References: Otis Tufton Mason, Origins of Invention, Stone-Working, pp. 121-154. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Katharine E. Dopp, The Place of Industries in Elementary Education, pp. 20-29, 64, 65, 82, 93, 134-138. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
[Lesson XI.] This lesson illustrates the fact that skins of animals which originally were worn as trophies for the sake of social approval, developed into clothing which was worn partly for comfort.
Let the child make bone awls of the wing bones of chickens, and sinew thread from the sinews attached to the leg bones. Encourage him to sew with these materials. Different ways of lacing the shoes will suggest typical stitches. Others may be found in museums, but the stitches which are a result of the child’s ingenuity will be of most value to him. Later when he discovers that the stitches that he invented were invented ages ago and have been used ever since, he will feel a relationship with people removed from him in time and space. Making sandals or bags for himself or his friends, dressing dolls to play with or to give away, and many other similar activities will also serve to enlarge his interests.
References: Katharine E. Dopp, The Place of Industries in Elementary Education, pp. 22, 25, 115, 116. The Tree-Dwellers, pp. 122-124, 157. Frederick Starr, American Indians, pp. 14-21. Boston: D. C. Heath & Co. “Dress and Adornment,” Popular Science Monthly, Vol. XXXIX., pp. 488-502; also pp. 787-801. Otis Tufton Mason, Origins of Invention, pp. 41, 42, 43, 241. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
[Lesson XII.] Perhaps we shall never know with certainty what stage the early cave-men had attained in the development of the family. For the purposes of this book however, it has seemed legitimate to supply the deficiency from what is known of the laws of social development. Enough will be accomplished in this subject if the child gets the idea that the family has not always been what it is to-day, and that the need of coöperation in hunting, in guarding the fire, and in protecting the clan from the raids of wild beasts, compelled people who would prosper to associate in this way.
References: Morgan, Ancient Society, pp. 383-508.
Katharine E. Dopp, The Tree-Dwellers, pp. 28-30, 99-101, 150, 156.
[Lesson XIII.] Since the winter life of the cave-men is depicted much more fully in the following number of the series, it has seemed best to pass it briefly at this time. If the child is encouraged to tell stories of what he thinks happened during the winter, enough will be accomplished in this subject. By writing the story as the child tells it, and allowing him to make corrections in it as it is read to him, he is able to produce a much better story than when he is obliged to write it. As he gets control of his hands, however, he may be asked to write short stories.