FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY. 79 
but for the Pribilof Islands child this presents too many new concepts. The same 
obstacle has to be met when the pupil comes to the textbook in arithmetic. The prob- 
lems do not apply to the practical situations in the pupil’s daily life. Then in an 
arithmetical problem every word is significant, but the pupil’s knowledge of English 
is insufficient to enable him to comprehend the conditions of the problem, so he is 
doubly handicapped. 
From the same report the following extract is quoted, as being 
illustrative of the particular methods of instruction employed and 
suggestive of additional lines of instruction which might be followed 
to advantage: 
Although the usual line of primary and common school studies has not been lost 
sight of, a special effort has been made in the way of English conversation and compo- 
sition. Certain set English sentences that are in daily use in the pupil’s concrete 
experience have been used as a drill and care has been taken as much as possible to 
actually see the nouns and act the verbs before the sentence has been constructed; for 
example, ‘‘Open the box and put the pencil in it.” The box and the pencil are shown 
the pupil, the names pronounced and repeated, the words ‘‘open” and ‘‘put” are 
acted by the teacher, then by the pupil. Finally the whole sentence is acted, spoken, 
written, and read. Objects familiar to the children and animal and plant life of the 
island have been made subjects of the language lessons both for oral and written work. 
Some games have been taught the children in the hope that the English words used 
would become common in their undirected-plays. When the weather permitted, a 
short walk was a part of the daily program for the little ones, during which time an 
endeavor was always made that the conversation should be in English, thus names 
of out-of-door objects and actions have been acquired without a conscious effort. 
Singing has been taken up twice a week, and since the words have been memorized 
the children’s English vocabularies have been increased considerably. When one 
sings in a foreign tongue, he unconsciously acquires the correct pronunciation. Dur- 
ing the last of the spring months nature lessons have been given, not only that the chil- 
dren might have some knowledge of animals and plants of the island but also as a means 
of cultivating the power of observation. 
Observing the defects of the older pupils has helped in learning the needs of the 
younger ones. They are very self-conscious, having an abnormal fear of making a 
mistake. They understand English much better than they can speak it; pupils who 
have been in school seven or eight years frequently write a request rather than to 
speak it. 
The employing of the concrete and practical can not be over emphasized; i. e., actual 
measurements of cloth, paper, boards, and land areas. Many of the pupils can glibly 
say that 9 square feet equals a square yard, but do not know how to find the area of the 
school floor or even to recognize the square yard marked out on the floor. <A set of 
liquid and dry measures is useful in the schoolroom. 
The only reading that the children have heard from babyhood until they enter school 
is the intoning of both priest and parishioners at the Russian church. This monoto- 
nous, nerve-racking draw] is only with difficulty broken down and this is done by con- 
versational methods. We must admit that in reading the older ones are almost beyond 
our control to remedy. 
The temptation is perhaps to neglect the beginners in favor of the older pupils, but 
in no schoo] would this method be more erroneous than here. 
The narrowness of the pupils’ horizon and incidentally that of the parents could 
be considerably enlarged by means of a moving-picture apparatus. An evening’s 
entertainment could be arranged at the Native Library and a descriptive talk given. 
Some pictures of an amusing nature might be presented, for the lives of these people 
