this, when it was baked, was as large and as fine as the others. So
the old lady put all the cakes on the shelf and offered the old man a
crust of dry bread.
The old man only looked at her, and before the old lady could wink, he
was gone.
The old lady thought a great deal about what she had done. She knew it
was very wrong.
“I wish I were a bird,” she said; “I would fly to him with the largest
cake I have.”
As she spoke, she felt herself growing smaller and smaller. Suddenly
the wind picked her up and carried her up the chimney.
When she came out she still had on her red bonnet and black dress. You
could see her white apron with the big bows. But she was a bird, just
as she had wished to be.
She was a wise bird, and at once she began to pick her food out of the
hard wood of a tree. As people saw her at work, they called her the
red-headed woodpecker.
_Tuesday_
Have the children tell the story of the red-headed woodpecker.
_Wednesday_
Have the children play the story of the woodpecker as a game.
_Thursday_
Write the word _woodpecker_.
_Friday_
Write: _The Woodpecker has a red head._
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Have the children write the words omitted:
Old ---- Hubbard
Went to the ---- board
To get her poor ---- a bone.
But when she got ----,
The ---- board was bare,
And so the poor ---- had none.
_Tuesday_
Have the children give orally all the words they can think of that
rhyme with _dog_. Write these in a list on the blackboard, and use them
for drills in phonics.
_Wednesday_
Have the date and the word _December_ written by the children.
_Thursday_
To be committed to memory:
WHAT MAKES CHRISTMAS
Little wishes on white wings,
Little gifts--such tiny things--
Just one little heart that sings,
Make a Merry Christmas.
--_Dorothy Howe_
_Friday_
Have the children write: _Merry Christmas._
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
To be recited by the teacher and acted out by the children, as a game:
WHEN SANTA CLAUS COMES
Merrily, merrily, merrily, O,
The reindeer prances across the snow;
We hear their tinkling silver bells,
Whose merry music softly tells
Old Santa Claus is coming.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, O,
The evergreens in the woodland grow;
They rustle gently in the breeze;
O, don’t you think the Christmas trees
Know Santa Claus is coming?
Merrily, merrily, merrily, O,
We’ve hung our stockings in a row;
Into our beds we softly creep,
Just shut our eyes and go to sleep--
And wait--for Santa Claus is coming.
--_Selected_
_Tuesday_
Story for oral reproduction:
BABY BUNTING’S FIRST CHRISTMAS
Baby Bunting was ten months old before she had a Christmas. When the
first Christmas came, she didn’t know what it meant. When she saw the
tree all covered with candles and apples and little baskets of candy,
she smiled, and then laughed, and then crowed out loud. She shook her
fat hands at the pretty sight, while Father and Mother and Sister Nora
danced around her baby carriage.
Then they began to take the presents off the tree. There was a fine
clock for Mother and a pair of slippers for Father. Sister Nora had a
beautiful doll.
Baby Bunting herself had a warm little muff, some dainty socks, a pair
of baby shoes, some picture books, and so many presents besides that
it would take too long to tell about them all.
Sister Nora was happy with her big wax doll. She named her Sally
Bunting, and brought her to the carriage to make a call on her sister
Baby Bunting.
Baby was so pleased at this, that she almost talked. It seemed to Nora
as if she really did talk to Sally. Perhaps Sally, the baby doll,
could hear this talk better than anyone else.
I am sure Baby Bunting was saying that this was the best Christmas she
had seen in ten months.
--_Adapted_
_Wednesday_
Have the children tell the story of “Baby Bunting’s First Christmas.”
_Thursday_
To be committed to memory:
CHRISTMAS SECRETS
Secrets big and secrets small,
On the eve of Christmas.
Such keen ears has every wall,
That we whisper, one and all,
On the eve of Christmas.
Secrets upstairs, secrets down,
On the eve of Christmas.
Papa brings them from the town,
Wrapped in papers, stiff and brown,
On the eve of Christmas.
But the secret best of all,
On the eve of Christmas,
Steals right down the chimney tall,
Fills our stockings one and all,
On the eve of Christmas.
--_Alice E. Allen_
_Friday_
Help the children to learn “Christmas Secrets.”
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
Let the children play, as a game, “Christmas Secrets.”
_Tuesday_
Continue learning the poem. Have the children write: _Secrets big and
secrets small_.
_Wednesday_
Have each child name something that he would like or that he had for
Christmas. Write these in a list on the blackboard, the simplest of
them to be read afterwards by the little folks.
_Thursday_
Talk about what the children did on Christmas Day.
_Friday_
Talk with the children about winter; the close of the old year, and the
coming of the new year.
SECOND YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
For dictation:
Sing soft! sing low!
The time of the snow
Is December.
_Tuesday_
Talk about the beginning of winter. What is the first month of winter?
What are the three winter months? What was the month before December?
What are the three autumn months? What season follows winter? What are
the three spring months? What season follows spring? What are the three
summer months? How many days are there in December?
_Wednesday_
For drill in phonics, or for clear enunciation:
There was a man and his name was Pat,
He had a wife and her name was Mat;
He had a rat and she had a cat;
The cat was Mat’s and the rat was Pat’s.
They all lived together,
In all kinds of weather,
Pat’s rat and Mat’s cat,
Cat, rat, Mat and Pat.
_Thursday_
To be committed to memory:
A CHRISTMAS VISIT
When the children sound are sleeping,
And the night is cold and clear;
When the frost-elves watch are keeping,
Some one comes our hearts to cheer.
Fast he drives his reindeer prancing;
No one hears his sleigh-bells ring,
No one sees him soft advancing,
No one knows what he will bring.
He’s a jolly soul, and merry,
With his cheeks an autumn hue,
And his nose is like a cherry
While he’s looking round for you.
If he hears a child awaking,
Quickly then he slips from sight,
But if all a nap are taking
Then he works away till light.
Once a boy who was not sleeping,
On Christmas morn stole through the hall;
Slow and silent he went creeping,
But no stocking found at all.
And a girl who tiptoed, peeping
Into rooms, and up the stair,
In the morning they found weeping,
For no Santa had been there.
So, when merry folk you’re greeting,
And you long to strip your tree,
When old Santa you’d be meeting,
Wait, nor hurry down to see;
For if you should hunt him early,
Maybe he’d not come next year;
He would be so cross and surly
That he’d pass your house, I fear.
--_Mabel L. Gray_
Have the first two stanzas copied by the children.
_Friday_
Have the children copy the second two stanzas of “A Christmas Visit.”
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Pupils learn first stanza of “A Christmas Visit.”
_Tuesday_
Pupils learn second stanza of the poem.
_Wednesday_
Pupils learn third stanza of the poem.
_Thursday_
Pupils learn fourth stanza of the poem.
_Friday_
Have the pupils recite the entire poem in concert.
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
Pupils write a list of the naming words (nouns) in “A Christmas Visit.”
_Tuesday_
For dictation:
All that’s great and good is done done--
Just by trying.
_Wednesday_
Story for reproduction:
THE SUNBEAMS
The Sun was up.
The sky in the east had told that he was on the way, for it had turned
red and gold as he came near. He looked down on the earth, and there
was a new day. So he sent out his beams to wake everybody from sleep.
A beam came to the little birds in the trees, and they rose at once.
They flew about, singing as loudly as they could.
Then a beam came and waked the rabbit. He gave his eyes a rub and ran
out into the green field to eat grass.
Another beam came into the hen-house. The rooster flapped his wings
and crowed. The hens flew into the yard to see what they could find to
eat.
A beam came to the beehive. A bee came out of the hive. He flew off
to the fields to drink honey from the flowers.
The beam that came to Johnny’s bed awakened Johnny, but the boy would
not get up. He went to sleep once more, though all the animals were
up, and hard at work.--_Adapted_
_Thursday_
Have the children tell, in their own words, the story of “The Sunbeams.”
_Friday_
Children write five sentences, telling what the sunbeams did.
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
Talk with the little folks about Christmas, its meaning, and the beauty
of giving.
_Tuesday_
Have each child write three things he would like for Christmas.
_Wednesday_
Pupils tell what they did on Christmas Day.
_Thursday_
Talk about the year’s holidays. How many are there? What are they?
_Friday_
Children write a letter to a cousin, telling what they did on Christmas
Day.
THIRD YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
To be committed to memory:
THE WIND AND THE MOON
Said the Wind to the Moon, “I will blow you out.
You stare
In the air
Like a ghost in a chair,
Always looking what I am about;
I hate to be watched; I will blow you out.”
The Wind blew hard, and out went the Moon,
So deep,
On a heap
Of clouds, to sleep,
Down lay the Wind, and slumbered soon--
Muttering low, “I’ve done for that Moon.”
He turned in his bed; she was there again!
On high,
In the sky,
With her one ghost eye,
The Moon shone white and alive and plain,
Said the Wind--”I will blow you out again.”
The Wind blew hard, and the Moon grew dim,
With my sledge
And my wedge
I have knocked off her edge!
If only I blow right fierce and grim,
The creature will soon be dimmer than dim.
He blew and blew, and she thinned to a thread,
One puff
More’s enough
To blow her to snuff!
One good puff more where the last was bred,
And glimmer, glimmer, glum will go the thread!
He blew a great blast and the thread was gone;
In the air
Nowhere
Was a moonbeam bare;
Far off and harmless the shy stars shone;
Sure and certain the Moon was gone!
The Wind he took to his revels once more;
On down,
In town,
Like a merry mad clown,
He leaped and hallooed with whistle and war.
What’s that? The glimmering thread once more!
But the Moon she knew nothing about the affair,
For, high
In the sky,
With her one white eye,
Motionless, miles above the air,
She had never heard the great Wind blare.
--_George Macdonald_
Have the first half of the poem copied.
_Tuesday_
Have the rest of the poem copied.
_Wednesday_
Have the children commit to memory the first two stanzas of the poem.
_Thursday_
Children commit to memory the second two stanzas of the poem.
_Friday_
Children learn the fifth and sixth stanzas of the poem.
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Children learn the seventh and eighth stanzas of “The Wind and the
Moon.”
_Tuesday_
Children learn the rest of the poem.
_Wednesday_
Children recite the entire poem.
_Thursday_
Children recite the poem. Write a list of the nouns in the poem.
_Friday_
Write a list of the doing words (verbs) in the poem.
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
For dictation:
Little fairy snowflakes,
Dancing in the flue;
Old Mr. Santa Claus,
What is keeping you?
_Tuesday_
Write a list of as many words rhyming with _time_, as you can think of.
_Wednesday_
Conversation about Christmas.
_Thursday_
Write five sentences about Christmas.
_Friday_
Children write a list of Christmas presents suitable for a boy, a list
of presents suitable for a girl.
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
Story for reproduction:
A CLOUD STORY
A long time ago, there lived a wonderful king. Each day this king came
in his golden chariot, bringing light, heat, and happiness to all the
people.
Each day he passed from his palace in the east to his throne in the
west. He never missed a day, for he wanted to make sure that everyone
had a share of his gifts.
For everybody, he had the birds sing and the flowers bloom. For
everybody, he showed beautiful pictures, which changed every hour.
The king had many beautiful daughters. They were often called swan
maidens, because they rode upon beautiful white swans.
When the swan maidens were with their father they wore soft white or
gray dresses.
Sometimes the king saw that the grass was brown, or the buds were not
coming out. Then he said, “Swan maidens, who will go and work to-day?”
Almost before he was through speaking, many of them had rushed away.
Sometimes more of them came than could work upon the grass and buds.
Then some of them ran off to play. But the best of them went down to
feed the roots and the worms. They worked out of sight.
But they always went back to their father, the king.
Now it is very hard work to catch a swan maiden on her way back home.
A boy is sure he saw one of them on a ring in the tea-kettle steam.
How many of them get away is a secret.
When the king saw the flowers shiver in the fall, he called the
bravest swan maidens to him. He told them that they must go away for a
long time.
Then each swan maiden put on a beautiful white dress, and came softly
down, down to earth, with a warm blanket.
These blankets they spread over the flowers and seeds. Every little
flower went to sleep under the blanket.
At last the king smiled, and their work was done. They slipped away
home so softly that nobody missed them, but the boys and girls who
loved the snow.
--_Adapted_
_Tuesday_
Children tell “A Cloud Story” in their own words.
_Wednesday_
Children write the cloud story.
_Thursday_
Children write five sentences about snow.
_Friday_
Children write what they did on Christmas Day.
FOURTH YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
To be committed to memory:
SWEET AND LOW
Sweet and low, sweet and low,
Wind of the western sea,
Low, low, breathe and blow,
Wind of the western sea!
Over the rolling waters go;
Come from the dying moon and blow,
Blow him again to me;
While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.
Sleep and rest, sleep and rest,
Father will come to thee soon.
Rest, rest on mother’s breast,
Father will come to thee soon.
Father will come to his babe in the nest;
Silver sails all out of the west,
Under the silver moon;
Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep!
--_Alfred Tennyson_
Have the poem copied.
_Tuesday_
Pupils learn first stanza of the poem.
_Wednesday_
Pupils learn the entire poem.
_Thursday_
Write about the life of Alfred Tennyson.
_Friday_
Write in complete sentences answers to the following questions:
How is the sea to blow?
Where is the wind to go?
Where is the wind to come from?
What is the blowing of the wind to do?
What is the baby to do?
When will father come?
Where is the baby to rest?
Where will father come?
How will father come?
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Write a letter, addressed to Santa Claus, telling what you would like
for Christmas.
_Tuesday_
Write a telegram of ten words, saying that you will go to some special
place for Christmas.
_Wednesday_
Write the abbreviations for the days of the week and the months of the
year.
_Thursday_
Have the children dramatize, in their own way:
Old King Cole
Was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe,
He called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three.
_Friday_
For dictation:
Beautiful hands are those that do
Work that is earnest and brave and true,
Moment by moment, the long day through.
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
Talk about the signs of winter.
_Tuesday_
Pupils write about signs of winter.
_Wednesday_
Write a rhyme of two lines, containing the word _snow_.
_Thursday_
Talk about winter sports.
_Friday_
Write about winter sports.
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
For dictation:
He prayeth best, who loveth best,
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
_Tuesday_
Every child find a short quotation for some other pupil to read in
class.
_Wednesday_
Write letters, telling why you like Christmas.
_Thursday_
Write a composition on snow.
_Friday_
Have a spelling match.
JANUARY
FIRST YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
Talk about the new year. What is this month called? What was last
month? What is the name of the new year? What was the name of the last
year? How many days has January? What season is this? What are the
months of the winter season? What season comes after winter?
_Tuesday_
Write the word _January_; also the date.
_Wednesday_
To be taught to the children:
Sixty seconds make a minute,
Something sure you can learn in it;
Sixty minutes make an hour,
Work with all your might and power;
Twenty-four hours make a day,
Time enough for work and play.
Seven days a week will make;
You will learn, if pains you take.--_Selected_
_Thursday_
Practise learning the rhyme of the day before.
_Friday_
Write: _Seven days make a week._
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Write:
On Monday, when the weather is fair,
I always wash the clothes.
_Tuesday_
Write:
On Tuesday I can iron them,
Even if it rains and snows.
_Wednesday_
Write:
On Wednesday I do all the mending,
I like the mending too.
_Thursday_
Write:
On Thursday I receive my friends;
I have nothing else to do.
_Friday_
Write:
Friday is the time to sweep,
To dust, and set things right.
The teacher may recite the following to the children, then have the
entire poem of the week played as a game, with appropriate actions:
On Saturday I always cook,
Then put all work from sight.
And Sunday is the day of rest;
I go to church dressed in my best.
--_Selected_
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
Learn the names of the months, by having a procession of children
representing the various months, led by the New Year. The little folks
will enjoy the game, and will learn the names of the twelve months, in
their order, without realizing that they are doing anything but play.
_Tuesday_
Story poem, to be recited (or read, if needs must) to the children, by
the teacher:
A MYSTERY
I put my coat and furs and mittens on, to go
With my cunning Christmas sled, out to see the pretty snow.
I made some little balls, and they looked as white and nice--
I tried how one would taste, but it was just as cold as ice.
I took some to the kitchen then, because I thought, you see,
I’d bake them just like apples--they’d be good with cream and tea.
I didn’t say a single word about it to the cook,
When I put them in the oven, but when she gave a look,
She stared, and held her hands up, and said: “For pity’s sake!
Who put this water in here, and spoiled my ginger cake?”
I couldn’t tell. It wasn’t I; but I would like to know,
Where did my pretty apples, that I was baking, go?
--_Selected_
After reciting the poem, ask the children what became of the snow
apples.
_Wednesday_
Talk about snow; snowballs; sliding on the snow; sleighing; a snow man.
_Thursday_
Write: _I can make a snowball._
_Friday_
To be told; for the children to guess:
WHAT AM I?
I live in a hole just above somebody’s chin. I have to stay there, for
I am fastened in.
It is because of me that boys and girls like good things to eat. To
please me, they eat candy and fruit.
It is because of me that boys and girls are often kept after school.
They forget, and use me when they ought not to.
I am always wanting to taste, taste, taste. I am always wanting to
talk, talk, talk.
Who can guess what I am?
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
Children write the words necessary to complete the following:
Jack and ----
Went up the ----,
To get a ---- of water.
---- fell down
And ---- his crown,
And ---- came tumbling after.
_Tuesday_
Have the children give all the words they can that rhyme with _hat_.
Write the list on the blackboard, and use it for drill in phonics.
_Wednesday_
To be taught to the children:
If you can’t be the big sun, with his cheery smile,
You can be the cheerful sunbeam for a little while.
_Thursday_
Play “I am thinking of something,” using objects in the school-room.
_Friday_
Have the children mention as many objects as they can think of that are
blue; green; yellow; white.
SECOND YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
To be committed to memory:
LADY MOON
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving?
“Over the sea.”
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving?
“All that love me.”
Are you not tired with roving and never
Resting to sleep?
Why look so pale and so sad, as forever
Wishing to weep?
“Ask me not this, little child, if you love me:
You are too bold.
I must obey my dear Father above me,
And do as I’m told.”
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving?
“Over the sea.”
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving?
“All that love me.”
--_Lord Houghton_
Have the first stanza of the poem copied and learned.
_Tuesday_
Have the second stanza of the poem copied and learned.
_Wednesday_
Have the third stanza of the poem copied and learned.
_Thursday_
Have the fourth stanza of the poem copied and learned.
_Friday_
Have the poem recited, throughout.
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
For dictation:
Be kind in all you say and do,
That others may be kind to you.
_Tuesday_
Talk about snowflakes; if possible, showing some of the single flakes.
Where do the snowflakes come from? What becomes of them if they are
taken into a warm room? What becomes of them when they fall? What
becomes of the snow when the weather gets warm? How does the snow help
the grass and flowers? (Keeps them warm during the cold winter.) Why is
snow sometimes called a blanket?
_Wednesday_
Story for oral reproduction:
A WISE DOG
One night a farmer was riding home along a lane which had walls on
both sides. Suddenly he heard his dog barking on the farther side of
the wall.
The man stopped his horse and started to see what was the matter.
The night was very cold. Snow lay on the ground. Sitting on a large
stone was the farmer’s little daughter.
The child had left the house and had wandered out into the meadow.
The dog had followed her, keeping close at her heels. Now he was
barking for some one to come and take the little girl home. She had
lost her way, and was crying.
The father looked at the footprints in the snow. He saw that his
little daughter had walked close beside a deep hole.
She had walked all the way round the hole. But the wise dog had gone,
all the time, between the little girl and the great hole.
Was he not a wise dog?--_Adapted_
_Thursday_
Children tell the story of the lost child and the dog.
_Friday_
Write three sentences about the little girl and the dog.
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
Supply words to fill the following blanks:
My dog Spot is ----.
He eats ----.
Spot can ----.
When I run, Spot ---- too.
_Tuesday_
To be committed to memory:
Hearts, like doors, will ope with ease,
To very, very little keys;
And don’t forget that two of these
Are, “Thank you, sir,” and “If you please.”
--_Selected_
_Wednesday_
Write a list of ten objects to be seen in the school-room.
_Thursday_
Talk about bread. Who makes the bread we eat? What is it made of? Where
does the flour come from? Where does wheat grow? How does wheat grow?
How is the wheat made into flour? How is the flour made into bread?
_Friday_
Write three sentences about bread.
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
Children write their fathers’ and mothers’ names.
_Tuesday_
For dictation:
When the cold wind blows,
Look out for your nose.
_Wednesday_
Talk about how we are protected from cold, by clothing and by
artificial heat. How is the school-room warmed? How are the children’s
homes warmed? Why is it unnecessary for stables to be heated?
_Thursday_
A riddle for the children to guess:
I am as black, as black can be,
But yet I shine.
My home was deep within the earth,
In a dark mine.
Years ago I was buried there,
And yet I hold
The sunshine and the heat, which warmed
That world of old.
Though black and cold I seem to be,
Yet I can glow.
Just put me on a blazing fire--
Then you will know.--_Selected_
_Friday_
Write three sentences about coal.
THIRD YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
To be committed to memory:
CHILD’S EVENING PRAYER
Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh;
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky.
Low the darkness gathers,
Stars begin to peep;
Birds and beasts and flowers
Soon will be asleep.
Through the long night-watches,
May Thine angels spread
Their white wings above me,
Watching round my bed.
When the morn awakens,
Then may I arise,
Pure and fresh and sinless,
In Thy holy eyes.--_S. Baring-Gould_
Have the poem copied.
_Tuesday_
Learn the first verse of the poem.
_Wednesday_
Learn the rest of the poem.
_Thursday_
Recite the entire poem.
_Friday_
Write a list of the naming words (nouns) in the “Child’s Evening
Prayer.”
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Write a list of the doing words (verbs), in the “Child’s Evening
Prayer.”
_Tuesday_
Write a letter to a playmate, telling what you did on a recent Saturday.
_Wednesday_
For dictation: