Miss Mason’s Methods of Teaching in Practice

Horace West Household was the Secretary for Education of Gloucestershire County in 1916 when he first encountered Charlotte Mason’s theory of education. He soon became, in the words of biographer Margaret Coombs, an “ardent disciple” of Charlotte Mason. He was deeply committed to Mason’s ideas and worked tirelessly to promote them within his jurisdiction and across England. He visited Ambleside multiple times, and he understood education in general and Mason’s theory in particular.

In 1926, three years after Charlotte Mason’s death, Household summarized his understanding of the method in the paper presented below. In a way, it almost feels as if Household was writing it for us. Elsewhere he wrote:

It is not yet the time to measure up her whole achievement. The full harvest is not yet. But there is enough to justify the confidence that posterity will see in her a great reformer, who led the children of the nation out of a barren wilderness into a rich inheritance. The old bidding prayers of our homes of learning rise to our lips. The children of many generations will thank God for Charlotte Mason and her work.

In this and in so many other ways, Household got it right. Across the generations and across the ocean, those words of prayerful gratitude that he predicted have come. I have heard them with my own ears.

– Art

By H. W. Household
1926

I have been asked to explain the Charlotte Mason (P.N.E.U.) method of education, and to illustrate my explanation by setting out numerous examples of work done in English subjects by boys—clever and the reverse of clever—between the ages of 9 and 14 1/2. I have not felt myself precluded from sometimes using papers worked by girls, or by children under nine. The examples have all been taken from answers written on one term’s work at the Easter Examination (No. 104) of the P.N.E.U. by children in eight Elementary schools, seven of them in Gloucestershire, and one in Leicestershire. Nothing but considerations of space and time has caused me to restrict the number of Schools to eight: it could as easily have been made two or three times as large and would still have been no less convincing. The smallest school selected is F, a little Village School near Gloucester with 47 children of all ages from 5 to 14, and two teachers; the largest Gloucestershire School is the Council School of 251 children at C, a village with a large mining element in it on the edge of the Forest of Dean. Work better in some respects might perhaps have been obtained if papers had been collected from Private Schools.

I would begin by setting out two statements which stand in violent contrast to each other. The first, that of Professor de Selincourt, is taken from a paper entitled The English Secret, which appeared originally in the Literary Supplement of The Times of September 28th, 1922; the second is to be found in a pamphlet called a Liberal Education in Secondary Schools, by Charlotte Mason, which can be obtained for ninepence from the Office of the P.N.E.U., at 26, Victoria Street, S.W.1., together with other explanatory pamphlets.

Professor de Selincourt says:—

“Our English children. . . .are not consumed with anxiety to learn anything; least of all has it ever crossed their minds that they must learn English.”

Charlotte Mason says (page 6):—

“It has come to us of the Parents’ Union School to discover great avidity for knowledge in children of all ages and of every class, together with an equally remarkable power of attention, retention, and intellectual re-action upon the pabulum consumed.”

And again (page 7):—

“We have made a rather strange discovery—that the mind refuses to know anything except what reaches it in more or less literary form”—(in fact in English, good English.)

Now once the two positions are so stated—though both are founded on experience—there cannot be a doubt which is the sound one. Children at one stage, under one method, or with one man, want to learn. If at another stage, under another method, or with another man, they do not want to learn, the fault is not in the child. It must be sought elsewhere.

To avoid misconstruction let me say at the outset that no matter what the method or what the type of School or child, the born teacher will always get interest, always inspire the wish to know: and in the Schools for which this pamphlet is being written—as in every other type of School—the born teacher is not rare. Of course the teacher who is not “born” is much more often to be met with everywhere. There are the conscientious, more or less efficient, but quite uninspiring; and there are those who are not too conscientious—have no sense of mission—or who though entirely conscientious are not efficient. We all know the form in which interest wanes, and impositions (which should not be needed) are many. Which should not be needed? It sounds strange, but experience shows that it is true. The children really want to know, want to learn. There is no need for mark, prize, place, praise or blame. We have had to resort to these aids because our methods and our books are wrong. We shall not, perhaps, be very quick to give them up, but a day may come when we shall cease to rely upon them.

Let us briefly examine the Charlotte Mason methods and the principles that lie behind them.

Every child she says “is born with a desire to know much about an enormous number of subjects”. And its personality must be respected: we who teach are not to shape the child’s mind, but to give it the food and opportunity of exercise that promote growth. The food and the method of feeding—there is what makes the difference between the position of Miss Mason and that of Professor de Selincourt.

If knowledge is presented to the boy at first hand by one who really has it to impart, in literary form, he is interested at once. The good book always inspires: it, or rather its author, is a teacher who never fails. It is however only occasionally, exceptionally, even in the Public and Preparatory School, that the boys come across a real live book in Natural Science or History, or any other subject, written in good English by a man who wanted to put his readers in touch with the human interest, the urgency, the romance of the subject, and not merely to arrange dry bones for the purpose of defeating an exigent examiner. Text books, devoid of form, constructed so as to pump in information to be extracted later, whether by a form master next day or an examiner next year, kill all desire to learn. Interest however is not all. The knowledge must be assimilated: the boy must make it his own, touching it by his own personality in such a way that his reproduction becomes original. For that an effort of concentration is demanded. How shall he be induced to make it? He will do it if he knows that after a single reading he must tell—it may be orally, it may be in writing—the substance of what he has read, or heard read. This practice of concentration and narration imparts a wonderful power, which few adults possess. Can we repeat in order the essential matter of a speech, a sermon, a leading article, an essay, a chapter of a great novel? The attempt will show that we cannot. But these children can. They read once and then narrate, and thereafter they know. And because they are always reading good English (not in one but in many books) they use good English, and their vocabulary expands with great rapidity. “The beautiful consecutive and eloquent speech of young scholars in narrating what they have read is a thing to be listened to not without envy”. So we have one reading of a set portion of some book of literary merit (no abbreviation or arrangement of it) followed by narration at once, and by an examination at the end of term for which there has been no further preparation. There has been no evening preparation, no “hearing” of the lesson, no questioning (unless on occasion the narration has shown the need of it), very little explanation. There is great economy of time, and a vast amount of ground is covered.

The reason why we insist on the use of books, says Miss Mason, “is not that teachers are not eminently capable, but because information does not become knowledge unless a child performs the ‘act of knowing’ without the intervention of another personality”. When we tell, when we question, it is we who do the work and not the child—and truly “questions are an impertinence which we all resent”.

Of course the method is not fool-proof, no defensible method can be. The good teacher gets the best results. He will not intervene unnecessarily: when he does intervene it is with effect. Reading must never be interrupted to explain or narration to correct; or you make concentration impossible. Explain what needs explanation before you begin; correct, or, better, let other boys correct, afterwards. But always remember that the boy need not see all that the adult sees. Be satisfied, be thankful, if he is interested, if he enjoys what is read and can tell the substance of it. We have ruined the appeal of many a play and poem by explaining, by surrounding it with notes. Shakespeare without notes is a joy: the children love him. Hedge him about with notes, insist on the child seeing all that Dry-as-dust discovers and he becomes a horror.

Perhaps the most dangerous pitfall for a teacher new to the methods is the temptation to develop mere verbal memory. Boys, especially when they are introduced late to the methods—boys of 12 and 13 whose wish to learn has been driven underground—are very often self-conscious and will not readily narrate. But, whether young or old, children in the first few weeks may be slow to narrate, and some teachers yield to the temptation to shorten the passages read, until narration becomes a matter of verbal memory. That way there can be nothing but disappointment. If you have patience for a few weeks the narration will come, and it will arise out of knowledge that has been assimilated and can be given back, and not out of mere verbal memory behind which there is no understanding.

Other teachers make the mistake of trying to use some parts of the method and imagine that any book will do. They have heard that the practice of narration leads to the writing of good Composition. It may or it may not. That is not the purpose of narration which is to compel close concentration during the single reading. Having concentrated you can tell, and having told you know. But if you have not concentrated you will not narrate well either orally or in writing; for you will not have assimilated the material. And children will not concentrate upon books of no merit. If you regard the Charlotte Mason method as a bag of tricks of which you can select one or two for adoption, leaving the rest, you will have nothing but disappointment. It is the outcome of a philosophy of education, and you must take all or none. You cannot use her methods and books for teaching literature and developing Composition, and use other methods and other books for teaching, say, History and Geography. You cannot encourage the boy to get knowledge from the book for himself in one lesson, and insist on pumping textbook stuff into him the next; you cannot rely upon interest, a single reading, concentration and narration to-day, and upon slow wearisome preparation of dry facts followed by questions and detention to-morrow. The programme hangs together as a whole. “Next in order to religious knowledge,’ said Miss Mason, “history is the pivot upon which our curriculum turns.” And history means much more than a little English History, for it is our business “to get in touch with other persons of all sorts and conditions, of all countries and climes, of all times, past and present”. So the boy will have Ancient History side by side with the Old Testament—Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, Roman. He will have French and general European history side by side with English. Geography and History will be in close touch and he will follow the explorers across the globe. Maps are no longer hated but are used daily. The novels, the plays, the poetry read will be associated with the same period—so if possible will the pictures and the music—for picture study and musical appreciation have their place. The wonders of science are thrown open in books no longer like the ordinary text-book, “dessicated to the last degree”.

Some idea of the amount of ground covered in a term’s work will be obtained if we set out the compulsory books in the programme of Form II A (ages 10 and 11) for the summer term 1926.

Bible Lessons. (a) Moses and the Exodus, lessons 9—16 inclusive; (b) St. Mark’s Gospel and The Acts, lessons 17—24 inclusive.

English Grammer. Meiklejohn’s Short English Grammar, pp. 52—79, 114—124.

English History. A History of England by H. O. Arnold-Forster, pp.Grammar. 65—146 (901—1189 A.D.)

French History. A First History of France by L. Creighton, pp. 27—46 (910—1189 A.D.)

General History. The Ancient World by A. Malet, pp. 177—213. The British Museum for Children by Frances Epps, Chapter II.

Citizenship. North’s Plutarch’s Lives, Coriolanus. The Citizen Reader by H. O. Arnold-Forster, pp. 81—120.

Geography. Western Europe (Cambridge Press) pp. 26—32, 175—226. (Balkan States, etc.)
Our Sea Power by H. W. Household pp. 24—51, or
Hakluyt’s English Voyages, pp. 47—95.
Round the Empire, by Sir George Parkin, pp. 1—29.

Natural History. Life and Her Children, by Arabella Buckley, pp. 135—166.
The Sciences, by E. S. Holden, pp. 1—34, or
The Mysterious Ocean of Aether, by C. R. Gibson, pp. 5—39.

Reading (including holiday and evening reading):
Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, (Blackie, plain text edition).
Lytton’s Harold.
Bulfinch’s Age of Fable, pp. 248—277.
Robin Hood (Oxford Press).

In addition there are a number of optional books, and of course due provision is made for mathematics, languages, drawing, handicraft, music, physical exercises, etc.

Where is the time for this? An analysis of the time tables will show. As will be seen, the hours of the Parents’ Union Schools are light, for they have neither afternoon School nor evening preparation. Form IA, it may be explained, covers the years seven and eight; Form II the years nine, ten and eleven; Forms III and IV the years twelve to fifteen.

The Parents’ Union School.

Analysis of Time Tables.

Forms VI and V. (Periods of 30—45 mins.)

English (including History, Grammar, Literature, Economics, etc.)	8 hrs. 10 mins.
Mathematics	3 hrs. 0 mins.
Science	4 hrs. 10 mins.
Languages	6 hrs. 10 mins.
Drill	2 hrs. 30 mins.
Total	24 hrs. 0 mins.

 

Forms IV and III. (Periods of 20—45 mins).

English	8 hrs. 25 mins.
Mathematics	3 hrs. 0 mins.
Science	3 hrs. 20 mins.
Languages	4 hrs. 45 mins.
Drill, etc	3 hrs. 0 mins.
Total	22 hrs. 30 mins.

 

Form II (A. and B.) (Periods 20—30 mins).

English, A.	7 hrs. 20 mins.
English, B.	8 hrs. 50 mins.
Mathematics, A.	3 hrs. 0 mins.
Mathematics, B.	2 hrs. 30 mins.
Science	2 hrs. 10 mins.
Languages, A	2 hrs. 30 mins.
Languages, B.	1 hr. 30 mins.
Drill, etc	3 hrs. 0 mins.
Total	18 hrs. 0 mins.

 

Form I. (A. and B.) (Periods 10—20 mins.)

English	6 hrs. 20 mins.
Arithmetic	1 hr. 50 mins.
Science	1 hr. 10 mins.
French	0 hrs. 40 mins.
Handicrafts	2 hrs. 0 mins.
Drill	3 hrs. 0 mins.
Total	15 hrs. 0 mins.

 

N.B.—1. The Lighter portions of the Literature, verse, play or poems are read for amusement in the evenings and also in the holidays.

2. Less time may be given if desired in any Form to Science and Modern Languages and more to Classics and Mathematics. The English periods may not be altered.

3. Music, Handicrafts, Field Work, Dancing, Nature Note Books, Century Books, are taken in the afternoons.

But more convincing than any statement of principles or explanation of methods is the work of the children themselves. In the examples that follow I have been scrupulous to copy exactly, without variation of any kind, what they wrote.

It should be noted that these children in the elementary Schools work longer hours than those indicated on the timetables above and that they take no foreign language.

Anybody who is interested, and wishes to know more, should go or write to the Secretary of the p.n.e.u. at 26, Victoria Street, S.W.1. He can also be put in touch there with schools of various types that are following the methods and using the programmes. The children themselves, seen working in their classes, are even more convincing than their papers, and it is good to see the methods at work, and to hear what the teachers have to say.

Senior Girls’ Council Schools at E. In Leicestershire.
Name, I.S. Form Ia. (Age 9 1/4)
From a good set of papers.
Geography.

Tell about Olaf of Faroe.

Olaf was a Faroeman he lives in a tiny house with black beams to hold the ceilling up. Just look at the funny little beds they are like boxes. Olaf’s mother does not waste much, his dress is like the dutch peoples he has baggy trousers and his shoes are made of wood. When he goes in home he takes his shoes off and he puts a pair of woollen slippers on for his mother likes to keep the house clean. Olaf some times goes out with his father and he climbs up high mountains like a wild goat. He also catches the wild birds and he catches Cod Fish from which he makes Cod Liver oil. His mother is a very clever woman she can weave and make clothes and make leather from the cows skin and she can shoes from the leather.

Senior Girls’ Council School, at E. In Leicestershire.
Name, F.C. Form Ia. (Age 9 1/4)
From a poor set of papers.
Geography.

Tell about Olaf of Faroe.

Olaf lives in Faroe Islands. In Faroe there are no trains or bus’s but they have to ride on ponies. When you go to his country you will go by the British Isle. He lives at a farm yard. He lives with his mother. She does not like any one to come in with their shoes on. Olaf always has to put some slippers on before he goes in the house. Olaf goes about driving his cows. They have a lot of milk, butter and cheese always. The floor of the house is made of long wooden planks. When his mother gets the cows killed she has a lot of meat and bacon. Olaf sometimes goes fishing when he his not busy with the cows and sheep. He catches more whale that any other things. His house is made of whalebone. Olaf wares a very wide cap and coat. In Faroe Islands they ware their clothes like the French Children do. And they always ware clogs with the toe of them turned up. His house is very low and little. They have a lot of staples in the farm yard to keep the cows and the sheep in. They are never with out sheece, butter milk and bacon.

Junior Council School at A.
Name M. R., a girl in Form Ia. (Age 8).
From a good set of papers.
Picture Study.

Describe “A Frosty Morning” by Turner.

The Picture I am going to study was painted by J.M.W. Turner. The horses were taken from his horse which took him to London every day. In it there is a little girl and her daddy waiting for a coach, the little girl has a hare round her neck, and she is rubbing her cheek to get it warm, because it is a frosty and cold morning. In the distance there is a coach coming towards us. There are some hedges on either side and a cart and some men working hard on the road and a man on the road side with his coat off and the men that were working on the road had their coats off as well and they were not at all cold. The men that are working have some pickaxes and shovels and a wheelbarrow. This picture is hung up in The Royal Academy, for Turner painted it very nicely and if anyone did a very beautiful picture it would be put in the Royal Academy of London.

Junior Council School, at A.
Name M.S., a boy in Form Ia. (Age 9).
From a poor set of papers.
Picture Study.

Describe “A Frosty Morning” by Turner.

This Picture is painted by W.H.N. Turner and it is very frosty and there is a man and a girl in there and the man is leaning on his gun. Turner painted is own horses when he goes to London. The man and the girl is waiting to go in the cart.

Council School at G.
Name F.C., a girl in Form Ia. (Age 8).
From a good set of papers.
(1) Tales.

Tell how Ulysses came to his palace as a beggar.

Just before Ulysses came to Greece, goddess Athene helped Ulysses to change into a beggar, she put wrinkles into Ulysses’ face to make him look more like a beggar. Then Ulysses went into Greece as a beggar and nobody knew him dressed as a beggar. First of all he went to Telemachus’ house. Telemachus was Ulysses’ son. Telemachus took Ulysses into his house to give him a meal. It was cold pork and he gave him an ivory cup full of wine to drink out of. Telemachus asked Ulysses who he was. Ulysses told Telemachus who he was and Telemachus wept for joy. Then Ulysses went on to the palace where Penelope was. Then Ulysses sat on the beggar’s chair which all beggars have to, then the servants began mocking Ulysses. The wooers were just having their meal. One of the wooers threw an ox-foot at Ulysses. Then Penelope told Eurycleia to wash Ulysses’ feet because that was the custom. While Eurycleia was washing Uylsses’ feet she saw the scar on Ulysses’ leg. She upset the bowl of water because she was full of joy to see Ulysses. Eurycleia had to go and get some more water to finish washing Ulysses’ feet. One of the wooers, a prophet, said that one day Ulysses would come home.

(2) English History.

Tell a story of Lord Shaftesbury.

As we go in the West door of Westminster Abbey we see Lord Shaftesbury’s monument. Lord Shaftesbury was a very great statesman in Parliament. Lord Shaftesbury was very kind to the poor. He gave his money very wisely to the poor. Years and years ago the little children were cruelly treated. Some of the little children worked in coal-mines and factories. The little children in the factories had to work at machines, some of the little children were too small to reach these machines so they had to stand on stools to reach the machines. The little children worked at these machines and coal-mines before they were six years old. The children in the coal-mines had to carry heavy loads of coal on their backs or pull a big truck of coal along. These little children never saw the sun. The little girls and boys who worked in factories and coal-mines only stopped to have a meal and that was only black bread and bacon. These littlechildren had no beds they only had shelves to lie on, the little girls and boys only rested on Sundays. Then they could not get up, they stayed in bed because they were so tired. Lord Shaftesbury made a speech in Parliament that the little children should not work in factories and coal-mines because it was so cruel to the little children and the old children had to work shorter hours. So the little children were let out of these factories and coal-mines, the little children were able to have more play and fresh air.

Council School at G.
Name N. B., a boy in Form Ia. (Age 8).
From a poor set of papers.

Tell how Ulysses came to his palace as a beggar.

When Ulysses came home there were some wooers, and they had to shoot through some holes in some axe-heads. Ulysses shot through the hole twelve axe-heads. Ulysses cild a the woors and Penelope did not know that Ulysses had come, so the nurce went and told her and then she said that she was mad and the they went down stairs and Ulysses was in the hall.

Lord Shaftesbury.

Lord Shaftesbury was a great Statesman and he said he would help them who helped themselves, in those days the little children had to work hard and they had to be lifted up on stools because they were not tall enofe. All day long all they could hear was the whirring of the machines. When Lord Shaftesbury went down in the coal-mines and saw them there he said that they should not work there.

Council School at C.
Name M. W., a boy in Form IIb. (Age 10 1/2).
From a good set of papers.
Composition.

Narrate a scene from “Julius Caesar” in which Cassius appears.

The scene which I am going to narrate is the one in which Julius Caesar is murdered. The scene takes place in a street in front of the capitol. The capitol is situated on a steep rocky hill called the Capitoline hill. Caesar, Brutus, Cassius and the other conspirators with a crowd of people enter. A Soothsayer comes to Caesar from out of the crowd. Caesar says, “The Ides of march are come”. “Ay but not gone Caesar”, says the Soothsayer. Artemedorus comes forward and hands Caesar a paper saying, “Caesar, read this schedule”. But Caesar takes it and puts it in his pocket. A conspirator offers him a paper. “Read it great Caesar and read it instantly”, says Artemidorus. But Caesar does not read it. Then Artemidorus tries again, “Read it Caesar, mine is a suit that touches Caesar nearer”. Caesar says, “The things that touchourselves shall be last served”. Popilius comes in and says to the conspirators, “I hope today your enterprise may thrive”. Brutus says, “Be sudden Casca I fear our purpose is discovered”. Then he says to Cassius, “What said Popilius Lena?” Cassius says, “He hopes our enterprise might thrive. Now he smiles and Caesar doth not change”. Metellus Cimber goes up to Caesar and kneels down and tells Caesar that he throws a humble heart before him. But Caesar says that he must prevent him. For he is only fawning on him for the release of his brother who by decree was banished. Metellus says “Is there no voice which can sound more sweetly in your ear for the freedom of my brother?” Brutus says, “Caesar I am come to beg freedom for Publius Cimber”. Then Cassius comes and says, “As low as they knee does Cassius fall to beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber”. But Caesar says he has made a decree and will not break it. Cinna comes forward and says, “O Caesar, but Caesar interupts him saying “Hence wilt thou lift up Olimpus?” Casca says, “Speak, hands, for me”. Then he and the other conspirators and Marcus Brutus stab Caesar. He says, “Et tu, Brute? Then fall Caesar. Et tue Brute means Even you, Brutus. Cassius says, “Go to the common pulpits and cry, “Freedom liberty and enfranchisement”. Brutus say, “People and senators be not afrighted. Fly not. None shall bear the blame but we who did this deed”. They bathed their hands in Caesars blood, as Brutus told them, up to the elbows. Then they smeared their swords with blood. Then they were going in to the forum and waving their red weapons cry “Liberty, freedom andenfranchisement”. A servant of Antony’s comes in. Antony sent him to see if it was safe for him to come. Brutus says, “Tell your master there is no harm intended to his person”. The servant went away and not long after Antony arrives. He kneels by Caesar and asks to be allowed to show his body to the people and if they meant to kill him they were to kill him where he was by the side of Caesar. For he was a great friend of Caesar. Brutus was willing to let Antony speak but Cassius was not. So it was agreed that Brutus should go into the pulpit first and Antony should go in afterwards. But he was only to speak all the good he could of Caesar and was not to say anything about them. Then Antony made this speech “O pardon me thou bleeding peice of earth, that I am meek and gentle with these butchers. Thou art the ruins of the noblest man that ever lived in the tide of time. Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood. Over thy wounds now do I prophesy, which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips to beg the words and utterance of my tongue. A curse shall light upon the limbs of men. Domestic fury and fierce civil strife shall cumber all the parts of Italy. Blood and destruction shall be so in use that mothers shall but smile when they see their infants quartered with the hands of war, and Caesars spirit ranging for revenge with Ate by his side come hot from hell, and with a monarchs voice cry, “Havoc” and let slip the dogs of war, that this foul deed shall smell above the earth with carrion men groaning for burial. A servant comes from Octavius Caesar to tell Antony that he lies within ten leagues of Rome.

Council School at C.
Name V. W., a boy in Form IIb. (Age 10).
From a poor set of papers.
Composition.

Narrate a scene from “Julius Caesar” in which Cassius appears.

Caesar said “the Ides of march are come”. Then a Soothsayer came and said “Ah Caesar but not gone”. Then the people came up the street to the capitol and one of them gave Caesar a schedule and he put it in his pocket and another said read mine first read mine first mine is a suit to you read it great Caesar”. There was a crowd in the street and Caesar entered. Caesar was stabbed twenty three times and Cassius stabbed him first in the neck and then Marcus Brutus stabbed him then Caesar said Et Brute then fall Caesar. Then many smilling Romans came and did bathe there hands in it up to ther elboes and besmear the swords in it. Antony loved Caesar and he said Oh mighty Caesar dost thou lie so low. Caesar was banished from Rome. The people was frightened and they went out and Brutus said stay we are not going to do anything. They thought that they had started talking about it. The men had leaden points on their swords. Cassius was not willing to have the body of Caesar but Antony wanted to preduce it into the market place. Decius went up with a schedule to Caesar. The people went shouting through the streets saying freedom liberty. Caesar did not want

Council School at G.
Name M. H., a girl in Form IIb. (Age 10).
From a good set of papers.
Citizenship.

Tell how the men of Falerii made peace with Camillus.

Camillus marched against Falerii with an army. Camillus told his army to camp outside the gates of Falerii, he thought that the Falerii’s were gathering a large army together inside the city, but they were not. The people were going to work and mothers sent their children to school just the same as usual. There was one wicked master who took schoolboys out every day, every time he took the boys out for a walk, he took them further out of the city. One day this master took them right out of the city. When he got out of the city he took the boys to Camillus and said “Here are the sons of the greatest noblemen in Falerii”. Camillus did not take the children but told the soldiers to give the children rods so that they may beat him back to Falerii. When the people found that their children had been taken into the camps of the Romans, they were very worried and thought they should never see their children again. Great was the joy of the mothers of the boys when they seen their children driving their wicked master back to Falerii. Soon after the Romans and the Falerii’s made peace. The people ofFalerii gave the Romans the town of Falerii, that is how the Romans made peace with the Falerii’s.

Council School at G.
Name R. B., a boy in Form IIb. (Age 10).
From a poor set of papers.
Citizenship.

Tell how the men of Falerii made peace with Camillus.

Camillus was waiting out side for the Faleriains. One there was a school master he took them outside the city wall every day. One day he took right out farther keeping laughing and playing. He took them right to Camillus and told Camillus to give them a good floging. Camillus told some his men to tie his hands behind his back and give the children the rods and let them flog him. The people began to wonder where their children were. They ran to the city walls and what surprise they had was to see their children driving their wicked master before them. They found that the Romans loved justice better liked victory. They gave their city to the Romans.

Junior Council School at A.
Name G. S., a girl in Form IIb. (Age 10).
From a good set of papers.
French History.

Tell one story about St. Geneviève.

Once there was a little peasant girl and her name was Geneviève. She used to sit in the fields and mind her father’s sheep. One day a Bishop passed by and he blessed her and prophesied that one day she would do great things for her country. When she grew up she was very much loved, and she said that now Paris was her flock of sheep. The Huns came to Paris and attacked them and Geneviève one night got in a little ship and passed right through the enemy. When she came back she brought the little ship back laden with corn. The Huns made another attack upon Paris and Geneviève stood up on a bridge and said “I saw a vision in the night and if you will fight you will beat the Huns and so rid the country of your enemies. The Huns were defeated and Paris was saved and after that the people called her St. Geneviève.

Junior Council School at A.
Name C. S., a boy in Form IIb. (Age 10).
From a poor set of papers.
French History.

St Geneviève.

There was a little shepherd girl and she looked after her fathers sheep and the people loved her because she was so beautiful. One day she got in a ship and sailed away and she came back with the ship full of food for the sheep.

C, of E. Mixed School at F.
Name M. B. a girl in Form IIa. (Age 13 11/12).
From a good set of papers.
French History.

Describe the Siege of Paris by the Northmen.

The Northmen came up the Siene to Paris with a large fleet. The men in Paris when they saw the fleet said, “You cannot see the water for the ships”. Paris was like an island there were two bridges going from the main land. Guarding these two bridges were two castles, many soldiers lived in them and guarded them. There were about 700 sailing ships and a few smaller ones. The people in Paris built a great wall, and dug a ditch round the city to keep out the fierce Northmen. There was a brave man named “Eudes,” he with his followers defended the city for about a year. The northmen finding they could not plunder the city went about burning all the vines and killing everyone they met young or old, a plague broke out which added more miseries. One day “Eudes” escaped and went to “King Charles the Fat” who was then ruling, and asked for the long promised help. He did not stay any longer than he could help and one day as the sun rose the anxious watchers saw the glistening armour of Eudes appear over the top of “Montmartve.” He rushed through the enemy and reached Paris in safety. It took three months for Charles the Fat to come and when he did come he could not risk a battle and so he bribed the northmen to go. They went away, but did not heed their promises but came and plundered other parts of France. The Siege of Paris took place about the year 885.

C, of E. Mixed School at F.
Name G. B. a girl in Form IIa. (Age 12 5/12).
From a poor set of papers.
French History.

The Northmen were coming in their boats up the river Seine. You could not see the river for so many boats. Eudes was made Count of Paris. The Northmen went out to get money. When they had gone out of France they went somewhere else to plunder. Eudes did not know about this. Meanwhile Eudes went to look for Charles the Fat, because he had promised long before to bring a large army. When he had arrived on the sea-shore, he saw Charles the Fat coming. So he went and told his men. There was a bridge built with towers on each side, to defend the town of Paris.

Council School at B.
Name I. K., a girl in Form IIa. (Age 12).
From a good set of papers.
French History.

Give a short account of Clovis the Merovingian King.

When Clovis a Merovingian was fifteen years old the Franks sat him on a shield, lifted him on their shoulders as was their custom and said that he should be their king. Clovis vowed that when he was older he would make his way south-ward. One the Franks with Clovis at their head defeated the Romans in a great battle called Soissons. After the battle the Franks plundered a church and among the booty was a large and beautiful silver vase. When the Franks had returned to their country to share the booty Remigius the Bishop of Rhiems sent a letter to Clovis begging that the vase might Clovis sent back saying that if the vase fell to his share the vase would be returned. When all the men were gathered round to share the booty Clovis asked if he might have the vase besides his share of the booty. All agreed except one man who walked up to the vase and smote it and it fell to the ground and broke to pieces. Clovis said nothing but picked up the broken pieces of the vase and sent them to Remigius. When Clovis was inspecting his army he came across the man who had smote the vase. Clovis hit the man’s sword and it fell to the. When the man stooped to pick up his sword Clovis smote his head in two, saying, Thus smote you the vase. The other soldiers did not say anything for they were accustomed to such doings. Not long after this incident Clovis married Clotilda a Bergundian princess. She was a Christian and she wished Clovis to be a Christian as well but Clovis did not wish to give up his heathen gods. While engaged in one of his battles he saw that the day would be lost. Turning his face to heaven Clovis said “Thou God whom Clotilda adores I promise thee perpetual service if the day be mine. The day was his and Clovis hastened to Clotilda to tell her his plan. Clotilda was over-joyed and hastened to Remigius to see about thebaptism. Clovis and many of his Franks were baptised on Christmas Day 485. After Remigius had told them the story of the Crucifiixion Clovis said “Had I been there with my Franks I would have avenged his death.

C, of E. Boys’ School at D.
Name F. B., in Form IIA. (Age 11).
From a poor set of papers.
General History.

What do you know about Philip of Macedonia.

Philip II of Macedonia was ful of courage and stratergey which means he was very cunning in his ways. Which was Macedonia in those days is called Bulgaria now which is at the north of Greece. King Philip was trying to join the Greecian empire on to Macedonia. Thebes, Sparta and Athens were the most important towns of the hole of Greece. If Sparta rose up against Thebes, King Philip would back up the Thebes. If the Thebes won Philip II perhaps get a town or two towns. Then if Athens rose up against the Spartans he would back up the Spartans and get a town from the Spartans. So he went on until he had joined Thebes, Sparta and Athens and other little towns together under the Macedonian rule. He taught his soldiers to drill well and fight the battles fair. Not long after he was murdered in his own land. After his death his son Alexander reigned in his place.

Boys’ C. of E. School at H.
Name J. B., in Form IIa. (Age 9).
From a good set of papers.
Geography.

Describe the Severn Valley.

The North Part of the Severn valley is called the vale of Gloucester. It is surrounded by the Cotswold hills under which is Cheltenham with its lovely walks and wholesome baths where there are crowds of holiday makers. In the north of the vale is Tewkesbury a busy little town. It was here the battle which practically brought the Wars of the roses to a close. Ships come up the Severn as far as Gloucester. Gloucester trades chiefly with the Baltic Sea countries. Gloucester sends out Iron Goods and salt while she takes in timber for very good timber comes from the Baltic. South of the vale it is called the vale of Berkeley which has a castle. To this castle a pitiful tale belongs. Edward II governed his realm so ill the nobles made him give up his throne to his young son. This was only fair but a wicked deed followed. The king was shut up in a lonely little chamber with thick walls and he was murdered in such a manner his shrieks could be heard in the town. This deed was not done by the barons but by ruffans hired by the kings wicked wife.

Boys’ C. of E. School at H.
Name R. C., in Form IIa. (Age 11).
From a poor set of papers.
Geography.

Describe the Severn Valley.

In the Severn Vale is the Cotswold hills in the Cotswold his is Cheltenham Tewkesbury and Glostershire. The severn runs through Tewkesbury and Glostershire. The shipes come up the bautic sea and come into Glostershire but the ship do not come up into the Severn which runs through Tewkesbury becauce it is to narrow for them. Cheltenham is a busy town because it is by the Cotswold hills.

Council School at C.
Name G. W., a boy in Form III. (Age 13 2/12).
From a good set of papers.
Literature.

Write, as far as you can in the style of Malory, of how Sir Gawaine did battle with a Saracen.

Then Sir Gawaine and the Saracen feutred their spears in the rests, and ran each at other, gave so great strokes that fire sprang out of their helms. Then was Sir Gawaine sore abashed, and drew his sword Galatine, and smote the Saracen so that the precious stones flew out of the sword. He gave the Saracen so great a stroke that the Saracen’s liver and lung were disclosed. Then the Saracen gave Gawaine a stroke that cut a vein, and Gawaine grieved sore, and bled sore. Then said the Saracen to Gawaine, “If thou wilt heal my wound, then will I heal thine, for whosoever is cut with this blade, no-one will be able to stanch it, except I.” Sir Gawaine then healed the wound of the Saracen, who said to him, “Now will I heal thine, for thou bebleedest over they horse and armour.” But tell me thy name.” “Indeed ye have said forsooth,” said Gawaine, “My name is Sir Gawaine, and am of the Table Round, King Arthur dubbed me a knight with his own hand.” Then said the Saracen, “My name is Priamus, and I am of the lineage of Alexander and Hector, and am rightful heir to Africa, and all the out isles. I have been rebel against Rome, and have near at hand soldiers to guard me. But tell me thy religion and who is thy God, and I will become the same as thee.” Gawaine told him that he was a Christian. Then said the Saracen, “I will become Christian as well. But take care my page does not blow his horn or else gold or silver shall not save thee.” Then Sir Gawaine rode across a river to get him away and the Saracen followed. As they were going to unsaddle their horses, for they were come into the camp; Gawaine’s and Saracen’s wounds broke out afresh. The Saracen took out a vial of water of the four waters of Paradise, and with things they bathed their wounds in it, and in an hour the wounds were better. The Saracen then told Gawaine of how there were sixty thousand fighting men, who were enemies. Gawaine said to theSaracen, “I will take my seven hundred men, and fight these men, for my men fight fiercely.” The Saracen advised Gawaine not to fight, for they let wild animals out to fight the men, but still Gawaine would give in.

Council School at C.
Name M. T., a boy in Form III. (Age 14).
From a poor set of papers.
Literature.

After Sir Gawaine met with the Saracen who did give him battle and they both ran each at other with their swords in their hands and they both struk one an other their swords that the sword went right through.

Council School at G.
Name J. H., a boy in Form III. (Age 12 11/12).
From a good set of papers.
General Science.

Give with drawings the history of a piece of coal.

Here is a piece of coal? It seems a dull question to study a lump of coal, but really it isn’t.

(Drawing here).

This piece I have here has been cut and chipped about so as to make a smooth surface. You see that on the face there is impressions of ferns and twigs that was growing at that time. I want you to-day to make with me an imaginary journey to a coal mine in the coal fields. As soon as you get to the mine you get in a miners cage, as it is called and then you gradually go down into darkness untill you get to dark seams of coal. Here you see the miners at work with pick-axes. Down here it is pitch dark so the men carry about with them little lamps called safety lamps.

(Drawing of Section of mine here).

There is like little roads down here too, along these roads there is railway lines and on these lines there is small carts and mules draw these carts along. The coal lies in seams. If you want to light a fire quickly you want to lie the coal with these lines facing the flames. As you are looking at these seams and seams of coal you will remember that one day long, long ago this coal was living only in the form of a plant. When the miners has got the coal from the mine he puts it in a kind of a lift which brings it into daylight. Then this coal is sent to our homes to be burnt. As you are watching the coal burning you will remember that you are burning sunshine of hundreds of years ago. Before the coal was formed it was living as trees and ferns and other plants.

(Drawing of a coal ball here).

On some pieces of coal there is a lot of prints of ferns and plants while the other has not got hardly any on at all. This coal has taken hundreds of years to form into a hard substance as this.

The trees of the forests of hundreds of years ago were very curious looking not like the trees of to-day.

(Drawing of a tree of the Coal period here).

The trees grew very closely together. Some of the seams of coal are wider apart than others.

Council School at G.
Name A. H., a boy in Form III. (Age 11 3/4).
From a poor set of papers.
General Science.

Describe the life of a piece of Coal.

On some of the pieces of Coal you can see faintly the shape of ferns and other plants. Years and years ago in the places where there is Coal mines to-day there use to be great Coal forests and gradually these Coal forests went out and the plants got buried in the ground and has the years went the plants were changed into coal.

Council School at C.
Name H. H., a boy in Form III. (Age 10 1/2).
From a good set of papers.
General Science and Architecture.

What do you know of the English Renaissance and Sir Christopher Wren?

The greatest men of the English Renaissance were Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren. Inigo Jones built for us the Banquetting Hall and Whitehall. He went to Italy to study Palladio, with great success. But Sir Christopher Wren went to Paris to study with very great effect. His greatest works were St. Paul’s Cathedral, Bow Church, Cheapside, part of Hampton Court and many other famous buildings. His chance came in 1666 after the fire of London, when he made plans for the rebuilding of London, but the King did not have enough money to carry it out, although many of his plans were accepted. The most famous of all his works is St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. The Renaisance was a copy of a copy. It was like the little boy when his father asked him if he had been a good boy at school to-day “Fairly so” was the conscientious reply, and I believe the English Renaissance was only fairly so. St. Paul’s is the best example of the Renaissance in England. The most famous part is the dome, all round the walls of which is a “Whispering Gallery” where every slight whisper re-echos. If you look up you will see the Golden Gallery. On the very top of which is a golden ball which you may be allowed to enter and you may not. Under the roof of St. Paul’s lie the bones of many famous men, some of the most famous of which are Wolsey, Wellington, Nelson and Sir Christopher Wren over whose tomb is this inscription—in latin—“If you want to see his monument look around”. The English Renaissance was not like the German Renaissance “periwig and pigtail” but something quite different. Below the dome of St. Paul’s are the huge Corinthian columns. Although St. Paul’s is the best example of the Renaissance in England but not in the world for there is a far nobler one at Rome.

Council School at C.
Name I. G., a boy in Form III. (Age 12).
From a poor set of papers.
General Science and Architecture.

What do you know of the English Renaissance and Sir Christopher Wren?

Sir Christopher Wren and Inigo Jones copied the Renaissance off Michael Angelo and Phideias. Inigo Jones built White Hall and Sir Christopher Wren built St. Paul’s at London. Inigo Jones went and copied his Renaissance from Italy and Sir Christopher Wren copied his at Paris. Then the Cathedral of St. Paul was on a small scale. There is the Corinthean collums and then there is the spended Ball at the top which is covered with white. Then there is a whispering gallery which winds all round the beautiful Dome. This is the old style of St. Pauls. But since the time of the war in 1666 it as been burnt down by the plague of London and it as been set up better since then. It was Sir Christopher Wren that made this Plan to build it up and he knew that he could not build it with-out money so he gathered the money and built it again. There is a saying which says of Sir Christopher Wren—

He built it better than he knew,
The conscius stone to beauty grew.

St. Peters in London was planed by Michael Angelo and it is of the English Renaisance. It is all set on a collassas scale. It has a lot of beautiful collums and this is the noblest in Rome. The top of the Dome is very heavy and it is holded up by the corinthean collums but they are not so save now as they were. Inside St. Pauls there is a grave yard and there is a saying:

“If you want to see
Look around.”

Council School at C.
Name G. T., a boy in Form IV. (Age 14).
(1) Literature.

Give a short account of “The Rape of the Lock,” quoting lines where you can.

Pope was asked to write a poem upon a young baron who had stolen a lock of a ladies hair. Pope in writing this pictures a beautiful lady named Belinda in her toilet before she goes upon a sail down the Thames. Maids surround her some doing her hair, some arranging her clothes and others running to and fro. At last she journeys to the pier and finds a place in the boat. As she sits there everyone admires her and a young baron seeing a lock of her hair is determined to secure it. Fairies surround the lady and guard her. The baron draws near and

“Thrice the diamond twitched in her ear
Thrice she turned, and thrice the foe drew near.”

At last the fatal engine closes upon the lock and from then an angry battle commences betwixt women and men, not with arms but with frowns and angry glances. However it ends happily and Belinda’s lock is put among the stars.

(2) English History.

“It was Walpole’s chief contribution to constitutional progress that he created the Prime Ministership in his own person”. Explain and give some account of the policy and career of Walpole.

Walpole was the first Lord of the Treasury and he came in Office in the year 1721. After the “bursting of the South Sea Bubble Walpole was also made Chancellor of the Exchecquer and was called to put things in order again. He was a man of considerable ability which was rare in those times. It was hard to see how the House of Commons could represent the poor people for they were poorly educated and the Whig with the largest purse could by them. Walpole was a whig and he did all that was in his power to gain the majority of votes by fair means or foul. Thus came the bribery. As bad as the plan may have seemed Walpole knew the alternative which was that the Tories would come into power and he preferred to bribe the poor folks than put the Tories into Power. Walpole was not the man to be content with getting the Tories out of Power but he wanted to punish them as well.

(3) Musical Appreciation.

What do you know of the chief events of Schumann’s life? How did these influence him as a composer?

Robert Schumann was born in Saxony in 1810 and though he loved music in his boyhood days he was destined for the law. His father kept a bookshop and he had ample opportunity to exercise his literary powers. He went to college and spent most of his time practising the piano. In 1830 Schumann set up in opposition against his mother and he was helped by greater composers. In 1838 he started a journal of music. At last he tried composing for he had injured his right hand in patenting a device to play the piano. He did well now and in a few years time he settled in Dresden. Right from his youth Schumann was brought up in the midst of music.

What (a) songs, (b) pianoforte music, by Schumann have you heard, say all you can of one of these.

(a) Two Grenadiers.               (b) Pictures of the East.
Lotus flower.                           Pieces for Players of all ages.
Lady Bird.
Songs for children.

The two Grenadiers is perhaps one of Schumann’s most famous pieces of music. The opening bars create a martial atmosphere and all through the piece a martial time is kept. The song at the start is sad but it gradually grows in volume until it reaches the highest point with the French National anthem. The music is made to submit to the voice and only just to keep the time. The music repeats itself many times through the piece.

N.B.—It has been found by experience that very little idea of the scope of the work can be got from isolated answers taken from examination papers; it is the whole paper which proves convincing. Some of these may be seen at the P.N.E.U. Office, 26, Victoria Street, S.W.1.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in a booklet entitled A Short Exposition of Miss Mason’s Methods of Teaching. The formatting of the article was optimized for online viewing. To access a version which is formatted more similarly to the original, and which includes the original page numbers, please click here.

 

 

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