[p 2 ] 1913, 1914...

Once upon a time as four blind men sat by the roadside they heard the tramp of an elephant’s feet, and said one to another, “Here comes an elephant; now we shall know what he is like.” The first blind man put out his hand and touched the elephant’s broad side. The second took hold of a leg. The third grasped a tusk, and the fourth clutched the animal’s tail. “Now do you know what an elephant looks like?” asked a friend. “Yes,” cried the first. “The elephant is broad and flat like a barn door.” “

[p 10 ] THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON....

What is the name of our school? Where have you seen this name? A TOWN SCHOOL. Why was this name given to our school? On what street or road does our school stand? How long have you been attending this school? See how much you have noticed as you came here each day. Tell what you can remember of the [p 12 ] different parts of the building which can be seen from the street or road. Describe each of these parts: As you look at the school from the outside what materials do you see that the builders

On what street or road does your school stand? On what street or road do you live? What streets or roads do you pass on your way home? What do you think is the finest street or road that you have ever seen anywhere? What makes that so good a street or road? Name a poor street or road. What could be done to improve it? Why do cities and towns have streets and roads? Where are there no streets? Now what can be done to make a street or road beautiful and pleasant in warm weather? [p 18 ] How can bo

What kinds of buildings do you pass on your way to school? Write a list of all the kinds that you have ever seen. Look at the pictures of buildings in this book and see if you know for what each is used. How can you tell? Of all the many kinds of buildings in town or country, the houses are the most important. It is more necessary to have good homes to live in than to have the other buildings large or beautiful. What makes a good residence? There must be enough room for the whole family. It need

Think of the times when you have walked or ridden about our town. What rivers did you see? CAPITOL AT HARRISBURG. Which buildings did you think were very beautiful? What was each used for? [p 32 ] What buildings have we that are very helpful to the people? What other places would you like to visit? What place shall we visit? Why? Draw a plan to include the school and the place to be visited. How far must we go? Shall we ride or walk? In what direction shall we go? When we are up high we can look

Think of the many buildings which you see as you look over the landscape. There are people living in nearly all of those houses. Just think of the many, many people who live here. How many are there? How many schools have we in the town? How many people go to your school? Most of these people look much alike, but some are very different in appearance. Name some of the different kinds of people whom you have seen. How do you distinguish a negro and Chinaman or Mongolian from a white person or Cau

Which members of your family work? Why do they work? For what is the money they earn spent? Think which of these things are absolutely necessary to keep us alive. We all need food . We all need clothing . We all need homes or shelter . Without these provisions we should die. How do we get our food, our clothing and our homes? How did people get them when there were no stores and no money? Do you know of any people who were compelled to get things in this way? In a school reader, read about how p

There are many other living creatures in the world besides people. Write a list of all the kinds of animals that you have ever seen. AMERICAN BUFFALO. Some of these animals live near the homes of men. They are tame. Men take care of them and see that they get food. Many of these animals are very useful to us. Write a list of these tame animals. At the top of the list write Domestic Animals . Of what use [p 47 ] is each of the following animals when alive? Which are useful after they are killed?

Think of the foods that you had on your dinner table yesterday. Where did each come from? How did it get here? Was there anything which came from our own neighborhood, and which did not have to take a long journey either to the factory where it was manufactured or to the store where it was sold? Examine the clothing you are wearing. Of what material is each article made? Where did the materials come from? Where were they manufactured? Which had to come a long journey before it reached your home?

Note to the Teacher. —Consider at this time only such familiar features as belong to the children’s immediate environment in or very near their neighborhood. Defer the study of the other land and water forms until later, as suggested in the Introduction. For further details of these features, see Chapters I and IV in Part II. Some streets and roads are flat and level. Others slope like hills . Can you name a street which is level, and one that slants or slopes? Which road is easier to walk on? W

Face the sun. We are facing the south. Does the sun always lie south of us? Where was it early this morning when it arose? That was east. Where will it be at sunset? That is west. Move your hand to show the sun’s daily journey from east to south to west. The sun is south of us only at noon time. Directions Face your shadow. Now the sun is behind you. What direction is back of you? You are facing north. Look at the shadows of the school, of the fence, of the pole, and of all the other children. T

The World Long ago wise men found out that the great earth on which we live is not flat, but round like a ball. It is so very large, and we see so small a part of it at one time, that it looks flat to us. Take a piece of paper and tear out a small hole. Hold the hole over your [p 74 ] globe so that a small part of the surface shows through. Does the small piece of the globe look very curved? These men noticed ships sailing away across the water. When the ships were far away the lower part of the

What kind of weather are we having now? What kind will we have in July, in December, in April, in October? What do we call the warm season? What is the cold season? What are the mild seasons? How many seasons have we? What kind of clothing do we need in winter? What work in your home is different in winter from what is done in summer? What season gives the school janitor most work? Why? If you live in the country you have seen how different it looks in winter time and in summer time. Tell how. I

All parts of the earth do not have seasons such as we have. If we should travel north we should find the climate growing colder and colder. After a long time we should come to a region of intense cold. The ground would be covered with ice and snow all the year through, both winter and summer. This most northern part of the earth is called the North Pole. The region around it is the North Frigid Zone. There is a South Pole and a South Frigid Zone as cold as the northern one. You can see where the

Find where we live on the map of North America. Locate our home on all of our maps and globes. North America is a very large portion of land. You could sail along its shores for thousands of miles. At its widest part you could not cross it in a fast express train in less than five days and nights. There are thousands of cities in this great grand division, for there are millions of people here. Most of them are white or Caucasian. There are also many Indians, negroes, Eskimos and Mongolians. Muc

North America contains several different countries. Each is under a separate government. These countries are United States, British America, Danish America, Mexico and Central America. Each country has its own ruler and its own laws. Each has a special flag and its own kind of money and postage stamps. We live in the best one of these countries, for we have the best ways of obtaining our food, our clothing and our shelter. Our climate is good, for we are in the North Temperate Zone. Our soil is

Suppose you were to sail from New York City to Iceland. 1. What would you take with you that the people would be glad to get? 2. What kind of clothing would you need for the trip? 3. Over what water would you sail? 4. In what direction would you go? 5. What countries would you pass? 6. How could you tell when you were getting near Iceland? 7. What would you see in Iceland? 8. Could you bring back to the people at home anything useful? Let us go to visit the Panama Canal, keeping our vessel close