THE CROCODILE.
I hope you will not put your dirty hands on this picture of the
crocodile. The live ones have hard scales on their backs, and such a
many teeth, that they could bite a man's leg off; but there are none
in our land, only young ones that sailors bring home with them. The
crocodile can run fast; those are best off who are out of his way. He
lives by the water; he goes much in it; and he can swim well. Young
ones come out of eggs, which the old ones lay in the sand. Some
beasts eat the eggs, or else there would be too many crocodiles. The
crocodile can run fast if he runs straight, and those who wish to get
out of his way run zigzag, and he takes some time to turn; the poor
black men know this, and can get out of his way; but some of them can
fight and kill him on the land or in the water. I think the crocodile
is mentioned in Scripture. Ask your teacher what Scripture means.
When you learn geography you will know where many of the places are
that are mentioned in the Bible, and you will see where the river Nile
is. There are such a many crocodiles on the banks of that river that
the people are afraid to go alone. What a many wonderful animals our
great Creator has made! How humble and thankful we should be to see
so
many great wonders!
Q. What have crocodiles on their backs?
A. Hard scales.
Q. Have they many teeth?
A. Yes, a great many.
Q. Could they bite off a man's leg?
A. They could.
Q. Are there any in our country?
A. None wild, but a few that sailors bring in ships.
Q. Can the crocodile run fast?
A. Yes.
Q. Where does he live?
A. In the water.
Q. What do their young ones come out of?
A. Out of eggs, which the old one lays in the sand.
Q. How do people run that wish to get out of the crocodile's way?
A. Zigzag, like the waved line in our lesson.
Q. What do some men do?
A. Fight and kill them in the water.
Q. Where do most of those animals live?
A. In the river Nile.
Q. Where is this river?
A. In Egypt.
The spelling lessons contain words capable of explanation, such as
white, black, round, square; others are classed as fleet, ship, brig,
sloop, &c.; and others are in contrast, as hot, cold, dark, light,
wet, dry, &c.
In this department we use the tablet placed beneath the arithmeticon,
the invention and improvement of which are described in the volume
entitled "Early Discipline Illustrated, or the Infant System
Successful and Progressing." A clear idea of the whole apparatus
is
given by the wood-cut on the next page, and it ought certainly to be
found in every infant school. The sense of sight is then brought into
full action to aid the mind, and that with results which would not
easily be conceived. We shall take another opportunity of explaining
the use of the upper part of the apparatus, the lower demanding our
present attention.
To use the tablet, let the followings things be observed. It is
supposed the children know well there are twenty-six letters in the
alphabet; that twenty are called consonants, and that six are vowels.
We take first one perpendicular row of letters in the figure. Now
point to D, and say, What is that'? and the answer will be, D. Ask,
Is
it a vowel or consonant, and they will reply, A consonant; but ask,
Why do you know it is D, and the answer will probably be, It is so
because it is. Hide the circular part of the letter, and ask, What is
the position of the other part, and they will say, having previously
learnt the elements of form which will shortly be explained, A
perpendicular line; hide that, and ask them what the other part is,
telling them to bend one of their fore-fingers in the same form, and
they will say, A curved line. If they are then asked how they may know
it is D, they will say, Because it is made of a perpendicular line and
has a curved line behind. Further information may then be given. Turn
the D letter up thus [Illustration: The character D turned on its
side], and say, I want to teach you the difference between concave and
convex: the under part of the curve is concave and the upper part of
it is convex. Then say, I shall now take the letter away, and wish you
to shew me concave and convex on one of your fingers; when they will
bend the forefinger and point them both out on it. Go on with the
other letters in the same way: shew them the vowels after the
consonants and analyze each one. For example, A is formed of two
inclined lines and a horizontal line to join them in the centre; and
the top of that letter is an acute angle, and were a line placed at
the bottom it would be a triangle. A brass letter may be moreover
shewn to be a substance: its properties may be described as hard,
smooth, bright, &c., and its coming from the mineral kingdom may
be
noticed, and thus the instruction may be indefinitely varied.
The power of letters may then be pointed out. Ask them to spell M
R,
and they will give you the sound of R, or something like it, and so
in reference to other letters. But place the A against the M as it
appears in the figure, and you may teach them to say A, M, AM; and
thus all the way down the left side of the row of consonants. If then
you carry the vowel down on the other side of them, you will change
the lesson, and by such means go on almost ad infinitum. Double rows
of consonants may be placed with a vowel between them, and when well
practiced in this, they will ask for the vowel to be omitted that
they may supply it, which they will do very readily and with great
pleasure, while there is a tasking of the mind which cannot but prove
beneficial.
Again, turn the frame with the balls round, so that the wires are
perpendicular instead of horizontal, raise a ball gently, and say, To
ascend, ascending, ascended; let it fall gently, saying, to descend,
descending, descended; with a little explanation these words will then
be understood, and others may be taught in the same way. To fall,
falling, fallen; to rise, rising, risen; to go, going, gone, will
readily occur, and others will easily be supplied by the ingenuity of
the instructor. The frame may also be applied to grammar.
It is to be used as follows:--Move one of the balls to a part of the
frame distinct from the rest. The children will then repeat, "There
it is, there it is." Apply your finger to the ball, and set
it
running round. The children will immediately change from saying,
"There it is," to "There it goes, there it goes."
When they have repeated "There it goes" long enough to impress
it on
their memory, stop the ball; the children will probably say, "Now
it
stops, now it stops." When that is the case, move another ball
to
it, and then explain to the children the difference between singular
and plural, desiring them to call out, "There they are, there
they
are;" and when they have done that as long as may be proper, set
both
balls moving, and it is likely they will call out, "There they
go,
there they go." I do not particularize further, because I know
that
good teachers will at once see the principle aimed at, and supply the
other requisite lessons: the object of this book being rather to shew
the principle of the thing, than to go into detail.
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