7. Reading. The children should be encouraged to acquire new facts for themselves from books that are easily comprehensible to them. 8. Reviews. There should be frequent reviews. These exercises should be varied as much as possible and should be often held at unexpected times. Call on different members of the class to tell of their favorite characters; give characteristic incidents not already related, in the life of a person, and let the children guess who it is; let them guess what certain pictures represent, etc. 9. Rewards. The child should be occasionally rewarded with something to read about his favorite character. Reward the mind, but do not permit it to be surfeited. 10. Problems. In the latter part of the primary course special attention should be given to historical problems. See McMurry’s “Special Method in History,” pp. 66-74. Suggestions on Primary History. 1. Have the purpose and outline of the story well in hand before presenting it, and let your presentation be independent of the book. The outline of your story should be very carefully prepared. 2. Avoid complex details. Tell story vividly. “The educational value of these stories does not depend upon literal accuracy.” 3. The sequence of events and their relations are more important than dates. “A long time ago” means more to a child than 1492. 4. Lay special stress on ethical teaching; cut down wars and military campaigns as much as possible. 5. Go slowly. Haste is a poor policy. A teacher may sometimes devote weeks to a single character to advantage. Do not cram facts indiscriminately into children’s minds. 6. Do not repeat stories to the same children from year to year. 7. For directions “How to Select Stories,” see McMurry’s “Special Method in History,” pp. 34-40. 8. For directions “How to Tell Stories,” see Ibid, pp. 54-56. 9. For directions “How to Have Stories Reproduced,” see Ibid, pp. 57-58. 10. For a discussion of the difficulties of oral instruction, see Ibid, pp. 59-66. FOOTNOTE: [4] Editor’s Note.--These and many other helpful suggestions have been privately printed by Professor Riley in a syllabus entitled “Methods of Teaching History in Public Schools,” University, Miss., price 25 cents. A Type Lesson for the Grades BY ARMAND J. GERSON. THE SPANISH CLAIM. A Type Lesson. Of the many complaints made by history teachers in secondary schools regarding preparation given in the grades perhaps none contains a greater amount of truth than the oft-repeated statement that while pupils leave our elementary schools with a large stock of historical terms and phrases they often lack a real grasp of their significance. I know of a pupil who after a whole year of Sixth Grade work defined tax as “money that is paid for tea,” and who honestly thought that George III’s ministers were “a sort of clergymen.” Still more frequent are the instances where the pupil’s notions of terms used are so hazy and inadequate as not to admit of definition at all.