Samuel B. Allison

“ Children are wholly in the imaginative on mythical level of thought. They are immersed in the sensuous. They refuse to be bound by the hard matter of fact. They will away and claim the world as their own through which to roam on the unfettered wing of fancy. They claim freedom to construct their own world and to people it with creatures of their own fabrication, independent of the shackles of time and space.
The child also feels himself a part of nature, not as something standing over against it. ”

“ In the reaction from formal moral instruction there is danger of going to the other extreme and neglecting it entirely.
The vital element in literature—its ultimate raison d’etre—is its ethical import. It constitutes the ethical medium. It gives each child the benefit of the experience of the race. The duty of the school to give occasion for the exercise of ethical judgments is greater than its duty to train the merely intellectual judgment. For the one determines what is good or bad, the other what is real or unreal. Right conduct is of more importance than mere knowing. ”

“ But the lazy girl soon became tired of spinning and threw the spindle into the well. Then she jumped in after it.
Like her sister, she came to the beautiful meadow and traveled the same path. When she came to the bake oven, the bread called, “Draw me out! Draw me out!” But the lazy maid said, “I have no wish to make myself dirty with you!”
Soon she came to the apple tree. The tree cried out, “Shake me! shake me! My apples are ripe.” But the maid said, “I will not shake you. Your apples might fall on my head.” She was not afraid of old Mother Frost, for she had heard of her large teeth. ”

“ The oldest one said, “O papa, bring me a pretty silk dress. I need a new party dress.” “Oh!” cried the second sister, “I must have a pearl necklace. Do bring me a beautiful pearl necklace.” “Very well,” said the father, “you shall have what you want.” Then he turned to Cinderella and asked, “And what shall I bring you, my daughter?” She replied, “I do not want anything from the fair, father. But please bring me the first branch that touches your hat as you ride home through the forest.”
The two sisters laughed and said: “What a goose you are, Cinderella. Why don’t you ask for something nice?” ”

“ The children wished to help the poor dwarf. They went up to him and tried to pull his beard out of the tree, but all their pulling was of no use. “I will go home and get my mother,” said Rose-red. “No, no,” shouted the dwarf, “do not bring any more people here.” “I think I can help you,” said Snow-white. She took a little pair of scissors out of her pocket and cut the dwarf’s beard off close to the tree.
No sooner was he free than he caught up a bag full of gold which was lying among the roots of the tree, swung it over his shoulder, and walked away. ”

“ Skill in aesthetic forms can come only from an interest in something to be expressed in these forms.
When we consider that the child, up to the eighth or ninth year of his life, has not a sufficient mastery of a reading vocabulary to enable him to get for himself out of books material for which he has deepest need, and which is his natural and proper nourishment, the imparting to him orally such material assumes an aspect of gravest importance. Shall his early years of school life be barren and empty? Surely the teacher has a duty in this respect beyond giving merely formal [11] instruction. ”

“ There is no interest for the child in the language forms themselves when presented in abstraction and emphasized as such. He may be drilled into proficiency, but the interest does not come from the relation of these formal elements to his own needs or activity. The interest has been external and it flags as soon as the external excitement is withdrawn. A genuine interest, an intrinsic one growing out of his own needs and nature, can be fostered only by supplying a subject matter adapted to the various levels of thought through which his development leads him. ”

“ Starting from what is already known, a skillful teacher can build up an idea, though of course more or less indefinite, of [28] the object or process that is comparatively unknown. Questioning can never do more than bring into explicitness what is really in the mind in a vague way. Yet, when we consider that the possibilities of all science and, in fact, of all knowledge, are implicit in the experiences of the normal child of school age, it is seen that the use of questions as an educative means is practically unlimited and that it should not be neglected even in the primary grades. ”

“ After a time, when Hans had grown so tall that you and I would call him a young man, his father said to him, “Hans, my boy, it is time now that you started out to hunt some work for yourself. Your next younger brother can help me with the wood-chopping and the smaller ones can help the mother in the work about the house. You must go out into the world and learn how to take care of yourself; and perhaps, some day, you may have to take care of your mother and me, when we grow too old to work.” ”

“ The teaching of the mechanics of reading concerns itself with affixing visual images of words to the auditory vocabulary already possessed by the child. As this is a purely formal process, having little educative value in itself, the judicious teacher will welcome any suggestion toward minimizing routine drill. Instead of attempting to fix the visual form of each word, she will limit the formal instruction to giving the child a capability of deciphering new words for himself, that is, of translating them into motor images of articulation. ”

“ It is a mistaken view to suppose that the exercise and the development of the activities dominant in early childhood will lead away from the best interests of the individual or endanger his efficiency as a member of society. It is anomalous to assume that the impulses and interests of childhood must be suppressed or eradicated in order to fit him for participation in social life. These impulses have been implanted in his nature by actual participation in a social life on the part of his ancestry, and they are the possibilities of a worthy social development. ”

“ But, in addition to their imaginative character and their closeness to nature, these race products have still a third element of the utmost value for use as material for primary instruction. While they “enforce no moral” they tell “a story, and the moral in solution with the story.” Each tale is a narration without comment. The ethical teaching involved is in the most concrete form. It is not set out and emphasized, but lies wrapped up in the movement of the narrative itself and awaits the exercise of the child’s ethical judgment. ”

“ What principles should govern in our choice? As already hinted there are degrees of value, for purposes of instruction, in the immense treasury of folklore, myth and fable. It will be readily conceded that what is known as folklore has qualities rendering it of greatest value, for the first years of school life. It is simple and direct. Its conception of the world is that of pure naturalism. The formal myth and fable belong to later stages of mental development. ”

“ So the three went on towards Bremen.
As they were passing by a farm they saw a cock perched upon a barn door. He was crowing as loud as he could. The donkey called out, “What ails you, old red comb? You are crowing as if you meant to split your throat.” “I am crowing while I can,” said the cock; “to-morrow the cook is going to put me into the soup pot.” And he went on crowing louder than ever. “I can tell you something better than that,” said the donkey. “We are all going to be musicians. You have a fine voice, so come with us.” “Thank you,” said the cock. ”

“ Viewed from our ethical standpoint, folklore does not always come up to the highest standard. There are objectionable features in many tales. In this respect they reflect the uncritical and even crude morals of the time. While this is true of some of the tales, in many the ethical teaching is pure, lofty and wholesome, and furnishes an element greatly needed in our primary schools. We have here held up for esteem and veneration these virtues of head and heart and action that lie at the base of a happy, considerate and industrious home life. ”

“ It is a hopeless task to endeavor to give skill in the use of language independent of a content which is not in accord with the pupil’s own stage of development. The interest, to be genuine, and productive of self-effort, must always be in the content. An enrichment of his vocabulary, a proper use of words, correct form of oral and written speech [10] must come, not for themselves, but as results of an effort to the adequate expression of something which the pupil is interested to communicate. ”

“ One morning the bear said, “Children, I must say good-bye to you. I am going away and you will not see me again until next winter.” “Oh, where are you going, dear bear? [75] ” said Snow-white. “I am going far away into the forest,” he answered. “There are many precious things buried in the ground. In winter they are safe under the frozen earth. In the summer, when the sun has made the ground soft, it will be easy for the wicked dwarfs who live in the forest to dig down and take what I have buried. So I must go to watch over my treasures.” ”

“ The early forcing of technique is not a real gain in the child’s education, however much may be apparently accomplished. Immediate results are not a safe guide for instruction in the primary grades. They are, many times, a positive loss [9] in time, and are gained at the expense of dwarfing the mental and physical powers. There is no real need of forcing the process of learning to read if the teacher is ready with a subject matter which the child is already going out to meet. ”

“ All that the race has thought, felt, and experienced is here at the service of the child. One is almost tempted to use the expression of Hegel and say that, in assimilating the ethical teaching of these racial literatures, the child is being suckled at the breast of the Universal Ethos. ”

“ There will be a strong temptation to allow the brilliant story tellers to do most of the reproducing. Each child should be thrown wholly on his own responsibility. Let him tell what he can in his own way and reserve corrections until he is done. The story itself should be kept fluid. It should not be allowed to crystallize into set phrases on the part of either teacher or children. Great liberty should be allowed in reproduction, so that freshness and spontaneity may never be lacking. The reproduction may immediately follow the deepening process or be reserved for a separate period. ”

“ The widespread criticism directed against the results of language teaching in our schools no doubt has something of justification. This defect does not come from lack of attention to the matter, or from indifference on the part of the teachers, but largely from the over-emphasis of the purely formal aspects of language. The matter is approached from the wrong side. In early years, to get form we must emphasize content. In the primary grades, formal insistence on correct technique should be at the minimum, while richness and variety of subject matter should be at the maximum. ”

“ When, however, they came up to it, he saw that it was another big giant lying asleep by the roadside. The hot [149] sun was pouring down upon his face. “Stay here,” said Hans, “until I can cut a branch from some tree to shade that poor fellow’s face. The sun is so hot it will soon blister him.”
At these words, the first giant laughed aloud. “Ho, ho!” he cried, “don’t you know who that is? He is a neighbor of mine. He has such strong eyes that he can see a fly on a leaf of a tree a mile away.” ”

“ The possession of a wide acquaintance with the standard subject matter of child literature before serious attempts at learning to read are made, will subordinate the acquisition of a reading vocabulary as means to an end desired on the part of the child. There will be purpose in it for him. The learning to read will be seen as a step necessary to a fuller expression of activities already going on, and difficulties will be overcome because their mastery is a means in a wider circle of purpose growing out of the child’s own life and needs. ”

“ Nothing can take the place of originality and spontaneity. If a fixed program is followed, the main purpose of the work will be missed and the interest for both teacher and children will evaporate. In the treatment of the two elements, the ethical and the nature material have been separated from each other and from the other parts. This is for the purpose of emphasizing them in the teacher’s mind. The plan need not be followed in the actual work. Questions and explanations may be introduced into the narration if care be taken that the interruption does not break the thread of the story. ”

“ Once upon a time a wolf caught a fox and kept him as a servant. Whatever the wolf said, the fox must do. One day they were going through a forest and the wolf said to the fox, “Get me some food or I will eat you.” The fox said, “I know a farmyard where there are two young lambs which, if you wish, I will fetch for you?” This pleased the wolf very much. They went to the farmyard and the fox, slipping slyly into the yard, stole a fine young lamb and brought it to the wolf. ”