beforehand so that the children may become partly familiar with it. While this is in progress, while the children are quietly at work, the wise teacher inserts,." I wonder what the piano can be talking about? I believe it is trying to tell us a new little story this morning. Let us all listen and see if we can not understand it." A random beginning at "mental effect," fraught with random possibilities in the way of answers-yet out of which may open wonderful paths to new worlds of consciousness and understanding! With a little shaping of wavering and disjointed ideas, a little hint in the right direction and a final realization in a "really truly" song-what joy to the child and what an opening of the doors of the imagination to living sounds, never to be closed again! Now for our song proper. Having run its development along the subject of work in idea, story and musical suggestion through the piano, the song should be the spontaneous and necessary climax of the whole.

Two almost universal favorites for Fall selections are, "The Brown Birds," by Eleanor Smith, and "Where Do All The Daisies Go," which can be well introduced by contrast. Both old songs, but good, which will well stand from year to year, any added improvement you can give them by way of better interpretation or voice.

They make a good contrast, the one bringing out the cherry, joyous, spontaneous phase of child and nature-lifethe other perhaps a little more of the regretful, softer, sympathetic human side.

In one the music is cheery, communicative, eager and full of childlike freshness; in the other more thoughtful, swayingly rhythmical in feeling and

movement.

Instead of working so hard to bring out the thought in the song, I would say, rather enter into the feeling of the song through words and music, get at what it is trying to say, and let it say itself out through you. Draw out the children as to their ideas of the mood of the song and enter it with them. The idea of hopeful joyousness in the "Daisies" will very quickly express itself in some such phrase as this: "Why, the music's glad that they'll all be covered up warm, and come back in the spring!" Also the little "sorry" in the "Brown Birds" music will be quickly felt and understood.

Entering in this way through the children's own door into the spirit of the song, you can not fail of spontaneous results of true interpretation. You can not hope to get mood results into the baby voices of Kindergarten children—nor would it be right to do so. But you can do more, you can from the start preserve to the child an unspoiled sense of artistic unity-germinating from the unity of its own idea and expressed through its own life and powers.

To this group can be added the song "Birds in Autumn," in this issue of THE KINDERGARTEN MAGAZINE, so charmingly embodying much of the same ideas for the very youngest children. Having led off with the "Daisies" and "Brown Birds" in their chatty confidences about bird family preparations, consultations. about moving and the long journey South, with its anticipations and regrets, you need but to poise the children's wings to "fly away" into the music and rhythm of Miss Poulsson's dainty little song and game. Taking it rather slowly and softly seems to more nearly sense the composer's thought, and, instead of ordinary rhythmical flying, it suggests

the steadier poise and soaring of birds under way. This distinction will help to bring out a little more of dignity and purpose of an actual, responsible undertaking, such as the seeking of new homes in strange lands would seem to us as well as the birds. The music

softens all regrets with a joyous bon voyage and the hearty "come again" starts the Autumn episode well toward the Spring thought of returning birds and flowers.

Chicago.

MARI RUEF HOFER.

It is evident that this fundamental principle of Froebel applies equally to primary school work as to Kindergarten. When should the child cease to express himself in activities? plainly, never. soon as he becomes to any extent passive in acquiring knowledge, his develop ment of individual power, his education, is declining, and if this passivity or mere receptivity increases, all his organs of growth will soon be atrophied and education is at an end.

Now what do we propose to give to the child within the primary school? Let us say in the first place, physical training; not by methods suited to the paralytic or the imbecile, not by external or mechanically applied movements, but by voluntary exercise of his muscles and performance of their natural functions, under the inspiration of sympathy and joy. We must have the co-operation of the feelings and the will. We must give him free play, the exercise which nature has provided for his bodily development; this should by no means be left behind with the Kindergarten. Add to it, if you please, by careful degrees, some systematic exercise in brief routine, according to a well regulated and scientific plan.

In the Boston schools the Swedish system of gymnastics is in full operation through every grade, and the children in

the lowest primary classes are put through the tactics for a few minutes at a time according to the lesson for the grade. The little ones enjoy the drill and enter with great spirit into the simple exercises at the word of command without music. It is the introduction to concerted action under strict regulations of method, and must at first be short, so as not to weary the power of attention and habit of obedience, which it seeks to cultivate. I think it should be followed immediately by free play, that the children may relax both mind and muscle naturally and by degrees.

It would be a very apparent mistake to expect them to attend to a series of directions as to posture and movement without the accompaniment of action; no less a mistake is it to demand the attention to a series of mental directions as to number, form, place or size without corresponding action on their part. The laws of physical development are identical with those of mental and moral development. When we are in any doubt as to the latter, let us inquire of the former and receive Nature's unequivocal reply.

The action accompanying mental ef fort should involve not only the mental but the physical nature of the child. Is he to be instructed in the use of language? Let him define the word he uses

with his physical activities. The foreign children in the schools are taught in this way: "I am running," says Salvatore, and he starts off and runs about the room; I jump," says Michel, and he suits the action to the word; with joyful attention, and such active demonstration the little alien acquires the words almost miraculously. So with the primary class: "I have a bird;" "I give Jennie the bird," and that which is read or written is also done while the association of ideas fixes the impression made by the word. Davis's method of teaching reading is built up on this plan. A class of a dozen children come forward and the teacher offers them an open bag from which each draws with pleased curiosity some object of interest. each withdrawal of the little hand and the simultaneous appearance of the object the child says: "I have a doll," "I have a lamb," or "I have a house," the teacher at once writes and prints the whole sentence on the blackboard while the child repeats it. Soon every child has some pretty thing in his hand which he examines with delighted interest, and the teacher calls on each for his sentence once more, at the same time asking him to point out the sentence on the blackboard which says this. It is rare that a mistake is made even on the first effort to recognize the sentence, and before the teacher has thought of patience she has conquered the whole lesson.

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Or let the teacher start the class in number. Give the children the splints, the balls or the toys and then ask them to hold up these objects while they count them together or take some away. Teach the pupil to recognize at a glance groups of two, groups of three, groups of five, groups of ten. Practice with things in groups will soon accomplish this recog

nition. Thus he will be prepared to see in every aggregation of units or objects its decimal groups which are the foundation of our system. But he must handle these objects as well as see them; better still he must do something with them. Let him trade and barter splints for balls, blocks for beads and later any of these things for play-money.

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But do not ring the changes on small numbers of objects until the children are wearied out with the meaningless routine. Introduce quantity and measurement at once in connection with number. Let the children enjoy the actual weighing of things and the actual measuring of things. I remember the lively operations my children used to have with a set of apothecaries' scales and little weights, taking turns at measuring out little packages of powdered sugar, etc. We had the larger scales of the grocers also and the different vessels of dry and liquid measure as well as the more comapplications of long measure. What busy times we had with all these real things, and what looked like real money, the toy money we could provide ourselves with. We made paper pocketbooks too and kept accounts. I never found any trouble in teaching all at once the reckoning or number-work by means of all these activities. Learning by doing; all the combinations of numbers required in simple processes of trade acquired with delight and facility because actually accomplished; all the facts of measurement called compound numbers discovered and applied by dealing with them through real instruments, in the mutual relations of play and active participation of body, mind and soul all alert and all involved in the vitalizing methods by which we attacked every subject according to that principle of

Froebel's which develops force and attains knowledge by spontaneous activity.

Of course this must be done without crowding, but I have observed in the schools a greater tendency to hold back than to crowd. Just remember how nature crowds the child by demanding complicated activity in all directions; it is not crowding, it is freedom of life and spontaneous development and is much. more healthful and delightful for the child than the tedious repetition of one thing and the extreme dilution of much of our teaching.

We must defer making the application of this great law of the Kindergarten to other branches of primary

school work, to our next paper, but in reading and language as well as in number, incorporate doing as far as possible at every step; in fact, never try to impress the child with a new idea or truth, except by engaging his activities of body, mind and soul all together to reach it and to realize it; do not try to put tools into his hand,-tools of language, of expression, of number, until you set him to using those tools in the most tangible way practicable and according to his natural expression of energy. By all means we must carry up into the primary school work this prime method of the Kindergarten.

LOUISA PARSONS HOPKINS,
Supervisor of Public Schools, Boston.

After reading the "Three Golden Apples" by Hawthorne, to the little ones, they seemed so impressed with it that for many days they lived it over and over again.

One morning after a walk we came home with a quantity of soft, green moss, and some one suggested that we make a little garden indoors, for the weather was quite cool. We laid the moss upon a plate, smoothed and fitted it close. With an evergreen twig for a tree, some shells and ferns and pebbles, too, it was quite complete. And best of all, some one brought out a little piece of lookingglass, which we put away down in the bottom with the mossy banks built up around it so that it looked just like a little lake.

When it was completed some one said we should call it the "Garden of the Hesperides," for we had been talking all the morning of the hard time Hercules

had in getting the three golden apples. It was a fine idea and we were all very glad to name it so. But we must have the apples of gold on our tree! So with a little clay brought from Kindergarten we rolled the three apples and with a thread fastened inside so that they could hang out a little for stems, we tied them on the tree. We also painted them yellow and dusted them with a little gold powder and they looked pretty enough for any king.

We cut out of paper a dragon and put it under the tree and made Hercules, also Atlas with the world on his shoulders. The three fairies who told Hercules how to get Atlas to help him, and several other little things we added to make the story real.

The lovely garden lasted for a long time, and we watered it and told over it the wonderful story which we shall always remember. M. C. B.