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BEFORE BOOKS




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By Wilfred Jont




EXPERIMENTAL PRACTICE IN THE CITY
and COUNTRY SCHOOL


BEFORE BOOKS


CAROLINE PRATT
JESSIE STANTON


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NEW rORK
ADELPHI COMPANY
PUBLISHERS


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Copyright, 1926
ADELPHI COMPANY
THE VAIL-BALLOU PRESS
BINGHAMTON ANO NEW YORK






PREFACE


In a quiet street of old New York stand The City and
Country School, founded thirteen years ago by Caroline
Pratt and known during the early years of its history as
"The Play School." It has been one of the first among
educational pioneers frankly to avow itself experimental,
and to attempt a revision of school practice "from the
ground up" by discarding, at the beginning of its work,
all the traditional preconceptions that govern the standard
practice of our schools today. In the course of its development provisions in regard to program, curriculum,
and method have been adopted only as they have appeared
to be justified by the school's own experience, and the situations arising within its classrooms.
To study the interests and abilities of the growing child
as they are manifested, to supply an environment that,
step by step, shall meet the needs of his development, stimulate his activities, and orient him in his enlarging world,
and that shall at the same time afford him effective experiences in social living-this in brief has been Miss
Pratt's thesis and from it, through successive years of trial
and error, she and her co-workers have built up the experimental practice that she discusses in the following pages,
and that is pictured in detail by the various school records,
two of which, Miss Jessie Stanton's records of her four
and six-year-old classes presents the objective material of
this initial study.
V1ii






viii


PREFACE


These school records, written by the classroom teachers
from copious daily notes, are organized according to a plan
that has been adopted after much painstaking study and
co-operative effort on the part of the school staff. They
are in themselves experimental. Their publication invites
criticism and suggestions in matters of form as well as of
content. Indeed, as Miss Pratt has stated, the purpose of
the school in publishing its records is to secure discussion
of them, and of the school procedure pictured by them.
To those readers to whom the story of The City and
Country School is as yet unknown, the following details
will be of interest. Miss Pratt began her experiment in
1913 with a small group of children of pre-school age
gathered from various homes in the neighborhood. During the early years of its development the experiment was
maintained through the generosity of a few private donors.
In the beginning tuition was entirely free, but parents who
were interested and able to do so, from time to time contributed to the school funds. Recently, at the request of
the parents, tuition fees were adopted, but at the same time
it was agreed that a large percentage of scholarship pupils
should at all times be enrolled. In this way the school's
original purpose, to serve children who would normally be
found in the city's public schools, has been preserved, at
the same time that its growing reputation has attracted
many parents whose children would otherwise have been
sent to private schools.
The name first given it, "The Play School," reflects a
special interest of the founder, her original inquiry into
the educational possibilities of children's play and its place
in school procedure. As the experiment progressed, however, and older classes began to be included, the children






PREFACE


ix


protested vigorously against this name, and it was changed
to "The City and Country School" at a period when a
school vacation farm was maintained as part of the experiment. Though somewhat incongruous today when its
application is limited to the city plant, this second name
has become so identified with the experiment as to make
the wisdom of any further change seem questionable.
In addition to its primary purpose the development of
an experimental practice, The City and Country School
has for some years co-operated with the Bureau of Educational Experiments, affording the research staff of that
organization opportunities for observations and measurements of normal children who are developing in an environment particularly favorable to health and spontaneity. Results of these studies are published from time to
time by the Bureau of Educational Experiments, and
there has been no attempt to include them in the following pages. The school and its staff have at all times remained responsible for their own experiment and the scope
of the present volume is limited to their specific problems
of experimental practice.






t



CONTENTS


PAGB
PREFACE...... vii
PEDAGOGY AS A CREATIVE ART, Caroline Pratt..  1
ORGANIZATION OF THE RECORDS... 27
RECORD OF GROUP FOUR, 1920-1921, Jessie Stanton. 28
October......30
January.......45
February.....70
May........97
APPENDIX TO RECORD OF GROUP FOUR..         137
A. Program.   B. The class.  C. The staff.
D. Buildings.  E.  Space  and  furnishing.
F. Materials used.
HEADINGS FOR RECORD OF GROUP SIX... 140
RECORD OF GROUP SIX, 1923-1924, Jessie Stanton.. 140
October........ 141
January....... 199
April...... 251
Original Stories...... 304
APPENDIX TO RECORD OF GROUP SIX... 337
A. Program.   B. The class.  C. The staff.
D. Buildings.  E. Space  and  furnishings.
F. Materials used.
INDEX..............  341


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PEDAGOGY AS A CREATIVE ART


Creative artists are quite as much interested in what
their materials do to them as in what they do to or with
their materials. Each time they produce they study the
product in relation to themselves and not as a thing in
itself. The study of himself in relation to his product is
what seems to keep the creative artist true to his purpose.
He becomes his own critic. He keeps himself aloof from
his forms and undominated by them. His forms are in
constant flux. He himself is not fully conscious of his
theme or purpose. He is possessed by something which it
is his purpose to allow to come through, but just how to
do it or even just what it will be when it flowers he is not
able to predict. Perhaps his sole object is to produce a
combination of the elements he is working with which will
prove to be beautiful. Or possibly he projects something
which more nearly corresponds to an idea than we are
ready to admit when we use the word "beautiful." He
may work with forms which will center the attention upon
a road lost in the distance of his picture but unending and
suggesting the idea of eternity or offering the allurement
of travel. It doesn't make much difference to the creative
artist what others get from his production, he will assure
you, for it has accomplished its purpose in releasing him
but he hopes that it will find someone in whom will be
produced an emotion not unlike his own while producing.
The greatest tribute that can be paid an artist is the
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induction of others into the field of art production. And
yet creative artists are not apt to advise others to come
into their field both because of their own proneness to become lost in and intrigued by their own forms and because
the world is limited in its appreciation of art production.
The world pretty well Tom Sawyers creative artists out
of existence. It insistently demands that they make themselves understood. It places little responsibility upon itself to be able to understand. These are the two things
which serve to unbalance the artist and swerve him from
his purpose: the fact that nature seeks the easiest way, the
beaten track, and he has to fight this in himself, as well
as what amounts to the same thing in others; that they
demand he go the beaten way in order that they may the
more easily understand him. To adventure, to explore,
lies dormant in all living things, but also there is the
tendency to take the beaten track set up outside of ourselves. The fixation of habits and the establishment of
the general habit of keeping the road open to new ventures seem to be in eternal conflict.
The creative artist declares that it is impossible for him
to start off with a complete idea of what he is going to
do with his material. He has a general idea and attacks
his material with this general conception in mind. But
the thing which is produced is as far beyond what he intended as he is himself beyond an artisan. An artisan
works to a logical conception but the creative artist works
to something beyond logic, something which cannot be
reduced to logic. Whether the object produced is a picture or a musical motif it is projected by him in such
form that he can study it. It becomes an objective for






BEFORE BOOKS


3


him. He picks up what he can get out of it and again
attacks his material. But in the meantime the material
has done something to him. He is not the same man
who attacked the former material. He has been on a
voyage of discovery and what he has found has changed
him. As a changed organism he cannot produce the same
object a second time. He is never more than partially
successful and hence his disposition is to show his products
only to get criticism on them. Other people's reactions to
his productions serve to stimulate him to new efforts.
But he loses his interest in his production as soon as he
has carried it as far as he can. It is never complete,
never to him anything but a sketch. His experimenting
and study is concerned with forms. He starts out with an
idea to be sure but it is an idea which he needs to clarify
through his method of dealing with it. He is dominated
by a desire to clarify this idea for himself. It is incidental to his purpose to clarify it for others. He works
through formulations. Sometimes he is dominated for
years by formulations which yield little to him but he
has had to continue working with them until he proved
their worth or worthlessness.
Such a method is a method of thinking. It is in opposition to the logical method in so far as the latter claims
to be able to set up the whole proposition before work
begins. Because the artist is interested in himself as a
creator he distrusts these complete formulations. Being
an organism means something to him. He trusts in the
organism to bring to light something which no single part
of him could take cognizance of until it became projected
for study.






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This new method of thinking, or I should like to say
thinking about thinking, has had many names applied to
it. The dramatist speaks of it as expressionism, the plastic
artist speaks of it sometimes as expressionism and sometimes as impressionism.
All creative artists have always used this method presumably but they are just becoming conscious of it and
beginning to analyze it and sustain it. What is more interesting still is that science or to speak more explicitly
psychology is beginning to support it as against the logical
method of thought. The psychologist in discovering
patterns produced by organisms has admitted a new way
of thinking about thinking. Pattern forms are what
artists have been working on since the first one began to
work but no one has been willing to give them credit for
thinking. In fact they have not understood themselves
in relation to their products. Often they have set themselves apart and described themselves as an instrument
through which some power has worked. The use of the
term "genius" still carries something of this connotation.
It isn't altogether beside the point to think of a great
artist as an instrument. But it is an instrument that
plays itself whether consciously or unconsciously. Art
comes through an organism and the finer and more complete the possibility of organization, the finer and more
complete will be the possible production. "Logical"
thinking has expressed itself particularly in language with
the emphasis on what one expressed rather than on the
form of expression. It is now just beginning to be realized that even such language expression contains form or






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5


pattern and that this form tells something to one accustomed to its expression.
The idea that a full formulation can be made before one
begins to carry out the final form, side-tracks the interest
of the performer and places his attention on the first
formulation. This on the face of it is not a creative
method of work. Perhaps social formulation has suffered
from this method more than any of the individual art
forms. A member of a social group showing ability to
formulate would tend to be set aside in the group for this
purpose. His first training in collective formulation has
been in something through which he has himself worked
with others. Contributing more to this particular part
of the plan than others he is apt to be set aside as an
"executive" person and given the job of formulating. If he
works through each of his jobs in the same way he worked
on the first, which is humanly impossible, he will remain
in the creative process. Dubbed an executive by society
however, he thinks of himself as a form maker and hands
out paper formulations to those who work under him and
carry out his formulations. Such a man is damning to
any social enterprise. He takes the enterprise out of the
creative field both by grabbing the formulating for himself and centering his own mind upon the form away from
the purpose and by taking away the possibility of formulating from those who are more actively in touch with the
process.
The new type of school which is coming into existence
is I believe drawing to it and helping to produce a new
type of teacher. I hesitate to designate her as I should




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like to as an artist in pedagogical composition and yet
that is what she is. "Pedagogy," and all its connotations,
is in such bad repute that one hesitates to use it and yet
there is no word which takes its place. "Education" is.
applied in too wide a field to express what pedagogy has
always meant, the education of the young. In using the
word pedagogy one is confronted with the necessity of
terming the teacher a pedagogue and it will take years
to make any of us willing to submit to that! We are
sufficiently set aside by being in the pedagogical game at
all without adding to our opprobrium by the use of a term
so essentially ugly and so misused and abused. But what
of a new pedagogy?  It isn't I think a question of reestablishing ourselves but one of establishing ourselves
for the first time. It is to distinguish between the old
conception of the "art of teaching" and this new way of
thinking of pedagogy that I am using the term "creative
art." Always so-called pedagogy or "teaching" has regarded the pupil as a product. But because we are dealing with a human being who is to become an artist, a
producer himself, we cannot regard him as a product. We
may influence him but we cannot produce him. Whether
or not this is true it is hardly worth while to become controversial about it. It is much more to the purpose and
simplifies our conception of the pedagogical field to regard
its materials as the things which are more or less external
to the children. What goes on inside them yields to their
own manipulation more readily than to ours.
Our pedagogical compositions are to be produced by
playing largely with forms or sets or in the old dramatic
terminology the scenery and stage upon which we shall






BEFORE BOOKS


7


work out our lives together with those of the children.
Our pedagogy will be concerned with such things as
whether or not desks fastened to the floor, to use a familiar
illustration, are forms consistent with the enlarging purposes of the children, whether their materials shall be
doled out to them piecemeal or whether they shall feel
free to get them themselves. How far we shall push our
ideas of order upon them, just when they as individuals
or a group are ready for certain short-cut processes, when
they are ready to be taught in other words such things as
correct shop practices, how to use tools in modelling,
scientific principles or the multiplication table. What
line of or when certain information will prove stimulating
to their interests. All this is pedagogy or perhaps we
might be allowed the term practical psychology for certainly such pedagogy presupposes both an intensive study
of the behavior of the children as well as the application
of means to end.
Pedagogy seems to me to mean helping children to get
what they intrinsically need, what they need as evidenced
by their behavior in the growth process. It means setting
up and discarding forms through which the children and
teacher can together realize their fundamental needs. In
this new pedagogy signs of stagnation are watched for
with the greatest care. When a teacher finds herself
closely repeating a form over a long period she learns to
be suspicious and watches the children for such signs as
diminishing interest or interest centering in the formulations set up. Inordinate interest in activity to which they
have become habituated is always present to be dealt
with. Sometimes these habits have become strong be



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cause the child has not had sufficient opportunity in
many different directions and has set up his own habits
in a narrow field. Or useless habits may have been foisted
upon a child by various means. All the mathematical
short-cuts taught in the usual way of schools, that is, without relation to the use, dominate children so that they
cannot think in the presence of written problems. They
may have the mechanical forms clearly in mind but cannot apply the right form to the problem to be solved.
Working the forms out while using the materials, having a
hand in the formulations clears the atmosphere in a surprising way. Compare the actual making of a toy steam
boiler and experimenting with forms for finding its cubical
contents on the spot as an introduction to "cubic measure," with having a teacher present cubic measure as a
worked-out form. Such handling of mathematics as the
former secures a confidence and regard in the individual
as a creator of new forms and processes. He learns to
think of himself as an inventor, a discoverer in an unlimited field. He learns to open his arms and eyes to opportunity, to seek it and recognize it.
It is possible for the artist teacher to record what has
gone on in his group. Inadvertently one gets his activity
and that of the children in terms of motor living, but his
object in recording is to project something for study, something which will help him to check his own and the children's activities which have taken on certain forms. Just
in so far as these are formulations and in so far as he is
experienced in seeing them he learns to record what are
significant or typical. These records are important to him
only as a means of making him more cognizant of what






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9


is happening. It is in this way that the artist teacher
follows the method of the individual artist. The teacher's
method of work is the same but the field is quite different.
While the artist's field is largely individual the teacher's
is social, for the latter is contributing to the art of collective living. While the individual artist studies his
own forms and purposes the social artist studies his own
in relationship to others. The real production however
is not the paper one but the school one. If this conception
of the artist teacher and the school, which he together
with others of his kind produce, can be maintained, surely
pedagogy will become a recognized and important field
of art.
Glancing back over the past what wonder is it that,
originating in a place set apart from life, the monastery,
schools should have dealt always with that which is artificial. The children have been sent to schools to learn
something which the home found it difficult to teach, they
have supplemented the life of the home. Schools are
therefore the outgrowth of an economic attitude towards
living. They have come into existence in order to save.
Until recently they have not been thought of as a part of
life.
As an economic institution to care for non-producing
individuals the school's keynote has been economy and
this taken together with the habit of thinking of school
as supplementing the home has produced a school procedure which takes into account little else than learning
to read and write and use figures.
Into such a set-up come ever new teachers keeping the
institution going, an institution bound to produce only






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damaged goods. Teachers still lead the artificial lives of
the monastery-what wonder is it that they are socially
ostracized? They have little more to contribute either to
the joy or the business of living than has the man who
spends his eight or ten hours a day punching holes in
the end of a tiny bit of steel which will become a needle
when it finishes its passage through the required number
of hands.
Yet, it is to the teacher that we must look to make
pedagogy recognizable as a field of art. Not to the school
principal nor the superintendent nor yet the educational
psychologist but to the person who comes in close contact
with the children day by day. The person who learns
about his materials from working with them just as the
plastic artist does. The person who actually sets up and
helps to destroy the forms through which he works.
Others may aid by pointing up the significance of the
findings but he has to learn to depend upon himself principally for this because in most cases he must act quickly
and in relation to a situation.
But every artist teacher will reply to this by stating
the most poignant thing to him, the thing which he has
to meet daily: that we already have in every school a
system which does not permit of the creative artist's
method of work. Every school has school officials behind
it, a series of them, who never come in contact with the
children. Many of them never have had anything to
do with the younger ones. There is no opportunity for
these officials to get into the teaching game except by
means of general criticism and by means of paper formulations. Their contributions usually amount to criticism


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11


of the discipline of the school and the handing out of
courses of study. Here and there is a principal or a
superintendent who considers his job to be one of helping
and backing the teachers and with these there is some
leeway for the artist teacher to use his pedagogy. Because
of the necessity of meeting certain requirements in order
that the children may "make" the next grade, however,
he soon finds an unwillingness in himself to work within
the limits set. All this is good training for if he doesn't
learn as much about children as he would like he learns
something of the limitations of educational institutions
as they are. It is upon these teachers that the hope for
the new type of pedagogy must depend. They are the
rebels against our institutional methods. At present they
are isolated, discouraged and lonely in a vast social enterprise. The artist in them makes it impossible for them
to get satisfaction out of external things, things unrelated
to themselves. They want to work in the materials they
are fitted for. Other teachers seek the movies, the dance
hall, the libraries, the theatre to offset the mechanical
grind of the school room. But these artist teachers are
too much alive to be willing to sit down and be entertained
cheaply after a day or a week of hammering the multiplication tables into rebellious skulls. The only hope at
present lies in attaching themselves to an experiment already started or in getting children together and starting
a new experiment. The experimental school is not the
final solution of the school question, however, any more
than a single experiment in an industrial plant can solve
the problem of industry. It can only point a way, illustrate a method by means of which the schools can come


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into their own, can become of value as social enterprises.
Comparing such records as are here presented for study
with the procedure of the academic school, one cannot
but be struck with the way the basic principle of
democracy as we have been taught to think of it as expressed in the words freedom of opportunity is here carried out. The most frequent expression of appreciation
which one gets from visitors to our school is of this quality
in such terms as "What might I not have been had I
begun life under such circumstances," or "I should like
to begin over again" and even whimsically "Is not there
room for me in the school?"
One need but turn to his own past experience to get a
contrasting picture to the six-year-old record here presented. Most of us can remember the joy with which
we approached the new experience of going to school at
four, five or six as the case may have been. How proud
we were to be assigned a desk. We were easily satisfied
at first. But gradually the fifteen minute recess period
began to loom large in the horizon and the noon release
and the final closing of school became obsessions. We
learned to sit still and to dispose of what was handed out
to us in our own individaul way. Some of us learned
to read and write quickly and found satisfaction in books.
Others learned to manipulate figures and found satisfaction in making combinations of these which may or may
not have meant anything to us. Those who came a
little later than my early period found the schools introducing materials for handwork and got some satisfaction
from these. But I question whether any one was really
satisfied. The things that I remember as a child are the


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13


long rovings in the woods on Saturdays, the farm where
I spent a brief period every summer, the village "baby
hole" where the boys learned to swim and which I was
allowed to visit properly guarded when it wasn't in use,
the times when some child broke the school monotony
by crawling under the desks, the yielding to the earnest
pleading of a companion to play hookey, the dramatic
play we carried on in the "back yard." These were the
times I lived during my childhood.
Few adults have the courage to visit schools but I think
they would find little real difference between them and
those they attended. The intrinsic idleness of mind and
body is just as apparent as ever. The whole school period
may be shortened a trifle, the recess period may be five
minutes longer, there may be more handwork but just as
it has always been the children begin to live when they
make their escape from school. If they are living in a
village they are getting much the same sort of satisfaction
that most of us did who went to school from twenty-five
to fifty years ago but if they are living in a city or even
in a suburb one feels inclined to call on the gods to
help them.
I think one will find few traces of the artisan teacher
in Miss Stanton's record. She is unique in having no
teaching experience to break down. She has never been
dominated by courses of study. She has not had to teach
children to read and write at six. By common consent she
has been left in a position to seek criticism when she needs
it and where she can find it. She has set up her own
pedagogical forms and is free to destroy them at will.
On the very first page of her record what she regards as






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important comes out in dramatic form. She has set the
stage for the play of the "Little Gray Pony" and for
"Spot." She enters the play when she thinks it necessary
and retires when her point is gained. In every case her
object is to have the children substitute their forms for
hers or to work on their own forms so far as they will.
She is willing to take such assurances as "Richard told
me he was 'really a little scared' when Celia or the black
cat 'spitted' at him" as proof that Richard for one was
getting something out of the experience and that this
experience was real. Under "Fourth Week" is found how
one child's suggestion to play the "Fog Boat Story" was
followed up and how the play materials were used under
Miss Stanton's suggested formulations to make what
technically might be called a map. Begun here, this
floor play is found to be going on all the year. Referring back to the four-year-old record one may assume
that these children began their floor play with just such
materials at four, and indeed those who were in the school
at three played with such materials too. They have
gradually learned to use adaptable materials to carry
out their own purposes. Somewhere between four and six
children get the idea and the desire to "play real" along
with an ability to observe and a technique to make their
productions take the form of the things they observe.
Miss Stanton recognizes the manifestation as an opportunity to help the children to orient themselves further
in their environment. She knows that "orientation" has
its own way of expressing itself. It includes finding one's
way, and picturing oneself finding one's way. This picturing is done first through playing with floor schemes






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15


laid true to the points of the compass and later representing or making a picture of a trip where the children found
their own way.
Turning to page 29 one finds under OrganiZation of
Information the subheading Trips. The relation of the
two headings is intended to suggest that the main reason
for "making" trips is to help the children organize their
facts. There is no doubt that to children whose tendency
to act has not been perverted, related facts are stimulating
to new or enlarging purposes. They begin to build and
they build true as far as they know their facts. When
these fail them they improvise in relation to what they
have done and often this information comes close to
reality. At any rate the supposed facts are there to be
verified or rejected when the next chance offers itself.
In order to understand the record the reader must get
the relationships which the teacher is keeping in mind.
One must not confuse such fundamental relationships
which occur in experiencing with what is termed correlation. The usual attempt to correlate subject matter is
apt to force artificial relationships where they do not
exist. I hope our records show that a program based
on experiencing is a very different matter from a correlated
subject matter program. For example, trips may serve
either a "correlated" program or an "experiencing" one.
The difference is real but subtle. Our seven-year-old 1
program, the making of a play city, has grown out of the
children's own experiencing with blocks and other adaptable materials. They have built up a common body of


1See "Experimental Practice in the City and Country School."




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information to work with. In part the mere going on a
trip is a vital experience. Finding their way, using the
common carriers, even traversing the streets are vital to
children, but when they merely look on at others' activities such as go on in a factory, the experience is vicarious
and becomes vital to them only as they make use of it in
their play or work. One must make as clear a distinction
as possible between what is essentially vital and what is
essentially vicarious and diagnose the tendency of the individual children in relation to these two types of experience.
In discussing these programs of younger children it
is not needful that we should decide what an experience
is to adults nor yet to children older than eight or nine
because the child's growth process is mainly manifest in
his overt behavior. There is a reference on page 142 to
"Edna" who "appealed to me constantly" etc. No person
who is having a vital experience essential to his growth
has time to appeal constantly to someone else and as a
disturbing element to others happily employed Miss
Stanton withdraws the disturber. When Edna returns she
goes to work quietly and judging from her behavior
comes close to having an experience of her own in building a sailboat. This episode might be taken as a typical
experience of a young child. I think the paragraph under
Fourth Week page 142 beginning "When the other children
came back" shows a whole group experiencing. While
their facts seem in this instance to have come out of a
story read to them the part the story has played has been
to help them to organize their own experience, experiences
in sound and plastic materials as well as material facts,






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17


for all these facts are already a part of them through their
observation as well as through former experiencing.
I am tempted to quote this paragraph together with
the two following it as an example of experiencing which
is outstanding as a picture. One gets a beautiful picture
of children alive, watchful, drawn together by a common
childish purpose using all their faculties to promote the
purpose. It is art in the living, an organized experience
of a bit of human life. Miss Stanton has projected here
something real and intrinsically beautiful:
"When the other children came back from cooking the
room was full of the sound of fog whistles, and they entered into the spirit of the play and began helping at once.
As Meta was the only child who was not very familiar
with the story I asked her to make a bell buoy. She
made a mound of blocks and Sonia cut a big bell for her
out of paper. She attached this with a thumb tack and
moved it back and forth as she sang, 'Ding, Dong!
Ding, Dong!' I brought in a small bench from the hall
to use as a tug. Sonia seized this and, with blocks and
colored cubes, soon made a satisfactory boat out of it.
"Fred took charge of the pilot boat, as Faith had to
steer the ocean liner down to the bay. The chief difficulty lay in the fact that the ocean liner could not be
moved. The children decided to pretend that it was
moving. Sonia asked for a rope and tied this to the
liner. Faith climbed abroad and was about to start when
she realized that the boat had no captain. Richard and
Celia stuck their heads out from under a table (the hold
of the ship), and said they had to run the engines, so I
persuaded Florence to leave the boat she was building






18


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and save the situation. She anchored her boat in the bay
when she left it. I put out the electric light which had
been burning in the room and this added a final touch
of realism as the play began.
"Faith blew the fog horn on the liner which said 'Toot,
toot, 'tis I!' Richard objected to this almost with tears,
so we gave Faith a rope which connected with the engine, and when she pulled Richard whistled. Each child
in turn sounded the whistle belonging to his own boat.
The pilot finally left the liner, and its whistle was blown
more and more faintly as it disappeared in the ocean."
The term habit formation covers a multitude of pedagogical sins. Some great person has said that character
is merely a bundle of habits and a lazy pedagogy has
accepted this and built upon it a structure which still
resists every onslaught.
It is discouraging indeed when educational psychology
appears, to have it take the same old viewpoint. I have
never yet seen evidenced amongst these laboratory experimenters a recognition of the fundamental fact that the
human animal is a seeking organism bent upon its own
preservation in common with all other living things,
much less that this seeking quality is something to be
preserved above all else. Habit formation or the training
in special abilities sets aside this seeking quality and substitutes mechanical forms through which individuals tend
to become standardized. What the organism needs is
opportunity and the business of pedagogy is to provide
opportunity for the organism to establish itself. This opportunity lies in the environments of the children whereever they happen to be. It cannot be elsewhere. The


p




BEFORE BOOKS


19


assumption of the schools that children can only understand their own environment by approaching it from environments foreign to their own experiences is putting all
the carts in the world before all the horses and confusing
the horse and cart relation beyond redemption.
Opportunity, if the organism makes use of it, contains
its own training. Turning at random to the six-year-old
record, training is implied in all the activities. Beginning with page 141 the whole experiencing under the heading Play with Big Materials implies successful handling
of materials, training in waiting to take one's part, training in use of body and its parts to express a thought, persistency, training in use of voice, attention to details,
accuracy in sequence of details. The teachers' attitude
toward training is one of discovery of weakness in training on the part of individuals and the supplying of
opportunities to strengthen or correct tendencies during
the process.1
In Practical Activities on page 162 more specific training is discoverable. The activities are seemingly more
detached but a closer analysis shows the shop and bench
work, the cooking and even the music related closely to
the class room activities. Training in accuracy, in persistence, in concentration are manifest. In setting up a
shop or a kitchen for cooking or a music room it is assumed that the children come into a particularized set-up
where standards prevail, adjustable standards fitting to
both a group age and to the needs of individuals. The
individual child who seeks these set-ups is groping about
1 Miss Stanton in her description of these activities accounts
for all the children each time so that the picture is complete.




20


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for the standards of these particular realities. The pedagogy of the teacher is to be found in how far he is able to
recognize these gropings amongst the materials he has
provided and give the child the help he needs to establish
his own standards.
Under the heading Special Training is provided a place
where special things that might escape attention may be
pulled out for reinforcement. Under Play and Practical
Activities for example children might always use language
as a useful medium of expression without much attention
to language as an art. Also under the subheading
Language there is a recognition of the necessity for getting ready for a new experience and at the same time
clearing up and clinching what the past in language has
meant. Contrary to the usual custom reading is not
taught to six-year-old children in our school. As our
published seven-year-old record shows, an intensive experience in learning to read and write is given at seven
years of age. It is the business of the six-year-olds'
teacher to see that her children go to this new experience
with symbols, with as clear an understanding of what
language is and its possibilities as a six-year-old is capable
of. They have had experience with it as an instrument
of communication and as a means of expression in pleasing forms. They are ready to analyze as Miss Stanton
shows. They do not know it but they are getting something which will be termed later, grammar, as well as
phonetics through her treatment of language.
This assumption, that an analysis of language would
be profitable to the children before being exposed to the
language symbols, has been tried out for two or three






BEFORE BOOKS


21


years, each year with a bit more elaboration. We do
not feel that we have done all that can be done but there
is no doubt that the six-year-olds' teachers have sent
children better prepared for reading because of this effort.
Last year for example out of a class of fifteen, five children
who had not had any reading whatever heretofore were
fourth grade readers by the end of the year, two were third
grade, four were second, two were first. Of the two left
one had learned to read before she entered the class and
the other was hopelessly retarded because of an eye difficulty which we were late in discovering.
At first it was thought to be impossible to teach
phonetics apart from the symbols but it soon developed
that it was not only possible but the children were interested in analyzing the medium they had been using
for several years. It was discovered that the children
did not know in some cases what was meant by a word.
Only confusion could result to such a child introduced
to an entirely new set of symbols before he had had any
analysis of language. Besides, interesting work in enunciation and a finer training in the use of the language
mechanism, may result from this beginning.
Our number work is all in the direction of clearing
individual difficulties before the children are introduced
to symbols. I think Miss Stanton shows that she knows
about where each child is in his conception of number
and has a goal in technique for each. The translation
of what they know into written form is a fairly simple
matter. As a result of this method we are becoming more
and more ready to say that we do not have children to
whom later, mathematics is impossible. Some may be






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uninterested but when presented with a certain definite
thing which has to be done before they can do the next
thing, such as enter a new school, they can turn their
attention to the job and do distinguished work.
We have placed Music and Rhythms under Special
Training because they are experiences set up independently
of the Play and Practical Experiences though they become
more and more closely related to the program as dramatics
develop in the older classes. In order to get the most out
of the dramatics of the later periods which become the
chief spontaneous play experience, music and rhythms
should have become fairly well developed techniques.
But these activities have not merely a "getting ready"
value in the program, they contribute to the play and
practical activities as well. Furthermore these particular play activities satisfy a muscular demand for rhythmic
expression. Out of the rhythms one can see better big
muscle coordination and satisfaction and out of the use
of the voice greater fine muscle coordination and satisfaction.
Orientation is placed under Special Training in order
to secure it as a thing in itself, but it appears as well
under the Play and Practical Experiences. We consider
orientation a technique of geography. In order to clear
the way for the understanding of the distant and the past
it is necessary for a person first to be oriented in the
present to establish a habit of knowing where he is, and
second to be able to transfer himself to a map. That this
habit can be established so young as six is in the nature
of a discovery on our part, I believe.






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23


The new pedagogy treats aesthetics in a way quite different from the old pedagogy. Both the old pedagogy
and the new analyze each of the forms of asthetics so
far as they understand it into something which they call
its elements. Music analyzed into pitch and rhythm will
serve as well as any other as an example. After its analysis the procedure of the old pedagogy is to teach the
children rhythm and pitch. The simplest form of rhythm,
perhaps a march is selected and the children are lined
up and taught to step in time to the march music. All
the children must hear the beat which the teacher makes
dominant. They are taught to follow the rhythm with
their hands in exercises the chief purpose of which is to
get the children to recognize the beat. The test of the
children's sensitiveness to rhythm is in whether or not
they respond to the beat the teacher is emphasizing. The
real old fashioned pedagogue bent upon making over children to fit his mold doesn't care what he does to the music
by this method and finally what he does to the children
in relation to the subtleties of musical composition. Such
a method is murderous to art. Furthermore the children
get no idea of the essence of music by such a method.
Music is not a combination of rhythm and pitch and
other elements. Its quality lies in the fundamental relationship of these elements and persons listening to music
whether children or adults are concerned first and foremost with the relationship. They must get it as a whole
and to have a better understanding of it analyze it into
its parts at a later stage. This is what the new pedagogy
tries to do for the children. It watches for evidence of






24


BEFORE BOOKS


a recognition of rhythm or pitch. One is as welcome as
the other. There is no effort to make all respond to
a certain conception of the music held by the teacher.
Music is played or sung as music not as a teaching exercise. The children get it thoroughly into their systems and
what comes out is noted. If a child seems to have little
rhythm he is taught as an individual. The teaching
follows the discovery of a lack of ability to hear rhythms.
He may get it easily through a muscular sense with a
little help.
The old pedagogy treats drawing in much the same way.
The elements are assumed to be proportion, design, mass
perhaps. The children are taught proportion by making
lines or small objects under dictation. Design also is dictated. But again the essence of pictorial or plastic art
is in the relationship of all the elements. A dictated exercise will never produce an appreciation of relationship.
It stands a chance of interfering with it and perhaps
destroying it. The new pedagogy recognizes that this fine
appreciation of relationships comes about through a physiological process which goes on within the organism. It
may or may not externalize itself and one cannot predict
just when it will do so if it does it at all.
The assumption of the old pedagogy that anything,
music, drawing, sculpture, dramatics, literature is merely
a combination of its elements lies at the bottom of most
of our educational difficulties. Art is not produced
through an intellectual nor yet a feeling nor to use the
old psychological term  a willing process, but from the
getting together of all these. It seems to spring out of






BEFORE BOOKS


2-5


something which analysts call the "subconscious" and
which behaviorists do not mention at all. Straight physiologists may be the first to name this inner process something which all of us will accept. In proof that there
is this process, such schools as ours are producing an abundance of corroborative evidence.
Referring to the six-year-old record one finds references
to music and rhythms which may need discussion in the
light of what I have written above. One sees the children
going to these two special activities and receiving a great
deal of instruction. As it comes out in the record they
seem to be in classes for the purpose of being taught the
elements of music and rhythm. Of course this is a part
of our purpose. We are trying in all work and play, however, to have experience come first and analysis and training second. Most of these Sixes have been in school
since they were three years of age. They have heard and
sung and danced to beautiful but simple music for three
years so that they have become to a degree musicallyminded. They have experienced music and while still
experiencing it they are also analyzing it into its elements.
Reference to the music of the four-year-old group finds
them experiencing more and analyzing and being taught
less than the Sixes, which is logical.
Examples of painting and drawing should be a part of
these records but it is impossible to publish them at present. Miss Stanton has brought out the ability to draw
objects or the representative side more than the composition which the drawings contain. But that these
drawings contain composition of a surface type no one de

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26             BEFORE BOOKS
nies. The objects drawn bear a design relation to each
other which artists recognize.
The art of pedagogy however is not concerned with
these productions of the children except as they register
as milestones in the growing process. We are not trying
to make "artists" of the children in the narrow sense
of the term as we hope our records indicate.






ORGANIZATION OF THE
RECORDS
The group records of the City and Country School are
an attempt to reproduce an experimental curriculum as it
develops from month to month in a given year, under
the condition of the school environment. Children and
teacher together create the material for the record; the
writing of it is the work of the teacher. Rough notes,
taken in the classroom, are written up after school hours,
then summarized and typed at the end of weekly or
monthly periods.
The summarizing is done under general headings that
reflect the school's plan for curriculum organization. The
first of these, Play Experiences, and the second, Practical
Experiences, are basic in the program. Under them are
recorded the functioning of the children, whether as a
group or as individuals. The play experiences are expansive, allowing opportunities for children's reorganization of their own environment, while the practical experiences are organized for the production of things. Under
the third heading, Special 'Training, are included the experiences directed toward certain ends and the acquisition
of special techniques. The fourth heading, Organization
of Information, includes also the reaching out for new informational material.
27




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By means of these headings the teacher is assisted in
checking up the class experiences, and the reader is enabled more easily to follow the intentional program.
The subheads make it possible to select from the general
record those paragraphs yielding information as to development and experiences along more narrowly specific
lines. Thus the month-to-month sections headed Block
Building, or Music, if considered separately and consecutively, will be found to present each a connected story
fairly complete in itself.
The headings for the Record of Group Four are as
follows:
I. PLAY EXPERIENCES
Block building
Play with big materials
Outdoors
Indoors
Animals
Clay
Drawing, cutting and pasting
Bench work
Music
Stories
Washing and ironing
II. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES
Wraps
Putting away materials
Setting lunch tables






BEFORE BOOKS                     29
Washing cups
Orientation
Care of flowers
III. SPECIAL TRAINING
Physical exercise
Sense training
Number
IV. ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
Content of play and discussions
Trips


-------— ~I-I --- —-- -~ --




OCTOBER


I. PLAY EXPERIENCES
BLOCK BUILDING
Only four children were present the first day of school.
Bianca, an Italian child who had been in the school the
year before, went for blocks at once. She made a long
narrow roofed structure, which she called a "tunnel."
It was closed at both ends, and Matthew, a new child,
criticized this, saying it ought to be "open." Bianca also
made a railroad track, laying the blocks flat on the floor
for a short distance. Remembering the kind of trains
we used last year, she took two blocks to the carpenter's
bench, drove a staple in the end of each one, and fastened
them together with wire. Matthew made a small track,
too. Next day Elisabeth built a little house with the
smallest size blocks. This gave her great satisfaction,
though the others did not think well of it. I showed her
the larger blocks.
Interest just now is stronger in bench work and beads
than in block building. On the eighth, Christina made
a small house with a roadway leading to "Butterfield," a
place near her home in the country. A toy horse, returned
to school by some one and left on the window seat, was
instantly seen by Bianca. I said she could have it when
30






BEFORE BOOKS


31


she made a stable for it. She and Elisabeth, a new child
this year, both began to build. Elisabeth made a tiny
construction, but could not put the horse into it. It did
not occur to her to change the size of the stable. Bianca,
on the other hand, having built a large stable with a low
roof, after several attempts to force the horse in, removed
the blocks composing the roof, made the walls higher, and
replaced the roof. She then tried to put into words what
she had done, saying, "Roof too small." I gave her the
words "high" and "low," and she went about the room
smiling and repeating the explanation to the other children. Bianca added a room on top of her stable, and
Matthew said, "You can keep the hay up there."
A bridge made at the bench on the fourteenth, stimulated Murray to building. He said he wanted a train
to go over this bridge, while boats went under it. I
showed him the block trains and he built a track, working splendidly the whole first hour. Bianca built next
day, making a table and chairs for dolls. Small colored
cubes placed on the table served as food. Dolls were
asked for at the completion of this building. Elisabeth
used very long blocks for the first time; made a square
with one block laid across the top. Craig made a track,
using many curved blocks. Murray made six "tugboats,"
each one consisting of a long block with a short block
placed upright on one end. Craig repeated his track next
day, making a very long one. Bianca again used blocks
to make a table and chairs for the dolls. Elisabeth noticed this and attempted to copy it. Both made outline
houses around the tables.
On the nineteenth, Bianca and Murray made big barns




32


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with the new long blocks. Murray wanted a horse and
wagon, so I helped him to make one at the bench. Bianca
wanted the real toy horse, and her building was so very
good, I let her use it. Elisabeth built an outline house,
made a table and chairs of the small blocks, and placed
colored blocks for food on the table. I showed her the
wooden dolls and she seated one at the table. She was
perfectly delighted at her achievement.
On the twentieth, Matthew watched Murray as he built
for a time and then went to work himself and made an
outline house, consisting of five rooms-a nursery, guest
room, living room, kitchen, and sitting room. A bed
for dolls, made by Christina, and several small boats made
by Craig were the other constructions of the day.
PLAY WITH BIG MATERIALS-OUTDOORS
Much of the yard play has been dramatic. The usual
plays have been house, boat, and railroad train. The
information that functions in this play has been mainly
drawn from the everyday activities in the home, such as
eating and sleeping. In addition there has been the movement and noise of trains and the ways of handling boats.
Matthew, who apparently has had a summer experience
by the seashore, has been very accurate in letting down
and pulling up the anchor on the arrival and departure of
his boat. The packing cases have often been used as
houses. One day a little boy and girl worked a long
time making a roof of boards for a case and then retired
within, closing at night the hole in the roof and opening
it in the morning. An elaborate construction made by






BEFORE BOOKS


33


the V's was taken over by the IV's and run as a boat.
Matthew was the captain; a chain served for the anchor,
an upturned wagon-wheel for the propeller. Craig shovelled pebbles under the boat to serve as coal. The anchor
was then pulled up and the propeller turned to make the
boat move. The whistle was blown violently. When the
boat stopped, the anchor was let down and the captain
admonished the passengers, saying, "Watch your step."
Five children joined in this play which lasted for fifteen
or twenty minutes. On other occasions the packing boxes
have served as boats; and after the reading of "The Fog
Boat Story," an old window box was used as a tug boat,
while the big steamer was represented by the packing
case. The fog boat refrains were used while the boat was
in motion.
CLAY
The manipulation of clay has been very popular with
the children. There has been a great deal of slapping
and rolling, but some definite products have also appeared. Bianca one day made what she called a plate.
Matthew objected saying the sides were turned up too
much for a plate, so we compromised and called it a dish.
I suggested that Bianca put an apple in this, and she
made an apple and then an orange. Lillian then joined
her and they made carrots, potatoes, bacon, and frankfurters for dinner. Dishes have since been made by several children and on one occasion, peaches and tomatoes.
Pies were made with a design of finger prints around the
edge.






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DRAWING, CUTTING AND PASTING
There has been very little use of crayons during the
month. Matthew makes numerous straight lines across
the page and then brings in design by fringing or cutting
the edges of the paper. Cutting is often employed in connection with the pictures. Craig's boat was cut out, also
Christina's bed and baby. All the children know the eight
colors provided.
BENCH WORK
Bench work has been the most popular occupation during October. Sometimes as many as four children have
worked at once yet there has been very little friction.
Bench work demands a good deal of my attention and
it is only because the class has been so small that it has
been possible to give so much time to it. There has been
much experimentation with the tools; saw, hammer and
plane. Sawing has been the occasion for great concentration on the part of some of the children. None of
them have been satisfied just to experiment; all have gone
on to make definite products such as bridges, boats, horses
and wagons and furniture. Matthew was the first to make
a boat. He used a narrow piece of wood and then put
sides on this "high enough so people won't fall off." Murray several times has made hydroplanes-a reflection of
his summer experiences. Two of the children made
bridges. I had already sawed the wood the width of a
brick size block and two of these pieces were used as supports. The children drive nails well. At my suggestion,
horses and wagons have been made out of boards and






BEFORE BOOKS


35


blocks. A block with a staple driven in at the forward
end to hold reins of string, served as a horse, while a flat
board made the wagon. These were satisfactory as they
can be pushed across the floor easily with loads of blocks
or other materials. Murray made the first of them, and
later several children followed suit. Variation generally
lies in the arrangement of the nails. Craig added a seat
for the driver to his wagon. Bianca has been the first
to make a chair. A block served for the seat and a properly sawed piece of wood for the back. The block was
put in the vise and Bianca hammered in the nails herself
while I held the wood. After "The Fog Boat Story" had
been read, a small piece of wood, with a large nail in it
for a whistle, was used as a tug boat, and a large piece
of wood attached by a string became the big steamer.
Music
Miss Hubbell came on October eighth to give the children their first music lesson. Christina had asked for
Miss Hubbell the first day of school when she saw a
sandpaper covered block which had been used in the music
work last year. She was very much pleased at Miss
Hubbell's coming, and joined with enthusiasm in all the
activities. She drove Old Dan when that song was sung,
used the sandpaper blocks in rhythm to the engine song,
and then walked and danced to music. Two new children, Elisabeth and Matthew, watched Miss Hubbell
closely and used the tom toms, but did not beat time correctly.
A fine lesson on the eleventh, with five children pres



36


BEFORE BOOKS


ent. Murray, who had been in school the year before,
was overjoyed at hearing the songs again. He took part
in each one. Elisabeth used the "engine blocks" in correct rhythm. All walked, danced and tiptoed about in
response to various rhythms played on the piano, Christina leading. Matthew was very solemn all through the
lesson.
A new child, Craig, had entered the class before the
next lesson, on the fifteenth. He did not join the others
but listened with evident interest. Murray loves his music; he took part in all the songs. The four children responded at once to sleepy, dancing or marching musicdanced all about Craig, who was building, without spoiling his track or bumping into him.
A fine lesson again on the eighteenth. The children
had been asking all the morning if Miss Hubbell was
coming. Craig joined the circle at once. Elisabeth is
the only one besides Murray who takes part in songs, but
all danced this morning. Christina's responses to rhythms
are always correct.
A splendid lesson on the twenty-second. The children showed increased confidence by the way they took
part in the songs, and all responded well to rhythms
in floor work. They ask for Miss Hubbell every day
and the same interest has been shown all through the
month. No one, as yet, beats time correctly on the tom
toms, but they walk and dance to music.
STORIES
The stories used during October have been Mrs. Mitchell's "Chanticler and the Hens," "My Kitty," and






BEFORE BOOKS


37


following a good deal of boat play in the yard, "The Fog
Boat Story." "The Greedy Parrot" was tried twice as
it was on Mrs. Mitchell's tentative list for four-year-olds.
I have dropped it, as it does not seem to me that the
children understand enough about planting, reaping
and milling to make it intelligible to them. It seemed
completely over their heads. I have also told "The
Old Woman and the Pig" and this holds attention.
I am also telling the children a story about a little
girl who helped her mother get the dinner. Such processes appear as lighting the fire, fixing the vegetables,
putting them on to cook, and setting the table. The
children took part themselves the second time I told it,
naming knives, forks, and spoons as necessary for the
dinner table. I have also told a story about a little boy
who rose in the morning and dressed himself, to stimulate
the children into relating their experiences in sequence.
In the second telling of this story, the children began to
mention the different articles of underwear the child put
on as soon as the story told how the little boy got out
of bed. Four children then told detailed related experiences of their own.
WASHING AND IRONING
The irons were not noticed by the children until the
middle of the month, but since then have been used practically every day. This occupation has interested Craig
for as long as forty-five minutes, and Matthew for the
whole first hour. The children have high standards of


----




38


BEFORE BOOKS


work and are not satisfied unless the iron is hot enough
to remove the wrinkles from the doll's covers. Clothes
and covers are always folded and creased and laid in
neat piles.
II. PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES
WRAPS
There' is a good deal of difference in the children's
ability in handling their clothing, which ties up with
general facility in using their hands. All can take off
their own hats and coats, but some are much slower than
others. Bianca still retains her pride in the speed with
which she accomplishes the operation and her triumphant
"I beat you," has hurried up the slow ones and added
interest to the whole proceeding. There has been a special
problem with one little boy who refused to take off his
coat and hat. His usual behavior was to get into a corner and pretend to be a turtle or a lion, instead of going
to work as the other children did. A new method of
treatment was decided on, i. e., not to mention clothes
at all until Murray had become interested in an occupation. Miss Pratt came in the first morning this was tried,
when Murray was a "buffalo." She talked with him about
buffaloes and then suddenly said, "I know you want to
come out in the Alley with me." He denied this and
she replied, "Oh, but I know you do, because you have
your hat and coat on."  Murray ran at once to his hook
and hung up his hat and then began working. This






BEFORE BOOKS


39


was followed up by not mentioning clothes at all on
Murray's arrival the next day. When he was much interested in sawing, the casual suggestion, "Want to take
off your hat and leave it on your hook, Murray?"
met with instant and cheerful response. The following
day Murray sat at his table for some time with his
hat on and then suddenly ran out to the hall and left
his hat on his hook. Since then there has been no difficulty at all. I am careful not to ask Murray directly
to take off his things but usually he does so when the
other children do it.
PUTTING AWAY
All the group have helped in putting away blocks
and have seemed to enjoy it. The children have all
learned where the different sizes belong and are most
particular that the blocks be placed in the right cupboard
and neatly piled. Sweeping up the shavings under the
bench and washing the tables and shelves have been well
done.
SETTING LUNCH TABLES
Getting the tables and chairs ready for lunch, pouring the milk and passing the crackers have been greatly
enjoyed by all the children. Each one has learned to
recognize his own name on his cup and also some of those
on the other cups. On specially warm days we have had
a "picnic" in the yard and one or two children have always helped me to make a table of yard blocks and boards.






40


BEFORE BOOKS


Then each child has made his own chair of the square
blocks. The youngest boy in the class is the only one
who has not wanted to carry the cups into the house on
the tray.
ORIENTATION
An effort has been made to have the children understand the school program. At first, I talked each morning individually with each child, asking "What do we do
first when we come to school?" so that each one came
to understand the routine of taking off hats and coats
and hanging them up, and then going to his own table
to begin to work. From the children's question, "Are we
going out in the yard now?" developed the idea that the
ringing of the bell for the V's to come in meant that
the IV A's could go out. In the yard, we talked about
the fact that it was time to go in when the IV B's came
out. This was so well understood by the children that
one day when the IV B's came out ahead of time, some
of the IV A's immediately ran in. We also talked about
what we did when we went into the house and soon learned
that we had crackers and milk.
The great interest taken in music has broadened our
conceptions to include the days of the week, as Miss
Hubbell comes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
This has been discussed a great deal and now when a
child asks, "Does Miss Hubbell come today?" another
child often answers, "No, this is Tuesday."
Children have frequently been sent into the schoolroom on errands and all have been able to carry the idea






BEFORE BOOKS


41


and bring back the thing wanted, such as string, scissors,
or nails. A trip was taken down the Alley to locate
the office, and Bianca went down and came back entirely
alone a few days afterwards, bringing the correct article
back with her.
III. SPECIAL TRAINING
PHYSICAL EXERCISE
There has been a great deal of athletic play all through
the month. No one in the class is timid about using the
slide and constant experimentation has taken place as to
different methods of sliding down. Matthew has been
especially inventive in this respect. Sitting down, lying
down, one leg over the side, a leg over each side, on the
knees, are a few of the ways the children have discovered. Taking turns was quickly learned and the children
seem to enjoy it. Climbing up the ladder to the packing
case and sliding down the clothes pole has been much
enjoyed. Sometimes the green ladder has been placed on
the step of the slide ladder, and the children have tried
walking up the rungs of the green ladder. No one has
succeeded in doing this beyond the first few rungs. Walking on boards resting on blocks or saw horses is another
favorite occupation, also walking up a board leaning
against the packing case. Two of the boys, Matthew and
Craig, have splendid control. They run down these boards
at top speed without falling. The swinging rope has been
used a great deal, and all the children, including Christina, who made a real struggle to learn this, can jump






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from the ground and seat themselves on the knotted end.
The trapeze began to be used about the middle of the
month, and three children have learned to get in and out
of it alone. This was very popular for some days. A
board was placed against the lower bar and the children
pulled themselves up this to the bar and then got into
the trapeze. There has been a great deal of shovelling and
sweeping. The see-saw has proved most valuable in
teaching the children balance and they have improved
greatly in their use of it. Two children or four children
have used it at a time and they have learned that it
will not go unless they have an equal number on each side.
Sometimes children have spent as much as half an hour
at a time on the see-saw. This included jumping off and
changing sides, and playing with the board to investigate
the working of balance, as well as actually see-sawing.
It is hard to convey in words an idea of the constant
activity that goes on in the yard. Christina is the only
child who has needed any suggestion as to an occupation.
SENSE TRAINING
The children have welcomed all the sense training
games with enthusiasm and have asked for them nearly
every day since their introduction. There have been only
three or four days during the month when such games were
not used, and this was due, once, to the fact that a trip
was taken, and, later in the month, to the fact that a
story read by me and followed by the children's own recital of related experiences made the lunch period so long,
they were eager to get at their individual work again.






BEFORE BOOKS


43


Identification of small objects by touch was played on
the first day of school and the following were correctly
guessed-scissors, bead, block, and bean bag. Objects
added later were doll, nail, safety pin, crayon, small block
and large block, ball of string, piece of money, and jelly
jar cover.
In our visual memory game, three objects are exposed
to view for a second and then covered, and the child is
requested to name them. This has been played with the
same objects used in the touch game. Of the six children
in the class, two have failed to name the objects correctly. Bianca was one of them, and I think her difficulty
may have been with language. The other child was Craig
who always rushes at things. He sometimes names four
objects when I have shown him three.
Another popular game is to have one child close his
eyes while another slips away from the table and hides.
The children have played this with the greatest delight.
The one who hides shows in his bodily movements the
joy and pride he feels. The child who is "IT" has to
name the hidden child correctly. One or two of the children cannot always restrain their impulse to tell who
is hidden. Murray, who usually plays alone, has taken
part in this game with every expression of pleasure in it.
Taking a cup of milk from the table to the tray quietly,
while the children put their heads down on the table and
listen for footsteps, serves a double purpose; it not only
makes a splendid listening game, but it also gives the
children a few perfectly quiet moments, which should
always be provided at some time during the morning.
The children love this game and ask for it nearly every




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day. There seems to be a good deal of adventure in
faring forth across the room on tip-toe with so many
"sharp ears" listening for the sound of one's feet. This
is occasionally varied or added to by general listening.
We did this several times when having lunch in the yard
and the following noises were distinguished by the children: "hammering in house," "whistle," "auto," "horn."
IV. ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
CONTENT OF PLAY AND DISCUSSIONS
Whenever there has been a lack of spontaneous conversation at lunch, attention has been directed to houses.
The different kinds of rooms have been mentioned by the
children. Once stoves were talked about. What the children have had for breakfast and what they've seen on
the way to school have come into the conversation. Experiences of the summer have been told. There has been
a good deal more conversation at the end of the month
than there was at the beginning. Individual language
work has been done with Bianca, who still has a good
deal of difficulty in her English, chiefly in the tenses of
the verbs and in making complete sentences.






JANUARY


I. PLAY EXPERIENCES
BLOCK BUILDING
First Week
A very small track was built by Murray on Monday.
He ran a train on this, and was very much absorbed in
the occupation, refusing to leave for the music lesson.
On Tuesday, he made a big, elaborate steamer three decks
high. Dolls represented the captain and pilot, and were
placed on board after its completion. Murray's remonstrance to the other children about walking in the water
made it necessary for us all to know where the water
really was, so I asked him to draw it with chalk. He did
so, and then I showed him how to make a draw-bridge for
his steamer, as Craig insisted on some way of crossing the
water. A railroad track was built by Murray after this,
but was not used. Matthew made a large house with a
carefully laid floor and roof. On Wednesday and Thursday I had the IV B class, so the doors were left open
between their room and ours, and the children saw some
good railroad tracks built by Bruce and Roger. On
Thursday and Friday long railroad tracks were built.
The first day Murray, Mark, Selma, and Craig all did
this. Murray usually plays alone but Craig, though he
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may begin alone, soon loses interest and tries to join
another child. Selma and Mark built together one day,
and Craig and Mark the next. The two former played
very well together, carrying on a continuous conversation,
and running trains after completion of the tracks. Curves
were carefully laid, and bumpers placed at the ends of the
track.
Second Week
Railroad tracks are becoming the dominant interest of
the group, and more concentrated work is done in this
occupation at present than in any other. There is much
enjoyment in cooperation and, though building may begin
alone, tracks are usually connected with each other. On
Monday, Craig made the usual type of track, but Matthew
placed unit blocks in an upright position beside the
track. When Craig began to run a train near this part of
the track, Matthew said, "That's the Subway, wait, it
isn't finished yet. I'm going to make it dark." Then he
started to lay blocks on top. The first size he tried was
too short. He recognized this at once, went for a larger
size, and put one on, when Craig interfered, saying,
"That's not right, you must make it higher so cars can go
in it." Matthew accepted this and they made the sides
higher and added a roof. The other part of the track became a trolley track, and a large car barn was added.
On Tuesday, Mark built a very long track, but instead
of running a train on it, covered the whole track with
single blocks, one behind the other. When I asked him
why there were so many trolleys, he said, "Because so
many people are going to work." Mark lives on Four

-P




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47


teenth Street where the trolleys are often blocked, owing
to the construction of a new subway. Tables placed over
the tracks were used as tunnels. Matthew said to Murray
that a tunnel ought to be dark, and suggested blocks being
used under the sides of the table, but this was not done.
On Wednesday, Craig, Mark, Murray, and Bianca all
built tracks, some elevated. A stable one day, and a
blacksmith shop another day made by Christina, and a
house made by Mark were other forms of block building.
Mark used a block as a window, saying, "Now it's open.
Now it's getting washed." Matthew has been very particular in his block building, and occasionally, when doing table work, criticized another child's construction.
The curves are not correctly used by many of the children,
but this does not seem to trouble any of them.
Third Week
A great deal of track building this week. Bianca and
Mark worked well on Monday, making very long tracks
all across the floor. On Tuesday, Bruce, a boy from the
other section of Group IV, came in to visit us. He ran
a milk train and enjoyed himself greatly. He worked
well with Murray. Juanita started a house but worked
so slowly she could not finish it, though she remained at
it the whole first hour. Later in the week she began a
house and finished it. Murray's train brought her milk
and she was perfectly delighted. Murray used a chair
as a bridge on this track. Several houses have been built,
but there has been no progress or change in type of construction.






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Fourth Week
Track building continued to be popular. On Monday,
after the completion of tracks, Christina ran a bread
train and Murray a milk train. On Tuesday, Matthew
brought in milk from the country on his track. Twice
Mark, when starting to build a house, asked who would
be the milkman. On Thursday, so many tracks were built
that there was a good deal of difficulty in finding places
for them. Margaret was the only one who would not
allow any one to join her track or to build a bridge over
it. The children were not very careful about moving
around, and many tracks were displaced. We had a
talk about this at lunch time. Chairs have been used as
tunnels and Mark and Selma have made block tunnels.
Mark's was too low at first. Craig noticed this and
showed him how to remedy the difficulty. Although several houses have been built, only Margaret has used the
dolls and clay dishes and furniture.
PLAY WITH BIG MATERIALS-OUTDOORS
First Week
Selma and Juanita worked very hard placing the green
table as they wanted it and making a pile of the yard
blocks on it. On these they put one end of a long board,
thus making a slide. Selma was the leader, but Juanita
worked well. I was surprised at her tenacity. Both enjoyed the slide for some time afterward. Mark joined






BEFORE BOOKS


49


them soon, and all three tried walking down; Juanita was
the only one who needed assistance from me. A Christmas tree left in the yard was used as the center of a
Christmas dramatization, Santa Claus coming down the
chimney while the children slept. Bruce was Santa Claus.
The tree was transplanted several times, occasioning a
tremendous amount of shovelling on successive days. On
Thursday, it was used as a railroad signal by another boy
who, placing it on top of the slide, climbed up himself
and raised the tree as a signal to pass, and lowered it as
a signal to stop. On Friday it became a nut tree and
fed the baby squirrels, Christina, Murray, and Matthew,
who lived in the packing case house. Playing house continued, Lillian one day adopting Juanita and Mark, cooking dinner for them and taking them to "an ice cream
party." Playing horse became popular suddenly, six or
eight children playing at once. This activity did not last
long, however.
Second Week
A long construction of blocks and boards left by the
V's became a train as soon as my children saw it.
Matthew, Craig, and Bianca began the play, and these
three took turns as engineer. Christina, Mark, and Murral became the passengers.  When a difficulty arose among
the engineers, I suggested that Craig be the conductor, and
a very hilarious game grew out of this. Pebbles served
as tickets, and Craig called out, "Here's your ticket, don't
drop it." The child so addressed threw his pebble on the
ground, and all laughed heartily. This was repeated




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many times. The passengers sat in a row on a long
board, and Craig marched up and down in front of them.
Third Week
The packing case house serving as a house on Monday,
had its roof painted by Mark. On Wednesday, Bianca
built a furnace out of yard blocks with a chimney "for
smoke." Craig saying, "I am Mr. Jones" (the janitor),
shovelled in the coal. On Thursday, Craig and Mark used
the green table for a house, eating for dinner "beefsteak,
peas, and beans." Joined by Christina, they all became
baby rabbits, when they moved over to a packing case
and made rooms for themselves with blocks.
Fourth Week
On Monday, the two packing cases were joined by
boards laid across the tops. Matthew and Murray spent
half an hour mending this roof, carrying bricks and placing them over gaps. Christina and Murray played house
later, running off and getting "lost in the wood." This
probably came from some story one of them had heard at
home. On Wednesday, a packing case served as a house
for Matthew, Murray, and Craig. Quite an elaborate
dramatization with much conversation went on. The case
was roofed over with boards, and the three insisted on
closing up tight at night, and opening up in the morning.
Juanita and Margaret wanted very much to come in, and
the boys would not let them, so I suggested that Margaret
bring groceries and Juanita bread. This was taken up






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51


with enthusiasm, and continued until time to go in. An
empty knot hole in the case caused much hilarity the next
day, stones being handed down through the hole, or
dropped through. This Iept five children busy, two below
and three on top, all I would allow, for the whole hour
of outdoor play. There was a great deal of climbing
up and down the ladder.
PLAY WITH BIG MATERIALS-INDOORS
First Week
The children played "Spot" one day after lunch, impersonating the characters of the cat, the cross woman,
and the big black cat. Craig began this, and Murray
joined him at once.
CLAY
Christina made a pail and shovel, and a little house
which she said had been burned and had a hole in the
roof. Dishes were the other products of the week.
DRAWING, CUTTING, AND PASTING
The greatest interest has been shown all the week in
pasting strips and pieces of the new colored paper on
sheets of drawing paper. Pasting seems to be rather
difficult for all the children.
Second Week


On Tuesday, Bianca drew a house with a bedroom and




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sitting room. The doors and windows were pasted paper.
Two "ladies" and a man were added in crayon, and in
the bedroom closet were pasted three hats and three coats
for the people to wear "when they go out." Juanita, in
her drawing, made a mother wearing a pasted coat, a little
girl with pasted leggings, and then drew a baby-carriage
with a handle. This interest continued the following day.
Christina made a "lady" and explained to me that the
"lady was going to a restaurant to eat oysters and fish."
Bianca made "a blacksmith with pants on."
Third Week
Drawing has been popular all the week. On Monday,
Matthew spent the whole first hour making a man, and
then very carefully cutting him out. This was so well
done, I asked if he wouldn't like to make the man stand
up. Matthew said, "Yes," and when I asked "How?"
some one said, "Get a piece of wood."  Matthew sawed
off a piece of wood, but did not have time to finish that
day. He remembered it on Tuesday, went at once to his
shelf and completed the nailing, so that finally the man
stood up perfectly. He then used him as a driver on his
milk wagon. Christina had had a little parasol given
her, and she drew this on Monday, also a toy tea kettle.
Juanita made a man with eyes, nose, and mouth, correctly
placed, also fingers and toes. Doilies for lunch were made
by all the children on Wednesday. I suggested this as
we really needed new ones, but interest was not strong
except in the cutting out.




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53


Fourth Week
Mark began experimenting on drawing a man this week.
On the first attempt, he made two lines at right angles
across the face, and four eyes. Later he made the lines
shorter, but he still had four eyes and a mouth and nose
in incorrect positions. Christina made a "baby" in school
one day, a "mother" at home that afternoon, and a
"father" the next day in school. Matthew made a man
with a very large head which Bianca criticized. Matthew
was perfectly satisfied, however, and nailed him on a piece
of wood, as he had done his other man. Doilies were
made by all the children Friday morning, at my suggestion. Murray made "a wood where little children died."
Selma experimented with producing the same color in
different ways, by pasting blue colored paper on a sheet
of drawing paper, then drawing with blue crayon beneath
it. She repeated this with black and orange.
BENCH WORK
First Week
One day, after much sawing had made a pile of sawdust
on the floor, Craig decided to make a box for it. He
found a large piece of board and nailed a piece on each
end. Then he decided it was to be a bed, the two additions to the original board being the legs. He now
put on the bedstead a side so high that Matthew said it
was a crib; but when this portion of the work was completed, Craig called it a sofa and was perfectly satisfied.
Both Selma and Mark made wagons, using button molds




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for wheels. Both had a good deal of difficulty in getting
a proper adjustment of the nail through the button mold
and into the board.
Second Week
The interest in tracks has made the construction of
trains necessary, as toy trains were not provided. Murray found a large round piece of wood in the lumber
chest on Monday and said, "I'm going to make an engine."
He sawed off part of this, found a very irregular piece
and nailed the round one onto it. He was content with
this, put it on his shelf, and the next day, after wiring
blocks together, used them for a train, without the engine.
Selma and Bianca made trains on Tuesday. Bianca could
bend the wire back alone, but Selma needed help. On
Wednesday, Selma made an engine, nailing a piece of large
dowel on to a flat board as a boiler. She then used a
nail as a smokestack, and another nail as a headlight.
Craig suggested a steam gauge, but there was not time to
put this on. The first thing on Thursday, Selma began
to saw off a piece of round wood for a steam gauge, and
this was nailed on at once. She did not use the engine
after completion. Christina made a wagon using two
blocks as horses, and worked with great energy, sandpapering the roughness from one side of the wood. Her interest continued the next day, when she added a seat to the
wagon. She used it for carrying blocks. A new wire
cutter, introduced this week, has been of great interest.
It has a groove on the side in which the wire must be
laid for cutting, and the children learned this quickly.




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55


There has been much interest in taking the plane apart
and putting it together again. Craig is the only one who
can do this alone. Selma and Mark are able to take it
apart, but cannot replace the parts. Bianca made an
aeroplane on Friday. She is ambidexterous when hammering, and tires quickly.
Third Week
Great interest in bench work this week. Selma made a
wagon on Monday, working hard the whole of the first
hour. She remembered her engine and wanted to put
something else on it to make it more like a real engine.
At the same time, Murray sawed vigorously. Mark made
a stool of a fair sized piece of wood, with nails for legs.
He could really sit on it. Christina made a chair, measuring the back and wanting it just the same size as the
seat. She worked hard and then the wood split. There
has been a good deal of hammering, sawing, and planing
just for the pleasure of activity.
Fourth Week
Interest in bench work has continued all through this
week-sometimes as many as three children working at
once. On Monday, Selma and Christina sawed, and on
Wednesday, Craig hammered and nailed with no thought
of the product. Matthew made a chair on Monday, adding legs when it was finished. On Tuesday, Christina completed a wagon, which became a bread wagon at once.
The next day Selma started another engine but after




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hammering on the boiler and a whistle, she lost interest.
Bianca made what she called an aeroplane the same daytwo pieces of wood hammered on to a third. On Friday,
Christina came to school determined to make an elaborate
doll's house. After talking to me of the furniture she
was going to make for it, she started on a bed and worked
hard at this through all the first hour. Matthew made
a boat with sides, also working for some time. We found
the saw horse in the yard needed mending and did this
during the yard hour. Craig, Matthew, and Christina
each hammered in a very long nail which took much
strength. On our return to the house, we sawed off music
sticks for Miss Hubbell.
Music
Third Week
A fine lesson on Monday. All were interested. After
swinging sticks to rhythm and walking and dancing to
music, three children marched by turns while the others
watched. The watchers began spontaneously to clap the
rhythm. Selma started this, and all joined.
Fourth Week
The children enjoyed singing and illustrating the
hammer song on Monday. Some one noticed that the sun
was shining and they sang the sunshine song, filling in the
musical form with their own words. They played the
band very well on Wednesday, and sang and made motions




BEFORE BOOKS


57


with Miss Hubbell when she sang them the new barber
shop song. They asked for the sunshine song again, and
did fine work on the floor, marching, dancing, and tiptoeing about in response to different kinds of music.
STORIES
First Week
I read the children "The Grocery Man" (See IV Trips,
First Week). They listened with great interest. When
the driver stopped at the first house, a child asked, "Did
he leave all the baskets?" and some one answered, "No."
At the close of the story, Craig told a related sequence
of events concerning packages going up on the dumbwaiter
and being removed by his cook. I read the story next
day to the combined classes. It held their attention perfectly. At the end Peggy said, "I guess that happens
every morning." "Hen and Rooster," and "Old Dan"
were read the next day by request. "The Grocery Man"
was tried again on Friday with the two classes, but did
not hold every one's attention, though some children were
much interested. Several joined me in saying "pr-r-r-r-ip"
to represent the sound of the telephone bell.
Second Week
Stories used this week have been "The New Engine,"
and "The Dinner Horses," on the day after our first trip.
The latter aroused great interest, and vegetables and fruit
were suggested for the basket. (See IV Content of Play,




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Second Week.) Miss Pratt read the children the poem,
"Knocking at My Wee Small Door," and they asked for
it over and over and seemed to enjoy the form, though I
doubt whether they appreciated the content at all.
Juanita: (a Spanish speaking child-this is her first
attempt) "One day I saw little birdies in the park having
their breakfast and they come every day to have lunch."
JuaiMta: (Second attempt, on a snowy day) "In my
house I saw a pussy walking on the snow and he loved
the snow."
Christina: "Once upon a time there was a little girl
and she went upstairs and changed her clothes and she
got dressed and then she came down to breakfast and
then she washed her face and hands and then went to
school."
Third Week
I read "The Dinner Horses" on Tuesday. Some of the
remarks made by the children were as follows: Bianca,
"I got a big bed." Christina, "Early in the morning I
wake up and get my orange."
When the grocery man delivers: Christina, "My bell
pulls out." Matthew, "My elevator has got a lot of
bells."
I repeated the same story on Wednesday by request.
On Thursday, I read "The Engine Story." This is a little
long. I tried reading it in its entirety, but hereafter shall
cut it a little. A very interesting discussion of automobiles arose during the reading. Remarks made were:
"You have got to have water for an auto, too." "You




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59


have to have water in the batteries." "If your batteries
are no good, your horn won't blow." "An auto won't
go unless you have gas." Matthew, Craig, and Mark were
the participants in this.
The children asked for "How Animals Move" on Friday, and I read it to them several times. This led to
quite an interesting discussion when a child asked the
meaning of the word "clings."
Juanita: "In my house I saw a man out in the yard
fixing the yard and he didn't like the snow."
Fourth Week
Juanita: "Jack Frost painted the windows yesterday.
I saw it painted."
Craig: "Once there was a big pig and he said (sound
of snorting) and he went out in the nice warm sun and he
saw a grasshopper and he ate him up and he saw a
beetle and he ate him up and he walked on the path
and he saw a bee and he ate the bee and then he went
home and had his dinner and after his dinner he walked
on the path and he saw a little bit of a teenty weenty fly
and he ate him up and that's the end."
I read "The Grocery Man" on Monday. This was followed with deep attention. After the grocer had loaded
his wagon, Christina asked "Did he have two or three
baskets in the wagon?" and Murray answered, "Three."
The children knew whose mother telephoned first in the
story and Murray asked whether Ruth's house was an
apartment. A discussion of houses led some one to say
how funny it would be to live in a house with only one




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room. This was a great joke to the children. On Tuesday, "The Dinner Horses" was read-new articles added
to the basket were rice, flour, salt, "raw cereals to be
cooked" besides the usual vegetables that have been mentioned before. I tried "The Grocery Man" again on
Wednesday as the children had been playing at delivering
orders in the yard, but it did not hold attention very well.
II. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES
WRAPS
First Week
On Wednesday, the two classes were obliged to come in
from the yard at 11: 30 owing to rain. I was alone with
the fifteen children and explained before coming in that
each child must take off his own things without help
and that only quiet children could slide and swing. I
unbuttoned all the top buttons in the yard. The children
came in quietly, took off their wraps alone and then talked
together until the slide was ready.
Second Week
Now that there are so many leggings to put on, I am
suggesting to the children that they help each other and
they have done splendidly. They pull off each other's
leggings and hold each other's coats.




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Fourth Week
Margaret was the only child in the class who was unable to start putting on her leggings alone. I have made
a great effort with her all the week, and have spoken to
her family about not helping her at home, and she has
made great strides already. Selma and Matthew not
only put on but also button leggings entirely unassisted.
PUTTING AWAY
Second Week
The two benches were used this week at putting away
time. As big steamers, they were pulled across the floor,
the child pulling them either calling "toot, toot, I'm moving," or just tooting, or saying "chug chug." Craig began this and it was immediately seized on by one and
all.
Fourth Week
Juanita piled well in the chest one day this week.
SETTING LUNCH TABLES
First Week
Both on Wednesday and Friday, my children got the
lunch tables ready for the IV B room, while that class
had a music lesson. This involved setting up tables, put

Yi --- —-— 




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ting chairs around, distributing doilies, napkins, and cups,
as well as crackers, and pouring the milk. Of course,
this was done under my direction, but the children worked
splendidly, carrying out directions quickly and intelligently.
Second Week
Interest in setting the table and passing crackers and
pouring milk remains intense. Bianca spilled badly on
Friday and there was a chorus of criticism.
WASHING CUPS
Second Week
Craig washed cups well, remaining at his job until he
had finished it, without any urging from me. It is the
first time he has done this.
III. SPECIAL TRAINING
PHYSICAL EXERCISE
First Week
There was a great deal of climbing and sliding in the
yard this week. Ten children took turns on the slide
without friction, Murray among them. (See II Wraps,
First Week.)






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Second Week
The see-saw was still popular with Selma and Juanita.
Matthew and Craig tried standing up in the indoor swing
and pumping, and they were quite successful. There is
very little difficulty now about taking turns on the indoor slide. I heard one child say to another, who tried
to get ahead, "I got here first and it's my turn now."
When swinging a child said to another who wanted a
turn, "If you say please, you can have the swing."
Third Week
The see-saw continued to be popular. Matthew and
Selma learned on Thursday to skin the cat. They began at once to experiment with different ways of holding
their hands. There has been a great deal of experimentation on the indoor slide, and much interest in coming down
backwards.
Fourth Week
Experiments in skinning the cat on the parallel bars
have continued this week. Juanita, after working hard
for several days, has finally learned to do this all alone.
She is immensely proud of her accomplishment. Different
ways of holding hands have been tried by every one.
There has also been much use of the slide this week and
constant experiment in different ways of coming down.
Mark has lost his timidity in sliding.






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SENSE TRAINING
First Week
None of the usual games were played this week, the
combination of classes making it too difficult.
Second Week
Interest continued strong in the silence game with
cups, and this game was used on Monday and Wednesday.
On Friday at lunch time, Christina suggested to me that
we play the feeling game, and that I call each child in
a whisper, making a combination of two games. This
worked most successfully, and the children guessed the following objects without first seeing them: nail, bead, scissors, crayon, and wooden wheel. This was followed by
the hiding game, also well played.
Third Week
There has been such a demand for stories this week,
that we have not used any sense training games.
Fourth Week
The silence game with cups was the only one played
this week.






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IV. ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
CONTENT OF PLAY AND DISCUSSIONS
First Week
Murray showed that he realized the necessity for a captain and a pilot in the running of a steamer, by placing
these two on his completed ship. Their duties were not
understood by him and a discussion with him did not seem
to clear this up very much. Four or five children gathered around to hear the explanation of a drawbridge and
there was much interest but no use of the bridge after it
had been made. A discussion of the effects of fire followed Christina's exhibition of her clay house which she
said had been burned. Christina said houses "got killed"
when they burned. Craig had the idea, apparently, that
fire engines started the fire. I am working on this whenever fire-play of any sort arises. The other children
knew that fire engines came to put out the fire, and that
water was used.
Second Week
The information that subways and tunnels are dark,
has been brought out in the block building. During the
play of train in the yard, we talked over the engineer's
function-to run the train-and the conductor's-to take
tickets and give the signal to the engineer to start. There






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have been several talks about the parts of an engine, interest having been aroused by Selma's engine, and The
Engine Book has been consulted in this connection. The
smokestack, whistle, headlight, steam gauge, and sand
dome are the parts familiarly known. Only vegetables
and fruits were named by the children when given the
opportunity to fill the groceryman's basket in the story
of "The Dinner Horses." The vegetables were: celery,
string beans, lima beans, tomatoes, green peppers, and
peas. The fruits were: apples, oranges, and grapefruit.
The windows in Mark's house were not only opened and
closed, but also washed.
Third Week
Mark, painting the packing case roof, was led to a discussion of the effect of rust on tin and the necessity for
paint. In connection with making and pasting clothing
we have discussed the season of the year and whether leggings are worn in summer. Bianca's construction of a
furnace led to talk about these conveniences. Bianca,
Craig, and Matthew all knew the chimney was for smoke
but were a little vague about ashes. I told them that
the coal turned into ashes and that these must be taken
out of the furnace daily. This must be followed up.
(See February IV Content of Play, Second Week.) We
put a cup of water in the yard and after it had frozen,
melted it on the stove and saw it turn to steam. The children were much interested in putting a little water on
the sidewalk and watching how rapidly it turned to ice.
We saw frozen milk and talked about its expansion when






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67


frozen. A spontaneous discussion of the automobile which
arose during a reading of the engine story, showed that
some of the children knew that gasoline was necessary
to an automobile-also water; that water must be put in
the batteries; that the horn won't blow unless the batteries
are good. On a trip the following day, we saw an automobile standing and I pointed out the brake, the steering
wheel, the tires, the lights, the gasoline tank, the tail
light. Matthew knew you must have that lighted at night
"or the traffic cop will stop you." The children all knew
the automobile wouldn't go unless the engine was working.
We had a discussion of fish one day at luncheon, bringing in the IV B's goldfish and having them on the table.
Some children said they ate fish and the kinds mentioned
were codfish, bluefish, and pickerel.
Fourth Week
The necessity for the transportation of milk by the
railroad to the city has been shown in the block play
this week, also the necessity for the delivery of groceries. (See I Stories, Fourth Week, for articles mentioned
in the groceryman's basket.) It is the first time the children have mentioned much beside vegetables. "Raw cereal to be cooked" shows they are thinking of the utilization of food after its delivery. Our elevated tracks show
observation of the different kinds of railroads in the
city. Bianca still misunderstands the fire engine's function. The children's amusement over the idea of a one
roomed house would seem to indicate a knowledge of the
uses of different rooms, such as bedrooms, kitchens, etc.






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TRIPS
First Week
Four children were taken on a trip on Monday. Murray and Christina were the leaders while Matthew and
Selma marched behind. I insisted that the children walk
and not run, stop at crossings, and that they did not talk
while we were crossing the street, and I was very strict
about these things. We went to the blacksmith's as the
children have begun to play horse without much information. Two horses were in the shop and the children saw
the making and measuring of the shoes by one smith, while
another hammered on the finished products. Murray
asked, "Why does he put it in the fire?" Some one else,
"Doesn't it hurt the horse?" "Where's the wagon?" All
were intensely interested. We noticed the trucks, both
motor and horse, coming and going, and the children saw
potatoes, onions, and lettuce in a wagon and a big truck
full of sacks of potatoes. We stopped at a grocery store
and the children identified tomatoes, apples, oranges, peppers, lettuce, and string beans; none of them knew cabbage.
Second Week
A trip to the blacksmith was attempted on Tuesday with
eight children, but owing to Craig's excitability, had to
be shortened to a trip around the block. Craig will be
left at home hereafter. This was not explained to him,
as I did not think he could help his behavior. We no





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69


ticed wagons, autos, grocery stores, and butcher stores
on Sixth Avenue and on Eighth Street, and stopped at
the stable for a moment. No questions were asked there.
On the return to school, I told the children I would take
them to the blacksmith on Thursday, and on Thursday
morning, Bianca said to me, "Thursday? Blacksmith?"
Six children went on this trip. Craig came late and was
left with the IV B Group. Bianca and Mark were the
leaders. They stopped well at crossings, without being
reminded, after the first explanation on the corner of
Macdougal Street and Waverly Place. The children
picked out an ice wagon and a grocery wagon and Selma
said there was "food" in the basket the boy was delivering. At the blacksmith's, they saw a shoe being hammered on. Bianca was afraid of the horse. As the doors
were closed, owing to the cold, the horse did seem very
large and very near, so we did not stay long. There
was no fire, as the shoes were completed. The children
noticed the old shoes on the floor, and Murray asked the
blacksmith if the shoes he was putting on the horse were
new. Selma asked to sing the blacksmith song. The
children's behavior on the way home was very good, alert
and interested, but not excited. We watched a very large
coal wagon shooting coal down a hole at the Hotel Earle,
and compared the size of the wagon with the size of the
house.




FEBRUARY


I. PLAY EXPERIENCES
BLOCK BUILDING
First Week
Interest has been strong in houses this week. Individual constructions have shown great variation. Mark
made a tall, narrow house on Monday of interesting and
unusual design. A somewhat similar building was made
by Bianca on Tuesday. Matthew's houses usually consist
of a well laid floor made of double unit blocks, with
walls and roof of the same. They are usually two stories
high. A chimney is always added. Selma's house had
seven rooms, each a square of double unit blocks. Murray made a small low house on Monday. Craig sawed
off several heavy square pieces of wood and then gave
them to Murray, Bianca, and Mark to use as chimneys.
Murray beat the blackboard erasers together, saying, "See
the smoke." Craig got a wagon from the cupboard and
began to bring food to Murray. Murray asked, "What's
this?" and Craig explained it was prunes, fish, and macaroni. Then he asked Murray to telephone him and
Murray said, "Wait till I look up the notice in the
telephone book." Murray telephoned at the black board
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71


and Craig from the window seat across the room. They
did not really get what the other was saying, but each
conducted his own conversation about food, and then Craig
delivered. Later, he took things to Mark, too. Meanwhile, Juanita was running a milk train on Mark's track.
Mark telephoned to Craig for cinnamon, molasses, and
bread. On Thursday, Matthew's house, left up from the
day before, led Bianca to be "food man" and deliver
things to Matthew, but he did not enter into the play.
I suggested that he put some of his paper men in
the house and he did this, but was not very much interested. Elevated tracks have been made all during the
month past, but on Wednesday, Mark made tracks on
two different levels, using unit blocks for the first level
and double units for the second level. Murray did the
same thing, and both were delighted over their discovery.
A station for the tracks appeared on Friday. Margaret
made a house on Thursday, and used dolls and clay dishes
in it. This is the first use of dolls for some time.
Second Week
No elaborate and few long tracks built this week.
Three children used their tracks when completed. On
Tuesday, Mark built double tracks side by side. He said
that was done "for a train to go other and next way."
Mark's work is very interesting; he never repeats the
same house or track, and nearly always uses the squares,
units and double units in both types of constructioncombining them in various ways. Margaret made a simple, straight track on Wednesday-almost her first at



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tempt at this type of building. She was stimulated to it
by a trip to Flushing. She ran one block as a train.
Selma's track was partly elevated and she returned to it
after doing some bench work, and added a tunnel. Mark
tried using square blocks as supports for his elevatedvery careful fitting of curves. On Thursday, Christina
made a track with many curves. After sawing off six
pieces of round wood for milk cans, she ran her train to
Bianca's house, returning to the country with the empty
cans. Bianca's house had three rooms, a roof, and a
chimney. On Friday, when Mark began to build his
track, he said, "I'll be the milkman." Margaret and
Murray, building houses nearby, called out "Philadelphia," "Baltimore," as Mark put down more blocks.
Murray made a house with a very long narrow hall, and
a dining room and bedroom at the end of it. Dolls were
put to bed in the bedroom on the floor. Some one criticized this, saying they ought to be on a bed. Margaret
built nearby, and the three kept up a constant conversation. Corrugated cardboard is proving very successful
for roofs. It is light and easily handled, and can be
cut by the children themselves into any size. The corrugations are similar to corrugated tin roofing.
Third Week
On Monday, Christina found an auto under the window
seat and wanted to make a garage. I asked her if she
would prefer her own wagon and she said she would.
Then she made a stable for her wagon and pair of horses.




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She put the wagon on the floor and double unit blocks
on each side; then she tried to force a block between the
wagon and the horses. After a moment, she moved it out
beyond the horses and completed a wall around them.
She finished this and put a roof on. Matthew delivered
oats to her. On Tuesday, play at unloading a steamer
made Murray, Christina, and Matthew take out all the
blocks from the chest. There was some confusion after
this, so I said, "This is my lumber yard," then I sold
loads (piles) of timber. Christina had begun to build
already, and Mark was stimulated to begin by my sales.
Christina worked hard the whole first hour on a very
carefully laid elevated track. She came to me for assistance when she could not do away with a crack in one
place. Mark also made a track. His was all on the floor
level but was very long, the big blocks being laid in
squares. Matthew began a track, then lost interest a
little, but some talking and building with him soon started
him off again and he made a fine elevated track. Bianca
and Margaret both made stables, Margaret's was "the one
we went to see the other day." She added stalls. On
Wednesday, Murray made a dock and then a ferry boat
and a big steamer. The latter had no berths, because
"it was going where it could get to in a day." Selma
made a house containing about sixteen square rooms.
Mark's house had a floor and walls, then long blocks put
in as though to make stalls, and this space filled in solid
with blocks of the same size laid flat on the side. Railroad
tracks were made again later in the week. There was
no change in the general type of construction.






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PLAY WITH BIG MATERIALS-OUTDOORS
First Week
The packing case turned over on the bottom, became a
cage on Tuesday. Murray was a very sick father lion
who had been poisoned and four other children shovelled
in snow as medicine.
Second Week
On Monday, the packing case in the yard served as a
home for foxes and later for squirrels. I do not let Murray play lion or tiger in a cage, as he wants to, but
remind him of some other animal and its habits, as playing lion excites him and the other children too much. The
same case was used on Thursday as a barn. Christina,
who had been delivering milk on her train, suggested to
Murray that they both be cows. Annie was the farmer
and milked them. The two cows went out to eat grass,
and, at times, ran away from the farmer. This play continued the whole yard hour, and when it was time to go
in, Murray became the butcher (he had been playing
butcher during the first hour), slaughtered the cow,
Christina, and cut her up for meat.
Third Week
On three days of the week, six children have played in
the sand pile without enough friction appearing to make it
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75


that sand must not be spread all over the yard and only
one child forgot this. On Monday, Christina and Murray
played together in one corner, while Margaret and Matthew played in the center, making a pie on the cement
post. Mark and Annie played alone and were satisfied.
Not so Bianca, who said, "I have nobody to play with
me." Margaret came and played with her, and they made
a stove of sand, and cooked dinner. Two big shovels
were used in this small space and were so carefully
handled that no one was bumped or hurt. Interest seemed
to be chiefly in collecting as large a pile of sand as possible. On Friday, putting sand down each other's necks
began, but there was no great outcry, and shovelling and
cake making was soon resumed.
CLAY
First Week
The clay was too wet for modelling on Monday, so the
children kneaded it, just as the older children do, until it
was in proper condition. Products later in the week were
birthday cakes, made by Margaret and Matthew; a complete bathroom set, consisting of a bathtub with a round
faucet, a water pipe, a glass, and a cake of soap, made
by Bianca; and a man with the requisite number of arms
and legs, made by Christina.
Second Week
Clay has been used a few times during the week, but
has not held interest very long.




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DRAWING, CUTTING, AND PASTING
First Week
There has been very little drawing and pasting this
week. Christina made what she called "a crazy man" on
Friday. She had about six arms on each side of his body
and all the children laughed at him.
Second Week
A good deal of drawing has been done this week. Mark
again made a man with four lines on his face and four
lips, but told the children this as something humorous,
and they all laughed. Annie made an attempt at drawing-scribbled and then cut around her scribble. Bianca
is still pasting coats on ladies. Matthew made a tree
again on Wednesday, and then cut it out. He repeated
this on Thursday, but told me it was a telegraph pole
this time. Bianca cut out her man, but he has no arms
or legs, though she puts these in when drawing. Margaret discovered the new paste dishes on Friday, and the
whole first hour was spent by the children in drawing,
pasting, and clay work. Bianca drew lines and then
pasted scraps of paper to represent a school. Christina
made her usual man with a pasted coat, but black dots
represented stars and a black circle the moon. When we
were talking about this, Matthew came up and said he
could make the sun, so I asked him to show me how he'd
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77


all directions. Margaret made a doilie and then a man
and coat. Annie was so engrossed with her drawing and
pasting that she returned to it after lunch. She scribbled at first but after inspecting other children's pictures,
made a face with eyes, nose and mouth. The children
all hung up their own pictures.
Third Week
Annie has done a great deal of drawing and pasting all
the week. She has kept at it for the whole first hour some
days. Her products are scribbles with one piece of paper
pasted on. Matthew's tree had a brown trunk and no
leaves-"because it's winter."
BENCH WORK
First Week
Miss Hubbell's music sticks were too long (see page 81),
and the children shortened them for her, taking turns, so
that each child sawed one stick. The rough ends were
sandpapered after being sawed. This suggestion came
from me originally, but was carried out by the children
alone. Later in the week, a long round piece of wood
found in the chest was immediately seized upon to be
used as a "music" stick. Christina made a bed for a
doll's house she hopes to make later. She worked hard
on this, sawing, then sandpapering the end of the wood
which was rough. She nailed with much vigor, and added
a wooden pillow after the bed was completed. She




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worked at this bed off and on, for three days. Thick
wood seems to be better for these little children to use,
as there is less danger that it will split. At 11: 30, when
the IV B children are in the yard, I often let two children use their bench. Craig and Juanita did this on
Tuesday, sawing and nailing but not working on a definite
product. Bianca made a small wagon on Monday, and
on Friday she began a large wagon, to have three wheels
on each side. Selma started a fire engine on Thursday,
but when hammering on the little bench decided to make
a bench instead, as she had a long fine piece of wood.
She picked out a heavy square piece of wood for legs. I
helped her with measuring but she sawed and nailed herself. Three legs were nailed on by Friday at twelve.
Murray worked on a fire engine on Thursday. He could
not find where to put the wheels, after hammering one
flat on top, so I showed him and then let him feel with his
fingers. Christina, Bianca, Selma, and Matthew feel dissatisfied if a nail is driven in crooked. They notice
whether the nailing edge is smooth or not, and plane or
sandpaper the wood until it suits them. Christina noticed herself when driving a nail for her bed, that her
original choice was not long enough, and picked the right
size later. All the children are interested in sawing
straight.
Second Week
Margaret began a wagon on Monday. She put one
wheel on wrong, discovered this herself, and explained to




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79


me that she must put the wheel on the side of the wagon,
not on the top. Selma went on with an engine she had
begun last week. Annie experimented with sawing and
learning how to handle the vise. Later she wanted to
make an auto and got two wheels nailed on to a board.
She continued this on Tuesday and completed it. Hammering is hard for her, but she showed good perseverance.
Christina took the whole first hour putting four nails in
a piece of wood to make a bench. She kept nailing them
in too far and then taking them out. She used one short
nail and three long ones, and was dissatisfied when the
bench did not stand solidly. By holding her to it, I
made her find out the trouble for herself, when she took
out the short nail and put in a long one. Afterwards, I
showed her all the different sizes of nails that we have,
and let her compare them. On Wednesday, Selma completed her bench, driving the long nails in alone. Christina started a table for some pet mice she hopes to have
at home. Annie experimented with planing. On Thursday, Murray, wanting a wagon to use in playing butcher,
made one at the bench. He has improved considerably
in his manner of taking hold of a job, and planning it.
He picked out the four wheels first, knew exactly where
he wanted to put them-on the side. He put on one
wheel, and then instead of following the usual method
of putting another on, on the same side, he turned the
wagon and measured, evidently wanting to get wheels
exactly opposite. He nailed all the four wheels on, and
then put a back on the wagon, holding the purpose for
which he was making it in his mind all the time, for as




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soon as it was done, he loaded it with meat and delivered
this at Bianca's house. Christina, meanwhile, had sawed
off six pieces of wood for milk cans. Matthew planed
a long piece of wood later, preparing to make a wagon.
He worked on this on Friday, but had a hard time, as his
standards are so high. If a nail is at all crooked or
comes through the wood, he pulls it out. Bianca sandpapered with much vigor on Friday, and nailed two
wheels on one side of her wagon. Wiring of trains goes
on as usual. When my children first saw the made trains
Group IV B is using and asked why we didn't have any,
I said, "Because we don't need them, we know how to
make them." There has not been one request for made
trains on the part of this group.
Third Week
Interest has been strong in bench work this week.
Margaret finished her wagon on Monday. She worked
with very little concentration, however, having continually
to be reminded to return. Bianca made a horse and
wagon on Monday and added a long block on Tuesday.
Selma began another bench. She put a leg in the vise,
hammered a nail part way into the corner of the wood
composing the top of the bench, then carried it to the
vise and continued hammering the nail down through the
leg. When ready for the next leg, she noticed that the
piece of wood she had decided to use was shorter than the
leg already nailed on, and said she would have to saw
off a piece from it. Annie sawed and nailed two wheels
on a wagon on Wednesday.




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81


Music
First Week
On Monday, Miss Hubbell began the lesson by looking
into the yard and singing about the snow. She was
joined by all the children and after several repetitions of
this song, the children came to their chairs. Marching
with tom toms was well done by all. After this, Bianca
and Craig backed away with their chairs so I made them
stay out of the circle for the rest of the lesson. The other
children played the band. A little dancing was followed
by sleepy music to which they all responded, and then
they all marched out. On Wednesday, the lesson began
by swinging rhythms with sticks, singing la la, then Miss
Hubbell sang "Throw a snowball" for high pitch and low.
Christina suddenly said, "Oh, see what I see!" as the
sun came out from behind a cloud. All began singing
the sun song and each child was given a turn to sing what
the sun shone on, as follows: Margaret-"on the snow";
Christina-"on the houses"; Selma-"up on the board";
Margaret-"out on the boats and docks"; Mark-"on the
snow"; Christina (for Matthew)-"out on the autos."
Miss Hubbell then sang "Up Down" to which the children responded with interest, Mark and Bianca especially.
This was followed by the song of "Yap, yap, yap, So
Says My Little Doggie," to which the children clapped
the rhythm. Murray then asked for "Bow-wow-wow,"
which was sung. Bianca seemed interested at this lesson
and did not try to move away or divert the others. Selma
sang especially well.




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Second Week
Matthew is becoming actively interested in his music.
The children ask for special songs now. Miss Hubbell
tried clapping a familiar song on Wednesday, which Christina recognized at once. Annie is attentive to all the
music, but will not go on the floor yet.
Third Week
The lesson began with swinging sticks to rhythms played
on the piano. Murray, very irritable, was removed for
a time and then enjoyed the rest of the lesson. Some
one started "Shining shining" as the children noticed the
sun on the door. Then the "stocking" song was asked
for. This was followed by marching. While tiptoeing
about to quiet music, Murray and Christina took hands
and this grew until six children were tiptoeing together
in a line, all holding hands. The use of the sand bars and
singing of the "Engine Song" began the lesson Wednesday.
STORIES
First Week
On Monday, we talked at lunch time about experiences
on Saturday and Sunday, which brought out a good deal
about home toys. When I asked for stories, Matthew
told a home experience. On Tuesday, and the following
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83


mensely. At the first reading, Margaret suggested garters
to go in the suitcase, and Bianca asked, "Why dirty?"
when the father packed his suitcase to go home and put
in the dirty shirts. I explained that he had worn them
on the train the day before. We stopped for quite a discussion of sleeping cars during this reading. After the
end, Murray asked, "Did the mother come home, too?"
I said that the mother had not gone away, and Selma said,
"She couldn't leave Ruth alone, could she?" This story
has been asked for every day and the children have talked
about experiences of their parents or themselves in travelling. Matthew went to the Pennsylvania Station on
Thursday to meet someone and told us about it, during
the reading on Friday. On February second we talked
about the snow. I said, "Let's talk about the snow."
Then I asked, "Do you want to say something about
snow, Selma?"
Selma: "It looks white."
Matthew: "It looks like sugar."
Bianca: "It looks like flour."
Murray: "You know when I was coming to school, I
tried to make one (referring to a snowball) but I broke
it but when I go out in the park with my daddy I'm going
to get him to make me one."
Mark: "I came to school and had my shoes all snowy
and I made a snowball with my feet and kept it rolling
off my feet in the Alley."
Margaret: "Do you know when I go to Central Park,
I'm going to try to make a snow man and snowballs."
Matthew: "Yesterday daddy made a great big tower
that nearly touched the ceiling. It was very high."




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Second Week
On Monday, "Spot" was read by request. There was
great interest in the number of chimneys and milk bottles
at each house. All had to show me on their fingers before I could go on. On Tuesday, after a trip, "The Dinner Horses" was used with Bianca as heroine. She said
she had a big bed, when I read about the little bed.
Things added to the grocery basket were lima beans,
strings beans, oranges, apples, bananas, figs, carrots (Annie
added this), beets, and milk. On Wednesday, I read
"Old Dan Gets the Coal." The children were interested
but made no remarks afterwards. On Friday, I told a
very short story in the form of "The Grocery Man,"
about how we get our graham crackers. This was followed
by original stories:
Margaret: "I went on a big old choo-choo and it said,
"puff, puff, puff," and I saw some chickens out of the choochoo window, and I saw some moo cows and some pigs
and some roosters and geese and water and boats and ships
and sailboats and motor boats and tug boats and big
steamers and on the way home I stopped in a store, and
then I had some ice cream and a little cakie and a nut."
Matthew: "I went to the Battery and saw the French
liner come in. I went on another big boat and went all
through it. I saw the dining room."
Third Week
On Monday I asked Murray who had been to see a
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85


Saturday, to tell of their experiences. While we were
waiting for them to finish eating, I read back to the children some of their old stories. There was great interest
in this, and each child wanted one of his or her stories
read. Stories used have been: "Pedro's Feet," "Old
Dan," and "The New Engine." Bianca asked the meaning
of the word "steady," and after my explanation, the children tried making the chairs, tables, pitcher, and cups
steady and unsteady.
Christina: "Once upon a time I was in bed up in
Denville in the country and what do you think, I was
sleeping and all of a sudden I heard pitter patter and
that was the rain coming down, apd there was a leak and
they can't fix it because the chimney's built wrong."
Murray: "Once upon a time you know I saw a great
great great big steamer. It was a white one and we
went on for a few minutes and I saw Ellen and Ellen's
father and I heard toots so loud and it was going and
I saw the captain way way up and that's all I carn tell
you."
Annie: (Her first attempt. She had been to Morristown on Saturday and wanted to tell about it. She went
so fast I missed some of her words.) "Once upon a time"
(I suggested that she say last Saturday, so she began
again) "Last Saturday, I went to Morristown and Hugh
went for us and Ethel and Hugh came down to meet us
and Jane came out but she didn't have her coat on. She's
been sick and she can't walk now" (she described something here, I lost the words but she meant crutches).
"So yesterday we came home and I didn't want to come
home. I had so much fun with Jane."




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II. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES
WRAPS
Second Week
Annie told me at once on her entrance that she could
take off her own coat and hat and has done so every day
since. She hangs them up also.
Third Week
There had been a good deal of difficulty in getting on
the children's wraps on the days when music lessons are
given, as the group has to stay out in the little narrow
hallway, and leggings and rubbers are unwieldy and difficult to put on in a restricted space. Resentment has been
aroused over pushing. It suddenly occurred to me on
Monday to explain to the children that owing to the size
of the hallway and the number of children, pushing was
inevitable. I suggested that each child try not to push,
and also asked each child to excuse another child who
pushed accidentally. There has been a decrease in friction, and a tremendous improvement in the general
atmosphere. This is a good illustration of the fact that
adults seldom analyze a situation into elements simple
enough for a child to grasp. It also shows the response
that comes from such an analysis.




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SETTING LUNCH TABLES
Third Week
The value of a laugh in dispelling general ill humor
and sulks came out well one day this week, while the
children were at lunch. Murray, pouring the milk,
spilled very badly, so badly that I was compelled to ask
another child to continue the pouring. Murray was very
cross, and Christina was prepared to join him in his sulks.
She pushed Mark, who protested, and then she said in a
very disagreeable voice, "We're all angry with each other,
aren't we?" I made no answer, simply began to laugh
heartily, and in a moment one or two children joined in
with me. Then I said, "That's a good joke, Christina,
we aren't angry a bit-we all play together and have fun,
don't we?" There was a general assent to this, and good
will and cheerfulness once more prevailed.
WASHING CUPS
Third Week
Murray was very irritable on Monday, so I let him
wash cups immediately after luncheon. This kept him
busy and interested and prevented trouble with other
children. He washed the cups clean without spilling the
water. Bianca did'the same, but Margaret spilled badly
on Friday.




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ORIENTATION
Second Week
(See under IV Trips, Second Week)
III. SPECIAL TRAINING
PHYSICAL EXERCISE
First Week
Selma and Matthew tried to pump standing in the
swing. Dramatic impersonation has begun in connection
with the indoor slide. Craig, Murray, Juanita, and
Matthew took turns being traffic policeman on Monday.
The snow and ice has stimulated chopping and shovelling.
On Tuesday, the entire yard hour was spent in this way.
A wagon was loaded up with pieces of ice, but not used.
Snow was put on the slide and then shovelled or swept
off. There is great hilarity on a snowy day. Experiment
on the parallel bars is still brisk.
Second Week
There has been much sliding and use of the parallel
bars-the children enjoy very much holding on by their
feet, taking their hands off entirely. They have learned






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89


not to push each other's feet, but to keep a little distance
away while this "stunt" is being done. They tried hanging on the side of the indoor slide on Wednesday-a new
game developed from this. Three children stood on
chairs and acted as "nice policemen" to help the others
coming down. Annie went up the ladder at once, but
needed my assistance in coming down. She soon learned,
however, and tackled the outdoor slide on Thursday.
The children worked well on Friday, filling up a big hole
made near the parallel bars. I explained that such a hole
had caused the ruin of the high trapeze, so we worked
until time to go in, shovelling, hauling, and dumping
the dirt.
Third Week
After keeping at it steadily for over half an hour, Annie
learned to skin the cat. This is quite a feat for her, as
she is so short.
SENSE TRAINING
First Week
Silence game with cups, only.
Second Week
I introduced a new listening game on Monday. I tried
hammering, striking a triangle or the piano, hitting cups




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together, and using sand scrapers, and the children named
the different sounds correctly at once. I tried this with
individuals on Friday with the same result. On Wednesday, we had the feeling game with cotton, which Christina
brought to class, a nail, and a pencil. We have played
the silence game every day.
NUMBER
First Week
The interest in number has been especially marked this
week. When I asked Christina to get three and three
crackers, she said, "That's six." Another child carrying
two blocks in each hand, stopped me and said, "I've two
and two blocks, that's four." Most of the children seem
to have little difficulty with groups up to four. This
is especially evident when we come to dividing our curved
blocks, of which we have very few. Each child can tell
me how many he has, except Margaret and Juanita. I
worked with Margaret today when she was making
candles for a birthday cake of clay. She can pick out
three objects to match three fingers, but fails on four.
Second Week
I asked Murray to get three and three crackers, and he
said, "That's six." Christina said at lunch on Thursday,
"Murray and Craig are away today, that's two." Selma
added, "And Bianca, that's three." Matthew can pick
out two and two crackers without difficulty.




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IV. ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
CONTENT OF PLAY AND DISCUSSIONS
First Week
An illustration of the fact that the children connect
the chimney and smoke was Murray's making smoke from
the erasers just after Craig had brought him a chimney
for his house. Craig, in placing a chimney on Mark's
house, said, "This is for the little stove in the nursery."
Murray's low house, which he said was a "country house,"
led to a discussion of the bungalow with rooms all on one
floor. Cardboard was used as a roof for this house and
after a time, Murray said, "This old roof is worn out,"
and taking it away, brought a fresh piece of cardboard
and put it on. New articles of food that have appeared
in grocery play are: prunes, macaroni, cinnamon, molasses, bread, butter, eggs, and fish. As Bianca brought
Matthew too many groceries, we had a discussion as to
what happens to food after being delivered. The processes of cooking it and eating it, and the disposal of
refuse by putting it in the garbage can were gone over.
The process of preparing clay for modelling purposes, by
adding water, letting it stand, and then kneading it was
discussed. Ice has been brought in from the yard and
melted on the stove. When a child put ice in his pocket,
we discussed the temperature of the body and the heating of clothing from the heat given off by the body.
Medicine was administered to a sick animal that had been




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poisoned, and I told the children at the time of the danger
of spoiled food. When we saw an ice wagon delivering
ice on a trip later in the week, I emphasized again the
necessity for keeping food at a low temperature. The
use of the telephone in ordering food and the way of using
the phone book were discussed. As a station for passengers has been built this week, we had a discussion of
sleeping cars and the reason for dirt in trains described
in the story of "The Journey."
Second Week
Murray, Matthew, Selma and I talked over freight on
Monday, when Murray brought over a very long train
for his track. I explained that freight trains were loaded
with many different kinds of things-coal, food, furniture,
machinery, etc. The children were interested in the new
tin waste pipe for a nearby house, but this interest did
not hold very long. They noticed the difference in color
between the old and new pipe and Murray asked if they
were going to paint the new pipe. The man said, "Yes."
As the children did not ask "why," I did; and I showed
them where the old pipe had rusted through. Christina
asked one day, "Does flour make bread?" So we talked
about the different foods it is used for. Murray said
when they were playing foxes in the yard that the mother
was going to lay an egg, so they could have some little
foxes. I explained the mammalian; method of reproduction. At lunch time on Wednesday, a story was told
in which a pig was mentioned. He was branded at once
as a smelly animal, so I told the children about the dif





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ferent ways of keeping pigs, and how this affected them.
Skunks were mentioned as really smelly animals. The
people in one of the children's stories went out and ate
grass. This was challenged at once by, "People don't
eat grass." I said, "No, but what grows in the field
that they could eat?" Matthew said, "Blueberries," and
some one else said, "Yes, but not if it was winter." When
the block play has dealt with the transportation of milk,
the empty cans have been returned to the country. On a
trip last week, the children noticed empty milk bottles outside the houses. The only meat Murray seemed to be familiar with was chicken. He also said "pig," so I gave
him the names of ham, bacon, and sausage; and after he
had slaughtered the cow-beef, roast beef, and beefsteak.
A fire engine discussion again brought out the fact that
Matthew, Christina, and Murray are clear on the point
that water puts out the fires. I showed the children the
ashes in our stove, in an attempt to clear up that difficulty.
(See under IV Content of Play and Discussions, January,
Third Week.) Paper and wood and matches were needed
to start a fire, the children said. In this connection, it
may be interesting to note that when Murray delivered
meat at Bianca's house on Thursday, she was in the hall
putting on her leggings; Christina wanted to put the meat
on to cook at once, but Murray said no, they would have
to wait for Bianca to get a match and light the fire. This
shows how much more carefully the children are following
through an idea. On Friday, we discussed the time of
the appearance of the sun, moon, and stars in connection
with Christina's drawing. All seemed clear on this. I
am working with Bianca on the English names for parts




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of the body, using the dolls as illustrative material.
I had a discussion with the children playing butcher
as to different methods of getting orders. Chops and
chicken seemed to be the only meats known. Matthew
knew that horses have to eat oats, and Bianca added, "If
you don't eat you get dead." Christina made a garden
by putting nails in a piece of wood and named the following flowers: sweet peas, dandelions, daisies, and poppies.
New heels on Mark's shoes led to a discussion of the shoemaker and his business. We talked about the different
parts of shoes-soles, heels, and tongues. At luncheon
the next day, while talking about human tongues, a child
said, "All shoes have tongues, too." Some one else added,
"Except pumps," and another child, "And button shoes."
Railroad tracks were covered with the sawdust collected
from under the bench one morning, and the children told
me it was "sand, to keep the engine from slipping."
Mark's train, which carried food, led to a discussion of
the dining car as well as the sleeping car. Both Christina and Matthew knew about this. Bianca ran a train
which she called a "porter train." A lumber yard was
talked about as a place where carpenters go when they
want to get wood to build a house. The sand in the new
sand pile was used as cement one day, so we talked about
the uses of cement. Murray was playing with a piece of
metal and he put his cup on it. As it swung back and
forth it hit the metal and made a noise. Murray said,
"That's a bell buoy." In answer to my question as to
a bell buoy's use, he said, "It tells the ship not to go
near the rocks." Hospital play showed a knowledge of
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mustard plaster. We talked about the possibility of taking temperature by mouth, also. At lunch time on Friday,
I was called away for a moment, and on my return, I
found the children laughing heartily and saying,
"Wouldn't it be funny if we drank our milk with our
ears?" This was greeted with shrieks of laughter. Then
another child would say, "Wouldn't it be funny if we
drank our milk with our eyes?" "With our nose?"
TRIPS
First Week
I took six children on a trip on Thursday. We stopped
and noticed a man painting a house opposite number
fourteen. They asked about the long ladder. We went
into a grocery store on Eighth Street and saw the grocer
filling a bag with apples. We also saw potatoes, lettuce,
egg plant, and cauliflower-the latter two vegetables were
new to the children. We went upstairs in the stable.
Some one asked what the big tub was for and Selma
said, "For water for horses to drink." We saw a horse
going out with a wagon. There was great interest in
this. The children walked along quietly, stopping at
crossings. I let them run up the Alley but stopped them
at the yard of number thirty, and they went in quietly.
We saw a big coal truck arrive with coal that morning,
saw a man jack up the truck body and the coal come down
the chute. We discussed the loading of the truck at the
coal yard and its return there for a fresh load.




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Second Week
Christina and Murray were the leaders. They fooled
at first, so I explained we could do that at school, that
we were out to "see and hear." Christina heard "coal,"
and then we turned a corner and saw a big wagon delivering coal. The children noticed ice in a wagon standing
by the pavement, and also noticed another coal wagon
on the way home. The blacksmith was heating, and then,
hammering shoes. Murray: "Why does he put it in the
fire?" "Now he's hammering on the anvil."   Mark:
"Look, it's not so red now."  I explained that the shoe
was cooling off. "Where are the horses?" some one said,
and the reply from another-"Out getting food," or "sleeping."  I made no suggestion-Selma knew which street
going home. On the way up the Alley we met two horses
being taken to the blacksmith.




MAY


Note: Christina and Selma have left for the country,
so the class registration will now be only seven.
I. PLAY EXPERIENCES
BLOCK BUILDING
First Week
The new feature in block building this week has been
the fine cooperation displayed by children working together. Annie was the only child to build alone. When
Mark began a track on Thursday, he said, "I want somebody to build with me," and Annie, putting away her
own blocks, joined him. On Monday, Mark and Murray
built a fire engine house of the longest blocks, carefully
built and roofed in. They worked well together, and without friction. Murray accepted all Mark's suggestions,
and all his corrections of his, Murray's, building. Each
time that Murray did not place a block straight, Mark
carefully laid it straight and true. There was much conversation; Mark foresaw the size of the block needed for
a certain space and said, "We need a small block." Then
he ran to the cupboard and, bringing the block back,
fitted it into the space while Murray jumped up and
97




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down with excitement. Mark then returned for more
blocks and came back with four, saying, "I'm taking four
blocks." Murray did the same, only he said, "I'm taking
three blocks," which was correct. The house being
finished now, they ran to the cupboard for the fire engine.
Each wanted an engine but there was only one, so I
suggested they use another kind of wagon as an engine.
This turned out to be impractical, as each child who had
made a wagon recognized his or hers as it came from
the shelves, and called out that it was a milk wagon, or
a lumber wagon. Mark and Murray then made efforts
to adjust to the situation of only one engine. Mark said
to Murray, who was holding it, "Would you just lend
me your fire engine?" And then they said something
about turns and carried it over and put it in the house.
A small house for the firemen was built beside the big
house, and Mark then wanted to put a chair in. This
was accomplished readily, but the table they wished to
use proved to be too large, so the small house was taken
down as Mark said, "I'll tell you, let's do-let's make
a porch," putting the table down outside the house. Both
children became interested in another child's work for
a few minutes, but Mark remembered the porch and went
after blocks and Murray joined him. Mark said, "Now
we got to make a fence," and they placed blocks around
the table. Later, two yards were added, square outlines
with blocks, each one laid crooked by Murray and made
straight by Mark. There was great joy and excitement
all through this construction, which took the first hour.
On Tuesday, Mark began a house, a small triangular
outline with a roof. Joined by Annie, he covered the




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roof with cylinders and they built a track across the
room, using tables and chairs as tunnels. After lunch,
Juanita and Bianca made a construction of the longest
blocks, two floors high. Bianca said the lower floor was
where the "sofa" was and her further efforts to enlighten me were not understandable, but she had an idea
in her mind. On the next floor, a stove was made of
blocks, and chairs and beds were placed in a room.
The children added a porch for the large table. Dolls
were brought over and put to bed and seated at the table.
Both children regretted having to go home, just as they
were getting ready to add a bathroom to the house.
Selma made a strange little house of prisms and cylinders
on Wednesday, which she called "a funny house." A
long track built by Annie, Peggy, and Mark had to be
taken up before our music lesson. After luncheon,
Juanita and Bianca began another big house. This time
only the lower floor was completed. As the construction
was in the corner of the room, it could be left up, and
Bianca noticed it at once next morning, and called Juanita
to come and build with her. Very little more construction
was done on the house, however, as interest ran over into
dressing dolls. A complete outfit was achieved for a
mother and a father, and they were stood up together in
front of the house. Matthew and Selma were meanwhile
working on a house nearby, and there were many comments
made on each other's constructions, each pair of workers
lauding their own efforts and discrediting the other's.
For instance, Matthew said, "We have windows." Then
Juanita hastily made a window in her house and remarked
that she had windows, too, and her house was bigger...




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Selma and Matthew worked steadily at building the first
hour, making many little rooms covered with blocks, cardboard, and paper. "We don't want any cracks," was
repeated over and over as humorous refrain and eventually
proved to be so funny I diverted attention by having
them set the table for lunch, as they were becoming overexcited. Annie, meanwhile, had built a railroad track
alone, and started a train on it. When her interest seemed
to be flagging, I suggested that she bring in milk for the
children's houses. She agreed to this and asked if they
wanted milk. Matthew said, "We want cream," and
Juanita, "We just want milk." Annie delivered and
Matthew said, "Now we must take the roof off." Then he
put the cream in their ice box. On the way back to her
train, Mark stopped Annie to say, "The train man doesn't
deliver milk," so we had a talk with Annie on the subject
of milk transportation. Mark answered Murray's criticism of his engine, "It hasn't any boiler," by saying,
"It's a 'lectric choo-choo engine." Murray was satisfied
with this, and came and told me about it. On Friday,
Matthew and Selma made a small house with several
rooms, but lost interest; that was the only block building
done that day.
Second Week
Interest in building together was strong this week.
Very good work has been done. Mark and Annie began
a track on Monday and were soon joined by Matthew.
In a short time a fair-sized track was completed. The
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marks during construction were: "Play the choo-choo
train goes here, Mark."  "We need a curve."  "No, turn
over this way." "Oh, yes!" Later: "Let's make a car
barn." This was started with the largest blocks. "We
want to make tracks for the trains to run in here." Some
one started to put on the roof, when walls were only one
block high and Mark said, "I don't want the cover on
yet. We want it to be this high," adding a block to the
wall. Matthew said, "Put them (i. e., blocks for tracks)
close together, so we can have lots of tracks." "We can
walk on the tracks." Annie said, "Train barns have
windows." Later when they were ready to run trains:
"Oh, Mark, I'll get a train for you."  Matthew then said
he couldn't finish putting on the roof because there weren't
any more long blocks. Annie said, "There, we can use
these," and taking some from the track, gave them to
Matthew and replaced them with shorter sizes. Some one
started to make a door for the car barn and Matthew said,
"We don't need a door, they don't have doors on train
sheds. They don't at the Grand Central Station." Mark
and Matthew now ran trains, taking them into the car
barns on certain tracks. As Mark ran his train down to
the end of the track, he called out, "We got to get a
bumper, because the train will fall off the track." Then
he ran to the cupboard and ran back with a block which
he set in place at the end of the track. Annie, meanwhile,
made a small construction some distance away and then
said, "Play this is the station, Mark." Mark replied,
"That's too far away." I did not want Annie to be discouraged, so I suggested that she build a track from the
main line to her station and this she did. This play took




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up the first hour, and the children were greatly interested
in it. On Tuesday, Mark and Matthew started a bungalow. Several rooms and a long hall were made, but
interest was not as intense as during track building the
day before. Peggy made a house of double unit blocks,
consisting of two rooms. The walls were made of the
double units with prisms on top of them. The wall between the rooms was a double unit block with three prisms
standing upright on it. A double unit rested on these
and two small cylinders ornamented the top. Murray,
meanwhile, had been building an accurate track, partly
elevated and partly level. After talking to Peggy, he
and she ran trains on his track. He said, "My train's
a milk train. It's way out in Littlestown." The children used small cylinder blocks for milk bottles and little
round pieces of wood for cream. On Thursday, Murray
and Selma decided to build together. They worked on
separate schemes, however. Selma made a tower and
Murray a track which led to it. He worked with great
care, fitting curves on an elaborate track, and would not
come to luncheon until the track was completed and the
bumper placed at the end. On Friday, Matthew and
Selma built a house-one large and several small outline
rooms at first-then Matthew said, "This must be the
elevator hall," laying blocks in two long lines. A small
cylinder served as an elevator rope, placed inside a square
of unit blocks. When a discussion arose about the rope,
Matthew said, "I know about elevators, I've got one in
my house," but Selma replied, "I've been on one in the
Museum." I asked what kind of a house they were
building and Matthew said, "An apartment house."






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Later Matthew said, "That must be the bathroom," to
which Selma answered, "Yes, that's so little." Other remarks: "This must be the dining room." Then they
went after a table but this proved to be too big to fit in
the dining room, so one of them said, "This must be in
the big guest room." They added a roof of cardboard,
and Matthew said, "This house is very frail." "What
does frail mean?" asked Selma. "It means breakable,"
said Matthew. Part of the house was roofed in with
blocks and an upper floor added. Murray, meanwhile,
worked alone on a railroad track, and ran a train on it.
This track led to Matthew's house and Murray meant to
bring food on it but did not get around to this, it took
so long to build the track.
Third Week
Bianca made the letters of her name with blocks on
Monday. I asked her if her mother had showed her how
to do this at home, and she said, "Yes." Later, she
joined Juanita who was building a house. A very large
floor was laid down, three of the largest blocks in length
and four or five of the same size in width. Walls two
blocks high surrounded this. Joined by Peggy, the three
girls used this construction for dramatic purposes. Matthew was pressed into service as the father, after one
of the girls had insisted that they must have a boy for
this role. Murray's railroad track, which he built alone,
brought the family bread. This play was continued after
lunch. Benches were placed beside the house and Juanita,
the baby (at first, no member of this group would con



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descend to be the baby in family play), was put to bed
on one, and covered with a diminutive doll's blanket.
On Tuesday, Peggy laid a railroad track halfway across
the floor. Mark then came and worked with her, and
after continuing the track to the opposite wall of the
room, a bumper was placed at the end. Peggy then began to run a train. Juanita now tried to persuade Peggy
to use Matthew's flag, made the day before, as a signal.
Peggy refused this suggestion when made by Juanita,
but accepted it at Matthew's urging. It was used once
and then allowed to stand by the track, unnoticed.
Murray, meanwhile, was working absorbedly at a track of
his own. Peggy said to him: "Make your track come to
my track," and Murray gladly agreed. Juanita wanted
to build a house, but she desired Peggy's assistance and
support. I waited for some time, hoping Juanita would
begin alone, but she kept on talking and talking to
Peggy, so I suggested that she make a station, which the
track needed. This suggestion was not heeded, but a
few moments later Peggy said, "Make me a tunnel."
Juanita made a small tunnel and then began, of her own
accord, on a station. A discussion arose over the tunnel
as it was not dark inside. Murray said, "It's not long,"
and I explained his meaning to the other children.
Murray and Peggy ran trains steadily, remarking that
they were going, not to Washington, as some one had
intimated (the destination of Ruth's father in Mrs.
Mitchell's story "The Journey"), but to Stamford. Matthew, meanwhile, ironed his flag and then Bianca's, and
they were again placed beside the track. Mark wanted
to make a subway of Peggy's track, but she objected,


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105


saying she couldn't run trains then. Mark then started
on an elevated track, working alone, but with little interest. Mark was the only builder on Thursday. He
made a fire engine house. Murray, while building on
Friday, sang the tune of "Pound, pound," to la, la, la.
He and Bianca began tracks together, but talked so much
and accomplished so little that I made them do individual
work.
Fourth Week
Mark and Annie began track building at once on Monday. Two tracks were laid side by side, Mark being the
leader, and Annie the follower, as far as plans were concerned. The tracks began as elevateds, went down to
floor level, and then up again. Annie said, "Is this how
you want it, Mark?" when fixing the incline from the
elevated to the lower level, and Mark said, "Oh, I'll show
you how I want to do it," and then arranged the blocks.
Annie then went off on her own construction, saying, "I'm
going to make a bed." She completed a small square
arrangement, and then returned to the track building.
Later, I heard her telling Mark the bed was a tunnel.
Murray, meanwhile, joined Mark and added a track,
saying that now they had three tracks, "I saw it in Staten
Island."  Mark: "I guess we'll have an express track."
Then he went to the cupboard and wired together a train,
saying, "I'm going to have a local."  He brought the
train over to the track and began to push it along. Annie,
meanwhile, was laying two tracks as an offshoot from the
boys' tracks. Murray wired together a very long train,




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calling it an express train. When Mark came to the end
of the track, he wanted to turn his train around and asked
me how to do it. I explained the loop in the New York
Subway at South Ferry, and Mark then made an elevated
loop, working very hard with constant exclamations of
"Gosh!" and "Hey!" as the blocks fell down. He adjusted them with great care and accuracy, and then turned
his train by running it around the loop. Murray's train
was now running, and meeting him, Mark explained,
"This is the express track (meaning the track carrying
his train), and this is the local track." Now coming to
Annie's track, he said; "Which is the local track?" and
ran his train on the one which she indicated as the local.
Annie does not understand these distinctions as the boys
do, though they told her that an express stopped only
at "the big stations." I supplemented by saying that
locals stopped at small stations, and Mark corrected
this inadequacy by adding, "and big stations, too."
Mark's train in negotiating the curve on to Annie's track,
fell off on to the floor. Murray at once said he would
be the wrecking train, so Mark called, "You better come
quick! There's a wreck in the river." Murray rushed
so fast with his cars, they broke apart. Annie tried to
pick up Mark's train but was remonstrated with and
urged to wait for the wrecking train. It took so long,
however, to wire Murray's train together that they all
forgot about the original purpose of bringing it over,
and Mark finally picked up his own train and went on
running it. A signal was placed at the curve. Annie
also ran a train for a few minutes. Mark and Murray
built tracks again on Thursday. Mark said, "Mine's






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going to be a passenger train." "So's mine," said
Murray, as he wired blocks together. Completed, Murray
counted and told me he had eight cars. This was correct.
Mark then said to him, "You can't play with me, I'm
going to play alone."  Murray replied, "I'm  going
to play alone." But they were soon working together.
"Mine is a sleeping car," Murray told me. "Mine is,
too," said Mark. Then they sang the Clickety-clack
song as they pushed their trains along. Beginning with
the idea of "high chair" for the baby doll, Bianca and
Juanita made a very high table and chair on Tuesday,
using double unit blocks on end. Juanita was very particular about the placing of the blocks which constituted
the top, saying, "Tables don't have any cracks." When
I spoke of the unusual size of the table, Juanita said,
"We are growing up. That's why we can make big
things." The children had difficulty in making the dolls
sit down, so we talked about joints again. Neither child
knew the name for hip, though both remembered knee and
and ankle. Bianca worked with much concentration on a
large baby carriage of blocks, and did not come out into
the yard until the rest had been there for some time.
PLAY WITH BIG MATERALS-OUTDOORS
First Week
On Monday, the packing case served as the animal
doctor's house and sick animals were taken care of there.
On Tuesday, Selma and Matthew built a fire engine by
placing the ladder on the two saw horses, and using the




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blocks for seats. Matthew was the leader and organizer
of this play. Joined by Annie, Mark, and Bianca, the
children jumped off and on as Matthew ordered, using
boards as hose and squirting water on imaginary fires.
When I asked where they got the water from, Selma said,
"From the hydrant." Sometimes the engine was mended,
the mender lying at full length under the ladder and
hammering. Peggy and Juanita played horse in the
closet under the stairs. They were joined by Matthew
and Murray. Peggy led this play; after asking the boys
if they wanted to be horses and receiving an affirmative
answer, she put them in one of the closets and said,
"That's your stable." As it was "night" now, the door
was shut, and Juanita was put in the other closet and shut
in, too. When morning came, Murray wandered off, but
the others remained interested for some time. On
Wednesday, Murray, Bianca, and Juanita played house
together. Murray arranged the chimney, a piece of wood
held in place by two blocks, on the "roof" "over the
fireplace." Hooks were nailed in to hang hats on.
Second Week
Juanita, Peggy, Murray, Bianca, Selma, and Mark
played house all one yard period in a packing case.
There was a good deal of difficulty in getting in and
out of the case, which had a roof of boards. Mark insisted once on making a wider opening, saying, "We
want some sunshine to get in to make it warm." Later,
Mark played fire engine, calling out, "Every one will have
to go away because there's going to be a fire. I'll be the






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fire engine." Murray assisted Mark in putting out the
fire, using a board as a hose. The others did not enter
into this play at all. Mark became the father of the
family by request, while Peggy was the mother and really
organized and kept the game going. Juanita was the
baby. The girls went out walking together, saying,
"We're out in Central Park." When they came back,
Peggy and Murray noticed that the boards on the roof
were "tipply" and taking away a short board, put on a
longer one.
Indoors. Benches have been used as boats and the
chest of blocks was pushed over near the piano one day
as a boat and blocks taken from it, when building a
bungalow.
Third Week
Matthew, Juanita, Bianca, and Peggy, who had been
playing house indoors, carried this over to the yard period, using a packing case as a home. Bianca was the
mother, Juanita the little girl, Peggy the aunt, and Matthew the father. Murray delivered food to the house in
the express wagon. Matthew worked with him during
the day, returning home at night. Roast beef was the
principal article of delivery. Later, the wagon became
a train, Murray drawing Matthew in it. In passing a
corner too quickly, the latter was thrown out, whereupon
he ran into the house and got his signal. Murray showed
him just where to stand, a short distance in front of the
curve, and Matthew worked the signal, which Murray
obeyed. On Tuesday, Murray again used a wagon as




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a train. He showed me the station at one corner, and
told me his train was carrying sand and cement for houses
and sidewalks. Mark and Bianca played house in one
packing case, making a yard and table of blocks, while
Juanita and Peggy used the other case for the same purpose. Murray played butcher for a time, receiving an
order from Mark for "tender meat, lamb chops, and
tough cow." On Wednesday, a rather elaborate construction of the V's was taken over and used as a boat. A long,
low arrangement of boards suggested a berth to some one,
and blocks were placed around the sides of this, and
boards placed on top to make an upper berth (Story of
Ruth's father in "The Journey"). Bianca, as mother, and
Juanita, as baby, slept in these, remaining quiet for some
minutes. Later, Matthew and Murray did this, too. The
boys then decided to take the large express wagon on
board. Murray started to put it in the lower part of the
box, but Matthew said, "That isn't the freight place," so
they hauled it up to the roof by means of the see-saw board
which was resting on top of the case. This job required
thought and care, and they did it very well. Then the
steamer set sail, and Matthew said, "You can't get off
till you've been through quarantine. You must all be
examined first." (His aunt has just come back from
Europe.) This play continued for some time, passengers
getting on and off as they pleased, a very loose organization.
Fourth Week
The packing case was used as a boat one day. There
was a "captain's house" on top and Murray was the "pi



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lot." When I asked what the pilot did, Murray said he
kept the boat away from sand, and Bianca that he kept it
away from rocks. Murray fished with one of the chains
and occasionally swept the deck. Annie and Mark played
in the lower part of the box. Riding in the express wagon
has become very popular.
CLAY
First Week
Peggy turned out many small products in clay this
week, showing them to me as soon as they were completed.
She made a sofa, a cradle, a turtle "with his head out and
his legs in," and a dish. On Monday, she kept at this the
first hour. This interest continued on Wednesday also.
Murray made steamers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Both Annie and Bianca modelled turtles on Wednesday
after looking at the turtles on the table. Bianca's was
well shaped. It had a head and short tail, and four legs.
These fell off as soon as she put them on, which troubled
her a good deal until I helped her with them. Annie's
was much like a spider-a flat cake with long, thin legs.
Murray and Mark made fountains of clay on Friday.
Each one had a pipe for the water, and an outlet also.
They played with these, after finishing them, by pretending the water was overflowing. They ran screaming to
me, so I pretended to turn off the water and then they
played this themselves, using a safety pin as a faucet.
Second Week
On Monday, Murray made a very large heavy dish

- -




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told me it was a "platter." On Wednesday, Bianca called
her flat cake of clay a rug, the first time this has happened. Matthew made a lump which he called an egg.
An extra bit of clay on one side was a chicken's beak.
The chicken was starting to come out of the egg. On
Thursday, Bianca made a fountain, a dish containing
green peas, and an iron. Peggy made an iron also and a
turtle and a dog-the latter had a slight resemblance to
a rabbit standing up on its hind legs.
Third Week
Clay was not asked for on Monday. When Murray
asked for it on Tuesday, I showed him that there was very
little clay ready for use, and suggested that he look at
the jar containing the old dry pieces. He put more water
on them and on Thursday he and Bianca went with the
student teacher to the office and brought back the plaster
bats on which they spread the wet clay. They have seen
me do this once or twice before. Now they wanted to
do it themselves. They went ahead without my help,
except in placing the plaster bats out of the way when
the clay was on them. After luncheon, the children
kneaded the clay. It was soon in good condition and
then some careful modelling was done. Annie made a
turtle which was a great improvement on her former
spider-like contrivance. The shape was good, and a head
and tail were added. Murray also modelled a well-shaped
turtle. Annie next placed two lumps of clay one above
the other. She told Mark this was a ferry boat. He protested, saying it had no seats on the outside. He was






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113


making a fountain, but he changed it into a ferry boat
after this, by adding seats, all running into the middle,
and putting a "tooter" (a whistle) on the center upright.
Juanita made a man and a bed, and Bianca a very good
table and chair. Bianca also began a wagon, but only
the four wheels were finished.
DRAWING, CUTTING, AND PASTING
First Week
On Monday and Tuesday interest was intense in making
books. This was done by pasting sheets of paper together,
and was introduced by Bianca last week. Juanita and
Bianca worked hard at this on Monday, and the first
thing on Tuesday, Bianca went to her shelf, got her book,
and continued working at it. Matthew tried it on Tuesday, and became absorbed by it, working very carefully
the first hour. His pasting is much more accurately done
than anyone else's. He drew a small egg and then a
larger egg with a chicken's bill on one end. This was
the little chick trying to break the shell. Annie also
drew nearly the whole hour on Tuesday. She made many
circles with lines radiating in all directions. Some of these
circles, with lines underneath only, were "cows." Peggy
drew two pictures on full size sheets of paper on Thursday and then cut up many small bits and colored them.
Second Week
Bianca made a house on Monday and then cut it out.
The house had a chimney on the roof, and doors and




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windows were drawn on it. A toilet outside "in country"
was attached to it. Juanita and Selma covered a whole
sheet of paper with different colors. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Peggy began the day by drawing
two pictures. Juanita repeated her page of colors on
Thursday.
Third Week
Mark again tried outlining around the blocks on Monday, placing two bricks with a square between them on
the paper and then drawing around them. One of
the girls copied this later in the week. Juanita made a
sheet of all colors again on Thursday, and Annie, after
scribbling, pasted one small bit of paper on the scribble.
BENCH WORK
First Week
Selma went to work at the bench immediately on Monday, and completed a bench hook without asking for help
of any kind. The nails were placed in a straight line,
even distances apart. This was quite striking. Annie
tried to make a wagon. She put the wheels on the top,
instead of on the side of the wood. As she seemed a
little discouraged when the wagon would not roll properly,
I showed her what the difficulty was. She then nailed
four wheels on in the right places and was very happy




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115


over the result. She spent the rest of the hour sawing
up wood for milk cans. Murray made a bench hook on
Wednesday from a chair he had made on Friday. He
hammered his thumb so that it bled a little, but he didn't
cry. Matthew made a wagon, adding a seat for the driver.
Then he used it as a lumber wagon to carry blocks. On
Friday, Bianca made a wagon with a driver's seat. She
used a block as a horse, and put in the hooks and tied
the string alone, the only one in the class who has done
this. Peggy picked out very small pieces of wood
to work with, but I gave her a larger piece and she
said she wanted to make a bed. I showed her how
to use the unit blocks for legs and she hammered two
long nails in each end and was delighted with her
finished product. She decided it was a table instead of a
bed.
Second Week
On Tuesday, Bianca began what she called an engine.
She used a unit block as floor and hammered sides on it;
then she called me over and explained to me that the floor
and walls were done and she was now going to add a
roof. A trip to the shop was necessary to get more long
nails, so the engine was not completed. On Thursday,
Mark sawed and planed the entire first hour. He was
preparing the wood for a purpose, but he forgot all about
a product and never used the wood. Murry found several strips of wood several feet long in the chest, and
decided to make a bridge. He nailed a top piece on one
strip and then measured the third piece by holding it




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in position at the opposite end of the top. He said at
once, "It's not tall enough," and another child, who was
using the same kind of wood, gave him her piece to try.
This proved to be just about right, so she exchanged
wood with Murray and he nailed the third piece on. The
bridge fell over as soon as he took his hand off it and
he wanted it to stand up. I suggested that he go out in
the yard and look at our green arch. Selma went with
him and they both noticed the large flat piece of wood
which served as a base under each pole of the arch.
They ran back into the house and Selma found one square
piece of wood in the chest and Murray found another,
and they set to work. I had been assisting Murray by
holding his wood for him, but I stepped out as soon as
Selma stepped in. The bridge was so tall the children sat
on two tables to hammer on the bases. The bridge then
stood alone and was at once used over a railroad track.
I told the children that carpenters used a scaffolding when
working on houses or roofs. Juanita began a ladder on
Friday, nailing one step on and then putting it on her
shelf to be completed later. Bianca nailed a roof of blocks
on her engine, hammering long nails in with great vigor.
Mark sawed and planed again.
Third Week
Peggy made a wagon-a nail driven part way into the
wood, she said was, "where he sits," while a slanting nail
was "where he steers." Matthew made a table-four
nails serving as legs. Then he picked a long thin piece




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117


of wood out of the chest, which was suggestive of a stick,
and said he was going to make a flag. He nailed one of
the doll's covers on, and was much pleased with the result.
Later, Bianca made a flag after the same model, but she
said she was going to make hers stand up, so she nailed
a heavy flat piece of wood to the bottom of the stick.
This was satisfactory, so Matthew did the same thing.
The two flags were then placed out in the front yard of
the school after a discussion had arisen, because Bianca
wanted to put her flag in her house. Murray said people
hung flags from window sills, and Matthew said they had
them on roofs, and I said "yes," and added that people
sometimes had flag poles in their front yards, hence the
exodus to the yard of the school. On Tuesday, Bianca
spent the whole first hour getting wood ready to make a
bed. She sawed, then sandpapered, and planed. Finally
she had to go down to the shop for more wood of the kind
she wanted. On Thursday, Juanita started sawing a piece
Bianca had left in the vise, so the latter remonstrated,
and started putting her bed together. She nailed a piece
on one side, then measured another piece of wood by
this, and after making a line herself, sawed off a second
side the correct length. She nailed this on, putting one
nail in each end, and then wanted pieces of wood below
the two sides as legs. I suggested that she put pieces
across the ends for legs, so she measured again, and then
sawed off and nailed on one leg. Her planning ahead,
her definite ideas as to just what she wanted to do, and
her ability in execution were remarkable. The bed was
put away on a shelf, and finished the following week.




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On Thursday, Murray made a table, nails again being
used as legs.
Fourth Week
Bianca completed her bed, worked on so hard last week.
She used a block for the second leg and then noticed that
the bed sloped when placed on the floor. The block was
a little thinner than the piece of wood used as a leg on
the other end. After thinking a moment, Bianca said
she would saw a piece off the other leg and this she did,
after I had helped her to measure. Then she placed a
doll in the completed product and covered it with a blanket. Annie and Mark made signals one day. Mark's was
very well nailed. Annie still has difficulty in nailing.
On Friday, after Bianca, Mark, and Murray had packed
a chest of blocks to be put away for the summer, I asked
them if they would like to nail on a cover of loose boards.
Murray was not interested, but Bianca and Mark sawed
off five pieces of board and nailed them on.
Music
First Week
Miss Hubbell began the lesson on Monday by singing
the children a song about a farmer, and then she introduced a new song, asking one of the children, "Will you
tell me, little, what you are doing?" And the child
named replies by illustrating some of his own activities in




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rhythm. The song of the two fishes, "Tiddlydewinks and
Tiddledewee," was greeted with shouts of laughter.
"Pretty Little Goldfish" was sung next; then the children
listened to piano music and different children went on the
floor alone. On Wednesday, swinging sticks began the
lesson; then Peggy, Annie, and Mark were given floor work
alone. Selma recognized the tune of Tweedledum, and
Peggy recognized Please Keep Still, when played on the
piano. Band work closed the lesson. The children are
much better now about not playing until the piano begins.
Miss Hubbell asks them if they can hear the music in
their heads and they swing the rhythm before beginning
to play. All stopped at the right time.
Second Week
Matthew gave out the sand scrapers, and the lesson
began with the engine song. Murray asked for "Clicketyclack" and this was sung, very good rhythm work being
done by the children. "See the Engine Rush Along," followed. Then sand scrapers were taken up and sticks
given out by Annie. The children listened quietly to the
music that followed. Peggy said it was "walking music"
and she and Annie demonstrated this by walking on the
floor. Annie said, "Peep Gray Mousie" was "sleepy music" as soon as it was played. While sticks were being
taken up, the children began spontaneously to clap in
time to a march being played. Selma recognized "Good
Morning Little Yellow Bird," when Miss Hubbell hummed
it, and the children then dramatized this song.




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Third Week
The children are as interested as ever in music. There
is nothing new to report except that a correct interpretation of a jig tune was spontaneously given.
Fourth Week
Many songs were requested by the children this week,
and each one was sung several times. On Wednesday, a
rainy day, "Dripping Goes the Rain and Slipping Go Our
Feet" was sung. The children have responded well to
marching, dancing, and band work.
STORIES
First Week
On Monday, the children were eager to tell of their
Saturday and Sunday experiences. I read "The Little
Gray Pony," by request on Tuesday. Matthew said mules
were used in mines to pull cars. On Wednesday, the children responded with great interest to "Pedro's Feet."
They went to sleep at the end and reproduced Pedro's
actions accurately. Original stories were told again on
Thursday. "The New Engine" was read by request on
Friday. Three children, Annie, Selma, and Mark went
away from the table. The other five were deeply absorbed
in it.
Juanita: "I went to the circus and I saw two animals




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and I saw two elephants and I saw a lion and I saw big
turtles some growing up and some were mothers because
they were already growed up and some were fathers.
They were just like your turtles-one was a little boy and
one was a little girl-the one that was like your turtle was
the little boy."
Peggy: "Once upon a time there was a little girl and
she was playing out in the yard with a little boy and she
picked a flower for the little boy and she picked a flower
for herself and the little boy was her brother and she
went in with the little boy and gave him a cracker and
got one for herself... and she went upstairs and she
came down with a hoop for herself and one for the boy and
they went out in the yard and played and then came
another little boy. He was one of their friends and he
used to come and play with them, and the little girl's
name was Katricia and the little boy's name was Jack and
the little boy's name was John, and Katricia was bigger
than John and Katricia could fight more than John because she was the biggest."
Second Week
Original stories on Monday. Ruth's father's journey
by request on Tuesday. "Lazy Parrot" on Wednesday.
Some one said, "He ought not to have any food if he
doesn't work." Friday, I read "Pedro's Feet." This is
a great favorite.
Third Week
I read "Auto, Auto," several times to the children.




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The last line reads, "Through the country green," and I
said, "What would you say if it was winter?" and Matthew said, "Through the city white." After reading
"How Animals Move," the following additions were made
to the things boys and girls can do: jump, climb, feel, hold,
and run. As soon as I started to read "My Kitty," a
child said, "That must be Spot." I also read "Old Dan,"
and then Juanita told us about having seen a runaway
milk horse.
Fourth Week
I read "The Journey" on Monday, as there had been
much railroad play that morning. The children again
showed the position of the upper and lower berths by
their hands. Murray told about seeing a friend off on a
steamer to Bermuda, and described the berths in her
stateroom. This story was asked for on Tuesday, when I
began "The New Engine," so I read it again. Mark and
Bianca went to sleep, resting their heads on the table,
when the story told of Ruth's father sleeping. When the
suitcase was packed, "neckties, collars, and shoes" were
suggested as additional travel requirements. Original
stories were told on Wednesday.
ANIMALS
First Week
The turtles are still very interesting to the children and
they take them out on the table nearly every day.






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Second Week
Turtles have been played with every day after lunch for
a few minutes.
Third Week
The turtles were brought over to the luncheon table by
Murray and the student teacher, while the children kept
their eyes closed and listened. They told me they heard
the wire cover being taken off. They also heard the
aquarium  put down on the table. Murray said they
might have heard the pebbles rattling. This was done
again on Thursday and the turtles fed.
Fourth Week
Bianca and Murray helped me clean the aquarium one
day.
II. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES
PUTTING AWAY
Third Week
I have found that using the small benches turned upside down as boats has led to confusion and quarreling,
so after explaining to the children that good work has
not been done with them, I asked them to carry the blocks




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to the cupboard in their hands. They accepted calmly
the interdict about the benches, but immediately began
making individual boats, with one long block as a foundation. Ferry boats were constructed of such a block
with unit uprights supporting another long block. I
gave the children the word deck when they spoke of floors
on a boat. These constructions made putting away very
slow. Peggy worked well, piling in the cupboard.
Fourth Week
The children did a great deal of packing up on Friday.
After visiting the new school on Thursday, we discussed
ways of moving, so they were ready for the packing on
Friday. All the blocks from the cupboard were placed
in chests, the pencil boxes were put in a big box, and the
children went several times down to the office to leave
odds and ends. This was done with enthusiasm.
WASHING CUPS
First Week
This is still a sought after privilege. Annie did it on
Tuesday, and, without my asking her, she took the dishpan and mop into the next room and put them away, and
then wiped off the table. Selma repeated this efficient
performance on Thursday. Peggy washed well, but has
to be reminded about putting away.




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12'5


Fourth Week
So few children were present this week, the regular
procedure has not been carried out, and as no one asked
to wash the cups, this has been done outside of school
hours.
FLOWERS
First Week
The flowers are faithfully watered. A tulip brought
by Selma, and narcissus and sweet peas brought by Bianca, have been on the lunch table every day.
III. SPECIAL TRAINING
PHYSICAL EXERCISE
First Week
On Monday, the returned ladder, mended at the shop,
was pounced upon at once by Matthew and Selma, placed
under the rope and climbed on with much joy. Later it
was used against one packing case, while a board led over
to the next case. The children climbed up the ladder,
then across the board into the other case, out of that to
the ground, and then ran around to the ladder and began
again. Peggy and Annie were both a little fearful about
crossing the board, but Mark, Selma, and Matthew walked




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across after the first trial. Later in the week, the ladder
was found leaning against the wall. Selma climbed up,
then let herself slide through between two rungs and,
after hanging for a while, dropped to the ground. This
was tried on Thursday by Selma, Matthew, Bianca, Juanita, Annie, and Peggy and was continued for three quarters of an hour. Playing horse this week developed into
driving pairs of horses round and round the yard. Six
children engaged in this for some time.
Second Week
Dropping through the ladder was again popular. There
was also much digging this week. Matthew swept up the
walk, while I shovelled away piles of dirt, for about fifteen minutes on Tuesday. Sliding and swinging on the
rope took place as usual.
Third Week
Matthew stood up in the center of the see-saw, and
balanced very well. When he lost his balance, he jumped
off quickly. Annie is the only child who still feels adventurous when walking up a board. She called to me
excitedly to look as she did this. Of course, this is just
another way of saying she is behind the others in her
ability to balance herself. The large express wagon was
used a great deal on Thursday, Murray pulling Bianca
round and round the yard in it. On Friday, Juanita
was given a ride. The wagon then became a train, and...........




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1'27


Murray responded instantly to a signal which I worked
for him.
Fourth Week
Big blocks covering the slide all the way down were
used to make sliding more exciting by Annie and Mark.
Annie was a little timid about coming down with nothing
to hold on to, but not Mark. He used the wagon as a
railroad train. Noticing that one side was loose, he ran
into the house after the hammer, without a word to any
one. Going up the ladder and coming down the rope was
tried several times on Tuesday. Annie required much assistance, but attempted it just the same.
SENSE TRAINING
First Week
On Monday, the general listening game brought forth
the remarks that some one had heard "talking," "an auto,"
"a bus." On Tuesday, I tried the children on musical
instruments I have used before, adding the tambourine.
After playing the hiding game on Thursday, we played
the feeling game and the children guessed correctly: sandpaper, clay, cylinder block, crayon, square block, safety
pin, and scissors.
Third Week
Listening-(See under I Animals, Third Week)




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NUMBER
Fourth Week
On Monday, when getting ready for luncheon, I asked
Mark how many people there were in the room. He said,
"Four children and three ladies, that's seven."
IV. ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
CONTENT OF PLAY AND DISCUSSIONS
First Week
Murray's injured finger, from which the nail is coming
off, caused a discussion of the fact that nails are growing
all the time. This led to mention of the fact that blood
is continually circulating through the body, as Murray
said his injury was due to a "blood vein." Matthew
said, "If your heart stopped, you'd die." I spoke of the
blood as furnishing the heat of the body. We had a discussion of bumpers one day, as Mark objected when some
one said trains really bumped into them. A child said
the subway had no bumpers, so I explained the loop at
South Ferry. Juanita said, "The subway gets to be elevated." This was concurred in by every one. Murray
said, "Trains go in tunnels in cities," so we talked about
the congestion in city streets as the reason for this. Mark
corrected Annie when she played she was engineer of
her train and milkman at the same time, showing her






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129


that she must stay by her train, that another man must
deliver the milk. Murray placed his chimney directly
above his fireplace in his house in the yard. The children
were careful in building houses to guard against leaks in
the roof. There was a discussion of rust during a pause
in Annie's story. One fire engine house was built with
a place for the firemen to stay in. Stoves and iceboxes
have been placed in houses built this week. As soon as it
was suggested that milk was coming to his house, Matthew
said, "We must make an icebox."
Second Week
This week, for the first time, a chimney appeared on
a house drawn with crayons. The running of trains into
train sheds developed in the railroad play, and the Railroad Book was looked at, at my suggestion, to verify Matthew's statement that train sheds have no doors. A thick
piece of glass brought to school by Murray brought up
the question of things looking differently through such a
glass. An oculist was spoken of as a doctor who treats
eye troubles. An elevator has appeared this week for
the first time, in connection with house building. It was
placed in an apartment house. The children started talking about breakfast on Monday, so I said each one could
have a turn to tell what he or she had had:
Mark: "I had milk in a cup and then I had a triscuit."
Juanita: "I had a egg and milk and orange."
Bianca: "I had a orange juice and cereal and milk and
egg, that's all."
Murray: "You know I had egg for brekkus (Murray




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was admonished by Matthew to say 'breakfast,' not 'brekkus') and milk and cereal and toast and I had crumb
cake and cocoa."
Annie: "I had cornflakes and milk."
Peggy: "I had egg and toast and milk and orange."
Matthew. "I had orange juice before breakfast. I had
two dishes of H. 0., and I had some coffee ring."
On Thursday, the children began fooling with their cups
and saying, "blue-white," so I asked what colors they
could name and they said: white, blue, red, yellow, green,
purple, orange, black, and brown. We were going on a
trip, so we talked about general behavior. The children
said they must stop on street corners.
Third Week
The children's observation of flag poles was shown in
connection with flag making. Roofs and window sills were
given as the usual places. Semaphore signals have come
into use in railroad play. They are only sporadically
used, but are well understood and obeyed. Decks on boats
were spoken of when boat building; also the fact that ferry
boats have seats on top. Murray showed his knowledge
of the fact that the length of the tunnel is connected with
the light or darkness inside it, in his remarks about
Juanita's tunnel. (See under I Block Building, Third
Week.) A train carrying sand and cement for houses
and sidewalks showed association of use with this material.
An upper and lower berth appeared in a boat constructed
by the children. A special place was set aside for freight.
The preparation of wet clay for use was carried through






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131


by the children for the first time. On Monday, I showed
the children a postal from Margaret and they were much
interested. They knew she had gone to the country.
They pointed out the grass and a mountain to each other
and Matthew said, "Look at the telephone wire."  Murray said, "Maybe that's Margaret's house," pointing to
a house on the card. On Wednesday, Matthew laughed
at Juanita's Spanish pronunciation of a word, so I explained to him that people in different countries spoke different languages, and that Juanita could speak Spanish,
and Bianca French, and I German. Then I gave him
the names of the countries where these languages were
spoken. I said, "Good morning," in English, then in
German, and I asked Juanita to say it in Spanish, and
Bianca in French. I repeated this with "Good night," and
all four children were intensely interested, so we tried the
same thing with chair, table, hammer, saw, and nail.
Bianca and Juanita were delighted with this. They have
been secretly a little ashamed, I think, to speak their own
languages for fear of being laughed at. Bianca volunteered to tell us how ice cream was said in French, and
Juanita repeated a whole sentence in Spanish. I told
of an experience of mine in a French restaurant when I
couldn't order any dinner, and Bianca told me how to
say beefsteak, potatoes, and water. I said to Matthew,
"You would have the same trouble I had, Matthew, for
you couldn't understand French either." He replied that
he could say "Good morning" so that we couldn't any of
us understand it. He could say it in Norwegian, for he
had a Norwegian cook! This closed the discussion, but
I have noticed since that Bianca and Juanita are much






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freer in using a word or two of their own language when
they want to.
Fourth Week
Mark telephoned for the wreckage train when his train
met with an accident. Express and local tracks were used
for express and local trains. The signal was again used
in railroad play. A pilot's duties were defined as keeping
the ship from sand and rocks. Different kinds of pavements were noticed by the children-cement and paving stone. They knew water was needed to mix with
cement and sand. A high chair was built for the baby
doll.
TRIPS
First Week
On Monday, I took the children into the Alley to see
the roofers at work on the house next door. Tar was
being melted and sent up in pails to the roof. Bianca
asked a workman what he was doing and he told her, and
explained that the men were throwing the tar on the
roof. We saw bags of pebbles being hauled up and talked
about their use on top of the tar. I explained the danger
of rust when the roof was made of tin. I left Murray
in the yard, as his behavior on the last trip was not
trustworthy and I had told him he could not go on the
next trip with the group.






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133


Second Week
On Monday, the children went with me to a butcher
shop on Eighth Street to get meat for the turtles. On
the way back, they noticed some workmen apparently
mending the street, and asked to look at them. We crossed
Eighth Street and found three men making a square hole
in the ground. Bianca asked, "Why are you doing that?"
A man said they were trying to mend the electric light
wires. He was holding an iron bar with a sort of tongs,
while two other men hammered on this to break up the
concrete under the roadway. Murray explained to me
that the man wasn't holding the bar with his hands for
fear he might get hammered. The concrete broken up,
the workman leaned over and picked out the pieces with
his hands. "Why doesn't he use a shovel?" said Bianca,
just as the man reached for his shovel. The men were
impressed by this time with the children's intelligence
and they told me we could see the wires in a hole further
up the street. So we went and looked at them, and I explained that the wires were laid underground in cities
to leave room for people on the streets. We also looked
at the cable between the tracks for the Eighth Street trolley, and Matthew remarked that some trolley wires are
above ground. On Thursday, we went to the new school.
The children's powers of observation have increased
greatly in the last month. They noticed everything to
be seen on the way. Every one stopped well at street
corners. I let them run down Macdougal Alley ahead
of me and Murray with the others, stopped at the end.




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He had missed a trip the week before owing to his habit
of running ahead. On arriving at the new school, the
children ran at once for the wash basin, although they
had not been to the school and we have not mentioned
the plumbing there, since the week of April fourth. They
remembered that it was disconnected before, and were very
much interested now when water came rushing out of the
faucets. They turned on the water and looked at the connection of the water pipes in each room we entered. They
also noticed all the new toilets. We stopped to watch a
man planing down the side of a window and the children
remarked on the big shavings as they fell down from the
plane. Bianca said they were big because the wood was
"so thick." We went upstairs and saw the classrooms
to be occupied by the three- and four-year-old classes
next year, and also the roof playground. In the fouryear-old room, I consulted them as to where they thought
the bench had better be placed. Selma said, "Between
the windows here," but Juanita suggested the alcove at
the front, because "There's more room there." This was
a very good suggestion and was actually carried out. On
our return downstairs, we went into the classroom for the
five-year-old children, and I explained that that would be
their room next year. They insisted on seeing the yard,
so we went and inspected that. A cement sidewalk had
just been laid in front of the school and the children
asked how it was made. When I said I didn't know,
Bianca told me to ask the workman. He came over and
explained the process to the children, and they were alert
and interested.




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Fourth Week
On Thursday, I took the children on a final trip to
the new school. The IV B group and their teacher went
with us. Both going and coming, we stopped on Eighth
Street to watch workmen laying stone flags. One man
was cutting stone. The children asked him what he was
doing, and he said, "Making the stone the right size."
I showed them the empty place in the sidewalk where this
flagstone was going, and made the analogy between measuring, marking, and sawing wood. I also drew attention
to the earth under the pavement, which was exposed, as
a child had said in the yard one day that there was nothing under the stones. On our way back, we found the men
ready to lay the stone. One man was mixing sand and
cement, and Bianca said, "I don't see any water," just as
the workman appeared bringing a pail full of water. As
the children had seen a sidewalk of cement at the new
school, I pointed out the difference between flagstone and
cement pavements. At the new school, I called their
attention to the room they are to occupy next year. Interest was very strong. They insisted on going into every
room in the building and also up to the roof. They noticed a little closet on the roof and some one said it would
be a good place to keep wagons in. They found tiles and
sand there and several children began at once to lay a
sidewalk, using tiles for flags and sand for cement. They
noticed tar on the sides of the roof. My attention was
called to everything we passed in the stores and on the
street. The gain in observation in this group is very




136            BEFORE BOOKS
great. Their interest in all they see is evidenced by an
incessant string of questions. This, of course, I have stimulated, at first by asking questions myself, and afterwards
by seeing that all their questions were simply and accurately answered. I always repeat what the workmen
tell the children to be sure that they understand.




APPENDIX TO RECORD OF GROUP FOUR


A. THE PROGRAM
The daily program through the year has opened with
an hour of play indoors from nine to ten, followed by an
hour of play in the yard from ten to eleven, then a midmorning lunch of crackers and milk, the children sitting
together about the tables. After lunch stories were read,
or we had sense training games, and then the children
played again for thirty or forty minutes. On Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays at nine forty-five Miss Hubbell
came for a fifteen minute music lesson.
B. THE CLASS
The length of time the children had previously spent in
the school and their ages on October 1., 1920, are shown
in the following list:
Annie        3 yr., 9 mo.-first entered Feb. 1921
Bianca      4      2                  Oct. 1919
Christina   4      6                  Oct. 1919
Craig       3      8                  Oct. 1920
Elisabeth   4      3                  Oct. 1920
Juanita      3     10                 Nov. 1920
Lillian     4      2                  Oct. 1920
Margaret    3     11                  Oct. 1920
Mark        4      2                 Nov. 1920
Matthew     4       1                 Oct. 1920
Murray      4      3                  Oct. 1919
Peggy       3      9                  Oct. 1920
Selma       4                         Dec. 1920
137




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Murray and Christina had been in the 1 Nursery School
before entering our three-year-old group. Peggy came to
Group IV from Group III in the fall. Craig and Lillian
were transferred to other classes during the year, and
Elisabeth's family left the city.
C. THE STAFF
In addition to Miss Jessie Stanton, the group teacher,
Group IV had work in music with Miss Harriette G.
Hubbell.
D. BUILDINGS
During the winter of 1920-21 the City and Country
School was housed in two buildings in Macdougal Alley,
New York City. The Alley can be entered only from
Macdougal Street, the far end being closed off by two
buildings. One of these, formerly a garage, had been
made over into a school building which accommodated
three classes. On the ground floor were two large rooms
with sliding doors between. The IV A group occupied the
room which was entered directly from the Alley, while
the IV B group used the room back of this. The fiveyear-old class was in a room upstairs. To the south of
the building there was a large yard to which these classes
has access through a hallway. The older classes and the
school office were located in a building two hundred feet
down the Alley.
E. SPACE AND FURNISHING
The room was furnished with individual chairs and folding tables, a carpenter's bench with two vises, individual
shelves for crayon boxes, shelves for blocks and toys, a
stone jar for clay, a small electric stove for heating toy
1Conducted by the Bureau of Educational Experiments, 144
West 13th St., New York City.




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139


irons, a wash-board and basin for washing dolls' clothes.
At four years of age block building is almost entirely individual, so each child is provided with a certain space
of his own on the floor which is marked out in chalk.
Each morning his table and chair are set up within this
enclosure, which is always in the same location in the room.
When he wishes to use this space for building, he folds
up his table.
The yard in which the children played was equipped as
follows: slide, packing case (one or two), yard blocks'
(large hollow blocks in two sizes), loose boards, ladder,
carts, shovels, see-saw board, two saw horses, hanging rope,
parallel bars, climbing poles.
F. MATERIALS USED
Table work: crayons (eight colors for each child), drawing paper, scissors, paste, colored paper, clay, beads, string,
needles, small colored cube blocks, small irons for ironing
dolls' clothes, dolls, dolls' clothes and bed covers.
Floor work: blocks.1
Bench work: saw, two hammers, small plane, spool of
wire, wire-cutter, staples (used in wiring blocks together
as trains), two sizes of nails, pieces of wood of various
sizes, dowel sticks, and blocks.
Books: W. Boyd Smith, The Farm Book, The Engine
Book; a number of the stories published later in Here and
Now Story Book, Lucy Sprague Mitchell, were read and
told to the children as recorded.
1Full description and dimensions of both floor and outdoor
blocks, as well as of other materials used may be found in Bulletin Number Eight, A Catalog of Play Equipment, published
by the Bureau of Educational Experiments, 144 West 13th St.,
New York City.




RECORD OF GROUP SIX
1923-1924
The headings for the Record of Group Six are as follows:
I. PLAY EXPERIENCES
Play with big materials
Indoors
Outdoors
Block building
Drawing and painting
Clay
II. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES
Shop and bench work
Sewing
Cooking
Class organization
III. SPECIAL TRAINING
Physical exercise
Care of animals and plants
Language
Number
Music
Rhythms
Orientation
IV. ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
Trips
Discussion
140






-  _-     __ - - - -,   _ _  


OCTOBER
I. PLAY EXPERIENCES
PLAY WITH BIG MATERIALS-INDOORS
Third Week
Two stories were dramatized this week, "The Little Gray
Pony" and "Spot." Marie was the only child who seemed
reluctant, so I took a part and she looked on. At the
second trial, she wanted to play, so I became the audience.
The action was very spontaneous; each child really lived
his part. The miner for instance, hammered constantly
both before and after the "Gray Pony's" master had
taken the coal from him.
Richard was especially dramatic as "Spot." Almost no
language was used in this, yet to the children it was a
vivid experience. Richard told me he was "really a little
scared" when Celia as the big black cat "spitted" at him.
No properties were used, but tables represented houses.
There is no leader in this group who tells everybody else
just what to do, as is so often the case.
Fourth Week
On Tuesday, a rainy day, five children were left in the
14I






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room while the rest were at cooking, and at Faith's suggestion it was decided to play the "Fog Boat Story." I
organized the play, getting each child to choose a boat to
build. I showed them the picture map of New York and
they said at once that the narrow part of our room to
the North must be the Hudson River, while the wider part
to the South could be the bay.
Celia and Richard built the ocean liner, about which
the story centers. Albert made the sail boat, Faith the
pilot boat, and Marie the coal barge. Tables and blocks
were used in these constructions. Edna started the tug
boat which was to help the liner from its dock but she
appealed to me constantly for help and became more and
more impatient and disagreeable, disturbing the others and
shouting that she couldn't make it, so I finally took her out
and left her alone in the office for about ten minutes. On
her return I set her definitely to work on a small sail boat
and she built quietly. Marie who has been self-conscious
in the other dramatizations forgot herself completely in
this; she worked hard making clay balls for coal after
her square barge was done.
When the other children came back from cooking the
room was full of the sound of fog whistles, and they entered into the spirit of the play and began helping at
once. As Meta was the only child who was not very familiar with the story I asked her to make a bell buoy.
She made a mound of blocks and Sonia cut a big bell for
her out of paper. She attached this with a thumb tack
and moved it back and forth as she sang "Ding, dong!
Ding, dong!" I brought in a small bench from the hall


--




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143


to use as a tug. Sonia seized this and, with blocks
and colored cubes, soon made a satisfactory boat out
of it.
Fred took charge of the pilot boat, as Faith had to steer
the ocean liner down to the bay. The chief difficulty lay
in the fact that the ocean liner could not be moved. The
children decided to pretend that it was moving. Sonia
asked for a rope and tied this to the liner. Faith climbed
aboard and was about to start when she realized that the
boat had no captain. Richard and Celia stuck their heads
out from under a table (the hold of the ship) and said
they had to run the engines, so I persuaded Florence to
leave the boat she was building and save the situation.
She anchored her boat in the bay when she left it. I
put out the electric light which had been burning in the
room and this added a final touch of realism as the play
began.
Faith blew the fog horn on the liner which said, "Toot,
toot, 'tis I!" Richard objected to this almost with tears,
so we gave Faith a rope which connected with the engine,
and when she pulled, Richard whistled. Each child in
turn sounded the whistle belonging to his own boat. The
pilot finally left the liner, and its whistle was blown more
and more faintly as it disappeared in the ocean.
Next day the children asked to dramatize "The Queer
Little Baker Man," but the attempt was not successful,
as the main part was too big and there was not enough
for the others to do. Fred, the Baker Man, put on his
cooking apron, used blocks for bread, and entered heartily into the play.




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PLAY WITH BIG MATERIALS-OUTDOORS
First Week
The first day of school, after the children had done some
climbing about the coping, I called attention to the outdoor blocks and they began building at once. Celia,
Florence, Faith and Marie made a house which was vigorously cleaned. A wire found on the ground by Edna
suggested a telephone and she connected it to the house
in which the others were working. Richard and Alan
also made a house. Alan is inclined to fool and make
faces. The last hour in the yard was spent with the other
six-year-old class and all the children played train after
making a block track.
On Tuesday Albert, Edna, and Richard built a house
together, working amicably and intelligently. Florence
and Marie called the coping around the water tank an
elevated track, and then came to ground level and played
train. They were joined by Celia, Alan and Faith, who
is a little inclined to dominate if possible. When the
interest flagged, I suggested a down and up track and this
developed into a subway train being run with Faith as engineer and the others as cars. They were inclined to fool,
so I explained the necessity for shutting the doors and
ringing the bell as a signal to the motorman, and this was
incorporated into the play. I gave them the right directions in the yard for South Ferry and Bronx Park and
explained the loop at each end.






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145


Next day Albert and Alan built an ocean liner. Albert's shout, "Come on, we must get this ship ready!"
started the work. Edna was about to work with them
when she decided to make a tug boat. She kept to this
purpose steadily. Richard built a dock and covered it
with baggage and freight (other blocks). Celia made a
"porgie boat," a reflection of her seashore experiences at
Provincetown. Marie, Celia and Florence worked at a
house. Faith was persuaded to leave them and join Sonia
who was disconsolate playing alone. String brought from
the classroom and tied to sticks, with nails for hooks,
served as fishing lines. Edna's tug pulled the steamer out
into the river just before it was time to go in.
On Thursday Albert, Celia, Edna and Richard worked
on an ocean liner the whole yard period. Alan stood
around for some time, so I asked whether he couldn't
make a tug to help the liner out from her dock and he
took the suggestion and worked at it with interest. Faith,
Marie and Florence built a house. When Faith refused
to play with Sonia, the latter wept and would not be
comforted. She crouched in a heap against the fence
the whole hour. It seemed necessary to leave her alone
and let her realize that she cannot always have what she
wants. She becomes very sulky if thwarted in any way.
Building houses was the chief interest on Friday. Faith
sweeping, said firmly, "We must clean this house thoroughly!'" Richard and Albert used a large pile of blocks
as a typewriter, speculating on the size of the sheets of
paper they would have to have. Then they joined Edna
at playing horse, making a stable and a pasture.




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Second Week
The regular play yard containing the apparatus was
opened to the children this week for the first time, so interest in physical exercise has cut down the amount of
building done. Sonia is the one exception to this. She
went straight for a packing case on Monday and made
an elaborate house. On Tuesday Alan built a house alone,
while Sonia and Faith cracked stones for "food."  Marie
and Florence played house together as did Edna and Alan.
The elder group were playing horse in the afternoon when
the VI A's came out, and they asked for a blacksmith's
shop. Faith and Alan started this, but were not a very
good combination as Faith took the whole thing out of
Alan's hands and he merely watched her.
A grocery store started by Sonia and Fred on Thursday
was very successful. They made a counter, cracked stones
or used dirt for food, and carried through the scheme for
the entire hour. I saw to it that Celia, Albert and Alan,
playing house in a packing box, went to the store for their
food. Sonia and Fred made a blacksmith's shop that
same afternoon. Fred, in a dark spot under the stairs,
was the "miner" who dug coal for the blacksmith's fire.
Richard and Celia were ice-cream venders meanwhile, selling "chocolate ice-cream" made of small cakes of dirt.
Third Week
The yard is still covered with pieces of dirt which limit
the building space, and this is partly responsible, I think,
for the poorly carried out play schemes. Albert does not






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147


hold to his purpose, though he starts out well, and talks
a great deal about what he will do. Meta is fascinated
with the ladder and does not leave it for long. Celia,
Marie, Florence and Faith are more interested in house
play than anything else. When Sonia is absent there is
no one in the group who begins a play scheme with enthusiasm.
On Monday a farm scheme carried on by Celia, Faith
and Edna included a barn and pasture and engrossed the
children for about three-quarters of an hour. On Thursday Faith, Celia and Fred worked very hard on a big
boat. Alan started with them but was put out because he
didn't help build. He works well under definite instructions but displays no initiative. He does not seem interested in this kind of play. Cracking stones and
screening dirt kept the children busy on one of the warm
days of the week. Edna showed pretty good control when
playing with the older children in the afternoon.
Sonia's return after a week's absence has started the
group on store and animal play. She seldom uses the
apparatus and is always the first one to get to work when
the children enter the yard. The animals impersonated
have been mice, rabbits and horses. The mice worked
hard storing up food for the winter, and making a secret
place to hide in. They consulted me as to what their
food should be and we agreed on nuts and seeds. Richard
and Celia ran a store for the rabbits, making lettuce,
cheese and carrots with crayons and paper.
Alan plays alone usually. He is much interested now
in cracking stones. He tried playing house with Edna
and Meta Thursday, but when called to dinner by Meta,




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he upset the dishes which she had filled with dirt to represent cakes. Meta is having some trouble in playing with
the children, so I joined the group and asked if I might
come to dinner. Fred asked to come too, so we had a
pleasant meal together, and then Meta washed the dishes.
She comes to me when she wants to join a group at play,
instead of asking them directly. I am watching her
closely after she has been received into a group to see
that she holds her own and gets enjoyment out of it.
She uses information well in her block play, but not in her
outdoor play.
Fifth Week
Playing house and animals are still the main types of
play in the yard.
BLOCK BUILDING
First Week
On the first day of school Richard built a house, working with complete absorption. Alan seemed at a loss for
an occupation so I suggested that he build a farm and
supply Richard's people with milk and he worked well
at this. Edna made a railroad track and station. Alan
tried to play with her but she became angry with him
so I made her play alone. She has very little persistence;
is inclined to flit from one occupation to another. The
second day Richard became absorbed in building a house
again and Celia made a house of interesting architecture.
I interested Marie and Florence in building, as they were




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149


inclined to draw and giggle. They worked well on a
chicken house. Faith built a farm house. She is a talker,
not a doer. I built with her for a while. Left buildings on the floor as an experiment and they were used
next day by Faith and Celia. Sonia seized Edna's railroad tracks and said she would bring corn for the
chickens. She tried making paper bags for corn and then
made four extraordinarily realistic chickens, pasting their
feet on a small circle of paper so they would stand.
These proved a great stimulus to the play. Alan made
eggs of clay. Edna, with help from me, made a wooden
box to ship eggs in, and she and Florence sewed up bags
to ship corn in. Faith built a barn near her farm house,
and a granary for the corn. Just as the children were
going out I asked whether the chickens had been shut
up to keep them safe from the skunks and rats, and this
warning was acted on at once. Not only was the door
of the chicken house shut, but a padlock of paper was
put on the granary, and a watch-dog, cut out of paper,
was stationed near by.
Second Week
Interest in block building is secondary to interest in
drawing and bench work. One house has been played with
and added to each day. Florence began it, playing with
Sonia who made elaborate and intricate railroad tracks
nearby. But Sonia's interest switched to making a proper
freight car at the bench, and Florence was joined by
Marie. Both Albert and Alan laid tracks one day and
then put the tracks away again. Their interest in con



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struction evidently does not hold long without an interlocking play scheme. Fred and Richard built tracks to
bring in produce from a rather rudimentary farm made by
Alan and Celia. They were tremendously interested
and worked hard. Their railroad system started from
Sonia's tracks.
Third Week
The children's interest in block building is only lukewarm, owing to the interest they take in cooking and
working in the carpenter shop, activities that are new this
year.
The new children, Albert and Meta, are quite different
in their behavior toward the blocks. Albert does not
build at all. Meta became much engrossed in building
a house on Tuesday. Her constructions are very crude,
but she enjoys carrying out a play scheme with the blocks
and dolls.
Fred and Edna built railroad tracks on Monday, playing together joyously and peaceably although they are
the two children who have the most trouble with their
social relationships. They made an elevated four-track
structure with signals. The questions which arose in this
work led to several discussions and to a trip later in the
week. Their tracks, left standing, were enlarged and
played with by the other children on succeeding days.
Meta ran a train on them, choo-chooing softly to herself,
with a doll as fireman. Much of the information which
the children make use of in their discussions does not function in their play. Alan, for instance, tried running a






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train with the coal car several cars away from the engine.
Fred objected to this violently.
Fourth Week
The introduction of water color paints this week has
been responsible for the small amount of block-building.
After Alan had stood about for some time on Wednesday, I said, "Go on and build," and he made a small race
track with stables. He is a puzzle. The minute I said
"build" he became deeply interested in this scheme, but
he does not initiate activities.
(See Play With Big Materials for another use of blocks
this week.)
Fifth Week
The blocks have come into their own this week. The
children have used them with keen interest, and have
made play schemes which have been enlarged from day to
day. All but three children in the class have taken part
in them and other activities have been related to their
block play.
On Monday, as we sat about lacing shoes in the
gymnasium after rhythms, I asked Fred what he was
going to build when he returned to class and he replied
"Wanamaker's." Meta said she would make "Seventh
Avenue" and Florence decided to build her apartment
house on Washington Square.
Ready for work in the room, I asked Fred where he
thought he had better make Wanamaker's and he chose
correctly the east side of the room. Meta made Seventh




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Avenue with blocks on the west side. She left spaces
for the cross streets and drew them with chalk from
Fourth up to Twelth Street. She had a very clear conception of the way the streets ran. She built her apartment house on Fourth Street.
I showed Florence where Seventh Avenue and Eighth
Street were, and she built her apartment on the next street
to the south. A large round cylinder block placed in a
square, puzzled me, but Florence informed me that it
was the boiler in the cellar, and held the hot water that
heated the building. She made Washington Square next.
Dolls were seated on benches. Paper scratched over
with green crayon represented grass. Sonia made the
Woolworth Tower at the extreme south end of the room.
Fred worked steadily on Wanamaker's. The only
things within the very large square which represented the
store were the elevator and some "offices." It is interesting to note that what Fred had seen chiefly in watching
the elevator was the great rod that pushed it up. He
represented this by a very long block, which he stood
upright. Thumb-tacks on blocks represented the elevator
lights which he had watched. He made the door by
which we had entered in exactly the correct location, the
south east corner, and drew marks on the floor to represent
our class going in.
Albert and Faith started a farm in the country, using
the new toy cows and horses, but there was more conversation and disagreement than work, so I suggested
their putting away the blocks and finding another occupation. Albert was a little fatigued anyway, so at twelve
o'clock I sent him to rest until lunch time.




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Alan and Celia when through drawing, became interested in the layout of the streets. Celia built the school
and Alan his own house.
Sonia wanted to play with the toy horse, so made a
stable at the foot of the Woolworth Tower. I find that
my tendency is to insist on too great accuracy from these
six-year-olds. On this occasion I merely remarked that
of course the Woolworth didn't really have horses in it,
which Sonia knew, and a very good play developed later
with Edna, who made a blacksmith shop nearby, when
Sonia demanded new shoes for her animals. String served
to make halters.
Rainy weather which prevented play in the yard gave
us a long morning indoors with plenty of time to develop
these play schemes.
Next day, Meta destroyed her apartment house in
order to build a better one. She was absorbed in this
for an hour and a quarter, trying out different ways of
making windows and laying floors.
Sonia, Edna and Albert started farms at the end of
the room. Albert is inclined to bring all his difficulties
with the other children to me at once, without trying to
settle them himself. Edna built a barn laying the bricks
very carefully and evenly, and placing the cows in the
stalls.
Sonia started to build a farm nearby and called to
me that she had no room to build. When I did not answer at once, she burst into a woe-begone wail, and
plumped into a heap on the floor. I pulled her up quite
sharply and after saying "Listen!" in the same manner,
I explained quietly just what had been going through




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my mind before I could reply. I showed her that getting
more floor space in that part of the room involved moving
two tables at which children were working. That this in
turn involved putting away some buildings at the end of
the room used for the city, and that it was impossible for
me to pay attention to her at once, though all the time
I was trying to help her. Her dark eyes fastened on me,
she listened quietly. I added that I should never help
when she asked me in such a whining voice, and that
she must try to learn how to wait a few minutes for help.
The floor space necessary obtained, she made a pasture,
a barn with several stalls and a beautiful farm house
with a pointed roof, ornamented with pillars and colored
cubes.
(See Bench Work, Fifth Week, for result of this.)
She and Edna went back to the farms the first thing
on Wednesday and worked eagerly all the morning, and
again in the afternoon. Interest was so keen that I left
out the usual story and gave them that time for building.
Albert had made a farm house near Edna's barn. He
complained to me that her barn was too near. I said
he would have to build a fence if he wanted ground
around his house, and suggested that he and Edna join
forces. He made her a splendid silo for her barn. He
had seen one on a farm on Saturday and understood it
well. Edna made a pasture beside her barn and not only
made grass, sheets of paper colored green, but also drew
and cut out some small flowers which she pasted on the
paper.
Meta still working on her city house, asked for milk,
so Sonia asked Richard, who was working with clay, to




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make some milk cans. Then Edna made a milk bucket
of the same material. Sonia begged for a railroad and
Celia began one. After lunch Florence made a farm beside Sonia's. The railroad was completed and a station
built near Meta's house.
Faith started to play with Meta. Soon they were
giggling so I took Faith away, much to her disgust, and
said she was so often giggling instead of working that
she had better play alone. I asked whether she would
like to make something for Meta's house and she said,
"No," rather sulkily. I left her alone and soon she was
working at a grocery store, well built and cleverly ornamented. Meta discovered cubes and used them to make
lights in her house.
Great activity had been going on meanwhile at the
farms. Apple trees were drawn and mounted on wood to
stand in the pastures, the cows were milked and then put
in the barn for the night. As we were getting ready to go
out, some one sang "Chickadee, dee, dee," and I said I
wondered whether the chickadee had a nest in Sonia's
apple tree. Celia said it had, and flew to make a nest of
paper and put it in the tree.
The children began to play with their farms as soon as
they arrived the next morning, and after a reading of the
"Meadow Land Farm Story," returned to their play with
renewed zest. Florence called me to see her pasture. The
gate leading from the stable was open and six toy horses
had just been driven through by a doll that stood with
one arm upraised. In one corner of the pasture stood a
cow, sheltered from the hot sun by a tall black tree, cut
out of paper and pasted to the green paper grass. In




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another corner stood a cow with a doll milking it. Some
cows and chickens were cut out of farming magazines
which I gave the children, to add to the celluloid animals.
Yarn was used for hay. Milk pails were made of clay
and painted. Dowelling sawed at the bench into small
pieces served as milk bottles. The animals were put in
the barns each night before we went home.
DRAWING AND PAINTING
First Week
I have asked for quiet and no talking at drawing time,
and the children have shown good control in carrying
this out. There is great interest in drawing. No one
lacks ideas. Boats, houses, birds, trees, grass and sky
have been subjects. Several children have given me
short descriptive sentences with their pictures.
Second Week
The new crayons, delivered by the school store on
Monday, gave a great impetus to drawing, and opportunity has been given for a quiet drawing time on several
days. Sonia could not stop talking at first, but she is
gradually gaining control. After about ten minutes of
silence, the children talk quietly with each other, and
ideas and criticisms are exchanged each day.
Albert draws Indians and wigwams steadily, a reflection
of his summer experiences when he and his two brothers
had a tent to play in. I have never seen Edna work as




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she did at drawing a tent on Tuesday. Her concentration
was splendid, and I showed the picture to everyone and
made much of it. The colors were delicately and evenly
laid on, not scribbled. Alan has drawn many boats,
today he tried flowers and a little girl picking them.
Richard has worked hard over a little man, which he
cut out. I asked where the man lived and he drew a
house with a path leading to it and pasted the man on
the path.
On Wednesday, Sonia made an extremely colorful picture, "all about a hot day." Then she drew the "biggest
rock in the world," the "biggest steamer" and the "biggest
horse shoe crab in the world." The composition was
extraordinarily good. Florence made a picture of an
earthquake and told a very confused story about it.
Marie drew "all stalls, the horses are out working."
Richard tried to make a wife for the little man of the
day before, but discarded all his efforts. Edna helped
him out by making one for him and he pasted it on the
path. Edna made two tiny houses. A short patterned
story went with the picture.
Third Week
A quiet time for drawing is provided two days in the
week after discussion, and interest in it is keen. The
children settle down to perfectly silent work.
Meta worked for two days on a very carefully drawn
house with curtains at the windows, and trees and grass
at each side. Albert is still drawing Indians. I am not
adding any to his information on this topic as it is




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extraneous to the general subject matter of our curriculum.
He has been used to copying, I think, as he often speaks
of it. He made a very good picture of two fishes on
Thursday. Richard criticised the tails and showed him
how they should be made. Albert covered the whole
sheet of paper with blue, which represented "the underneath part of the ocean."
Edna is improving very much in her ability to concentrate and her pictures reflect this. Richard is much
interested in making figures. He is often dissatisfied
but keeps at it just the same. Florence and Marie draw
houses a great deal. I am trying to interest them in
other subjects by talking with them about the people
who live in those houses, what they do, etc.
The children are now using the big sheets of drawing
paper. I ask what the picture is to be about, before they
begin, and emphasize the necessity for perseverance. Fred
is inclined to fritter away his time. He drew a house on
a big sheet with smoke coming out of a chimney on the
roof. After our trip to the Pennsylvania Station he put
in a stove on the ground floor and a cross-section of the
flue carrying the smoke upwards. Small pots of "cereal"
were cooking on the stove, with the steam rising from
them, an interesting reflection on the steam and smoke
seen at the station. On the same day Celia drew a passenger train of five cars, each car on a separate sheet and
all pasted together. The engine was criticised as "not long
enough."
Painting, introduced on Tuesday, has swept through
the class with a furor. It has been used in connection
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have done pictures. A great deal of time has been spent
in explaining just how paint must be used, and how
the brushes must be washed and put away. Just after
I had said that a brush must be washed out before being
put in a different color, Edna went to Alan's table and
put a brush full of black paint into a jar of yellow paint.
The children were horrified and, of course, I said that
Edna could not paint if she could not understand, and
made her put away the green paint she was using. It
was a bitter disappointment and she wept copiously, but
the children had no sympathy for her. She never does
what she is told, and as this was really a case of learning
the use of a new material, it seemed important for her to
understand the necessity for compliance with the conditions of its use. All the other children have been most
careful and have painted with great care and absorption.
For the first time this year Alan became completely engrossed and did not want to go home when the time
came.
On Friday Edna upset a whole jar of black paint. This
was due to a quick movement, and was most unfortunate.
I had been waiting for an accident like this and I used it
to point out again the necessity for care in handling the
paints.
Interest in drawing with crayons remains strong.
Fifth Week
Celia made a big picture of a large dead tree in black,
with a fence below it and a lady passing by. Edna drew
a large green hill with one "cedar tree" at the top.




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Richard tried his first drawing on a large sheet of paper.
He has not the technique for this as yet, so I shall keep
him working with small sheets for a while.
On Wednesday and Thursday drawing was entirely of
objects for use in the farm play schemes. Edna worked
absorbedly on flowers for her pasture. Celia made a
brown pony and Florence a turtle to live in the woods
back of her barn.
CLAY
First Week
Celia made an elaborate house and porch of clay.
Florence and Marie made hens and eggs and Florence,
not satisfied with these, drew and cut out paper chickens
and thumb-tacked them on a board to make them stand.
These were all placed in the chicken house of the block
farm scheme as soon as finished.
Alan prefers to talk rather than work, and I am letting
him do this until he is well adjusted.
Second Week
Modeling has been done chiefly in connection with the
block play schemes; dishes were made for the house, milk
cans for the farm. Albert and Celia have been exceptions
as they have made Indian tepees. Celia's were very
realistic with three poles sticking out at the top.
Third Week


Clay used only once during the week.




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Fourth Week
A tremendous impetus has been given to the clay work
by the children's discovery that they can paint their
products. Celia having made some beads, asked if she
might paint them. I let her do this on Tuesday afternoon and everyone in the class began making beads. But
next morning the uniformity of interest disappeared and
some splendid work was done by Florence, Meta and
Edna. Edna made a basket containing fruit, with a bird
seated on the handle which surprised me, it was so well
made. The bird was a crow, she said. Alan suggested
that she call it a robin so she could paint it red underneath. She made a very realistic rabbit next and a very
good horse's head. Meta made dishes, so I gave her a
little idea of the proper technique and she seemed much
interested. I showed Florence how to scratch the two
surfaces that she wished to join before she put them together. She made a basket with an owl perched on the
handle.
Later in the week Albert made a very large dish and
Celia made a goldfish bowl with a goldfish in it, which
were painted a lovely yellow and light red.
Richard's interest in figures extends to clay, too. He
worked a long time on a large man, saying "He's talking,
see his teeth." He finally smashed it quite philosophically, because it wouldn't stand up.
Fifth Week
Clay milk cans and buckets have been made and






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painted. Edna's was quite charming, blue outside and
yellow inside.
Shellacking the clay after it is painted is proving very
satisfactory.
If. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES
SHOP AND BENCH WORK
First Week
Albert went to the bench and after some experimental
sawing and planing made a table for Celia's house.
Sawed off the top and four legs the first day of school,
and finished it next day.
Second Week
I have helped the children work on boats at the bench.
Mr. Reber has come each day at twelve, when three children have worked with him making crayon boxes. I have
pointed out the inch measurements on the ruler and they
make use of these. Mr. Reber is teaching them the use
of the tri-square. He reports that Alan though the
youngest in the class has the best idea of working accurately, and works very hard on a real job of this kind.
He has finished his box. Edna has finished hers. She
works too quickly, without any forethought. Richard, on
the other hand, works very slowly.






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Third Week
The children have done so well with their bench work
I have suggested to Mr. Reber that they go to him for a
regular shop period and four children have gone each
day from 12 to 12: 30. He reports that they show fine
concentration. Richard and Faith, Marie, Meta and
Fred have finished their crayon boxes. Fred brought
back a very roughly finished box which I criticised. He
went back the next day and planed off the uneven bottom
but the workmanship was very poor. Celia and Edna
have worked on boats and have shown great perseverance
in sawing through thick wood to make pointed bows and
rounded sterns.
Fourth Week
Alan, Albert, Edna, Richard and Fred have worked
on their boats all the week. Sonia has finished her pencil
box. Only five children can go to the shop each day and
often ten want to go, so we have had some bench work
in the classsroom.
Fifth Week
On Monday Alan, Faith and Sonia painted their pencil
boxes. Fred and Albert are still working on their boats.
Edna finished hers and started a doll's bed. Mr. Reber
reported that she made no progress with it because she
did not take time to listen to his instructions and so did




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everything wrong and had to begin over again. Alan
made a doll's bed in about half an hour at the classroom
bench with a little help from me.
On Wednesday Sonia sawed off dowelling at the bench
for milk bottles. She called to me to help her undo the
vise, and when I did not respond at once called again in
a whining voice. Then she caught my eye. We both
smiled, and she waited quietly.
SEWING
First Week
The children knew that they were to have cooking
lessons this year and mentioned it the first day of school
so I told them that each child must finish an apron before he or she could go to cooking. Unbleached muslin
was provided for this purpose with very large needles and
different colored yarn. After our discussion period I
asked each child to make a picture of an apron, and then
gave him a piece of goods to cut one out. I suggested
cutting around under the arms to Celia and this pattern
pleased the others so much they all copied it. I also
suggested to Alan that he use his overalls as a pattern for
his bib and this proved satisfactory. Richard and
Florence and Marie worked painstakingly, taking small
stitches. Faith and Edna talked a great deal and did
not accomplish much. Alan, uninterested and even negative when he started sewing, became intensely interested.
I explained why turning down a hem was necessary and
showed the children the hem of my skirt and the hems




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in their dresses. We also noticed the selvage on the
goods.
The second day all went for aprons with eagerness.
Almost complete silence reigned for some minutes as the
children began sewing again. I held Edna and Faith
down to work. Edna decided her apron was too long
and was inclined to be disagreeable and blame me but
she responded well to a very firm statement that she could
not speak to me in that way, and I helped her cut off her
apron the right length, when she worked contentedly.
Celia finished her apron and began hemming a duster.
On Wednesday Edna worked very well finishing the
entire side of her apron before coming to me for help.
Sonia drew an elaborate picture of an apron with gay
embroidery and I helped her cut one out of cloth. She
sewed down one side and then wanted to embroider a rose
on the front. Alan needs encouragement. There is a
good deal of difficulty in threading needles. When I
showed Richard how to thread a needle he said "That's
not the way I do it, Miss Stanton." Marie finished her
apron and began the strap for the neck. Florence cut
out a pocket and started to embroider a flower on it.
Celia finished her duster. All were absorbed in sewing
Thursday and the same enthusiasm was felt Friday.
While I was pinning the straps on Albert's apron he looked
fondly at the large brown stitches and said "Those are
good sews I made." Sonia, whose hem is sewn with
orange and whose flower is embroidered in purple, orange,
red, and green, looked at the brown yarn and said disgustedly "I wouldn't use that color!" Albert was untouched by this remark.




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Second Week
Sonia, Florence and Edna sewed on their apron straps
Monday. Faith embroidered a flower on her pocket,
working at this steadily for an hour, and then sewing it
on the last quarter hour of the period. This finished up
the aprons, so the children were all ready for cooking on
Wednesday.
Third Week
Meta, a late comer, is working on her apron but has
not taken it out voluntarily once. She is a painstaking
worker, taking small careful stitches.
Fifth Week
On Tuesday Miss Kiernan, a student teacher, helped
Marie with a doll's dress. Marie had a definite idea of
what she wanted, and with a little help figured out the
length and width, cut out the squares and the neck, then
saw how it ought to be done, and cut out a second dress
with a little help. Miss Kiernan suggested to Richard
that he copy a paper dress he had just made. He was
sure at first that he could not do it but saw that the goods
should be doubled. He measured with the doll, cut out
the square neck and figured out how the sleeves should
be cut. He did all the cutting himself. Faith hemmed
a blanket and came to have help in turning the edges in.
Marie and Florence sewed by themselves without asking
for help, as did Celia.
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a short time. Alan cut out a bag for a mattress and with
much help from me sewed it up and filled it with shavings.
He was elated over this, placed it on the bed he had
made and which Meta was using in her block house, and
covered the dolls with Faith's blanket. Edna sewed up
a mattress in the afternoon. Great joy on her part too.
COOKING
Second Week
Albert has asked me every day whether we were to
have cooking once or twice a week, and his eagerness is
shared by all the class. On Tuesday morning Miss Hannum talked to the children about what they would like
to make, and apple sauce was decided on. On Wednesday morning the light aprons were donned and eight
solemn children marched over to the cooking room. The
attention, the quiet, the effort they displayed was extraordinary. Even Edna was overawed and quiet at first.
After discussing whether they would make the apple
sauce with the skins and deciding to peel the apples,
each child was allowed to take a small white bowl
from the cupboard. They stood around a big table.
Miss Hannum gave them each an apple and showed
them how to hold their knives. All had a hard time doing
this, but there were no complaints except from Edna.
They were given help in quartering the apple, and then
each one sliced his quarters into a large dish which was
put on the stove after Miss Hannum asked if the apples
were to be cooked just as they were. The children all




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answered "Yes," but when she said "What about burning?" Celia said "Put some water on." So two cupfuls
were added. When they were asked what else should go
in some one said "Sugar." Miss Hannum asked "How
much?" and some said "three cups" and others "half a
cup." After a long talk about this, Miss Hannum pointed
out that sugar could be added but not taken out, so all
agreed to half a cup. Each child cleaned up his own
place at the table. Richard washed the dishes and Celia
and Florence wiped them. Sonia washed the big table.
The apple sauce was ready to strain just before they left.
When they came to dinner, instead of the regular dessert
these children had apple sauce. I helped Richard cut
his meat and as he looked at his roast beef, potatoes and
beans, with his own apple sauce topping off the meal he
said, beaming, "That's a good dinner! I am happy!"
Third Week
Celia, Marie, Faith, Albert, Edna and Richard canned
peaches on Wednesday. There was the greatest interest
and enthusiasm over this.
Fourth Week
Meta, Alan, Fred, Florence and Sonia canned peaches
on Tuesday and on Wednesday Edna, Faith, Richard,
Celia, Marie and Albert canned pears. Each child
brought five cents on the following day to pay for his jar
and then took the fruit home. No occupation is so thrilling as cooking. The children come back with glowing




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faces and cannot talk fast enough in telling me what they
have done. I have made use of their interest in bringing
money to pay for the jars to introduce the recognition
of different coins.
Meta, Alan, Fred, Florence and Sonia went for cooking
lessons both Tuesday and Wednesday as they made grape
jelly which had to be done on two consecutive days.
CLASS ORGANIZATION
First Week
Careless handling of the clay in putting it away one
day, brought up the question of the care of materials, and
I called the children together for a discussion of the
subject. Marie suggested that we have a clay committee
and also a paste committee, and I asked whether a class
committee would not be a good idea. Members were
chosen by counting out, as each child thought only of
electing himself. Alan and Marie were made Class Committee, their duties being to dust the classroom on arrival
each morning, arrange the chairs for discussion, mark
attendance on the calendar, and conduct the class when
moving from one room to another. Edna was made paste
committee, Florence clay committee, and Celia plant committee. The calendar, containing the names of the children in large printed letters, with squares opposite for
marks to indicate presence or absence was explained, and
the children decided to make a small cross for "present"
and leave the space unmarked for "absent." Alan and
Marie took turns in marking this each morning. The




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number of children present were then counted and reported
to me and I put this number in the correct place.
Second Week
Albert and Faith have been the Class Committee this
week. They have had to be reminded about dusting
chairs in the morning, but once at work, they have kept
at it well, and have had the chairs ready by nine o'clock.
Faith was a little inclined to be "bossy" in ordering the
children to be quiet, but she responded quickly to the
suggestion that it did more good to show them how to be
quiet than to tell them about it. Control by the children
themselves has had a great influence on Sonia. Very
noisy at first, she joined the others by the end of the week
in asking for quiet before entering the halls of the building occupied by the older children.
All the competition to be chosen leader, which showed
up so strongly last year in the five-year-old class, is
done away with by having a committee, and the children
seem perfectly satisfied.
Marie as paste committee, has cleaned the shelf where
the paste is kept, each morning, and Sonia has only once
had to be reminded to feed the turtle. Florence remembered only once to water the ferns.
Third Week
Edna and Richard were the class committee for the
week. Edna's efforts to quiet her naturally loud voice
were heroic. She felt the responsibility strongly and was




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inclined to be too "bossy" at first but she responded
quickly to the suggestion that she show the children how
to be quiet rather than talk about it. Richard took his
duties more quietly but was very efficient.
The children go to lunch and to music alone now and
so far have arrived quietly and maintained quiet as long
as it was necessary.
Fourth Week
The children go over to luncheon alone now under the
care of the committee. Thus far they have always arrived
quietly. They have been to dancing and to music alone.
At the election Friday, only three members of the
class reported that they had never been on a class committee. Sonia and Meta were unanimous in voting for
Florence. Sonia was voted down and Meta chosen as the
other member. The reason for this may have been Sonia's
sulkiness when thwarted but there was no articulate expression of any kind about her.
Fifth Week
Meta has been very much stimulated by her position
as one of the class committee. Her eyes shine as she calls
the line. One day Edna suddenly grabbed Faith by the
ear when they were waiting so I said she had better go to
the end of the line. Edna did not move, I asked the
committee what they thought about this. Meta said
firmly, "Go on, Edna. Go to the end of the line," and
Edna went!




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Reasons for not wanting Sonia on the committee came
out when she screamed out in the middle of the discussion on Monday. "That's why I didn't want Sonia,"
said Faith. "She's the only one who shouts in the passageway when you let us go alone," said Albert. Sonia was
quite subdued by this.
The children are in the yard when it is time to go
home, and they return to the room to be dismissed, as
several have to take off their overalls. They sit in a
circle and I call each one by name, shake hands and say
good-bye formally. They enjoy this, I think, and it does
away with some of the rough and tumble which ensues
if there is no definite method of dismissal.
If Edna is touched, she makes a face and jerks away
from the helping hand. I noticed the other day that she
said "I'm not a baby," as she did this, so I explained at
length on Tuesday, when she repeated this action as I
started to turn down the collar of her coat, that I wasn't
doing it because I thought she was babyish, but that I was
merely helping her as I would hold a coat for any adult
in a friendly way. She listened to this with real attention
and said good-bye in a very pleasant spirit. I think she
is really trying to conform to the group standards in
regard to waiting in line quietly and going through the
halls in the same way, but that is very hard for her as
she has never learned to control herself at all. This jerking away and slapping is one of the reactions that is
responsible for a good deal of her trouble, as the other
children often touch her inadvertently. She is very keen
intellectually and it seemed to me that intellectual understanding of a touch as not being necessarily either an insult




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or an attack, might help her eventually to control her
present reaction. As this reaction is of long standing,
one cannot expect immediate results, of course. It will
be interesting to see if she is influenced at all.
III. SPECIAL TRAINING
PHYSICAL EXERCISE
Second Week
On Monday the yard containing the outdoor apparatus
was opened for use and the children ran for the slide with
shouts of joy. Sliding and climbing on the ladder were
universally enjoyed.
Marie, Celia and Florence hung head downwards from
the ladder over and over. Albert, Faith and Edna slid
but did not try any stunts on the ladder. Richard and
Sonia spent a long time skinning the cat on the parallel
bars. On Tuesday, Sonia and Albert tried hanging head
downward. Edna can do it, but is a little timid. Alan
has had an infected finger, so I have discouraged his using
the ladder. The children have had great fun sliding four
or five together, all holding on to each other.
Third Week
Meta, who came to school for the first time on Monday,
has spent most of the yard period on the apparatus. She
climbed the ladder Monday morning and in the afternoon
learned to drop through a rung. On Tuesday I lowered
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and she learned how to hang head downward holding on
by her feet. This has been a favorite exercise with
the whole group.
Jumping from the top of the slide was begun on Tuesday, and has been a continuous performance ever since.
I held a hand at first but now all jump alone, Meta included. She has also learned to skin the cat on the
parallel bars and this has been done over and over by
everybody.
Edna is still very awkward on the ladder. Fred is
cautious but hangs head downward alone. Sliding in
every possible way has been popular all the week.
Fourth Week
The children get a great deal of pleasure from sliding.
Meta and Richard once tried holding hands and swinging,
while hanging head downward from the ladder. This
was pretty thrilling and was not repeated.
Jumping from the top of the slide has been tried by
everyone now. Marie is especially agile.
Edna and Fred, both of whom find it difficult to get on
with the other children, have spent much time peaceably
screening dirt together. One of the tubs in the corner of
the yard was full of water on Friday, and adding dirt to
this, for "cement," and then churning it up and down with
an old broom handle was absorbing for a whole half hour.
Fifth Week
Edna has spent much time on the ladder this week, but
she does not try to hang from it alone as yet. Meta now




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swings easily, holding on by her feet. She pushed my
hands away on Monday when I helped her.
Marie, Richard, Alan, and Florence have tried standing
on the end of the parallel bars and jumping for the ladder.
Edna has tried for two weeks to turn inside out on the
bars but has always lost her grip until Friday, when she
was able to hold on successfully. She shouted with joy
over this.
Twice during this week I took the children into the
big yard for organized games. We tried Dixie and Fox
and Squirrel. The children were very enthusiastic over
this and played well.
CARE OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS
Third Week
Celia has remembered each morning to feed the turtle.
Marie forgot only once to water the plants.
Fourth Week
Faith remembered each day to water the flowers but
Meta forgot to feed the turtle. She seems unused to
handling animals and some one nearly always helps her
clean out the bowl. On Friday Sonia brought another
turtle to everyone's delight.
Fifth Week
Celia reminded me on Monday to put the ferns out in
the rain. Sonia remembered the turtles every day.




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LANGUAGE
First Week
Stories read this week have been "Boris Walks Every
Way in New York," which aroused little interest except
from Faith, "The Jackal and the Alligator," which was
received with some amusement but little comment, the
children picking up their chairs and going off to work as
soon as I finished reading, and "How the Whale got
his Throat" from Just So Stories. This last was
hilariously enjoyed. "Best Beloved" brought forth a
shout of laughter every time I used it. After the description of the mariner's antics inside the whale, Richard
said solemnly, shaking his head: "The 'stute fish didn't
give the whale a very nice dinner, did he?" As soon as
it was finished some one said that wasn't a really true
story, and this was agreed to by all.
Second Week
This week we read the second part of "Boris" in which
he walks North and South. Good discussion in connection with this. "Things that Loved the Lake" interested
the children all the way through, and each one had
to tell the color of his or her bathing suit after hearing
about the little boy in the story. Thursday I used
Kipling's "Whale" again. This time we stopped to
discuss how the mariner made the raft and how he got
on it. There was much hilarity and some perplexity
too.




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Third Week
All the children know their own names on the calendar
now, and Faith and Celia know all the names. Most of
the others can recognize the names if I sound the first
letter, and they enjoy doing this.
We are having individual work in language in connection with stories the children tell me about their drawings.
They respond readily to suggestions such as "How did it
sound?" and enjoy the stories with which I have helped.
Am holding Edna down to a thread in her story telling,
by going back to the beginning when she rambles, and
asking her to think about the end. A story about a little
boy cooking over a fire came out very well after a long
struggle. It was read triumphantly to the class and much
admired.
Meta made a picture of a sail boat in rough water on a
rainy day. Her story began, "Some people were on a
sail boat," but when I said that that didn't make me
feel as though I were on that boat she made articulate the
sense recalls which were evidently in her mind. (See
Original Stories page 304.)
Stories read this week have been "The Little Gray
Pony," which is very good for dramatization, "Spot" and
"How the Engine Learned the Knowing Song."
Fourth Week
Introduced a phonetic game to which the children
were quick to respond. I said "dock" and let the children
give words like it in turn. "Rock, block, sock, clock,




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cock, mock," were mentioned in quick succession. It was
just an experiment but showed that the children enjoy
such an exercise.
On Tuesday the children came in full of their experiences in the rain. When they sat down in the circle I
asked a few questions about what they had worn to school
and what they had seen and I opened the window and let
them listen to the downpour. Then I said "Shall we make
a rainy story?" They answered enthusiastically "Yes,
yes!" and went on to compose one. (See Original Stories,
page 304.)
Fifth Week
On Monday after lunch I started to read "Boris" but
"Silly Will" was asked for with such enthusiasm that I
read that instead. There was universal disapproval over
Silly Will's remark, "I wouldn't depend on an old sheep,
not I." I had to pause while the children named every
article of wearing apparel they could think of that is made
of wool. Albert and Marie are behind the others in their
appreciation of stories, and their interest in this one did
not hold until the end, but the others were attentive all
the way through, and their comments showed how they
were "living the story." The relief was great when Silly
Will woke up in his own bed. They asked what a forester
was and what he did. I explained the necessity for cutting out trees that grew too near together. Some one suggested that roots would be too close.
Next day we read "The Tree Men's Story" from The
Doers and on Thursday and Friday "The Story of
Meadowland Farm," when the children told numerous




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experiences of their own in the country. The third part
of this story describes the settling down of the farm
animals for the night. The children criticised my imitation of the mother hen clucking to her chicks, saying
"The baby chicks could never hear that, Miss Stanton!"
They all joined in showing me how it should sound.
We tried the phonetic game again on one occasion. I
gave the word "block" and the children quickly added
"rock, sock, dock, clock, tock" (from tick-tick). Albert
gave "park" but this was objected to at once.
NUMBER
First Week
Have tried some number work to find out where the
children stand. All counted to ten correctly. Edna says,
14, 16, when counting to 20. The others seemed very
sure of the correct sequence. All could count backwards
from 5. I showed different combinations up to 6 with
my fingers and let the children name the answers. They
did this with great enthusiasm. Richard and Marie were
slow at it. Edna seemed confused.
One day we played number games with blocks using
combinations up through 5.
Second Week
As Edna continues to count 14, 16, I took 15 of the
tin dishes we use for play in the yard and asked her to
take care of them. This involves counting them each






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morning on her arrival, and again when she collects them
on coming in from the yard.
We have played number games with the blocks several
times before lunch. As some children are uncertain about
2 and 3, we do not go above 5 in any group game.
Third Week
I worked with Edna, Albert and Alan on Monday,
throwing cubes in combinations up to 5 and 6. Albert
is easily confused and needs individual work.
A new game was tried this week. The children play
it in pairs. One child shows the other a domino and the
latter has to put as many cubes on the table as there are
spots on the domino. This has been greatly enjoyed and
all the children are able to do it correctly.
On Thursday, the children each brought five cents to
school to pay for the jar of peaches he or she had put
up the day before in cooking class.
Richard could not pick out a nickel from a pile of
change, and interest in this was so great, that I seized the
moment to show the children nickels, pennies and dimes.
Fourth Week
We played the usual number games on Monday and
Tuesday before lunch. It is interesting to watch Richard:
he concentrates and tries hard. Instead of guessing, he
works out his answer. He won both games.
On Wednesday we had a lesson with coins again. I let
the children count from 1 to 20, something we have not;




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181


done lately because of Edna's confusion in counting "14,
16." Since taking care of the fifteen dishes and counting
them twice and sometimes three times a day she has overcome this habit and today counted correctly with the
others.
I worked alone with Alan who was very much interested, calling out the numbers as I rearranged the pennies
and making combinations himself. I worked with Albert
later. He is easily confused. Both Albert and Allan
counted correctly to 10 by 2s, the result of the number
drill we have when attendance is marked in the morning.
Fifth Week
Number games and matching dominoes were played
each day by some of the children.
On Tuesday, Fred counted pennies and found there were
five five-cents in twenty-five cents.
I worked with Edna on plans for a doll's bed. She
measured the doll and decided on twelve inches as the
proper length, then measured and cut material for
a mattress. She did this easily, but had to be held to
accuracy.
All the children can pick out five cent and ten cent
pieces now, and I have explained making change.
Florence, Marie, and Meta are very quick at it.
One day when a group were counting cubes I suggested
making rows of ten and in this way we finally counted to
one hundred. Richard was thrilled over this achievement.
Marie and Albert are the most uncertain in number. I
work with them often on combinations up to six. Albert




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used the ruler in measuring a flag he wanted to make and
had no difficulty in cutting cloth four by eight inches.
Music
First Week
On the first day of school after their naps I talked
with the children about the music lessons we had last year.
They remembered many of the songs.
Our first lesson consisted in recognizing familiar songs
from rhythmic patterns played on the tom tom, in singing songs, and in listening to the tone bars. Then a new
song about an automobile was introduced. The children
listened quietly and took part eagerly in the songs and
in making the appropriate motions.
At the second lesson Miss Stewart gave a tom tom to one
of the children. On her own tom tom she then played a
short rhythmic pattern not more than five or six beats,
and asked the child to repeat it. This was new but the
children did it well and all wanted turns. A band closed
the lesson.
Second Week
The Tuesday lesson began by swinging and clapping
rhythms. Than a new song about the sun was introduced.
The children recognized which one of two song patterns
was being played by Miss Stewart on the tom tom, and
each one was asked to sing one phrase of it individually.
They did this gladly, Albert along with the rest. A new
automobile song was then sung and they listened well,




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183


and worked hard at learning it. The game of recognizing voices was tried, with a phrase of this song as the
thing to be sung. The children knew each other's voices
at once. Playing "the blacksmith" closed the lesson.
Third Week
The work this week has included singing songs with
Miss Stewart, recognizing songs played on the piano and
instrumental marking of rhythm with tom toms and triangles.
Meta enjoys the music tremendously.
Fourth Week
Miss Stewart introduced the game of Looby Loo this
week and the children had great fun playing it.
I had asked for songs about boats for Tuesday's lesson
and these were sung with much interest.
Pitch exercises and individual repeating of rhythmic
patterns played on the tom tom by Miss Stewart finished
the lesson.
RHYTHMS
First Week
The first lesson of the year went as smoothly as though
the last lesson had taken place last week, instead of four
months ago.
Miss Doing spoke to the children to welcome them, while
they were taking off their shoes and stockings. Then




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a skipping rhythm was played and off went every child,
Albert included. After a few minutes Miss Doing sat
down on the floor and the children joined her. When all
were settled and quiet, she clapped the rhythm of "Hot
Cross Buns" and the children stepped it in turn. Alan,
who has improved greatly in control during the summer,
did this perfectly. A chance to gallop was followed by
lying on the floor and stretching. Then galloping music
was played again. The children recognized it at once and
responded with much joy and hilarity. Rocking back
and forth on the toes, and pushing up with the arms as
though pushing a swing, closed the lesson.
There was no overstimulation but just real enjoyment.
Second Week
Skipping to music started the lesson. Then Miss Doing sat on the floor and the children sat around her. After
a little talk about what they remembered from last year,
the piano played "Hot Cross Buns," and the children
clapped it. Then a very fast rhythm was played, which
necessitated very quick movement of the feet. The children responded to this well, laughing as the music kept
up. Not all kept the rhythm exactly. Soft, quiet music
followed, the children lying on the floor and stretching,
each one as he wished. Standing and stretching arms
followed, then rapid jumping. A hop-step came next.
Albert and Richard did this beautifully. Sonia's work is
in marked contrast to the way she used to run around
last year.
Two rhythms to step, "Wee Willie Winkie," and "Baa




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185


Baa Black Sheep," were introduced during Thursday's
lesson.
Third Week
The children have begun to ask for rhythms class. On
Thursday skipping to music began the lesson. This was
followed by the stepping of "Hot Cross Buns." Marie
responded at once to a new rhythm, using a long leaping
step. All the children lie down now when quiet music is
played and begin stretching at once.
Celia does very well in the exercise where the children
crouch on hands and feet and then throw first one leg and
then the other straight back. Florence and Marie do this
well. Edna does it much better with her right leg than
with her left. "I want to go hippity hop," was played
at Edna's request. Florence spontaneously added arm
motions to it. Celia and Marie were able to do this correctly too.
The following game was introduced: all sit down on the
floor with Miss Doing except one child who stands while
the others sing,
"Run and look over the fence
And tell us what you see."
The child who is standing then shows by motions what
he sees. Edna with great appropriateness was a "wild
galloping horse." All enter into this game readily.
Fourth Week
After the usual skipping, galloping and resting, the




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"frog" music was played, and the children responded by
resting their weight on their hands and throwing their
legs in the air. Alan did this very well and Miss Doing
asked him to try standing on his head against the wall.
This he did easily, running from a little distance, putting
his hands and head down and throwing his legs up against
the wall. Marie and Florence followed suit. Then Celia,
Faith and Fred tried and were successful. To see heavy,
clumsy Fred able to do it shows how far he has progressed in physical control since last year.
ORIENTATION
Second Week
Faith and Alan are quite clear now as to East and West.
I use these terms when speaking of direction in the room
and on our trips as well.
Albert is learning the location of rooms in the other
building, so he can go for things alone.
Fourth Week
On Monday we had a discussion of Friday's trip and
I asked Edna to draw the school and then Seventh Avenue, on the floor in chalk. She did this correctly, adding
trolley tracks and automobiles on the avenue. Fred continued Seventh Avenue southward but no one knew where
Eleventh Street was, so we went out to find it, and drew
it in on our return. In the afternoon in connection with
the "Fog Boat Story," I showed them the picture map of




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New York and the Hudson River, which we had crossed
on Friday. In playing the "Fog Boat Story" next day,
directions of North and South were carefully kept. Fred
and Celia, the leaders on our Friday trip, were able to turn
correctly each time I asked them by the points of the
compass. We saw the two rivers from Wanamaker's
Roof.
I am working especially with Albert and Meta, new
children.
Fifth Week
See Block Building.
IV. ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
TRIPS
First Week
On Thursday, I took the class to a store to buy an
aquarium. I pointed out East and West and Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue.
The children were very responsible about stopping on
corners. We went after the aquarium on Friday afternoon, filled the bottom with pebbles and made the turtle
comfortable.
Second Week


I had planned to take the children to Wanamaker's




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roof but fog prevented both this and a river trip, so I
decided to take them to the Pennsylvania Station, as there
has been so much railroad building this week.
Third Week
This group need to observe more carefully. Their play
shows the need for a common fund of information recruited from some absorbing interest. I therefore took
them to Hoboken to the Lackawanna Station, because certain questions which had arisen in the railroad play could
be answered there, and because the going and coming of
the engines is absorbingly interesting.
Edna and Richard, the class committee, were the leaders.
I told the group before we started that they could run
ahead of me, provided they stopped at crossings. I emphasized the necessity for standing on the curb while
waiting for me. Fred said they might be running and run
one step into the street, so Edna warned the children to
walk the last few feet before each stopping place. She
remembered this and held to it well, so well that Fred
complained that she stopped them "In the middle of the
block."
We took the Christopher Street trolley over to the
river.
Once on the ferry, we watched the cars and trucks as
they rumbled aboard but there were few questions. As
a preliminary to more careful observation I insisted on
quiet while the gates were lowered and the boat released
from her chains. The children watched this with some
attention.




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BEFORE BOOKS                     189
Edna asked why the water churned up so as the ferry
started and we discussed the propeller and the engines.
Paddle wheels were spoken of as another method of propulsion. They commented on the fact that the whistle
was blown as the boat left the slip.
There was less river traffic than usual, but the children
saw tugs, barges, and some small motor boats. I pointed
out the directions of the compass and emphasized that we
were sailing West to get to New Jersey.
At the Lackawanna Station, there was much interest in
the steam engines. We walked down to the end of a
platform, where we could see the passenger train yard with
its many tracks and signals. A small switching engine
was noticed and I emphasized its use in making up trains.
After we had watched a huge express engine for some
minutes, it started off, throwing out a great jet of steam
to one side. The children were really thrilled by this,
showing their interest both by their gestures and by their
imitation of the sounds made by the smoke and steam.
This is the first group experience they have had into which
they have entered with vivid feeling. Meta, a new child,
was rather nervous and apprehensive, wanting to go home.
The others were eager to see more. Albert, also a new
child, was quite calm.
A smaller engine pulled in a local train soon after this,
and while we were watching the fire, one of the children
asked the engineer to take him up into the cab. He
agreed to this and each child was given a turn. Fred
was afraid last spring when he had this opportunity, but
he showed no reluctance this time. Meta climbed up
readily too. Their comments on the fire were expressed




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in motor terms, several children swinging their arms
above their heads and then sideways to explain how big
the fire was.
An express pulled in on a nearby track and the engineer
of the local told the children it was the largest engine in
the country. The children looked at it intently, pointing
out to each other the bell, the sand dome, the coal car, the
headlight, etc.
We took the ferry back to New York and then a taxi,
as it was raining. This was a joyous experience.
The trip was reflected at once in the drawing done by
Celia, Alan and Fred. The story "How the Engine
Learned the Knowing Song," read to them after lunch,
was actively participated in with great enjoyment.
Fourth Week
Went with the children to Wanamaker's roof to see the
rivers to the east and west of New York.
Fred and Celia were the leaders and were very reliable
about stopping on corners. The elevators in Wanamaker's interested the children very much. They saw the
great rod below the cage which pushes the elevator up
and I asked the man in charge whether steam was the
power used, and then explained to the children that the
push of steam could be used in this way as well as to
turn engine wheels, "or boat propellers," said a child.
Fred noticed that the weight came down when the elevator
went up. Once in the car they looked up and watched the
rising with great interest. Meta asked, "Will we bump?"




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and another child explained that there was extra room at
the top.
On the roof, the children first noticed "the tiny people"
in the streets and then were much diverted by an elevated
train. I told them they were walking east when we
stepped out of the door, so they knew they were looking
at the East River. They noticed tugs pulling barges,
and a steamer which was anchored in the river. I told
them the names of the three bridges to the south and
pointed out Brooklyn. They knew I lived there. Someone said that one subway came up out of the ground and
went over one of the bridges, so I pointed out the Manhattan bridge especially. Albert discovered the Queensborough bridge to the north and asked about that.
Then we walked west and saw the Hudson River. The
view of this was not quite so satisfactory. We could not
see the river traffic. New Jersey could be seen pretty
well and I pointed out Hoboken, where we had gone on
our last trip.
On our way home, someone discovered three chefs working in a basement kitchen, and we stopped to look at
them, "Just like the Queer Little Baker Man," said Fred.
DISCUSSION
First Week
Beginning the school day with a talk together is new
to the children coming from the five-year-old class, but
they have accepted it readily and except for the first day,




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have taken part eagerly. Their interest has been held for
the full twenty-five minutes.
On Monday I asked them about their experiences in
the country. All had seen cows brought back from the
pasture. As interest in this seemed lacking, I asked how
they had come back to New York from the country.
Train, boat and automobile were the ways mentioned.
On Tuesday, I described a city house closed for the
summer with the dust sifting in and sifting in. I asked
the children what would have to be done before the house
could be lived in. (This idea was suggested to me by
the play in the yard on Monday.) The interest was keen
and answers came in rapid succession, "wash floors,"
"dust walls," "wash paint," "wash windows," "clean
stove," "polish  stove," "clean  chimney," etc. This
brought us to the question of heat for cooking and a child
said, "gas must be turned on," which led to a question of
why it had been turned off. The reason for this was given
as fire. "Water must be turned on" was next suggested
and I asked why water must be turned off. The first
reason given for this was that faucets might be left running, and Albert told a long story of trouble in his house
from this source. Alan also told a story of a leak. The
danger of a loose joint in the pipe was mentioned by
Faith, and Edna shouted, "There might be a leak!" I
added that electricity must be turned on and some one else
suggested the telephone must be connected.
Wednesday we discussed leaving the country, packing
trunks and shipping them. Alan said there must be a
"letter" on each trunk and we discussed the use of tags
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On Thursday, Sonia brought a turtle to school and interest in this started a talk about turtles. Albert told
of the great size marine turtles attain and others corroborated this and told of trips to the Aquarium.
The children knew that the turtle's shell was a protection
to him and that it caused his slow locomotion. George
said a turtle had no teeth, and when I asked what other
animals were without teeth, he said, "Birds," and Sonia,
"Chickens." Then we talked about what our turtle needed
in the way of food and housing facilities and decided to
buy a small aquarium. This we did later in the morning.
Then, while they watched him, I read them Vachel Lindsay's "Turtle."
Friday's discussion period was taken up in writing the
following letter to the school store.
DEAR VIII's,
We are ordering something from your store. We need
one pair of scissors, 2 pieces of chalk, 1 package of
drawing paper and 12 crayons of each color. Have you
any needles in your store? Have you any yellow
yarn?
Send these things over to Group VI A. Our room is
downstairs on the 1st floor. We will pay you when you
send them.
GROUP VI A.
Second Week
From the yard play of last week, it seemed as though
boats were a subject of general interest to the class. So
after the attendance was marked on Monday, I asked the
children to name different kinds of boats they had seen.




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Fire-boats, canoes, row boats, ferry boats, dories, motor
boats, steamers, yachts, fishing boats, barges, and sail
boats were quickly mentioned. Sonia told a story of a
dory at Provincetown, which dragged its anchor and was
wrecked by the breakers on the beach. We discussed the
advantages of tying a boat to a dock. Motor boats were
said to be good for fishing boats, "They can get there
quickly." Florence told of a personal fishing experience.
I asked what boats we would see if we went over to the
Hudson. The children said steamers and tugs chiefly.
The tug's function was given as pulling out ocean liners
and dragging barges. Richard told of a long line of
barges he had seen being pulled by four tugs. Everyone
contributed to the talk and followed it with interest.
On Tuesday, the discussion was about boats too. Faith
told how Columbus came to America when everyone
thought he would "fall off."
On Wednesday, the children arrived intent on the fact
that they were going to cook for the first time. I asked
how people cooked years ago before they knew how to
build houses, and the children shouted that they had to
cook out-of-doors on the wood fire. They were all
familiar with picnicking or camping, and each one told
some story of his experiences. Richard told how at camp
they made a support of two poles and hung a pot on
these; Albert told how Indians made a fire by rubbing
sticks together. Celia told of a big fireplace used for cooking in her country house and explained the use of the
crane. Then I asked what we cooked on at home and
now. The children said "stoves," and mentioned wood,
coal, kerosene and gas as different kinds of fuel.






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Third Week
On Monday the children told about their trip to the
Pennsylvania Station. They remembered accurately what
they had seen and some small details that I had forgotten, but there was little vividness in their descriptions.
During the day, Fred asked about a trestle and also
where trains were kept at night, so in Tuesday's discussion we followed this up. I explained that a trestle was
a bridge over dry land and this led off to bridges each
had seen or crossed. Then we talked of train yards and
roundhouses. This led to trolley car barns, which Albert
told about. The methods of carrying electricity by cable,
by rail, and by wire were discussed.
I had planned to continue the railroad discussion on
Wednesday but a dahlia brought by Alan started the children talking about seeds and seed pods, so I showed them
some milk week pods that I had in school, and we traced
the life of the seed from its falling in the ground to its
sprouting and blossoming. I read the "Story of a Cedar
Cone," which tells of the growth of a tree.
On Thursday, during our number lesson with coins,
Faith said that once there was no money, and several of
the children told how goods were exchanged before money
was invented. One child told of Indian money, made of
shells.
Fourth Week


(See under Orientation)




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Fifth Week
Some of the children were so full of their over-Sunday
excursions that we devoted the Monday discussion period
to relating them. At the same time I tried to call attention to the direction in which each one had travelled.
Then I suggested that we tell about our trip on Friday.
This was really for the purpose of bringing the other
children into the discussion, and the story told was logical
but meager. Later, however, some very good block play
developed reflecting experiences of this trip.
During the discussion, Edna sucked her thumb. Several
children objected, and remonstrated with her. I had
made up my mind that as Edna is continually playing
for attention, she must be treated casually, so I said I
thought it was none of our business what she did; that
it was true that doctors say thumb-sucking is bad for the
mouth, but I thought Edna was old enough to understand that, and to stop herself; that we were much too
busy in school to look after her. We went on talking and
in about two minutes, the thumb was taken out of her
mouth and stayed out.
I opened the discussion on Tuesday by looking at the
various buildings left on the floor, and saying that I
thought the children had made a very good city, but that
some things had been left out. I asked what the things
were that people in the city would really have to have.
Richard said, "Beds and food." This led to stores being
enumerated. Drug stores, butcher stores, grocery stores,
and bakeries were decided to be the most important.
Then Celia said, "We don't need cake," this was agreed




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197


by all. Then Faith said milk was needed and Alan
mentioned water.
I emphasized here the absolute necessity in a large city
of a clean and pure milk and water supply and asked
why it was a necessity. The children knew that disease
resulted from germs in impure water. We stopped to discuss what people could do to make water safe. Toilets,
bathtubs, soap, and "a sink to brush your teeth in" were
said to be necessary, and I brought out the fact that the
dirty water must be gotten rid of in some way. Faith
said, "pipes" carried it away and Fred added, "sewer
pipes." Then Florence said clothes must be worn to keep
warm, so we added a clothing store to our list, and then
some one else said "shoes," so we added a cobbler. I
told the children we called the things that we must have
to live, "necessities." Stoves, furnaces, wood and coal
were added before the children were satisfied. And at the
end, we said that the necessary foods would come from
the country.
This was a very interesting discussion and it was very
hard to keep to our rule that only one child must speak
at a time. Ideas came so fast that everyone talked at
once some of the time. Albert and Marie are the first
ones to become restless both at discussion and at story
time.
Candy stores, ice cream stores, five and ten cent stores,
were ruled out as not being strictly necessary and watches,
mentioned by someone, were turned down by Faith, who
said you could tell time by the sun. We digressed here to
point to the East. The children agreed it would be morning when the sun was there, noon when it was overhead,




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and night when it went down in the West. Alan said it
was the earth turning around that made the sun seem
to be in different places and then said, "But what makes
the spring time?" I said that we would talk about that
some day with Mr. Paley, the science teacher.
The keen interest in the farm play schemes built during
the last two days dictated a discussion of farms on Thursday, and this narrowed down to a talk on cows and milking. I read the first part of "Meadow Land Farm" to
the children, as I wanted them to get the real feel of farm
life rather than a statement about the care of cows and
milk, which could come later.




JANUARY


I. PLAY EXPERIENCES
PLAY WITH BIG MATERIALS-INDOORS
First Week
We were kept at home from a trip by rain on Friday,
sq we spent the entire morning in making scenery and
costumes for a dramatization of "The Big Red Apple."
This was Faith's idea and she took the main part, that of
Bobby.
Fred made a tall apple tree, out of two sheets of large
paper pasted together, and tacked it to the broom to make
it stand. He worked splendidly, coloring the trunk of
the tree brown, and adding branches at the top. Alan
made red apples with black stems for the tree. In the
story itself, the farmer has picked the apples and put them
in the barn, but Fred could not bear to make the tree
without apples, so he pasted the stems on and explained
to Celia, who was the farmer, that she could cut them off
and carry them to the barn before the story began. Celia
agreed to do this. She worked hard, using paper and
crayons to make squashes, pumpkins, and red and green
apples to use in her barn.
I99




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Faith made the fire in the fireplace, before which Bobby
and his grandfather are seated when the story opens, and
the picture book for Bobby to look at. Richard and
Albert painted the hearth rug, in blue and red. It had a
border around the edge and a design which was worked
out with much conversation. Meta was very happy over
a gray pussy cat costume which she painted. Florence
painted a gray squirrel costume. This covered her in
front. She showed me how the squirrel would sit up.
Albert, a dog, and Marie, a cow, were without costumes.
Marie showed me her brown dress which she said looked
"just like a cow." She made a dish and spoons for Bobby
and his grandfather to eat the apple with after it had
been roasted.
Sonia wanted to play "The Little Rabbit who was
Afraid," she and Edna prepared for that, Sonia making a
lion costume and mask and Edna a rabbit costume. I
gave the children big sheets of paper and suggested that
they use paint instead of crayons, since paint could be
spread over a large surface more rapidly. Edna began
her rabbit first. I held the sheet of paper in front of her
face and drew circles in pencil where her eyes came.
Then she drew a rabbit's head, with long ears on the top
and cut this out. The paper extended down to her knees
in front, and she painted the whole thing brown except for
red centers in the ears and red nostrils. I held a piece of
paper in front of Sonia and was about to mark the eyes,
when she said that as she would be down on her hands
and knees, she ought to make a covering for her back.
She painted this brown, found some heavy cord, and tied
it on as a tail. Then she made a mask out of a small:i




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sheet of paper. She was reminded by Edna to make
"a name."
At 11: 45 all was ready. Faith and Marie put two
tables in one end of the room and attached a side of the
fireplace to each by thumb-tacks. The completed rug was
laid in front of this, the plate and spoons back of it and
a string prepared to suspend the apple in front of the
fire. A chair was made ready for the grandfather. Alan
and Celia made a barn of three tables, using cups for
barrels, and filling them with farm produce.
I read the story to the children and then they played
it. Sonia asked if we couldn't invite the VI B's to come
and see it, so I said that at three o'clock we would give
another performance.
Marie, so self-conscious usually, lost herself completely
in her small part this time. Alan did well too, but
showed a little embarrassment by fooling.
I asked Sonia to tell the VI B's the name of the play
when they came and who the various characters were.
PLAY WITH BIG MATERALS-OUTDOORS
First Week
Playing Eskimos was started by Sonia on Tuesday and
kept the whole class busy both morning and afternoon.
They built a hut of snow cakes and went hunting seal
and polar bear on their dog sleds.
Fred brought a small red lantern to school on Wednesday, and this started the whole group playing train.
Sonia and Meta made an engine and a baggage car with




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sliding doors, one on'each side. Albert started an engine
but spent his time talking and never finished it. Celia
made a small enclosure she called a dungeon at the foot
of the slide. The children became very much excited over
being caught in it, so I stopped the play and interested
Celia in building a house.
Second Week
The cold weather has influenced the play in the yard
this week. The children have fished ice out of the pool in
the river yard, and chopped it into bits or used it to
play ice man. When the pool froze solid they slid on it
with great hilarity.
Sonia has introduced various animal plays. These consist chiefly in hunting animals, such as monkeys or tigers,
catching them in a trap, and bringing them to New York
to the Zoo. There has been a great deal of running and
chasing in these plays.
On Thursday afternoon, after our trip to Staten Island,
Richard stood motionless on top of several blocks with
one arm upraised. The other children were dashing and
chasing about him but he stood silent and impassive. His
expression was so thoughtful I knew he was playing
something. When one of the children asked him what he
was he said, "The Statute of Liberty."
Third Week
Sonia has been the leader and organizer of animal
games several times this week. She has so many ideas






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203


and carries them out so well, that the children all enjoy
playing with her. One day five children were monkeys,
while Albert was the hunter. Sonia made traps of blocks
and boards into which the monkeys fell, one by one.
They were then loaded on a steamer and brought to
New York to the Zoo. On another day the children were
jackals, and Sonia caught them and brought them to
America. Bringing in ice from the other yard has also
been an absorbing occupation.
Fourth Week
The children have played boat a good deal this week.
On Tuesday, after they had stood around in the yard
for some time, I suggested building an ocean liner and
helped to start it.
Sonia introduced a game of pirates on Wednesday. A
very fine sailing vessel was made of the biggest box.
Blocks and a long board made the bow and the bowsprit.
The rake served as a mast, and two boards as sails.
Sonia, Fred, Florence, Meta, Faith and Celia pulled up
the sails, shouting, "Pull boys, pull!" Then Fred sat on
the bow, with Sonia just above him on the box. Celia
and Faith retired within the cabin and Meta and Florence
stood on the deck back of the sail, while the boat sped
through the sea. The pebble pit served as "Treasure
Island," and having reached its shores all disembarked
and filled the pails with pebbles which they carried back
to the ship. Sonia was struggling to explain the Stevenson story, but I suggested the simplification of just finding






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and carrying away the treasure, and this satisfied them
all.
On Friday a great pile of blocks suggested icebergs to
the children and some played polar bear while others
played shipwreck. Everyone but Richard was either
struggling in the water (the pebble pit). using our two
automobile tires, part of the yard equipment, as life
preservers, or galloping about the yard chasing polar bears,
but he calmly played garbage man, getting rubbish in
the little express cart and dumping it in the waste basket.
BLOCK BUILDING
First Week
The play on Monday and Tuesday was lacking in zest
and showed that farms (farming was made the chief topic
of interest in the months of November and December)
had lost their real hold on the children, and that a new
interest was needed. The trip to Hoboken last Friday and
the discussions on Monday and Wednesday were planned
with this in mind.
On Wednesday Albert started the Hoboken docks on the
West bank of the Hudson, but I destroyed his interest by
insisting on too accurate representation. Sonia made a
grain elevator. She used yarn to represent the moving
belt and clay baskets for buckets. Richard started to
draw, but I suggested block building to him as he spends
so much of his time in drawing. Just at this moment,
Sonia said, "Where is a tug to pull my elevator?"  I






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205


asked Richard whether he couldn't rent her a tug and
he responded with alacrity, making a tug of peg lock
blocks. First they used yarn to hitch the boats together
but this broke. Then they tried string, tied to nails.
Richard pushed the tug and Sonia pushed the elevator.
Up the Hudson they moved, past Edna's farm and Meta's
farm, Sonia saying, "Slowly, slowly." All the children
were interested. When the end of the room was reached,
they drew the boat up to the shore, and lowered the gangplank.
Sonia ran to the shelf and found a toy farmer, carrying
a bag of corn. He was used to load the elevator with
corn from Marie's farm. Meanwhile Florence and Faith
who were still playing house, brought their doll children
to see the elevator. Fred and Albert had been working
on a railroad meanwhile, and they carried grain to the
city. Meta and Alan were building big steamers.
On Thursday, Alan appealed to me for help, saying
his Leviathan ought to be higher than Sonia's grain elevator and he could not make it so. I talked this over with
Sonia and we all decided that the Leviathan really was
much higher than the elevator. She agreed to lower her
tower if I would help, so she and I took off a few tiers
of blocks and the relative sizes were attained, to everyone's satisfaction. Richard ran at once to his tug and
said to Sonia, "Are you ready to come out now?" But
Sonia said no, that it was winter now and the river was
frozen. She transferred her grain to Fred's train, which
took it to the city and Richard joined Alan who wished
to take the Leviathan downstream. It was so heavy,
they had to screw in hooks, fetched from the big shop,






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before they could make the string hold. They worked
like Trojans, Richard saying, "chug, chug, chug, chug!"
and Alan calling, "Look out, stop!"
Marie and Florence were untouched by this new interest. Marie talked constantly while playing alone.
Taking a doll from visiting Florence she said, "She goes
home, she goes and sits in the library to read a book,"
putting the doll in a chair and placing a tiny paper in her
hands. This represented a book from the bookshelves
made of peg lock blocks. A little later she put all the
dolls to bed, saying, "See, they're all asleep!" As she
took them up she said, "Now it's morning."
Edna meanwhile had made a freight yard with Albert.
They ran trains, using signals and being very accurate.
Edna's language is quite adult. "Now I'm going to make
a switch going in two directions." A switching engine
was used in the yard.
Celia built a park. Her interest is always in design.
A pathway led up to a sort of temple of Babylonian
effect with steps and balustrades leading down on the
opposite side.
Second Week
All the children but Meta, Florence and Celia, built
boats on Monday, and all through the week steamers ran
to England, ferries ran across the Hudson, coal barges
carried coal. Florence was drawn into this play later,
building a very good ferry with a deck and two pilot
houses, also a ferry house with a ticket office and waiting
room. Meta built a hotel in the country up the Hudson




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and her inability to get across the river stimulated Faith
to build a ferry and run it for her. Edna's patience was
too short for the slow progress necessary to the boy's
boats, so she retired from the tug boat business and took
up farming near Meta. Fred, bringing his boat to the
bay, found the entrance to the Hudson River blocked by
Albert's and Alan's boats. He said to me, "I can go up
the East River and through the Harlem and down the
Hudson." He drew these rivers on the floor and pushed
his boat around that way. Later in the week we looked
at the Harlem River on the map and decided it would
be too shallow, really, for ocean liners.
Third Week
The most complete block scheme of the year resulted
form the trip to Staten Island. The whole group took
part in it, and the constructions were played with, with
much zest and interest.
On Monday, after a discussion of our trip, Meta said
she wanted to build the Statue of Liberty. I asked her
where she would put it and she said "in the bay." Albert
said he would make Governors Island. Sonia said she
would make Battery Park and the Staten Island Ferry
House "at the bottom of New York." I asked the children
in what part of the room the bay should be and they
pointed correctly to the south end. Then I asked what
lay to the East of New York, and when they said the
East River, I drew two chalk lines on the floor, repeating
this on the West to make the Hudson.
As soon as the rivers were outlined, Florence said she
would make the Sixth Avenue elevated in New York,




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and Fred that he would make his apartment house on
Sixteenth Street. Edna decided to build the Lackawanna
Railroad in New Jersey. Sonia wanted to make Staten
Island, so I asked her where it should be and at her
direction drew a chalk line to represent it in the extreme
end of the room.
Both Albert and Meta used blocks laid flat to represent
the small islands they were making. Both felt the form
of the islands enough to make them circular, not square
in shape. Meta began Bedloe Island on the same side
of the bay as Governors Island, but she corrected this
after I had suggested that she look at the map. She
built the pedestal and placed a doll on top of it. The
doll stood erect with one arm in air, the hand being covered
by a small clay jar which suggested a light. This fell
down repeatedly and finally she took a Statue of Liberty
drawn by Richard, and thumb-tacked this to two blocks,
so it would stand erect.
Opposite her, across the bay, Albert worked absorbedly
on Governors Island, building two lighthouses, and a
round pile of blocks suggesting a fort.
Sonia made the Aquarium in Battery Park, with five
small enclosures for fish. In one she placed Albert's clay
walrus, in another Faith's turtle of clay, in another Celia's
goldfish, in another Richard's duck. Then she ran for
the peg lock fences (made by the children for the farm
play in November and December) and made a little enclosure to represent the park, with one lone tree and a
little grass in it. Below this she built the ferry house.
She made a narrow entrance which led to the ticket office,
a small square enclosure with a small window through




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which tickets could be purchased. She put two dolls inside at a table, and made strips of tiny red and blue
tickets, "red for grown ups and blue for children." Beyond this she made a ticket box and seated a doll beside
it to watch it. Next she made the ferry slip and the
ferry.
Florence, meanwhile, was working on the Sixth Avenue
elevated. This ran South in the center of Manhattan
Island and curved over to the East just as the real "L"
does. One signal was placed at the curve, arranged just
as we had seen the signal on our trip, and another was
placed just in front of the Battery Park Station. Elaborate stairs led down to the ground level.
Fred made a large six story apartment house, "my
apartment house on Sixteenth Street." His interest was
well sustained. Celia made the Leviathan, using triangular blocks to form a pointed bow. It was not so
large as the liners built by the boys last week, but in
shape it was quite accurate.
Edna started the Lackawanna Railroad in New Jersey.
The space to work in was limited and she did not progress
far with it.
On returning from their naps, the children flew to work
again. Faith and Celia built a church at the northern
end of Manhattan. They seated the dolls in rows before
the doll minister in the pulpit. Meanwhile, Sonia had
run her ferry to Staten Island and had been bitterly disappointed to find "no houses there." Meta immediately
said she would build a house there. Albert and Richard
built a freight yard we had seen there on our trip.
Fred now finished his apartment and went to the shelf






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for dolls. He was disgusted when he found they were
all in use and most of them at church. I suggested that
as a church could not feed and lodge people, the dolls
might live in Fred's house and merely attend services in
the church.
The children welcomed this proposal and it was put into
effect, except that Fred tried to take the people out of
church at once, and Celia remonstrated violently saying,
"We are right in the middle." He let the service come to
a close and then took eight of our new toy farmers out
and arranged them on a block, two by two, saying to
me as he pushed them down toward the lower end of
New York, "You know those long crowds that come out
of church, Miss Stanton." Sonia was ready to weep because no one had come to see the Aquarium, so Fred said
all his family were coming. He arranged the dolls in
front of the enclosures and let them stand there for some
minutes, gazing at the specimens. Faith, walking by,
said to Sonia that she didn't think her turtle could be
seen at all, as it was back of the big bowl containing the
goldfish.
Next, Fred took the dolls to the ferry house. He arranged them in a long single line and let each one stop at
the ticket window. Then Sonia tore off a ticket and
handed it through the window. Fred made the doll drop
it into the ticket box and then go into the waiting room.
Finally when all the dolls had dropped their tickets in,
the two children marched them on to the ferry. There
they had to be left until morning as the time had now
come to go out in the yard.
Celia and Faith, meanwhile, had made automobiles




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out of blocks for the other worshippers, who were leaving
church. Each doll sat in state in what appeared to be
a small wooden chair. These were placed one behind the
other in a straight line, twelve of them in a row, looking
for all the world like a traffic jam in a very busy street.
I said to the children that it looked just like a crowded
street except for one thing. Faith said, "We need a
policeman," and they placed a doll with raised arm in
front of the cars.
On Tuesday the children objected to going out in the
yard, they were so eager to get to work at their block
scheme.
Richard worked on Brooklyn Bridge again. He had
built very crudely on Monday.
Celia and Faith flew to their church, turned around the
automobiles that had been carrying the people away, and
brought them back to attend a service. Albert became interested and brought some of his men from Governors
Island. Celia and Faith started fooling, so I stopped
the church play and asked them to look at New York
and see what else the city needed. Celia said, "The
Woolworth Tower," atonce, and Faith said, "the Metropolitan." Each knew the correct location of these buildings. Celia built the Woolworth near Battery Park. I
told Faith that Fred's house was at Sixteenth Street and
she counted up to Twenty-third Street, making a line on
the floor for each street. Then she built the tower. It
fell twice, so I suggested that she try an entirely different
way of making it. She builds very roughly, as a general
thing, but this time she settled down to concentrated
work and evolved an entirely new method of placing the




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blocks which was strong and satisfactory. She made a
pointed top which was much admired.
Fred and Sonia ran at once to the ferry boat, on which
Fred's dolls had been waiting since the day before, and
pushed it down the bay past the Statue of Liberty, past
Governors Island into its Staten Island dock. Fred ran
for his red lantern and gave this to Sonia to set on the
end of the pier, to represent the light we had seen on the
trip. He took his dolls off the boat and let them look
at the freight trains, but Sonia soon called "Twelve
o'clock now, the ferry's going," so Fred rushed his dolls
on board for the return trip. Sonia made a clock of
blocks as soon as she reached the New York pier, so that
she would know when to run the ferry. Fred then took
his dolls to the elevated station and asked where to buy
tickets. Florence said she would make a ticket office and
tickets which she did. Then the dolls were put on the
train. Meta told me at this juncture that she did not
want to play with her house on Staten Island, so I suggested that she help Florence as the latter needed a station
at Fourteenth Street for Fred's family, who were on their
way to Sixteenth Street.
Albert took his men on a visit to the Statue of Liberty
but complained that it was not safe, as Meta had not put
any railing around the edge of her island.
Edna continued her Lackawanna tracks and made a
freight yard. She said she would bring food and coal
for the people.
While struggling with the removal of his leggings on
Wednesday, Fred said, "I can't wait a minute, I want to
work all the time."  He added a chimney to his house






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213


making long tails of "smoke" out of paper and thumbtacking them to the block representing this. He took
his dolls on excursions over the city again, adding great
zest to the boat and train play.
Celia and Florence made blue "uniforms" out of paper
for the ticket sellers on the elevated. Meta took over the
running of trains, and was thrilled with this new interest.
Sonia decided to build the school on Twelfth Street, so
Richard, who was not building, ran her ferry for her.
She cautioned him particularly about changing the pilot
from one pilot house to the other at the end of each trip.
Fred complained that his family were starving as there
were no stores at which to buy food, so Albert built a
store on  Seventeenth  Street. (See discussion  under
Organization of Information Wednesday, third week.)
On Thursday, only Albert, Fred and Sonia retained
their interest in building. Albert built a dredger in the
bay, and Fred did the same, after some play with his
house. Marie, who has been absent for ten days, joined
Sonia in the construction of a motion picture theater,
which was very completely worked out, with a stage on
which Sonia's own pictures were shown, an orchestra of
dolls "playing music," and rows of seats, on which all
the available dolls were placed.
On Friday, owing to wet weather, our usual trip had to
be postponed. The children, having laid out Twelfth
Street and the adjacent streets and avenues, built the
school, the hospital across the street, the jail on Tenth
Street and Cushman's Bakery on the corner of Tenth
Street and Greenwich Avenue. Marie built this all alone,
accurately reproducing the counters and cashier's desk.




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Dolls served as sales people and customers. Faith and
Florence were drawn into this play, making pies, cakes
and jelly-rolls out of clay. Ovens were made, in which
to bake these.
Fourth Week
As there was a good deal of difficulty in pushing the
block boats last week, owing to the small size of the Hudson River, I suggested this week that we draw the Hudson
larger, and leave out the East River and Brooklyn. Fred
said we could pretend the yard to the East of us was
Brooklyn, and this satisfied everyone and gave plenty of
space for the boats.
Fred, Richard, and Albert built docks on the New
Jersey side of the River. Fred made the Leviathan, experimenting a good deal, and finally achieving a fairly
stable construction which he pushed about without its
falling. Albert made an ocean liner, too, of totally different construction. He used a long narrow block as
foundation, but built a wide boat on top of this, which
was so well balanced that it crossed to England several
times before disintegrating. He marked out the channel
in the bay with buoys and Faith and Celia were drawn
into the play long enough to make lighthouses for the
steamers. We consulted the map to see where these
should be placed, and the Narrows was agreed upon as the
essential spot for them. Both these boats ran regularly,
being hauled out of the dock by tugs, then pushed carefully between the buoys and so across the ocean. Both
boats were anchored in the bay one day, when lunch




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215


time came at an inconvenient moment. Albert's missed
the channel one day and stuck in the mud until high
tide floated her off. Having pushed the Leviathan into
her dock, Fred cut a cover of paper and placed it on the
top of the last funnel, an accurate reproduction of what
we had seen on our trip. All the children were interested
in the word Leviathan, when its meaning of sea monster
was explained to them. Albert brought coal, clay beads
which Faith and Celia had painted black, in barges over
from New Jersey and delivered it to the girls' apartment
houses.
Celia, Meta and Florence each built such a house.
Celia's was six floors high, very well put together, with a
roof garden on top, which gave it a very pleasing effect.
The other two did not build as accurately, but their interest held all through the week, new features were added
each day, their numerous families were taken in and
out, and constant conversation was carried on.
Faith built the Statue of Liberty on Monday. She
really concentrated on this, and the resulting construction
showed how poorly she observes. A long low house with
some furniture in it represented the keeper's house, and
back of this, on a small tower of blocks, was placed the
clay Statue of Liberty made by Richard. The other
children criticised this at once, saying the Statue of
Liberty looked high, but I defended her as she seldom
makes as much of an effort as she did with this construction.
Edna and Sonia made farms at the north end of the
room. Edna's barn was beautifully made with floor,
stalls, an upper floor, and a pointed sloping roof. This




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came I think from a talk we had had on Friday last,
when the children saw the janitor shovelling snow from
the flat roof of the passageway. Sonia gave as a reason
for this that water rots wood, and I asked whether anyone knew how roofs were built in places where much snow
falls. Meta said that their house in Massachusetts had a
steep pointed roof, and all recognized that the snow would
slide off from such a roof. Edna made hers by standing
a row of eleven-inch blocks in the center of her upper
floor with five-and-a-half-inch blocks on each edge at
the sides. She tried every kind of block in the room for
the roof itself, and then asked if she might get some
beaver board from the shop. With my help, she measured
the distance from top to side and along the sides and came
back with two pieces which just fitted. The usual pasture
was built outside the barn. Sonia made curtains and
portieres for her farm house out of muslin and all the
city houses then blossomed out with curtains and shades.
Alan returned on Friday after a ten days' absence, and
built an ocean liner at once.
All the docks are now built like Sonia's ferry dock made
last week. I am not explaining the difference between a
ferry and a steamer dock, as I hope the next trip will
clear this up.
DRAWING AND PAINTING
Richard drew steadily from eleven to twelve on Monday, making his first picture of a horse and wagon.
In the afternoon we had a quiet drawing time from
2:30 to 3: 00. Alan had become very much interested in
making horses. Meta drew the Leviathan stuck in the




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mud, using three sheets of paper pasted together. She
asked what flag should hang at the stern, and Celia made
her an American flag. Fred tried to do the same thing,
but smeared the paste all over. He has not yet become an
efficient worker (contrast reference to him under Painting,
page 158) with the materials. Several children drew
green hills with houses on them.
Third Week
Meta, Edna and Celia have painted steamers on large
sheets of paper this week. Sonia and the boys, on the
other hand, have used block building as their means of
expressing the current interest in boats.
Edna's steamer was full of vigor and action. She drew
the outline of the hull with one long sweeping stroke of
the brush and then filled it in afterwards in black. She
drew two decks above this in the same way, and added
masts at the bow and stern as well as smokestacks.
Celia and Meta attempted to put in more detail but
their boats lacked the vigor shown in Edna's.
Fourth Week
Great interest in painting the latter part of this week.
The improvement in technique has made possible the
painting of some very satisfactory big pictures. Meta
drew a tug and a coal barge on a big sheet. Edna painted
a canoe, with a splendid sweeping line for the upper curve
of the boat.
Celia and Florence have made trees and houses on small
sheets. Both children handle paint much better now




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than they did. Faith painted a charming house and tree,
making an interesting choice of colors.
Albert slaved over a black boat on Friday, with blue
waves curling up on it, and blue portholes.
Fifth Week
There has been a good deal of interest in drawing on
the big sheets. Several children have returned to crayons
instead of using paint. Sonia drew a very life-like rooster
one day, full of accurate detail. Celia's green hill had a
little brook running down its slope and dashing over the
stones. Fred started a brook on a big sheet. He came
to tell me he had made a stone in it, then came to tell me
he had made a little worm in the water. He is the only
child who does this.
Celia upset a jar of red paint on Friday. She worked
splendidly scrubbing the floor afterwards.
None of the pictures lately have had stories about them.
CLAY
First Week
Celia and Albert modelled hills with tents on them.
Edna tried this on Tuesday, adding an open fire for cooking. Richard modelled a tree and tried an alligator but
without success.
Fourth Week
Clay was used on Friday to make cakes for the block






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bakery. Richard modelled the Statue of Liberty; using
toothpicks for a crown.
Fifth Week
The use of clay for coal was instituted this week. Edna
and Florence modelled large rabbits on Friday.
II. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES
SHOP AND BENCH WORK
First Week
Florence and Faith have made and painted semaphore
signals this week for use in the railroad play. Meta has
made a table.
Second Week
Edna has finished a very well made truck. She used it
in connection with her farm but took it home at the end
of the week.
Third Week
Celia and Florence have made signals in response to
demands from Sixth Avenue elevated and the Lackawanna
Railroad. Faith and Meta have finished and painted their
coal barges, for use in the boat schemes.




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Fourth Week
Now that boats are the main interest in the block
schemes, bench products have been coal barges and tugs,
chiefly. Round tables with a design painted on them
have been made this week also.
COOKING
Cooking lessons this month have included the making
of cake, of gingerbread, and of gingerbread boys.
CLASS ORGANIZATION
First Week
Alan and Sonia were class committee this week. The
latter was overjoyed at her election and was most efficient in office. She and Alan worked well together, having no disputes as to who should lead, but remembering
who had had the last turn in leading the line or being
door keeper, and alternating without help. A student
teacher took the class on Wednesday and reported that
they managed themselves without difficulty. On Friday
afternoon, elections for the following week were held.
The meeting became quite noisy, several children starting
to nominate before it was time. Faith stood up and I
seized upon this to suggest that a child stand before he
speak. I explained that this would simplify my own
handling of the meeting and would also assist them in
seeing who had the floor, and I explained the meaning of
that term. Faith and Meta were made class committee




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221


with Fred as substitute. Florence said, "He doesn't push
any more," as she nominated him. He was unanimously
elected. Edna was quite heartbroken over this as she had
wanted to make him paste committee, so the choice was
put up to Fred and he said he would rather be substitute
on the class committee. Edna shouted with wrath at this
decision and made such a fuss that I took the nomination
out of her hands entirely. Celia rose and said she thought
we needed a coat and hat committee, as wraps often fall
from the coat rack and are left lying on the floor. This
was a very good suggestion. Edna having calmed down
by this time, was nominated by Marie and elected. I
asked her to stand and state what she thought her duties
would be, and she said that she would pick up coats and
hats and also see that rubbers were put in their proper
places.
Second Week
Meta and Faith have made a fine class committee remembering each day who was to mark the calendar, etc.
Third Week
Nothing new to report.
Fourth Week
As Miss Pratt felt that electing Committees was making
the group think too much about each other's behavior,
she asked me to appoint the committees for the week
hereafter.




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So on Monday, I told the children that I would choose
committees for a time. There were several protests, but
these disappeared when I said that each outgoing committee member might suggest to me the child he or she
would like to have serve' for the next week.
I disregarded one suggestion by appointing Edna on the
class committee, otherwise I took the children's "nominations."
Edna has been very noisy ever since the Christmas
vacation. The pleasant relationship and understanding
between us has broken down and she has shown the antagonism which she displayed at first. I felt that putting
her in a position of responsibility might help her to feel
once more that we were working together rather than
against each other. I also arranged for her to rest alone
instead of with the other children, and she showed some
improvement by the end of the week.
I put Richard on the Committee with her as he is very
quiet and self-contained, and handles the children well.
These two were the leaders on the trip Thursday and
made a striking contrast. Richard, buttoned up in his
thick winter overcoat, with his hands thrust into the slits
at each side, to keep them warm, walked calmly down the
street, observant but not excited. Edna danced beside
him, often running ahead and oblivious of the responsibility of keeping the line behind her. When the children
ran ahead of me, Richard stopped promptly, and pushed
any child back who looked as if he might be going by.
Edna ran a step or two ahead each time, except on the
way home, when my repeated warnings had taken effect.
She seemed more immature in her performance of this






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223


duty than anyone in the group. Have talked with her
mother and we have decided to let her rest alone each
day in school, go home for lunch, and stay at home on
Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.
Fifth Week
Nothing new to report. Florence and Sonia have made
a good committee. Sonia's insistence on a perfectly
straight line and absolute silence has made getting about
a little slow.
Edna is much quieter and more controlled now that
she stays two half days at home.
III. SPECIAL TRAINING
PHYSICAL EXERCISE
First Week
The children enjoyed running relay races on Monday.
Edna, who is usually so quick in comprehending things,
did not seem to get the idea at all. She has improved very
much in her ability to stand hard knocks. She and Alan
wrestled on Wednesday and she was thrown down hard
but made no outcry.
Second Week
The children are always eager to use the big yard for
running games and we have had more opportunities than
usual this week. On Monday afternoon, we tried relay






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racing, with five on each side. This was greatly enjoyed,
though touching the hand of the waiting runner proved
pretty difficult for the children at the first trial. There
was much more interest in the running than in the winning.
The children are quite independent now about starting
games, such as "The Boiler Burst," or "Wood Tag."  We
played "Steps" several times with the VI B's. Meta
played this game with great caution and control. Alan
flung himself forward recklessly and was caught every
time. Albert was sent back almost as much as Alan.
Sonia took being sent back very badly. The others
played pretty well.
Third Week
The cold weather has made the children very active
and vigorous. There has been a great deal of playing
tag and chasing just for the fun of running.
Fourth Week
There was more use of the ladder this week than there
has been for a long time. Florence has learned to hang
by her feet from it. She has gone off by herself over
and over again to practice this, and as yet only does it
when the ladder is near the ground.
CARE OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS
First Week
We bought three narcissus bulbs on Wednesday and
planted them in a small bowl.






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225


Third Week
On Thursday we went to the store on Sixth Avenue
where our aquarium was being mended and brought it
back to school with four goldfish and some water plants.
On Friday the children worked hard washing pebbles
brought in from the yard, cleaning the aquarium, and filling it with water.
Richard has taken good care of the bulbs. There is
great interest in the roots and buds.
Fourth Week
Much interest in the fish this week. The children have
watched their feeding by Celia each morning. One fish
always finds his food first and the children call him
"Smarty."
Albert has taken care of the bulbs. All four have
blossomed this week and Sonia especially has enjoyed the
white flowers. As she stood beside them one day before lunch I heard her say "They're all lighted up, they're
beautiful, aren't they!"  -
LANGUAGE
(See also under Discussions)
First Week
I read the "Big Docks of Manhattan" by Mrs. Mitchell
on Monday afternoon. The children enjoyed it greatly,




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asking me to read it all over again when Alan came in
late.
Other stories and verse read have been the children's
own story of "Gansevoort Market," composed by the
group in November, "Rain" and "The Big Red Apple."
Second Week
On Tuesday morning, we played a phonic game, naming words beginning with the hard C sound, such as
"cat." Interest was very keen. The following list of
words was given.


cat
cud
cuddle
cow
cooking
cookie
cradle
cocoa
king
comb
cut
cocoanut
come
cream


call
cap
cattle
cry
calf
coal
cubes
cakes
cold
cup
coal car
cough
cork
car


card
candy
corn
corn-meal
cob
crown
cloud
crowd
can
camel
camp
cup
cotton


The interest in block building has been so very keen
this week, that the children have not cared for stories.
I started the "Big Docks of Manhattan" on Wednesday,




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227


but gradually one by one, each childcin the group asked to
go on with his or her building, until everyone but Richard
had gone.
"The Big Docks of Manhattan" and "Trimmers and
Stokers" were listened to with interest on Thursday in
the few minutes that we had before lunch, after our
trip to Staten Island.
The next morning, Mrs. Mitchell played a new game
with the children. She began reciting a little patterned
phrase, "What am I? What am I? You saw me very
well. What am I? What am I? Now Sonia can you
tell?" Then she described one of the things seen on our
trip.
"My long arm is made of iron,
Into the bay I bite."
Sonia guessed "the dredger" at once, and the game was
continued until each child had had a turn. Some of the
descriptions were in terms of hearing and others in terms
of feeling. The children were fascinated, even Celia being entranced. After all had had a turn, the game was
changed a little, and each child tried describing something
for another to guess, Mrs. Mitchell repeating the pattern
for them.
Their descriptions follow:
Sonia: "Puff, puff, inside me red." This was guessed
as being the fire of a steam engine.
Edna: "It blows and blows and blows, when the tide
comes in, it stops blowing." A sailboat.
Meta: "When the tide went out it began to go."




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This was guessed as being a piece of wood or a sailboat.
Alan: "He flapped his tail and he flapped his tail and
he swimmed along to the ocean." Fish.
Albert: "Puff, puff, puff, I pull big things." Steam
engine.
Florence: "I'm very big, I have three smokestacks."
The Leviathan.
Richard. "Puff out something very soft." Smoke.
Celia. "I blow my whistle toot, toot, toot!" Ferryboat.
Faith was the only child who had nothing to describe
and she is the only one who usually fools on trips and
does not observe well.
Third Week
The children began to play the new language game on
Monday. Albert said, "I am a big black thing with portholes on my side." This was recognized as the Leviathan
at once. Sonia said,
"Rocking, rocking on the waves,
You heard me out at sea,
On foggy nights I play,
Music here you see."
This was a bell buoy. Sonia is interested in rhythm and
rhyme and works for this rather than content.
The only stories read this week have been "Speed" and
part of "Boris," following the work in orientation Friday.
Have read several short poems from Skinner and Wickes'
Book of Verse.




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229


The children were fascinated by "Speed" listening
without a sound or movement, except when someone
stopped me to ask a question. They were much amused
by the expression, "a brass hiccough," and also by the
various epithets used by the different people in the
story.
Fourth Week
I have read the children a number of verses from Skinner and Wickes' "First Book of Verse" this week. In two
readings they learned "Three Little Owlets" by heart. Another favorite is "Over in the Meadow."
The story of "The Nancy Brown" was poorly received
on Wednesday when Faith was in a silly mood, so I
stopped in the middle. The children begged for it next
day and listened with the greatest interest.
Tuesday's discussion was spent in naming words beginning with D. There was some discussion of such words as
"dough" and "doe" and "deer" and "dear."
duck             dumps           die
dog              deaf            dye
day              darn            doe
door             dong            dough
Douglas          doll            dove
David            Daddy           dear
deck             day             dull
Decatur          dock            do
dark




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NUMBER
First Week
The children have played dominoes several times this
week. All play easily now.
Fred, Richard and Sonia recognized three and four,
and four and four readily.
Marie and Richard and Alan were much interested in
finding that there were two tens in twenty, and three tens
in thirty.
Second Week
Interest in dominoes has been strong. There were three
players each day before lunch. Edna played for the first
time on Thursday. It was hard for her to understand that
only one half of the domino counted in matching.
The children have difficulty still in recognizing three
and four, and four and four, so I am keeping them on
combinations below eight. After our trip, when we had
placed numerous nickels in ferry and elevated train boxes,
Florence was very much interested to find that it would
take 15~ to take three children on one ferry ride. Celia
was quite disdainful about this. She knew how much
money it would cost to take not only four but five people.
Third Week
The game of dominoes still holds everyone's interest
and each day before lunch the children take turns playing.
After each game, one child joins those playing number




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231


games with me, while someone from our game takes his
place. Sonia, Richard, Albert, Fred and Florence have
tried several times finding out how much it would cost to
take three and four and five people on the ferry at 5~
apiece. This led to counting by fives. Finding the number of tens in forty and fifty has been tried several times,
too.
Fred has held his own well playing with Meta. As
the children have become more familiar with the combinations, interest has increased. Faith and Richard have
tried counting by threes, and can do so correctly up to
eighteen, without any concrete associations. Faith has a
bad habit of counting all the combinations.
I often give one child three sets of six cubes, and then
let him show me three different ways of making six. Albert did this quickly both with six and eight cubes.
Fourth Week
The usual games have been played.
Two new sets of dominoes have made it possible for
four children to play at once, and everyone has enjoyed
this opportunity.
Counting by fives, Faith and Marie figured out that I
must have paid the car conductor 50~ for ten people.
Music
First Week
A very good music lesson Tuesday.
First the group played "Looby Loo" then, watching




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Miss Stewart's chalk, sang high or low as she pointed.
Then Albert went to the board, and drew pitch pictures
of what she sang. Both he and Sonia did this correctly.
The familiar farmer song followed, one half of the group
singing the verse, the other half clapping and singing
the refrain. Alan has changed his attitude toward music.
He is now as interested as he can be saying, "I know
that one," when a song is played.
Miss Stewart played the boat refrains from the "Fog
Boat Story" and the children recognized the different ones
and sang them. A pitch exercise, "Catch me if you can,"
followed.
On Friday there was a new song about the ship whose
crew were white mice and whose captain was a duck. The
children enjoyed this greatly. After several other songs
they had a band, Albert, Meta and Celia each having a
turn as director.
Second Week
A new game introduced on Tuesday, was enthusiastically
received. The children marched about the room clapping
the rhythm, when Miss Stewart played something in the
treble, and swinging it when she played in the bass. Any
child making a mistake was taken out of the line at once.
At the first trial Sonia, Fred, Faith, Meta, and Alan were
caught, but afterwards when the idea was clearly understood, not a single child made a mistake. The class was
very much excited by their success and shouted with joy
afterwards.
Several songs were sung. A band closed the lesson.




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233


New music which involved playing loudly and softly made
careful listening necessary. Celia enters into the music
with gusto.
Friday's lesson began with a new marching exercise.
All did this correctly without a mistake. After they had
sung several songs, Miss Stewart put a pitch picture on
the board telling the children it was one of two familiar
songs. Richard was quick to recognize it. Then Miss
Stewart sang the first phrase of a song, all on one note,
and asked who could write it. Celia and Fred tried but
failed. Then Florence offered to do it and wrote it correctly. Individual work with the tone bars, reproducing four or five notes played by Miss Stewart, closed the
lesson.
Third Week
Miss Stewart began the lesson on Tuesday by singing
the children a new song about Eskimos. They recognized
their old Eskimo song the minute it was begun on the
piano and sang it with enthusiasm. Miss Stewart asked
them to sing it aloud until she clapped her hands. Then
they were to go on singing it inside their heads, until she
clapped again, when they were to sing aloud again. Faith
did this correctly the first time, and then the others understood and did it correctly. Faith recognized another song
played on the piano, and this was sung several times, Miss
Stewart varying the rhythm and the children following
accurately. "I saw a ship a-sailing," which is very popular, and the "Market truck" were sung next. A pitch
exercise to the words "Throw a snowball," followed.




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Meta was the only one who sang in a monotone, but
Florence and Sonia were poor in reproducing the pitch.
The others were all good. Richard has improved wonderfully.
Miss Stewart then sang an arpeggio to the words "Pile
the snow high" and "Make a snow man." Celia recognized the similarity in sound and said, "They're all the
same." Miss Stewart then drew it as a pitch picture on
the board.
Fourth Week
Nothing special to report this week.
RHYTHMS
Third Week
Monday's lesson began with the hop skip step. Edna
is the only one who cannot do it. She still toes out with
her right foot. After skipping, resting and stretching,
soft music was played and the children stood still, folded
their hands and swayed from side to side in time with
the music. Meta is very tense and very supple.
Stepping rhythms followed. The children listen very
well now. Alan fooled, so I took him out for a while.
Fourth Week
The children were given large light balls on Monday.
Skipping, bouncing, and catching the ball in time to the


4




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235


music was tried, but only Faith, Florence and Albert did
this correctly. Bouncing the balls from one to the other
and exercises on the floor completed the lesson.
ORIENTATION
Second and Third Week
(See under Block Building)
Fourth Week
On Friday morning, we spent the discussion period in
laying out Twelfth Street and the streets nearby and putting in familiar buildings. I made Twelfth Street, then
Florence drew the school and Alan's house. Fred put in
Seventh Avenue and his house at Sixteenth Street. Then
I started each child at the school and each one went home,
telling where he or she was going and drawing his house
on the floor when he reached the proper place. Edna
went down Seventh Avenue one block to Eleventh Street
and drew her house there, locating it correctly on the
South side of the street. We had quite on argument the
last time we tried this floor work. On that occasion I
took the whole class out to find Eleventh Street and let
Edna run across the street to her house to get the feel of
its being on the downtown side.
See also Block Building.




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IV. ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
TRIPS
First Week
Mrs. Mitchell and I took the eleven children on a trip to
Hoboken. This turned out to be quite an adventure, and
the most interesting experience we have had this winter.
Alan and Sonia were leaders. We took the Christopher
Street car to the ferry. As Alan had been so interested
in the disappearance of nickels in the subway coin boxes,
I showed the children how the tickets fell through in the
ticket box at the ferry house, when the man moved the
handle up and down.
Once on the upper deck of the ferry, we saw coal being
unloaded from a barge into a bin in the ferry house.
There were a great many boats in the river and many questions were asked.
As we neared the Jersey shore, we noticed a huge steamer
in a dock just above the ferry slip and someone said it
must be the Leviathan. When we came within reading
distance, we found to our great joy that it was. The three
huge smokestacks were commented on and their colors
noted. Mrs. Mitchell told us the colors meant that the
steamer belonged to the United States Lines.
After leaving the ferry, we walked past the passenger
station to the end of a slip, in which rode several lighters.
Freight cars were standing on the tracks which ran down
each side of the slip. A huge crane was transferring
great boxes to the lighters. I questioned a man I saw




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237


watching us from a window about the less bulky freight,
and he said this was all handled at the piers south of us,
and that these could be reached by walking up the tracks
and crossing the next slip in a small ferry.
Mrs. Mitchell found a workman who offered to show us
the way, so we walked up the tracks and crossed three or
four, to the next slip.
The ferry proved to be a small heavy boat, like a miniature barge, hauled back and forth on a cable stretched
from one side of the slip to the other.
We had to walk down the fairly steep gangplank and
then step aboard. Edna was the only child who was at all
timid.
When we reached the opposite side, the children shouted
at the number of freight cars and tracks. This was just
what I had wanted them to see as a next step after the
market. They at once picked out cars like those they had
seen on Tenth Avenue, "meat cars," and "milk cars."
The dock superintendent and a special policeman took
us all through piers Nos. 3 and 4, hundreds of yards long.
Tracks run down the center between the two piers, to
the left of pier 3 and the right of pier 4 are slips.
The first freight we saw being unloaded consisted of
boxes of condensed milk; these interested the children after
their long study of farming during November and December.
They asked questions about everything they saw and
made such intelligent comments that the superintendent
talked to them as though they were adults.
They saw bags of flour, rolls of wire, farming implements, wagon wheels, kerosene stoves, boxes of bacon, fir



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kins of lard, and kegs of nails, bound for all parts of the
world. These were being stacked on the dock or transferred to lighters. The flour, which our guide told us
was going to England, called for the statement from Sonia
that the Leviathan had just come from England.
Suddenly Fred said, "I never saw a door like that before," and we all realized that none of us had, as the door
was in two lateral sections with wheels running up a bar
at the side, which closed or opened it. The superintendent
showed the children how it worked, and then told them
about the fire doors between sections of the piers which
close automatically when any rise in temperature occurs.
He also told them about the automatic sprinklers, and
showed them a small brass knob in the ceiling which is
very sensitive to heat and turns in a fire alarm as soon
as the temperature rises. A moment later, Edna said,
"I see the fire gong," and pointed out a large bell on the
wall. Mrs. Mitchell reported that Meta was very apprehensive and said we ought not to talk about such dreadful things.
Alan asked whether there was any corn on the pier and
was answered in the negative. Just then we came to a
number of sacks of corn meal. This amused the children
greatly. They were especially interested in the bales of
wood pulp to be made into newspapers.
At the river end of the pier we came upon some logs
of wood stacked in piles. Our guide asked the children
if they knew to what use these logs would be put. Faith
guessed that they would be burnt up, but was told that
they were ready for use on the sides of tug boats. The






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239


children at once recognized the fenders for the bow which
were lying near.
Then we walked out to the very end of the pier and saw
a tug boat start off with a lighter on each side.
Going back through Pier 4, we stopped to go inside a
refrigerator car, and saw the ice tanks at each end of it.
We saw a giant elevator crane which picks up a coal car
containing fifty-five tons of coal and dumps it into a barge.
As we left the dock the children said, "A hundred thousand thanks. A million thanks!" over and over to the
men who had made their trip such an eventful one.
On our way back, we saw a grain elevator boat. This
was so unusual in construction that the children noticed
it at once.
Second Week
Rain prevented trip this week.
Third Week
On Thursday, Mrs. Mitchell and I took ten children to
Staten Island on the ferry, going and coming by the Sixth
Avenue elevated. The children were much interested in
the signals and chanted, "I see a signal, I see a signal,"
as they watched them.
They noticed the light and the big bell on the end of
the ferry pier at New York and at Staten Island, and recognized their uses at once. They were delighted by the
number of boats they saw; barges carrying coal and sand,




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train barges carrying coal cars, freighters and schooners
at anchor. A huge dredger was at work. They were
quick to recognize its use in deepening the channel. I
pointed out the East River and Brooklyn and the Hudson
River and New Jersey. They recognized the Brooklyn
Bridge, over which they had walked to Brooklyn on an
earlier trip.
Alan noticed a buoy and said that it was leaning over
because the tide was running out.
I pointed out the Narrows and Alan, Albert and Fred
were especially interested owing to their block play with
ocean liners.
We got off the ferry at Staten Island in order to see the
freight yards. The children commented especially on "the
funny little engines." I explained that they did not make
long hauls as Staten Island was not very large.
On the way back, Edna insisted that the Statue of Liberty had lost its head. Richard assured her that it was
there, that we just couldn't see it from where we were.
When we came closer to it, he remembered this, led her to
the bow of the boat, and pointed triumphantly to the head.
Edna asked where the Statue of Liberty came from and
Richard answered that the French people had sent it
to us long ago because they loved us so.
The sight of the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan
brought forth shouts of "I see the Woolworth Building."
Faith was the only child who was not eager over these
experiences. She fooled and giggled with another child,
unless I definitely drew her attention to the things about
her.




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241


It was a pretty long and crowded trip, so all the children rested for about fifteen minutes when we reached
school, lying flat on the floor on their coats.
Fourth Week
On Thursday we went on a trip to the Hudson again,
Florence and Sonia being leaders. We walked through
Eleventh Street to the river. I had hoped to take the
children on to one of the freight docks, but.was refused
permission, so we walked down West Street to Christopher
Street and took the ferry. We passed a marine blacksmith's shop and stopped for a moment. The children
were much interested in the chains and anchors to be
seen.
The trip across the Hudson was very satisfactory, as
there were a great many tugs passing up and down. The
children commented on the ice, and watched and listened with intense interest as the ferry pushed it up
against the dock. Several lighters were seen and Edna
explained the difference between a lighter and a barge to
Miss Homey who accompanied us. Our ferry slowed up
to let a tug pass, and this was commented on as being
in accordance with the rule that a big boat must look out
for a smaller boat. We had a splendid view of the New
York docks as we stood on the bow of the boat on the
New Jersey side. We did not get off at all, so had several
minutes to enjoy this. I talked with Faith, getting her to
point out to me what she saw and talking with her about
the river traffic.




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DISCUSSION
First Week
At a discussion held after naps on Thursday, Meta
told of a trip to Staten Island she had taken during the
holidays. She reported that she had seen the Leviathan
stuck in the mud with a number of tugs trying to push
her off. I put the map on the floor and we located Staten
Island and the Narrows, and saw where the channel ran.
The children knew that some passengers had been taken
off in a large tug, and that at high tide, with the help of
a great many tugs, the Leviathan had been floated and
towed to her dock. I asked what might have caused the
accident and Richard said, "fog." Someone else suggested that the light in the lighthouse might have gone
out, Edna added, "the fuse might have blown out." I
explained how the channel shifted, from the action of
the currents caused by the tides. A child said that ashes
might fill it up too, but I explained that scows are not
allowed to dump until they reach the ocean.
Edna, having been absent for two weeks before Christmas, has returned full of irritability and negativism.
She acts as though she expected to be opposed and shouts
at interference of any kind.
Second Week
Before any attempt could be made to organize the information gained on Friday's trip, I felt that the children




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243


must get the excitement of it out of their systems so I
let them tell about it in turn on Monday.
Florence: "We made a line and we walked out into
the hall and got out on the sidewalk and we turned West
and we went down to Cushman's and crossed the street
and waited for a trolley."
Faith: "Then we got in the trolley car and kneeled up
in the seats and when we got there we got off. We each
put a ticket in a little box."
Albert: "We went in to see another barge and then
we went on the ferry."
Sonia: "We saw the Leviathan in the dock."
Albert: "We saw a big steamer and it was moving
slowly." (Albert cut in with this remark about the big
steamer and I was asked to insert it just ahead of the
sentence about the Leviathan.)
Edna: "One of the chimneys was covered up. They
didn't want snow and ice to get in. It was the back one."
(Some child said it was the one next to the back one
but was corrected.)
Sonia: "And the ferry went into the dock and the
dock was a round slip."
Fred: "We saw all the foam by the dock underneath
the boat." (When Fred had his turn he said he wanted
to go back, so I have inserted his contribution to the story
here.)
Sonia: "We got off."
Edna: "When the boat got into the dock, it made a
bump and jerked us all." (There was a chorus of dissension at this point, the boat did not really bump.)
"And we got off the ferry, and we walked to the place






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where we saw freight trains and the big derrick and the
switching engine."
Richard: (Wished this story put in just after Edna's
statement about getting off the ferry.) "We ran down
the slanting place and Fred fell down and lost his shoe.
We stopped and some of us ran up again."
Albert: "We walked down a little gangplank and we
got into a little boat. Then he pulled the rope and we
went across. We went into a storehouse and we saw
all the cars that came in."
The children were becoming restless by this time, so
I suggested that we stop making a story and that we
name some of the products seen. Condensed milk, flour,
corn meal, bacon, wagon wheels, wagon shafts, chairs,
stucco, wood pulp, stuff to make tin dishes of, were mentioned at once.
During the week, we had several talks about fire protection, discussing the fire doors, the automatic alarm
and the automatic sprinklers seen at the Hoboken dock.
The children realized that the fire boat we had visited
(in November) would be used in fighting a fire at the
dock.
On Wednesday, we talked about the different kinds of
boats we had seen. The children mentioned the Leviathan, barge, grain elevator, tug boat, ferry boat, grain
boat, fishing boat, garbage and rubbish scow, life boat,
fire boat and train barge. They were very eager each
one to name a boat so I let each one have a turn and then
described the working of a grain elevator which transfers
grain from a barge into the hold of a ship. I told of the
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that each bucket scooped up a load of grain and then
dumped it when it reached the top. Mrs. Mitchell suggested the analogy of a moving stairway and children
who had seen these, described them.
Thursday's discussion was spent in talking about the
Leviathan. I showed pictures of a big steamer being
pushed into the dock by tugs. I asked what happened
when a big steamer docked and someone said, "The people get off." Then things that would have to be done
before this were mentioned, such as putting out the fires,
unhitching the tugs, tying her to the dock, putting down
the gangplank. Alan said the waves would pull the
Leviathan out if she weren't tied and all agreed to this.
Fred was quite confused as to the relation of the steamer
to the dock. He has the idea that the bow is the only
part that touches the dock. Showing him a picture did
not help him any. Alan asked what would happen if the
steamer began to sink at sea, so we looked at a picture
of the life boats on the top deck of a big steamer and
another where one of these boats was swung over the side
ready to lower into the water. A child asked what would
happen if there were no life boats, so I explained that
all steamers were obliged to carry them. This discussion did not hold interest as well as that of the day
before.
I had intended taking the children to Staten Island on
Friday, but it rained hard. They came in talking about
the wind and rain, so I took the opportunity to find out
what the children's observations and experiences with
rain have been. I asked first what rain does, and these
answers came in quick succession.




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"Rain wets us."
"Rain keeps us home."
"Rain doesn't let us go out."
"Rain just lets us stay indoors."
"It doesn't give us fresh air."
"It gives you water." (Faith.) I asked what it gave
us water for: "To drink," "To wash with," "To wash
things."
"Rain makes water dirty." No one seemed to know
why, so I explained its action in loosening dirt and carrying it. Fred told of a brook and a waterfall near the
house where he spent last summer. Then Florence told
of going on a picnic and finding the brook they relied on
for water, "all dried up." I asked why it had dried up
and one child said, "Some water sank down," and another,
"The sun took some." Then Faith added that the brook
was dry because there hadn't been any rain for a long
time. Albert told of seeing, "a rushy place, a waterfall," with a mill nearby, so I told the children how
water rushing over a wheel could be used to grind corn
or run a saw in a lumber mill. Edna told a tale about
a mill after this which seemed to be pure fiction, so I
stopped her. Then Marie and Sonia, who had been clamoring for turns for some time, told of summer experiences
with brooks and rainstorms. I switched the talk back
to rain again by asking what rain did to things, not
people. The first answer given was "it rusts things."
The children had seen me go out in the yard before
school to put away a shovel, carelessly left out the day
before. They went on"It rusts things."




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"It rusts tin things."
"It rusts iron things."
"It rusts hay rakes."
"It rusts pails."
"It gives drinks to the flowers." Here someone interpolated, "I love buttercups."
"It makes trees grow."
"It makes the bushes green."
"It makes the little seeds come up."  I explained how
the moisture caused the seed to swell and burst, starting
the green sprout, and the need of sun in making leaves
green. Then Florence went on, "The lakes flood over."
"It makes swamps, it makes mud." Someone said that
it made the ocean flood over and Richard told of Hans,
the little hero of Harlem. Then I read Mrs. Mitchell's
story of rain, which is repetitive and very rhythmic.
The children were fascinated and said, "Go on, go on!"
The next story was of the butcher's auto in the rain.
The children were tremendously pleased with this too.
Third Week
All the discussions this week have been on boats. The
difficulties of navigation near land were talked of on
Tuesday. I read a description of lightships and lighthouses and bell buoys and buoys, from the Tarr and
McMurry Geography. The necessity for pilots was
brought out in this connection. The deep draught of an
ocean liner and the necessity for deep water at the docks
was discussed. The transfer of coal and food from Hoboken to New York and Brooklyn appeared in the block




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play and was talked over in discussion. The uses of
barges and tugs and lighters were reviewed again. The
grain elevator was explained as being purely for transfer purposes, while a barge did the actual carrying of
grain to New York. The need for great numbers of tugs
was recognized by the children. Albert said "They need
thousands of tugs in the Hudson."  Alan asked me to
read again from the geography before he went home,
"So I'll know more about boats."
Fourth Week
After locating New York and Staten Island on the
new picture map, the following story was told by the children about their trip to Staten Island.
Sonia: "We took the elevated and we went in the
train. We saw lots of signals. We went over to Battery
Park."
Faith: "Then we went into the ferry house and took
the ferry and after that we went on the ferry."
Fred: "We saw a dredger. It was digging out dirt
from the bottom of the river. It had a big long thing
that went down into the water and got dirt from the
bottom."
Florence: "Then it came up again and dumped out
mud. We saw a big steamer."
Celia: "We saw a little sail boat."
Richard: "There were some white caps floating on the
water and there were sea gulls."
Edna: (to be inserted at the beginning of the story)
"We saw a fire engine and as we got on the elevated, we




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saw the driver in his place and when we got to the bumper
it made me jiggle."
Meta: "We saw the Statue of Liberty, and we saw
some sea gulls."
Sonia: "And the sea gulls with their flashing silvery
feathers flew away."
On Wednesday, the discussion was on the block scheme
with special reference to things needed in the city. These
were mentioned as "Wanamaker's and some stores,"
"more docks and boats," "farms in the country."  Celia
said this and added, "How else would the city get food?"
Edna then said we needed Gansevoort- Market and the
Queensborough Bridge. Richard suggested "automobiles" and Albert, "schools, and bell buoys in the bay."
Sonia said, "trains, bridges, horses and wagons," Edna,
"garages." Sonia said we ought to make the streets "with
sidewalks. We don't want the people run over." The
idea of an accident led the children to mention the necessity for hospitals and ambulances.
On Thursday, the discussion was on our new goldfish
and their care. I read from a pamphlet issued by the
New York Aquarium and children who had fish at home
contributed their knowledge. Florence warned us about
giving them too much food, and changing the temperature of the water. Albert said that a pinch of salt must
be added to the water if they appeared sick. Richard emphasized the necessity for keeping our dirty hands out of
the water.
Fifth Week
Discussion this week has centered on boats. Faith's




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story on Monday of the storm encountered by her parents on their recent return from Europe, led to a discussion of effects of storms. The tossing of a ship, and the
danger of falling in trying to walk were the points she
contributed. Richard told of how chairs and tables in
the dining saloon are screwed to the floor. Necessity
for slowing down engines in a steamer or reefing sails in
sailing vessels was talked of.
The subject continued on Wednesday, other dangers being discussed, such as icebergs, fog on the ocean and sand
bars and rocks near land. A picture of a shipwrecked
vessel on a sand bar in the Tarr and McMurry Geography suggested this. A child asked why they didn't
have lighthouses on sand bars. Edna said the waves
would wash them away. Fred told how waves "flop up"
and run up the beach, and I explained the force of
breakers in storms. I told of life-saving stations along
the coast and the use of rockets as distress signals. This
was less familiar than the use of wireless. I read about
lighthouses again from the geography, and the necessity
for marking the channel was spoken of.
Friday's discussion was on Thursday's trip. Alan and
Richard returned to school that day and the children
were eager to tell them of all they had seen. A group
story was started but it was impossible to keep the tale
logical, as Alan and Richard asked questions constantly,
so this was given up and the children just rehearsed their
experiences informally. The things of special interest
were the ice floes in the river, seeing the Leviathan again,
seeing several lighters, and seeing an ocean liner being
pushed by three tugs.




APRIL


I. PLAY EXPERIENCES
PLAY WITH BIG MATERIALS-INDOORS
First Week
On Tuesday afternoon, I read the children a story
about a steamer written by one of last year's six-yearold children. Then I asked if they would like to play it.
They said "Yes" and after we had planned where in the
room to make the ship, they all set to work on it. Alan
and Albert built a pointed bow; Sonia made the captain's
bridge of two tables; Richard, Faith, Florence and Fred
made staterooms; Faith made life boats, and Celia the
dining saloon. Faith not only had the idea of putting
on the life boats, but she was really absorbed in the play
and protested violently when Sonia suggested before she
had finished the life boats, that all was ready to sail.
Faith's building is still infantile compared with the others.
Richard colored a flag for the ship after he had completed his stateroom, but it was rejected by the others
as it was plain blue. Sonia made a "flying lion" to represent the Cunard Line flag, thumb-tacked this to a long
block, and stood it on top of the block shelves. As the
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construction lasted until it was time to go home the actual
sailing of the steamer did not take place until the next
morning when the interest was still strong, but the dramatization was not successful as the children could not plan
definitely what to do, and the play became noisy and silly
after about ten minutes. I therefore suggested to Sonia
that they must be in England now, so after the gangplank
had been put up, they all marched off, and then I had
the blocks put away.
Fifth Week
On Wednesday, after I had read "Spot" the children
played it. They were much more exact than they have
ever been before in playing a story. Richard drew a cat's
mask for himself; he made one eye quite large and the
other very small saying to me, "What do you think he's
doing? Opening one sleepy eye." As I tried on his
mask he said: "I'm not going to say 'I have no place
to sleep,' Miss Stanton, a cat can only say meow!" and
he stuck to this. The children were very dramatic but
little language was used. They seemed not so much interested in the progress of the play as in playing their
own characters. Alan's absorption in his part and his
lack of self-consciousness were striking.
Later, after our yard period I let the children attempt
a dramatization of the "Cat that Walked by Himself"
as Faith and Sonia were tremendously eager for it.
Faith is seldom so intense over things and I wanted her
to have the satisfaction of doing it, even though I knew
the others could not really carry it through. Sonia was




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the cat and Faith the dog, and they knew just what to
do and say. Celia also was clear about it, but the others
had to be prompted and helped by Faith and me.
PLAY WITH BIG MATERIALS-OUTDOORS
First Week
Not much yard play this week owing to the heavy
snowstorm on Tuesday. We were able to go out for
awhile on Wednesday. The children made a snow man,
which Edna broke with a shovel. I had to carry her
into the house for she refused to go in when I told her
no one could stay with the other children who broke
down their things.
Second Week
Sonia has been the leader again in playing pirates
several days this week. Jumping rope has become popular and Albert and Fred have evolved a new use for
the jumping rope. Each boy ties his rope to a cross
piece under the top of the slide, pulling heavily on the
rope. Richard joined them one day and they did this
over and over with great hilarity and constant conversation. Fred and Sonia played dumb waiter one day,
fastening a box of pebbles to a rope and then pulling
this over the parallel bars. The girls sometimes use their
ropes to make swings on the bars.






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Third Week
Playing with ropes suggested fishing to Richard on
Monday, and he stood on a board resting on two blocks
at the edge of the pebble pit, and threw his rope in to
the fish, impersonated by various children. Alan, as a
whale, proved a very obstreperous catch, pulling Richard
headlong from his perch. I expected to hear a cry, but
Richard stood the rough handling very well. The boys
played mountain climbing on the slide several times.
On Wednesday and Thursday playing farm absorbed
the whole group. Sonia was the farmer one day. Edna
was the gentlest of Guernsey cows lumbering about and
mooing, closely followed by Alan, her calf, "only one
day old." Florence was a mother cow too, Faith sucking milk from her, whenever she stood still. Albert was
the bull, bellowing loudly and led around on a rope by
Celia. Fred and Marie were horses, and Richard a pig
in the pig sty. Ropes were tied on for tails. Each child
was absorbed in his or her part, paying little attention
to the others.
Next day Sonia squeezed herself into a small box and
told me she was a hen sitting on her eggs. A little later
Marie joined her, as a baby chicken "just out of the
shell." Celia was the farmer this time and all the other
children farm animals. There was great joy in this play
and the children were loath to go indoors.
Fourth Week
There has been some very good dramatic play this
week using the slide as the fishing schooner, the Nancy






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Brown. On Wednesday Fred began this by discovering
that turning the sawhorse upside down and sticking its
legs under one of the cross bars forming the steps of the
slide, made the sawhorse stick out at an angle of fortyfive degrees, which suggested a bowsprit. Sonia joined
Fred first. She used the hollow bar which holds up the
ladder, for a telescope and became the lookout standing
on top of the slide and gazing off "into the ocean blue."
Alan and Richard became fishermen, blocks being used
as dories and ropes as lines.
Next day the whole pebble pit was transformed into
a pirate ship. Florence made a skull and cross bones
flag and tacked it to a stilt which served as mast. It
was a difficult task to make this stilt stand upright by
piling blocks around it but Sonia stuck to it until it was
done. Another horse served as anchor.
On Friday four of the children played "The White
Seal," running about and barking chiefly.
Fifth Week
Sonia has been the leader of a gang of pirates in the
yard nearly every day. The platform of the slide was
used on two occasions as a ship. By taking down the
slide the top of the platform could be reached only by
walking up the ladder or the steps and the children pretended these were rope ladders and called the platform
the mast. Sonia, Florence and Richard spent nearly
the entire hour one morning arranging a stilt so it would
stand alone on top of the "mast." Richard was sent to
get the crayons and draw the Jolly Roger flag, while






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Florence carried blocks and struggled with Sonia to make
the stilt firm. Fred meanwhile was working on the
bowsprit. This he made again by turning a sawhorse
upside down but a stilt stuck through added length
and reality to the construction and it was much admired.
Richard's flag was finally tacked to the mast head and,
with some help from me, the mast was held in place by
blocks. As the flag floated in the breeze the children's
eyes sparkled and Sonia said, "It's like a real ship isn't
it, Miss Stanton!" Fortunately there was time for a five
minute sail before we went in.
BLOCK BUILDING
First Week
The children wanted the room "all water" this week,
so docks were built against the east and west walls and
the rest of the floor space was all river, bay and ocean.
Everyone, boys and girls alike, built ocean liners on
Monday. Richard started a new way of making smokestacks by coloring a piece of paper red and black for his
Cunard liner and then pasting it in the form of a cylinder.
He looked proudly at it, as he placed it on the top deck
and said to me, "If I only had a cigarette to put in it, it
would look like a real boat."
I put some pamphlets of the three big lines, The White
Star, Red Star, and the Cunard, on a table. Sonia and
Albert built Red Star Liners, with black and white smoke
stacks, and red stars on their flags.
Alan built the Berengaria. I told the children of read





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ing in the paper how the tide had made this liner four
hours late in docking, on its arrival in New York Saturday.
Celia made the Olympic with a White Star flag, and
Florence made a smaller liner belonging to the same
line. Several children built their boats in front of the
block shelves though I cautioned them about this, so I
let them continue until several boats were knocked down.
Then I called their attention to the poor results of this
procedure, and they moved away readily. Sonia flew
to build dry docks and finished her boat in one. Edna
built the Paris and had it repaired at the dry dock
later. She has been in a very irritable and negative
frame of mind all this week.
Fred and Faith built liners too. There was a great
deal of rebuilding during the week and everyone but
Celia ran his or her boat to England at sometime during
one of the morning periods.
The children had a good deal of difficulty in docking
and they felt urgently the need for knowing how boats
signal. Alan and Fred got into a regular fight because
Alan's steamer followed too closely after Fred's. I told
them that a captain who was unable to run his boat
properly was not allowed to keep his position. I also
emphasized the necessity of not getting too close, as liners
cannot stop quickly. This discussion included details
of how wagons, automobiles and trains are stopped.
Second Week
As Sonia wanted to make the Woolworth Tower, and
Celia and Faith a hotel, the room was divided into land




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and water this week. Sonia had seen the Woolworth
since building it before and said to me earnestly, "The
tower is to one side, Miss Stanton." She made a very
elaborate first floor, which did not look very substantial,
and Alan said, "If Sonia makes the tower too high, the
below is going to bust."
Celia and Faith, working together, made a very large
hotel in the form of two towers. They built it as high
as themselves and then played with it a great deal, putting in furniture, and dolls. Florence made a hotel, too,
and a path was laid down between the two and a good
deal of visiting done by the dolls.
Alan, Edna and Fred stuck to the boat interest. Edna,
fired by the children's story of the tug boat trip which
she had missed, made a coal barge. Alan's fears were
fulfilled just as this was finished, for the Woolworth
collapsed, when Sonia brushed against a corer of it, and
she decided to make a house and let Edna bring her
coal. Edna and Sonia together constructed a dock;
Sonia adding "the high up box," which the children had
seen in the fall at the coal docks. Sonia became very
hilarious over the idea of the coal barge running up on
land and delivering direct to her house, so I suggested
to Albert, who had been building without much interest,
that he run a coal wagon. This worked out very satisfactorily. The hotel owners soon clamored for coal too,
and Edna was kept busy supplying them. She got her
coal from the Lackawanna Railroad, but when Albert,
next day, built a barge and started to get coal too, he
was at a loss when I asked him where he would get it
from. He had the idea of a coal mine, but missed en





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tirely the connecting link of the freight car. He is new
in the school this year and shows, both in instances of
this sort, and in his difficulty with orientation, his lack
of previous experiences the other children have had.
Alan and Fred ran their steamers regularly to England.
Their interest was very strong and kept up all the
week.
Marie, who has been absent, returned this week.
She joined Florence in playing with her hotel, but she
spent some time looking at the steamer folders and we
had some interesting conversations about them.
Third Week
Monday was a warm spring-like day, and as we returned from  rhythms class, Edna told me that the
warm weather made her think of the country, and that
she was going to make a farm. Sonia wanted to do the
same thing, so they joined forces, and built at the north
end of the room. Edna built a large barn and they rejoiced greatly over the fact that they were the only farm
builders and so could have all the animals. Sonia made
a corn field beside the barn. Faith helped to draw the
corn, which was cut out of paper and mounted on blocks.
It took some time to make enough to fill the field, but the
children worked with great interest begging for more
time to work, when they came down from naps in the
afternoon. A blue scarecrow with outstretched arms protected the corn. A pasture, a pig sty, a windmill, a silo,
a dog house, a wagon shed and a farm house were added
to this scheme later in the week.




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Edna needed a large piece of cardboard for her barn
roof, and in measuring we found one side to be three
feet long. The children knew that twelve inches make
a foot, but they were much interested in the fact that
three feet make a yard. Several times during the week,
I saw a child take the three rulers and lay them down
on the cardboard to measure it.
Florence built a hotel, patterned after the one made
last week by Celia, but with a different and interesting
roof. Faith brought corn from the farm to this hotel
later in the week. Marie built "the circus" nearby. I
talked with her about the location of Madison Square
Garden, as she already knew where the Metropolitan
Tower was.
Celia, Alan, Albert and Fred built boats again.
Fourth Week
Sonia made the Lackawanna Railroad station on Monday. Albert played with her and made the tube under
the Hudson. This was made of blocks at first, but the
captains of steamers docking up the Hudson objected,
so I suggested chalk tracks and these were used.
Fred worked on another railroad track, making his
in chalk with many switches. He and Sonia and Albert
all brought coal to New York.
Faith built an ocean liner, running out in the yard to
get pebbles to use for coal and telling me, "My steamer
is a coal burner, not an oil burner." It is unusual for
her to apply her information to her construction in this




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way. She worked at this boat for an entire hour, and
then said with decision, "My boat's finished, now I can
go to shop." Alan made a steamer, too.
Celia and Florence made houses. These were played
with next day, the people going on the boats and trains.
Florence added an elevator to her house, made of string
and a square block.
Attendance was very poor this week. The children's
interest in block building waned, so I introduced playing store on Tuesday, and suggested a dramatization
Wednesday, which took up the hour usually spent in
building.
Fifth Week
On Monday, Sonia suggested making a cave, and Faith
and Celia played with her. Their interest soon ran into
the making of appropriate things to go near the cave.
Darkness inside and woods seemed to be their chief
ideas. The children drew pine trees and deciduous trees
at first and then Sonia made blueberry bushes. They
mounted these and stood them up outside the cave. Next
day their interest continued. Richard suggested that
there should be some dead trees lying about, so several
were made and many leaves which were cut out and
strewn on the floor. Fred made a crude construction
across the room from Sonia's, which he called a cave,
too. He wanted to paste his leaves to the floor but this
idea was met with scorn by the other children who wanted
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ened down. This led to a discussion of what happened
to each year's fallen leaves.
DRAWING AND PAINTING
First Week
Interest in drawing has been intense this week. The
children have drawn a great many boats. Fred turned
out a very good steamer, drawn with a clarity of conception and a neatness and accuracy of execution far ahead
of anything he has done this year.
Faith has been copying again and I have kept her table
at a distance from the others. Here she drew a steamer
with an absolutely original crow's nest. She told a story
about this, when I praised it and said I was sure it had
a story. (See Original Stories Page 322.)
Celia made a fascinating picture of a little girl in her
room. The figure was the whole length of a sheet of
drawing paper, and stood beside a red bed with a yellow
cover. On the bed was an enchanting yellow cat, and
a dog stood on the floor on the other side of the
room.
Florence has made several pictures with two trees, one
at each end of the paper, and one or two small animals
between. She made the inside of a steamer one day,
showing the passengers asleep in their berths.
The children all drew pictures for "Captain Fred" on
their return from the tug boat trip on Friday, and these
were sent to him with letters thanking him for the trip.




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Richard made an accurate reproduction of the boat itself,
but the other pictures had various subjects.
Second Week
Very good in drawing this week. Faith and Fred drew
good steamers. Richard, having been to the circus, tried
to draw a picture of the acrobats swinging in trapezes,
on a small sheet, but was dissatisfied with the result.
Then he asked for a big sheet and I talked with him
before he began so that he would have a clear conception
of what he wished to show. He asked how the acrobats
held on to each other and he and I tried holding hands
and then holding each other's wrists, which seemed a
very firm hold.
His first drawing, however, was a tiny black figure in
one of the lower corners. It seemed hardly strong enough
to move. Having completed it, Richard announced
"That's a fidget, Miss Stanton. He's forty years old."
Of course being a teacher I said, "Oh! Yes! A midget,
he is small!" And Richard never again said "fidget."
Above the midget towered two nets, and above these were
trapezes, one on each side of the picture. From them
intrepid acrobats hung on each side of the picture. Then
a giant and a clown were added standing beside the
midget. All were watching the acrobats.
Sonia and Faith were fired by this to draw performing
animals, polar bears sliding down a slide and a tiger
jumping through a hoop. Sonia made a splendid elephant too. These are the only reflections of the circus
season we have had.




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Third Week
Our visit to the Leviathan was reflected in the drawing
on Monday. Celia asked for a big sheet on which to
draw the Leviathan. I usually give the children half
of the big sheets but Celia said she needed the whole
thing and I let her have it. She thumb-tacked it to the
blackboard and drew a splendid great steamer. Very
good practice for her as she often does small fine work.
The smokestacks were accurately represented as red,
white, and blue. There was so much work to be done
in filling in the body of the steamer with brown that
this was not finished. The children criticised the very
large port holes but otherwise admired the production
very much.
Fred pasted together five small sheets of paper to
make his Leviathan, the "midget" on the mast being an
important part of the picture. He called my attention
especially to the extra anchor on the front of the bow.
On Friday he drew the Leviathan on a big sheet. His
ability to gauge the size of the paper and fit his picture
to it, has grown enormously since his last use of a big
sheet. This steamer was clearly drawn. He told me it
was raining and made little dots of paint above the green
water, "You know how it jumps up, Miss Stanton."
Sonia, Alan and Florence also painted on big sheets.
Florence repeated her picture of two trees, green grass
and a little dog. She painted red apples on the trees
and then made white spots around the little dog's head.
She said this was "snow." One child remarked scornfully that apples are not hanging on the trees when the




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265


snow comes but everyone was satisfied by Florence's explanation that the dog was asleep and dreaming of
snow.
Albert and Celia painted elephants on small sheets.
Richard drew a very small Easter rabbit, which was
astonishingly good. He made a basket of Easter eggs
which he pasted to the rabbit's arm.
Fifth Week
Less work than usual this week. Writing numbers
has taken some of the time usually given to drawing.
CLAY
Third Week
Need of milk buckets for the block farm suggested
the use of clay this week and for three mornings, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the children have worked at
it absorbedly, modeling some very good animals.
Florence modeled a large Easter rabbit, sitting on its
hind legs and holding an Easter egg. Albert made a pig
with a very realistic head and snout. Sonia made an
elephant which suggested the "Elephant's Child" at once.
Its ears were laid back as if it felt very hesitant about
something, and its legs looked ready to move backward
rapidly. Celia modeled a large elephant, very solid and
serious, which the children said was the little one's
mother. Richard was quite upset because someone said
that the Elephant Child's mother was not an elephant,




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and explained to me that of course this couldn't be, that
an elephant's mother must be an elephant. I assured
him he was correct and we told everybody that only an
elephant could be the mother of an elephant.
Alan and Richard made steamers; the former said his
was the Leviathan. Each boy made three tiers of clay
to represent decks. Several children made sail boats too.
Betty made a hen sitting on her nest, and Sonia modeled
a small hen, a duck, a polliwog and a muskrat.
Edna modeled a very good elephant on Friday.
Florence tried this too, but was not very successful.
Fred wanted to make a skunk and asked me what a
skunk's leg looked like. I said that when I saw a skunk,
I always ran away as fast as possible, so I couldn't answer that question. He finally made a turtle instead.
Celia, Florence and Faith made porcupines, using toothpicks as quills. Elephants' tusks were also made from
toothpicks.
Faith started a birthday cake, but I definitely discouraged her in this, saying I knew she could make something better. She then modeled a small duck very well
shaped, a candlestick, a sail boat and a turtle.
Celia was the only child who made the conventional
dish full of round balls for eggs.
All these products were painted on Friday, the children handling their work delicately and painting with
great care. They were all taken home as Easter presents,
with much pride and joy.
The children commented on each other's animals freely
as they were being modeled, tails, heads, snouts, and
legs all coming in for notice.




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II. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES
SHOP AND BENCH WORK
First Week
Celia is making a full sized chair and has clamored
to go to shop each day.
Second Week
Sonia has finished a cradle and is working on a doll's
house. Marie and Florence have made clothes poles for
the hotel. Celia continues to be tremendously interested
in her chair and begs to go to shop every day. Fred is
working on an engine patterned after the interlocking
set of trains used in our room. He is doing very careful work. Alan is working on a large sail boat.
Third Week
Fred has finished his engine. Everyone admires it.
Celia's chair is finished too. She has painted it green
with a pink rose bush on the back. Faith is working on
a table to go with her chair.
Fourth Week
Florence and Celia are making a good sized box to
hold our colored cubes. They noticed that our card



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board box was breaking and suggested this much to my
satisfaction. Fred is making a coal car to go with his
engine. Mr. Reber reports that Alan and Richard are
the most dependent of the group in shop. Albert wastes
his time unless constantly watched.
Fifth Week
Marie has finished her dresser and painted it. Celia
has brought her completed chair back to the classroom
and the children have been duly impressed by it.
Florence and Celia have completed a very nicely made
box for the colored cubes.
SEWING
Second Week
After our discussion about playing store on Thursday
the children put away the blocks quickly so as to get to
work making bags. Celia and Marie were very clear
as to how this should be done. Albert, Alan and Edna
needed a good deal of help, but the others finished in
a short time and Celia showed them how to put a shirr
string in the top and pull it up to close the bag. Sonia
was the only one who resisted this suggestion. Everyone
but Alan decorated his or her bag with crayon pictures.
Third Week
Alan finished his bag.




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COOKING
First Week
The children baked apples this week.
Second Week
The children made biscuits this week.
Third Week
The children made cake with icing this week.
Fourth Week
The children baked apples this week.
Fifth Week
No cooking this week.
CLASS ORGANIZATION
Third Week
Fred has been pushing on the line a good deal lately.
I tried the experiment this week of having the committee
go first, the rest of the children following as they please.
I suggested that we walk along in a friendly way as
though we were walking down the street together. This
does away with the necessity for each child to keep a
certain place in the line, and is working very well.




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III. SPECIAL TRAINING
PHYSICAL EXERCISE
First Week
Both Fred and Florence, who need the exercise so
much, have hung from the ladder at every opportunity.
Second Week
The girls, except Sonia and Edna, have all taken to
jumping rope. Celia, Marie, and Florence are adepts.
Florence practised hard and by Friday could take eight
or ten jumps without missing. Albert, Richard and
Alan became interested on Friday and made strenuous
efforts to learn, but were not very successful. Throwing
the rope over one's head seems to be harder to learn than
the actual jumping.
Third Week
The children had a tug-of-war with some of the VI B
children on Monday. Fred was bumped into and
knocked down, but he neither cried nor resented the
treatment, a great gain for him.
We have had a number of wrestling matches. Alan
hates to be beaten and usually is the victor.




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Fourth Week
Alan and Faith are eager to play baseball, so we tried
this Monday morning in the big yard with the indoor
baseball. Alan can really bat; Celia and Faith are
pretty good too.
We played Fox and Squirrel one afternoon with the
VI B class, and the VI A group ran like young deer. All
were keen and alert. Richard plays this game with
great intensity, making up his mind instantly where to
go and then tearing like mad. Sonia played and enjoyed
it. She never joined in this kind of play last fall.
Fifth Week
On Wednesday for the first time two children tried
turning the rope while another ran in and jumped.
Florence and Marie can run in and jump without missing. Faith can jump but can't run in. Alan and Celia
cannot jump yet, but they are much interested in learning and we give them two turns instead of the usual
one. All are greatly interested in doing this. They
are learning to count out who shall have the first jump
and who shall take ends when they begin, but cannot
manage this as yet without quarreling.
CARE OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS
First Week
Interest in the goldfish continues.




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Third Week
Our three polliwogs died this week but regrets were
not excessive. As Marie said, "We all got to die some
day!" We changed the water in the aquarium though
the goldfish seemed as frisky as ever.
Fourth Week
The children have all enjoyed the aquarium with clear
water in it. They noticed it at once on Monday. Fred
has remembered each day to feed the fish.
Fifth Week
The children were so interested in our discussion about
seeds and the growth of plants that I asked if they
would like to try planting some seeds and watching them
grow. They seized upon this idea with enthusiasm, so
on Thursday we went to the florist's on Sixth Avenue
and purchased a package of radish, corn, and nasturtium
seeds and three flower pots full of earth. Celia and
Florence planted the corn, Marie and Florence the
radishes, Alan, Fred and Richard the nasturtiums. As
the children broke up the earth I made the analogy with
plowing. They all knew that the seeds must be planted
in a little hole, and that they must be watered at once.
Then they carried the pots at once out into the sun, and
Sonia said they must make signs to keep the children
in the yard from touching them. So they cut up pieces
of drawing paper and on each one I was instructed to
write "Radishes planted here, Keep off," etc. The chil



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273


dren pasted these to the window near their pots. They
carried them indoors before going home as it seemed
cold in the afternoon. In the morning Marie ran to
look at her pot the first thing, and after watering it, put
it in the sun again. The others did the same and again
all took their plants in when they went home. I was
surprised at the great satisfaction the children displayed
over this experiment.
LANGUAGE
(See also under Discussions)
First Week
The children have told many stories this week in connection with their drawings. (See Original Stories.)
Stories read to them have been "The Nancy Brown,"
"How the Rhinoceros got his Skin," and poetry from
Skinner and Wickes. A new poem "The Plaint of the
Camel," amused them very much.
Second Week
The children have enjoyed three new stories read to
them from "The Shoemaker's Apron," a book of CzechoSlovakian folk tales. The stories read were "The Disobedient Rooster," "The Dear Little Hen," "The Gullible
World." Each one was read twice by request, "The Dear
Little Hen" is repetitive, much like the "Old Woman and
Her Pig."




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The children respond readily to the game of making


words that end with a given sound.
they made this week are:


ake
lake
fake
take
cake
sake
make
rake
bake
shake


um
rum
yum
thumb
scum
gum
from
dumb
some
turn turn


ile
stile
style
smile
mile
tile
lisle
while
pile


The lists of words
ight
night
might
kite
dynamite
knight
tonight
light
tight
sight
bite


They are quick to notice any rhyme made accidentally.
For instance, Faith who wished to make a purchase at the
store, came to me and said, "What about the store?"
and I answered "Ten minutes more." Richard called
at once, "You made a rhyme then, Miss Stanton."
Third Week
Stories read this week have been "The Disobedient
Rooster," "How the Whale Got His Throat," and "The
Beginning of the Armadilloes."
The children surprised me by listening with the greatest
interest to the last named story, although it puzzled them




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275


a good deal. They loved the refrains and "Painted Jaguar's" mystification. We read it twice.
Fourth Week
Stories read this week have been "The Dear Little
Hen," "The Disobedient Rooster," and "The Nancy
Brown."
On Monday Florence came to school direct from the
Montclair train. She was full of her visit there over
Easter and dictated a long story to me about it, the best
work she has done this year. The sequence is logical
and some vivid details are put in showing careful observation. (See Original Stories page 326.)
Celia told a story to go with her picture of a derrick
at work in the Hudson, a reflection of the tug boat trip
taken in March. I was busy when she finished her picture but she came to me next day to write it for her.
I talked with her about the motive power of the dredger
and the contents of the freight cars, and Fred asked her
what railroad the cars belonged to, but the way the story
is put together is entirely her own. It is interesting to
note that a switching engine comes for the freight car
on the dock. On our Hoboken trip, we saw switching
engines in the freight yard there.
After making a picture of a sail boat on Wednesday,
Alan said he wanted to make a story about it. Florence
suggested that he make a song and he acted on this, almost singing the words to me. (See Original Stories, page
329.)
On Tuesday, the discussion period was spent on lan



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guage work. It was a very warm day and as I sat down
in the circle, I said, "It's roasting." The children began
spontaneously to say words beginning with R. The list
follows:
rooster   rye         rush       rack       roller
rat        ride       rusty      Rawley     rose
rum        rice       Russia     roll-2     rose
roasting   rows       Russian    road       rood
rug        rowboat    rub        rock       rotten
round      rudder     ribs       really     rocks
Reddy Fox
Some interesting word study grew out of this. A child
said, "rock" and I wrote this down. Then Faith said,
"rocks on the branches of trees." I was nonplussed for
a moment as the noun rock was the only thing I could
think of. I asked her several times what she meant, and
then, when I realized how the confusion had risen, I told
the children I had something interesting to tell them, and
asked Richard what "rock" meant. He said a big stone,
and I told the children that I was thinking of that when
Faith had said, "rocks" in connection with trees. Faith
waved her arms from side to side and said she meant
rocking, "the wind rocks the branches." Then I told
the children that there were some words that were names
of things, while other words were doing words. I asked
them to give me some doing words and then some name
words. They did this without confusion and with great
interest. In all but one instance they named the present
participle of the verb.






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DOING WORDS


NAME WORDS


jumping
playing
rocking
drinking
writing
sitting
pushing
painting
making
sawing
lassoing


look out
cutting
running
shooting
riding
cutting
pulling
walking
sewing
thing
blood


sewing machine
mongoose
chair
watch
blocks
elephants
walrus
Jolly Roger
trains
gun
land


light
paper
piece
lobsters
mouse
rope
Henry Morgan
Bible
table


Fred said, "I'm cutting a piece of paper," and I asked
the children for a doing word in this sentence. They
picked it out readily. Then they named the piece of
paper as a name word.
On Friday as there were only four children present,
I used the opportunity for group story work. It had
been very windy the day before and some things had
blown down from our shelves. They were interested at
once when I suggested a wind story. I read "My Lady
Wind," "Who Has Seen the Wind?" by Rossetti, "Little
Wind," by Kate Greenaway, and "London Wind," by
Alma Tadema from Skinner and Wickes' Book of Verse.
The group effort followed (see Original Stories page
325).
Sonia set the pattern, "The wind blows and blows and




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blows," Fred returned to this every time he spoke. Florence did not use it once. The children were very much
interested and all went away to draw and make individual
stories after it. Florence did the most imaginative story
she has done this year after drawing a ship in a gale on
the ocean.
Fifth Week
Stories read this week have been "Boris," "Spot" and
poems from Skinner and Wickes.
On Tuesday we spent the discussion period in picking
out nouns and verbs from "stories" given by each child.
One or two samples will illustrate. Celia: "The rabbit
is hopping along."  Marie: "See the cat walking on
the fence."
NUMBER
First Week
The children have learned a new matching game with
dominoes, and we have played it every day in preference
to the game of throwing out cubes. The use of the dominoes has shown that the children know the combinations
through eight very well, but have to stop and think out
combinations above that. Their interest is so strong that
they do this readily.
Sonia and Celia were playing one day and I told
the latter not to put out a double six as Sonia did not




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279


know much about twelve. I found out at once that I
was mistaken as Sonia said that both 5 and 7, and 8 and
4 made twelve.
Albert and Edna are the only ones who cannot do
this kind of thing alone. Albert does not know the
combinations well, but I do not press the matter, since
he does not like number as the others do.
Second Week
I suggested playing store to the children this week, and
began by showing them how to make change. Fred and
Alan had the first lesson and the others clamored to be
taught too. Edna was the only child who did not recognize a nickel when shown one.
In each case I began by placing a crayon which I said
cost two cents beside three pennies. Then I laid down
a five cent piece and told the children these two things
were the same and let them choose which they would take.
I did this with several objects and then bought the objects from them. I caught Fred at once when I gave him
ten cents for a five cent pair of scissors, but after that
he made change accurately every time.
Faith and Celia were soon so accurate I let them play
alone, and they were able to make change correctly up
to ten cents.
Florence was slow but soon understood perfectly.
Faith bought three crayons, at two cents each, and gave
her ten cents. Florence added pennies one by one, counting 7, 8, 9, 10, when she pushed the three crayons and
the four pennies across to Faith.




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The children were delighted with this game and asked
to do it often. We used real money which had been
boiled to prevent any danger of infection.
Third Week
I worked with Edna alone showing her how to make
change and found it almost impossible to keep her attention long enough to explain the necessary first steps.
She jumps to conclusions, without waiting to think them
out. She is less familiar with money than the other
children. When made to think out a problem she does it
correctly but otherwise she pushes over any amount of
money as the correct change, much to the disgust of the
other children.
The rest of the class have worked hard at making
change all this week, and can do so without difficulty for
sums under five cents. Richard loves to think out a
problem for himself. Albert bought three crayons at two
cents each from him and gave him ten cents. I started
to help Richard with this, but he turned on me fiercely
and said, "I can do it." He worked on it silently for
several minutes and then triumphantly handed over the
three crayons and four pennies.
Sonia has the same tenacity and concentration.
Fourth Week
A good deal of time has been given to number work
this week. The children have shown an interest lately
in reading the numbers on the pages of the book when I
am reading, and have asked me how to make this or




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281


that number, so I have felt they were ready to write numbers. When I asked them on Wednesday afternoon if
they would like to copy some numbers, the five present,
Florence, Alan, Richard, Fred and Sonia responded
eagerly in the affirmative. I wrote the numbers 1 to 10
in very large figures on a sheet of drawing paper and let
the children copy them. I varied this by writing 2, 4,
6, 8, 10, and 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. The children worked at this
for over half an hour and then did not want to go out.
Sonia's numbers were by far the best. Fred tends to
make very small ones. All made them recognizably.
On Thursday, the discussion period was spent in talking over how to play store and in recognizing numbers
written on the blackboard. Then store play began.
The National Biscuit Company had sent me a number
of sample boxes and these served as sales material.
Sonia and Fred, chosen by counting out, were the first
storekeepers. They made a store of tables placed in
front of the blackboard. The shelf above the blackboard
proved an advantage since the children put some boxes
on it and then poked them down with the window pole.
This added great reality to the play. Sonia made a
"cash register" out of blocks, with separate compartments
for the money, and a row of figures on the top. She and
Fred arranged the boxes with great interest, and put on
their cooking aprons before opening.
Meanwhile Richard and Florence had made a house
of tables to live in, and were counting the money. Each
child took thirty cents in nickels, twenty cents in pennies,
and one ten cent piece. I made a rule that nothing in
the store should cost over five cents.




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Sonia and Fred made change easily. There was a
good deal of even exchange. After returning from the
yard Richard and Florence became storekeepers and Fred
and Sonia were "artists." This concrete handling of
money is splendid for Florence. She is so interested that
she forgets to be afraid of. numbers, but she is much
slower than the others.
Counting the money and putting away the boxes were
done in the afternoon. The children were enthusiastic
over the good time they had had.
Fifth Week
The children have all made readable figures after a
few trials. Alan and Richard make the poorest. After
three days of writing numbers I made some simple arithmetic papers, putting such sums as
6         5
4         5
in a row, and let them write the answers. They enjoyed
this tremendously.
Parcheesi has been played several times this week.
Faith, Sonia, Fred and Florence played alone after they
once understood how to take turns. Starting a new game
is still very difficult, especially when Sonia and Fred
are playing, as they both shout at once. I took Sonia
out of one game on one occasion and she has controlled
herself better since.




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Music
First Week
Music lessons have included the clapping of songs by
individual children for the others to recognize, the recognition of two notes played together, the singing of songs,
playing "Here we Come on our Ponies," marching, and
playing the band.
Second Week
The music lessons began with marching and following
directions spoken or clapped by Miss Stewart. All did
this well but Alan. This was probably due to his poor
hearing.
Then all sat down in a circle and Miss Stewart played
various boat songs on the tom tom. The children recognized them rapidly. A new song was introduced following the singing of the Flower Song. A band closed the
lesson. Sonia and Marie each had a turn at leading and
did it well.
Third Week
On Friday, Miss Stewart let the children begin the lesson with the band as there had not been time for it on
Tuesday. She had them swing to the music twice before
starting to play. All were very alert and interested.
Fred said, "I watched the director" and "I can hear right




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through the fog of the music." Marie played the pattern
of the music. She and Faith, Florence and Sonia directed, each one doing well.
A new song was then introduced and each child given
a turn at playing a phrase that Miss Stewart sang for
him. They all did this easily. Alan was very much interested, asking for a turn.
Miss Stewart asked who could draw a pitch picture of
a phrase as she sang it. Celia failed in this but Richard
did it correctly. Then Miss Stewart drew a pitch picture
and let the children guess which of two songs she had
drawn. Fred was quick at this. A new spring song was
introduced and sung several times.
Songs played on the tom tom by Miss Stewart were
recognized by the children. Practice in reproducing
phrases on the tone bars closed the lesson.
Fourth Week
As only four children were present on Friday, the lesson was very informal. First Miss Stewart played every
instrument in the room and let them differentiate between
those which "stayed just the same," such as the tom tom,
the tambourine, the triangle, and those which "play a
tune," such as the Chinese kin, the guitar, the pipes of
Pan and the glasses and tone bars.
The children asked to listen to a phrase, then to sing
it, clap it and step it. They all did this correctly. This
was followed by practice in hearing one, two, three or four
notes played on the piano. They then tried giving a
"finishing tone" to phrases played on the piano.




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Fifth Week
Lessons this week have included the singing of familiar
boat songs, recognizing songs when the pattern is played
on the tom tom, putting home tones on phrases sung by
Miss Stewart, rising when two notes are played simultaneously on the piano, and playing the band. The children have been keen and eager during their lessons. Alan
lead the band without any self-consciousness on Friday.
RHYTHMS
First Week
The work in rhythms has a splendid effect on Edna.
She is happy and interested, working every minute.
Second Week
The children were given balloons on Monday. They
played with these with great enjoyment. Edna and Alan
were rough at first but after an enforced sitting down for
a few minutes, they joined in the play and handled their
balloons well. After the balloons had been put away
there was skipping, and then resting and stretching. A
jig closed the lesson.
Skipping and then stepping rhythms were the first
things done on Thursday. Then the children asked for
the "leap music." The "reindeer music," was played and
they responded to it, but said it was not the "leap music"
they had asked for. This was then played.
Resting followed, and then throwing the legs in air,




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jumping over the gym mat, and turning somersaults was
tried. Fast galloping closed the lesson.
Third Week
On Monday, after the children had skipped to music
for a few minutes, Miss Doing gave them big rubber balls
to play with.
A long rest and stretching followed. Then the children
tried standing on their heads. Florence, Alan, Fred,
Sonia and Celia all do this easily now. Alan and Marie
can stand on their hands.
Fourth Week
Nothing especially new to report.
Fifth Week
The children have entered into the work in rhythms
with their usual enjoyment. On Thursday when they
were playing with hoops a game of train developed, as
one child after another put his hoop over the child in
front of him. They controlled themselves well, starting
and stopping with the music.
ORIENTATION
Fifth Week
We had a review of our orientation work with use of
the map on Thursday. Each child took a trip, starting






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where he pleased and telling how he would reach New
York, and what river he was crossing. This was enlivened by such remarks as these, made by Richard: "Now
I'm at the Battery. Now I'm waiting for the ferry.
Now here's the boat." Then he said: "Chug, Chug,
Chug!" as he moved his pointer across the bay to Staten
Island. I finished this discussion by reading "Boris
Walks Every Way in New York."
IV. ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
TRIPS
First Week
Albert's mother took the children on Friday to see
a tugboat. The captain was a friend of hers, so he gave
the class every opportunity to observe and ask questions.
Albert had told us there would be no gangplank and that
we should have to jump down to the bow and the children
noticed this and commented on it. They spoke of the
"muff" on the bow and the logs on the sides. The captain showed us the kitchen where the cook was washing
the breakfast dishes. Then he took us to the engine
room, and when the children asked about signals, he
ran up to the pilot house and rang the bells and the
engineer responded. The children saw the fire in the
hold that makes the steam.
Then we went up into the pilot house, where we saw
the steering wheel. The captain lifted each child up and




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showed him the compass, and allowed each one to blow
the whistle. Faith asked him about signalling to other
boats and he told us that one whistle meant passing on
the left, two whistles meant passing on the right, three
whistles meant backing. One long whistle meant a boat
was leaving a slip. He showed us an emergency fog horn,
on hand in case the whistle should break. He told us
that an anchored boat rings a bell constantly during a
fog.
Alan asked him whether his tug pulled ocean liners
and he said no, that he hauled only barges and lighters
from one point in the river to another. Someone asked
if he towed schooners and he said "Yes." Alan asked
how many he could take and he said two. Then Alan
told of being at Long Beach and of seeing a tug struggling to pull two schooners against a high wind. He
said they just seemed to stand still. The captain told
them that when the wind was against him it sometimes
took three hours to complete a haul usually done in half
an hour. The children asked about the tide and he said
that interfered with progress too, but that the wind made
twice as much difference as the tide.
Then, as he had a call up the river, he asked if we
would like to go with him. No words can express the
fervor with which we accepted this invitation.
Though much excited, the children were careful not to
get in the way of the steering wheel, and were very sensible and good. Their eyes widened when the captain
blew the whistle steadily as we left the slip. They caught
sight of the Leviathan at once. Sonia identified a small
steamer lying at the next dock belonging to the United




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States Shipping Line, because its smokestacks were
painted in the same way as the Leviathan's. A Cunard
liner in its New York dock was recognized from its red
and black smokestack.
It was a beautiful sunny morning and the river was
full of boats. I was continually clutched by someone
who wished to report a new find. Nothing was missed!
The captain called our attention to a huge derrick anchored in midstream, and told us that a big liner had
collided with a train barge and knocked some freight
cars off into the river, and that the derrick was there to
lift them up. Someone said at once, "Are divers working down there now?" and the captain answered "Yes."
Then another child asked whether a big boat should look
out for a little boat. The captain said that in the river
small boats had to look out for the big ones, for big
ones cannot alter their course quickly.
By this time, we had reached Twenty-third Street
where the captain landed us. We went into a slip right
between two ocean liners, and the sterns and bows were
eagerly examined as there has been bitter disagreement this week as to how they should be drawn in pictures.
The children were lifted on to the dock and thanked
the captain fervently for their sail. Richard expressed
everyone's sentiment when he said, "Thank you the
hugest amount in the world."
We stood on the dock and waved and shouted goodbye until the tug sailed out of the slip and turned north
up the river, Captain Fred's hand waving from the pilot
house window as she passed from sight.




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Second Week
On Friday, Albert's mother took us all aboard the
Leviathan, which was in the dock at Forty-third Street.
The children have followed the Leviathan's career with so
much interest that I thought it worth while to have them
see her, but the trip was a little too long and the interior of the ship was so huge it was confusing.
The best part of the trip was the sight of the steamer
in her dock, her tremendous size was so apparent. Richard noticed at once that we had made a mistake in thinking her smokestacks black, as they were really red, with
a white and blue band at the top. The children commented, too, on the number of portholes, and on the fact
that she had three anchors at her bow.
A sailor up on the forward mast aroused great interest. "He looks like a midget," Richard said; later, we
saw him climbing down the ladder and Faith said, "Now
he's a midget, now he's a boy, now he's a man."
A gangplank with a cover over it was new to the children and they shouted to me to look at it, remarking as
they walked up it, that it must be so that passengers
wouldn't get wet if it rained when they were going
aboard.
We saw a number of staterooms and sitting rooms inside the ship, but were not allowed to enter the engine
room.
Before leaving, we went out on the deck and saw food
being loaded on. Up on the top deck, we had a splendid
view of the three enormous smoke stacks. Celia said
there were eight whistles. We saw the machinery for




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letting down the life boats, several of which had masts
and sails stowed away inside.
Faith asked one of the officers how many tugs it took
to pull the Leviathan out of her dock, and he replied,
"That depends on the wind and the tide." Asked- how
many were necessary with both against her, he replied,
"Fifteen."
After leaving the ship, we walked down to the end of
the dock, where we had a splendid view of her stern.
Two men on a raft were painting her sides and the children were much interested in this, as well as in seeing
the four enormous hawsers that held her to the dock.
Third Week
No trip-Rainy day.
Fourth Week
On Wednesday Miss Homey and I took the six children
over to the East River. Fred and Alan were interested
in finding the numbers and letters on the lamp posts as
we passed the avenues.
We went out on an open dock at the foot of Tenth
Street where gasoline was handled in quantities. Trucks
drove up constantly and unloaded empty barrels on to
a lighter. Then driving farther down the dock, the
driver took on a load of full barrels from another lighter.
It was a beautiful day and the children could see the
tide running swiftly out. They found the Manhattan
Bridge and saw rubbish scows, tugs, cattle barges and
freight car barges.




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Our car broke down on the way home and was pushed
several blocks by a car in the rear. The exchange of signals interested the children.
Fifth Week
On Friday Miss Homey and I took the children on a
trip to Thirty-ninth Street, Brooklyn. All the way to
South Ferry our Sixth Avenue elevated train ran just
behind another train, so the signals at each curve were
set at "Stop," and the children watched this closely.
The ferry runs from Battery Park east toward Brooklyn and then passes between Brooklyn and Governors
Island and continues down to Thirty-ninth Street, passing
many docks on the Brooklyn shore. The children at once
recognized the two dredgers that were still working near
Battery Place. They were confused when the boat left
the dock and turned east, but orientated themselves as
they caught the view up the East River. Fred was the
first to find and recognize the bridges. There was much
interest when we passed Governors Island.
We saw many different steamers. I recognized the
Italian flag on one and the children immediately said
that must be the steamer on which Meta had sailed.
The walking beam on our ferry boat was another object of great interest.
DISCUSSION
First Week
The children returned from their holidays so full of
experiences to tell the others, that the discussion period




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on Monday was spent in this way. Alan brought a
mussel shell and told about finding it at Long Beach.
Edna brought a horse chestnut and told how it would
grow into a tree if planted. Fred had been to the country
and told of seeing pussy willows. Faith brought a paper
seal which she had colored. Everybody contributed
something. When I asked what other animals lived in
shells, like a mussel's, they mentioned oysters, clams and
scallops. I told how these animals attach themselves to
rocks and remain there and someone asked how they
get food. Sonia and Alan knew they could open their
shells, and I explained that in that way they could take
food from the water which flowed through.
On Tuesday, we talked over the products made in cooking class during the year, and Edna and Celia told how
gingerbread was made. The latter said that you should
not put soda and baking powder in at once; that you
must use soda with sour milk.
The children started to plan a voyage on their "Cunard
Liner" on Wednesday, but were too interested in action
to be able to sit quietly, so after about five minutes'
talk, they climbed aboard the steamer for their trip.
On Thursday, Albert's mother told us we could go
aboard Captain Fred's tug boat next day and the discussion was spent in preparing for the event. The children
decided to ask him whether he pulled ocean liners or
barges, how boats signal each other, how the wind and
tide effect his work. They talked over the special things
they wanted to see on the boat.
Friday's discussion was very short, just a working out
of how to get to the foot of Christopher Street, where




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the tug was docked. We decided to take the Christopher
Street trolley to the ferry.
Alan asked me one day why we didn't fly off the earth.
Instead of answering, I let a pencil, a crayon and a piece
of paper drop to show him how everything is pulled to
the earth, instead of being driven away from it.
Second Week
As Edna had missed the tug boat trip, the children were
eager to tell her about it on Monday.
Alan began by saying, "First we went out of the door
of the school." I suggested that instead of telling how
we got there, we start at the dock, but this idea met with
disapproval, so I said I would describe the first part of
the trip, and I did this rapidly but in detail. The children's story followed and was accurate in every detail.
(See Original Stories page 323.)
As Captain Fred had described towing a coal barge, it
seemed a good time to talk about coal, so on Thursday,
I asked the children what would happen if a severely cold
winter prevented coal carriers from reaching New York.
The children answered quickly.
"People would freeze."
"Houses would be cold."
"Furnaces would be cold."
"Trains and boats couldn't go."
"What about oil burners?" said someone and we all
agreed that of course these could still run, but that tug
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"People in hospitals would get sicker."
"Flowers wouldn't grow." We stopped here to discuss this, pointing out that this applied to flowers in
greenhouses.
"Derricks couldn't work."
"Steam shovels couldn't work."
"Steam engines couldn't work."
"Steam rollers couldn't work."
"Water wouldn't get warm."
"People couldn't cook."
This was disputed at once as gas stoves and oil stoves
were mentioned as being possible ways of cooking.
Sonia said, "It would be so cold, polar bears would
come down from the North." I couldn't resist adding,
"Wouldn't it be funny to see polar bears walking on
Fifth Avenue?" We all laughed over this, and a child,
I think it was Sonia, added, "What if polar bears ran
by gasoline?" This set us all off in such peals of laughter that I finally had to restore order and return to the
coal discussion. I pointed out that derricks were not
the only kind of machinery that was run by steam and
somebody said machines in factories ran by steam. Florence said, "I have to shut my window every morning
so much smoke comes in." There is a factory across the
street from her house. Sonia said the smoke from Cushman's bakery came in her window so we added factories
and bakeries to our list. Then I said we had been in
another kind of building where steam was needed, and
someone said, "Wanamaker's" and added, "elevators
couldn't run." This suggested at once the Woolworth




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Tower and there was interested speculation as to how
long it would take to walk up thirty or forty flights of
stairs.
On Thursday, we discussed having a store.
Friday's discussion was on the Leviathan and ways of
reaching Forty-Third Street and the Hudson River.
Third Week
On Monday, after the election of committees for the
work, I started the children on a story of our Leviathan
trip on Friday, by telling how we took the subway to
Forty-Second Street and then a car to the Hudson River.
Sonia (began): "We walked over to the dock and up,
up, up, and then we saw there were no letters." (I explained that Sonia meant there were no large letters under which baggage could be collected.)
Florence: "Perhaps they put them up," and added
that she had seen this done.
Sonia (continued): "There was a gangplank and we
went up, up, up, again and we went on board the Leviathan."
Celia: "Then we looked over the railing and saw lots
of tar in the water." (We stopped to discuss this; the
children said at once it was oil in the water as the Leviathan is an oil burner and some might have escaped from
the oil barge that filled her tanks. They asked me to
change the "tar" to "heavy black oil.")
Richard: "And we saw the side of the dock, and we
walked along the deck and pretty soon we went inside
and we got a man. He looked like a soldier to me."
(He was a bell boy in uniform.)






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Fred: "And then after we were inside a while we
went out, and we saw some life boats piled up on the
side of the Leviathan, and then we asked Miss Garrett
and Miss Stanton to lift us up, and see what was inside
the life boats, and we found little ladders, and if the life
boats go down before the people did, the people could
climb down after they got the life boats down."
Faith: "The life boats had masts in them and barrels of fresh water, and sails. The sailors go around the
boat looking at the life boats."
Florence: "So the people could drink when they let
the life boats down into the water." (This precipitated
a discussion of what would happen if the Leviathan sank
in one minute. I asked what would make her sink and
the children said water coming in, so we decided that it
would take some time for the water to cause the sinking.
I recalled to the children's minds what our guide had
told us about a drill, held a few days ago, in which
all the boats were lowered in three minutes. Fred
gave an explanation of the machinery by which this is
done.)
Florence (continued): "We went in the boat, and
went down a flight of stairs on the B deck, and we saw
the gymnasium."
Marie asked to be skipped.
Albert: "I lifted up one of the ropes. It was heavy."
(I asked what the rope was used for but he didn't know.
Someone suggested that it was for someone to sit on
and paint the side. I described how a seat hung between
two ropes is used in painting ships, bridges, etc.)
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up the canvas for the side of the deck, and we saw a
sailor up on the mast.
"First he was like Tom Thumb when he was a baby,
"Then he was like a midget
"Then he was like a boy
"Then he was like a man." (He climbed down the ladder is what Albert omitted to say. Someone put this in
for him.)
Alan: "We looked over the railings and there was
great big flat things floating in the water. We saw a four
masted schooner."
I sent Edna out of the room with Miss Homey, as she
screamed and refused to be quiet, when I asked her not
to interrupt. She came back quite subdued after fifteen
minutes absence, but I did not give her a turn at telling
about the trip.
Albert told us that he had been on Captain Fred's boat
on Saturday, and that Captain Fred had told him that the
derrick we had seen working had been unable to raise
the freight cars, and that now the company that owned
them would have to send divers down to examine them.
He also told us of a schooner that had sunk in the
channel. Interest was keen in this. He kept saying,
"They've had a lot of trouble with the channel this
winter!"
Celia drew an iceberg later, and I told of having read
in the paper of an iceberg a mile long which is drifting
in the Atlantic, and of how a U. S. Coast Guard cutter
is keeping track of its movements, and sending a warning wireless to steamers to keep out of its way.
Miss Homey took the class on Tuesday. She read the




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children a story about the development of a frog from
the egg, through the tadpole stage to the full grown frog.
Frog's eggs borrowed from the VI B room added to the
interest of the story.
On Wednesday I had planned to go on with the Leviathan discussion but Faith brought in a Chinese doll,
dressed as a lady of rank, her hands having very long
finger nails. She told about this so well that the children were full of the subject, so we had a discussion on
China. The children thought the custom of long nails
so queer, I wanted to give them an idea of how strange
our customs would seem to the Chinese, so I said that
we were doing something as we sat together that the Chinese would think dreadful. The children thought for
a moment and then Edna said that we had our shoes on
in the house. I pretended that I was Chinese and looking at the shoes said, "How can you keep those dirty
things on in the house?" The children were quite impressed by this and said the Chinese must be very clean.
Faith said that we would all be sitting on the floor if
we were in a Chinese school. Several immediately tried
this. The children commented on the similarity between
the Chinese custom and our habit in winter, of taking
off our goloshes and rubbers before coming into the room.
Florence told how the Chinese used to bind the feet of
the baby girls, and the children realized at once that
their feet would always be weak. I stressed the relation
between use and strength, tying this up with the acrobats
some of the children had just seen at the circus. Each
child asked me to feel his muscle.
On Thursday, we continued the Leviathan discussion.




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I read the children's story back to them and they made
several changes. Then we talked about the smokestacks
and the length of time it would take to get to England.
Albert said six days, so we decided it would dock next
day. Alan showed on the map the course the Leviathan
would take to the ocean. Then each child went on a trip,
on the map, either starting from New York or coming
to New York from Long Island or New Jersey.
On Friday rain prevented our going on a trip, so I
followed up the great interest shown in modeling animals
by playing the game describing animals. The descriptions were not as good as those given the last time we
played this, but enthusiasm was keen. We stopped several times for discussion and this may have been a mistake on my part. When Fred described the skunk's
ability to squirt the evil-smelling liquid, I asked what
this did for him. Faith said, "It keeps him safe," and
I asked what different kinds of things other animals had
as a protection. One child said that a turtle had a shell,
someone immediately added, "so has a snail." "A porcupine has quills." I asked what an elephant had, and
the answers were "His trunk." "He has great heavy
feet, he can step on people." "He has tusks." I asked
about a tiger and the children said he had teeth and
claws, all beginning to growl, show their teeth and claw
the air with their hands, as they answered. "Cats have
claws, too," added Richard.
The children's descriptions follow:
Faith.: "I am big, and I spout water and I swim in the
sea." (whale)


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Celia: "I am very fat and I have two ribbons on each
side of my hair. I have eyeglasses." (Edna)
Albert: "I am big. I have a big sharp thing on my
nose. I have different parts of me."  (rhinoceros)
Alan: "I am big and colored. Fire comes out of my
mouth." (dragon)
Fred: "I am little. I am black and white. I throw
smell." (skunk)
Richard: "I am very tall. I have a long, long neck
and I have long kicking legs." (giraffe)
Marie: "I am covered with nice fur. My legs are
covered with nice fur. I have four little feet. I have
pockets and a very long fuzzy tail."  (squirrel)
Florence: "I am big. I have big heavy feet. I have
big tusks and a long nose and flapping ears. I have a
little baby with flapping ears like the mother, with little
tiny tusks and he always walks with his mother."  (elephant)
Edna: "I am white. I am white. I am white. I got
a pink nose. I got little ears and a small tail and little
teeny feet and I'm spotted." (guinea pig)
Sonia: "I have a thin tail and a long tail and little
ears. And four little feet and I eat eggs. I keep your
garden in pretty good order." (mongoose)
Fourth Week
Albert came to school on Monday with the astonishing news that the Leviathan had burnt up in England.
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deck. I reassured the children by telling of this. Then
I asked how the fire might have started. The children
were quick to suggest matches, cigarettes and cigars.
Richard was very dramatic, standing up and illustrating
how a man might have lit his cigarette and then thrown
a match away, because it burned him. I said I was
thinking of another cause and by questioning helped the
children to think of defective wiring. Albert said the
wireless might have set the smokestack on fire, which led
to a very interesting discussion of what the smokestack
was made of and where it led to. Albert had missed the
trip to the Assyria (taken in March) when we saw the
engine room, so the others told him of seeing the smokestack going down, down, to the fire. That brought up
the question of why the engines were placed in the hold
of a ship, and several suggestions were offered, to make
more room and because the rudder and propeller are down
low, and the engine makes the propeller go. I asked
what the engines were made of, and Faith said, "iron,"
and then jumped to the idea that they would be too heavy
to be up high. "It would be top heavy," said Fred,
"like my boats." Everyone had to show by his hands
how the boat would capsize if all that weight were on top.
This point having been settled, we returned to the fire
discussion. The children said that they would send for
an English fire boat. I asked what they would do before that. Someone said put water on the fire, so we
talked about fire hose and I explained the use of the fire
extinguisher, and took the children out to the front door
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On Wednesday, we had a short discussion before going
over to the East River.
For other discussions see "Language" and "Number."
Fifth Week
Children who had been to the country over Sunday
told of their experiences on Monday, and descriptions of
the early flowers and buds on the trees led naturally to
a discussion of seeds, where they come from, how they are
distributed, etc. On our trip to the East River we had
seen some green growing on the side of the dock and I
asked the children what this could have come from.
After recalling what we had seen at the dock they concluded that the sprouts must have come from oats. A
tiny weed seen in a bit of dirt in a grating, brought up
the question of how seeds are carried by the wind. The
children were familiar with dandelions, and all remembered the milkweed pods we had had in our class room
in the Fall.
We continued this discussion on Wednesday, discussing
again the necessity for rain and sun, and the effects of
too much rain and too little rain.
For other discussions see "Language" and "Orientation."




ORIGINAL STORIES


OCTOBER
The rain was falling, falling, one day, and some people
were on a sailboat riding and the waves came up and
splashed the people and the boat was tipping over almost.
Picture of a sailboat in a rain storm.      Meta
Toot toot, toot toot, and the people doesn't like it. It's
such a loud noise. And sometimes they go some place else,
so they can't hear it as plainly. And sometimes the little
people look out of the window.
Picture of an ocean liner and a tug.         Alan
The Rainy Day Story
Pitter, patter on the window pane!
Hear the rain dropping from the roofs of nearby houses.
Hear the rain dropping from the sky
Pitter, patter on the ground!
Hear the splashes in the water,
Pitter, patter in the puddles!
Hear the waves go up roaring, splashing on the boats
The spray coming from underneath.
Hear the fog horns and the bell buoys.
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Hear the people running to school
With their umbrellas, and their raincoats and their rainhats.
Hear the grown up people running to their offices
With their umbrellas, and their raincoats and their rainhats.
Hear their feet splashing about on the streets.
Spitter, spatter went the water
When the auto went by.
Spitter, spatter, hear the trolley spatter,
Hear the horses' feet, clopperty clop, splashing by
And the trucks splashing by.
Group Story
NOVEMBER
The engine is a big monster that runs along the tracks.
It has a big fire inside and a lot of steam, and it has a
coal car to give it coal. It has a smokestack, and a whistle and a bell and a headlight that shines bright on the
tracks all night. The smokestack only puffs out a lot
of smoke. The whistle goes toot toot. The bell rings
ding dong.
This big monster that runs along the tracks has sand to
sprinkle on the tracks, so if the tracks would slip, he would
slip with all his other cars and that would be the end and
it is.
Picture of a steam engine.                    Faith
The Steamer
The steamer hasn't started yet. It's not going to start
until a good many people get on. It's going way across
the ocean blue, way across the big sea, way across the bay
and way and way, all away across the ocean. Then it's




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going into a dock and all the people are going to get out
and lots and lots more people are going to get on and then
it's going to start way, way back again, way across the
ocean, and way across the sea, and way across the bay into
the dock again. And then all the people are going to get
out.
Told after drawing a picture of a tug pulling a steamer.
This was chanted rather than talked.          Alan
DECEMBER
One morning the children were full of talk about Christmas, so I linked this up to our talks about farms and
differences in climate by asking them what they thought
the people who lived on farms in the country to the north
of us were doing to get ready for Christmas. Faith said
they would have to make Christmas wreaths and I asked
where they would get the greens. One child said, "From
the woods," so I asked what trees kept their leaves all winter. Alan said, "Maple trees," but was corrected at once,
and pine, fir and cedar mentioned. The interest in this
was keen so I said, "Shall we make a story about Billy and
Chubby going out with their father to cut greens?" There
were shouts at once, "Yes, yes," so I began:
"Billy and Chubby got up one cold winter morning and
put on their warm winter underwear and their warm
winter suits. They looked out the window and saw the
white snow covering the fields and stretching away to the
mountains. They put on their woolen stockings and their
thick shoes and ran down the stairs to breakfast."
Then each child was given a turn around the circle.
Faith: "After breakfast, they ran and got their coats
and hats and arctics and put them on and ran to the
wood-shed and got their sled and were back in a minute."
Marie: "Then they walked. Billy and Chubby were
on the sled. The father walked and pulled the sled."
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against the sled. The father was running. The father
had on a winter coat and a straw hat."
Several children objected to this at once, saying he
wouldn't wear a straw hat in winter and after some discussion of the cold, Albert decided to accept someone's suggestion about ear-laps and reworded his story: "The
father had on a winter coat and a winter hat with earlaps."
Celia did not want a turn so I skipped her.
Sonia: "There was a bridge over the brook." I asked
Sonia at this point where the brook came from and she
remembered that it flowed down from the mountain.
Then I asked how it came down and several children said
it dashed down. Then Sonia continued, "The brook was
just with ice on the top and you could hear sh-sh-sh-wwsh-sh underneath. The ditch was full of ice." Alan
burst in here, though it was not his turn, "The bridge
was full of snow and icicles hanging down from the poles."
Sonia continued, "After they got over the bridge, they
went up the hill." Someone said at once, "The father
slipped down," and Fred added, "He said it was too heavy,
Billy and Chubby had to help push." Sonia continued,
"They picked some cedar trees." The children objected
to this, saying that you couldn't pick trees. Someone
suggested that he chopped some cedar trees. Sonia rejected this, but changed her statement to "They cut some
cedar trees."
Richard: "Then they went on and they went on."
He seemed a little at a loss here, so I said, "What about
the snow, I wonder?" and he continued, "The snow was
very cold." Faith added, "The snow was very deep,"
and Richard continued, "The wind was blowing in their
faces. Billy and Chubby asked their father if they could
touch the snow and he said 'Yes' and Billy put his hand
down and got a snowball and then threw it in Chubby's
lap."
Fred: "When the daddy was going up, the snow




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covered his feet all over. Chubby picked up a snowball and threw it in Billy's face and Billy threw a snowball in Chubby's face." All the children laughed hilariously over this and would have continued, had I not said
it was Florence's turn and asked her what Billy and
Chubby came out to get.
Florence: "And they went on their sled to the fir tree
and he chopped down the fir tree and put it on the sled
and he went down the hill again." Celia said, "He
slipped down"; another child, "He was sliding all the
way. The sled came down on top of him." Florence
continued, "He went over the bridge again." In order
to help her I said, "How did the sled go over the snow?"
and Faith said, "The sled cut two little lines in the
snow." Florence finished, "Then he went into the house,
and Billy and Chubby put the sled in the wood-shed,
and the father put up the Christmas tree and trimmed
it all up."
I read the whole story back to the children and they
decided that Billy and Chubby needed sweaters as well
as coats and also that they must wear gloves, so these
changes were made in the first sentences. Fred suggested
that Billy and Chubby would like to suck icicles when
they saw them on the bridge, and the group agreed that
this should be put into the story. I asked why the ditch
was full of ice and Sonia said, "The ditch was just still
with water," and the children told me to put that in the
story. The complete version follows:
Billy and Chubby got up one cold winter morning
just before Christmas and put on their warm winter
underwear and their warm winter suits. They looked
out the window and saw the white snow covering the
field and stretching away to the mountains. They put
on their warm woolen stockings and their thick shoes
and ran down the stairs to breakfast. After breakfast
they ran and got their sweaters and coats and arctics
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and got their sled and were back in a minute. Then
they walked. Billy and Chubby were on the sled. The
snow started to pile up in little piles against the sled.
The father was running. The father had on a winter
coat and a winter hat with ear-laps.
There was a bridge over the brook. The brook was
just with ice on the top and you could hear sssh wwsssh
underneath. The ditch was full of ice. The ditch was
just still with water. The bridge was full of snow and
icicles hanging down from the poles. They asked the
father if they could get some icicles to suck. After they
got over the bridge they went up the hill. The father
slipped down, he said it was too heavy. Billy and
Chubby had to help push.
They cut some cedar trees. Then they went on and
they went on and the snow was very deep and the snow
was very cold and the wind was blowing in their faces.
Billy and Chubby asked their father if they could touch
the snow and he said "Yes," and Billy put his hand
down and got a snowball and threw it in Chubby's lap.
When the daddy was going up, the snow covered his feet
all over. Chubby picked up a snowball and threw it
in Billy's face and Billy threw a snowball in Chubby's
face and they went on their sled to the fir tree and he
chopped down the fir tree and put it on the sled and he
went down the hill again. He slipped down and he was
sliding all the way, the sled come down on top of him.
He went over the bridge again. The sled cut two little
lines on the snow. Then he went into the house and
Billy and Chubby put the sled in the wood-shed and
the father put up the Christmas tree and trimmed it
all up.
Group Story
This is on Christmas night and all the little children
are asleep and Santa Claus is putting toys in their stockings. He is going out, he is just walking out, he is just




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going to touch the door. He's on his tiptoes. The
Christmas tree,-he sees it, he smiles.
In the morning the children got up and they found
their stockings with a doll and some candy and a little
Santa Claus. They went over to the Christmas tree and
they found two little dolls and two little carriages and
they found a pair of gloves.
Story to go with a picture of a house with a tree in one
room and fireplace and stockings in another.  Marie
The apples are just falling from the tree. There are
some ripe ones still on the tree. There are some rotten
ones on the ground. The wind blew them off. It was
a great big stormy day. Whoo-whoo-whoo! The sky is
blue, the sun is out. The smoke's coming out of the
chimney. Lunch is cooking. The little boy has just
finished lunch. The daddy's undressing him. He's
going to take his nap. The mother is getting the lunch
ready for the father and her.
(When I asked Richard how the sun could be out when
it was stormy he explained that it was a wind storm, not
a rain storm.)
Picture of a house and an apple tree.     Richard
FEBRUARY
The-Snow Storm in New York
White snow flakes falling down to the ground from the
sky. They're falling on the streets and sidewalks, on the
houses, on the people and on the trees in the park, falling on the railroad tracks, on the elevated. They're
falling on the wagons and horses and trucks and automobiles.
The people are making footsteps in the snow. The
sleds are coasting, the ice skaters are skating on the ice.






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Pat, pat, pat comes the milk man. The milk bottle
gets all full with ice. It turns to ice cream.
The people are buttoning up their coats. The people
are putting their scarves around. It's getting cold.
Faces are as rosy as apples.
The people are sliding on the streets. They're slipping
and falling. The men are shovelling the snow off the
streets in big piles against the sidewalk. The snow plows
are pushing the snow to the side.
Little snow birds are flying around, little sparrows in
the park.
The horses are slipping on the ice. Some horses are
falling. The driver gets out of the wagon and unharnesses him, and puts a blanket under his feet, so that
when he gets up he won't slip. The drivers of the automobiles are careful not to run over them. The men are
having bad tempers. The automobiles slide up on the
sidewalk. They skid up.
The city looks all white with snow. The roofs of
houses are all white with snow, and the icicles are hanging down from the roofs. The people are all white with
snow like snowmen and the boys are throwing snowballs.
The tops of the cars are all white with snow.
Group Story
Over in the woods
The big woods of Woodstock
Was a big hollow tree
Where the mother chipmunk lived.
And all the babies, six and nine
Were little gray chipmunks
Which stayed behind the vine
While mother crept around
To get nuts from other places




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So that they could have their luncheons
In the hollow tree
In the wood of Woodstock.
This story, told by Sonia, is an attempt to reproduce
the rhythm of "Over in the meadow, in a nest built of
sticks," which has been read to the children several times
lately. The content was taken from "Three little Owlets
in a Hollow Tree."
The steamer is moving out of the dock. It's going
to move across to England. All the people are going
to get out, hundreds and hundreds, and more people are
going to get in and then the man takes the bags out and
then he takes the trunks out and then the people find
their trunks and bags and then the people get in.
Picture of a steamer.                        Alan
It's in the summer time. All the flowers are blossoming but one flower is a different kind of a flower from
the other flowers. That big flower is a sunflower and so
is the little yellow one with the red dot in the middle
and this little flower no one knows the name of it. All
the flowers have roots on them. The one second to the
littlest one is red daisy. The sun is shining on top
of the flowers.
Picture of flowers.                          Fred
Once upon a time there was a man and his name was
Rich, and he was very cruel. He put a sign on the door
of his house and it said, "Who entrance here can have
what they want and pay what they can." And so one
day a very old man came and his name was Poor. And
he knocked at the door, "Tap, tap, tap," and Rich came
to the door and he said, "Who is it?" and Poor said, "It
is Poor," and he said, "Well come with me" and took
him up a blue and yellow path till he came to the top
of a huge hill and there stood a tiny little white house
with a blue door, and a green toilet house. And there




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313


was a very little land and to mark the land there were
two green fences and Rich said, "There you are, if you
want what you want, and that's what you want."   So
that's where the rest of the life was to stay.
This story was told to go with a colorful and detailed
drawing showing the interiorA of a house at the bottom of
the paper, and a tiny house at the top. The content is
obviously taken from a familiar fairy tale, but is enriched by details from the picture.           Sonia
The train is going to go. It's beginning to go. The
engineer's sticking his head out to watch out for signals,
the white signal. The conductor is swinging his handkerchief, schoooo-then it started off.
Picture of a train drawn on return from a trip to the
Grand Central.                                Marie
The Old-Fashioned Train
The cars look like coaches. The engine burns wood
and the wood makes steam. It isn't like the other trains,
at least the others you can get in, but many people can't
get in the little coaches. Only four or six get in. It
has a black smokestack and no headlight and it had an
old-fashioned signal and it had no cow-catcher.
Told on return from trip.                  Marie
Snow Story
This is a snowy Christmas. The people think Santa
Claus is going to come. They think he's going to give
them toys. It's way down below the houses and things
in New York. It's in the ocean, falling in, the ocean,
too, and cakes of ice are in the ocean, and little pieces of
snow make the cakes of ice. Boats are going by. The
snow is covering them up with snow. They look all




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snowy like a little white cat, like a little white pussy.
A little fuzzy white pussy, a little fuzzy puzzy. People
are walking about in New York. They get all covered
with white snow.
To go with a picture of a steamer.         Alan
MARCH
The Rabbit Song
There was a little bunny
With long fuzzy ears
And a little short stubby tail
And a little pink nose.
She had four little fuzzy feet
That went scratch! scratch! scratch!
And four little fuzzy babies
That cuddled near her side
When it was time to sleep.
Made by the group just before music.
A Fumny Woolworth Tower
It's thin at the bottom and thick at the top. The men
have to climb up the side of the Woolworth to get in
cause the doors are at the top. There's a point at the
bottom and a point at the top.
(All the children thought this very funny.)  Richard
The Steam-Shovel
There was a big, big steam-shovel in New York, digging up dirt. It was digging up dirt for the trucks to
come and take away so that they wouldn't have it any
more, 'cause they didn't want it any more, 'cause they






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wanted to make the hole deeper to make the cellar of a
building of offices.
Puff, puff, puff, chuck, chuck, chuck, lots of steam came
out of the little pipe. The steam shovel digged itself
into the dirt and it picked up some dirt and turned
around and then it opened its mouth, when the man
pulled the handle, and the dirt came pouring out into the
~truck.  ~Marie, Florence and Richard
I took the children to see a steam shovel working at
5th Ave. and 12th St. and the preceding and following
stories are the result. Fred came in just as Marie,
Florence and Richard finished theirs and was not satisfied with it, so I said he could make his own and he
worked hard to get just the effect he wanted.
The Steam-Shovel
In between 6th and 5th Ave. there was a big steamshovel working. A truck came along and backed down
the hill and the steam-shovel began working. The
steam-shovel turned around and then it opened its mouth
back and then lots of steam puffed out, and then it went
forward a little and then it began digging up the side
with its big iron shovel. The steam said "ssss" and it
pushed and pushed and then it went right straight into
the bank and dug right up the bank.
The shovel was full of dirt. Then it chugged around
and dumped the dirt right into the back of the truck.
Then it chugged around again to get some more dirt.
Then it dug into the bank and made "sssssssss" like it
did before. Then it dug right up the bank and then chugged around again and dumped some more dirt into the
truck and then the truck went right straight up the hill
forwards and then turned around into the street and
chugged forward and then turned around into 5th Ave.
and it was going down south and it went south to West


-------— II




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11th St. and then it turned east and then went right over
to the East River and there was a rubbish scow right by
the dock and the truck backed up a little and then the
driver got out and turned a wheel and the back of it
went up that the dirt was in. He went over and pulled
up the back and let that down and then all the dirt slid
into the rubbish scow.
Fred
The Ferry-Boat Song
On Thursday I asked each child to tell about the boat
he had made in blocks. Out of Marie's saying, "My
boat goes back and forth," developed a ferry-boat song.
Sonia said she didn't like "back and forth," it sounded
"too quick," so I asked her what to say and she said,
"Toot, toot, over to New Jersey. Toot, toot, back to
New York." This was objected to and Faith put in,
"Carrying passengers, over from New Jersey." I asked
the children to swing the rhythm of this and several remarks was rejected because they did not fit.
"Back to New Jersey
Again to New York."
Alan wanted to put in about the paddle wheel and said
this would do if you said it very fast.
"Spitter, spatter
Goes the paddle wheel
Toot, toot
Into the slip."


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317


We stopped here to think about what happens when
the ferry docks and Faith said,
"The wheel goes round
Cling, clang.
The gates open
Cling, clang."
No one was satisfied with "cling clang," and we hit
everything metal in the room with the hammer but
couldn't decide on a better word. They finished,
"Bing, bang, off go the trucks
Step, step, go twenty-two feet."
The feet represented our class.
The final story follows:
Toot, toot, over to New Jersey!
Toot, toot, back to New York!
Carrying passengers
Over from New Jersey,
Back to New Jersey,
Again to New York.
Spitter, spitter goes the paddle wheel!
Toot, toot, into the slip!
The wheel goes round
Cling, clang, the gates open,
Cling, clang!
Bing, bang! off go the trucks
Step, step, go twenty-two feet.
Group Story




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Thunder Shower
Once we were up in the country and we heard bing!
bang! and thunder roaring, and lightning flashing, and
rain coming pelting down, rrrr, ssssss, rrrr, splash, splash,
splash! Then the storm went away and the sun came
out, and we went out to play. The ground was wet, all
slimy. The trees were wet, the rain was dripping down
from the roofs.
Edna
The Thunder Storm
The sun goes down. It's dark as dark. Lightning
comes roaring up from behind the hills. People are
rushing home in their cars. Rain comes pouring down
from the sky. First it comes pouring down from the
sky. First it comes pitter patter, then it comes beating
down. It almost blows over the trees. Then comes a
roar of thunder. Then comes a roar of thunder.
Then after, it sort of dies down behind the hills, the
thunder stops, and then the lightning stops, and then the
sun comes out, and then a rainbow comes on top of
Bear Mountain.
Albert
A Snow Storm
It was snowing hard. It was very cloudy. The
clouds were thick, there was not a bit of sun. We went
out playing in it, we made snow man. We had fires
in our house all the time. It was cold, it was bitter.
The roof of our house was all white, the ground was
white, the hills were white, the trees were all beautiful.
The farmer's foot tread looked big. He had big
rubber boots on. The next day you never saw such a
beautiful day, oh! the snow! It looked like a white sheet
of snow. We had two little trees on the side of our house






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and Jim was under it and I shook it. All the snow fell
down on him. We rolled in the snow and when we
came in the house we were just stucked up with snow.
We had our dinner.
Told after hearing Albert tell about a thunderstorm.
Edna
The Rabbit
I am white.
I have two black eyes
And two long ears
And four little feet.
I have two little babies that
Cuddle near my side
When it is time to sleep.
And sometimes I hop, hop to the garden,
And get some lettuce and carrots
And then I hop, hop, back home to my babies
when it's morning
And then I feed them.
Celia
The Story of the Big White Whale
The Leviathan was standing in the dock and puffing
to herself. She said, "I can't wait here no longer." So
she puffed and snorted out yelling "Hurray!" and she
said, "I am off to the ocean, the big ocean wide." And
that was the song she sang.
But she had just reached the Narrows when a little
tiny fish came up to the sides of her ship, with big
yellow eyes and little brown and silver stripes and he was
away for the ocean too. The old Leviathan took no
chance to see him pass and went on snorting along because
she was in a hurry. But when she reached the Lower
Bay she saw the big wide blue ocean far ahead so she
puffed and snorted in a very great hurry out to it. She




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found the little tiny fish swimming along the way he
was before. The little fish stopped swimming along in
this hurry and the old Leviathan looked down at him
and watched where the little fish's big yellow eyes were
looking to, and there stood a big white whale not very
close to the Leviathan but twenty feet away from it.
But the Leviathan was very much annoyed and thought
this strange and she puffed and said to the whale, "Oh
great whale, please great whale, if you can help us, go
along; we cannot have no chances for you." But the
whale took no chances either, but he said, in loud and
dretful tone, "I sha'n't neither!" and swam on out to the
ocean, flapping his big white tail and very much annoyed.
The little tiny fish who had big yellow eyes and brown
and silver stripes followed right as fast as the whale
went and he called back to the old slowpoke and said,
"Leviathan, 0 Leviathan, come on with us to the middle
of the ocean and then we can derseeve." But the old
Leviathan hurried along to the middle of the ocean
where the whale and the little fish waited patiently, the
whale flapping his big floundering tail. The Leviathan
paid no attention to him. And the Leviathan saw the
big whale swim up to her sides and the whale thought
of the big nodas and the floundering stand of his. He
said in a loud and dretful voice, "I am going"! But
the little fish said, "We shall travel our own way to
England, not follow the big white whale." The Leviathan said, "Who is your King of Sea?" "The big white
whale is my King of Sea." "Well," said the Leviathan,
"I am the King of my part of the Sea." Just then a big
turtle came down and said, "What is this about?" The
Leviathan said, "Who is King of your part of the land?"
The turtle said, "The lion is King of my part of land."
But the Leviathan said, "I must go." So he went on to
the deep of the ocean and he came at last to the big
docks of England where many people stood there waiting
for him. Another boat, very much annoyed, said,




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"What took you so long?" "Oh!" said Leviathan, "I
had a party with little Speckled Fin and the big white
whale and the snapping turtle of the sea." But still the
Leviathan was very much annoyed.
Sonia
APRIL
I am a sailboat
That sails the sea.
I have two sails
That turn when the wind blows.
The water goes up on my sides
Splash, splash, splash!
When the waves rock up and down
I rock with them.
Poem to put in her Book of Poems with picture of
sailboat.                                    Celia
In the wood, in the woods
Are the big round trees.
When winter doth come
They aren't brown any more
But lovely snow white
As white and soft as pussy cat's fur.
In the woods, in the woods
Are the big round trees.
When summer doth come
They aren't white any more
But a lovely silky brown
With beautiful green leaves.
Poem to put in her Book of Poems with picture of
trees.                                       Sonia






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The boat is sailing to England, rocking on the waves
but now it's going smoothly. It will soon be in England.
Then it will dock and all the passengers will get off and
they'll take all the baggage off and all the extra food
off and then everybody'll have a rest in England. Then
they'll load in things and the boat will go toot, toot back
to New York.
Picture of a steamer.                      Faith
The tug boat's going to pull the Leviathan out of the
mud. It didn't take one tug either, did it? Course
not! It began its engines working. It hitched a rope
on to the Leviathan. It began to pull with all its might.
Lots more other tugs were pulling with it. The Leviathan
is beginning to move out of the mud. When they got
her out, they took her to the dock.
Picture of tug boat.                        Alan
How the Leviathan got to be a Passenger Steamer
This is the story of the Leviathan before it turned
into a passenger boat. It carried many soldiers on its
decks. They had nine flags on the towers. Then at last
a year came and then all the soldiers got to land and
the Leviathan anchored and the soldiers fought, after a
day or two. Then they fought for two years and the
war was over and the Leviathan men got to work on it
and made it into a passenger steamer and carried people
across to England.
Picture of a warship.                     Albert
The tug boat is going through the Hudson River.
It's pulling a coal barge and it's working very hard because the coal barge is full of coal. "Puff, puff, puff,
puff, puff, chug, chug, chug, chug, chug! Toot, toot!"






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It's moving very very slowly. It's Captain Fred's boat.
Miss Stanton and Sonia are looking out the window.
Picture of a tug boat made on return from a trip.
Richard
Trip on Tug Boat
Alan: "The captain saw us walking on the deck, so
he came out the door of the cabin (corrected to pilothouse by general request) to meet us."
Fred: "Then he went up into the pilot-house and
turned the bow around so we could get on."
Albert: "Then he came down and jumped on to the
dock and then he lifted us all into the boat-one by one"
(added by Richard).
Florence: "We all stand quiet because we didn't
want to fall out of the boat. Then Captain Fred showed
us the engines and the kitchen" (changed to galley by
request).
Faith: "Then we turned around and walked up the
stairs to the pilot-house, and then we blew the big
whistle."
(The story paused here while everyone imitated the
whistle.)
There was a little thing that talked down to the engine
room and Captain Fred went downstairs and talked
with us.
Celia: "Then Miss Stanton said, 'Thank you. We're
all through. Goodbye.' Then Captain Fred came up
and showed us the compass. Then we went downstairs
and Captain Fred asked if he could speak to her and
he asked Miss Stanton if we were sensible enough to go
for a ride. Then Miss Stanton said 'Yes.' He asked us,
and we all said, 'Yes.'"
Sonia: "So we went up in the pilot-house and Captain
Fred asked us if we wanted to go for a ride and we said,




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'Yes' so we went inside the pilot-house and some of us
looked out the windows and others watched him steer.
The other tug moved back and we went out into the
river." (This was objected to at once because Sonia
didn't say he blew the whistle.)
Richard: "Then Captain Fred blowed the whistle
'toooooooooot!' and then we moved out into the river."
Fred: "Then we turned up north to Twenty-third
Street. We saw barges and grain elevators and sea gulls,
and ferry boats."                     Group Story
It's autumn time now. This boat is sailing to its dock
in New Jersey, way uptown in New Jersey, almost up
by the Harlem River. This boat sails from way up
here down to the bay, and after it gets to the bay, it
gets in the channel and then it goes through the Narrows
and then into the ocean. She sees lots of other boats sailing. It's about noon time now and the people on the
boat are having lunch, and they love it, too, it's very
good lunch and after that they're going to get some more.
They're going to get a second helping.
The boat is puffing and chugging along, and now it's
in England and now it's in the England Narrows and now
it's in the England Channel, and she is sailing right to
the England Bay, and now she is in the England River
and now she's in her dock.
Very good picture of steamer.              Fred
I love the sweet forget-me-nots
That grow in the fields every day,
The wind doth blow them to and fro
As in the fields they sway.
To go in Book of Poems, illustrated by a picture of
forget-me-nots.                              Celia




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Dog and cat and little rat
Went out to walk one day.
The north wind blew them all about
And mixed them up this way!
Illustrated by three pictures: a dog, a cat and a little
rat; dog, cat and little rat being blown about by the
wind; the dog with the rat's head and tail, the cat with
the dog's bead and tail, the rat with the cat's head and
tail.                                        Sonia
The Windy Story
Sonia: "The wind blows and blows and' blows. It
blows the tree tops round."
Fred: "The wind blows and blows and blows. It
blew the leaves about."
Sonia: "The wind blows and blows and blows. Until
the snow comes falling down. The wind blows and
blows and blows and makes it very cold."
Florence: "It makes the people very cold so that they
have to put their coats on."
Richard: "They have to put their collars up. They
have to hold their collars together and put their big warm
gloves on and put their scarves around their necks."
Florence: "The wind blows their hats off. They
have to run to catch their hats again."
Fred: "The wind blows and blows and blows and
blows the leaves whirling about. And the wind blows
and blows, and sometimes blows the branches off the trees,
and blows the birds' nests with them."
Florence, Fred and Richard: "The birds fly out. It
blows the eggs out, that are green and white and yellow
and blue. The shells break, the little birds fall down
dead. The mothers are weeping."
Sonia: "It blows the hats up, up to the sky, and they
fall right into the clouds."




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Fred: "The wind blows and blows and blows and the
wind blows so hard it blows the apples off the trees."
Florence: "It waves the trees from side to side."
Sonia: "There's a gale at sea and the ships go by and
the ships rock on the waves. The sails are down at
every gale and the gales are very fierce."
Four Children
Montclair
We walked down some big stairs from our apartment
house and a bird that was building its nest up on top of our
house flew out of his nest.
We walked and walked to the tube on 6th Ave. and
we went down the stairs and we got a little green ticket
and we put it down the slot and then we went through.
Then there was a big noise and the train came
"clackety, clack" through the tunnel. It blew my rabbit's
head off. The doors opened when it stopped. A lot
of people got in and looked at my bunny. The train
gave a big shake and I fell down 'cause it was such a
big shake. It went so suddenly I sat down and asked
Mother when we were going through the big tunnel and
she said she will tell me when we are going through the
tunnel. And pretty soon we heard a big wind and
Mother said we were under the river and I ran once up
the train. And then the train stopped and Mother said
it was time to get off. So I ran back and it shaked just
the same when we went before. We got out and walked
up a big lot of stairs and then we saw the Montclair train
waiting for us and I hopped in and sat down in the train,
and then it gave a shake and the whistle blew and we
just started.
We saw a big shack where the cows were and they were
getting loaded into a freight car and everybody looked
out the window to see it. Then the train gave ding,
dong, and we went into the big tunnel and our window
was open so we had to shut it down, and James was at




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the door and he had to shut the door because he began
coughing and Mother said that we were getting out of
the tunnel. It was beginning to get light and she wanted
to have air. And then we saw a freight car going with
a lot of chickens and they stopped at a station where
there was a lot of chickens and cans and milk.
The train stopped and I said if it was time to get out
and she said, no, it was four more stations. Then we
saw the country; there was a lot of green trees and it
began pouring and Mother said she didn't know what to
do. Then she said it was time to get out, and we
walked down the street and we met Jack and Aunt
Mary in the car going down to meet us. But she saw
us and she stopped the car and we got in and she had to
turn around. And we got to the line and the tire broke
and the air came out of the tire and we had to stop and
we put another tire on. And we went up the driveway
and put it in the garage. And we ran 'cause it was raining. And Jack showed me all the toys he had and we
had supper. And it was eight o'clock when in we went
to bed.
I got undressed and got in my bed and Mother said
goodnight to me and she went downstairs. We went in
the same bed, Jack and I, it was such a big bed. It got
sunny at seven o'clock and we couldn't get up 'cause we
stayed up so late last night. Then we got up and got
dressed and had our breakfast, a good breakfast too.
And Mother called up a taxicab to come and take us down
to the station 'cause we didn't want to be late to school.
We heard the same little bird we heard at first going
to the station. He looked at us.
We got to the station and we went into the car and the
engine puffed big smoke and made a noise with its
whistle and we went off. We saw the bird going on
North. And the train went choo, choo, and we got to
one station and we got off at four more stations. The
train stopped for us. We got off and walked up the hill.




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There was a bull running around there, a man was
catching him with a lasso. Then we were waiting for
the ferry to come in and Daddy told us to hurry up
'cause the ferry boat was coming in. And Mother
didn't want to go out 'cause she was tired and 'cause the
sun got in her eyes, and so she sat down and I sat down
and Philip got off Daddy's lap and played around with
us. The gang-planks went up, the gates shut and the
whistle blew and we moved slowly out of the dock. We
saw a little fire and we heard the fire-boat coming and it
went out when we were nearly at the dock. Then we
moved slowly into the dock at Christopher St. in New
York and the gang-planks went down and we all got off
and we saw a taxicab waiting for us and we got in.
Philip had to sit on the floor. Then we got to the
school and I took my bunny in the basket and got out
and went into the school and said good morning to Miss
Stanton. (See page 275.)
Florence
The dredger's going along in the Hudson River. Then
the men throw out the anchor. They put down the big
arm  by steam, sssssssss, splash! It looks all foamy.
Then the divers go down and hitch the chains on to
the freight cars. The way they do it is, they take the
chains and put it around the freight car and hook it.
Then the great big arm goes up very slowly, lifting the
freight car up. Then, after they've got them up, they
put them on to a barge and take them over to the New
Jersey dock, because they were the Lackawanna freight
cars. Then the switching engine came and pushed them
over to the freight yard. Then they took all the rotten
fruit out and got a rubbish barge and the rubbish barge
dumped them in the middle of the ocean. Then they
mended the freight cars.
Picture of a dredger raising a freight car from the
river.                                       Celia




BEFORE BOOKS


329


The sailing vessel
Is sailing in the deep sea,
Deep where the monsters are
Where olden sharks and killer whales are
And Speckled Fin is swimming around.
Song made after drawing a picture of a schooner.
Sung rather than said to me.                   Alan
The wind blows!
It blows the branches about.
It blows the leaves about too.
It blows the flowers down
That rise so quick again.
The last two lines suggested by My Lady Wind
On the rough blue sea
I see a sailor up on the mast taking down the sails.
It's rocking on the deep blue sea
The whales are spouting on the sea and they hear a little
buoy far away on the sea.
Picture of a sailing ship. (See page 278.)  Florence
The Sea
The sea, the sea, oh! the sea!
With silver birds flying about
And birds with wings so glistening
Upon the stars in the night.






330


BEFORE BOOKS


And the moon comes out
And they rest about
Upon the clouds in the sky.
And they come to the sea in the morning
And fly with the raindrops dropping down
They rest on the waves so pretty and shaved.
Sonia
Funny Rhymes
Trains and trains       "How do you do Mr. Lasso,"
Don't like names.        Says Mrs. Cockoo.
Little Bunny
Wants to be funny
And his mummy
Says he's a dummy.
Richard
The rabbit rhyme was said as he looked at a picture
on a vase in our room and was immediately dramatized.
The ship is sailing in the ocean
in the deep sea ocean.
The sails all set, sailing swiftly
through the big blue waves.
Picture of a boat. (See page 275.)          Alan
One day Faith oame to school tremendously excited
over her new kitten. She is an only child and had never
had an animal before to play with. Her feeling was
so strong she could think and talk of nothing else so I
asked if she'd like to make a story about it. The form
was suggested by my asking her to let the children guess






BEFORE BOOKS


331


what she had at her house without calling it by name.
She worked three-quarters of an hour on the story.
This first part was for the children to guess.
Soft, soft, whiskers I have.
Soft, soft, fur I have.
My tail is sticking up.
Little pointed ears I have, soft, soft, soft.
I am gray with stripes of white, soft, soft, soft.
Lap, lap goes my little pink tongue.
Pat, pat, pat go some little feet of mine.
Four little feet I have, soft and scratchy, soft and
scratchy,
Fur around them, nails that scratch.
Small, small, purring purring
Down I lay myself to sleep.
The part that follows was written originally third,
but Faith then wanted it placed here. It describes the
kitten's journey,from her aunt's home to Faith's home.
In a box I went
Queer, queer, queer
Holes I had in this queer thing.
Funny, funny, funny
Up the stairs somebody took me.
Then through the gate
Funny, funny, funny.
"Mother, mother," I mewed.
There I was on a sort of platform,
Tracks, tracks in front of me
Funny, funny, funny.
Then there came a great noise.
Back, back in the box I crawled
I mewed, and mewed and mewed.
Somebody stepped in a funny thing
(The person that was holding the box I was in.)




332


BEFORE BOOKS


My ears began to stick up
My nose went sniff, sniff, sniff.
My head began coming out.
Look, look all around I did.
What a queer place this is!
All of a sudden it began to move.
Still queerer, still queerer I thought it was
I didn't get scared then for my mistress petted me on
the head.
All the people in the car began smiling
Then laughing
Then getting louder and louder.
Then the queer thing stops
After a few funny platforms.
Then my mistress got out
I scrambled back in my bed again.
Then there was a funny thing going by
Kerthunk, kerthunk, kerthunk!
Then clopperty, clopperty, clop, another funny thing
That I thought I'd just been on.
Then we came to the door of another funny thing.
Then prrrrrip, prrrrrip my mistress rung another
funny thing.
Then I looked around me
In another house I thought I'd been in before
My mistress took the lid off the box I was in,
I leaped out.
Then the string to my box was taken off and hung
below my nose.
Wiggle, wiggle it went
Then another doorbell rang,
There was a little girl.
Then the little girl began to play with me till she
became my friend.
The following was written second but is placed third
according to the author's instructions.




BEFORE BOOKS


333


I went fast asleep last nightPurr, purr, purr, purr I went,
The light was out and it was dark, black, black night.
I didn't much care. I went to sleep.
It began getting lighter.
The sun rose and woke me.
"Mew, mew" I went.
Somebody came to the door and opened it a wee
crack.
Pat, pat, pat out the door I scrambled.
Then I heard some feet going downstairs.
Under the table I crawled,
There were some apron strings.
Scrambling, I try to get the apron strings.
But they twirl, but they twirlMy little forepaw went up, twirl, twirl they went.
I couldn't get themI ran under the table.
A little girl came downstairs. She was my friend.
I ran out from underneath the table and as quick as
can be
The little girl had a saucer of milk ready for me for
breakfast.
Then lapping, lapping went my tongue, till there was
no milk left.
Then I mewed. Then I curled up to a ball by the
door and went
Purr, purr, sound asleep.
Faith
MAY
There was a bird, and she was in her bird house, that
a man had built for her, and she had babies in it. She
flew off to get some food and a big hawk began to fight
with her and he killed her. Then there was a great big
wind and it blew the bird house down but the babies




334


BEFORE BOOKS


weren't hurt. A little girl came and picked the bird
house up and saw the little babies in it and she carried
them in her arms over to the house and asked her
father to make a bird cage for them, and the father made
the bird cage and the little girl put the birds in it.
Picture of a bird house on a pole. A bird dropping to
earth and the tip of a wing of a hawk at the top of the
picture.                                     Celia
This here is a boat story about three boats. Once
there was a big big boat. It had two chimneys and it
was sailing along in the Hudson. Then there was a coal
barge right back of it. It almost bumped into the coal
barge, unless the coal barge hadn't of turned, it would
have bumped. Then the big boat came to the channel
and it went tooting along in the channel. And that's
the end of one boat story.
This is about a coal barge. Once the coal barge was
going in the bay, and the tug was pulling it, making it
walk (Marie stopped to laugh saying how funny that
sounded) and then it kept walking, and walking, and
walking, and walking until it came to a dock. ("That
makes me laugh terrible.") It stopped at the dock and
the tug dropped the rope and went away. Then a big
steam-shovel began working, and took one load of coal
and then took another load of coal and then dumped it
into the chute. Then a truck came along and ran right
under the chute and then the man got out and he pulled
down a big handle and the bottom of the chute opened
and out the coal came pouring shs, sch, sch, sch, sch.
Then the man pulled down the handle when the truck
was full.
Once there was a ferry boat. It ain't a very useful
ferry boat because it's too much of a slowpoke. Then it
got into the slip and a man tied it and then people got
on. Then when it was all full, the people began to sit






BEFORE BOOKS


335


down and then the man unhitched it and put down the
gates and then the boat began to toot off and it was going
so slow in the river that people was almost mad. And
then one of the people went up to the captain and asked
him please to go a little faster, not to be so lazy, and
then after that Captain said "All right." Then the firemen put more coal on, then it began to go fast. Then
it got into the dock and they tied the boat to the big
wheel and then they had to wind it up. Then the man
came along, he opened the gates. All the people got
off.
Picture of a tiny steamer, a coal barge and a ferry boat.
Told with great interest and enthusiasm.    Marie
I can see a little squirrel up in a tree, eating a nut.
He has it in his two front feet and he's cracking the shell
now. He's eating the inside now and I guess I'll go out
to see him, but he hopped too quick so I couldn't see
him. He went up another little pine tree and sat on the
branch of the pine tree and saw me again and jerked
his tail and got mad so I ran to the house, and got my
toy squirrel and showed it at him and he went down the
tree and played with it and turned the little squirrel
upside down.
Picture of a squirrel in a tree.
Rain Story
The thunder roared and the lightning went flashing
by. The rain began to pour down on the roofs, down on
the race tracks, down on the houses, down on the ocean,
down on the beaches, down on' the ships. Thunder
stormed and lightning went flashing by, and the wind
began to blow. It blowed the rain crooked on one side.
Alan




336


BEFORE BOOKS


Boat Stories
Marie suddenly developed an intense interest in boats
and worked for several days on a book and these stories.
The Leviathan is sailing on the ocean.
The waves are rough and high.
The rain is pouring on the Leviathan.
The wind is making the waves high.
First picture, the Leviathan in a rainstorm.
The tug is puffing, puffing,
Puff, puff, puff, pulling a barge.
The tug is working hard.
Then they go chug, chug-a-chug into the slip.
Second picture, a coal barge with a tug beside it.
There's a Red Star Line steamer sailing in the bay.
She's going to Holland. The pilot is steering. Now the
tug is dropping the rope. Chug, chug, chug, she goes,
away she goes into the ocean.
Third picture, a steamer.
The sailboat's sailing on the lake. The big waves are
rough and high. The waves are splashing on the boat.
The wind is blowing. It's a nasty day. The sky is
grayish.
Fourth picture, a sailboat.
A boat is sailing on the ocean and there's a girl in
our class named Meta and she's on it. She's gone to
Italy with her mother and father and brother. She carried her suit-case over to the dock and they walked and
walked and walked till they got to the dock and then they
walked up the gang-plank on to the boat. Then the
steward took them to their stateroom.
Fifth picture, a steamer.                  Marie


1 -




APPENDIX TO RECORD OF GROUP SIX
A. PROGRAM
The day began at nine o'clock, usually with a discussion period of a half hour. This was often followed by
number games until time for a half hour of rhythms
(two days a week) or shop or cooking. Yard play of
a half hour or an hour was followed by indoor play at
eleven o'clock. Lunch was at half past twelve followed
by an hour of rest lying down.
The afternoon began with the return of the children
from rest shortly after two. Two days a week there
was a half hour of music in the music room; the other
three days, stories; the last hour, from two-thirty to
three-thirty, was spent in the yard.
B. THE CLASS
The length of time the children had previously spent
in the school and their ages on October 1, 1923, are shown
in the following list:
Alan      5 yr. 8 mo.-first entered Oct. 1921
Albert    6 (    1 "     "    "    Oct. 1923
Celia     5 "   11  "    "    "    Oct. 1922
Edna      5 "            "    "    Apr. 1921
Faith     6 "   4   "    "    "    Oct. 1922
Florence  6 "   6  "    "     "    Oct. 1921
Fred      5 "   3  "     "    "    Oct. 1921
Marie     6 "   4  "     "    "    Oct. 1921
Meta      5 "   10  "    "    "    Oct. 1923
Richard   6 "            "    "    Oct. 1920
Sonia     5 "      11   "  "  "    Oct. 1920
337






338


BEFORE BOOKS


C. THE STAFF
In addition to Miss Jessie Stanton, the group teacher,
Group Six had work with the following special teachers:
Miss Ruth Doing               Rhythmics
Miss Winifred C. Hannum      Cooking and Sewing
Miss Harriette G. Hubbell     Music
Miss Maude Stewart 
Mrs. Lucy Sprague Mitchell   Language
N. E. Reber                   Shop
D. BUILDINGS
In the fall of 1921 the School moved to its present quarters on Twelfth Street, where it occupies parts of six remodelled dwelling houses, three on Twelfth Street and
three on Thirteenth Street. The two sets of buildings are
connected by a covered passageway. The back yards of
the houses have been converted into playgrounds.
E. SPACE AND FURNISHING
During the year 1923-1924 Group Six occupied a large
room with a long extension on the ground floor of the
Twelfth Street building. From the extension there was a
door opening directly into the playground which this class
used. As in all classrooms where block building is an
important activity, the floor was of heavy linoleum.
There was running water in the room.
The room was furnished with individual chairs and
folding tables, a bench (later removed, and all bench
work done in the shop), individual shelves for each child's
possessions, shelves for blocks and toys, movable coat
racks. The children also worked in the shop, kitchen,
music room and gymnasium.
There are three playgrounds, but these children for the
most part used a large one which was equipped with a
slide, ladders, parallel bars, see-saw, wagons, packing






BEFORE BOOKS                      339
cases, yard blocks, loose boards, shovels, old automobile
tires, and a pebble pit.
F. MATERIALS USED
Classroom: blocks, colored crayons, show card colors,
newsprint paper, drawing paper, brushes, clay, paste,
scissors, thumb-tacks, wooden dolls, pennies, nickles and
dimes, needles, yarn, unbleached muslin, thread, empty
boxes for playing store, parcheesi, dominoes, picture map
of Greater New York and the harbor.
Books: (used for illustrative purposes and for reference) Mitchell, Here and Now Story Book; Kipling, Just
So Stories; Hopkins, The Doers; Skinner and Wickes, A
Child's Own Book of Verse; Bailey, Stories Children
Need; Tarr and McMurry, New Geographies, First Book;
unpublished stories by Mrs. Mitchell and by Miss Mary
B. Miller; Bailey, For the Children's Hour; Fillmore,
The Shoemaker's Apron.




J




INDEX


Accuracy, 153, 181, 204, 279
Aeroplane, 55
Ambidexterous, 55
Animals, 28, 74, 92, 107, 120,
122; play, 147, 148, 202; discussion of, 193, 300; care of,
170, 175, 225, 249, 271-272;
toy, 152; clay, 218-219, 265 -266
Aquarium, an, 187, 225; The,
193, 208, 249
Armadilloes, 274
Art, see Drawing, Painting,
Clay; Pedagogy as a creative,
1-28
Artist, creative, 1-6, 8-11, 26
Attention, 20, 34, 37, 59, 60
Auto, Auto, 121
Automobiles, 58, 67, 72
Apparatus, 146, 147, 173


Big Docks of Manhattan, 225,
227
Big Red Apple, 199
Big White Whale, 319ff.
Blacksmith, 47, 68-69, 96, 146,
153, 241
Blocks, experience with, 15, 17,
35, 54
Block building, 28, 30-32, 45,
71, 97-107, 148-156, 204-216,
256-262
Boats, 16, 17, 18, 31-35, 45, 61,
84, 109, 112; trips to, 236-241,
287ff.; building and playing
with, 142, 143, 145, 147, 203
ff.,  214ff.,  251 ff.,  256ff.;
drawing and painting of,
157,  216ff.,  262ff.;  shop,
163, 219-220,   267;   discussions, 193, 247, 249-250, 275,
293. See Original Stories,
Discussion
Books, 12, 113
Books used, 139, 339
Boris, 176, 228, 278, 287
Bridges, 31, 116; Manhattan,
191, 291; Queensborough, 191,
249; Brooklyn, 211, 240
Bronx Park, 144
Brooklyn, 191, 240; trip to,
292
Brushes, 159
"Buildings, description of school,
138, 338
Butterfield, 30


Baltimore, 72
Band, see Music
Barns, 153, 154
Baseball, 271
Batteries, 59, 67
Beads, 30
Behavior, 16, 38
Behaviorists, 25
Bell buoy, 94, 142, 228, 249
Buoy, 214, 240
Bench work, 28, 30, 33, 53-55,
77-80, 109, 114-118, 149, 150,
162, 219-220, 267-268
Berengaria, 256


341




342


INDEX


Camping, 194
Captain, 33, 143, 257; Fred, 262,
287 f., 293, 322ff.
Cardboard, corrugated, 72
Cat That Walked by Himself,
252
Central Park, 109
Chanticler and the Hens, 36
Chimney, 66, 70, 84, 91, 108,
129
China, 299
Christmas, 306; tree, 49
Church, 210, 211
Circus, 263
Class, names of children in IV,
137; names of children in VI,
337
Class organization, 169-173, 220 -223, 269
Clay, 28-33, 51, 75, 111-112, 130,
142, 149, 154, 156, 158, 160 -162, 169, 218-219, 265-266
Clickety-clack, 119
Coal, 33, 50, 66, 92, 95-96
Color, 92, 132
Colored cubes, 17, 31, 143, 154,
155, 181
Colored paper, 51
Committees,   169-172,  220 f.,
269
Content of play and discussions, 29, 44, 65, 91, 128
Cooking, 142, 150, 164, 167-169,
194, 220, 269, 293; apple sauce,
167, baked apple, 269; biscuit, 269; cake, 269; gingerbread, 220; grape jelly, 169;
pears, canned, 168; peaches,
canned, 168, 180
Copying, 158, 166, 262
Country, Life in the, 192


Cows, 153, 155, 192, 254
Crackers, 90
Crayons, 38, 147, 156, 159, 255;
see also Drawing
Curriculum, experimental, 27
Dear Little Hen, 273, 275
Democracy, 12
Derrick, 275, 289, 295, 298
Dinner Horses, 57-58, 60, 66
Discussions, 191-198, 242-250,
275, 278, 281, 293-303. See
Language, Number, Orientation
Disobedient Rooster, 273, 274,
275
Divers, 298
Dock, 142, 144, 194, 237; building, 214, 216
Dolls, 31, 71, 150, 152, 205, 206,
210, 214
Dominoes, 180, 181, 230-231,
278
Dramatics, 24
Dramatic play, 32, I41-143, 199 -201, 251-255; Christmas
dramatization, 49. See Play
with Big Materials.
Draw bridge, 45
Drawing, 149, 153, 156-160, 186,
190, 216-218, 262-265, 275;
cutting and pasting, 24, 25,
28, 34, 51-53, 76-77, 93, 113 -114. See Crayons, Painting
Dredger, building, 213, 227, 240,
292; story, 328
Dripping Goes the Rain, 120
Education, 6
Eggs, 149, 160, 254, 266
Elections, 220-221




INDEX 


343


Elephant's Child, 265
Elevated, 144, 150, 191, 207, 239,
292
Elevators, 102, 152, 190, 204 -205, 239, 244-245, 261
Embroider, 165, 166
English, 44, 131. See Language, Stories
Engineer, 144, 189, 190, 287
Engines, 17, 54, 55, 65, 67, 79,
115, 143, 150, 158, 188, 189,
190, 240, 267, 275, 295, 302
Engine Book, The, 66
Engine Story, The, 58, 305
England, 214, 252, 257, 259, 300
Enunciation, 21
Environment, 14, 18, 19, 27
Eskimoes, playing, 201; song,
233
Executive, 5
Experiences, 19, 20, 28; teaching, 13, 14, 16; of the summer, 44; organized, 17
Experiment, 11
Expression, 20
Expressionism, 4
Farm, 147, 148, 150, 152, 155,
160, 204, 207, 215, 254, 259
February, 70
Ferry, trip to, 188, 236, 23940,
241, 292; building, 206ff.;
See Original Stories
Fire, play, 65, 67, 93, 108; engines, 249; protection, 244;
discussion, 302
Flag poles, 130
Flowers, 125; care of, 29
Flushing, 72
Fog, 242, 288; horn, 143


Fog Boat Story, 14, 33, 35, 37,
142, 186, 187
Food, 70, 83, 91-93, 94, 109,
110, 129, 130, 146, 158
Forms, 5, 8, 9, 13, 14, 20, 23;
dramatic, 14; mechanical, 18
French, 131
Furnace, 50, 66
Games, feeling, 64, 90; hiding,
43, 64; listening, 89; music,
183; organized, 175, 223-224,
271; number, 179, 180, 181;
phonetic, 177, 179, 226 ff.,
274, 276, 277; in rhythms,
185; silence, 64, 89, 90
Gansevoort Market, 249
Garage, 72
Genius, 4
Geography, 22. See Orientation
German, 131
Good Morning Little Yellow
Bird, 119
Grammar, 20
Grand Central Station, 101
Gravity, 294
Greedy Parrot, The, 37
Greenaway, Kate, 277
Grocery Man, The, 57, 59, 60,
184
Grocery store, 146, 155
Group stories, 305, 306-310, 316 -317, 323-324, 325-326; See also
Stories
Guillible World, 273
Habits, 7, 8; formation of, 18
Handwork, 12, 13
Hoboken, 189, 191, 236ff.




344


INDEX


Horse, 68, 96, drawing, 216;
made at bench, 32, 145; playing, 49, 126, 254; stable, 31,
47, 108, 145, 153
House, 30, 32, 48, 59, 70-73,
102-104, 128, 151, 153, 208;
building, 144, 145, 146, 148,
150; clay, 160; drawing, 158;
playing, 108, 146, 147, 148
Hospitals, 249, 295
How Animals Move, 59, 122
How the Engine Learned the
Knowing Song, 177, 190
How the Rhinoceros Got his
Skin, 273
How the Whale Got his Throat,
176, 274
Hudson River, 142, 214, 240,
241
Hydroplanes, 34
Iceberg, 298
Icebox, 129
Impressionism, 4
Indians, 156, 160, 194
Information, 16. See Discussion
Institution, 9, 11
Instruments, see Music
Irons, 37
Jackal and the Alligator, 176
Jack Frost, 59
January, 45, 199
Journey, The, 92, 104, 110, 122
Jumping rope, 253, 270, 271
Kitchen, 19, 32. See Cooking
Knocking at My Wee Small
Door, 58


Lackawanna Station, 188, 260
Language, 4, 20, 176-179, 225 -229, 273-278; See also Discussion, and Stories
Lany Parrot, 121
Leader, 68, 96, 108, 141, 170,
187, 190, 220, 222, 236. 241,
253
Leviathan, 228, 236, 242, 243 -245, 264, 266, 288, 291, 296 ff.;
building of, 205, 209, 214ff.;
painting,   216-217;   story,
319 ff.
Little Gray Pony, The, 14, 120,
141, 177
Little Rabbit Who Was Afraid,
200
Little Wind, 277
London Wind, 277
Maps, 14, 142, 186-187, 207, 214,
248; floor, 235, 286-287
Marching, see Music
Material, 1, 2, 3, 12, 19, 27;
plastic, 15, 16; used, 139, 339;
care of, 169
Mathematics, 21. See Number,
Money
May, 97
Meadow-land Farm, 155, 178,
198
Measurements, 162, 181, 182,
260
Method, 3, 4, 5, 21, 23
Metropolitan Tower, 211, 260
Milk, 148, 154, 197; condensed,
237
Money, 169, 180, 193, 230-23I,
279 ff.
Montclair, 275, 326 ff.




I                      -I - 


INDEX


345


Morristown, 84-85
My Kitty, 36, 122
Music, 22, 23, 24, 28, 35, 36. 40,
56, 57, 81, 118-120, 182-183,
231-234, 283-285
My Lady Wind, 277
Nancy Brown, The, 229, 273,
275
New York City, picture map
of, 142
New Engine, The, 57, 85, 120,
122
Number, 21, 29, 128, 179, 182,
230-231, 278-282; games, 179,
180-181, 230-231, 278ff.
Nursery, 32
October, 30, 34-36, 141
Old Dan, 85, 122
Old Dan Gets the Coal, 84
Old Woman and the Pig, The,
37
Olympic, 257
Organism, 3, 4, 18, 19, 24
Organization of Information,
15, 27, 29, 44, 65, 91, 128, 187 -198, 236-250, 287-303
Orientation, 14, 22, 29, 40, 88,
186-187, 235, 286-287
Original Stories, 304 ff.; Oct.,
304; Nov., 305; Dec., 306;
Feb., 310; March, 314; April,
321; May, 333
Over in the Meadow, 229
Packing cases, 32-33, 50, 74,
107-110, 125, 146
Painting, 25, 156, 158, 216-218,
262-265; paints, water color,


151; use of, 159; costumes
and scenery, 199-200
Paper, 147, 152, 154, 155, 158,
199
Paris, The, 257
Parallel bars, 63, 88-89, 173,
174, 175
Parcheesi, 282
Pasting, 51, 149, 154, 155, 157,
158, 199. See Drawing
Pasture, 145, 147, 154, 259
Pedagogy, as a Creative Art, 1 -28
Pedro's Feet, 85, 121
Peep Gray Mousie, 119
Pennsylvania Station, 158, 188
Phonetics, 20, 21; game, 177,
179, 276
Philadelphia, 72
Physical exercise, 29, 41, 62, 88,
146, 173-175, 223-224, 270-271
Pilot, 110-111, 247; boat, 143;
house, 287
Pirates, 203, 253, 255
Pitch, See Music
Plaint of the Camel, The, 273
'Plants, 224-225, 272-273; care
of, 175. See Flowers
Platter, 112
Play City, 15
Play Experiences, 20, 22, 28,
30, 45, 70, 97, 140, 141ff.,
199-219, 251-266
Play with big materials (indoors) 19, 28, 51, 199-201,
251, 253; (outdoors) 28-32,
48, 74, 107, 144, 201-204, 253 -256
Plumbing, 134
Practical Experiences, 19, 27,


- ---




346


INDEX


28, 60, 86, 123, 162-173, 219 -233, 267-269
Pretty Little Goldfish, 119
Program, 22; correlated, 15;
seven-year-old, 15; school, 40;
Group IV, 137; Group VI,
337
Psychology, 7; educational, 18
Psychologist, educational, 10
Putting Away, 28, 39, 61, 123
Quarantine, 109
Queer Little Baker Man, 143,
191
Races, relay, 223. See Physical
Exercises, Games
Rain, 226, 304-305
Rainy days, 60, 141, 153, 213,
239, 245, 291; story about,
246
Reading, 20-21
Realism, 18
Records, 8, 12, 13, 15, 25; organization of, 27; six-yearold, 12, 19, 25; seven-yearold, 20
Relationships, 15, 23
Rhythm, see Music, Language,
Rhythms
Rhythms, 22, 183-186, 234-235,
285-286
Rossetti, 277
Sand-pile, 74
Santa Claus, 49
Sawing, 24. See Bench Work
Science, 198
Sculpture, 24
Sea-gulls, 249
Seashore, 32


Seeds, 247, 272, 303
See-saw, 42, 62, 126
Sense training, 29, 42, 64, 89 -90. See Games
Setting lunch tables, 28, 39, 61,
87
Sewing, 164 ff., 268
Shoemaker's Apron, 273
Shoes, 94
Shop, see Bench Work
Silly Will, 178
Silo, 154
Skinner and Wickes, 228, 229,
273, 277, 278, 339
Slide, 41, 60, 63, 88, 173, 174,
254, 255
Snow, storm, 253; story, 310,
318; play, 253
Songs, 275. See Music
South Ferry, 128, 144. See
Trips
Space and Furnishing, 139, 338
Spanish, 131
Special Training, 20, 22, 27,
29, 41, 62, 88, 125, 173-187,
223-235, 270-287
Speed, 228
Spot, 14, 51, 84, 141, 177, 252,
278
Staff, 138, 338
Stanton, Miss, 13, 14, 16, 17,
19, 20, 21, 25
Staten Island, 207, 209, 212, 239,
242
Statue of Liberty, 202, 207, 208,
212, 240, 249; building, 215;
in clay, 218
Steam, 66
Steam-shovel, stories, 314-315
Stones, cracking, 146, 147
Store, playing and building,






INDEX


347


146, 147, 213, 261, 279 ff.; discussion, 196, 249; school, 156,
193
Stories, 28, 36, 57, 82-85, 120 -122; read to children, 176,
247, 251-252, 273ff.; by the
children, 157, 218, 226-229,
273-279,  294 ff.  See  Language, titles
Student Teachers, 166, 220, 299
Study, Courses of, 11, 13
Subconscious, 25
Subject matter, 15
Subway, 46, 104, 144
Swing, 63, 88
Swinging rope, 41
Symbols, 20, 21
Tadema, Alma, 277
Tarr and McMurry Geography, 247, 250
Telephone, 70, 144, 192
Temperature, 94-95
Things that Loved the Lake,
176
Three Little Owlets, 229
Thumb-sucking, 196
Thunder, stories, 318
Tiddlydewinks and    Tiddledewee, 119
Tide, 288
Tools, 34. See Bench Work
Trains, 30, 31, 32, 45-48, 71, 73,
80, 92, 97-102, 126, 130, 132;
building and playing with,
144, 148, 149, 150, 155, 201,
206, 212, 260; drawing, 158;
trips to, 188, 237; discussion


and stories, 249, 275. See
Stories,   Block     building,
Bench Work, Discussion
Trapeze, 89
Treasure Island, 203
Tree Men's Story, 178
Trimmers and Stokers, 227
Trips, 15, 16, 29, 42, 57, 67, 72,
95, 132-136, 158, 186, 187-191;
discussion of, 196, 202, 207,
230, 236-241, 287-292
Tri-square, 162
Typewriter, 145
Up Down, 81
Vacation, 293
Vise, 164


Wanamaker's, 151, 152, 187,
190, 249, 295
Washing and Ironing, 28, 37
Washing cups, 29, 62, 87, 124
Washington, 104
White Seal, 255
Whistle, 17, 33, 288
Who Has Seen the Wind? 277
Wind, story, 277, 288, 325
Woolworth Tower, 152, 153,
211, 240, 258, 295, 314
Wraps, 28, 38, 60, 86
Wrestling, 270
Yard play, 62, 74, 88, 108. See
Play with Big Materials;
Outdoors;   Physical  Exercise








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