VARIOUS MODES OF REVIEW


_The place of drill in the history recitation_

We have long since learned the folly of spending very many of the
minutes of a recitation in drilling students in dates, outlines, and
charts. Work of this sort never made a recitation vital; never inspired
a student with enthusiasm for historical inquiry; never really dispelled
the fog which surrounds, for the student, the cabinets and
constitutions, battles and boundaries, declarations and decrees, so
briefly treated in the text.


_Good reviews will develop a knowledge of the sequence of events_

But it may be seriously questioned whether many teachers, in their zeal
to escape the over-emphasis of dates, have not gone to the extreme of
neglecting them altogether. That a student should remember sufficient
dates to fix in his mind the sequence of important events is hardly open
to question. That he can never do so without some special attention to
dates is equally indisputable. Without doubt, drill in important dates
is necessary, but it should be so conducted as to take but little time.
Each day the teacher has indicated the dates worthy to be remembered and
has been careful to select the landmarks of history. He has called
attention to the various collateral circumstances which might assist to
fix the dates in the child's mind. The student has kept his list of
dates in the back of his text or in some convenient place of reference.
Once a week for three minutes the teacher gives the class a rapid review