used as aids in making gestures, and their five-minute speeches showed
a careful study of the whole situation. Likewise the experiences of
Columbus might be dramatized, as, when asking for help from the king,
or when reasoning with the wise men of Spain, or when conversing with
his sailors on his first voyage to America.[Footnote: See the story of
Columbus in Stevenson's _Children's Classics in Dramatic Form_, A
Reader for the Fourth Grade.]

Additional suggestions will often be obtained by inquiring, "What part
of this lesson, if any, would you like to represent by drawings? Or by
paintings? Or by constructive work? Also, How would you do it?"

_5. The danger of the three R's and spelling to habits of reflection_

Much of what has been said about supplementing ideas finds only slight
application to beginning reading, writing, spelling, and number work.
The reason is that these subjects, aiming so largely at mastery of
symbols, call for memory and skill rather than reflection. For this
very reason these subjects are in many ways dangerous to proper habits
of study, and the teacher needs to be on her guard against their bad
influence. They are so prominent during the first few years of school
that children may form their idea of study from them alone, which they
may retain and carry over to other branches. To avoid this danger,
other subjects, such as literature and nature study, deserve prominent
places in the curriculum from the beginning, and special care should
be exercised to treat them in such a way that this easy kind of
reflection is strongly encouraged.