ainin The Senses The ■ Child's || Memory oo f 4 This book is published as a Supplement to The Natural Method of Memory Training By The Memory Institute 116 So. Michigan Avenue CHICAGO JUL -2 I9f8 Copyright 1918 by WM. E. MILLER All rights reserved ;U 4 99 53 4 A Firstt Word MEMORY is the foundation or basis of all mental capacity, and a factor in all mental operations. It contributes to and influences all thoughts, decisions and actions. It is also the faculty that wields greatest influ- ence in establishing character and determining personal- ity. The greatest need in educational endeavor is Mem- ory Training. The lack of it is the cause back of the difficulties and wastes of student life. The difference in the success and usefulness of indi- viduals is not a matter of natural endowment, half as much as the use they make of the endowments which tiiey have. You have never found a person who had any senses which you do not possess. You have found many, however, who have learned to make better use of them. The quantity or quality of the endowment of normal children need not worry you. The greater question is, how much you will help them in learning to use and develop what they have. ' It is well for you to consider a statement of the late Dr. James, of Harvard, when he said : "The average business man uses less than 25 per cent, of his native mental capacity/' This is true — not because we wish to be wasteful or negligent, but because of a lack of knowledge of how to properly use our mental equipment. This can be overcome only by becoming expert in the use of our faculties. Page Three This Supplement is prepared for the purpose of giving DEFINITE INSTRUCTIONS to help all adults to over- come this handicap, and, especially, in the hope that parents will use it in the training of their children. As most of us are more interested in helping children than in training ourselves, the exercises and games in this Supplement are described with reference to use in child- training. They are just as practical and available for adults as for children. Try some of them, and prove to yourself how greatly you need such training. The person who will devote a few minutes a day to learning how to use his senses and faculties along the lines suggested in this Supplement will gain rapidly in the use and control of his mind, and especially in the ease and ac- curacy with which he can use his Memory. The young child has little conception of the import- ance of Memory. Do not use your time trying to im- press the value of Memory upon it, but rather in helping it to do the things which will result in the development of this faculty. By training the child's Memory, you can endow it with a knowledge and capacity which will be an ever-increasing source of profit, and for which it will never cease to thank you. To start your children in life with a trained and dependable memory is a greater endowment than a perfunctory education or even a fortune. Page Four This is not only your privilege, but your duty. The decision to do so must be yours. At first the principal effort and persistence must come from you. Follow carefully the instructions in this Supplement, and you will have no difficulty in accomplishing this desirable result. First, read the entire book to get the scope of the work; then, apply the ideas and exercises according to the age of the child. Let the children advance as rapidly as they can master the work. Do not over-urge them, or make the work tedious. Alcove all, see that the chil- dren understand the principle, and apply it to all of its activities. Memory is largely a habit. See to it that your children acquire this habit early. Let your effort be continuous and not spasmodic. Ten minutes . a day is far better than an hour once a week. Feel free to write for help or suggestions at any time. THE AUTHOR. Page Five Classification of Ages The following accepted classification of ages will be of considerable value to parents as a guide to the interests of their children. Kindergarten Age . . . 4 to 7 years Individualistic Age . . 7 to 10 years Ages of Cliques and Clubs, 10 to 13 years Age of Hero Worship . . 13 to 15 years Kindergarten Age — The age of physical activity — children play for the sake of play — do not care for the results — age of imitation of other people — imitative plays — construction — guessing — curiosity — pencil drawing — stories. Individualistic Age — Play centers more around the control of objects — child cares more for results — mus- cular skill — individual competition — interests are self centered. Interested in stories of dramatic action. Boys and girls become more divided in their interests — be- come more interested in making collections of different kinds — imitation of adult activities — and in nature studies. Age of Cliques and Clubs — Boys and girls are both interested in Cliques and Clubs often of the secretive kind. Their interest grows in physical skill — in puzzles and tricks. The pride for good work appears — also the desire for outings and camping. Age of Hero Worship — Hero worship and admira- tion for prowess is marked. Historical reading becomes of more interest. Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls are typical of the interests of this age. Interests of boys and girls will differ widely. Individual tendencies will now become more formed. Page Six Gn&ptar One The Principles of Memory There are certain psychological and fundamental prin- ciples which underlie the operations of the memory and which must, of necessity, be the foundation of all intelli- gent effort towards memory improvement. These prin- ciples, of course, are not new; they have been pretty thoroughly understood for generations. Most writers about Memory have confined themselves entirely to a statement of the principles and their neces- sity, without giving any practical help towards attaining the results desired. - The purpose of this chapter is to state, in as definite a manner as possible, what these necessary principles are, and to show how they have been the foundation of all that has gone before in The Natural Method of Mem- ory Training. Memory is the ability to make a strong impression upon the brain, and to recall it at will. This involves two mental processes; first, the making of a strong im- pression upon the brain ; second, the ability to recall it at will. Page Seven The first essential is the strong impression. We have learned in Lesson I that all impressions made upon the brain are placed there through the agency of the senses. Also, that the eye has been endowed by nature with the ability to make the strongest. This ability is duplicated in the mind's eye. For that reason, we have been using visualization or the mind's eye picture as the method by which we can most quickly and easily make the strongest possible impression upon the brain. The second essential is the ability to recall the im- pression at will. A strong one can be made upon the brain by a mind's eye picture, but if it is made without reference to any other knowledge or impression, it can- not be recalled at will. Recall is made possible through the law of ASSOCIATION. Professor Kay states that "association is merely the means by which what is in the memory is recalled and brought again before consciousness." In order to recall a fact, at will, it must be impressed upon the brain in association with some other fact. Two things must be placed in the mind together. One must be permanent or familiar knowledge, or an impression which will be present in the mind or surroundings when the other is to be recalled. In the visual exercise of Lesson i, in which a list of words was learned beginning with HUT, this principle was used. The strongest possible impression was made upon the brain by seeing the HUT. In a like manner, Page Eight the strongest impression of the WINE, by seeing the WINE, but if you wish to remember that the word WINE follows the word HUT, you must associate the two together, which we did by seeing them together in the same picture. This is an example of the two things impressed upon the mind at the same time. When you see the HUT, it brings the WINE. If you wish to recall what the word is which follows HUT, you merely see the HUT and the picture association — the fact that the two have been impressed upon the mind together — brings them back together. Reminder Pictures A simple and very practical application of the use of the visual faculty and the law of association is the making of a picture of the thing which you wish to do, in the place where you wish to be reminded of doing it. This principle can be applied to very simple errands as well as to very important ideas. The seeing of a pic- ture of the thing you wish to do is the forming of the strongest possible impression. By seeing this picture in the place where you wish to be reminded of it, you have associated it in your mind in connection with the thing which is to be used to bring the picture again into your consciousness. The latter half of the picture — the place in which you wish to be reminded of it — is the thing which you are using to bring back to your mind the thing you wish to do. It must be familiar, and at the same time a place or object which is going to be physically visible at the time you want to be reminded of doing this thing. Page Nine This principle can most easily be understood by the use of illustrations which are actual examples of how others have used the idea : Believing in the value of a glass of water taken before meals, one of the students made a picture of a large glass of water almost covering the entire table, and when coming to the table he saw himself spill this glass of water. The essentials are that you have two objects in the picture — one, the thing you wish to be reminded of doing; and the other, a familiar scene which you are going to see at the time. In this case, when the person sees the table, which is half of the picture, it brings back into consciousness the other part of the picture — the large glass of water. This imme- diately reminds him to drink the glass of water before sitting down to the meal. A lady had been forgetting to get out a certain rug which had been put away in a dark closet, and which she feared might be injured by moths if it was not gotten out, brushed and used. The rug was stored away in a certain closet upstairs. As is often the case in such cir- cumstances, she thought of this rug many times, but always when it was inconvenient to go and get it. She made a picture of the door of the closet in which the rug was stored, and also of herself passing this door; the door flew open and the rug jumped out into the hall at her feet. Later, when she was passing this closet door, the picture came back to her mind and she stopped, opened the door, took out the rug and attended to the matter which she had been forgetting. Vayc Ten A business man had been forgetting to telephone a business associate regarding a certain matter. He rnade a picture of the desk in his office; when he rolled up the top of the desk this friend jumped out and scared him. This picture was made in the library of his home in the evening. Next morning, when he saw the desk, the rest of the picture came back to his mind and he went at once to the telephone and attended to the matter. Pictures which are exaggerated, have strong motion, are unusual or even startling, are best for this reminder idea. The pictures must be seen clearly in the mind's eye, and the part of the picture which is used as the reminder must be something that you will see clearly at the time you wish to do the thing. Any simple or important matter can very easily be brought to mind at any time of the day by using this idea, which combines visualization and association. The same principle has been applied to the Hitching Post Idea in Lesson 2. The impressions of HUT, WINE, HAM, HARE, OWL, etc., have become familiar or per- manent knowledge. We wish to remember a list of groceries. We take the first of the list, butter, and im- press it upon the mind by a picture of the butter with the HUT. In this manner we make the visual association of th$ thing w,e wish to remember with some permanent knowledge — the picture of the HUT. The fact that these two have % been associated together in this way is the thing which makes it possible for us to Page Eleven recall the butter when we see the HUT. Notice here that a strong impression could be made of the butter alone, yet that impression is not one which you would be able to recall at will, but you can recall it when asso- ciated in your mind with the HUT. So you see the truth of Professor Kay's statement that "association is the means by which what is in the memory is recalled. " The same principle is involved again in the remem- bering of names and faces. We have a picture impres- sion upon the brain of the face which we call the Face Picture. When we hear the name, we make a picture impression of the name upon the brain, which we call the Name Picture. In order to be able to recall the name picture when the face is again brought before .us, we associate the two picture impressions together by seeing both in a mind's eye picture at the same time. It is the use of this law of association which makes it possible to recall the name when the face comes before us. The same principle is again used in the remembering of numbers. You have a familiar person or store in your mind ; it may be the grocery. You go to the tele- phone book and find that the number is 4715. The thing necessary to make it possible for you to remember this number is the making of a strong visual impression upon the brain, in which you associate the grocery with. 4715. The Number Code as given in Lesson 3 of the Memory Course is simply an aid, by means of which you are able to change the meaningless, inanimate digits of 4715 into Page Twelve an object which can easily be visually impressed upon your brain. The number 4715 can be represented by the two words "rag doll/ , and the visual impression of the grocery and the rag doll is a simple matter. You asso- ciate the two together in the mind by seeing them both in the same picture, and when you want to telephone the grocery, you see in the picture with the grocery the rag doll, which is translated into the 'phone number 4715. So, through all the lessons which have been given, you will find the same principles, that it is possible to remember when you make a strong impression upon the brain, associated with some other familiar knowledge, so that you can recall it at will. Attention and Concentration Everything you have read on the subject of Memory was full of strong assurances that you would never de- velop your memory except by developing Attention and Concentration. This is true; yet the thing lacking has not been the knowledge that you need to be able to pay attention and to concentrate, but some definite instruc- tion as to how you might be able to produce this de- sirable result. The success of this Natural Method of Memory Training is due to the fact that it has enabled you to produce spontaneous concentration in your mind. Page Thirteen To pay attention and to concentrate is to apply your mind to one thought or idea — to the exclusion of all else. This is the thing which has before been difficult and almost impossible. Real attention and concentration are merely the continuous application of the senses to the subject in mind — thus you will see that visualiza- tion, or the mind's eye picture which you have been taught to use, is the tool which produces this result. It makes possible the undivided attention of the strongest of the senses to the thing which is to be remem- bered — thus making the strongest possible impression. At the time you are making a picture of HUT and WINE, for example, you shut out all other thoughts and ideas from your mind. Your attention is centred upon these two objects. The value of EXAGGERATION, MOTION and THE UNUSUAL is that it prolongs the period of at- tention and concentration — thus intensifying the im- pression made. We say that "Exaggeration impresses the mind, and that Motion impels attention," that is just what it does; it compels you to pay attention, thus you bring about in an increased degree the conditions neces- sary to memory. Page Fourteen QWpta 3 Tw® Training the Senses Professor W. Prior says : "The foundation of all mental development is the activity of the senses." Every normal child is endowed with the five senses, and every impression which the brain receives is con- veyed to it by these senses. The accumulation of these impressions in the mental storehouse and the ability to later recall and use them is Memory. The first step in mental growth is the making of impressions on the brain by the senses. The senses then are the tools of memory. They are, in fact, the instru- ments by the use of which all knowledge is acquired and stored. Sense training is the logical beginning of all education. You are going to give your child an education to help it succeed in life. First give it sharp tools — keen senses — that it may get the best results from the time spent in study. Page Fifteen Training the senses will result in greater ability to pay Attention, to Concentrate and to Remember. These are needed by every student. A few moments' daily use of the exercise in this book will prove the means to the end. If you neglect the exercise the end will not be reached. The senses are the lines of communication over which all impressions from the outside world are conveyed to the brain. If these impressions are accurate the result- ing knowledge will be accurate. An understanding of the proper use of the senses will enable you to make these impressions lasting — instead of fleeting ones. Lack of ability to properly use the senses is a handicap in life and subtle foe to success. • In the beginning all the memory does is to store the simple sense impressions. The baby sees its mother many times before it recognizes her. The eye nerve carries to the brain the same picture of the mother's face and stores it there. Soon the brain perceives the similarity and the child recognizes its mother. The fact that in some way the brain retains the first, second, third, etc., impressions becomes the foundation of recognition. If the sense nerve fails to carry the impressions of the face there would be no comparison and no recog- nition. Without sense impression there can be no knowl- edge. Imperfect sense impressions can only result in imperfect knowledge. Page Sixteen Each set of sense nerves carries its impression to a different area of the brain. Each sense has a distinct and localized memory. The eye memory is called the visual memory. The ear memory is the auditory mem- ory. There is also the gustatory memory of taste ; the olfactory memory of smell, and tactual memory of touch. Of these, the visual memory is the most accurate and lasting. The nerve connecting the eye with the brain is many times larger than that of any of the other sense organs. Psychological tests have also proven the eye to be the most accurate of all senses. Next to the eye comes the ear in both strength and accuracy. In the following exercise special emphasis will be placed upon the eye and the ear as a future basis for memory. Results of Sense Training That the senses can be trained every one will at once admit. The world is full of examples, as the In- dian savage with his keen sight and hearing. You may think this is a natural born ability. There are many examples to prove the contrary. The American Scouts, some of whom have gone into the Indian country when they were grown men, have become almost as proficient as the Indians themselves. This fact of the unusual ability of the Indian is true to-day as well as in the storied periods of the past. On a recent camping and canoeing trip through the lakes Page Seventeen of Canada, it was a common occurrence for the Indian guide to say "washkeesh," meaning deer. No one in the party could see the deer; but the Indian would point out the exact spot, and as the party canoed silently along the shore the deer would soon become visible to all. This training of the Indian was brought about largely by necessity. It was required for the preservation of his life. The same is true of the white man who has gone into the Indian country. If we were all driven by the same necessity we would have the same keenly devel- oped senses. There are many other examples in the different trades of to-day. The Tea and Wine tasters have a very highly developed sense of taste and smell. The jeweler has a well developed sense of hearing, so that he can detect irregularities of the ticking of a clock that are imper- ceptible to most of us. - Makers of telescope lenses com- plete the smoothing of the surfaces by rubbing with the fingers, being able in this way to detect the slightest roughness. The blind have a very highly developed sense of feeling and hearing. Deaf people often have a keen sense of sight. Necessity and desire are the parents of all progress and development. You will notice that in all of these cases there are these two impelling motives which have caused this un- usual improvement. Create in the child the desire to Ptujc Eighteen be unusual in this regard. Show it that the highest success of life necessitates this development. Also notice that in every case it comes as the result of individual effort. The individual who possesses this unusual ca- pacity, acquired it only as the result of his own continued practice. The senses cannot be developed in a day. They can be developed, however, if you will make any reason- able effort. The child will attach most value to that which gives it most pleasure. This is a fact which you must keep in mind through- out all your efforts in child training. Whenever possi- ble make the exercises into games and make them inter- esting. Do not work so long with one idea that it be- comes tiresome or tedious for the child. Add anything which suggests itself to you that will give variety. When the child seems to be losing interest or paying only par- tial attention, vary the exercise or change to some other game. In all the exercises note the results and keep careful watch of the progress made. Each child should be a rule unto itself. It will excel in some things and possibly be deficient in others. It will naturally wish to play most that game in which it does best. Do not deny it this game, but use it as a reward, when the child does well the thing which it needs most. Use the promise to play this game as the inducement to get the child to do the more difficult exercises first. Page Nineteen To Improve Detail of Vision At a glance some people will only see a tree; others in the same glance will see a tall tree with spreading branches, small irregularly shaped leaves, with small black berries and a rough vertically marked bark. Chil- dren should be trained to notice as much detail as pos- sible. Development along this line becomes a basis for many other mental operations. Exercise No. i Sit down with the child where you can look out on the landscape. Pick out some one object, tell the child, "I can see a tin can." Let it look until it finds the object. Then let the child pick out some object that it thinks will be difficult for you to find. It may be a bird, a red flower, or a hoop. As the child develops pick objects farther away, smaller or partially hidden. Exercise No. 2 Have the child look at a tree and give you all the details that it can see. You call the child's attention to the things missed so that it sees the reason for making an additional effort. The same exercise can be followed with any object, a house, an automobile or any animal. In the house use a picture on the wall, a table, a bookcase or a coin. You will find that the longer the child looks at the object the more it will notice the de- tails. The aim is to get the child to notice and mention the details as quickly as possible. After some prac- tice it will be able to mention them as rapidly as it can speak. Page Twenty Training the Eye to Measure The ability to accurately measure with the eye is a thing that a great many people find very difficult, if not almost impossible. In this training begin with larger measurements and from that work to the finer ones as rapidly as the child can progress. Exercise No. 3 In your study of the landscape for Detail of Vision you can combine the practice of estimating measure- ments. Have the child determine which of two trees in the distance is the closer. Any other object in the land- scape can be used. Walk toward the trees to prove the matter. As you walk toward them point out the things which the child failed to mention as it enumerated the objects in the landscape. Exercise No. 4 Give the child a foot rule. Have it study its length, then with its fingers on the table have the child indi- cate the distance which it believes to equal that of the length of the rule. Lay the rule between the child's fingers, practice until the child knows accurately how long a foot is. At the same time and for variety the child can practice with a half foot and an inch. Have it compare objects with the foot rule and deter- mine whether they are longer or shorter. Then let it measure the objects. Let the child check the measure- ments itself, this will increase its definite conception of the length of the foot rule. Page Twenty -one Game No. 5 — Measuring Let the child with its eye, and without the rule, meas- ure the length of the table, of the bookcase, the side of the room, or height of the door. Have the child do this by eye measurement and not by guessing. Teach it to start at one end and select a point which it judges to be one foot from the end, and then to advance the eye to a point one foot from that and so on, counting as it goes "one, two, three and a half" — whatever it believes is the right measurement. Then have the child take the foot rule and check its measurements accurately. In the same manner the child should be taught to know and to be able to measure with a yard stick. With it measure larger objects, as the length of the house, the width of the porch, the distance from the house to the sidewalk, the width of the street, the height of the shed, etc. Teach the child to recognize the distance of a block, a half-mile or a mile, and the size of an acre. Unless you have had some practice in work of this kind, you will find yourself busy keeping ahead of the child. You can get excellent practice and devel6pment, which will be of value to you, by entering into these exer- cises. Make it a point to become thoroughly interested in the work yourself, as it will insure its continuation and increased good to the child. While training the child's eye to measure, excellent practice will be found in determining comparative length Page Twenty-two of lines. The illustrations following will show some of the ways in which the lines can be made confusing. The child should be given enough drill in this exercise so that it learns to judge the things as they are, and not as they seem to be. Have the child look at Figure I and decide which seems to be the longer line, a side of the square B or the diameter of the circle A. Then have it measure carefully. In like manner, compare the height of the two rec- tangles in Figure 2. Which line is longest in Figure 3 — AB, CB or BD? Which vertical lines are tallest in Figure 4 — those between AB or BC? In Figure 6, which line is longest, A, B, or C? Use the other figures in the same manner, always making ac- curate measurements to prove the matter. Page Twenty-three Good practice can be had in judging the sizes of boxes by comparing the length of one box with the width of another, or any measurements which seem to be similar. In each case the measurement should later actually be made so that all error can be corrected. In the same way practice with sizes of books, the thick- ness of books, and boards. Also compare them with the child's knowledge of an inch so that it learns to de- termine accurately the difference in thickness of boards. The carpenter can readily tell the full inch board from the seven-eighths board by looking at it or by feeling it. His ability to do this is the result of practice. The size of type is a good thing to practice with, after the child becomes quite accurate with the other measurements. The irregular outlines of the type make it quite confusing. A sample book of type can be gotten from any printer. From this the child can be taught to recognize the size of type and to become familiar with the common type faces. This knowledge it can also use to good advantage in later years. The child should be taught a definite length of step for the purpose of measuring. According to the size of the child, it can learn to step a foot, two feet or a yard. It should also know the length, in inches, of its shoe, for the purpose of checking estimated measurements. Have the child know its height and check estimated height of trees, buildings, etc., by measuring the length of the shadow and comparing with proportion of its own shadow to its height. Page Twenty-four^ Training the Ear Exercise No. 6 Have the child stand across the room and listen for the tick of a watch that you hold in your hand. If the child cannot hear the tick, advance slowly towards it. Keep track of the distance at which the child first dis- tinguishes the ticking. It will be interesting to test each ear separately. Any physical defect in the child's hearing can be found by this test. Encourage the child to make a deliberate effort to hear the watch. Do not be too hasty in moving towards the child, as it will have to concentrate its attention before the tick can be heard. This exercise is a good one for the development of at- tention. Practice with this yourself. You will find as your attention wanders you will lose the consciousness of the tick of the watch. Exercise No. 7 Have the child stand across the room or several feet away. Whisper a word and see if the child can repeat the word. Encourage it to try a little harder and to be more quiet; then whisper the same word, but not louder. Work with this exercise, increasing the tone gradually until the child distinguishes what is said. Then whisper other words and sentences. This exercise can be length- ened, and is excellent for development of attention and memory, as well as the hearing. Page Twenty- five Exercise No. 8 Have the child sit at a table ; take a pencil and tap a familiar tune upon the table and see if it recognizes it. Have the child repeat the tapping and see how accurately it can reproduce the tune, or the number of taps, etc. Game No. 9 — Hide the Watch Take a watch and go into another room. Hide the watch where it will be out of sight, but within hearing. Let the others come into the room and stand still, and try to locate the watch by hearing the ticking. Let them move around, but very quietly, so as not to disturb the others. Let all move at one time. Use a watch that has a fairly loud tick. Game No. 10 — Speak and I'll Name You Blindfold one child and have the others sit or stand around it in a circle. Turn the blindfolded one around a few times and then let it point to any one, saying "Speak and I'll name you." The child designated speaks the words "All right. " The one blindfolded has two chances to guess from the sound of the voice who the person is. If it guesses correctly, the child is released. If not, it must pay a forfeit. The person pointed out must be blindfolded and take the next turn. Forfeits may be redeemed in any manner desired. The game "Ruth and Jacob," familiar to every one, is a game of sound. Page Twenty-six Game No. n — Silence For developing self-control and relaxation, have the child or children practice silence. Have them sit per- fectly still. Have them relax, and show them that the movement of a foot or a hand makes a slight noise. Have them listen to their breathing, and then have them breathe just as quietly as they can. Drop a pin and have those who heard it put up their hands. Have them become perfectly quiet again and drop several pins for them to count. See who gets the most accurate count. In all your instructions to them, only whisper. Do not let them talk or whisper at all during this exercise. As you use this exercise continually prolong the periods of silence and the period of attention to one sound or idea. This is a wonderful .exercise for the development of attention. Exercise No. 12 Have the children sit quietly in the room ; have sev- eral different articles in your hands and drop them, one at a time,, on the table. Have the children sitting with their backs to the table and see if they can deter- mine by the sound what you have dropped. For this exercise you can use a bunch of keys, coin, pencil, knife, books, ball — anything that is available. Game No. 13 — Drop It Have the different articles of Exercise 13. in your hands; when the children are quiet and all ready, they will say "Drop it." Then drop the different objects in different places, moving quietly from place to place, so Page Twcyity-scvcn that the child can only determine from the sound what you dropped and where you dropped it. For example, drop the book on the rug, the keys on the floor, the pencil on the tiles of the hearth, the coin on the table, the keys again on the mantle. Use any other object or location in the room. After each object is dropped, see which child can tell what was dropped and where. This will teach the child to recognize the object and its loca- tion by sound. Exercise No. 14 The child should be taught to recognize tones and the spaces between tones of the scale. Have the child stand with its back to the piano and learn to tell the difference in the tones that are played. First, use the octave, then the one-five-eight; then the one-three-five- eight; then the one-two-three, etc. Then introduce the half-tone. This exercise can be made more difficult ac- cording to age and knowledge of music. Exercise No. 15 Have the child sit quietly on the porch and tell all the sounds it hears. The child can be blindfolded, which will add to the interest and fun, and at the same time insure its depending upon the sense of hearing. Let it tell what is approaching; if persons are walking, how many? If a vehicle is coming, how many horses, and what kind of a vehicle? Let it learn to distinguish auto- mobiles by sound, large cars from small ones, trucks from pleasure cars. Page Twenty-eight Exercise No. 16 Take the child into the woods, teach it to distinguish the sounds of the woods, sounds of the different animals, and if possible the distance away and the location. Is it on the ground, in a bush, or up a tree? Anything which stimulates the child to hear accu- rately and keenly is of value. Let the exercise be adapted to the time and place. When the child remarks "how quiet it is here," is a good time for the child to stop and realize how many sounds are actually going on around it. To Develop the Sense of Touch The child can be taught to determine the degree of smoothness, the quality of cloth, sizes, shapes and many other things of value, by touch. You can give an ex- perienced dry goods clerk a piece of cloth and he can tell without looking at it what kind of cloth it is, and about what grade. This is entirely a matter of develop- ment on the part of the clerk. When he began this work he could not tell muslin from cambric. Parents will get a good idea of what is going on in the child's mind, and the training it is getting, by watch- ing the little fingers work in all these exercises, for the development of the sense of touch. Try the exercises yourself and see what is required to get them accurately. In this way you will be better able to help the child. This should be done in all of the exercises. Page Twenty-nine Washing the hands in tepid water before the exer- cises of touch will increase the sensitiveness of the feel- ing sense. Have the child touch lightly with the pads at the end of the fingers. Increase the difficulty of the exercises as the child progresses. Exercise No. 17 Blindfold the child. Hand it articles which are some- what familiar and have it tell, by feeling, what it is. Have it describe the article. If a knife, what kind of a knife it is. If a box, what kind of box — about how long? how wide? how high? Have the child describe the article and give all the details possible. Let it find any peculiarities or irregularities by feeling. Exercise No. 18 Give the child an article with which it is not familiar and have it describe the article. See how much it can learn by touch alone. Then let it see if it can learn any more by sound, by knocking it against something, to determine what it is made of, whether solid or hollow, etc. Exercise No. 19 Give the child, while blindfolded, a book which it has recently read, and see if it can determine what book it is by the size, shape, thickness and quality of paper. Game No. 20 — The Button Bag From your button bag select two each of as many dif- ferent kinds and sizes of buttons as you can. Show them I'aye Thirty to the child and let it sort them out in pairs. Then mix them up and blindfold the child and let it match the buttons entirely by feejing. Let it lay them out in pairs as it matches Jhem, while blindfolded ; then take off the fold and let it see the pairs just as it has laid them, and count for itself how many are right and how many are wrong. Game No. 21 — Matching Cards Take a piece of cardboard and cut it into many shapes, as suggested by the illustration below. Make two pieces of each figure exactly alike. Let the child match them and see that they are in pairs. Then mix them and blind- fold the child and have it pick out the pairs by feeling. There should be at least 12 sets — more if desired. □OKPDOOG Game No. 22 — Animal Cookies A similar game to the one above can be played with a box of animal cookies. Pour the cookies out on a large plate. Blindfold the child and let it select pairs of ani- mals of as many of a kind as it can find. Let it name the animals by feeling of them. Page Thirty -one Exercise No. 23 — Insets The expensive Insets used by the Montessori School can be made in part out of heavy cardboard. Take a piece of fairly thick cardboard and draw on it some of the figures illustrated on page 31. After they are cut out with a sharp knife, smooth the edges and cut a very thin strip off of the edges of the pieces cut out so that they will fit easily into the places from which they came. Then mix these cut out pieces and blindfold the child, and have it fit the pieces into their proper places. All the pieces that are properly fitted should be laid in one pile; those in which there is an error, in another. The cardboard from which the pieces are cut may be fastened to an- other cardboard or tacked to a thin board, and the pieces fitted into their places and left there until the board is filled. This exercise is a little more difficult than most of the others. Encourage the child to keep at it. Game No. 24 — The Rag Bag Have scraps of different kinds of cloth. Show them to the child and have it feel of them and become ac- quainted with the pieces and to know them by name. Blindfold the child and give it a piece of cloth to feel and tell you what kind of cloth it is. Put all the pieces in the Rag Bag (any large cloth bag). Blindfold the child again and let it pick out the kind of cloth you name. See how many it can get correctly. Children need not be blindfolded if the bag is held so they cannot see. Blindfolding increases the curiosity and thus the interest Page Thirty-two of the games. Have it choose velvet, silk, satin, calico, muslin, broadcloth, etc. Have all the common varieties of cloth. Game No. 25 — The Dry Goods Clerk Cut from the scraps in your rag bag two pieces each from the different kinds of cloth that can be found there. Make the pieces about two by four inches and have them all of one size and shape. Show them to the child and let it match them up in pairs. Have it feel of them and see that they all feel differently. Do not have more than two pieces of any one kind of cloth. Pay no attention to color. Now mix the pieces and put them in a pile. Blind- fold the child and seat it in front of the pile on the table and have it match the pairs and lay them aside. When finished, have the child look at the matched pairs, count- ing for itself the points won. Game No. 26 — .Who Is It? Blindfold two or three children. Silently select one of the other children to be identified by the blindfolded children by means of touch. Let the blindfolded ones feel of the child — its hair, face, clothes, shoes, and in this way see which one will first be able to name the child. Accuracy in this depends a great deal on the child's observation as to what the others are wearing. The game of Blindman's Buff is similar and good, but usually has a good deal of sound to assist the ones guessing. Page Thirty-three Game No. 27 — Weighing Get a pair of scales and let the child weigh anything it wishes. Let it learn to accurately judge a pound, then to estimate the weight of an article before placing it upon the scales. Teach the child comparative weights by lift- ing articles and determining which is the heavier. En- courage it to make a pair of balances. With these it can balance one object against the other, after it has com- pared them by hefting one in each hand. Many varia- tions can be easily made of these ideas, to help the child become accurate in estimating weights. All practice will be more interesting if there is a record made, and the spirit of competition is introduced. Exercise No. 28 Give the child a measure — quart or pint — and let it learn to estimate the capacity of the different utensils of the kitchen. It should in this manner become able to judge accurately the content of different containers. The child should learn to accurately estimate in pecks, bushels, etc. This is good exercise and valuable ability for later life. The Other Senses The three senses already considered are the most im- portant. The sense of smell and taste can be cultivated and will yield readily to effort. The necessary thing is effort and exercise. The exercises given for the develop- Page Thirty-four ment of the other senses will immediately suggest to you ideas for development of these also. It is advisable to do a good deal of the practice blindfolded so as to en- tirely separate the sense of sight and force dependence upon taste and smell. These two senses are very closely allied. Try the experiment of determining the difference in tea, coffee, milk, and water while the eyes are covered and the nose held tightly closed. The degree to which these two senses can be devel- oped is illustrated by the proficiency which is shown by experts and testers who grade wines, teas, and coffees. The development of these senses is most valuable to persons engaged in handling foodstuffs and tobaccos. Improvement from Conscious Effort The child may be normal in all its senses and able to gain an average success in life without much conscious effort given to improving them. It will require very little effort, however, to greatly develop the capacity to use the different senses and thus increase the success which the child will gain and greatly reduce the effort necessary to attain it. While effort and use develop, neglect causes disintegration. Many times it is a problem to keep the child enter- tained or to keep it quiet when necessary, or even to keep it at home. The exercises and games of this book have worked wonders along this line for many anxious parents. Page Thirty- five The fact that the eye, for example, needs develop- ment is illustrated by the limited usefulness of this organ in infants. Professor Compayre tells us that babies see onlv objects in front of them, not to the right or to the left, and only objects that are close or at a short range. Some people use their eyes so little that physiologists tell us the muscles which operate the eye-ball in some directions are almost uselt^s Every person should de- liberately exercise the eye muscles. Children particularly should be taught to follow the exercise regularly. Exercises for the Eye Move the eyes horizontally to the left and then to the right alternately as far as you can. Continue this until there is a feeling of fatigue. No physical exercise should ever be continued beyond the point of fatigue. Second — Move the eyes vertically up and down as far as you can. Continue this alternately until you feel fatigue. Third — Roll the eyes from right to left and then from left to right in as large a circle as possible. These exercises will keep the eye muscles in healthy condition. Page Thirty-six Gaajpfter Three Relation of Senses to Memory Memory is the ability to make an impression upon the brain which can be recalled at will. To succeed in recalling the impressions is to remember, to fail to recall them is to forget. There is only one possible way for the impression to be placed upon the brain, that is by one of the five senses. Whether or not the impression can be recalled at will depends, first, upon how strongly it is made. A study of the five senses reveals the fact that the nerve connecting the eye with the brain has the power to make an impression many times stronger than any of the other senses. The impression made by the eye is also more accurate than any other. Next in strength and accuracy is the sense of hear- ing. The eye supplemented by the ear can accomplish all the ordinary needs of memory. For this reason the most of our attention will be given to the development of the visual memory, supplemented by the ear memory. One author defines memory "As the act of recalling the picture of a past experience. " The fact that the visual memory is most lasting has been known for gen- erations, but we have failed to take proper advantage of Page Thirty-seven the fact. In making a comparison of the eye and the ear impressions upon the brain Robert Mudie wrote in 1832: "That which is told us we may forget because of the weakness of the impressions made; but that which we see with our own eyes is proof against accidents, against time, and against forgetfulness." The Mind's Eye We are not dependent, however, upon seeing with the physical eye in order to be able to remember. Nature has duplicated the visual faculty and given us w T hat we call the "Mind's Eye." With a little practice it can be used as effectively as the physical eye for memory purposes. "Visualization is a mind's eye reproduction of an im- pression made by the sense of sight." At this point you should read and study thoroughly Lesson 1 of The Natural Method of Memory Training. Beginning on Page 14 with the heading "MEMORY IS THE IMPRESSION RECALLED." The child should be given a clear understanding of the mind's eye picture and what is meant by visualiza- tion. Teach the child that when you ask it to visualize, you mean for it to see clearly the mind's eye picture of the thing referred to. The first exercises in visualiza- tion, and the only ones necessary to give children up to four years of age, are for the purpose of developing a clear visual picture. Page Thirty-eight Training the Mind's Eye Use the exercises given on Pages 56, 57 and 58, of Lesson 5 of the Course, under the heading "TEST FOR REACTION," and the exercise marked LETTER TEST on Pages 59 and 60. Both are good exercises to practice often. Exercises which tend to quicken the action of the eye are the ones to use. The colors can be varied in a great many ways. The letter test can be given first from a single row of five or more letters, as M-D-L-T-R-N-A — the tests being increased in difficulty as the child progresses. Exercise No. 28 Have the child look at one side of the room. Then look away and tell all the colors it saw there in pictures, draperies, etc. Have the child look at a certain picture for about five seconds and turn away and see how many of the colors in the picture it can recall. Use a row of books on the shelf for another test. Have the child tell how many colors it saw in the row. Exercise No. 29 Use the exercises for development of visualization and color accuracy on Pages 60 and 61 of Supplement E. Vary and repeat these exercises often. Other tests of this nature will be given under Observation, as the two are so closely allied. Page Thirty-nine Exercise No. 30 Show the child a tree. Let it look at the tree in- tently for a few seconds. Then ask the child to close its eyes, or look away, and describe the tree to you. Try to get the child to see clearly all the detail in this mind's eye picture, as it did in Exercise No. 7, for the develop- ment of the sense of sight. Exercise No. 31 In the same way have the child visualize the land- scape. Let it look intently at it, for a few moments, and then, with its eyes closed, describe it. The description which the child gives will reveal the amount of detail in the mind's eye picture. Most of the exercises for the development of the physical eye, beginning with Exercise No. 1, can be used in the same manner to develop the mind's eye picture. These visual impressions are the basis of memory. As told in Lesson 1, they are all that is left of the elderly person's memory of youth. Your memory of the past is made up of visual impressions - — pictures. They will also become the memory of the child. Too much attention cannot be paid to teaching the child to make strong mind's eye pictures of the things that it sees. How to Preserve Early Memories We sometimes doubt when people will tell us of things that happened when they were five years old. Children that are eight or nine can often tell of things Page Forty that happened when they were two and three. Without exception you will find these first memories are visual ones — pictures. Have the child review them occasion- ally and it will preserve the memory of them. It is often the case that children have advantages of travel and see many things that older people have not. Many of these advantages, however, are often wasted because the child does not review these interesting things which it has seen. Children are seldom interested in re- membering. Parents should preserve the child's memory of important sights and circumstances by asking the child to carefully re-visualize the scene — to see it again in the mind's eye. Thus can the impression be deepened and the child's memory and appreciation of the thing be made to continue throughout its life. Especially all unusual scenes which the child may not have the opportunity of seeing again for a long time should be visually reviewed a couple of times during the first week and a couple of times during the following month. Two childten had been in the north camping, where they one evening saw a particularly brilliant dis- play of Northern Lights. A few months after this cir- cumstance, the children were asked, "What are the Northern Lights? What do they look like?" The younger had forgotten, but the older could describe them. When the two had thoroughly reviewed the picture of those Northern Lights they had re-impressed the phe- nomena upon their minds. By doing this a few times the children were able to permanently retain this memory. Page Forty-one When the child is old enough to write, it should be encouraged to keep a Diary. The value is that it necessi- tates a visual review of the past day, and then the selec- tion of the important and interesting points, which are written down, and thus preserved to the child. Do not depend upon it for the memory, however. It should not take the place of visual review, but be used only as a permanent record. Training Up to Four Years of Age Up to four years of age the child should be trained principally in the use of its senses and in making clear mind's eye pictures. The parent should have the definite aim in mind of increasing the child's stock of knowledge. Show the child everything you can, and take time to ex- plain. Things -are new to the child, even though they are very common to you. This is the age when the child acquires its knowledge of things without being inter- ested in their relationship to each other. A great deal which is explained to children is for- gotten because they did not sense it — that is, they do not impress it upon the mind by many and varied sense impressions. Simply to hear the answer to the question is not sufficient. You can tell a child what a rectangle is, but it is very apt to forget. If after you have ex- plained a rectangle to the child, you will have it go around the room and find all the rectangles that it can — such as windows, doors, books, etc., it will never forget. Page Forty-two Developing the Observation The next step of development, after the forming of clear visual impressions, and closely allied to it, is the development of the faculty of observation. The eyes see, •but the brain perceives. It is a fact that the eye may be perfect, and the nerve connecting it to the brain may be in good working order, and yet no impression may be received by the brain. Injury to that area of the brain which receives the impression from the eye mav cause total blindness, at the same time the eye and nerves connecting it to the brain may be physically perfect. When the brain is not injured, the same result is brought about by lack of Attention. The eye can look- straight at an object and yet you do not perceive it. The brain does not accept any impression of it. Perception is the recognition of the impressions carried to the brain by the senses. Trained senses that react quickly make pos- sible quick perception. The result is quick, accurate, and complete observation. The importance of observation is discussed in Lesson 5, pages 53 to 55 and pages 60 and 61. Observation involves analysis or comparison of knowledge. The child cannot observe that the cat is black with yellow eyes and a long tail, unless its mind contains the concept or knowledge of cat, black, yellow, eyes, long, and tail. Observation requires knowledge and it develops defi- nite knowledge. Observation usually occurs where there Page Forty-three is a motive. Do not ask the child to develop its observa- tion, but induce it to play games and strive to improve itself in contests which require observation. Read care- fully what is said regarding the development of observa- tion in Lesson 5 on page 56 — 61 and 65. The chief factor in observation and in acquiring knowledge is Attention and Concentration. Concentra- tion can be produced by curiosity and the desire to excel, which is found in the love of competition and the game spirit. A good example of concentration is found in the juggler or acrobat on the vaudeville stage or in the circus. This ability can be secured only by gradual development brought about by doing exercises and playing games, some of which are mentioned here/ Any exercises or games which will result in improved ability to Concentrate and pay Attention are valuable. Play the games with the child, use any method or idea which suggests itself, if it gets results. Give the child a conscious realization of the possession and value of this power. See to it that the child continues to develop it. A great many helpful ideas for children are to be found in the book, entitled "Methods of Mind Training/' by Catherine Aiken. Miss Aiken was a school teacher for many years and realized fully the needs of the child and the shortcomings of most methods. Some of the following exercises have been adapted from her work. Page Forty-four Definite Instructions for Developing Observation Exercise No. 32 Counting from mind's eye pictures. Take a piece of paper, or preferably a child's slate, place a simple group of small circles, such as is illustrated in Group 1. Let the child look at this group for 5 seconds. Turn the slate over and have the child count from its mind's eye picture and tell you how many circles are in the group. Then have the child draw on the other side group 1 Q £ t j ie s i a t e or on another piece of paper the circles in as near the same position as possible. 0, V + +° + GROUP % Exercise No. 33 Make another group of mixed crosses and circles, as shown in Group 2. After looking at it for five seconds, have the child tell you how many cir- cles and how many crosses there are. Have him draw a picture of them. Exercise No. 34 Use a group of squares or combine circles and squares, as illustrated in groups three and four. As the child becomes able to count and reproduce GROUP 3 Page Forty-five accurately, increase the difficulty and complexity of the exercises. For va- riety use triangles, rectangles, octa- gons, stars, etc. GROUP 4 Game No. 35 — Quick Counting Have a hand full of small sticks or matches, lay a number in a row on a table. Let the children stand with their backs to the table and a few feet away from it. After you have arranged the sticks, then go several feet away from the table, and say "READY !" At this signal the children count the sticks and run to you and whisper their answer. (The object in being away from the table is so others will not be influenced and come and repeat the answer without counting.) From the simple begin- ning of a straight row of a few sticks, the game can be developed to any degree of complexity, so that it will tax the powers of the most alert and developed mind. Lay the sticks in groups, make them into figures, into small disarranged piles, double lines of different length, etc. A few different groups are illustrated below — use matches, toothpicks, or anything of the kind. Pcujc Forty -six Game No. 36 — Visualized Counting Take the same game given above, and have the chil- dren see the pile or figure of sticks for just a moment, then cover it and let them count from their visual picture and tell the number from it, rather than by actually counting them as before. The game of Dominoes is good for small children to help them count quickly and ac- curately. Adding the numbers at the ends is excellent practice after they have reached the age for mental arithmetic. Exercise No. 37 Let the child look at a flag, and then close the eyes and look away. From its visual picture let it count the number of stars and stripes and other figures that may be upon it. Have it count the number of squares in a Colonial window; the number of books on a shelf; the number of sections in a radiator; anything of this kind can be easily used. Do not allow time enough for an actual count. In each case let the time given for each exercise be less than required to count the objects. Exercise No. 38 Show the child a vase or the picture of an odd- shaped vase, water pitcher, or an Egyptian water bottle. Let the child have a good look at the object, then take it away and let it describe it in detail, or better still, have the child draw it. Drawing is excellent exercise for the development of muscular control and will-power. Page Forty-seven An excellent book to help the child learn to draw is one entitled "WHEN MOTHER LETS US DRAW," by E. R. Lee Thayer. Exercise No. 39 In the same way, let children observe the decorations of a building, the design over the windows, the design and style of caps and bases of the columns, and then describe and draw them. Exercise No. 40 Older girls should be taught to observe and to be able to describe accurately and to draw in detail suits and dresses; draperies and furnishings. This is also an excellent opportunity for color study. Boys should ob- serve, describe and draw the outlines and details of boats, automobiles, and furniture. Game No. 41 — The Color Card To develop Observation and Memory of location and relation of objects. Get eight cards of any size, from one inch square to three inches square, each a different color. Colors of a decided contrast are best, as black, blue, brown, red, yellow, purple, orange, etc. Number the cards on the back from 1 to 8 in any order. While the child is not looking arrange the cards in a double row in any order, writing down the number of each card on a slip of paper as you do so. The numbers should be in two rows and in exact order as the color Page Forty-eight cards appear. Call the child and let it look at the colored cards as arranged for twenty seconds. The time can be shortened to fifteen or ten seconds, as ability develops. Mix the cards and let the child try to arrange them as they were. The party taking the test should do this by making a picture of the colors as they appear, holding the picture in mind until they have rearranged the cards. This is excellent practice for persons of all ages. Some can do this accurately from the first trial. Others will have a very poor record at the start, but as usual persistence will win and the ability will grow rapidly. THE SCORE. The numbers as written on the slip will give the original order. After being arranged, by the party taking the test, turn the cards over and check up by number. Each card in its correct place entitles the contestant to I point. A score of 32 or any number can be decided upon for a game. The first one making that number of points from accurate arrangement wins. If colored cardboard is not handy the cards can easily be made by painting one side with a child's water color paints or by using colored crayons. Game No. 41 — Picture Cards To Develop Attention, Observation, and Location and Relation of Things. Make 8-10 or 12 cards about 2 x 3 inches in size. On one side number them, as in the color game. On the other side draw the outlines of simple objects, such as a Page Forty-nine hat, tea-kettle, shears, box, fan, book, owl, hen, dog, etc. These pictures can be cut from a paper and pasted on the cards, small picture cards or picture postals may be used. Arrange the eight cards in two rows. Begin this game with eight cards, later, after the eight can be handled comparatively accurately, use more. Make a record of the numbers on the back of the cards as in the Color Game. Allow about 20 seconds for observation of the cards and forming the picture of their positions, then shuffle the cards and see how ac- curately they can be arranged by the party taking the test. SCORE — Same as for the Color Game. Game No. 42 — Observation The observation test given on page 58 of Lesson 5 under the heading "TEST WITH OBJECTS" should be made into the OBSERVATION GAME and played often. After all have taken the test once or twice the objects can be turned around, some removed and others added, or the number can be increased and the game played again. Exercise No. 43 Take the child to some room with which it is not familiar. Let it walk through the room slowly, then go out and make a list of everything it can remember. Go back and see how much can be added to the list. Page Fifty Exercise No. 44 Walk a block down the street with the child, then have it make a list or tell you as many as possible of the things it saw. Exercise No. 45 Make a game of the suggestions regarding "Shop Windows" and "Houses and Yards" on page 62, Lesson 5. Do everything that you can to induce the child to play these games intensely, as if his life depended upon it. Game No. 46 — The Detective Place a dozen objects on a table. Let the child look at the table from 20 to 30 seconds and then leave the room. While gone change the positions of two objects. Have the child return and tell what change was made. Where there are two or more children let the one who first observes the change remain and make a change for the others. The number of objects changed can be varied, but the people out of the room should know how many changes are made. At first the objects changed can be returned to their original positions. Or they can re- main in the positions to which they were changed, so that there is a new relationship to be retained in mind each time. Exercise No. 47 After a meal, while sitting at the table, let the chil- dren take a careful look at what is upon it and then Page Fifty-one close their eyes. Ask the location of the different things on the table and see how many they can remember ac- curately. Then let them look again for about fifteen seconds and see how much better they can remember the location. While their eyes are closed take something off the table and hide it. See who can tell what is removed. Return it to the table and remove some other article. Game No. 48 — Change About Game To develop the Observation and Location. Let all persons in the game look over a room of the house, then all but one retire from the room. The person remain- ing can change the position of any one article in the room. Nothing to be taken from the room. When the change is made the others may return. The first person to detect the change made may remain in the room and make a change for the others. In playing this game with children let the child who first finds the change remain and change something about for the others. (It is well for the parent to remain be- % hind to assist with the change to prevent breakage.) First changes made should be of larger articles, such as chairs, pictures, etc. ; later, of vases, books, doilies, etc. A time limit can be placed upon the observation of the room and also upon the time allowed for detecting the change made. A score can be kept between the chil- dren, instead of allowing turns in making the change. Page Fifty -two Exercise No. 49 Divide a slate or a sheet of paper into four, six, nine or twelve sections, beginning with four and increasing. Draw in each section some kind of pic- ture, number, letter, or object, as illustrated. Let the child look at the first row or the first two rows, according to the age of the child, and then close its eyes and look away and tell you what is in each of the squares. If the child is old enough, let him take a piece of paper and reproduce the squares and their contents. For variety the squares can contain all letters or all numbers or all objects. + Caution Be very careful that you follow the methods in Lesson i in all of this work. Teach the child to use the elements of Exaggeration — Motion — and the Unusual. Often have the child describe his picture. Be sure that each picture contains two objects and only two. The Mind's Eye and the Story An excellent time for development of the child is "story time." Have it use its imagination in making mind's eye pictures while you are reading stories. The story book naturally becomes a picture book in the child's mind. When you are reading the story stop occasionally and have the child form its own picture of the story. You will find that it can easily see little Red Riding Hood going down the road to her grandmother's house. En- courage this habit of mental picturing of all stories and rhymes read to the child. At this point you should study carefully Lesson 5 up to page 30 that you may have a full appreciation and clear understanding of the object to be gained by having the child begin early to make pictures of the stories. When the child begins to learn little rhymes and verses, always follow the picture plan, and see to it that it forms the definite habit of learning them in this way. Have the child learn the quotation from "Evangeline" on pages 14 and 15 of Lesson 5. Also "Vision" on page Page Sixty-three 19 of the same lesson. Later the child should learn "The Things Divine" on pages 25 and 26. This will be sur- prisingly easy if you follow the instructions given in that lesson. Game 59 — Story Telling Read a story from the child's story book, have it make pictures of the story as you read ; when you have fin- ished let the child tell the story from its Mind's Eye picture, and see how completely it can retell the story. If points are omitted call the child's attention to them and help it to include them in its picture. Where sev- eral children are together, let one retell the story and the others add all they can to it. See to it that the re- telling is from visual pictures. This is excellent train- ing for future school work. Remembering Errands By the time the child is six years of age it should begin to learn to use its mind systematically. Good practice can be gotten by going to the store and on other errands, without written lists. In order to accomplish this, you will need to study Lesson 2 and teach the child in a simple way how to use the Mental Hitching Posts. For the Hitching Posts it will be best to use the first words of the Code List, which* will be found on page — . A little practice should be carried on at home, so that the child can easily recall the Hitching Posts and the Page Sixty-four objects associated with them. It should not be difficult or unusual for the child to go to the store and get 8 or 10 items by the use of the Mental Filing Cabinet. The principle involved in the Hitching Post idea should be thoroughly understood, and let the instructions to the child center around this principle, so that it will always be intelligent in its use of the idea. The statement of the principles of memory, which is given in the first chapter of this. Supplement, will help to clarify this idea in your own mind. It is the PICTURE ASSOCIATION of the thing which is to be remembered with the object of the per- manent list, now familiar or permanent knowledge, which makes it possible for the child to recall the thing which it wishes to do when it sees the object of the permanent list. This particular list is not essential, but it is essential that the list used be permanent knowledge and easily re- called in exact sequence. For the use of children, and even adults who are not familiar with the Code List, it is a simple and practical possibility to use other familiar knowledge, such as the A, B, Cs. In this case it is simply necessary to have an object beginning with the letter of the alphabet, so that the letter A will, without hesitation, bring to mind the object ANT, which can be pictured with the errand. Page Sixty-five JL The following is a list of suitable objects to represent the letters of the alphabet: Ant Goose Nun U-Boat Bee Hand Owl Vine Cannon Ink Pig Wolf Door Jockey Quilt X-Ray Engine Kettle Rat Y. M. C. Fire Lamb Snow Zebra Monkey Tea This list of alphabetical reminders can ,be used for many purposes outlined in the use of the Hitching Post idea in Lesson 2. You will note an excellent example of its use in the International Code in the last chapter. As the child grows older increase the length of the lists in practice and give him longer errands to remember, as well as lists of groceries. For practice, use the lists found on pages 18, 21, 33 and 34 of Lesson 2. Continue to develop the power of visualization by lengthened lists. Give the child longer lists so that he can learn to take as many as 25 words without stopping to review, and be able to recall each in proper order. Also make the lists more difficult. Occasionally in- troduce abstract words which the child will have to re- member by Reminders such as are illustrated on page 48 of Lesson 2. Good exercise will be found in learning the lists of reminders for the Presidents on pages 29-30 of Supple- ment E. Page Sixty -six Going to School When the child starts to school, in one way the parent's opportunity is lessened, because more of the child's time at home should be spent out of doors. See to it that the child has a strong physical body before it starts in school. If it is necessary to keep the child out of school until it is 8 years of age to accomplish this it will lose nothing in the end. It is rapidly becoming recognized by educators that the child loses nothing by not going to school until that age. When the child does start to school help it to con- tinue to use its mind in a visual manner. When it has a poem to learn see that it learns it by making pictures. Continue the visual practice you have been giving. Do not let it drift into the fallacious method of idle repetition. Take a little time in the evening and use the child's daily lessons as a basis for visual practice, showing how to apply what it has learned at home in the solving of the new school problems. The Child Code List For additional practice in visualization, teach the child the following list of words. You will notice that this list is built upon the NUMBER CODE, and will answer every purpose of the list taught in Lessons i and 2 of the COURSE. At the same time it is a simpler list of words. It is advisable for you to learn this list, so that Page Sixty-seven you can later help the child with the different applica- tions it will wish to make of the NUMBER CODE to its lessons. Note that this list is similar to the Special Code List on page 58 of Lesson 3. Exercise No. 60 — CHILD'S CODE LIST Tie Dot Net [ Meat Heart Snow Town Nun Moon Horn Home Dime Enemy Mama Army Wire Deer Nero Hammer Rower Wheel Towel Nail Mail Roll Sash Dish Hinge Mush Roach Egg Duck Ink Mike Rock Ivy Taffy Knife Movie % Roof Whip Tub Knob Mop Robe Toes Nose Mouse Rose Lasso Lady Shed Kite Foot Bath Lion Ocean Cane Vine Pony Limb Jam Gum Foam Bomb Lair Chair Car Fur Pear Lily Jail Glue Veil Pail Ledge Judge Cage Fish Beach Log Chalk Cook Fig Book Wolf Chief Coffee Fife Beehive Lap Ship Cap Fob Papa Ashes Goose Office Puss Daisies Game No. 61— The Game of CODE A game to develop accuracy and rapidity in the use of the words of the Code List. Cut cards about- 2x3 inches, or the size of playing cards. On one side print the words of the Child's Code List. Page Sixty-eight Shuffle the cards, deal ten to each player, the balance becomes a draw pile. Player to left of dealer plays into center of table any card which is the first of a series, as TIE, DOT, NET, MEAT, HEART, LADY, SHED, KITE, FOOT, BATH. All first of series cards, as named above, must be played first, then any card which follows consecutively in the list must be played next. All cards held by the player which can be played on any series started on the table must be played in their proper turn, including those in the players' reserve piles. In case the party playing fails to play a card in its proper order, or in case a card played is ^ot played in its proper sequence, the first one noticing the mistake and calling "CODE" shall be entitled to give a card from his hand into the hand of the player, who must correct the error and cease playing. When a player has played all the cards possible, or has been stopped, he will place one card face up, upon the table in front of him as a reserve pile. Each player is entitled to six cards in his reserve, each lying face up ' and side by side. When a player cannot make at least one play, he shall draw into his hand from the draw pile, until he can play. Each player at the left follows until some player has played all cards from his hand. This player calls "Out," ending the game, and is entitled to add to his score one point for each card still held in the hands of Paije Sixty -nine the other players. Any player who completes a set of cards, that is, puts on the last word of the series of ten — for example, Toes, ,Nose, Mouse, Rose, Lasso, Ashes, Goose, Office, Puss, Daisies — takes the series from the table and adds 10 points to his score. The game can be set at any amount, 200 to 500 points. This game will add interest and develop accuracy and speed in learning the Code words. The same game can be made for the CODE List in Lessons 1 and 2 of the Course. The game can first be made with 50 words, and enlarged to 100 as rapidly as the full Code List of 100 words has been learned. The Number Code The Number Code which is given in Lesson 3 will prove to be of great value to the child as it advances in school and comes to the necessity of remembering numbers, dates, etc. It should be taught a little at a time. Be- ginning at 8 or 9 years of age, teach the SOUNDS which represent the digits. Show the child the combi- nation of letter and digit as it appears on the practice card which you received with Lesson 3. Have the child draw them and cut them out of cardboard and color them. Exercise No. 62 Teach the child the words of the child's Code List, which stand for the numbers 1 to 10. Have it practice with these so it can use them interchangeably. Add ten more of the list occasionally, until the child knows the Page Seventy figure value of every word of the list, and the word for each number from i to ioo. See to it that the child understands why DEER is 14, and why ARMY is used for 43, etc. Have the child reason them out by sound, not learn them arbitrarily. When you give it errands to remember, give it the errands beginning at TIE, and let it associate the errand with the proper word for the number, and then tell the errands by number. As the child grows older, and progresses, show it how the Code List as given in Lessons 1-2, found com- plete on page 10, of Lesson 2, conforms with the Number Code, and teach it to use it to supplement the list already learned. Game No. 63 — Number Code After becoming familiar with the Number Code Lists, the game CODE can be very much im- proved in its complexity, and conse- quently, in its resulting mental de- velopment. Have the 100 words on one side of che cards and the corresponding num- bers from I to 100 on the reverse side, as illustrated. Either list can be used. Have all cards in draw piles, in the hand, and reserve piles with words up and visible — numbers down. Start by playing the cards in the middle of the Page Seventy-one table with the numbers up. All begin- aing cards must bear numbers ending in I. The one playing plays the next card word up, upon the pile ; then if no one calls "CODE," turns the card over. If it should* not be the follow- ing consecutive number, the card must be replaced in player's hand and player ceases playing, with no penalty. If, when the word is played, some other player calls "CODE," before the card is turned over, then, if correct, in his objection, he is entitled to give the player a card from his hand. The game is played through and scored as in CODE, but has the added value of re- quiring the players to know the number value of all the words. It will still enlarge the game if it is played "double" — that is, with two rows of playing cards, one row begin- ning with the card numbers ending in I, and playing up to 10; the other row beginning with the card numbers ending in o, and playing down to I — i. e., 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, etc. Players must then remember which way the different rows are playing and can be called for playing on the wrong piles. Game No. 64 — The Number Game This game will assist in learning the number value of the words and the word for each number. Shuffle the cards used in CODE, and have one person hold these Page Seventy-two cards in his lap, out of sight of the others. This person, who is the dealer, should turn all the cards with the words up and read the word on the top card. The first one who tells the proper number value of the word gets the card. In this way go through the entire pack, each person retaining the cards, which he obtains by first speaking the number. The one holding the most cards at the end of the game is the dealer for the next game. The same game may be played by reading the num- bers and seeing who can first speak the word on the back. Game No. 65 — SOLITAIRE If you wish to practice alone, take the CODE cards, shuffle with the words up, noting the time when you begin. See how quickly you can go through the entire set, naming the number for the word. Then reverse the process and name the word for the number. Now try it again and see if you can cut at least thirty seconds off the time. Keep record of the time required to go each way and strive continuously to reduce it. Keep at this until you can go through the set in two and one-half minutes or less. Page S event y-thrci Clhsipfa 3 Fwe Definite Instructions for School Work The principles of visualization and memory as they have been given in this Natural Method of Memory Training are universally applicable to any need of the child in school. They are principles that will apply every- where. The object of this training should be to enable the child to apply the principles for itself. It is best for the child to make its own applications, and should make its own pictures and words whenever it is possible. You should suggest and aid, but should NOT do the work. The one w T ho does the work gets the development and profits most. The child will re- member the ideas which it works out itself more easily than those worked out for it, even though they may be better. The following pages will be given over to suggestive ideas as to how the principles may be applied to dif- ferent lessons. Only a few concrete illustrations will be given, as the working out of the details would rob the child of the opportunity and development to come from doing the work itsdf. Page Seventy-four Reading Children always learn the Alphabet by pictures. Al- phabet books and blocks are made this way. This is be- cause the child learns easily and quickly by this method. What is true in the early years is true in the later ones as well. Do not allow the child to get away from this principle of learning by pictures. Follow the plan of teaching everything possible by sight. Go out of your way if necessary to show the child the thing that it is reading about. As you read the stories the child should pause now and then and see the pictures in its mind's eye. When it learns to read for itself have it pause in the same way. Do enough of this so that the child will form the habit. Follow the principles of Visual-Reading given in Lesson 5 and have it make large moving-pictures. Have the child visually review the picture given in the book to illustrate the story, as well as making additional pic- tures of its own. By "visually review" is meant to see the picture clearly in the mind's eye while the book is closed. You should study Lesson 5 as far as trie Supplement D, if you have not already done so, to get the proper realization of the importance of insisting that the child form the habit of picturing what it reads. This habit, if formed early in life, will almost entirely correct the dif- ficulty which so many find in remembering what they read. The child will then naturally apply these prin- Page Seventy- five ciples in studying geography and history where it will be found to be of special value. Teach the child that the purpose of words is to convey pictures to the mind. Teach it also to continuously form pictures and thus to avoid forming the habit of allowing the mind to wander while the eye reads. This will teach it to keep the mind alert and awake, and it will have no difficulty with Reading, or remembering what it reads. Spelling and Grammar Study first the reference made to Spelling in Lesson 5, pages 43 to 45. Teach the child to visualize the words which it has each day in its spelling lesson. You may not be able to visualize them yourself, but if you have started early in training the child it will have no difficulty in doing so. Exaggeration should be used as an aid in spelling. It will be easier to see the words printed in letters from three to six feet high on the wall of the room, than to see them in pica type on the paper. If the child has difficulty in visualizing the words in the spelling lesson have it exaggerate and color them in its mind's eye pictures. Have the child take a piece of scratch paper and col- ored crayons and print the difficult words in large letters, using two colors, one for consonants and the other for vowels. If the child has difficulty in learning the sequence of "ie" and "ei" have him follow the plan illustrated on page 44 of Lesson 5, using two strong colors, such as Page Seventy-six red and blue, for the two vowels. Have the child print all of the words with which it has difficulty, using red for the "e" and blue for the "i." This color impression, combined with the enlarged letter, will overcome the difficulty. Exercise No. 66 To help the child become sure of itself write a list of words spelled incorrectly. Have the child go over them and correct them or tell what the error is. Rules for Spelling Spelling rules should be learned by making visual pictures of the thing to which the rule applies and not by simply learning a group of words, the meaning of which sometimes is not fully appreciated. An Example Rule — Final "y" when preceded by a consonant is changed to "i" before any suffix not beginning with "i." To learn this rule have the child print out a few ex- amples, as follows, enlarging and striking out the im- portant letters : suppL/-ied deN^-ied supply-Ing R u l e — Final "y" preceded by a vowel is not changed to "i" before any suffix beginning with a vowel. PlAy-ed delAy-ed Page Seventy-seven Follow this plan in learning all rules of spelling. Exercise No. 67 — LEARNING SYNONYMS To help the child remember synonyms and to increase its vocabulary write a list of words and have it write opposite as many words of similar meaning as it can. AN EXAMPLE: HOUSE — residence — building < — dwelling — abode. TRAVEL — journey — trip — tour. Exercise No. 68 — ENLARGING THE VOCABULARY To increase the child's vocabulary, in addition to the exercises previously given on synonyms, write or give the child orally the definition and have the child think of as many words as possible which the definition will cover. AN EXAMPLE: "A container of books" — Library — bookshelf — bookcase — sectional bookcase. "A thing to sleep upon" — Bed — couch — cot — sofa — hammock. Game No. 69 — THE WORD GAME Have a group sit around the room and then begin by selecting a letter and a suffix, as B - ing. The one at the left starts the game by saying to the one on its left, "The soldiers are coming." The one at the left asks, "How are they coming? ,, The first replies in one word, Page Seventy-eight beginning with B and ending with "ing." For example : Buzzing — Bleating — Braying — Blushing. Each player must think of a word to give as its answer. It must remember all the words that have been given and must answer inside the limit of ten seconds after the other has said, "How are they coming." Any word can be used that is in the dictionary. If a player cannot answer in ten seconds it must sit on the floor of the room and pay a forfeit to the timekeeper. This game can be varied in a great many ways, the words can begin with any letter and end with any suffix, or begin with any prefex. Rules for Grammar Rules of grammar may be easily learned by applying the same principle of visualization as given in learning the rules of spelling. Write out the example, put in the words, punctuations, etc., enlarge and color them. Studying Geography Most children would like the study of geography if it was given to them in story form and pictured as much as possible. This idea is being largely followed by some new editions of school geographies. Teach the child to make the pictures found in geography permanent by visual review. Be sure that it can see clearly in its mind the thing that it is studying. Page Seventy-nine AN EXAMPLE: When the child is studying about an isthmus, if there is no picture in the geography of an isthmus find one elsewhere. Have the child notice clearly that "An Isth- mus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger bodies of land." Take the outline maps and have the child go over them and point out all the examples of the isthmus. Now have it take a pencil and paper and draw an isthmus. Have it repeat the definition as the teacher wishes it to be learned, but be sure that it can SEE and explain it in its own words. Fix one definite illustration of each geographical divi- sion in the child's mind. Use the Isthmus of Panama for the isthmus, explain to the child that this location was selected for the Panama Canal because it was a nar- row strip of land, etc. Make it interesting by stories. In your walks with the children through the country take every opportunity to explain the different geographi- cal formations. Find an illustration of an isthmus, even if it is only in a small puddle, or if you have to make one in the back yard with a shovel and a pail of water. The sand-box method has always been a successful method of teaching geography, because it is visual. Read what is given in Lesson 5, pages 40 to 42, and follow this plan in teaching the child to visualize, and draw an outline of all continents, islands, countries, states and even counties. In studying the map of the United Page Eighty States, the shape of the state and the location of the prin- cipal cities should be taught in the same way. Exercise No. 70 — Geography Puzzle Lay a map of the United States on a piece of card- board and trace the outline of each state ; then cut out the states with a sharp knife. Have the child first learn to name the states by seeing the pieces of cardboard. Then let it learn to put the pieces together, naming the States as it does so. This plan can be followed in study- ing the counties in your state, and wherever else desired. Exercise No. 71 —THE BLANK MAP Another method of teaching the states and their ar- rangement is to have an outline map on blank paper and have the child write in the names of each State. This can also be done with the different countries of Europe and Asia. Game No. 72 — GEOGRAPHY GAME Have the child follow the travelers in the following story by actually seeing the geographical formation. Then have it repeat the itinerary by referring to the picture of the geographical locations where the persons went. You will find that it can visualize the isthmus, plateau, etc., only after having a clear knowledge of what an isthmus is. This repeated visualization will make a lasting im- pression upon the mind as it repeats the journey. Let the child tell in its own language what each looks like. Page Eighty -one Geography Story A man and a boy were out sailing, and a strong wind blew them ashore on a POINT, opposite a small ISLAND. They dragged their boat across an ISTHMUS and soon reached the PENINSULA, where they landed in a BAY. They started out in opposite directions look- ing for a SPRING. The boy followed up a RAVINE to the top of the HILL and found he was on a PLATEAU. He started around a POND and became lost in a SWAMP. He came out on a PRAIRIE and went to a VILLAGE, where he found that he could return by fol- lowing the CREEK through the VALLEY. He came to a LAKE and made a raft, on which he floated down a RIVER until he stranded on a DELTA. He waded to the shore and was soon back to the boat. The man had climbed a MOUNTAIN and looked out over the DESERT, where he saw an OASIS. Then he climbed over a CLIFF and followed a CANYON back to the BAY. Exercise No. 73 — Travel Game Give the child the blank outline of the country in which you are going to tell the story of your travel. Have the child locate on the blank map each town you visit and draw a line from one city to another, showing what route was followed. Page Eighty-two AN EXAMPLE: England. I went to England and landed at Liverpool. I went by rail from there to London, stopping one day at Glou- cester. From London I went by water to Portsmouth. In this story you can ask the child to tell you what kind of houses the inhabitants live in. You can take a ship with you and be collecting a cargo. Ask the child what local prod- ucts are most easily found and other questions which will bring out the products, the customs and the com- merce of the country in which your travel story is located. To learn cities, counties, or other information in list form, follow the suggestions for learn- ing the names of streets on page 49, Lesson 5, and postal stations, page 43 of Supplement E. Studying History The study of History is largely a matter of Remem- bering what you read. Children who have difficulty in remembering what they read as a rule do not like to study History. The lesson made into a visual picture will fix the points in mind with one reading, but this reading must not be careless or hasty. Help the child to read slowly and to pause long enough to make the mind's eye picture of each circumstance and change. It Page Eighty-three will help to take a piece of paper and draw the scene of the battle. Mark in roughly the hills and mountains and rivers. Show the positions of the opposing armies, then roughly sketch the changes which take place. This draw- ing will help the child greatly in making a definite picture impression. Remembering Dates This troublesome matter is easily mastered when the child understands the use of the Number Code as given in Lesson 3. Special reference is made on pages 69 to 72 of the application of the Number Code to the remem- bering of History dates. This principle can be applied in every case. As a rule, the century in which the date occurs is not confusing, and the effort can be confined to the particular years. For example, to remember the date of the Battle of Bunker Hill it is only necessary to remember "75" f° r the year, as every student will know it was in 1775 and not 1875 or 1675. A boy 12 years of age learned more History dates in one week after knowing how to use the Number Code than he had ever learned before. The knowledge of how to visualize the lesson and how to remember the dates will overcome any prejudice or any difficulty the child may have with History lessons. In learning the successive reigns of Kings or rulers, use the Reminder Method, as illustrated, in learning the name of the Presidents of the United States, page 29, Page Eighty-jour Supplement E, or the idea of INITIALING on page 47 of Lesson 5. This idea is further illustrated by the use of the HITCHING POST method in learning the books of the Bible on pages 51 to 56 of Supplement E. This example contains a combination of HITCHING POSTS to keep the sequence, the use of a REMINDER for the thing to be remembered. The Number Code should be used to remember the dates. EXAMPLE: English Kings at End of Feudalism. The War of the Roses. Order King . 1. Henry IV. 2. Henry V. 3. Henry VI. Date Code No. King Date of Reign 1399-1413 TIE — Henry's hair — to mop up — the red ham. 1413-1422 SNOW — Henry lie — tore- deem — true nun. 1422-1461 HOME — Henry show — true nun — to our chateau. 4. Edward IV. 1461-1483 WIRE — Edward wear — to our chateau — true fame. 5. Edward V. 1483 WHEEL — Edward hail- true fame. 6. Richard II. 1483-1485 SASH — Richard no- true fame — dare fail. Page Eighty-five Here the Code word TIE stands for i, the first king — Henry's hair for Henry fourth-^- to mop up is 1399, and the red ham is 141 3. The whole can easily be visualized in a picture — Tie Henry's hair to mop up the red ham. A peculiar idea, indeed, but it will accomplish the pur- pose. Use the same plan for all similar purposes. Mathematics The rules of Mathematics should be learned by the same plan given for the rules of Spelling. Work out enlarged examples. The children are taught their first ideas of fractions by the division of an apple or some other object. They learn easily how to add and subtract by having a group of marbles to take away from and add to. Counting boards have been used to good advan- tage. All of these are methods of teaching through the eye and should not be abandoned. In every case possible work out the problem first with objects rather than figures. Many children get the idea that the problem cannot be worked unless the exact "Rule in the book" is fol- lowed. See to it that your children get a broader idea, and that they understand the reason for doing a thing. The only training in mathematics that is of value after the school days are over is that where we understand the reason and have worked out for ourselves the correct results independent of any set rule for working the problem. Page Eighty-six Read the story of the boy who could not remember that "seven and four are eleven" on page 39 of Lesson 5. Notice how this difficulty was corrected by teaching the child to visualize the result. Familiarity with the Number Code will help the child to substitute an object for a number which is to be car- ried over or held in mind until some other part of the problem has been worked. This idea will be particularly helpful in Mental Arith- metic. Teach it to mentally see all of the problems that it tries to work. Use the idea suggested previously in this book of writing the figures on an imaginary black- board with chalk. The practice given in quick mental reaction and sus- tained mental pictures on page 56 of this book should be continued as an aid to working problems of mental arithmetic. Geometry — Physics — Chemistry The same practice given for seeing problems in mental arithmetic will be of great assistance in remembering problems in Geometry and the formulas of Physics and Chemistry and the logarithms of Trigonometry. The visual mind which the child will now have well developed will easily carry the problems and figures of geometry, etc. One student tells how easily he remembered chemi- cal formulas by picturing the attraction and combining Page Eighty -seven of the atoms which made up the formula. Some inter- esting examples and the method of applying the Number Code to this matter is found on pages 71 to 73 of Sup- plement E. Foreign Languages The most difficult thing in studying the foreign lan- guage is to remember the vocabulary. This will not be so difficult for the child who has developed the visual memory. In most cases the vocabularies can be made com- paratively simple by applying the principle given on pages 50 to 58 of Lesson 5, which is based on the use of the REMINDER. The exercise given previously for synonyms can be used now for vocabulary. In every case possible let the child select its own Reminder, and draw upon its own initiative for ideas and help. Robert's Rules of Order For future use and also for practice in visualization and the use of the HITCHING POST have the child learn Robert's Rules of Order as given on pages 44 to 49 of Supplement E. After having been learned this should be reviewed occasionally so that the child. will always be accurate in their use. Page Eighty-eight Studying Music The visual memory is the best memory for music. Most musicians who learn music readily and remember it well have the visual memory. They can see the page, the bar and the notes in the mind's eye. This ability can be developed in the child by the use of the exercises given in the first part of this book. When the child begins to study music then give part of the time for practice to visualizing and memorizing music. Exercise No. 74 First teach the child to visualize a perfect cleff. Draw imperfect ones on paper or slate, have the child tell what is the matter with them. Draw different notes and have it become thoroughly familiar with them by reproducing them. Have it draw the whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes, etc. Exercise No. 75 Teach the child the division of time by grouping the notes with refernce to beats. Write a line of notes and have the child divide them into groups of whole note value. Then indicate a certain time % to be followed and have the child divide other rows of notes into bars in accordance with the time indicated. Exercise No. 76 Teach the child the different rests by the same visual process. Have the child w r rite bars of music, using the different rests and completing the bar of giving time Page Eighty -nine by filling in with the proper notes. Teach the use of sharps and flats and the different signatures by the same visual process. Let all practice be simple in the begin- ning and increase in complexity as it grows older. Teach the child to combine the eye and the ear in musical practice. Have it transfer ear impressions to visual ones by seeing the notes on the staff as it hears the tones. Write a few bars of a familiar tune, have the child tell what it is. Further suggestions will be found on pages 40 to 43 in Supplement E, which will aid in Remembering Music. Remembering What You Hear For the purpose of retaining instructions and lectures given in school the child should be trained along the lines suggested on page 35 of Lesson 5, which deals with re- membering what you hear. When giving instructions or explaining a matter it is very common for us to use the expression "Do you see?" The fact of the matter is "seeing is understanding." Apply this principle and teach the child to transfer impressions and ideas received through the ear to visual pictures and to impress the matter upon its mind by the visual method. Exercise No. 77 Read or tell stories of travel, have the children asso- ciate each point visited with a word of the Code List, then let one begin with the first and recall the points in Page Ninety accurate order. In this way the child will learn to make outlines in its mind of the thing it hears. Have the child practice at every talk, sermon or lecture it attends, so that it can accomplish this fact easily and quickly. Speaking in Public When you have trained your child's memory and created in his mind a / feeling of confidence that it can remember what it wishes to say, there will be very little embarrassment connected with speaking in public. Teach the child to use the Hitching Post idea in all matters of public speaking. Suggestions along the line of making and learning outlines will be found on pages 40 to 42 and on 48-49 of Lesson 2, and further ideas on pages 37 to 41 of Lesson 3. Review for Permanency A single impression made upon the mind, even though made by the visual method, will not insure a permanent memory. Repetition is necessary to strengthen the im- pression. All repetition should be made by visualizing the same picture as originally made. The suggestion given on page 74 of Supplement E, "The Review of the Day's Activities/' should be used with the children and applied to their school work. The child should sit down quietly for a few moments and go over the day's work in school. All new facts and ideas should be reviewed. All pictures made in the use of the Num- Pagc Ninety -one ber Code should be reviewed. This will help to fix the lessons of the day more firmly in the mind, and a single review of this kind will save the child from "losing" many of the things which it learns. This review gone through with two or three times while the information is fresh in mind will almost entirely eliminate the neces- sity of "Cramming for exams." At the same time it will greatly increase the powers of memory. The value of imagination in later years is referred to on pages 20 and 21 of Lesson 1. Children have very lively imaginations. They can entertain themselves easily by imaginary pictures, which we sometimes call day-dreaming. This tendency upon the part of the child should not be discouraged, but should be guided. The child's falsehoods are very often simple fusions of ideas. The child's imagination will enlarge the origi- nal pictures impression, and it is simply unable to distin- guish between the new enlarged pictures and the original. The cause of this difficulty is a lack of definite obser- vation and attention. It sees so many new, bewildering and interesting things that it does not remember just which ones it saw together. Many of the falsehoods told by children if carefully studied will be found to be simply combinations of the things the child has seen different places at different times. The development of Observation and Definite Visual picturing carefully re- viewed at the close of the day will correct this difficulty when punishment cannot. This tendency in small chil- Page Ninety-two dren is usually "outgrown," which simply means that as the mind develops it holds clearer pictures and more accurate knowledge. It becomes more accurate. The difficulty was not a tendency to falsify, but simply in- ability to Observe and Remember. All planning power of the future is dependent upon the faculty of imagination. The parent should encourage rather than discourage the child's use of it, and be lib- eral rather than exacting with the apparent falsehoods of young children. Carefully point out the error and help the child develop definite pictures and your worries will cease. Imagination is of two kinds, Productive and Repro- ductive. When you "make up" a story for the child you use your "productive" imagination. You produce a new combination of objects, etc. When the child sees the picture in his own mind he reproduces the thing that you have produced, and to do this uses its Reproductive Imagination. All new ideas and inventions are the result of Pro- ductive imagination and are the combinations of things which have existed but not in this new form. Older children should be taught the value of productive imagi- nation. This can easily be stimulated by having them plan new games made up of different parts of games which they have played. Show the child the result of Productive Imagination in the combination of two simple facts into a new and Page Nincty-thrcc more useful one. Examples of this idea are the pencil- eraser, which is a simple combination of two things, a pencil and an eraser. At one time the pencil and the eraser were separate. The usefulness of both has been increased by combining them. The Ingersoll's have made a fortune by combining the two ideas — DOLLAR and WATCH. Other examples of this idea are too numerous to mention and will suggest themselves to your mind at once. Boys, especially, are easily trained in creating new ideas out of old ones. Remembering Names and Faces The principles of memory which have been used to accomplish other results are equally available in this important matter of remembering names. When you meet a stranger you get a mind's eye pic- ture of the stranger's face placed upon your brain. All faces become pictures in the mind. The next step should be the transferring of the ear impression % of the name as you hear it into a mind's eye impression of the mean- ing of the name. Then you will have two mind's eye impressions — one of the face and one of the name. To carry out the principle of memory, you should bring these two impressions together in your mind; see them at the same time. See the mind's eye picture of Page Ninety-four the person's name and in this picture see clearly the face. Thus you have associated the face picture and the name picture together. In this case the face picture becomes your "Hitch- ing Post" — the known knowledge — and associated with it is the picture of the name. When the face comes be- fore you a second time, it will bring with it the asso- ciated mind's eye picture of the name, just as you see the WINE when you see the HUT; or in the hitching post idea, the HUT brings the errand. In this case, where the face and the name are asso- ciated together, the face is the hitching post and the fa- miliar face brings with it the picture of the name. Give the child the ideas from Lesson 4 to supplement, or make more clear and definite use of this idea of hitch- ing the name and the face together. Have the child oc- casionally review the names and see the mind's eye pic- ture of the faces of the people it has recently met. A little definite practice of this kind will keep before the child the importance of remembering names of the peo- ple it meets, and from much embarrassment and difficulty in the future. Learning the Telegraphic Code An interesting and valuable application of the A, B, C, Hitching Posts and Visualization is made on the fol- lowing pages as a basis of learning the International Code as used by the army and navy. Page Ninety-five Many persons have learned the Code in a few hours by this method, where it has taken days to master it by repetition. The Morse Code has only a few changes and can be learned by the same plan. The Code in Pyramid Signal Form I 2 3 4 E. T- R . - . K-. - I .. M-- L . - .. Y - . - - S . .. O— - P . --. C- . - . H ... X- .. - A N- . U.. - G-- . W /-- D- .. F .. - . Z--.. J--- - B - . . . V ... - Q--.- Note the pyramid arrangement of the signals in groups of three and four. Also note that the signals in columns I and 3 begin with DOTS, and those in columns 2 and 4 begin with DASHES. Note that the signals in the adjacent columns are opposites. A is . - opposite in the adjacent column is - . N. Learn the signals in groups as arranged. As it is more difficult to translate from signal to let- ter, the following instructions are based upon learning from signal to letter. To learn in this manner will shorten the time necessary in becoming able to "receive" messages. Follow the instructions closely. Page Ninety-six How to Learn the Code Each DOT or DASH of the signal is to be represented by an object which you can see or visualize. The alpha- bet letter is represented by an object beginning with that letter. The signal objects and the letter objects are then grouped into a picture. This picture visualized and re- viewed a few times can easily be recalled either from letter to signal, or from signal to letter. In all signals beginning with a DOT or DOTS, the dots are represented by big yellow oranges and the dashes by thick board planks. In all signals beginning with a DASH or DASHES, the dashes are represented by baseball bats, and the dots by big red apples. Picture Illustration A in this picture is represented by an ANT. The dot is represented by an ORANGE, on which the PLANK is resting, the plank represents the dash. Down the plank- walks an Ant. See the picture and the motion of the Ant walking on the plank. See all pictures large in size and in motion. To close your eyes will help you see the Pa ye Ninety-seven picture clearly. In each case make a large-moving-car- toon of the objects. Review by seeing the same picture each time. ANT-ORANGE-PLANK, . - is A. B is a honey Bee, with a BAT (dash) batting three APPLES (dots) along the ground. See the BEE-BAT- APPLE-APPLE-APPLE. - ... is B. C is a Cannon out of which is being shot a BAT (dash), an APPLE (dot), a BAT (dash) and an APPLE (dot). See the CANNON-BAT-APPLE-BAT-APPLE. - . - . is C. In the same manner see clearly the pictures described for the code signals following: . E An orange balanced on the smokestack of an Engine, . is E. . . I Two oranges rolled at an Ink bottle. See ink spilled on the oranges, . . is I. . . . S ■ Three oranges sticking in a Snowdrift. See bright yellow oranges, , . . is S. * . . . . H Four oranges, one between each of the fingers of your Hand, .... is H. . - A An orange, a plank, and an Ant, as pictured above. . - - W An orange with two planks leaning on it, along comes a Wolf, runs up one plank and down the other, . - - is W. Page Ninety-eight - - J A Jockey picks up a big yellow orange and carries it across the street by walking upon three planks laid zig-zag, . is J. - . R An orange on each end of a plank, a Rat is carrying the plank in his mouth, . - . is R. . L An orange on the left end of a plank and two oranges on the other end, all are balanced on the "back of a Lamb, . - . . is L. . P An orange placed on the ground by a Pig, he then walks across two planks and places an orange at the other end, . --. is P. . - U Two oranges floating on the sea, up comes a U-boat, pushes them apart and crashes in to a plank, . . - is U. - . F Two oranges on the left end of a plank and one on the other end, a Fire burns the plank in two, see the oranges roll into the fire> . . - . is F. (Note the difference in location of the two oranges in L and F.) . - V Three oranges hanging on a Vine, you take a plank and knock them off, ... - is V. - T A bat used for pounding Tea leaves, - is T. - M Two bats being swung in the air by a wild Monkey, - - is M. O Three bats stacked on end, along comes an Owl and carries them away, is O. Page Ninety-nine - . N A bat being used to knock an apple from a tree by a Nun, - . is N. . . D A bat used to bat two apples against a Door, - . . is D. . . B A bat and three apples pictured with a Bee, as given above, - ... is B. . - K A bat sticking in one side of a Kettle and a big apple between it and another bat on the other side of the kettle, - . - is K. - - Y A bat used to bat an apple into the YMCA hut, two fellows inside pick up two more bats and swing at the apple as it passes, - . - -- is Y. - . C A bat, an apple, a bat and an apple pictured with a Cannon above, - . - . is C. . - X A Bat, two apples and a bat laid out upon a table to be photographed by an X-Ray ma- chine, - . . - is X. - . G Two bats leaning together with an apple swing- ing between, along comes a Goose and grabs the apple, - - . is G. . . Z Two bats with two apples tied on the other end and swung over the back of a Zebra, the bats on one side, the apples on the other, - - . . is Z. . - Q Two bats and an apple rolled into a Quilt and swung on the end of another bat to carry over your shoulder, - - . - is Q. Page One hundred Go over the pictures a section at a time as pyramided. See them in large size and in motion. Do this several times. Have some one call the signal to you. You see the ORANGES and PLANKS or the BATS and APPLES and the picture they form. The object pictured with them brings the corresponding letter to you. Note that all signals beginning with a DOT are pic- tured with ORANGES and PLANKS. All signals be- ginning with a DASH are pictured with BATS and APPLES. By this simple method you are guided at once to your picture. When this signal is given . . - at once you know it is two oranges and a plank. This brings the picture of the U-boat dashing between the oranges and striking the plank. After a few repetitions the pro- cess will become instantaneous. Go over the alphabet forward and backward, in each case SEEING and speaking the object used to represent the letter. Thus: A— Ant B— Bee C — Cannon D— Door E — Engine F — Fire G — Goose H— Hand I— Ink J — Jockey U— U-Boat V— Vine W— Wolf K— Kettle L — Lamb M — Monkey N— Nun O— Owl X— X-Ray Y— YMCA Z — Zebra P— Pig Q-Quiit R— Rat S — Snow T— Tea Page One hundred and one For practice go over the alphabet and see the object and picture of the signal. Thus, A — Ant, see the ant walking down the plank which is resting on the orange. Repeat the signal A — Orange, Plank. Do this a few times till all pictures are clear and come quickly. Let all your alphabetical practice be by seeing the picture arid speaking the signal. Thus, A, see the pic- ture and speak the signal Dot, Dash. See to it that most of your practice is from signal to letter. This is "receiving" and requires the most practice. In your odd moments go over the signals, thus, two bats and apple and a bat (wrapped in a Quilt) O. . - - An orange and two planks (the Wolf walks over) W. Pictures insure accuracy, depend upon the pic- ture. Practice is the only possible method of developing speed. Page One hundred and two A Lasib Wbmdl "Memory is the foundation without which there can be no structure of knowledge/' On the other hand, there can be a good foundation and very little structure. The story is told of a fool who was placed under the charge of a country clergyman. The young fellow would sit in church on the Sabbath and was able to remember almost every word of the sermon. He could tell afterwards where every one sat, and what they wore, but he was good for very little of anything else. A reporter in the House of Commons could sit for hours without taking notes and write the full speeches for his paper, but he had very poor judgment and was an utter failure in life. Do not neglect the development of your child's mem- ory, but do not go to the extreme so that you neglect other important factors of mentality and character. Strive always to give the child a fully rounded education and development. Develop the child's common senses; make them keen, alert and useful, and he will not lack in com- mon sense. Great buildings, great characters, great minds and great memories are not built in a day. But a few min- utes a day of persistent effort will win. In the words of Michael Angelo: "Trifles make perfection, but perfection is no trifle. " Page One hundred and three LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 021 092 702 5