Produced by D. Garcia, Tom Allen, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
UNCLE ROBERT'S VISIT
BY FRANCIS W. PARKER AND NELLIE LATHROP HELM
PREFACE BY THE EDITOR OF THE HOME-READING BOOKS.
The publishers take pleasure in offering to the public, in their
Home-Reading Series, some books relating to the farm and other aspects
of country life as the center of interest, written by Colonel Francis W.
Parker, the President of the famous Cook County Normal School, in
Chicago. For many years the teachers of the common schools of the
country have been benefited by the inventions of Colonel Parker in the
way of methods of teaching in the schoolroom. His enthusiasm has led him
to consider the best means of arousing the interest of the child and of
promoting his self-activity for reasonable purposes.
The Pestalozzian movement in the history of education is justly famed
for its effort to connect in a proper manner the daily experience of the
child with the school course of study. The branches of learning
taught to the child by the schoolmaster are necessarily dry and
juiceless if they are not thus brought into relation with the child's
world of experience. Almost all of the school reforms that have been
proposed in the past one hundred years have moved in this line. The
effort to seize upon the child's interest and make it the agency for
progress has formed the essential feature in each. In this reform
movement Colonel Parker has made himself one of the chief influences.
The rural school has held a low rank among educational institutions on
account of the inferior methods of instruction which have prevailed by
reason of the fact that the children were too few and their
qualifications too various to permit the forming of classes. Children in
various degrees of advancement from ABC's to higher arithmetic, and
yet numbering only ten, twenty, or thirty in all, are enrolled under one
teacher. Most branches of study could muster only one or two pupils in
each class: Five to ten minutes a day is all that can be allowed in such
cases for a recitation. No thoroughness of instruction on the part of
the teacher is possible, nor is there much improvement to be expected in
the method of instruction where classes can not be formed. The
benefactor of the country school therefore looks to other devices than
class instruction, and the author of this book has shown in what ways
the teacher of one of these small schools may extend his influence into
the families of his district, encourage home study initiate practical
experiments.
It is expected that the teacher, besides his daily register in which he
records the names and attendance of his own pupils, will keep a list of
the youth of the district who have been in attendance on the school but
have left to take up the work of the farm, and that he will endeavor by
proper means to persuade them to enter upon well-planned courses of
reading. Occasional meetings in the evening at central places, or on
some afternoons of the week at the schoolhouse itself, will furnish
occasions for the discussion of the contents of the books that have been
read, and experiments will be suggested in the way of verifying the
theories advanced in them.
Not only can the mind of the country youth be broadened and enlarged in
the direction of literature and art, and of science and history, but it
can be made more practical by focusing it upon the problems connected
with the agriculture and manufactures of the district.
This indicates a career of usefulness for the ambitious teacher of a
rural school. There is a large field for the discipline of the directive
power open even for the humblest of teachers in the land.
These books of Colonel Parker, if read by the school children, and
especially by the elder youth who have left school, will suggest a great
variety of ways in which real mental growth and increase of practical
power may be obtained. The ideal of education in the United States is
that the child in school shall be furnished with a knowledge of the
printed page and rendered able to get out of books the experience of his
fellow-men, and at the same time be taught how to verify and extend his
book knowledge by investigations on his environment. This having been
achieved by the school, nothing except his indolence, or, to give it a
better name, want of enterprise, prevents the individual citizen from
growing intellectually and practically throughout his whole life.
W. T. HARRIS.
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 12, 1897.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
Fortunate are the children whose early years are spent in the country in
close contact with the boundless riches which Nature bestows.
Amid these environments instinct and spontaneity do a marvelous work in
the growing minds of children, arousing and sustaining varied and
various interests, enhancing mental activities, and furnishing an
educative outlet for lively energies.
Most fortunate are they to whom, at the moment when the unconscious
teachings of Nature need to be supplemented by thoughtful suggestion,
wise leadings, and judicious instruction, there comes one with a deep
and loving sympathy with child life, an active interest in all that
interests them, and a profound respect for all that children do well and
for all that they know.
Such an one is Uncle Robert. He comes to the children at just the right
moment. He directs the sweet strong streams of their lives onward into a
channel of earnest inquiry and exalted labor, which is ever broadening
and deepening.
Uncle Robert's aim in education is to fill each day with acts which make
home better, the community better, mankind better; to take from God's
bounteous and boundless store of truth and convert it into human life by
using it. His method is simple and direct, founded upon the firm rock,
Common Sense. It may be briefly stated as follows:
1. A strong belief in the sacredness of work--that work which inspires
thought, strengthens the body as well as the mind, and develops the
feeling of usefulness.
2. The images the children have acquired and the inferences they have
made are used as stepping stones to higher and broader views.
3. So far as it is possible, each child is to discover facts for himself
and make original inferences.
4. He understands the limits of children's power to observe and the
demand on their part for glimpses into, to them, the great unknown. So
he tells them stories of those things which lie beyond their horizon, in
order to excite their wonder, intensify their love for the objects that
surround them, and make them more careful observers. In this way a
hunger and thirst for books is created.
5. He watches carefully the interests of each child, adapting his
teachings to the differences in age and personality.
6. Some questions are left unanswered in order to stimulate that healthy
curiosity which can be satisfied only by persistent study--the study
that begets courage and confidence.
7. He makes farm work and farm life full of intensely interesting
problems, ever keeping in mind that the things of which the common
environments of common lives are made up are as well worthy of study as
are those which lie beyond.
Uncle Robert's enthusiasm has for its prime impulse a boundless faith in
human progress, brought about by a knowledge of childhood and its
possibilities.
He believes that every normal child, under wise and loving guidance, may
become useful to his fellows, moral in character, strong in intellect,
with a body which is an efficient instrument of the soul; in other
words, truly educated.
Those who read Uncle Robert's Visit should read through the eyes of
Susie, Donald, and Frank. The reading, so far as possible, should be
accompanied by personal observation, investigation, and experiment.
FRANCIS W. PARKER.
CHICAGO NORMAL SCHOOL, August 31, 1897.
CONTENTS.
I. UNCLE ROBERT'S COMING
II. FRANK DRAWS A MAP OF THE FARM
III. THE NEW THERMOMETER
IV. WITH THE ANIMALS
V. IN THE FLOWER GARDEN
VI. SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW
VII. THE BAROMETER
VIII. A WALK IN THE WOODS
IX. THE BIRDS AND THE FLOWERS
X. THE THUNDERSHOWER
XI. THE VILLAGE
XII. A DAY ON THE RIVER
XIII. A RAINY DAY
XIV. THE WALK AFTER THE RAIN
XV. THE BIG BOOK
TOPICAL ANALYSIS OF UNCLE ROBERT'S VISIT.
NOTE.--The direct study of earth, air, and water involves the study of
plant, animal, and human life. Popular opinion has given the name of
geography to these correlated subjects.
CHAPTER I.--UNCLE ROBERT'S COMING.
The value of the children's knowledge of the farm is warmly recognized
by Uncle Robert. The children feel his sympathy for their work, and
through it are led to closer study and investigation. The feeling that
everything they may see and do is of importance, exalts their daily
life.
Encourage children to describe the farms on which they live. In such
descriptions should come plant and animal life, and the means and
processes of farm work. Extend these descriptions to other farms and to
any landscapes which the children have observed.
CHAPTER II.--FRANK DRAWS A MAP OF THE FARM.
All children love to draw, and they will draw with great confidence and
boldness unless their critical faculty outruns their skill. Modeling and
painting may be very profitably introduced at an early age. Frank's
efforts in drawing strengthened his images of the landscape.
Arithmetic has a very important place in farm life. It may be used in
many ways in forming habits of accuracy and exactness.
CHAPTER III.--THE NEW THERMOMETER.
The children have their first lesson on the agent of all physical
movement and change in organic and inorganic matter. The simple
experiments suggested should be continued and enlarged, thus beginning a
life study of a subject which is practically unlimited in its importance
to man.
CHAPTER IV.--WITH THE ANIMALS.
Children look upon animals as their particular friends and
acquaintances. They talk to them and believe that the animals understand
them. A desire to know the habits and habitats of animals is among their
strongest interests. By a little wise direction, this interest may be so
enhanced as to form a substantial beginning of the study of zoology.
CHAPTER V.--IN THE FLOWER GARDEN.
Children worship flowers. Probably there are no objects on earth so
universally loved by little folks as buds and flowers. Children seek
eagerly for flowers by the roadside, in the pastures, fields, and woods.
This love, like all instincts, should be carefully cultivated.
Children may easily be led to study the forms, colors, and habits of
plants. They will always take the keenest interest in the mystery of
seeds and shoots, of roots and growing leaves, _if there is a teacher
to direct them_.
CHAPTER VI.--SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW.
We have heat again, and now as an elementary lesson in the distribution
of sunshine. Children love to observe continual changes. The shadow is
an object of interest. It has an element of mystery about it which
borders upon the supernatural. Children observe spontaneously the long
shadows of morning and the lengthening shadows of the descending sun.
Most farm boys can tell the moment of noon by their shadows.
These are all steps in the more difficult problems of lengthening and
shortening shadows that mark the changing seasons, and that lead to the
theories of the earth's rotation and revolution. Day by day children
should note the changes of slant upon the shadow stick which they can
easily make for themselves.
CHAPTER VII.--THE BAROMETER.
Our little friends have their first lesson concerning one of the three
great envelopes of the earth-the atmosphere. The knowledge that air has
weight does not often come by unaided intuition. The initial experiments
may be made very interesting and profitable. The United States Weather
Reports are an excellent means for the home study of geography.
CHAPTER VIII.--A WALK IN THE WOODS.
"There is pleasure in the pathless woods" and "The groves were God's
first temples" are lines which appeal strongly to those who have spent
hours in the shadows and flickering sunlight of the forest. Trees well
arranged make many farmhouses beautiful. Trees by the roadside add much
beauty to the landscape and afford places of rest to the traveler.
Forests mean moisture to the soil. Their leaves and roots make the best
reservoirs for water, to be given out when needed by the growing crops.
The forests are full of lessons for the children and the experienced
scientist.
CHAPTER IX.--THE BIRDS AND THE FLOWERS.
The knowledge of a farm child is quite extensive, and generally neither
the child nor the parent has any suspicion that such knowledge is of any
appreciable value in education. It is clearly within the bounds of
possibility for every farm boy and girl to know every bird that lives on
the farm in summer or winter, and those who rest there in their
migrating flight; to know also the names, the plumage, the habits of all
the birds; and to know the nests and nesting places of those who make
the farm their summer home.
All this study cultivates the child's sense of the beautiful. There is
no better color study in the world than that which springs from
discriminating love of flowers and of the plumage of birds.
Such study creates a kindly feeling toward both animals and plants on
the part of the child. It exercises a strong moral power over him.
CHAPTER X.--THE THUNDERSHOWER.
A thundershower is always a phenomenon of interest and often of fear on
the part of children. The clouds of the cumulus form, the rolling of
thunder, the lightning flashes, the rushing wind, and the pouring rain
are full of important lessons. Fear vanishes as knowledge comes. In the
thundershower is the question of the distribution of moisture over the
earth's surface, the question of the nature and use of clouds, the
movement of the air and wind, the condensation of vapor, and the
marvelous powers of electricity.
CHAPTER XI.--THE VILLAGE.
Geography should ever be in the closest touch with the human side.
Nature does a marvelous work, but Nature without society is like a vast
storehouse of treasure without a demand for its use. The one weak point
in farm life is the lack of opportunity for contact with society.
CHAPTER XII.--A DAY ON THE RIVER.
A river, creek, lake--in fact, any body of water--is a source of
perpetual delight to children. Frank, Donald, and Susie have had the
river and creek before them all their lives. Now, under Uncle Robert's
teaching, the river will mean very much more to them. They take their
first lessons in the work of streams in carving and shaping the earth's
surface. The pebbles on the beach and the large, rounded stones will
soon have stories of the distant past to tell them. The "Big Book" is
opened to them, and they read the stories directly from its pages.
CHAPTER XIII.--A RAINY DAY.
The children get closer to the question of moisture, its use, and
distribution. The rain gauge helps them to measure the rainfall. Then
comes the problem of where the water goes after it reaches the ground.
"How far down does some of it go?" "When and where does it come out of
the ground?"
Arithmetic is brought in in measuring the rainfall and its distribution.
CHAPTER XIV.--THE WALK AFTER THE RAIN.
The problems in Chapter XIII move toward their solution, and new
questions are opened. The gully tells of the wearing of the water, and
foretells a river valley. The spring helps in the question of
underground water. The flowing river quickens the imagination in the
direction of the great ocean.
CHAPTER XV.--THE BIG BOOK.
This chapter should be read by parents to the children, as many
sentences need expansion and explanation. Hints are given of great
things which lie beyond the child's horizon. Discoveries that have
changed mankind are referred to.
Children's permanent interests are the keynotes of instruction and the
infallible guides of the teacher. To continue and sustain their
spontaneous observation and desire for investigation leads directly to
the study of the best books, and lays the basis for a thorough and
profound study of God's universe.
CHAPTER I.
UNCLE ROBERT'S COMING.
Uncle Robert was coming. His letter, telling when they should expect
him, had been received a week before. Every day since had been full of
talks and plans for his visit, and now the day was come. Everything was
ready.
Frank and Donald had harnessed Nell, the old white horse, to the little
spring wagon, and had driven to the village to meet the train which was
to bring Uncle Robert from New York.
Susie, in her prettiest white apron, ran out of the house every few
minutes, to be the first to see them when they should come along the
road.
Mrs. Leonard was putting finishing touches here and there. She went into
the kitchen to give Jane a last direction about the supper. Then she
went to the east room upstairs, Uncle Robert's room, to be sure that
everything was just as she knew he would like it.
Susie followed her mother, to see if the violets in the glass on his
table were still bright and fresh. She had gathered them herself in the
woods that morning.
"There they come!" she cried. "I hear the wagon crossing the bridge at
the creek!"
She ran quickly downstairs and out upon the piazza. A moment more, and
the wagon turned in at the gate.
"Mother, mother," called Susie, "they're here!"
But Mrs. Leonard was already beside her. Her pleasant face glowed with a
happy smile as Frank drew rein before the door.
Then such a time!
Uncle Robert sprang from the seat beside Frank, hugged Mrs. Leonard,
then Susie, then both together.
Donald, who was seated in the back of the wagon on Uncle Robert's trunk,
turned a handspring, landed on his feet somehow or other, and stood
grinning at Susie.
Mr. Leonard had also heard the sound of the wheels. He hurried from the
barn, calling Peter to come and help him carry Uncle Robert's trunk
upstairs.
Jane came to the door of the dining-room, eager to see the Uncle Robert
of whom she had heard so much. Then, with a nod of her head, she ran
back, slipped the pan of biscuits into the oven, and put the kettle on
to boil.
Uncle Robert had come! Everybody was happy. No one more so than Uncle
Robert himself.
"Now, this is good," he said, when at length they were seated around the
supper table. "I feel at home already. Susie, did those violets on my
table grow in your garden?"
[Illustration: Violets.]
"Oh, no," replied Susie. "I found them in the woods by the creek. And
the buttercups, didn't you see them in the glass, too?"
"Buttercups so early ?" asked Uncle Robert. "Oh, yes, the low ones do
come early. You must take me down where they grow some day."
"We'll go to-morrow," said Susie.
Uncle Robert smiled at the eager little face, and, turning to Mr.
Leonard, said:
"Frank tells me the farm is looking well this spring."
"Yes, it looks fairly well," replied Mr. Leonard. "The seed is all in
but the corn. That is a little late. The water on the bottom land stayed
longer than usual this year."
"Peter thinks we can start the planting to-morrow," said Frank.
"Yes," replied his father, "I think so, too."
When supper was over they all went out on the side porch. The sun was
setting. The air was soft and spring-like. The lilacs along the fence
filled the air with fragrance.
"Don't you want to see Susie's garden, Robert?" asked Mrs. Leonard,
"Yes, indeed," said Uncle Robert. "Susie wrote me some nice little
letters about that garden."
As they walked along the narrow paths Susie showed him where the seeds
were already planted, and told him what she thought she would have in
the other beds.
"This is phlox," said Susie, leading Uncle Robert by the hand; "and
marigolds are here, and sweet peas over there by the fence. That place
between mother's garden and mine is filled with rosebushes, syringas,
and hollyhocks."
"I still call the vegetable garden mine, but the boys do most of the
work," said Mrs. Leonard. "That big bush at the end of the row is an
elder."
"This is to be my pansy bed," said Susie. "The pansies are not set out
yet. They are growing in a box in the kitchen window. I love them best
of all. Don't they look like funny little faces in bonnets?"
[Illustration: Pansies.]
"That is what the Germans think, Susie," said Uncle Robert, laughing.
"They call them 'little stepmothers.'"
"I think it will be safe to put them out soon, Susie," said Mrs.
Leonard.
"Mother," called Donald from the vegetable garden, "the lettuce and
radishes are growing finely, and here's a bean. Oh, there are lots of
them just putting their heads through!"
They all went over to look at the beans, and then walked down to the end
of the garden where the currant and gooseberry bushes grew.
"Oh, uncle," exclaimed Susie, "I wish you had come in time to see the
trees in blossom! They were all pink and white. It was just lovely! only
the flowers stayed such a little while."
"I think Susie lived in the orchard those days," said Mrs. Leonard,
smiling. "If I wanted her I was very sure to find her there."
"I don't blame Susie," said Uncle Robert. "I would have stayed, too.
There is nothing sweeter than apple blossoms. But you have other fruits
besides apples, haven't you?"
[Illustration: Apple Blossoms.]
"Oh, yes," said Frank, who had just come from the barn, where he had
gone after supper with his father. "There are pears and cherries and a
few peach trees. But peaches don't do well here."
"The blossoms are lovely," said Susie.
"I believe Susie cares more for the flowers than she does for the
fruit," said Donald. "I don't. I like the fruit, and plenty of it."
"How many kinds of apples have you?" asked Uncle Robert.
"About ten," replied Frank. "But father budded quite a number last year.
The twigs came from Kansas."
"They have fine apples in Kansas some years," said Uncle Robert. "I
wonder if the budding is done as it was when I was a boy on the farm
in New England."
"This is the way father did it," said Frank. "First he cut a little
piece of the bark off the twig with the bud on it. He had to do it very
carefully with a sharp knife. Then he cut the bark on the branch of the
tree like the letter T. He laid it back, and slipped the piece of bark
with the bud on under it. Then he bound it all up with soft cotton, and
left it to take care of itself."
"Did it?" asked Uncle Robert.
"Yes," answered Donald. "In a few weeks we took the binding off, and the
bark had all grown together around the little bud."
[Illustration: Budding]
"There were ever so many of them," said Susie, "and they were all
alike."
"I wish they would hurry up and have some apples on them," said Donald.
"If they're better than some we had last year, they'll be pretty good.
"Come, children," said Mrs. Leonard. "It is getting damp. I think we'd
better go in now."