Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-27

grade when they get a first practical in
sight into the relation between the study
of geography and the commercial rela-
tons between their own homes and the
rest of the world. We take them to
bakeries, for instance, and show them
practical things there. After that bake
shop inspection and instruction is over
they have very fine idea, or should have,
of where wheat comes from, what routes
1t takes to get here, where it is ground
into flour and the Importance of loaf
Of bread, and the many lessons and
stories a loaf of bread brings up to
child are beyond calculation.
AS Object Lessons.
1--WE. are using the industries of Wash
ington in this way wherever we can. In
some sections we will .use one industry,
but will have TO use another sort in an
other section. However the principle is
the same. We get away from that old
book, geography, for the younger chill
dren and actually fascinate them by the
new method of teaching. The boys are
very fond of the cattle study, for each
of them turns into cowboy for the
time being. The markets offer splendid
object lessons in geography, and the chill
dren go to the markets and get a good
lesson in everything they see. 1t is the
duty of the teacher to make use OF every
thing she can on these visits, SO the
VIII get dii iutd vi WHY pI
comes from various parts of the country,
how it gets here and everything of the
sort.
And in that way the younger child
is led up gradually to the higher grades
where it becomes necessary to have tech
meal knowledge of states and countries
The new method of geography is about
nine years old, but the course we are
installing now has many features which
have not been tried heretofore"
Course of World Study.
Geography for the fifth grade is de-
signed in the new course to give the child
a broad general understanding of the
world before he starts q detailed study
of any section. lie gets an idea of the
world as whole. with its size and shape,
the proportion and distribution of land
and water; he knows the location of the
continents. the zones, with their varied
climates, and the character of the plants
and animals become open book to
him. he gets the world in sections and,
principally, gets the story of the people,
with their occupations and their life. He
finds out what sort of places they choose
to live in, their plants, their animals,
their governments and their methods of
getting about Here is where he gets his
first idea of what commerce and trade Is
in the big sense And not once does he
Il
America or trace the course Of the Cassa-
quiera.
Then. in the sixth grade he begins to
get his detailed study of the geography
of the United States. BY a long stand
ing tradition that branch has been left
| for the sixth-erade scholars. and the
outline for the study of each section
shows that the new method of teaching
brings the study of the people to the
very forefront. Plant. animal and min
eral resources. occupations locations and
boundaries. drainage and climate. politi-
cal divisions or states. cities. government.
transportation facilities. commercial rea-
tons and the important historical events
are the general topics of information.
The Human Way Of Teaching.
There is very human way of teaching
these topics. For instance, the teacher
of today would be fully justified in TAX
ing the advent of circus to town as an
excuse to have little lesson on the ami
mails of a country. Should the news of
the day say something about volcanic
eruptions somewhere, the mountain sys-
TEN of country could be linked in fas-
cinatinc manner with the news columns.
From this grade the scholars pass into
higher study of the world as whole,