Fig. 31.—Box house and stores. Grades one, three, and two. Columbia, Missouri.
Being a subject of universal interest, it may be adapted to the conditions of the various grades. It being also impossible to exhaust the possibilities of the subject in any single presentation, it may profitably be repeated with a change of emphasis to suit the development of the class. For example, in the second grade, the study of the street is chiefly a classification of the various commodities which are essential to our daily life, and a few of the main facts of interest concerning their origin. Those a little older are interested in the processes of manufacture and the geography of their sources. In playing store, weights and measures, the changing of money, and the making of bills take on an interest impossible in the old-fashioned method of presenting these phases of arithmetic. Discussions and narratives supply oral language work, and descriptions, letters, and notes provide material for written exercises.
The class may be divided into groups, each group contributing one store to the street, or the attention of the whole class may be centered on one store at a time, as the immediate conditions suggest. If the former method is used, as each store is finished it may be used as subject matter for the entire class, while the important facts concerning it are considered. The first permits a broader scope; the second a more exhaustive study. In either case visits to the real stores studied are important supplements to the work.
Fig. 32.—A village street. Third grade. Columbia, Missouri.
General Directions.—Discuss the stores on a village street. Which are most important? Why? Decide how many stores the class can build, and choose those most necessary to a community.
If self-organized groups[2] are allowed to choose the part they are to work out, both interest and harmony are promoted and leadership stimulated.
Use a box for each store. Each group is usually able to provide its own box. Paper inside of box with clean paper, or put on a coat of fresh paint. Make appropriate shelving and counters of thin wood.
Stock the store with samples of appropriate merchandise as far as possible. Supplement with the best representations the children can make. They should be left to work out the problem for themselves to a large extent, the teacher giving a suggestion only when they show a lack of ideas.