Journeys Through Bookland Volume X Part 52

(4) _Beowulf and Grendel_, III, 350.

_c._ Miscellaneous: (1) _Stories of the Creation_, Volume IV, page 159.

5. Legendary heroes. The following selections give vivid ideas of the great national heroes whose reputed deeds have been an inspiration to hosts of children in many lands:

_a._ Scandinavian: (1) _Frithiof the Bold_, Volume III, page 394.

_b._ German: (1) _The Story of Siegfried_, Volume III, page 410.

_c._ English: (1) _Robin Hood_, Volume III, page 436.

(2) _King Arthur_, V, 113.

(3) _Balin and Balan_, V, 130.

(4) _Geraint and Enid_, V, 148.

(5) _The Holy Grail_, V, 207.

(6) _Dissensions at King Arthur's Court_, V, 232.

(7) _The Pa.s.sing of Arthur_, V, 237.

_d._ French: (1) _Roland at Roncesvalles_, Volume III, page 460.

_e._ Spanish: (1) _The Cid_, Volume IV, page 9.

_f._ Greek: (1) _The Death of Hector_, Volume IV, page 364.

(2) _Ulysses_, IV, 398.

_g._ Roman: (1) _Horatius_, Volume VI, page 1.

6. Historical tales, poems, and selections of different kinds and varying degrees of difficulty:

_a._ Northern Europe: (1) _Holger Danske_, Volume II, page 377.

(2) _Make Way for Liberty_, VII, 172.

(3) _Marco Bozzaris_, VIII, 90.

_b._ France and Napoleon: (1) _Incident of the French Camp_, Volume IV, page 174.

(2) _Battle of Ivry_, VIII, 76.

(3) _Herve Riel_, VIII, 168.

(4) _The Battle of Waterloo_, VIII, 176.

(5) _The Battle of Cressy_, IX, 161.

_c._ Cla.s.sic lands: (1) _The Wooden Horse_, Volume IV, page 383.

(2) _The Battle of Thermopylae_, VIII, 81.

(3) _The Death of Caesar_, IX, 126.

(4) _The Death of Caesar_, IX, 143.

(5) _Julius Caesar_, IX, 155.

_d._ British Isles: (1) _Chevy Chase_, Volume IV, page 312.

(2) _The Ballad of Agincourt_, V, 95.

(3) _Some Children's Books of the Past_, V, 101.

(4) _The Rise of Robert Bruce_, V, 278.

(5) _Bruce and the Spider_, V, 314.

(6) _The Heart of Bruce_, V, 316.

(7) _The Tournament_, VI, 38.

(8) _Bannockburn_, VII, 15.

(9) _The Charge of the Light Brigade_, VII, 147.

(10) _The Recessional_, VII, 164.

(11) _The Battle of Trafalgar_, VIII, 284.

(12) _Casabianca_, VIII, 313.

(13) _The Impeachment of Warren Hastings_, IX, 32.

(14) _The Battle of Cressy_, IX, 161.

(15) _The Battle of Hastings_, IX, 330.

_e._ United States: (1) _The Pine Tree Shillings_, Volume IV, page 192.

(2) _The Sunken Treasure_, IV, 199.

(3) _The Hutchinson Mob_, IV, 208.

(4) _The Boston Ma.s.sacre_, IV, 217.

(5) _The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England_, IV, 197.

(6) _Sheridan's Ride_, IV, 223.

(7) _Henry Hudson's Fourth Voyage_, V, 254.

(8) _Reminiscences of a Pioneer_, V, 340.

(9) _Braddock's Defeat_, V, 379.

(10) _The American Flag_, V, 396.

(11) _Stonewall Jackson's Way_, V, 400.

(12) _The Capture of Vincennes_, VI, 428.

(13) _The Old Continentals_, VII, 175.

(14) _America_, VIII, 60.

(15) _The Fall of the Alamo_, VIII, 141.

(16) _The Knickerbocker History of New York_, VIII, 224.

(17) _The Battle of Saratoga_, IX, 176.

(18) _The Gettysburg Address_, IX, 321.

_f._ America, outside of the United States: (1) _The Buccaneers_, Volume V, page 359.

(2) _Captain Morgan at Maracaibo_, V, 365.

(3) _Ringrose and His Buccaneers_, VIII, 1.

(4) _The Retreat of Cortez_, VIII, 63.

The object of teaching geography and history is not solely that children may acquire a collection of facts. Too often the lessons in these branches consist merely in memorizing text books, in learning long descriptions, in the study of meaningless maps and in the listing of political and military events in chronological order. The value of such work is comparatively small, and the studies cannot be considered profitable. If, however, children are taught to know and understand people, their habits and modes of life; if they learn geographical facts in their relation to humanity, to study events in the relation of cause to effect, to seek for truth and the meaning of things, then nothing is more productive of good than the teaching of geography and history.

If we accept as true the foregoing statements, then methods of teaching the subjects become clear as we think of them. It is evident that early lessons should be designed to create interest:

(1) In the world of things immediately around us; in the land and what grows and lives upon it; in the water, its relation to the land, its motions, and the life that it contains; in the air, its phenomena and its denizens; in human beings, their feelings and all their activities.

(2) In the great earth as a whole and its parts; in foreign animals and plants; in humanity in other lands.

It appears that so broad an outline as the one just given can never be filled in, that the study of geography and history, the study of the world and its peoples, can never be completed. If such is the case, it follows that the teacher who creates the most vital interest in the subject, who leaves with her pupils the most ardent desire to study and know, has been of greatest service to them.

Now, the great interests of life have their inception in early years when the mind is active, curiosity strong, and instruction accepted without question. Then should be created that abiding interest which will make good students of geography and history, good citizens, good men and women. If too many formal lessons are given them, and pupils are set to work at dreary tasks and are asked to memorize dry facts, it is probable that they will never become good students. How, then, shall an abiding interest be created?

The entrance to the field of geography is through nature study, which is discussed elsewhere under that t.i.tle. For the first two years of a child's school life he will hear nothing of geography, and even in the third year there will be little formal reference to it, but all the time he is quietly mastering facts and developing interests that are geographical in their character.

When systematic lessons begin, there should be presented only real facts and genuine things, that bear some close and direct relation to ourselves and that should be matters of personal observation, as far as possible. Day and night in summer and winter, the seasons, the weather, wind, rain, snow, sleet, foods, clothing, the occupations of the neighborhood, the brooks and bodies of water about the school, hills, valleys, plains, plants and animals of the locality, each in turn serves its purpose. We cannot here show how these various subjects should be treated, but to ill.u.s.trate the use of literature in elementary geography lessons we will present an outline on a single subject. New possibilities will be seen in every direction if frequent use of the list given above is made in finding suitable selections.