subjects, however, notably in spelling, handwriting, music, formal drill in arithmetic, and in the reading of short stories, the project type of organization has little place. In these subjects, the second principle of organizing subject matter which we shall consider plays a larger part in determining the organization; namely, the principle that subject matter should be organized in terms of the pupils' interests and capacities for learning.

II. ORGANIZATION IN TERMS OF THE LEARNER INSTEAD OF IN TERMS OF THE SUBJECT

In history. One of the simplest and clearest examples of the organization of subject matter as children learn it best, instead of organizing it in terms of the subject, is found in the teaching of history.

Chronological organization. Subject seems to demand it. -A historian almost always organizes his material in chronological order. The relationships between historical events, the ways in which certain events grow out of others, seem to dictate the chronological procedure. For example, the American Revolution grew out of the inheritance from England of certain principles concerning liberty, and the violation of these principles by the English home government. Consequently, in order to present the Revolution properly it would seem to be necessary to describe antecedent English and colonial conditions. Thus, the order of history teaching as determined by the subject itself is nearly always chronological.

Little children have no understanding of long periods of time. When we come to teach history, however, to children in the primary and middle grades, the question arises whether the chronological connections over long periods of time constitute the proper basis for organizing the subject there. It soon becomes apparent that periods of years mean

Courtesy of The University of Chicago Elementary School

little or nothing to children who have lived only eight or ten years. Practically the only definite feelings of years that such children have are associated with the idea that "last year" they were in Miss Smith's room, and a more vague notion that the "year before" they were in Miss Brown's room in school. Evidently, with such an uncertain basis for understanding periods of time the chronological order does not seem necessary or desirable.

Social needs and activities also uncomprehended. Moreover, primary children lack not only an understanding of periods of time, but they lack also the social experiences necessary for an understanding of the lives of people remote in space or time. Consequently, before beginning to teach them about the lives of their European and American ancestors it is necessary to give them some understanding of the fundamental social needs and activities of the people of to-day. Hence a modern course in primary history begins in the kindergarten and first grade with a study of the social

Story of the Indian pictures on pages 132, 134, and 136. These pictures illustrate the activities of the first-grade children who are studying Indian life as described in the course of study quoted on page 135. They have been reading stories of Ji-Shib and Hiawatha in their reading periods. For their language work, they constructed and presented a little play. In the picture on page 132 they are shown designing the costumes for the play. A child has written on the blackboard that they went to a neighboring museum to examine the costumes. Other suggestions were secured from pictures of Indians. The picture on page 134 shows the children performing one scene of their play in their classroom, while the picture on page 136 shows them presenting the play to the school assembly during morning exercises. These pictures illustrate not only the study of the social life of the Indians as a part of the course of study, but also the utilization of the children's interests in adventure, imitative play, manipulation, and communication as the basis of social studies and of training in expression.

Courtesy of The University of Chicago Elementary School

FIRST-GRADE CHILDREN PRESENTING INDIAN PLAY IN CLASSROOM

See story of this picture on page 133

situations with which the children are in direct contact in order to prepare them to understand historical social situations.

History course as adapted to children. Activities of home, community, and farm studied in kindergarten and first grade. The nature of the kindergarten study of social activities was brought out in the description of the playhouse and other projects given on page 126. For city children the first step away from the immediate social environment is taken in the first grade through a study of farm life. In addition to many other devices, in The University of Chicago Elementary School, the following methods are used:

A miniature farm is set up on the sand-table. The various buildings are constructed from cardboard, fields of grain are sown, fences and trees made, toy animals provided, and the pictures made as complete as possible. The sand-table is a source of much imaginative play, and the children's initiative is encouraged in planning and in acting out their various farm experiences with the material available. Here they have an opportunity to retell the stories of farm life which have been told them and to invent new ones.

Each child also plans and makes a Farm Book. The following materials are used: (1) pictures which the children collect from various magazines and farm journals; (2) illustrations which they have made; (3) paper cuttings; (4) explanatory sentences which they add whenever necessary. All this material is arranged by the children with the help of the teacher. The Farm Book is thus a constant help in organizing and using their knowledge of the subject. (8: 406)

Indian life provides second step toward imagined, historical, social situations After completing the farm project, the second step in the study of remote or imagined social situations may be taken in the first grade by a study of Indian life. (See the pictures on pages 132, 134, 136.)

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The basis for the study of Indian life is found in Jenks's The Childhood of Ji-Shib, the Ojibwa." This story, in which the life of an Indian is portrayed, gives most of the phases of Indian life