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Geology in a Snow-storm

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There is a beautiful and fundamental geology in a snowstorm; we are admitted into Nature's oldest laboratory, and see the working of the law by which the foundations of the material universe were laid the law or mystery of crystallization. The earth is built upon crystals; the granite rock is only a denser and more compact snow, or a kind of ice that was vapor once and may be vapor again. Every stone is nothing else but a congealed lump of frozen earth," says Plutarch. By cold and pressure air can be liquified, perhaps solidified. A little more time, a little more heat, and the hills are but April snow-banks. Nature has but forms, the cell and the crystal- the crystal first, the cell last. All organic nature is built up of the cell; all inorganic of the crystal. Cell upon cell rises the vegetable, rises the animal; crystal wedded to and compacted with crystal stretches the earth beneath them. See in the falling snow the old cooling and precipitation, and the shooting, radiating forms that are the architects of planet and globe. We love the sight of the brown and ruddy earth; it is the color of life, while a snow-covered plain is the face of death; yet snow is but the mask of the life-giving rain; it, too, is the friend of man the tender, sculpturesque, immaculate, warming, fertilizing snow.-John Burroughs, A Year in the Fields.

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Our Defective Alphabet

Our vowels are named for their long sounds and are a, e. i, o, and u, which last has a consonant y preceding the long sound. Our consonants are named be, se, de, ef, je, aitch, ja, ka, el, em, en, pe, kyu or cue, ar, es, te, ve, double-yu, eks wi, ze. The more unfortunate names are of h, q, w, and y. Call them he, kwe, we and ye then their force will be shown in their names. Since the spelling books and school dictionaries do not give the names of the letters of the alphabet we see no reason why teachers should not rename at least those four consonants, and the fifth vowel, u should be named oo, as the continental languages have it. Call it yu or you, we add a consonant to it which sticks to it in so many places that reference to a huge dictionary is necessary, too frequently, when we meet it. That some ignoramus, centuries ago, should attachy to u is no reason for our doing so now. The names and uses of all the letters had their origin in the dark ages when mysticism and superfluity were the proofs of wisdom. The result is that no spoken word can be spelled nor written word pronounced with any degree of accuracy without consulting authority. Worcester gives one hundred forty-six observations on the use of the vowels and sixty-one on consonants. The latter includes a very small number of combinations which, were they all counted, would increase the number of rules governing the use of the letters of the alphabet to over three hundred. He did not discover near all of their uses. His own name illustrates his oversight, for orces in English names is pronounced as oos.

The long i sound is obtained by no less than nine unnatural spellings, illustrated in the words, my, buy, rye, sigh, die, isle, climb, might, sign, also aisle and knight, but these latter modifications may be to distinguish words rather than the sound of i. Long a is represented by at least ten useless variations; aye, day, date, eight, sail, great, bass, feign, veil and guage are words for illustration. Short e sound is had in nine useless variations as in fair, fare, pear, there, prayer, heir, bury, leopard and less. The words with final are pronounced as though spelled with both

short e and u, as, feu, peu, etc. Short u is obtained in the syllables ending with the letters er, or, ir, ur, and yr, ther having no force as a consonant in such cases. These are a few illustrations out of one hundred thirty or more which could be given. For others and for rules for consonants the reader is referred to the introductory articles of any large dictionary. One observation of importance should be noted here, as ortheopists have, until quite recently, overlooked it. The letter r, as a consonant, can never end a syllable except by combining with other consonants, the words more, roar, door, and thousands of others, are pronounced as if written mo-u, ro-u, do-u, etc., giving two syllables. Some people pronounce some such words by rolling or prolonging the first vowel sound, leaving off the short When combining with other consonants has not the same sound as at the beginning of syllables. It is more nearly a vowel in the former than the latter. Besides w and r we have l, m, and n as the only consonants which generally demand position nearest the vowel, These three admit of only one exception at the end of syllables by taking a preceding r. I always demands the nearest position in beginning syllables while m and n will admit a consonant y or any to follow, as, myn, pronounced as mu in music, nyu or mra and nra, the latter never appearing in English.

u sound.

Our alphabet requires twenty-six small type letters, twenty-six small script, twenty-six capital type and twentysix capital script or one hundred four characters. Grammar adds to the confusion of the student of English by adding six hundred rules, exceptions, and special applications. The formation of words pronounced alike, spelled differently perhaps, but with strangely contrasted meanings, and then, the ideas with several words each are further complications of our tongue. To read a newspaper with accuracy we must know about ten thousand facts which do not readily yield to classification. It takes child or man hours of study to fix in mind the relations of each entirely new fact coming under his observation.- Sel.

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Help One Another

"Help one another," the snowflakes said,
As they cuddled down in their fleecy bed.
"One of us here would not be felt,

One of us here would quickly melt;
But I'll help you, and you help me,
And then what a splendid drift there'll be."

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TOGETHER

The Editor's Page

Address the editor at 237 Langdon St., Madison, Wisconsin.

The New Year

If the proverbial "good resolution" is to be a part of the year's beginning, let it take the form of a determination to judge the motives of the children very slowly and with the greatest care. How can we know why they do these exasperating things "that wear the life out"? We look upon things from one point of view, with one pair of eyes. They see everything from another focus and with other eyes. There is little chance to judge of their reasoning or conclusions that result in seeming neglect and disobedience If it is not a deliberate intention to disobey, but the result of some counter influence we do not see or feel, then it is not a wilful disobedience that need to surprise and irritate us. But whatever it is or is not, be very sure the offense is not against the teacher, as teacher, as often as she may conclude. How it would "clear up" the whole situation when trouble arises, if we could be mind readers or see into the hearts of our children with an X ray accuracy and impartiality. In place of impatience and resentment, the womanly teacher would feel her heart go out to these "trying" children with a great pity and kindliness. Judge slowly, teachers, judge kindly. If there is any real reason why these children are irritating- and there generally is find it, and try to understand them this coming year.

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Have you tested the sight and hearing of your children this year? Don't neglect it. You may be doing injustice to some child every day.

The January number of PRIMARY EDUCATION is always a snow number.

The following information is given for any teachers who have not been able to find the music to which Miss Allen has set her delightful motion songs.

"Swinging 'Neath the Old Apple-Tree." Page 67, Franklin Square Song Collection No I. (Per Biglow and Main, N. Y. City.)

"Comin' Thro' the Rye." Page 51, The Song Budget. (C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, N. Y.)

In this book, as in some others, this music is published under the title: "If a Body Finds a Lesson."

Encourage the children to feed the birds this winter. Miss Mann's article in December number told you how.

The Plan Book

Miss Minnie M. George (Oak Park Ill.) edits a new monthly desk book. Its purpose is to give suitable material for each month's work, with suggestions for associating the different forms of work done in modern school-rooms. The contents consists mainly of stories, poems, and gems of literature work, programs for special days, songs new and old, science or nature lessons, blackboard reading lessons, drawing lessons, blackboard illustrations, and seat work.

Cold Luncheons

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How many teachers are allowing themselves to eat cold luncheons in the school-room at the noon-hour? Don't do it. No matter what the seeming necessity may be for taking a cold hasty meal in the school-room, there is a more urgent need for you to abandon it.

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You have talked all the morning, you are tired, keyed-up in a nerve tension, and in no condition to eat anything for a half-hour. Take that half-hour and give yourself a rest, and don't mark slates or papers, or clean blackboards while you are resting. You are alone in your school-room, (of course you do not do so inhuman a thing as to "keep in " children at noon), and take some position to rest you. Miss Call's "Power Through Repose" will suggest many ways in which you can rest physically, by taking certain positions; you know yourselves how to do many of these things. Now if you are so situated that you cannot - absolutely cannot - get a warm noon meal, you must learn how to manage to get one in the school-room. May I suggest? A little oil stove can be bought for seventy-five cents, and with this you are independent. With a utensil or two, tea, cocoa, or cereal coffee, eggs, beef tea, warmed bread, oysters, and other similar things can be easily prepared and your health be saved. Your health is your capital and you imperil it every time you eat a cold, hasty luncheon at school with your mind full of school anxiety. Yo may go on for a while and not become painfully aware of this fact, but nature is relentless and your reminder will come by and by in a broken-down, deranged nervous system that will make you unfit for school or anything else. Indigestion is the foe to every virtue, every grace, and to Christianity itself. Keep in mind the reflex influence of body on mind and mind on body. No wonder school boards are actually discussing the advisability of protecting children from teachers with dyspepsia. The "pews" have rights.

Pardon this little sermon, but it is preached from a personal experience of half a life in school, and from a deadly knowledge of the evils of cold, hasty meals in the schoolroom.

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STORIES:

The Snow-Flakes.

"Hurrah! We are going down to the earth," said a tiny snow-flake up in its cloud home to its brothers. "I heard King Frost and the north wind say last night that, if the east wind would come and help them, they would make some more snow-flakes, and send us all down to the earth."

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Oh, what fun!" cried the rest; "won't we have a fine race down! I wish the east wind would hurry and bring up his clouds."

"Here he comes now!" cried a little flake. And sure enough, far out over the ocean came the cast wind, driving the clouds filled with tiny water-drops before him.

Instantly the water-drops in the clouds were changed into beautiful little feathery snowflakes, which leaped joyously from their cloud home and began their journey to the earth.

Faster and faster they came forth, chasing each other merrily along, and laughing gaily as the strong winds caught them and whirled them about.

"You can't catch me!" cried one.

"Don't be too sure of that," cried another. "I'll be there first!" called out a third. "Not if I get there before you," laughed a fourth, rushing along so quickly that he was out of sight in an instant.

What fun it was, to be sure, and, when they finally reached the ground, how they rolled over and over each other, and flew here and there among the dead leaves and the bushes, till at last they were quite tired out and settled down to rest for a while!

They had been quiet but a few minutes, however, when they heard a shout, and down the road came the schoolboys.

"Now for the fun!" joyfully cried the little snow-flakes. "Here come the boys to play with us!"

the little flakes clung closely together and did their very best to make the balls quickly.

Then how they laughed and how the boys laughed and shouted as they flew through the air.

"We won't hit hard, though," said the snowflakes, "for we don't want to hurt any one.” The kind little snow-flakes!

After a short game of snowballing, the boys grew tired of this sport, and ran off to their homes to get their sleds.

So the little snow-flakes had a chance to

rest and watch their brothers, who were hurrying down from their cloud home to join them on the earth.

"You are too late for the fun," they said to the newcomers; we have just had a fine game of snowball with the boys."

"Oh, we shall have sport enough," they answered, "before we go off.”

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Just then, hearing footsteps, they looked up and saw coming down the road a boy somewhat larger than those who had been playing with them, and who was reading as he walked slowly along.

"I would'nt give much for that boy," said the snow-flakes; "he isn't going to take any notice of us."

But when he came a little nearer to them, they heard him say this: "Without the sun there would be no vapor in the air; without the vapor there would be no clouds; and without the clouds there would be no snow; so really the sun makes the snow.' That's queer, now," he added, stopping his reading and looking down at the snow at his feet. "I never knew that before."

"Well," said a snow-flake, looking up saucily "don't you suppose there are a great many other things you don't know?"

The boy stooped down without taking any notice of what the snow-flake said, and, taking up some of the snow in his hand, he went on: "How soft and white you are, you snow-flakes. I wish I had a magnifying glass; then I could see your beautiful forms."

"This boy does take more notice of us than the other ones did," exclaimed a pleased little snow-flake, "only he doesn't wish to play with us. I'll tell you how I look," he added, kindly "A snowball match!" cried the boys. "Let's to the boy: "I look like a star, a six-pointed have a snowball match!"

star, and my brother here has the form of a

"Yes," laughed the snow-flakes, "we like hexagon, all covered with little sparkling that."

And so, when the boys took up the snow,

dots."

The boy didn't seem to hear the snow-flakes,

or perhaps he heard them, but didn't understand snow language; so he made no reply to the speech of the little flake, but went on talking as if he had not spoken.

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Well," he said, "if the sun makes the snow for us, he takes it away from us again. I should like to know why it is that we cannot see the vapor when the sun is drawing it up through the air."

"You do see it sometimes, you know," answered a flake, "and you call it fog. Generally you cannot see it, because the particles of water, which make vapor, are so very, very small; so small that it takes many millions of them to make a drop of rain.”

"And this vapor is rising all the time, too," the boy continued, "from the ocean, from ponds and rivers, from the ground, from plants and trees, from animals, from almost everything on the earth, and yet we know nothing about it till we see it over our heads in clouds. It is very wonderful."

"Yes, it is wonderful," replied the snowflakes; "and there are many other wonderful things happening, which you will learn about when you are older."

As the snow-flake finished speaking, the boy walked away, and the little flake never saw him again.-Short Stories, Ginn & Co.

(By permission.)

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The Seed-Babies' Blanket

"Dear me !" said Mother Nature, as she tucked the last of her seed-babies in bed, and spread over them a blanket of leaves, "King Winter will soon be here, and I fear this covering is not enough to keep my babies from his icy grasp. I must get them another blanket. What shall it be? Let me see. It should be something soft and light. And for babies, of course, it must be white."

So she went to Mr. North Wind and said, "Oh, Mr. North Wind, please bring to me

A blanket pure and white,

Soft as down, and sparkling bright,

To cover my little seed-babies."

But Mr. North Wind said, "I cannot, unless Jack Frost will give me some of his silvery powder."

So Mother Nature called to Jack Frost, "Oh, Jack Frost, please give Mr. North Wind some of your silvery powder, that he may make for me

A blanket pure and white,

Soft as down, and sparkling bright,

To cover my little seed-babies."

But Jack Frost said, "You must ask the Clouds to give me some vapor, then."

So Mother Nature called to the clouds and said, "Oh, kind Clouds, please give Jack Frost some of your vapor, that he may change it into silvery powder, and give it to Mr. North Wind, that he may make for me

A blanket pure and white,

Soft as down, and sparkling bright, To cover my little seed-babies."

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INTERTAINMENT

Ring!

Ring! Ring! Ring!

A welcome to the bright New Year!
Life, Hope, Joy,

On his radiant brow appear!

Hearts with love are thrilling,
Homes with bounty filling.

Ho! ye wardens of the bells,
Ring! Ring! Ring!

Ring for winter's bracing hours,
Ring for birth of spring and flowers,
Ring for summer's fruitful treasure,
Ring for autumn's boundless measure,
Ring for hands of generous giving,
Ring for vows of nobler living,
Ring for truths of tongue or pen,

Ring, "Peace on earth, good will toward men."
Ring! Ring! Ring!

Ring, that this glad year may see

Earth's accomplished jubilee!

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"A New Year's Chime

Dance of the Months

The New Year comes in with shout and laughter,
And see, twelve months are following after !
First January all in white,

And February short and bright;

See breezy March go tearing round;

But tearful April makes no sound.

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May brings a pole with flowers crowned, And June strews roses on the ground. A pop! A bang! July comes in; Says August," What a dreadful din ! September brings her golden sheaves; October waves her pretty leaves, While pale November waits to see December bring the Christmas tree. They join their hands to make a ring, And as they dance they merrily sing, "Twelve months we are, you see us here, We make the circle of the year. We dance and sing, and children hear, We wish you all a glad New Year!"

Practising

Ten little troublesome fingers,
Ten little finger nails -
Pattering on the piano-
Scattering over the scales,

Clicking and clacking and clattering,
Each in the other one's way —

What trying and sighing and crying, To teach little children to play!

To play? I call it working,

When ten little fingers like mine

- Selected

Are bumping and clumping and thumping, And never will fall into line

They fumble and tumble and stumble,

They trip and they skip and they hop, And just when the music is gayest, They come to an obstinate stop.

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Oh where, and oh where have the bonnie bluebirds gone? 2 They sang their song,-"Sweet! Sweet!"-every birdie, clear and low,

3 And it's oh, in my heart that I miss the bluedirds so !

Oh where and oh where have the white June daisies gone? 4 Down in the meadow green, nodding all, a stately row, And it's oh, in my heart, that I miss the daisies so!

Oh where and oh where have the gentle breezes gone? 5 They rocked the little flowers till each one to sleep would

go,

And it's oh, in my heart that I miss the summer so!

6 Oh why and oh why did the tiny snowbirds come?

In suits of soft gray-brown, with eyes bright as bright can be,

7 See them fly here and there, calling, "Chick-a-deedee-dee!"

Oh why and oh why did these dainty snow-flakes come? 8 They look like fairy flowers falling downward, still and

slow,

Do you think they're the ones that we lost so long ago?

Oh why and oh why has the jolly north wind come?
He makes the old world new, bringing winter, cold and

clear,

9 And it's oh, from my heart, that I wish you "Glad New

Year!"

Motions

I The first line of each stanza is sung twice. Sing first three stanzas slowly and sadly.

2 Put heads on right side; imitate bird song.

3 On last line of first three stanzas, put both hands over heart, shaking heads sadly.

4 Nod heads.

5 Bend over; rocking motion with both hands; sing sleepily.

6 Sing last three stanzas joyously.

7 Fluttering motion with both hands.

8 Look up; both hands raised, palms upward.

9 Step forward on right foot; hold out hands; smile.

*This music can be found as follows: "Blue Bells of Scotland," page 102, Franklin Square Song Collection, No. 1. Harper and Brothers, New York City): also page 55. "The School Singer," (Ginn & Co., Boston; also, "The Song Century," page 27 (C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, N. Y.)

"Well begun " may be "half done," But beginning is not ending; Great successes ne'er are won

By only wishing and intending. "Start" is good, bur "stay" is better; "Start and stick" is sure prize-getter! "Staying powers" take foremost place.- Sel.

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