In an ungraded school, while the younger children might confine their efforts to counting as above, the older children might answer the same questions in terms of percentage and in the probable quantities on a real farm. The stock farm may be treated in the same way. How many cows? How much milk will they give? What will it be worth? How much butter would it make? What will it cost to keep the cows? What is the farmer's profit? These and many other questions will suggest themselves to both teacher and pupils, once the subject is opened up. They will be practical questions in so far as they touch the experience of the children in such a way as to appeal to them as real questions. Each individual teacher must decide how far and into what field it is worth while to lead any particular class.
The Sand Table.—The various types of sand tables range all the way from the hardwood, zinc-lined article, provided with a drainpipe, down to the homemade structure evolved from a goods box.
The quality of the table does not greatly affect the quality of the work to be done on it, but there are several points which affect the convenience of the workers. The height of the table should allow the children to work comfortably when standing beside it. A long, narrow table is seldom as satisfactory as one more nearly square, but it should never be too wide for the children to reach the center easily. Any table with tight joints in the top and four- or five-inch boards fitted tightly around the edge will serve the purpose. The inside of the box should be painted to prevent warping and leaking. An "ocean blue" is a good color, as it makes a good background for islands.
If no table is available, a goods box may be turned on its side, the top covered with oilcloth, and a frame, made from the cover of the box, fitted around the edge. The inside of the box may be used as a closet in which to store tools and materials, and a neat appearance given to the whole by a curtain of denim or other plain, heavy material.
ILLUSTRATIVE PROBLEMS
One of the most valuable uses of the sand table is in making illustrations for stories, historical events, and similar topics in which the relations between people and places is important. No definite rules can be laid down for working out such illustrations. The conditions under which they are made, the time to be devoted to the work, the importance of the subject, all affect both the nature and the quality of the work. Any material which lends itself to the purpose should be called into service.
The method of procedure is best set forth by describing several problems as actually worked out by children.
Fig. 46.—A home in Switzerland. Second grade. Columbia, Missouri.