Special Method for History And Literature in the Common Schools

time for deeds of individual heroism. But it is practical and real. The old heroes of mythical times had to do with monsters and demi-gods. or with the huge forces of nature in uncouth personification as Polyphemus, Scylla, and Charybdis. The heroes of this new world had more real and tangible hardships. Mountains, forests, rivers, stormy oceans, wild beasts, and Indians, and other untold hardships and distresses of people far from their sources of supply. In the first and second grades we found a striking contrast between the fanciful fairy tales and Robinson Crusoe's experiences. One transcends the laws of nature, the other is held in absolute subjection to them. The same contrast stands out between the stories of the mythical age and the pioneer histories. The early explorers and settlers of our land first discovered and opened up its vast stretches of forest, mountain, and desert; then struggled manfully against savage difficulties togain possession of its soil, and finally labored slowly and painfully to build houses, roads, villages, and all the later institutions of culture. It can hardly be said that our history stories can be used to advantage before the fourth grade, but for children of this age they are well adapted. It is not uncommon to find history stories in use in the first and second grades, and some even of our kindergartners employ the stories of Columbus and of Washington and of others with still younger children. They claim also that muc...