-keeper, etc. But however amusing the game may be, the lesson should always be stopped while the child is still willing to continue. His attention, which is easily fatigued, should never be exhausted. To\[459\] fix ideas, lessons should be repeated many times. Each time, however, the same objects should be presented under different forms and in a different environment, so that it will always be interesting by appearing as something new: story-telling, living tableaux, large illustrations; colored pictures; stereopticon views, etc. In case individual teaching is necessary, as happens in the most elementary classes, care should be exercised to keep all the other children busy with different toys: insets, lacing-and-buttoning-frames, hooks and eyes, etc. When children refuse to take part in their lessons it is better not to use coercion, but to aim at obtaining obedience indirectly through the child's imitation of his schoolmates. Glowing praise of the pupils who are showing good will in their work almost always brings the recalcitrants to time. When a child shows he has understood the point under discussion, it is better not to ask for a repetition. His attention is easily fatigued, and the second time he may say badly what at first he gave successfully; and the failure may discourage him. It is well to be satisfied with the first good answer, bestow such praise as will afford the child a pleasant memory of what he has been doing; and go back to the subject on the following day, or, at the earliest, several hours later. > > In manual training, however, the situation is different. The lesson in this subject can be a whole hour long and should take the form of serious work and not of play. The child should be set early at some useful task, even if a little hard work, not unattended with risk, be involved (wood-cutting, boring, etc.). From the outset, thus, the child will become familiar with the difficulties of bread-winning effort and will learn to overcome them. > > Interest in work may be stimulated by appropriate rewards. The child may earn during work-hours the money for his purchases at the store, for his tickets to the theater and the stereopticon lecture. The child who does not work may be kept away from the more attractive lessons, such as dancing and music, which come immediately after the work hour. As a matter of fact, these children take to manual training very readily, provided the tasks assigned are adapted to the natural inclinations of the individual child in such a way that he may\[460\] take in his work the greatest possible satisfaction and thus by natural bent attain a skill useful to himself and society. ### MORAL EDUCATION > By the expression "moral education" we mean an education which tends to make a social being of an individual who is by nature extra- or anti-social. It presents two aspects which may be paralleled with the education thus far treated and which we call "intellectual education." > > In this latter training of the mind, we began by an appropriate hygienic cure of all those physical defects which could stand in the way of successful mental education. In moral education, likewise, we try to eliminate such defects as arise from some passing physical ailment. We should carefully consider the apparently causeless "naughtiness" of children, to see whether it may not be due to some intestinal disturbance, or to the early stages of some infectious disease. The symptoms of such diseases should be known to the teacher. I have been told that English mothers use the empirical method of administering purgatives or cold shower baths to "naughty children," often with good correctional effect. I suggest that such empiricism is hardly prudent where science is able to prescribe much safer and more efficacious methods. Child hygiene must be well known to the educator and should be the pivotal point of every educational system. > > In mental education, we began by reducing the child to *tonic quiescence;* here we must begin by reducing the child to *obedience*. > > In mental education, to give the child his first notions of his physical person (personal imitation: touching of the parts of the body) and of his relations to environment (personal imitation: moving of objects, etc.) we had recourse to *imitation;* here, to instil in the child elementary notions of his duties, we must throw around the child an atmosphere morally correct, an environment in which, after attaining obedience, he can *imitate* persons who act properly. > > In mental education we went on to the training of the senses; here we pass to the education of *feelings*. Our next step, in\[461\] the one case, was to the education proper of the mind; here it is to the training of the will. > > The parallel is perfect: > > hygienic training: hygiene;\ > *tonic quiescence:* obedience;\ > imitation: imitation (environment);\ > sensory education: education of the feelings (sensibilities);\ > mental education proper: education of the will. ### OBEDIENCE > In a command the will of the teacher is imposed upon the defective child who is lacking in will. The will of the teacher is substituted for the child's will in impelling to action or inhibiting the child's impulses. From the very first the child must feel this will, which is imposed upon him and is irrevocably destined to overcome him. The child must understand that against this will he cannot offer any resistance. The teacher's command must be obeyed at whatever cost, even if coercive measures must be resorted to. No consideration should ever lead the teacher to desist from enforcing her command. The child *must* submit and obey. The teacher accordingly, should be careful at first to command the child to move; since, if necessary she can *force* him to move. She may command the child to stand motionless because, if necessary, she can tie him or put him in a straight-jacket. She should never, on the other hand, command the child to "beg pardon," because the child may refuse, and in the face of this refusal the teacher may find herself helpless and lose her authority. To acquire authority in command, the teacher must possess a considerable power of suggestion; and this she can partially acquire. The teacher should be physically attractive, of an "imposing personality." She should have a clear musical voice, and some power of facial expression and gesture. These things may be in large part acquired by actual study of declamation and imitation, subjects in which the perfect teacher should be proficient. The artistic study of *command*, which the teacher may undertake, presents itself under three aspects: voice study, gesture, facial expression. > > \[462\] > > *Voice and speech:* The voice should be clear and musical, word articulation perfect. Any defect in pronunciation should effectually bar a teacher from the education of defective children. On days when the teacher has a cold and her voice is likely to assume false or ridiculous intonations, she should not think of correcting or *commanding* a defective child. The teacher's voice must be impressive and suggestive to the child. If shouting and declamatory tirades have gone out of fashion in the education of normal children, they may serve very well in the education of defectives. Whereas, in the mental education of these unfortunates, we are to pronounce a few words, but very distinctly, here there is no objection to a veritable flood of speech, provided such lectures be free from monotony, the voice passing from tones of reproof to tones of sorrow, pathos, tenderness, etc. A few words are to receive special emphasis—those which we intend shall convey to the child what we wish him to understand. The rest of all we say will constitute for the child merely modulated, musical or painful sound. It is in the music of the human voice that the elements of the education of the feelings reside; whether in the prohibition against doing something wrong, we introduce the corrective command, or, in the order to perform some action, we include encouragement, menace, or promise of reward. > > Often the command is very simple. When the child is told to do something, he does not refuse. Nevertheless he is not easily persuaded. He must try to understand, first of all, what we want of him. The technique of such a simple command falls into two parts. We may call the first *incitement*, and the second *explanation*. The whole command should be repeated several times with varied intonations and with stress on different words until each word in its order has been emphasized. "James, put that book on the table." In the first instance the command will be *incitive* in character, calling the attention of the child to the action and urging him to perform it. Here the accent should fall on the name of the child and on the imperative. The tone should be that of absolute command. "*James*, *put* that book on the table." As we pass from the command to the explanation, the tone should be changed and somewhat softened. The first word should be clear and impelling,\[463\] followed by slow, insistent words—"James, put *that book* on the table": "James, put that book on the *table*": "James, put that book *on* the table." Thus the voice both in commanding and in describing what was commanded, while urging the child to perform the required action and guiding him to do it, was also affording us help in its suggestive power and by explanation. > > *Gesture:* The teacher must study particularly expressive gesture. She must always accompany what she says with gestures serving both to impel the child to actions and which suggest imitation and explain the command. Gestures should be expressive enough to be readily intelligible even without words; for example, if it is desirable to bring the child to perfect quiescence, as the command is given, the teacher should stop, become almost rigid, looking sharply at the child in such a way that he may be impressed by that rigid fixity which he sees before him and be brought by suggesting to imitate it. Then to keep the child motionless, the teacher may attract his attention by a slight almost continuous hypnotizing sort of whistle. To excite an apathetic child to movement the teacher should herself move, accompanying the stress of her voice with motion in her whole body. > > In the *simple command*, arm gesture only should be used and as follows: > > For *Incitement:* rapid movement in straight line. > > For *Explanation:* slow movement in curve. > > Command of *quiescence:* gesture up and down, from without toward the body. > > Command of *movement:* gesture from down, up, from within, out from the body. > >   > > *Facial expression and gaze:* The gaze has a powerful effect on the child. It is the same gaze which impressed the child and brought him to the first steps in his education (see our chapter on the *Education of the Gaze*). All the expressions of the eye are useful provided the teacher employs them properly. It is not a question of scowling at the child to frighten him, as might be supposed; but rather of bringing the eye as well as the whole face to express all those emotions which the teacher\[464\] must herself actually feel in the presence of an obedient or rebellious, a patient or angry child; and of giving to this expression such clearness that the child cannot possibly be mistaken as to its meaning (Séguin, page 679). The teacher's face must be expressive, mobile, hence in harmonious relationship with what is to be expressed (calmness, gaiety, effort). The expression must never vary momentarily on account of any extraneous diversion which may occur; otherwise the children will soon learn to provoke such distractions of the teacher's attention. Such commands, which demand on the teacher's part so much artistic study, will, of course, not be necessary during the whole period of the child's education. THE END