Life forms should be given first, as the natural tendency of the young
child is to pile things up,[38] and these forms seem simpler for
dictation, are more readily grasped by the mind, and more fascinating
to the imagination. They are the images of things both dear and
familiar to him, and thus are particularly adapted to the beginning
since the "starting point of the child's development is the heart and
the emotions." It is easier for him to be an architect at first than
an artist, though each will be comprehended in the other after a
time.[39]
[38] "The building or piling up is with the child, as with the
development of the human race, and as with the fixed forms in
Nature, the first."--Froebel's _Education of Man_.
"Towers, pyramids, up, up, connecting themselves with
something high, voicing aspiration."
[39] "The representation of facts and circumstances of
history, of geography, and especially of every-day life, by
means of building, I hold to be in the highest degree
important for children, even if these representations are
imperfect and fall far short of their originals. The eye is
at all events aroused and stimulated to observe with greater
precision than before the object that has been
represented.... And thus, by means of perhaps a quite
imperfect outward representation, the inner perception is
made more perfect."--Froebel's _Letters_, tr. by Michaelis
and Moore, page 99.
The dictations should be given very simply, clearly, and slowly,
always using one set of terms to express a certain meaning, and having
those absolutely correct. We should never give dictations from a book,
but from memory, having prepared the lesson beforehand, and should
remember that every exercise we give should "incite and develop
self-activity." We must guard against mistakes or confusion in our own
minds; it is very easy to confuse the child, and he will become
inattentive and careless if he is unable to catch our meaning.
Brief stories should occasionally be told, just mere outlines to give
color and force to the child's building, and connect it with his
experience. If it is an armchair, grandmother may sit in it knitting
the baby's stocking. If it is a well, describe the digging of it, the
lining with stones or brick, the inflowing of the water, the letting
down of the bucket and long chain, the clear, cool water coming up
from the deep, dark hole in the ground on a hot summer's day. These,
of course, are but the merest suggestions which experience may be
trusted to develop.
It is better, perhaps, to give a bit of word-painting to each object
constructed than to wait till the end of the series for the day and
tell a longer story, as the interest is thus more easily sustained.
The children, too, should be encouraged to talk about the forms and
tell little stories concerning them. The form created should never be
destroyed, but transformed into the next in order by a few simple
movements.