The Infant System Part 11

Q. What is this? A. Letter S, the first letter in shoe, &c. Q. What is the use of shoes? A. To keep the feet warm and dry. Q. Should children walk in the mud or in the kennel? A. No, because that would spoil the shoes, and wear them out too soon. Q. And why should little children be careful not to wear them out any more than they can help? A. Because our parents must work harder to buy us more.

T.

Q. What letter is this? A. Letter T, the first letter in tea-kettle. Q. What are tea-kettles made of? A. Some are made of tin, and some of copper, and some of iron. Q. Why are they not made of wood? A. Because the wood would burn. Q. What thing is that at the top? A. The handle. Q. What is underneath the handle? A. The lid. Q. What is in the front of it? A. The spout. Q. What is the use of the spout? A. For the water to come out. Q. What is the use of the handle? A. To take hold of. Q. Why do they not take hold of the spout? A. Because it is the wrong way.

U.

Q. What letter is this? A. Letter U, the first letter in umbrella, &c. Q. Is letter U a vowel or consonant? A. A vowel. Q. What is the use of the umbrella? A. To keep the rain off any body. Q. What are umbrellas made of? A. Some of silk and some of cotton. Q. Which are the best? A. Those that are made of silk. Q. Is there any thing else in an umbrella? A. Yes; whalebone. Q. Where does whalebone come from? A. Out of a large fish called a whale. Q. Who made the whale? A. Almighty G.o.d.

V.

Q. What letter is this? A. Letter V, the first letter in vine, &c. Q. What is a vine? A. A thing that grows against the wall and produces grapes. Q. Why does it not grow like another tree, and support its own weight? A. Because it is not strong enough. Q. Then it cannot grow and become fruitful in this country without man's a.s.sistance? A. No; and, please, sir, we cannot grow and become fruitful without the a.s.sistance of Almighty G.o.d.[A]

[Footnote A: This answer was given by a child five-years of age.]

W.

Q. What letter is this? A. It is Letter W, the first letter in wheel. Q. Spell wheel. A. W-h-e-e-l. Q. What is the use of wheels? A. To make it easier for horses to draw. Q. How do you know that? A. Please, sir, I had a little cart full of stones, and the wheel came off; and, please, sir, I found it much harder to draw. Q. Then if it was not for wheels, the horses could not draw so great a weight? A. No, and, please, sir, people could not go into the country so quick as they do. Q. What trade do they call the persons that make wheels? A. Wheel-wrights.

X.

Q. What letter is this? A. Letter X, the first letter in Xenophon, a man's name. Q. What was the particular character of Xenophon? A. He was very courageous. Q. What does courageous mean? A. To be afraid to do harm, but not to be afraid to do good, or anything that is right. Q. What is the greatest courage? A. To conquer our own bad pa.s.sions and bad inclinations. Q. Is he a courageous man that can conquer his bad pa.s.sions? A. Yes; because they are the most difficult to conquer.

Y.

Q. What letter is this? A. Letter Y, the first letter in yoke, &c. Q. Is it a vowel or consonant? A. When it begins a word it is called a consonant, but if not, a vowel. Q. What is a yoke? A. Please, sir, what the milk people carry the milk pails on. Q. What is the use of the yoke? A. To enable the people to carry the milk easier.

Z.

Q. What letter is this? A. Letter Z, the first letter in Zealander. Q.

What is a Zealander? A. A man that lives on an island in the Southern Ocean, called Zealand. Q. How do they live? A. Princ.i.p.ally by hunting and fishing. Q. What is hunting? A. Following animals to catch them.

Q. Who made all the animals? A. Almighty G.o.d.

The method above described is adapted to the large room, where the children may be taught all together; but it is necessary to change the scene even in this; for however novel and pleasing a thing may be at first, if it be not managed with prudence it will soon lose its effect. It is here to be observed, that the mode of teaching described, is not practised every day, but only twice or thrice a week. The children will take care that the teacher does not altogether forget to teach them in any way that they have been accustomed to. After letting the above plan lie by for a day or two, some of the children will come to the teacher, and say, "Please, sir, may we say the picture alphabet up in the gallery?" If the other children overhear the question, it will go through the school like lightning: "Oh yes-yes-yes, sir, if you please, do let us say the letters in the gallery." Thus a desire is created in the children's minds, and it is then especially that they may be taught with good effect.

Another plan which we adopt, is in practice almost every day; but it is better adapted to what is called the cla.s.s-room: we have the alphabet printed in large letters, both in Roman and Italic characters, on one sheet of paper: this paper is pasted on a board, or on pasteboard, and placed against the wall; the whole cla.s.s then stand around it, but instead of one of the monitors pointing to the letters, the master or mistress does it; so that the children not only obtain instruction from each other, but every child has a lesson from the master or mistress twice every day.

Before they go to the reading lessons, they have the sounds of all the words in spelling: thus the sound of a-ball, call, fall, wall; then the reading-lesson is full of words of the same sound. In like manner they proceed with other letters, as i-the sound of which they learn from such words as five, drive, strive, until, by a series of lessons, they become acquainted with all the sounds; and are able to read any common book.

I have observed in some instances the most deplorable laxity in this particular. Cases have occurred in which children have been for two years at school, and yet scarcely knew the whole alphabet; and I have known others to be four years in an infant school, without being able to read. I hesitate not to say that the fault rests exclusively with the teachers, who, finding this department of their work more troublesome than others which are attractive to visitors, have sometimes neglected it, and even thrown it entirely aside, affirming that reading is not a part of the infant system at all! Such a declaration is, however, only to be accounted for from the most lamentable ignorance, preverseness, or both. Had it been true, we should not have had a single infant school in Scotland, and throughout that country the children read delightfully.

The great importance of full instruction in reading will be apparent from the following considerations.

1. If the parents do not find the children learn to read, they will discontinue sending them. This they consider essential, and nothing else will be deemed by them an adequate subst.i.tute.

2. Children cannot make desirable progress in other schools which they may enter, unless they obtain an ability to read at least simple lessons.

3. Neglect in this respect impedes the progress of the infant system. Such an obstacle ought not to exist, and should at once be removed.

4. In manufacturing districts children go to work very soon; and if they are not able to read before, there is reason to fear they will not afterwards acquire the power; but if they have this, Sunday schools may supply other deficiencies.

5. Want of ability to read prevents, of course, a knowledge of the Word of G.o.d.

To prevent this evil, I have arranged a series, denominated "Developing Lessons," the great object of which is to induce children to think and reflect on what they see. They are thus formed: at the top is a coloured picture, or series of coloured pictures of insects, quadrupeds, and general objects. For instance, there is one containing the poplar, hawk-moth, and wasp. The lesson is as follows: "The wasp can sting, and fly as well as the moth, which does not sting. I hope no wasp will sting me; he is small, but the hawk-moth is large. The moth eats leaves, but the wasp loves sweet things, and makes a round nest. If boys take the nest they may be stung: the fish like the wasp-grubs." On this, questions are proposed: Which stings? Which is small and which large? Which eats leaves? Which makes a round nest? &c. &c.

To take another instance. There is a figure of an Italian, to which is appended the following: "The Italian has got a flask of oil and a fish in his hand, and something else in his hand which the little child who reads this must find out. Any child can tell who makes use of the sense of seeing. In Italy they make a good deal of wine; big grapes grow there that they make it with. Italians can sing very well, and so can little children when they are taught." Questions are likewise proposed on this, as before.

Of these lessons, however, there is a great variety. All schools should possess them: they will effectually prevent the evil alluded to, by checking the apathy of children in learning to read, and calling the teacher's powers into full exercise. They are equally adapted to spelling and reading.

I will give several specimens of reading lessons in natural history, each of which has a large, well-engraved and coloured plate at the top, copied from nature.

THE EAGLE.

How glad some poor children would be if they could read about the eagle. He is a big strong bird, and has such great wings, and such long sharp claws, that he can dig them into the lamb, hare, rabbit, and other animals, and thus fly away with them to feed his young ones, and to eat them himself. Eagles make such a large nest on the side of some high rock, where n.o.body can get at it. There used to be eagles in Wales, and there are some now in Scotland, but very few in England, for they do not like to be where there are many people. The Almighty gave man dominion over the birds of the air, as well as over the other animals, and as he gave man power to think, if the eagles become troublesome, men catch them, though they can fly so high; and as the eagle knows this, he likes to keep out of our way, and go into parts of the world where there are not so many people. There are many sorts of eagles: the black eagle, the sea eagle, the bald eagle, and others. They have all strong bills bent down in front, and strong claws. This bird is mentioned in the Bible.

Questions are proposed after this is read, and thus the examination proceeds:-Q. What is that? A. An eagle. Q. What sort of a bird is he? A. He is big and strong. Q. What are those? A. His feathers. Q. What else are they called? A. His plumage. Q. Is the eagle a small bird? A. No, very large. Q. Are his claws long and sharp? A. Yes. Q. What animals could he carry away? A. A lamb, a hare, a rabbit, or other small animals. Q. What does he do with those? A. Feed his young ones. Q. Where does the eagle make his nest? A. On the side of some rock. Q. Why does he make it there? A. That no one may get at it. Q. Used there to be eagles in Wales? A. Yes. Q. Where are there a few still? A. In England, Scotland, and Ireland. Q. Why are they not as plentiful as they were? A. Because they do not like to be where many men live. Q. Did the Almighty give man dominion over the birds of the air? A. Yes. Q. What other power did he give man? A. Power to think. Q. As men can think, when the eagles became troublesome, what did they do? A. They caught them. Q. And what did the eagles that were not caught do? A. They went to places where men were not so plenty. Q. Are, there many different kinds of eagles? A. Yes. Q. Name some. A. The black eagle, the bald eagle, the sea eagle, and others.

THE VULTURE.

The vulture is like the eagle in size, and some of its habits; but it is so very different from it in many ways, that there is little danger of confusing the two together: the greatest distinction between them is, that the head of the vulture is either quite naked, or covered only with a short down, while the eagle's is well feathered. This is the chief difference in appearance, but in their habits there is a much greater. Instead of flying over hills and valleys in pursuit of living game, the vultures only search for dead carca.s.ses, which they prefer, although they may have been a long time dead, and therefore very bad, and smelling very offensively. They generally live in very warm countries, and are useful in clearing away those dead carca.s.ses which, but for them, would cause many dreadful diseases. In some countries, indeed, on account of this, the inhabitants will not allow any one to injure them, and they are called for this reason scavengers, which means that they do the business for which scavengers are employed. Vultures are very greedy and ravenous; they will often eat so much that they are not able to move or fly, but sit quite stupidly and insensible. One of them will often, at a single meal, devour the entire body of an albatross (bones and all), which is a bird nearly as large as the vulture itself. They will smell a dead carca.s.s at a very great distance, and will soon surround and devour it.

Vultures lay two eggs at a time and only once a year: they build their nests on the same kind of places as eagles do, so that it is very hard to find them.

What does the vulture resemble the eagle in? A. In size and in some of its habits. Q. In what does it differ from the eagle? A. In having a neck and head either naked or covered with short down. Q. What is the difference in the manner in which they feed? A. The eagle seeks its food over hill and valley, and lives entirely on prey which he takes alive, while the vulture seeks out dead and putrid carca.s.ses. Q. For what reason do you suppose is the vulture's neck not covered with feathers as the eagle's is? A. If they had feathers on their necks, like eagles and hawks, they would soon become clotted with blood. Q. Why would this happen? A. Because they are continually plunging their necks into decayed flesh and b.l.o.o.d.y carca.s.ses. Q. How do vultures sit? A. In a dull, mopeing manner. Q. Where do they generally sit? A. On tall dead trees. Q. Do they continue thus long? A. Yes, for several hours. Q. What is the cause of their thus sitting so dull and inactive? A. The great quant.i.ty of food they have eaten. Q. Is there any description of vulture forming an exception to the general character of those birds? A. Yes, that particular kind called the snake eater. Q. Where is this bird a native of? A. Of Africa. Q. Why is it called the snake eater? A. On account of its singular manner of destroying serpents, on which it feeds. Q. Describe the manner in which this bird kills its prey. A. He waits until the serpent raises its head, and then strikes him with his wing, and repeats the blow until the serpent is killed. Q. What do the natives of Asia and Africa call the vulture? A. The scavenger. Q. Why? A. Because they are so useful in eating dead carca.s.ses. Q. How is this useful? A. It clears the ground of them; otherwise, in those warm places, they would be the cause of much disease. Q. What does this shew us? A. That the good G.o.d has created nothing without its use. Q. What is the largest bird of the vulture kind? A. The great condor of South America. Q. What does its wing often measure from tip to tip? A. Twelve feet when spread out. Q. How do the natives of South America often catch the vulture? A. The dead carca.s.s of a cow or horse is set for a bait, on which they feed so ravenously that they become stupid, and are easily taken.

THE CROCODILE.

I hope you will not put your dirty hands on this picture of the crocodile. The live ones have hard scales on their backs, and such a many teeth, that they could bite a man's leg off; but there are none in our land, only young ones that sailors bring home with them. The crocodile can run fast; those are best off who are out of his way. He lives by the water; he goes much in it; and he can swim well. Young ones come out of eggs, which the old ones lay in the sand. Some beasts eat the eggs, or else there would be too many crocodiles. The crocodile can run fast if he runs straight, and those who wish to get out of his way run zigzag, and he takes some time to turn; the poor black men know this, and can get out of his way; but some of them can fight and kill him on the land or in the water. I think the crocodile is mentioned in Scripture. Ask your teacher what Scripture means. When you learn geography you will know where many of the places are that are mentioned in the Bible, and you will see where the river Nile is. There are such a many crocodiles on the banks of that river that the people are afraid to go alone. What a many wonderful animals our great Creator has made! How humble and thankful we should be to see so many great wonders!

Q. What have crocodiles on their backs? A. Hard scales. Q. Have they many teeth? A. Yes, a great many. Q. Could they bite off a man's leg? A. They could. Q. Are there any in our country? A. None wild, but a few that sailors bring in ships. Q. Can the crocodile run fast? A. Yes. Q. Where does he live? A. In the water. Q. What do their young ones come out of? A. Out of eggs, which the old one lays in the sand. Q. How do people run that wish to get out of the crocodile's way? A. Zigzag, like the waved line in our lesson. Q. What do some men do? A. Fight and kill them in the water. Q. Where do most of those animals live? A. In the river Nile. Q. Where is this river? A. In Egypt.

The spelling lessons contain words capable of explanation, such as white, black, round, square; others are cla.s.sed as fleet, ship, brig, sloop, &c.; and others are in contrast, as hot, cold, dark, light, wet, dry, &c.

In this department we use the tablet placed beneath the arithmeticon, the invention and improvement of which are described in the volume ent.i.tled "Early Discipline Ill.u.s.trated, or the Infant System Successful and Progressing." A clear idea of the whole apparatus is given by the wood-cut on the next page, and it ought certainly to be found in every infant school. The sense of sight is then brought into full action to aid the mind, and that with results which would not easily be conceived. We shall take another opportunity of explaining the use of the upper part of the apparatus, the lower demanding our present attention.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

To use the tablet, let the followings things be observed. It is supposed the children know well there are twenty-six letters in the alphabet; that twenty are called consonants, and that six are vowels. We take first one perpendicular row of letters in the figure. Now point to D, and say, What is that'? and the answer will be, D. Ask, Is it a vowel or consonant, and they will reply, A consonant; but ask, Why do you know it is D, and the answer will probably be, It is so because it is. Hide the circular part of the letter, and ask, What is the position of the other part, and they will say, having previously learnt the elements of form which will shortly be explained, A perpendicular line; hide that, and ask them what the other part is, telling them to bend one of their fore-fingers in the same form, and they will say, A curved line. If they are then asked how they may know it is D, they will say, Because it is made of a perpendicular line and has a curved line behind. Further information may then be given. Turn the D letter up thus [Ill.u.s.tration: The character D turned on its side], and say, I want to teach you the difference between concave and convex: the under part of the curve is concave and the upper part of it is convex. Then say, I shall now take the letter away, and wish you to shew me concave and convex on one of your fingers; when they will bend the forefinger and point them both out on it. Go on with the other letters in the same way: shew them the vowels after the consonants and a.n.a.lyze each one. For example, A is formed of two inclined lines and a horizontal line to join them in the centre; and the top of that letter is an acute angle, and were a line placed at the bottom it would be a triangle. A bra.s.s letter may be moreover shewn to be a substance: its properties may be described as hard, smooth, bright, &c., and its coming from the mineral kingdom may be noticed, and thus the instruction may be indefinitely varied.

The power of letters may then be pointed out. Ask them to spell M R, and they will give you the sound of R, or something like it, and so in reference to other letters. But place the A against the M as it appears in the figure, and you may teach them to say A, M, AM; and thus all the way down the left side of the row of consonants. If then you carry the vowel down on the other side of them, you will change the lesson, and by such means go on almost ad infinitum. Double rows of consonants may be placed with a vowel between them, and when well practiced in this, they will ask for the vowel to be omitted that they may supply it, which they will do very readily and with great pleasure, while there is a tasking of the mind which cannot but prove beneficial.

Again, turn the frame with the b.a.l.l.s round, so that the wires are perpendicular instead of horizontal, raise a ball gently, and say, To ascend, ascending, ascended; let it fall gently, saying, to descend, descending, descended; with a little explanation these words will then be understood, and others may be taught in the same way. To fall, falling, fallen; to rise, rising, risen; to go, going, gone, will readily occur, and others will easily be supplied by the ingenuity of the instructor. The frame may also be applied to grammar.

It is to be used as follows:-Move one of the b.a.l.l.s to a part of the frame distinct from the rest. The children will then repeat, "There it is, there it is." Apply your finger to the ball, and set it running round. The children will immediately change from saying, "There it is," to "There it goes, there it goes."

When they have repeated "There it goes" long enough to impress it on their memory, stop the ball; the children will probably say, "Now it stops, now it stops." When that is the case, move another ball to it, and then explain to the children the difference between singular and plural, desiring them to call out, "There they are, there they are;" and when they have done that as long as may be proper, set both b.a.l.l.s moving, and it is likely they will call out, "There they go, there they go." I do not particularize further, because I know that good teachers will at once see the principle aimed at, and supply the other requisite lessons: the object of this book being rather to shew the principle of the thing, than to go into detail.

CHAPTER XII.