They acted the whole thing over again.
One man would show what One-Ear did.
Another would take the part of the cave-bear.
Then some one would play he was Bodo and rush up with a make-believe
torch.
Others showed how the men came up to the spot and helped One-Ear home.
They played this over and over again.
They learned to work together.
They learned to play other plays as well.
They learned it in this way: They watched the wild animals all through
the day.
[Illustration: _A leader_]
At night they showed what they had seen.
At last they made plans for hunting them.
They did it the way children make a new game.
First they chose a leader for the play.
Then the leader asked them all to help.
He showed them what to do.
They all did as the leader said.
They learned to play together.
This play was their hunting dance.
It helped the people to hunt together.
It helped the brave men to lead in the hunt.
It helped all the people to do their part.
Only brave men were given a chance to lead the hunting dance.
Each one led the best that he could.
The people always chose the man that they thought led the best.
This man led them all in the hunt the next day.
THINGS TO DO
_Let any one who would like to lead in a hunt, lead in a hunting
dance._
_When all have led who wish to do so, let the class choose the one who
led the best._
XXX.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Why do you think the Tree-dwellers liked their brave men best?
How do you think they helped them to become more brave?
Can you think why people had not yet learned to wear clothing?
Why would they care more for ornaments at first?
Have you ever heard any one speak of "a feather in one's cap"?
Can you tell what is meant by it?
What kind of ornaments do you like to wear?
Do you know how to make them?
Can you make such ornaments as the Tree-dwellers wore?
_Why People Began to Wear Ornaments_
The fire clan played a hunting dance each night.
They hunted every day.
They began to attack the larger animals.
Brave men were needed to do this.
Men liked to show that they were brave.
So they kept trophies of their conflicts with the wild beasts.
These trophies were sometimes teeth and claws.
Sometimes they were beautiful skins and feathers.
When men found the time they worked upon them.
[Illustration: _A necklace of claws_]
They made them into curious ornaments.
It was hard work to bore holes through the teeth and claws.
But they learned to do it.
[Illustration: "_They strung them about their necks_"]
They strung them on sinews and hung them about their necks.
Sometimes they wore them on their arms and wrists.
Sometimes they wore them on their ankles and knees.
They made head-dresses of the feathers.
They covered their shoulders with the skins.
Men did not wear skins to keep themselves warm.
They wore them to show that they were brave.
Such trophies were worn by all the brave men.
These men were the leaders in time of danger.
When they were successful in the hunt, the people praised them.
When they failed, the people mocked them.
So they tried to do their work well.
They tried to find the best stones for tools and weapons.
They worked until they made them sharp and strong.
They studied the animals until they learned their ways.
They taught the people the hunting dance.
They kept the trophies of their brave deeds.
They were brave men.
All the people praised them.
THINGS TO DO
_Tell a story of how Bodo earned a trophy._
_Find ornaments that you think the leaders might have worn._
_Dress some dolls the way you think that the leaders dressed._
_Perhaps you would like to string seeds and make a necklace._
XXXI.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What animals live in the cold north?
Do they like to live there?
Would you be surprised if any of these animals came here to live?
If they came, what do you think it would mean?
[Illustration: _The strange musk sheep_]
_The Coming of the Musk Sheep_
One day long after Bodo lived some men went up the valley to hunt.
They had not gone far when the leader waved his hand.
All the men stopped to find out what he wanted.
He pointed to a herd of strange animals feeding on the rocky slope.
Then he motioned to show them what to do.
He sent some of the men up the trail to the right.
He motioned for others to go to the left.
He wanted to surround the animals.
The strange creatures soon caught sight of the hunters.
They huddled together like frightened sheep.
Then the men thought they could surely catch them.
They shouted aloud for joy.
But the animals turned and ran up the slope.
They jumped over rocks and chasms with ease.
They were soon out of sight.
How disappointed the hunters were!
They did not know what these strange animals were.
They did not know from what place they had come.
They wondered why they had come to their land.
Perhaps you would like to know.
They were musk sheep that had come from the cold, cold north.
They were used to treeless, desolate places.
They were used to eating moss and young shoots of the willow.
They looked something like sheep and something like oxen.
Sometimes they are called musk oxen.
They looked something like the bison.
Sometimes they are called musk bison.
Does it seem strange that the musk sheep should leave their cold home
and come to the land where the Tree-dwellers had lived?
It was not so strange as it seemed.
Many years had passed since the Tree-dwellers lived.
It was no longer warm on the wooded hills.
There was snow on the ground the greater part of the year.
After many years it became very cold.
Then all the animals came down from the north.
The coming of the musk sheep was the sign of the coming cold.
THINGS TO DO
_Bend your arms to show how the musk sheep's horns curve._
_How do you think the musk sheep used its horns?_
_Model a musk sheep in clay._
XXXII.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
What animals stay here in the winter?
How do they keep warm?
How do they find food?
_The Woolly Rhinoceros_
About the same time that the musk sheep came from the north, another
strange animal appeared.
It was a huge creature.
Not one like it has lived for ages.
It was a woolly rhinoceros.
The big-nosed rhinoceros liked to live where it was warm.
It lived on the wooded hills before the Tree-dwellers did.
The small-nosed rhinoceros liked the warm country, too.
It came from the south when the Tree-dwellers appeared.
But the woolly rhinoceros came down from the north.
It was able to live in the cold.
It had an inner coat of fine curly wool.
This coat kept it warm.
It had a coarse, hairy outer coat.
This coat kept it from feeling heavy blows.
It had two horns on its ugly snout.
They kept it safe from harm.
When it was not disturbed it was a peaceable animal.
But when it was attacked there was no animal that was more fierce.
The other animals learned to let it alone.
Sometimes the wolves and hyenas frightened it over a precipice.
But it was a long time before men tried to hunt it.
THINGS TO DO
_Tell a story of how the wild animals were taught to let the woolly
rhinoceros alone._
_See if you can find an animal that has both an inner and an outer
coat._
XXXIII.
_How We Have Learned About the Tree-dwellers_
The Tree-dwellers lived such a long time ago that we do not know all
that they did.
But they have left some things to tell their story.
A few of their bones and stone weapons have been found in the gravel.
We have learned something about the Tree-dwellers from studying these.
Bones of animals that lived then have been found in the caves.
They tell something more about the life of the Tree-dwellers.
Marks of plants have been found upon the rocks.
They, too, help to tell the story.
Wise men have studied all these things.
They have tried to learn all that they could about these people.
We have written their story in this book for you, so that you may know
how our forefathers lived before they learned how to use fire.
[Illustration]
SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS
[Illustration]
The test of a book is the service it can render. The character of the
service demanded by it is determined by the needs of those to whom it is
devoted. This book was not written for the child of five or six years,
although children of that age have shown an interest in it. The child of
five or six is absorbed in the activities of his own home and his
immediate environment. His own neighborhood may well constitute the
chief source from which to draw the subject-matter in these early years.
Even though many of the processes that he observes are complex, it
matters little to the child at this time; for so easily do they lend
themselves to dramatic play that they cause him little difficulty. The
child at this time, therefore, has no need of this book.
But there comes a time when the ideal and the real world begin to
separate. No longer content with a "make-believe" process, and unable to
control the complex processes of modern life, he feels a need that
cannot be satisfied by the resources of his neighborhood alone. There is
need of looking elsewhere in order to find experiences that are
sufficiently related to his spontaneous activities to enlist his
attention, and sufficiently related to what is best in the society in
which he lives to form legitimate subject-matter for this period of
development. The materials which constitute the subject-matter of this
book have been selected and arranged with reference to the needs of the
child at such a time. It is the child of six and a half or seven years
for whom this book is intended.
Were it not true that so many books that are written for children have
little regard for real facts, it would seem unnecessary to state that in
no case has material been introduced into this book which cannot be
justified by reference to a recognized authority in anthropology,
paleontology, or geology. The story-form by means of which these facts
are conveyed is merely a literary device for bringing home to the child
the truth that has thus far been ascertained regarding the fundamental
steps in the development of our industrial and social institutions.
The portrayal of the situation which caused our early forefathers to rob
birds' nests and kill young animals will no doubt shock the
sentimentalist who orders eggs or veal as a matter of course. There
might be good ground for his feeling were there not present in the child
the instinct to do similar deeds even though living under social
conditions that do not justify such acts. Any one who will take the
trouble to recall his own childhood, or to make the acquaintance of
children of six and a half or seven years, will realize that such
instincts are present, and that they must find expression in one form or
another. Is it wise to ignore the facts of the case and allow the child
to form the habit of gratifying his blind instincts, or shall we
recognize the situation and meet it with all the wisdom at our command?
Is it not the better plan to tell the child frankly of the way in which
people lived at the time when they did what he would like to do now, and
lead him to discover the changes that have taken place that lead us to
disapprove of actions which, under different conditions, were considered
good?
The teacher who knows that she has good ground for her convictions is
not afraid to look upon a question from all sides. The fact that the
teacher is willing to look at a question from the child's point of view
is a means of establishing sympathetic relations between her and the
child, who thus becomes willing to look at the question from the
teacher's point of view. A sounder morality can be developed by honestly
facing the facts with the child and by giving him the benefit of a
broader experience, than by leaving him to face the situation alone in
the light of but part of the facts. The problems with which the child at
this time is grappling are so similar in character to those of the race
during the early periods of its development that they afford the child a
rich background of experience suited to his own needs. The successful
solution of these problems is as important with reference to the
development of the individual to-day as then in determining the welfare
of the race. A firm basis for the development of the intellectual, the
moral, and the physical life can thus be laid at this time by a wise use
of the experiences of the race when it was laying the foundations upon
which our civilization rests. It must be remembered that there is as
wide a difference between the real situation in the hunting life and the
scenes depicted in this book as there is between the real attitudes of
primitive people and those of the child, which are idealized forms of
the same attitudes.[1] The child would shrink in terror from the real
conflict. His interest is in the dramatized form. If this dramatic
interest of the child is satisfied, it can be made to pay tribute to the
sciences and the arts. If it is ignored or repressed, it is liable to
find expression in acts of cruelty.
[Footnote 1: See Katharine E. Dopp, "Some Steps in the Evolution
of Social Occupations," _The Elementary School Teacher_, May
and September, 1903. The University of Chicago Press.]
METHOD
The subject-matter is presented with the view of economizing the energy
of the teacher as well as that of the child. The attempt has been made
to base each lesson upon the experience of the child or at least upon
that which he may be enabled to experience if he has not yet done so.
This experience is so treated as to secure problems for advance thought.
The purpose of "_Things to Think About_" is to awaken the _inquiring
attitude_. It is at this point of the lesson that the child is given
the opportunity he prizes so highly of telling what he has seen, heard,
or done. Here he meets with the new problems which compel him to
reconstruct his experiences. The printed questions, which map out the
main features in the development of the lesson, should be discussed
freely. Care should be taken to avoid mechanical answers. It is much
better to leave questions unsettled, or to leave the subject with
several different solutions that the different children have worked out,
than it is to secure uniformity by imposing upon the child the judgment
of the teacher or of the author of the text. In case of a necessary
delay in answering a question on account of a lack of related
experience, the teacher should use the means that are available for
supplying the child with the necessary experience. If the printed
questions are discussed before the story is read there will be less
danger of a mechanical use of the book than might arise from the habit
of reading the story first and making answers to the questions so as to
fit the story.
_The Story._ The function of the story is to supply the child with
racial experiences that will enrich his own more narrow personal
experience. It is not intended merely to please but to _present facts_
in a form which the child can understand. By using the simple form of a
sequence of sentences, each sentence standing by itself, less difficulty
is presented to the child in reading than if the paragraph form had been
employed. The greater ease with which the young child reads this style,
together with the fact that the rhythm in a majority of the stories is
of a character in keeping with the subject, and readily appreciated by
the child, seem to justify the use of this style for a few months of the
child's life.
_Things to Do._ The teacher should use her judgment in regard to how
many of these suggestions it is best to carry out in the school hours.
In schools where little work has yet been done in pantomime, drawing,
modeling, and other kindred modes of activity, it will probably be the
better plan to have many of the suggestions carried out in hours of
play. If the teacher takes an interest in what the child does outside of
school hours as well as in what he does in regular recitation and work
periods, and if she utilizes the experiences of the child that are
gained in informal ways, she will have no difficulty in securing the
heartiest cooperation in the work of the school. Where constructive work
has already been introduced, the teacher will have no difficulty in
selecting from the suggested activities those that are best adapted to
her purpose. She should always feel free to substitute for any of the
printed suggestions others that may more nearly meet the needs of the
child in the locality in which she lives.
TYPICAL MODES OF ACTIVITY
"If there is one principle more than another upon which all
educational practice, not simply education in art, must base
itself, it is precisely in this: that the realization of an idea
in action through the medium of movement is as necessary to the
formation of the mental image as is the expression, the technique,
to the full play of the idea itself." --_John Dewey._
_Gesture and Pantomime._ The muscular sense is the foundation sense from
which all the others have been derived. Perceptions through sight and
hearing are uncertain, often requiring to be verified by the use of the
muscular sense or even by the use of smell or taste. Knowledge gained
through the use of sight and hearing may be superficial; that which
comes through the use of the muscular sense is wrought into the very
fiber of one's being.
Among the more simple modes of using the muscular sense are gesture and
pantomime. They are within the reach of every teacher. They require no
materials. A worthy idea and the desire to communicate it are the
essential conditions for profitable work. Gesture and pantomime are too
powerful tools in education to be used carelessly. The teacher should
aid the child in discovering the real motive which animated the
character to be represented. She should appeal to the best in the child.
In so doing she will be able to use gesture and pantomime in such a way
as to transform activities, which when undirected are liable to
degenerate into vicious habits, into activities of great moral
significance.
Teachers who have tried gesture and pantomime as a preparatory step to
other modes of activity have found it invaluable as a means of securing
a genuine growth of imagery and free expression in a variety of forms.
_Play._ It is now well known that many of the child's spontaneous plays
are idealized reproductions of the serious activities of primitive
people. It is possible to make a much larger use of these plays than has
yet been made. It is hoped that the suggestions that are scattered
throughout the pages of this and the succeeding volumes of this series
will enable the teacher to make a large use of this most important
educational force.
_Sand Modeling._ Almost every child has had experience in sand modeling
before coming to school. The part of the teacher is to enable him to
make use of this habit with reference to new ends. One who has not
learned through experience the value of this art is scarcely in a
position to realize what a stimulus it is to the growth of definite
images of geographical forms. When based upon observation, as it always
should be, it is unsurpassed as a mode of developing and communicating
adequate conceptions of topographical features. Sand pans should be
provided so that there will be at least one pan for every two children.
If each child can have a pan, the conditions will be still more
favorable. Whether sand pans are available or not, every primary
school-room should be supplied with a large sand box--two or three if
there is room for them. Excellent results have been attained in many
schools by modeling typical areas and representing in a graphic way the
life of the place. If the sand box is lined with zinc, rivers and lakes
may be represented with ease. In case there is no zinc lining, water may
be represented by the use of tin foil, or by glass which may be laid in
the bottom of the box, leaving only such portions uncovered as are
needed in order to represent the water. Moss, twigs, grass, stones, toy
animals--all help to make the scene more lifelike. By sprinkling the
sand with lime water it hardens so as to keep its shape for a long time.
_Clay Modeling._ Although clay does not respond so quickly to the touch
as sand, it preserves its shape more easily. The more skill that the
teacher has in clay modeling the more freedom she will feel in the work,
but she should not hesitate to make use of this mode of expression even
though she has to learn with the child. The aim is not so much to secure
finish in details, or a result similar to that reached by other people,
as it is to secure the growth of the image and freedom in expression.
Only by leading the child to compare the result of his work with the
image in his mind does the image grow. By so doing, and by referring to
the real object when present, the child gradually gains control over
this mode of acquiring and communicating ideas.
It costs but little to supply a class with clay, for the same material
may be used again and again. It is desirable, however, to have a
sufficient supply to permit the preservation of the best work for some
time. Clay may be bought ready mixed at art stores and in kindergarten
supply stores. The common gray clay costs two or three cents a pound.
Artists' clay costs five cents a pound. A cheaper kind can be obtained
of manufacturers of sewer pipes. The teacher will find suggestions
regarding the use of clay in Frye's _Child and Nature_, pp. 36-8;
Kellogg's _Forty Lessons in Clay Modeling_; Prang's _Art Instruction in
Primary Schools_, First Year, pp. 27-39, Second Year, 32-43; and in Kate
Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith's _Froebel's Occupations_, pp. 32-43.
Excellent articles illustrated by the work of children appear in _The
University Elementary Record_, which is published by the University of
Chicago Press, Chicago.
_Basketry._ The materials of which baskets are made are less pliable
than clay or sand, yet the child of seven is able to manipulate some of
them. Where possible he should be encouraged to exploit his environment
in the search for raw materials that are adapted to this purpose.
In many localities tough grasses, willows, rushes, or other pliable
materials are present, and even though the child finds little that is
adapted to the purpose, the mere search for materials enables him to
appreciate the value of the commercially prepared ones and aids him in
picturing these materials in their raw state. The pleasant days of
autumn should be used for collecting such supplies as are available at
that time. These may be prepared for use and stored until they may be
needed later in the year. If the child makes a ball of braided grass he
will find many ways of using it later in making baskets, mats, cradles,
sandals, or anything which he may choose to make of it.
Where natural materials cannot be obtained, commercially prepared ones
may be substituted. Raffia, uncolored or colored with vegetable dyes,
rattan reeds, and splints may be obtained wherever kindergarten supplies
are kept, as well as in large seed stores and in most of the department
stores in large cities. Of the many books that are appearing upon the
subject probably none is more suggestive with reference to the
significance of the art than George Wharton James's _Indian Basketry_,
and none more helpful with reference to mastering the processes than
Mary White's _How to Make Baskets_.
_Drawing and Painting._ Since these arts were originally derived from
gesture language, it is not strange that gesture and pantomime are the
best means of preparing the child for these modes of communication. The
child who has difficulty in expressing his image by means of drawing and
painting should be given the opportunity to experiment by means of
pantomime until his image has become so clear that he can express it in
a less real way. Few children fail to draw and paint reasonably well
when afforded this opportunity that should be denied to none. In order
to secure the best results the teacher should be careful not to repress
spontaneity by criticising too severely; on the other hand she should
induce the child to make such comparisons of his work with his image and
with the object when present, as to prevent the formation of careless
habits of work. Although water colors are used in some schools, such
materials present more difficulties than it seems worth the while for
the child to encounter. More satisfactory results have thus far been
reached by the use of blackboard crayon, colored crayon, and charcoal.