HISTORY IN PRIMARY GRADES 26$ 



is no easy task, as any teacher realizes who has tried to out- 

 line a well centered, progressive line of history stories for 

 primary grades. The folk tales that so often form a begin- 

 ning in literature are well suited to the same place in history, 

 and in their use no differentiation of the two studies is de- 

 sirable. Fairy stories belong to a different category. When 

 used, the children should know that they are not at all true, 

 but rarely will the pleasure in them be diminished by such 

 knowledge ; the change in attitude toward them that may be 

 noticed is desirable, the stronger minds will begin to de- 

 mand " true stories " very early in school life. Fairy stories 

 rarely accord with history, they belong rather to the branch- 

 ing out into literature. Myths, if given their true value, are 

 enjoyed at a later period of development. Myths are prop- 

 erly a part of history; they should not be given as fairy 

 stories, except perhaps, those charming little nature myths 

 that so delight the imagination of many children, especially 

 in the first and second years. Myths should be told, read, 

 enjoyed, while the children are still young enough to delight 

 in their ludicrous, grotesque, impossible details ; but when, 

 on the other hand, the minds are mature enough to see the 

 glimmering of truth and the dawning of investigation in 

 these beliefs of people long passed away. In fifth and sixth 

 grades, many pupils find great satisfaction in tracing out 

 how many myths came into being, and in seeing why ad- 

 vancing civilization led to their abandonment or to their 

 relegation to the realms of poetry and art. To put many 

 myths into the first, second, or third grade is about as seri- 

 ous a mistake as to expect high school pupils to read with 

 patience or pleasure detailed accounts of the amours of the 

 Greek gods and goddesses. The absorbed student of myths 



