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To precede or accompany Reading Lessons which refer to the cow.

(in lowest grades)

I. Find out what the children know about the cow.

Every new lesson should be built upon, and fastened to, the child's past experience. If the children have no knowledge of cows, we must

introduce the subject accordingly. If they have always known them, the lesson will be merely a review, because the foundation will have been prepared. If the children live in the country and know the common animals, proceed at once to definite questions which will arrange their knowledge and help them to express it.

Where have you seen cows? What do you know about them, their size, color, the head, ears, legs, feet, tail?

How large are they, as compared with the horse, dog, cat?

Compare the covering with that of the horse, dog, cat. Compare the parts with the corresponding parts of those animals.

Describe the horns. make of them?

Describe the ears.

Why do cows have horns? What use do they

Where are they? Does the cow move them ? (The ears of the dog, cat, cow, horse are movable; ours are not. Why?)

Compare the cow's nose and mouth with those of the cat or the horse.

Does any one know anything about the cow's teeth? What does she eat? What kind of teeth does she need?

Tell the children about the chewing of the cud.

Of what use to the cow is the long tail with its brush at the end? Who has seen her use it? Would a short tail serve as well?

Who knows anything about the cow's foot? Who can draw a picture of the cow's footprint?

Of what use are cows to us? What does the cow give to us?

How should cows be cared for? What kind of stall, what kind of bed, what food, water, pasture, should they have? Describe a pasture you would like if you were a cow. How ought we to treat animals?

when we have the care of them?

Is it right to forget their wants

Every lesson upon animals should help the children to realize more fully their obligation to properly care for them. Sympathy for animal life ought to be developed through the reading and language lessons. Interest in animal life is always present in children. The questions above suggested cannot be answered at once, by any ordinary class of children. Many who are familiar with cows in general will be unable to answer the definite questions. The questions will lead them to a more careful observation, after which they can report in another lesson. Sometimes the questions may be distributed, different groups of children being held responsible for the answers to certain ones.

II. Direct outside observation in order to get new knowledge.

It is entirely feasible, in many schoolrooms, to make the cow the subject of a field lesson. The children may be taken, in groups, to a farmyard, a pasture, or a stable, where a cow may be observed and studied. Such lessons have ceased to be formidable, since they have become so common. The need of such visits is revealed by the children's vague answers. Nothing but definite observation of the real thing will open their eyes, and make the words in their lesson full of meaning.

There are many city children who have never seen a cow. If it is impossible to show them a real cow, excellent pictures should be substituted. Many of the questions suggested could be answered by pictures. It must be remembered, however, that the picture tells to us, who have seen the real thing, much more than it tells to a child, who has never had that experience. It is not strange that a child who has never seen a real cow should imagine that animal to be six inches long, the size of the cow which he has known from pictures in the lesson. Emphasize the fact of the size. Allude to the picture as a picture only. Have the children show by their hands how high a cow would be, how long, how wide its head, etc. By such means, help to vivify the mental picture which is suggested to the child by the lesson. If the pictures are the only avenues through which the children learn about the cow,

do not attempt to give as much information as would naturally be associated with the real observation lesson. Remember that the amount of knowledge which the child gains is not proportioned to the number of facts enumerated by the teacher. He will intelligently appropriate those which his observation and thought have helped him to understand. As has been said before, this truth determines the value of the reading lesson to the child, and necessitates the associated lessons which supplement his experience and enable him to bring to the lesson a mind furnished with appropriate ideas.

III. Tell the children simple facts which they cannot find out for themselves.

There are many facts associated with the cow which the children can know only through others: the use of the horns, of the bones, the hair, etc.; the manufactures; the reason for the cud-chewing; — the making of butter and cheese. The writer has known classrooms in which milk was skimmed, the cream churned into butter, and the butter eaten by the children. The quantity, of course, was small, but the process was very real and very interesting. This happened recently in a kindergarten in the city. There were only three children in the class who had ever seen a cow. It is hardly necessary to say that the lesson followed a visit to that animal.

IV. Reënforce the lessons by stories.

Stories about cows, or descriptions of certain animals, perhaps the pets which we have known, will add interest to the lessons.

V. Collect pictures of cows, for comparison and description.

In almost any district the children will be able to help in making collections of pictures which illustrate the language and reading lesson. These pictures can be obtained from newspapers, magazines, advertisements, and various other sources. Every child who helps to swell the collection will feel an added interest in it. The collection will be valuable in proportion as it is carefully arranged and thoughtfully