FOR Washington's Birthday, Feb. 22 This Big Flag FREE to any teacher We have furnished more than 10,000 schools with these beautiful flags free HAS your school a flag for out-o'doors? Have you a flag for your room? No school is really a school without a flag in sight. First, tell your pupils that, without spending a penny, they can help you get a beautiful flag for their room or school. All will be eager for it. All will be anxious to know how they can do this wonderful thing for you. Then, explain that you will simply divide among them 35 emblematic flag buttons in the beautiful national colors. These they are to sell at only 10 cents each. Friends and relatives will be glad to buy them for shirt waist sets or coat lapel ornaments. Everyone will think them really artistic and worth far more than a dime. In a few minutes each child can do his or her part, and the next day they bring you the money. That is all they do and almost before they expect it the big flag has arrived as from a fairy godmother. You see your pupils will do the little work required. All you do is send for the buttons and return the money to us. The same day the proceeds reach us we will ship you, all charges prepaid, the fine big flag, 5x8 feet, all bunting, 48 stars not painted but sewed on both sides, sewed stripes,-the kind of flag the Government uses, the kind that stands the weather, the kind that is made to use anywhere, any time, indoors or out. Guaranteed not to fade. The same flag that sells at retail from $4 to $5. Fill out the coupon and send it now. You risk not a penny. We guarantee to please you in every detail. We have thousands of letters like these. We received our flag and are delighted with it. The pupils are very proud of it and never tire of telling people they helped get the flag. Your plan is certainly a fine one and no school ought to have to go without a flag when they once hear of your plan. My pupils and I will certainly recommend it. MABEL BATES, Burt, Iowa. We received our flag some time ago and are delighted with it. It is far better than we had hoped for. Thank ing you very much, we are the teacher and pupils of the school in District No. 11. Bethany. EVA H. BOYCE, Linden, N. Y. The flag was duly received and in good condition. The pupils were almost wild when they saw it. They certainly are well pleased with it, and as teacher of the school I wish to extend to you the thanks and gratitude of the pupils and the patrons. Wishing you abundant success in your work, I remain G. RICHARD HILLEGASS, Richland Center, Pa. Received the picture yesterday and in behalf of my pupils wish to express our gratitude. It improves greatly the monotony of the bare walls of my schoolANNA LARSON, Cooperstown, N. D. Received buttons promptly on Monday. Gave them to the children Monday noon and by one o'clock they had disposed of them. The children working for the flag makes it more appreciated and fills them with joy. Received the picture of Washington in good order in due time. The scholars took great delight in selling the buttons and had most of them sold by the second morning. The picture is entirely satisfactory. FLOYD D. LOOKER, Sedalia, O. The flag came March 6th and was all you represented Flag is received and O. K. and your plan is such ELLA SHIRLEY, Findlay, O. RUTH MEYERS, Chenowith, Wash. MAZIE F. WARD, Cold Springs-on-Hudson, N. Y. We received the flag and are indeed pleased with it Have received the flag and am delighted with your and we thank you very much for the way to get it. The plan. Shall certainly recommend it to my fellow flag is now waving over our school-house and everyteachers. EMMA LA JACKSON, Pioneer, La. body is proud of it. ANNA ODSTED, Allamuchy, N. J. Read them. Our United States Flag arrived last Saturday in excellent shape. Can say it is the best stitched flag I have ever seen. It is certainly a fine flag for so little work. I can cheerfully and heartily recommend your flag to any school or residence desiring an excellent large sized beautiful flag. It can be used outdoors as well as indoors and there is no danger of fading. I certainly will do all I can for a company having such a great aim. BERNARD C. COGGAN, Principal of Shipple's School, Big Rapids, Mich. Have received our picture and are well pleased with it and consider our efforts to secure it well repaid. Will recommend you all in my power. A. GERTRUDE C. DALEY, Assonel, Mass. Your picture of Lincoln received and I wish to thank you very heartily, on behalf of our school. It is certainly fine and I shall be glad to recommend your plan. ETHEL MINNARD, Irving, Mich. The flag is received and please accept our sincere thanks for the same. It is even more beautiful than we expected. Some of the pupils clapped their hands and said, "Hurrah for our flag," as I unrolled the package. ADAM P. FREY, Jordan, Pa. Received the flag Monday and am pleased to say it is even better than I had dared to anticipate. Shall recommend your plan to my fellow teachers as I think it is a fine way to obtain a new flag free, for selling the buttons is only a trifle. Thanking you in behalf of my pupils I am, MABEL C. SAMPSON, West Duxbury, Mass. Lincoln and Pictures FREE If you already have a good flag, the next addition to your room or school hall should be pictures of the patriots, You can get either free with just a little effort on the part of your pupils and without a particle of trouble to yourself. Simply have the pupils sell 35 buttons of the flag design as described above, or of Washington or Lincoln. One of these offers should interest you right now. Make your principal and trustees keep you in mind. - a picture Tell us the kind of buttons you want and get the great free flag or picture that will make your room the talk of the school. Teachers who have taken advantage of this plan are now making extra money writing a few letters for us to other teachers. You can do the same. Mail this Coupon TODAY. MAIL ORDER FLAG COMPANY, 107 Meridian Street, Anderson, Indiana. Co-operative ARITHMETIC If you will undertake the measurement of the changes produced in your classes by a half-year's work in Arithmetic, I will supply at cost standard tests, printed instructions, special rec Order Washington, Lincoln and Longfellow pictures for February NOW. With the colored Bird pictures, interest your pupils in Bird Study. The Perry Pictures 2200 subjects from which to choose HALF CENT SIZE, 3 x 3. LARGE PICTURES FOR FRAMING, 22 x 28 inches, including margin. 75 cents each; 8 for $5.50. One Cent Pictures are 15 to 25 times the size of "Baby THE PERRY PICTURES COMPANY BOX 1, MALDEN, MASS. ords sheets, and a definite problem. This is the Season to Secure a You secure experience with modern experimental and sta- FREE SCHOOL LIBRARY tistical methods, a knowledge of just what you are accomplishing, and a reliable comparison of your results with those of other teachers. I get data bearing upon an important general problem-Standard Growths. Send 4 cents for sample tests and full particulars S. A. COURTIS 441 John R. St., Detroit, Mich. For Use Throughout the Year It will not cost you nor your pupils anything-and they will enjoy the undertaking. information. WE SEND THE CERTIFICATES FREE REMEMBER You are under no obligation, or do not enter into any contract to order a library. Less than 1 per cent of those who endeavor to secure a library by our method are unsuccessful. Address for Circulars and Certificates. BOSTON EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY SAN FRANCISCO SEE WASHINGTON Teachers' Christmas Holiday Tour WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1911 Round Trip Fares--$15, $14, $12 From NEW YORK, according to hotel selected. Proportionate Rates from Other Points. Three Day Trip. All Necessary Expenses. Visiting All the Principal Points of Interest at the National Capital. Full information and tickets may be obtained of Ticket Agents, or RODNEY MACDONOUGH, District Passenger Agent PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD JUST PUBLISHED SERL'S PRIMARY LANGUAGE LESSONS By EMMA SERL, Teacher, Normal Training Department, Kansas City, Mo. SONGS AND GAMES FOR LITTLE ONES FOR KINDERGARTEN, SCHOOL AND HOME By Gertrude Walker and Harriet S. Jenks Probably no volume of the kind published ever met with a The songs included were gathered from many sources, and It gives me special pleasure to commend the book, "Language I have seen the actual working out of the method in the school- Every primary grade should have a copy, every grade teacher J. B. MONLUX, Deputy Supt. Schools EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY Boston PRIMARY EDUCATION COMPANY 50 BROMFIELD STREET, BOSTON NOTICE NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS may begin at any time. Ten issues, September to June in- RENEWALS - Subscribers do not always find it convenient to renew at expiration, and - REMITTANCES Checks, drafts, and money orders should be made to the order of the NUMBER I Social Relations of Boys and U Girls M. V. O'SHEA, University of Wisconsin P to the age of seven years, or thereabouts, boys and on the label of the first or second paper you receive after you remit will be changed. Skilfully, he is apt to ignore her, or say uncomplimentary If special receipt is wanted enclose 2-cent stamp for postage. things about her. Recently I have been listening to J. He calls He always sniffs at the mention of M's name. There is another girl in J.'s room at school who possesses about this latter girl too. He says: "She thinks she knows everything;" "She wants to 'lord it over everybody';" "She thinks she is the 'whole shooting match';" and he has command of a very choice lot of expressive figures of speech designed to convey the idea that she feels she can do better than the rest of them in whatever she undertakes, and she intends to be at the head of things. There are still other girls in J.'s room who come in between the extremes mentioned above. They can play games fairly well, and they do not break up the group when they play together because they object to the rough ways of the boys. They do not "tell tales after school," and so the boys feel they can be trusted to be loyal to the group. This is not at all true of the first girls described. But while the boys in J.'s group do frequently play with some of the girls who can harmonize with the group quite well, nevertheless they would rather play by themselves. They do not spontaneously choose to take the girls into their games. It is only when they need them to fill out a game that they invite them. They hardly ever go over to join the girl groups; they always bring the girls into games which they initiate themselves. Follow these boys along until they reach the age of fifteen, and you will find that they assume an altogether different attitude toward the girls of their acquaintance. The latter are no longer regarded simply from the standpoint of their resourcefulness and courage in play. A particular girl will not now be selected or discarded on the basis of her capacity to endure rough treatment without whimpering. Since the age of seven the boys have gone on developing their team spirit, and perfecting themselves on the side of games and plays. On the other hand, the girls, as they have developed, have taken less and less interest in games. They have not to any great extent developed the team spirit. They are not greatly interested in competitive games as the boys are. they have grown up they have become constantly more personal and individual in their feelings and activities, while the boys have developed the group instinct even more fully. A boy of fifteen would not expect a girl to be a good associate or competitor in games. If he would play with her at all it would be to amuse her rather than to exercise his own ability and powers in an interesting way. What is the relation of the boy to the girl at this time? Purely a sentimental one. He is interested in girls now for their personal characteristics, for their appearance, and their liveliness and "classy" manner. The girl is not chosen primarily for her intellectual or ethical qualities. However, if she offends against the conventions markedly, she may not attract the boy strongly, though this is not always the case. If she is very conventional she certainly will not interest the typical boy. The point to be impressed is that the girl attracts primarily because of outward characteristics. The boy will show favors to the "pretty" girl, whereas he may neglect altogether one of plain features and general appearance, but who is intellectually and socially superior to the "handsome" one. What qualities in the boy will attract the girl at this time? A "good" scholarly boy usually makes very little impression upon her. It is the boy on the football team or on some other athletic team who appeals to her imagination. She likes the hero-type of boy, one who is physically vigorous and dynamic. A quiet, studious fellow is not spectacular enough evidently to win her regard. She is not drawn toward the latter type; but she is attracted by the other fellow, though he may be a dullard in books, and he may be skating on thin ice ethically and morally. But he possesses certain marked masculine qualities which make a strong appeal to the typical girl. The vital thing in any school in which there are boys and girls from twelve up to sixteen or seventeen, is to get the leaders among them into sympathy with the spirit of the school. A girl who strongly attracts boys can raise Cain in a school if she sets herself against the teacher's authority. She can get the boys on her side in every contest, and she can stir them up without ever asking them so to do to make life a burden to the teacher. To a less extent, but yet to a degree, the hero among the boys can turn the sympathy of the school against the teacher if he so tries. It will always be a hard role for the teacher if he cannot get the most attractive girl and the most vigorous and dynamic boy to be his friends, or at least to work in harmony with him. It is impossible for a teacher to hold out for a long period against the sentiment of his school. In the end the group will triumph if it is fairly well unified, and if it takes every opportunity to hector the teacher and oppose his authority, even though these acts are not performed in such an open way that the ring-leaders can be punished. Most disobedience in the school-room is so subtle that appropriate penalties cannot be meted out for it. It is rather an attitude than overt action, and this makes it difficult to handle. But if the teacher can get those who establish sentiment in accord with the school, the problem of discipline will be a comparatively simple one. In a succeeding article, I shall have something to say regarding other relations between boys and girls which are of great importance, it seems to me, in present-day American schools. Avenues of Approach MARY ELLERTON ever stood outside the of the H Capitol at Washington, and seen the wide avenues that radiate, like the spokes of a wheel, from the Capitol, which is the hub? And did you reverse the experience, as I did, by riding out into the suburbs of the city, and from that point of view, look up the long avenue to that majestic building on the horizon? Some children's hearts are as happily situated as the Capitol at Washington. There are many avenues of approach; the teacher has but to find one, and then "follow her nose," as the saying goes. Of course it is not always easy to find the way at first, and I suppose that we have all made the mistake of thinking that we have been bright enough to find out the only way of reaching that particular child, but once having arrived at the child's heart, we find, that, like the Capitol, there were many avenues of approach, all fair, broad, and straight. How much easier it is to see those broad avenues from your point of view at the center of things! How hard it was to find even one means of approach when you were in the outskirts! Now the avenues that lead to the Capitol are all properly named and labelled; and more than that, your Baedecker will tell you just how to reach each one. You have but to study your map. Psychology is the teacher's Baedecker. Wise men of all ages have studied the child mind, and have set down many good rules for us to follow if we would travel to the heart of things. They have named many of the roads leading to the heart of a child, and their maps and guides are of great service. By all means try all the maps, all the guides, all the rules you wish, if, by that means, you finally arrive at the child's heart. BUT once having arrived there, don't put on your glasses and continue to pore over your psychology. Just sit down and look about you, and humbly listen and learn. A little child will lead you over roads that are not named on the maps, he will show you paths no foot but his own has trod. Think of what a rare privilege it is to have such a guide! And yet it is the privilege of every teacher of little children. But there is another chapter to my story. One day last summer I visited Hampton Court. Among other interesting things I was shown the Maze. Then I had quite a different experience in trying to find a way to the center of things. My friends told me all about it before I went in, one even tried to explain just how to do it, but do you think that helped me? Not a bit of it! I just had to try one way after another until I found the right one, and proudly joined the merr party in the center. Now some children's hearts are situated at the center of a most bewildering maze. If you wish to reach the heart of such a one you will have to bring your wits to bear on the problem. And you will need something beside wits, too. You will need courage, patience, tact, and a long-suffering, understanding heart. But baffled as you often may be, don't give up! There is a way, you have only to seek, and keep on seeking, and you will find it. And once you have found the shy little heart, you will never regret your efforts. |