Part 243

When the little drop of rain fell, he didn’t know in the least what was going to happen. For a minute or two he felt quite frightened. Then he suddenly found himself rolling down a hill. He had just begun to think it great fun, when he noticed a lot of other drops beside him, all laughing together and all rolling down the hill.

One of them came close to him and touched him, and he found himself growing bigger. Then more and more came up, and presently he saw that he was quite a big fellow. He felt very proud of himself. “I’m getting bigger and bigger every minute,” he said.

Half-way down the hill he looked back, and saw himself stretched out like a line of silver, glittering and shining between the trees and stones and bushes.

“I’m a stream now,” he murmured proudly as he hurried over sand and gravel and clay, “and I’m getting bigger and bigger still.”

Suddenly he found himself falling over a big black rock. Down, down he fell, thirty feet or more. But he was so big and strong now that he didn’t care a bit.

At the bottom of the hill there were a great many rocks and stones right in front of him. “Get out of my way!” he roared. “I’m a river now! Get out of my way!” And he dashed and splashed and flew right over them.

A little farther on he came to a lovely meadow, with beautiful trees hanging down, and birds singing, and great sleepy red cattle standing knee-deep in the long, sweet grass, and the big blue sky shimmering overhead. It was so very, very pretty that he thought he would stay here a while. So he twisted and wound round and round, just to get another look at the trees, and to watch the birds flying from branch and bush.

He laughed merrily to a little boy who was standing on the bank with a fishing-rod in his hand, and hurried on again.

As he turned a corner quickly he saw a great blue plain stretching for miles and miles, with ships and boats and birds dotted here and there on its broad, heaving, shining surface.

“Hello! There is the sea at last!” he cried joyfully, and rushed forward eagerly to meet it. And as he joined the great ocean he shouted out as if he meant that all the world should hear, “Here I am; I’m a sea now!” (See full page illustration on page 68.)

THE SPIDER AND THE FLY

The spider was in a rare temper as she hurried back to the dark corner where she had her home.

“Upon my word,” she muttered, “it is too bad! This is the third time that wretched housemaid has swept my web away. The ignorant creature calls me an insect. I am not an insect. My body is in two parts instead of three; my head is part of my chest; and I have eight legs instead of six.”

The spider sat in her dark corner thinking very hard. Presently a buzzing sound caught her ears, which happened to be placed at the end of her feet. Her six pairs of eyes glistened with anger.

“There’s that old bluebottle again,” she murmured. “His noise makes my head ache. If I make haste and spin another web, perhaps I can catch him before the maid comes with her broom.”

Having made up her mind, the spider began. On the underpart of her body were four tiny tubes, each with about a thousand still tinier holes. From each tube came a thousand delicate threads made of a gummy fluid. The spider’s hind feet combed and twisted them into one fine thread.

The thread gradually increased in length until a draught caught it and carried it to the edge of the window-curtain, to which it clung.

Several other threads were then stretched from point to point.

“Now,” said the spider, “I can go on building my web.”

Line after line appeared as if by magic. The lines crossed and recrossed, and at every point where they touched a tiny drop of sticky fluid held them firmly together.

The spider viewed her work with satisfaction.

Lastly, she ran a more delicate thread round and round in spiral fashion. At the end of an hour the web was complete.

“Now I will test it,” said the spider; and she tried her work here and there, and found it quite good.

Only a short time passed before the big fly buzzed into the elastic strands. The more he struggled, the more he became entangled.

The spider was hungry and very impatient. She darted from her lair and seized the fly with her terrible claws.

At the end of the feelers were tubes from which she poured poison into the body of her prisoner, while with her fore feet she entangled still further the fly’s legs and wings.

In a few moments the bluebottle was quite still. Securely bound up in the sticky strands, bitten and poisoned, it was clear that he would never again buzz about in the sunshine. Then the spider enjoyed a better meal than she had had for a long time.

An hour later the housemaid came along, and, catching sight of the web, she flicked it with her duster.

“That miserable insect has been at its tricks again,” she said.

The spider was just settling down to a quiet nap after her hearty meal. She did not like being disturbed, but it did not matter so much now. She simply smiled to herself. (See articles on Spiders; Flies and Insects in general in Book of the Animal Kingdom.)

THE STORY OF PETER PAN

Every child in the world grows up to be a woman or a man. The only one who doesn’t grow up, and won’t, is Peter Pan. He always stays a little boy, which is very jolly indeed, and he’s friends with all little boys and girls,--as you’ll understand if you read.

The Darlings,--Wendy, John, and Michael,--lived with their father and mother. They were rather poor, but it didn’t matter, they were all so fond of each other. They’d a little maid called ’Liza, and, because they hadn’t the money for a proper nurse, they’d a dog instead, named Nana,--wasn’t it funny?

Peter Pan came every night; the window blew open wide, and in he hopped, without a sound, and hurried to Wendy’s side. And a curious little dancing light came in with Peter as well; this was a fairy lady, and her name was Tinker Bell. Peter was dressed in skeleton leaves; he had pipes on which he played--a delightful person. Wendy was not the least little bit afraid. He talked to her of the Never-Land, where she’d always wanted to go. And he said, “If I only teach you to fly, you can get there now, you know!” So John and Michael were taught to fly, and Wendy too, and they found it’s as easy, when you get used to it, as walking on the ground. And at last, when both their father and mother were out, one Friday night, the Darling children and Peter Pan and Tinker Bell took flight. Away in their little nightgowns they flew, as fast as they could go, till they came to the island, the Never-Land, where all the adventures grow.

Now in this island, I must tell you, were wonderful things to find: unknown birds, and curious beasts, and Redskins, fierce but kind. Fairies were there, and Mermaids, and Wolves,--some wild, some tame; and a Crocodile that had swallowed a clock, and ticked wherever it came. But--hush, let us whisper!--the “Jolly Roger,” a rascally pirate craft, with raking masts, and swelling sails, and guns both fore and aft, was anchored there, and the hideous crew were lying in wait, each man, and the captain, Hook, in particular, to kill little Peter Pan. Hook was not his real name; Peter, some while ago, in open fight, had cut off his hand, so now he’d a hook, you know. And as, with a stern and gloomy air, he paced, on his quarterdeck, he was thinking all the time, “I’d like to wring that Peter’s neck!” And the rest of the horrible band of Pirates were always prowling about, to see if they couldn’t capture Peter, and kill him, without a doubt. They crept along, singing “Yeo-ho-ho”--as stealthily as could be, they, and the bo’sum, who, indeed, was the best of them--one Smee. But the Redskins, with the tomahawks, were on the Pirates’ track, and followed them quite noiselessly,--not a single rustle or crack. For they thought the world of Peter Pan; in fact, they all were rather inclined to kneel at his little feet. And they called him “Great White Father.”

Upon the island there were also some boys--well, counting rightly, there were six: Nibs, Tootles, Curly, and the Twins (no names), and Slightly. And Tootles, by a silly mistake, when he saw the Darlings near, hastily aimed his swiftest arrow, and drew his bow to his ear, and shot poor Wendy. Just at first she was thought to be dead, by her friends. But, finding she wasn’t, they built her a house, in the hope of making amends. They built it right, round her, with branches, leaves, and moss, and lovely make-believe roses clambering quite across. And when it was completed (and it looked remarkably fine), “Oh, Wendy, do be our mother!” they cried, and they hadn’t to ask her twice. “Come in at once, you naughty children!” Wendy delightedly cried; and they all squeezed in, except Peter Pan, who stayed upon guard outside.

There was also a beautiful house under-ground, where elegant mushrooms grew, and a Never-tree also (but every morning they sawed the trunk right through). You entered the house by hollow trees, going up and down quite fast, which was hard at first, but the children did it exceedingly well at last. And here, in the charming underground house, the eight boys slept alone in a great big bed,--for Wendy lived in that dear little house of her own. But every evening she told them stories, and when the stories were done, they’d have a dance in their night-clothes, and a pillow fight,--Oh, such fun! Peter Pan wasn’t always there, because, as you understand, he was busy strolling about the island, or watching with sword in hand. But in the day-time he would come, and take them, not very far, to the blue lagoon, where the weedy rocks and the hundreds of Mermaids are.

And here, one day, both Peter and Wendy received a bit of a shock; for Hook pursued them, and so they climbed on a rock--the Marooners’ Rock. Wendy fainted, and so did Peter. A Mermaid came to see whoever those two little dripping folks on the slippery rock could be. Then Peter perceived the tide was rising, and he tied up Wendy tight to the tail of a kite which was drifting near, and sent her away with the kite. And there he stayed on the rock alone, and he thought he’d be drowned each minute. But the Never-Bird, in her floating nest, came up, and Peter got in it, while the Never-Bird took to a Pirate’s hat, which was luckily close at hand. So Peter went gaily sailing off, and arrived quite safe at land.

Now every night the Redskins were camped above the underground house. And every night the Pirates were creeping, each as still as a mouse (with the terrible Crocodile after them, showing its crunching teeth), while Wendy was cheerfully telling tales to the children down beneath. But, oh dear me! there came a night when that treacherous pirate Hook contrived to surprise the Redskins, and the children; and he took the whole nine children prisoners, exceedingly sad to tell. The only ones who made their escape were Peter and Tinker Bell. And while the unhappy children were roughly carried on board, Peter was off to rescue them, with his trusty dagger and sword. And, just in the nick of time, he arrived. He armed the boys, and they slew, after a most tremendous fight, fifteen of the Pirate crew. And after a thrilling duel, which lasted a very short while, between Hook and Peter, the wicked Hook was thrown to the Crocodile.

So Peter took command of the ship, and they all sailed home, and then, how glad their father and mother were, to have them back again! They all were dressed in the Pirates’ clothes (cut short), and exceedingly grand; and oh, what tales they had to tell of the wonderful Never-Land! Peter, who didn’t like houses at all,--brick ones, and that sort of thing, returned to the Never-Land by himself. But he comes back every spring, and fetches Wendy to help him do spring-cleaning, and Wendy stops and tidies up the little house, which is now in the high tree-tops. As for the boys, they’ve all grown up, so the Pirates’ clothes won’t fit. And as for the great adventures they had, they’ve forgotten them every bit. Only Wendy and Peter Pan can still do just as they please. How happy they are, as they talk up there in the dear little house in the trees!

COUNTING AND NUMBERS

In numbers, as in other primary subjects, a child should be _taught_ and _permitted_ to do things himself. Rousseau said, “What the child _does_, it easily remembers”; and we shall soon find that time spent in this way is far from being wasted.

Children who have been taught numbers gradually, in this easy, interesting fashion, develop an astonishing aptitude for dealing with figures as they grow older.

COUNTING

Learning to count 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., parrotlike, does very little good. Rather let the child count _objects_ and point out 5 marbles, 6 blocks, etc., in order that you may determine if he knows exactly what 5 or 6 of anything means.

Take a number of blocks or marbles and ask the child to take 3, 5, 7, or any number of them.

Hold up 3, 5, or 6 of them and ask him to tell how many you have. When you are told the _number_ you have, write the _figure_ which tells the number on paper, or the blackboard. Have the child copy the figure, making a large character.

Then reverse the work by writing a _figure_ on paper and asking the child to take the _number of blocks_ the writing asks for.

Spend a few minutes every day in asking him to show you 2 pins, 3 houses, 5 stripes, etc.

Teach the child to count 50 as soon as he has started in his number work at school and later on to 100. _Objects_ should be counted at first and then counters substituted, such as pennies, marbles, blocks, beads, etc.

RECOGNITION OF NUMBERS.--The purpose of _counting objects_ is to give the children a clear idea of _number_. They should be able to recognize 2, 3, 4 and 5, _i.e._, be able to tell four objects when they see four, without counting them, also 3, 5, etc. Stories and games with objects should be repeated again and again, until the children can do this easily.

ANALYSIS OF NUMBERS.--When the numbers can be recognized without difficulty, the children should be encouraged to analyze them, _i.e._, tell what they are made up of, but objects should be put in front of the class to represent the numbers until they can do this readily.

Suppose the number _five_ to be the lesson, each child would take five shells out of its box, and lay them on the desk, thus:--[.....] or [.....] or [.....] etc. The child should always be able to _describe_ what it has done: thus, the first child would say--_four shells_ and _one shell_ are _five_; the second, _three shells_ and _two shells_ are _five_, and so on.

_Higher Numbers._--The analysis of six, seven, eight and nine may be taught in the same way, each number being taken separately and thoroughly mastered, before proceeding to the next. The children should learn all the different combinations of numbers that make six--_three_ and _three_, _five_ and _one_, _four_ and _two_, _three twos_, etc.--but always with the objects, and when they have seen the number analyzed by the Teacher, they should do it for themselves with shells, bricks or other objects.

_Number Ten._--This is the most important number of all, and it should be thoroughly well taught. The Teacher should show on the table the different analyses that can be made of ten, and the children should lay these with shells or other objects again and again. It is necessary to learn these perfectly, for however well any or all of the numbers may be learned, they are comparatively useless without ten.

FIGURES.--When the figures are introduced they should invariably be shown with the concrete numbers which each figure represents. They say, “Here are four balls” : : “I will show you a figure that means those four balls, =4=, and I will put the four balls beside it, thus:”--4 : :.

NUMBER ON PAPER OR SLATES.--If the children have learned how to use a pencil, they may transfer the number-pictures made with shells to their slates, using dots for “shells,” thus:--: : :.

Then another “picture” may be made with the shells : : : and this be copied on the paper at some distance from the other. Then another is made and copied, and so on until the child sees on his paper all the combinations of numbers that go to make six. He should be able to read them all out, and because a child remembers what he has done himself, it will be found that numbers taught in this way are seldom forgotten.

As the children become more proficient, the two signs + and = may be taught, + means _and_, = means _are_. Then they may put on their slates : + : = : : and use these signs in the analysis of other numbers.

MONEY TAUGHT AS NUMBERS

When the children know numbers up to ten, they might play little “shopping” games with coins. Show them actual coins in teaching money. Lessons on money should be given frequently after the first year of school life.

Begin by teaching the value of the _cent_ and the _nickel_, then the _dime_, then the _quarter_, then the _half-dollar_, and then the _dollar_.

Make little problems involving change. Develop the ability to make change rapidly. The child may have some money of his own and he should be taught the comparative values of the coins.

SIMPLE TABLE OF MONEY

10 cents make 1 dime.

2 five-cent pieces make 1 dime.

100 cents make 1 dollar.

A quarter of a dollar = 25 cents.

A half-dollar = 50 cents.

$ means dollars and c means cents.

A 5-cent piece is called a nickel, because it is made of nickel.

A cent piece is made of copper.

The other coins named are made of silver.

(See United States Money for more advanced instruction.)

COMBINATIONS OF NUMBERS

We now come to the method of teaching the combinations in Addition and Subtraction.

We can count books, tables, and houses and say that we have counted so many _things_ but we do not _add_ books, tables, and houses. We _add_ books and books, tables and tables, houses and houses.

We count by _ones_. When we add three beads and two beads we are counting by ones, for it means that we are adding three ones of beads and two ones of beads, making five beads in all.

From =1= to =9= we use only one figure to tell how many we mean. When we wish to say in writing that we have ten of anything we write a =0= after the =1= and have =10=, ten.

1. Add 1 to every number up to 10; later to 20.

2. Subtract 1 from every number up to 10; later to 20.

3. Add:

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10

Here the addends are equal and easily added. The figures should be placed as above and not 2 + 2, 3 + 3, etc., because the vertical form is the natural one which the child will use all through life. It does not look so formal and represents better what he really does with the objects.

4. Add:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10

Here one addend exceeds the other by 1.

5. Subtract:

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9

Here the minuend is one greater in each case.

6. Teach the parts of 10.

5 2 3 4 9 +5 +8 +7 +6 +1

7. In adding 9 to numbers have the child think of 9 as 10,

thus 9 10 9 10 +6 = +5 and +8 = +7

8. Teach the corresponding subtractions.

9. Add 8 to each number up to 10.

10. Teach the corresponding subtractions.

11. Add 7, 6, and 5 to each number up to 10.

12. Teach the corresponding subtractions.

13. Review and give combinations not taught above.

Objects should be grouped by tens and units, in showing numbers above _ten_. Ten should be the basis of all our reckoning, and if the children know ten, and the numbers which precede it, they can soon be taught the rest. Little children should not have “sums” given them to do on their slates, for “sums” are made up of _abstract_ figures, and children of tender years cannot grasp the abstract.

NUMBER TO ONE HUNDRED.--When the children are conversant with numbers up to ten, it is very easy to teach them one hundred.

PRIMARY IDEAS OF DIVISION

In teaching the two ideas of division--division by _measurement_ (division proper) and the _fractional_ idea of division (partition)--proceed very slowly and see that each step is thoroughly understood.

The following suggestions may be useful:--

DIVISION BY MEASUREMENT

Use blocks or any other counters in illustrating the process.

EXAMPLE:

4 | 12 --+

The teacher should ask the child, “How would you count this story?”

_Facts Given by Child_

12 = whole number of blocks. 4 = number in each part.

We want to know the number of parts.

We place the blocks so, 4 in each part:--

□□□□ □□□□ □□□□

There are 3 parts.

DIVISION BY PARTITION

Make use of blocks or substitutes to show the process here.

EXAMPLE: 1/4 of 12 = 3.

The teacher should ask the child, “How would you count this story?”

_Facts Given by Child_

12 = whole number of blocks. 4 = number of parts.

We want to know the number in each part.

We place the blocks so, as we know there are 4 parts:--

□ □ □ □

We have put one in each part.

Now we will put one in each part until the 12 blocks are gone:--

□□□ □□□ □□□ □□□

There are 3 in each part.

NUMBERS IN MULTIPLICATION

Example:

3 × 4 = --

_Facts Given by Child_

3 × 4 means 3 4’s.

I count my blocks by fours--I take 1 four, another, another.

I find that 3 4’s are 12.

3 × 4 = 12.

_To the Teacher_:

Now the child is ready to give a number story about 3 × 4.

PRIMARY MEASURES FOR CHILDREN

The child has been taught to count. Now while he is telling you _how many_ objects he is dealing with, teach him to tell _how much_ he is dealing with.

In other words, have the child _measure and compare_ as well as count.

Ideas of larger and smaller, longer and shorter, and the like, should be made important. The need at the outset, is to learn, in a simple way, the basis of all arithmetic--the _comparison_ of _quantity_,--in as many of its forms as possible.

MEASURES OF LENGTH

Teach the child to estimate distances and then to verify every estimate by actual measurement.

Teach half inches as well as inches.

_Long measure is used to measure length._

12 inches make 1 foot. 3 feet make 1 yard. in. means inch or inches. ft. means foot or feet.

_For the Child to Do_:

1. Cut a strip of paper 12 inches long and 1 inch wide.

2. Mark the inches on it.

3. How many inches long is it?

4. What do you call a measure 12 inches long?

5. Draw a line 2 inches long, as near as you can, without using a ruler.

6. Measure it with a ruler. Did you guess nearly right? Try again.

7. Measure this page. How long is it? How wide?

8. Draw a line on the ground 1 yard long.

9. 1/2 of a foot is how many inches?

10. 1 yard is how many inches? What is measured by the yard?

11. Ask your mother how many yards of cloth she needs for a dress.

12. What is measured by the foot?

13. How tall are you?

TELLING THE TIME

_First_--Teach him to tell the hour hand from the minute hand.

_Next_--Teach him when he first looks at the dial, to find the hour hand and then notice which Roman Numeral it is nearest. _This will tell about what time it is._

_Then_--Find the minute hand. _The minute hand will tell exactly what time it is._

TO ILLUSTRATE: Take this clock. The hour hand is near the Roman Numeral II., which stands for 2. Tell the child it is somewhere near two o’clock.

The minute hand will tell how near.

It must always point to the XII. before it is exactly the hour. If it is one numeral away from the XII., toward the left, it is 5 minutes of two. If it is two numerals away to the left it is 10 minutes of two, etc. If it is one numeral away to the right, it is 5 minutes after two, etc. Proceed in this way and keep at it.

THE DAY

A new day begins at midnight and lasts until the next midnight.

Midnight is the middle of the night; that is, 12 o’clock at night.

Noon is the middle of the day, that is, 12 o’clock in day time.