HISTORY IN PRIMARY GRADES 267 



" do as I like " too often means what the powers in authority 

 do not like. If children grow up with this idea, we may be 

 sure that they will not change it suddenly when they become 

 men and women. The history recitation is one of the best 

 places in the school for learning the value or the unimpor- 

 tance of one's own decision; history should teach how to 

 sum up evidence, and how to make and test opinions. 



Throughout the eight elementary grades several aims 

 should be kept constantly in mind by the teacher : improve- 

 ment in reading and language; acquisition 



Aims 



of knowledge, especially through familiarity 

 with many well known stories, for the children will never 

 again be so fascinated by the pure story element, and they 

 may never again have the time to give to it; constant and 

 systematic mental training; development of the capacity for 

 a citizenship that is rooted in love for country and apprecia- 

 tion of its institutions, and that is broadened and strength- 

 ened by some comparative knowledge of other countries ; an 

 unceasing effort for the conscious and unconscious develop- 

 ment of the child's character, possible through historical 

 training, the study of real men and women, and the observa- 

 tion of the great movements of the human race. 



FIRST YEAR GRADE 



There are three centers around which are grouped the 

 stories for the first grade : some of the holidays, Bible char- 

 acters, Hiawatha. The holidays are attractive local centers 

 of interest, and are good bases for beginning history through 

 biography. They give to a holiday something of its true 

 value, and should lead out into just estimates of a few of 

 our great men and events. The Bible stories are simple 



