And ships sail on the seas,
But clouds that sail across the sky
Are prettier far than these.--_Selected_
_Thursday_
Write five sentences about clouds.
_Friday_
Write a list of ten objects that are blue.
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
Each child write eight sentences, describing some other child in the
room, telling: Color of hair, color of eyes, kind of complexion, height
(guessed at), age, costume worn, size of shoes (guessed at), and size
of gloves.
_Tuesday_
Write a rhyme of four lines about a dog.
_Wednesday_
Write a list of the objects to be seen in the school-room. Who can
write the longest list?
_Thursday_
Have the following poem copied:
WINTER EVENING
What way does the wind come? Which way does he go?
He rides over the water, and over the snow,
Through wood, and through vale; and o’er rocky height,
Which the great cannot climb, takes his sounding flight;
He tosses about in every bare tree,
As, if you look up, you may plainly see;
But how he will come, and whither he goes,
There’s never a scholar anywhere knows.
He will suddenly stop in a cunning nook,
And ring a sharp ’larum; but, if you should look,
There’s nothing to see but a cushion of snow,
Round as a pillow, and whiter than milk,
And softer than if it were covered with silk.
Sometimes he’ll hide in the cave of the rock,
Then whistle as shrill as a cuckoo clock.
Yet seek him--and what shall you find in his place?
Nothing but silence and empty space;
Save, in a corner, a heap of dry leaves,
That he’s left, for a bed, to beggars or thieves!
--_Dorothy Wordsworth_
_Friday_
Pupils write a list of the nouns in the poem, “Winter Evening.”
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
Pupils write a list of the verbs in the poem, “Winter Evening.”
_Tuesday_
Write five sentences telling what the wind does.
_Wednesday_
Children find answers to the following questions, in any way they can:
What little children wear wooden shoes?
What little children wear moccasins?
What little children wear shoes of fur?
What children wear shoes of silk or satin?
What children wear shoes of leather?
_Thursday_
Write five sentences about the different kinds of shoes children wear.
_Friday_
Write five sentences about the shoes you have on.
FOURTH YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
To be committed to memory:
SONG OF THE BROOK
I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally,
And sparkle out among the fern
To bicker down a valley.
By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorps, a little town
And half a hundred bridges.
Till last by Philip’s farm I flow,
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.
I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.
With many a curve my banks I fret
By many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set
With willow weed and mallow.
I chatter, chatter, as I flow
To join the brimming river;
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.
I wind about, and in and out,
With here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling.
And here and there a foamy flake
Upon me, as I travel,
With many a silvery water-break,
Above the golden gravel.
And draw them all along, and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.
I steal by lawns and grassy plots,
I slide by hazel covers;
I move the sweet forget-me-nots
That grow for happy lovers.
I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance
Among my skimming swallows;
I make the melted sunbeams glance
Against my sandy shallows.
I murmur under moon and stars
In brambly wildernesses;
I linger by my shingly bars--
I loiter round my cresses.
And out again I curve and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.--_Alfred Tennyson_
Have the first six stanzas of the poem copied.
_Tuesday_
Have the rest of the poem copied.
_Wednesday_
Pupils commit to memory the first three stanzas of the poem.
_Thursday_
Commit to memory the second three stanzas of the poem.
_Friday_
Commit to memory the third three stanzas of the poem.
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Commit to memory the rest of the poem.
_Tuesday_
Recite the entire poem.
_Wednesday_
Study up the life of Alfred Tennyson.
_Thursday_
Answer the following questions:
Where does the brook come from?
What is a “coot”? (See dictionary.)
What is a “hern”? (See dictionary.)
What does the brook do among the ferns?
What is meant by the brook’s “bickering”?
How does the brook come down by thirty hills?
What is meant by the brook’s “slipping” between the ridges?
What is a “thorp”?
_Friday_
Answer the following questions:
What is meant by a “brimming river”?
How does the brook join the river?
How does the brook go on forever?
How does the brook get the water to keep on flowing forever?
What is meant by the brook’s “chattering”?
What causes the noises of the brook?
What are “sharps and trebles”?
What is an “eddying bay”? What is an eddy?
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
Answer the following questions:
What is the meaning of “fret”?
How does the brook fret the banks with its curves?
What is a “foreland”?
What is “willow-weed”?
What is “mallow”?
What makes the brook wind about?
How do blossoms happen to be sailing on the water?
Whereabouts in the brook do the trout stay?
What is a “grayling”?
_Tuesday_
Answer the following questions:
What is a “water-break”?
What is “gravel”?
Why is the gravel called golden?
What are some of the things that the brook carries along to the river?
What is meant by “hazel covers”?
Why are the forget-me-nots said to “grow for happy lovers”?
_Wednesday_
Answer the following questions:
How does the brook go?
What is meant by “skimming” swallows?
What makes the sunbeam in the woods “netted”?
What is a “shallow”?
How does the brook murmur?
What is a “bramble”?
What are “cresses”? Where do they grow?
_Thursday_
Write in a list all the verbs in the poem.
_Friday_
Write a list of all the adjectives in the poem.
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
Write a composition on brooks.
_Tuesday_
Talk about brooks, rivers, and the ocean.
_Wednesday_
Write a rhyme of four lines about a river.
_Thursday_
Each pupil find and repeat in class a quotation about a brook, a river,
or the ocean.
_Friday_
Play, “My ship came from China, and it brought to me.”
FEBRUARY
FIRST YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
Talk about the new month. What is this month? What was last month? What
month follows February? What season is this? What are the three months
of the winter season? What season follows winter? What are the three
months of the spring season? What season follows spring? What season
follows summer?
_Tuesday_
To be taught to the children:
Red, white, and blue is our country’s flag,
Flag of the brave and free;
Red, white and blue, where’er you go,
Is the flag for you and me.--_Selected_
_Wednesday_
Talk about the flag. How many colors has our flag? What are they? How
many red stripes are there? How many white stripes? Where is the blue
of the flag? What is there on the blue? Count the stars. How many stars
are there?
_Thursday_
Tell the story of Betsy Ross, and the making of the first United States
flag.
_Friday_
Have the children repeat to you the story of Betsy Ross and the flag.
Have the flag salute given. In case the children are not familiar with
it, here is the salute usually given:
“We give our heads, our hearts, and our hands to our country.
One country, one language, one flag.”
During the salute, the flag should be held, unfurled, by some one
facing the class. The children point with the right hands to their
heads and their hearts. At the words, “our hands,” both hands should be
extended. At the words “one flag,” the right hand only is extended.
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Tell stories of the boyhood of Abraham Lincoln.
_Tuesday_
Talk about Lincoln’s boyhood, allowing the children to tell you the
stories which they heard the day before.
_Wednesday_
Talk about St. Valentine’s Day. What do we give on that day? To whom do
we give valentines? (To those we love.)
_Thursday_
Tell the story of good St. Valentine.
_Friday_
Have the children repeat to you the story of St. Valentine.
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
Tell the story of Washington and the hatchet. Remember that, old and
stale as the story may be to you, it is new once to every child.
_Tuesday_
Play, as a game, Washington and his hatchet.
_Wednesday_
Tell the story of Washington as a general; how he led the armies that
fought to make our country free. Tell about his birthday, February 22,
and how we celebrate it, in memory of what he did for us.
_Thursday_
Write: _George Washington, the father of his country_.
_Friday_
Write: _We live in the United States._
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
To be taught to the children:
Rainy days and sunny days,
What difference makes the weather,
When little hearts are full of love,
And all are glad together.--_Selected_
_Tuesday_
Tell the children the story of “The Three Bears.”
_Wednesday_
Have the children tell you the story of “The Three Bears.”
_Thursday and Friday_
Play the story of “The Three Bears,” as a game.
SECOND YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
To be committed to memory:
THE SHORTEST MONTH
Will the winter never be over,
Will the dark days never go?
Must the buttercup and the clover
Be always under the snow?
Ah, lend me your little ear, love,
Hark! ’tis a beautiful thing;
The dreariest month of the year, love,
Is shortest and nearest to spring.
--_A. D. T. Whitney_
Have the poem copied.
_Tuesday_
Teach the poem to the children.
_Wednesday_
Supply words to fill the blank spaces in the following:
The Queen of ----,
She made some ----.
All on a summer’s ----.
The ---- of hearts,
He stole those ----,
And quickly ---- away.
_Thursday_
Story for reproduction:
LINCOLN’S FIRST DOLLAR
When Abraham Lincoln was a boy he went down the river in a boat to
carry a load of truck to market. He stood by the river bank, after he
had sold his bacon and vegetables. A steamboat was coming down the
river.
Two men who wished to go on board the steamer asked Abraham to row
them out. He did so, and as they climbed on board they left in his
hand two half dollars.
It was the first money he had ever earned, and Abraham was a very
proud, happy boy.
_Friday_
Children tell the story of Abraham Lincoln’s first money.
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Teach the following poem to the children:
NED’S CHOICE
She has not rosy cheeks,
Nor eyes that brightly shine,
Nor golden curls, nor teeth like pearls,
This Valentine of thine;
But, oh! she’s just the dearest,
The truest and the best,
And one more kind you will not find
In many a long day’s quest.
Her cheeks are faded now,
Her dear old eyes are dim;
Her hair’s like snow, her steps are slow,
Her figure isn’t trim;
But, oh! and, oh! I love her,
This grandmamma of mine;
I wish that she for years may be
My own dear Valentine.--_Selected_
_Tuesday_
Write three sentences about your grandmother if you have one; if not,
about your mother.
_Wednesday_
Valentine verses, for the children to copy:
I wish I were the tiny cup,
From which you take your tea;
For every time you took a sip,
You’d give a kiss to me.
If you love me as I love you,
No knife can cut our love in two.
The rose is red,
The violet’s blue;
Pinks are pretty,
And so are you.
_Wednesday_
Write a letter, that might be sent to your mother as a valentine.
_Thursday_
For dictation:
’Twas a tortoise,
All yellow and black;
He walked away,
And never came back.--_Selected_
_Friday_
Play “The Queen of Hearts” as a game.
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
Write a list of words that rhyme with _queen_.
_Tuesday_
Tell the children the story of Washington and his colt.
_Wednesday_
Write five sentences about Washington.
_Thursday_
Tell the story of Washington crossing the Delaware.
_Friday_
Play, as a game, Washington and his colt, and also Washington crossing
the Delaware.
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
Write five sentences about playing in the snow.
_Tuesday_
Talk about what we eat. Who likes sweet things? Who likes pickles? Who
likes meat? Who likes potatoes? Tell the children about foods that they
need to eat to be well.
_Wednesday_
Write a list of things that we eat.
_Thursday_
Talk about clothing. Why we wear woolen clothing in cold weather; where
the wool comes from; talk about sheep.
_Friday_
Write five sentences about clothing, and where the wool comes from.
THIRD YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
To be committed to memory:
OUR FLAG
There are many flags in many lands,
There are flags of every hue,
But there is no flag in any land,
Like our own Red, White, and Blue.
I know where the prettiest colors are,
I’m sure if I only knew
How to get them here, I could make a flag,
Of glorious Red, White, and Blue.
I could cut a piece from the evening sky,
Where the stars were shining through,
And use it just as it was on high,
For my Stars and field of Blue.
Then I’d want a piece of fleecy cloud,
And some from a rainbow bright,
And I’d put them together, side by side,
For my Stripes of Red and White.
Then “Hurrah for the Flag!” our country’s flag,
Its stripes, and white stars, too;
There is no flag in any land,
Like our own Red, White and Blue.--_Selected_
Have the poem copied.
_Tuesday_
Learn the first two stanzas of the poem.
_Wednesday_
Learn the rest of the poem.
_Thursday_
Recite the entire poem.
_Friday_
Write a list of the nouns, and another of the verbs, in the poem.
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Write a four-line verse suitable for a valentine.
_Tuesday_
Write the story of St. Valentine.
_Wednesday_
Talk about Lincoln.
_Thursday_
Write what you know about Lincoln.
_Friday_
For dictation:
Twilight and firelight,
Shadows come and go;
Merry chimes of sleighbells
Tinkling through the snow;
Mother knitting stockings
(Pussy’s got the ball)--
Don’t you think that winter’s
Pleasanter than all?--_Selected_
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
Write the story of Washington and the hatchet.
_Tuesday_
Write three sentences, telling why we should admire Washington.
_Wednesday_
Tell the story of Lafayette’s part in aiding our fight for freedom.
_Thursday_
Write what you know of Lafayette.
For dictation:
God make my life a little song,
That comforteth the sad;
That helpeth others to be strong,
And makes the singer glad.
--_Selected_
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
Story for reproduction:
THE ROBIN’S RED BREAST
Long ago, in the far north, where it is very cold, there was only one
fire.
An old man and his little son took care of this fire and kept it
burning day and night.
They knew that if the fire went out all the people would freeze and
that the white bear would have the northland all to himself.
But one day the old man became very sick so that his son had
everything to do.
For many days and nights he bravely took care of his father and kept
the fire burning.
But at last he got so tired and sleepy that he could no longer work.
Now the white bear was always watching the fire.
He longed for the time when he would have the northland all to
himself.
And when he saw how tired and sleepy the little boy was, he stayed
close to the fire and laughed to himself.
One night the poor little boy could endure no longer and fell fast
asleep.
Then the white bear ran as fast as he could and jumped upon the fire
with his wet feet and rolled upon it.
At last he thought it was all out and went happily away to his cave.
But a gray robin was flying near and saw what the white bear was doing.
She waited until the bear went away.
Then she flew down and searched with her sharp little eyes until she
found a tiny live spark.
This she fanned patiently for a long time with her wings.
Her little breast was scorched red, but she did not give up.
After awhile a fine red blaze sprang up again.
Then she flew away to every hut in the northland.
And everywhere that she touched the ground a fire began to burn.
So that soon instead of one little fire the whole northland was
lighted up.
And now all that the white bear could do was to go farther back into
his cave and growl.
For now, indeed, he knew that the northland was not all for him.
And this is the reason why the people in the north country love the
robin. And they are never tired of telling their children how it got
its red breast.
_Tuesday_
Write the story of the Robin’s Red Breast.
_Wednesday_
Play, as a game, the story of Robin.
_Thursday_
Write five sentences about birds.
_Friday_
For dictation:
Two hands and only one mouth have you,
And it is worth while repeating,
That two are for the work you will have to do;
The one is enough for eating.--_Selected_
FOURTH YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
To be committed to memory:
“The Wreck of the Hesperus,” by Henry W. Longfellow.
Copy eleven stanzas of the poem.
_Tuesday_
Copy the rest of the poem.
_Wednesday_
Learn the first four stanzas of the poem.
_Thursday_
Learn the second four stanzas of the poem.
_Friday_
Learn the third four stanzas of the poem.
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Learn the fourth four stanzas of the poem.
_Tuesday_
Learn the fifth four stanzas of the poem.
_Wednesday_
Finish learning the poem, and recite it throughout.
_Thursday_
Recite the poem, and answer the following:
What is a “schooner”? (See dictionary.)
How does the sea in winter differ from a summer sea?
Who was the “skipper”?
Write a description of the captain’s daughter.
What is a “helm”?
What is meant by the “veering flaw?”
What did the changing positions of the wind indicate with regard to
the weather?
_Friday_
Where was the “Spanish Main”?
What is a “port”?
What is a “hurricane”?
What does a golden ring around the moon indicate?
Did you ever see one?
What is a “whiff”?
What is a “gale”?
What is meant by the “brine”?
What is meant by “smote amain”?
How could a boat leap?
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
What is a “blast”? How could it sting?
What is a “spar”?
What is a “mast”?
What is a “fog-bell”?
What is meant by a “rock-bound coast”?
What guns could be heard?
Why was the sea “angry”?
Where is Norman’s Woe? Why is it so called?
_Tuesday_
What is a “gust”?
Why was the surf called “trampling”?
What is the bow of a boat?
What is a “wreck”?
Why were the frozen seamen like icicles?
_Wednesday_
Why did the waves look “fleecy”?
What is “carded wool”?
Why were the rocks called “cruel”?
What is a “shroud”?
What is meant by “went by the board”?
What became of the ship?
What is a “reef”?
_Thursday_
Look up the life of the poet Longfellow and talk about him.
_Friday_
Write the story of Longfellow’s life.
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
Write the story of St. Valentine.
_Tuesday_
Write the story of Lincoln’s boyhood.
_Wednesday_
Write about what Washington did for our country.
_Thursday_
Talk about patriotism; what it means, and how we can best show our
patriotism.
_Friday_
Write the story of the making of the first American flag.
MARCH
FIRST YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
Talk about the new month. What month is this? What was last month? What
month follows March? What season is this? What are the three months
of the spring season? What season follows spring? What season is just
past? How many days has March? What is March sometimes called? (The
windy month.)
_Tuesday_
Write the date. Write the word _March_.
_Wednesday_
Talk about the wind. Can we see the wind? How do we know when the wind
is blowing? What does the wind do to the trees? What does it do to the
clothes hanging on the line? What does it do to our faces? (Makes our
cheeks rosy.)
_Thursday_
To be taught to the children:
WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND?
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you;
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I,
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by.
--_Christina Rossetti_
_Friday_
Teach the children the poem given above.
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
Talk about wind-mills: How they are used; how they turn; Holland and
the wind-mills of that country.
_Tuesday_
Write:
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I.
_Wednesday_
Story to be told to the children:
THE WINDS
This is one of the stories that the fathers and mothers in Greece used
to tell their children.
Æolus was the father of all the winds, great and small. He had six
sons and six daughters.
When the children were old enough, they went out into the world to
work. Often they were gone all day long.
They had to sweep and dust the whole world. They carried water from
the sea to wash and scrub the earth.
They helped to move the great ships across the ocean. They scattered
the seeds, and watered the flowers, and did many other helpful things.
And these things are what the winds do for us to-day.
Can you tell the names of the four great winds? (East, West, North,
South.)
_Thursday_
Have the children tell you about Æolus and his winds.
_Friday_
Write: The four winds are East, West, North and South.
THIRD WEEK
_Monday_
Talk about kites and kite-flying: How does a kite fly? How high will a
kite fly? How do boys make kites?
Tell the children about the kites of Japan, and about kite-flying day
in that country.
_Tuesday_
Have the children give as many words as they can that rhyme with
_kite_. Write these on the blackboard, and use them for drill in
phonics.
_Wednesday_
Talk about pussy willows. Who has seen pussy willows? Who has seen
pussy willows this year? Where? How do we find the little pussies
growing? What are they covered with? What for? (To protect the tiny
buds from cold.)
_Thursday_
Write: Pussy willows have gray fur.
_Friday_
To be committed to memory:
Whatever way the wind doth blow,
Some heart is glad to have it so;
So blow it east, or blow it west,
The wind that blows--that wind is best.
FOURTH WEEK
_Monday_
Tell the children about St. Patrick, the good old Irish saint, whose
birthday comes in March.
_Tuesday_
Have the children tell you about St. Patrick.
_Wednesday_
Write: _Spring begins in March._
_Thursday_
Fill the blank spaces in the following:
The East Wind comes from the ----.
The West Wind comes from the ----.
The North Wind comes from the ----.
The South Wind comes from the ----.
_Friday_
Talk about the signs of Spring.
SECOND YEAR
FIRST WEEK
_Monday_
To be committed to memory:
THE WIND
I saw you toss the kites on high,
And blow the birds about the sky,
And all around I heard you pass,
Like ladies’ skirts across the grass--
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid.
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all--
O wind, a-blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!
O you that are so strong and cold;
O blower, are you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree,
Or just a stronger child than me?
O wind, a-blowing all day long?
O wind, that sings so loud a song?
--_Robert Louis Stevenson_
Children copy the first stanza of the poem, and commit it to memory.
_Tuesday_
Copy and learn the second stanza of the poem.
_Wednesday_
Copy and learn the third stanza of the poem.
_Thursday_
Recite the entire poem.
_Friday_
Write a list of the naming words (nouns) in the poem.
SECOND WEEK
_Monday_
For dictation:
Galloping, galloping, galloping in,
Into the world with a stir, and a din.
The north wind, the east wind, the west wind together,
In-bringing, in-bringing, the March’s wild weather.
_Tuesday_
Write five sentences, telling what the wind does.
_Wednesday_
Story for reproduction:
SPRING
It was spring.
The sun had melted the snow from the hill-tops; the grass blades were
pushing their way through the brown earth, and the buds on the trees
were beginning to break open and let the tiny green leaves peep out.
A bee, waked from the sleep in which he had lain all through the
winter, rubbed his eyes, then opened the door, and looked out to see
if the ice and snow and the north wind had gone away. Yes; there was
warm, clear sunshine.
He slipped out of the hive, stretched his wings and flew away.
He went to the apple tree and asked, “Have you anything for a hungry
bee, who has eaten nothing the whole winter long?”
The apple tree answered:
“No; you have come too early. My blossoms are still buds and so I have
nothing for you. Go to the cherry tree.”
He flew to the cherry tree and said, “Dear cherry tree, have you any
honey for a hungry bee?”
The cherry tree answered:
“Come again to-morrow; to-day my blossoms are shut up, but when they
are open you are welcome to them.”
Then he flew to a bed of tulips nearby. They had large, beautiful
flowers, but there was neither sweetness nor perfume in them and he
could not find any honey.
Tired and hungry, the poor bee turned to seek his home, when a tiny
dark blue flower, beside a hedge, caught his eye.