12 blocks
There are 3 parts.
Make use of blocks or substitutes to show the process here.
Example:1⁄4of 12 = 3.
The teacher should ask the child, “How would you count this story?”
Facts Given by Child
12 = whole number of blocks.
4 = number of parts.
We want to know the number in each part.
We place the blocks so, as we know there are 4 parts:—
4 blocks
We have put one in each part.
Now we will put one in each part until the 12 blocks are gone:—
12 blocks
There are 3 in each part.
Example:
3 × 4 = —
Facts Given by Child
3 × 4 means 3 4’s.
I count my blocks by fours—I take 1 four, another, another.
I find that 3 4’s are 12.
3 × 4 = 12.
To the Teacher:
Now the child is ready to give a number story about 3 × 4.
The child has been taught to count. Now while he is telling youhow manyobjects he is dealing with, teach him to tellhow muchhe is dealing with.
In other words, have the childmeasure and compareas well as count.
Ideas of larger and smaller, longer and shorter, and the like, should be made important. The need at the outset, is to learn, in a simple way, the basis of all arithmetic—thecomparisonofquantity,—in as many of its forms as possible.
Teach the child to estimate distances and then to verify every estimate by actual measurement.
Teach half inches as well as inches.
Long measure is used to measure length.
For the Child to Do:
1. Cut a strip of paper 12 inches long and 1 inch wide.
2. Mark the inches on it.
3. How many inches long is it?
4. What do you call a measure 12 inches long?
5. Draw a line 2 inches long, as near as you can, without using a ruler.
6. Measure it with a ruler. Did you guess nearly right? Try again.
7. Measure this page. How long is it? How wide?
8. Draw a line on the ground 1 yard long.
9.1⁄2of a foot is how many inches?
10. 1 yard is how many inches? What is measured by the yard?
11. Ask your mother how many yards of cloth she needs for a dress.
12. What is measured by the foot?
13. How tall are you?
First—Teach him to tell the hour hand from the minute hand.
Next—Teach him when he first looks at the dial, to find the hour hand and then notice which Roman Numeral it is nearest.This will tell about what time it is.
Then—Find the minute hand.The minute hand will tell exactly what time it is.
Clock
To Illustrate: Take this clock. The hour hand is near the Roman Numeral II., which stands for 2. Tell the child it is somewhere near two o’clock.
The minute hand will tell how near.
ClockWhat time is it?
What time is it?
It must always point to the XII. before it is exactly the hour. If it is one numeral away[985]from the XII., toward the left, it is 5 minutes of two. If it is two numerals away to the left it is 10 minutes of two, etc. If it is one numeral away to the right, it is 5 minutes after two, etc. Proceed in this way and keep at it.
A new day begins at midnight and lasts until the next midnight.
Midnight is the middle of the night; that is, 12 o’clock at night.
Noon is the middle of the day, that is, 12 o’clock in day time.
One hour after noon is 1 o’clock, 2 hours after is 2 o’clock, etc.
If a person says he was at a certain place at 2 o’clock, he must say forenoon or afternoon, so we will know which half of the day he means. If it was 2 o’clock in the morning he would write 2 A.M., and if 2 o’clock in the afternoon, 2 P.M.
Things for the Child to Do:
1. Name the days of the week and the months of the year.
2. What day of the week does Christmas fall on this year?
3. Is 22 days longer than 3 weeks?
4. Is 5 weeks longer than a month? How much?
5. How many days in 3 weeks?
6. On what day of the week will your next birthday be, etc.
Remember:
The days of the week in their order.
The months of the year in their order.
Procure a calendar for the child to own.
A good way to make him familiar with the use of the days of the week and month, as found on a calendar, is to ask him to look up and tell on what day of the week the next Fourth of July will fall; Christmas; New Year; his birthday.
Have him distinguish between the day of the week and the day of the month.
7 days make 1 week.30 days make 1 month.
Days of the Week
Months of the Year
In many schools a lesson is given on Form and Color at least once a week. The different forms should be kept in a box, in which there should be also squares of cardboard, showing the various colors. This apparatus should, however, be amply extended. Pieces of silk or colored paper should be kept in another box, and colored wools wound on pieces of cardboard show the colors nicely.
The Object of the Lesson.—The object of the lesson is not simply to teach the shape or color of one particular piece of wood, or cardboard, but to enable the child to distinguish the same shape or color whenever it sees an example of it. Thus the child is helped to observe and compare, and its interest in life is strengthened as it learns with joy to find out things for itself.
The Circle, or round, is the first form to be taught, and it should be illustrated by numerous examples, such as a plate, a round cake, coins, etc.; all these things should be shown to the children.
Then the circle may be compared with the ball, and the children are asked: “What things are round like the ball?” “Orange, apple, etc.” “And what things are round like a circle?” “A penny, a shilling, etc.” “What has the circle that the ball has not?” “The circle has two flat faces, and the ball has only one round face.”
The Squareis somewhat familiar to the child, who has noticed the shape of his books, and the table. It has four sides all the same length; this fact may be taught thus:
Take a long stick or ruler. Teacher says: “I will measure the sides of the square. Johnnie shall hold it for me” (measure the top edge, and cut off a piece of stick just the length). Show it to the children, and say: “This stick is just as long as the top edge of the square. I will give it to Mary to hold. Now we will measure the bottom edge” (again cut the length). “This is the length of it” (holding up the stick).
The right and left sides are measured in the same way, and the child now holds four sticks. Let the children count how many sticks there are, and notice also that all four measure exactly the same, and then they will see that the square has four sides all the same length. Then ask for objects of this shape.
The Oblongis measured in the same way as the square, and the sticks are cut the lengths of its sides. The children then see that the sticks cut to represent the sides of the oblong are not all of the same length, but that two are short, and two longer, so the oblong must have two long sides and two short sides. Let a child point to the two long sides, and another to the short ones.
Then the children are asked to name all the things they can see that are oblong in shape, such as the table, door, window. They may also name objects at home—dresser, piano, bed, and many other things.
The Ovalis frequently taught after the circle, but as the difference between square and oblong is more marked than the difference between circle and oval, the former comparison if taken first may help the child to understand the latter.
Take a square and draw a circle on it, then take the oblong and draw an oval shape upon it. Ask the children, “How is this shape different from the round shape on the square?” “It is longer.” “Why?” “Because the oblong is longer.”
Now show the oval with the round or circle. “How is the oval different from the round?” “It is longer.” “What things do you know that are shaped like the oval?” “An egg, a basket, a bathtub, a dish, etc.”
The Sphere,Cylinder,Cube,Cone and Pyramidare solid figures. The cylinder can be explained from the sphere, the cone from the cylinder and the pyramid from the cube.
The pyramid points upward, so,But it is square and flat below:The cone is pointed, too, and round;A sugar loaf like it is found.
The pyramid points upward, so,But it is square and flat below:The cone is pointed, too, and round;A sugar loaf like it is found.
The children soon learn the difference between the Cone and Pyramid, and if they are allowed to make all these solid figures in clay they will remember them more easily.
1. The oval shape is like an egg,The circle’s round as all can tell,The sphere is round, just like a ball,The cylinder you know quite well;2. We roll it gently on the ground,For it is very smooth and round;It has two faces flat, you see,And stands, as well as rolls for me.3. The cube has six square faces, flat,And corners eight, just think of that!And edges twelve, three fours you know,Which round the faces always go.
1. The oval shape is like an egg,The circle’s round as all can tell,The sphere is round, just like a ball,The cylinder you know quite well;
2. We roll it gently on the ground,For it is very smooth and round;It has two faces flat, you see,And stands, as well as rolls for me.
3. The cube has six square faces, flat,And corners eight, just think of that!And edges twelve, three fours you know,Which round the faces always go.
The Pentagon, Hexagon, Octagon and other similar forms should be learned by drawing them on checkered slates or paper. These figures introduce the obtuse angle, and before the children learn the shapes, they should understand clearly the difference between the right, acute, and obtuse angles. The hexagon and octagon can be combined so as to make pretty designs which may be used for perforating and embroidery.
The “Forms” may be further impressed on the mind of the child by means of aStory; see the one given after “Color,” at end of this chapter.
Color should be taught if possible from objects and pictures. The six colors can be illustrated by fruits, as an orange, a rosy apple, a purple plum, a red cherry. The children’s dresses, their eyes and hair, can all be brought into a lesson on color. In spring and summer flowers make charming illustrations,e.g., different colors seen in roses, and the autumn-tinted leaves can be used likewise.
Then there are colors in pictures, trees, besides colored wools, beads, tablets, etc.
Ask for flowers and fruits of certain colors,e.g., what flower is yellow? What fruit is red?, etc. Also colors of birds and animals, and let the children say what colors look nice together. In summer this may be shown by arranging a number of flowers in a bouquet.
In the flowers themselves colors always harmonize,e.g., forget-me-not is blue, and has a yellow center, because blue and yellow look pretty together.
Spring flowers are mostly yellow, and have pale green leaves, for green and yellow look pretty together.
The red poppy and blue cornflower look pretty among the yellow corn, and there are yellow flowers among the corn also.
Harmony of color may be further illustrated by the dressing of a doll, or a story of a little girl who was taken to the shop by her mamma. The little girl was to have a new dress, cloak, and hood; what colors would her mamma choose?
Secondary Colors.—Teach thatred,blueandyelloware the first orprimarycolors, from which other colors may be made. A child’s box of paints and six small tumblers are required for the following illustration.
Pour a little water into each tumbler, and mix a little red paint in one, a little blue in the next, and a little yellow in the third. These are the primary colors.
Let us see what can be made by mixingtwoof them together. Take an empty tumbler. Pour in a little blue water and a little yellow. Mix together and the children will see thatgreenis produced. Now take another tumbler and mix blue and red in it; this makespurple.
In another tumbler show that red and yellow makeorange. “What beautiful thing have you seen in the sky showing all these colors?” “A Rainbow.”
This is a most interesting lesson, and if the tumblers, etc., are not obtainable, the same experiment may be shown on a piece of white cardboard. Paint the colors in stripes on the cardboard, first the three primary, which should be allowed to stand; then the secondary are produced by rubbing one color over another,e.g., paint over the red with blue, and purple is produced. Over the blue stripe paint a little yellow, and we have green. Over the yellow stripe paint red, and orange is seen.
The primary colors are Red, Yellow, Blue,The Red and Blue mixed will show Purple to you;Mix Yellow and Blue if you wish to make Green,Mix Yellow and Red, then bright Orange is seen.
The primary colors are Red, Yellow, Blue,The Red and Blue mixed will show Purple to you;Mix Yellow and Blue if you wish to make Green,Mix Yellow and Red, then bright Orange is seen.
After the forms and colors have been learned, they may be woven into an interesting story, thus:
“A man had a large piece of land to make into a garden; he gave a piece to each of his children, and said they might make small beds of any shape that they liked.
“So Johnnie made aroundbed” (draw shape on board, and let children copy on slate), “and Willie had asquarebed; Mary said her bed should beoblong, and Nellie made hersoval” (draw each on board, and let the children copy). “Then Gerty wanted hers to be the shape of asemicircle, and Harry said his should be very pretty, for he would make itcrescentshape, like the moon.”
When the blackboard is full of shapes the teacher might say: “Now you would like to know what these children had growing in their beds. Johnnie had apinkrose-bush in the middle of his bed.
“Willie sowed red Poppy seeds in rows in his square bed, and Mary had a yellow Iris in the center of hers, with blue Forget-me-nots all round. You remember that blue and yellow look pretty together.”
Whenever possible, pin the flower named on the shape representing the flower bed.
The story should be continued until all the “beds” have flowers in them. The children may be allowed to suggest names of flowers and should be encouraged to choose colors that will harmonize.
Stories are the “spice” of childhood. The eager delight with which children beg for a story, and listen while it is told, is in itself a plea for stories, and the routine of lessons should be broken up by setting apart five or ten minutes between them for this pleasant exercise.
Use of Stories.—In the first place, story-telling may be made the means of helping the children to acquire familiarity with good English. We all know how limited is the child’s vocabulary, and how difficult it is for a child to express his thoughts. Sometimes when a fact is perfectly well known, the language is wanting in which he can express it.
Second, the child’s sympathy may be cultivated and developed by means of stories. He becomes intensely interested in the subject of the story, and for the time being almost lives the incident over again in his own little life.
A very little child was one day listening to a story about “A lazy boy who missed a school picnic because he was so slow in getting ready. The school children were all on board the steamer, the bell rang, the moorings were loosed, and away went the boat just as the late little boy came running down to the pier.”
The little listener followed the story intently up to this point, and then burst out, “Oh! Auntie, couldn’t they get a little row-boat and take him out to the steamer? I don’t like him to be left behind.”
Stories, then, enlist the sympathy of the child.
Third.—Story-telling strengthens the child’s power of imagination. But, be careful to develop the imagination in a right direction, and not to feed it with anything coarse or cruel.
Fourth.—The stories offer opportunity for inculcating moral truths and sometimes it is possible to teach by stories truths that would be difficult to teach in any other way.
Kinds of Stories.—(a)Stories of Real Life—of events which have actually happened, or would be likely to happen. It is in this kind of story that moral truths can be illustrated most frequently.
(b)Fairy Tales.—Some people object to fairy tales, but innocent fairy tales feed the imagination, and often point a moral. Stories of horror and cruelty should never be recounted. Children soon learn to take delight in this class of story, and as a consequence, their moral tone deteriorates. Such stories as “Bluebeard” have this effect, but “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and many others, show that right is victorious in the end, and cannot have any bad effect on the children.
(c)Stories of Nature.—Flowers, rocks, trees, and other objects in nature may be made the subject of pleasant stories, interesting as a fairy tale, and many important truths may be taught in this way. A story of the kind is given as an example.
(d)Stories for Very Little Ones.—These should be exceedingly simple. A dog, a kitten, a bird, anything that comes into the life of a little child, he is delighted to hear about. Many such stories are given in the chapters on Numbers and Reading, and others will suggest themselves to the teacher. They should all be told in baby language,i.e., in language that the child can comprehend. Pictures often suggest a story, which is all the more interesting for being thus illustrated.
The children should sometimes be encouraged to tell what they can remember of the story. In this way they learn to express themselves.
The Story-Teller.(a) We have said before that the language should be simple and easy to understand.
(b) The voice should be modulated, and the story-telling is much more effective when gesticulations are used. The flying of birds, the rustling of leaves, etc., should be accompanied by hand movements on the part of the Teacher.
(c) The story-teller should be in sympathy with the subject of the story, and also with the listeners, otherwise the interest will be lost.
(d) Just as pictures add interest to a story, so do illustrations on the blackboard and these should be frequently given. Sometimes the children may be allowed to draw for themselves objects which have been mentioned in the story.
The After-Effect of Stories.—It is well to remember that the child’s taste for reading is largely influenced by the class of stories told to him in early life, and in these days of plentiful, cheap literature, how important it is that the youthful mind should be trained to appreciate that which is good.
If a child has learned to gloat over horrible stories, he will gratify this morbid taste by reading ghastly tales as he grows older, and if, on the other hand, he has learned to love stories that are simple and pure, he will choose reading that is good and elevating.
The intelligent use of anindexrequires careful thought and practice upon the part of the reader or consulter. Many books areover-indexed, and triflingallusions, or evenwords, made to swell the index. It is obvious, therefore, that a book of moderate compass should use only sufficient space to reveal theimportant generalsubjects treated. Besides the general index, the followingself-indexingdictionaries and departments should be consulted: