he said, "Thank you, pretty cow," in his very politest way. And then
Betty laughed, but I'm sure I don't know why!
Program for Sixth Week — Fuel and Lights
Wood
Monday
Circle talk, songs and games: What are our chairs made of? What
other things in the room are made of wood ? Where does the wood
come from? How is it changed from trees into chairs, blocks and
balls? Did you ever see a sawmill? (Show pictures; if possible,
visit a sawmill.)
Games: Inspection of trees. "Wood choppers.'*' (Using song of saw-
ing and chopping.) Sawing logs. Float down the river. Saw-
mill (represent noise of the saw).
Gift: One-inch cylinders, four to represent logs; one-inch cubes, four
logs to represent slabs; two cubes (oblongs), lumber; also cut clay
cylinder to show the process. (Second gift, beds, large size.)
Occupation: Modeling, making of balls at factory.
LITTLE FOLKS' LAND 69
Coal
Tuesday
Circle talk, songs and games: What made us warm in the summer?
What keeps us warm these cold days? What makes the trees grow
and even lives in them? Let me tell you a wonderful story about
trees.
Game and song: "The Miner."
Gift: From variety of material let children choose what they need —
some to make coal car ; some fence coal yard ; some make coal carts,
hod, etc.
Occupation: Paper cutting, grate from black paper. Represent fire
with colored crayons.
Gas
Wednesday
Circle talk, songs and games: Review story of Tuesday. After the
day's story, make gas as described in story.
Game: Miners digging coal to make gas.
Gift: Fourth, co-operative work. Build palace.
Occupation: Toothpicks and peas. Make a gas jet.
Joe-Boy at Kindergarten
• Thursday
Circle talk, songs and games: After the story has been told. What
games do you think Joe-Boy played at the kindergarten? Which
one do you think he liked best ? Why ?
Play favorite games.
Gift: Third (entirely free use).
Occupation: Folding lunch basket. Let older children use raffia, wrap-
ping a simple basket, by use of wires, placed upright, in a circular
disk.
Joe-Boy's Cow
Friday
Circle talk, songs and games: What do you like to drink for your
breakfast? Where do you get it? Where does the milk come
from ? Shall I tell you about Joe-Boy's cow ?
Game: Grass mowing. Pumping water for the cow.
70 LITTLE FOLKS' LAND
Gift Period: Show milking stool and let children contrive how to
make one.
Occupation: Milk pail and pans made of tin foil.
Seventh Week— Food
Lady Cow's Butter
Monday
LADY COW and her brown baby liked their new home at Joe-Boy's
house very much, and every night Betty came from the barn with
the bucket brim full of milk, which she strained in the big pans
on the pantry shelf. Indeed, Lady Cow gave so much milk that even
Father Gipsy and Mother Gipsy and Joe-Boy and Betty and the brown
baby could not drink it all! And then Mother Gipsy, told Joe-boy she
was going to town to buy something — to buy something
That was big at the bottom
And little at the top.
And something inside
Went flipity-flop!
Can you guess what that was ? To be sure, a churn ! That was the
very first riddle that I ever learned, and Joe-Boy guessed it, too, because
he had heard it at kindergarten the day they played "churning." So, he
was very glad, and Mother Gipsy took him with her to the hardware
store and they bought one of the old-fashioned churns, with the dasher
inside that went "flipity-flop." And then just as soon as they got home
Joe-Boy wanted to churn ! But Mother Gipsy said :
"Dear me, who ever heard of churning butter until the milk turns
to clabber! Why, we'll have to skim the cream from all the pans of
milk and the pour it into the churn and let it set all night before it will
be ready to churn. By morning it will be ready and then I'll let you
see how you like churning, and we'll surprise Father Gipsy with some
fresh, yellow butter for his dinner."
So that night Toe-Boy watched Mother Gipsy skim the cream from
the pans of milk and get the churn ready and, sure enough, by the next
morning the milk had turned to clabber and was ready to be churned
into butter, and, sure enough, when Joe-Boy churned something inside
LITTLE FOLKS' LAND 71
went "flipity-flop," just as the riddle said it would, you know. And then
Joe-Boy lifted up the top to see it go flipity-flop, and the milk splashed all
out into his eyes and nose and hair! And Mother Gipsy said: "W-h-y,
we don't churn with the top open, — we just listen to the flipity-flop."
Then Joe-Boy wanted her to sing a song about the butter — he
always wanted songs about everything — so Mother Gipsy sang:
"Come butter come, come butter come,
Joe-Boy's out here waiting for some.
"Come butter come, come butter come,
Mother Gipsy's out here waiting for some.
"Come butter come, come butter come.
Father Gipsy's out yonder waiting for some.
"Come butter come, come butter come,
Betty is out here waiting for some."
Then Joe-Boy clapped his hands and said, "Oh, see, mother, see!
it's coming! Ever so many yellow specks — a mother speck, a papa speck
and little baby specks!"
And then he ran and brought Betty, so she could see, too. By and
by, when all the butter had come, Mother Gipsy gathered it into a ball
with the dasher and then she put it in a bowl and poured cool water
over it and then took the paddle and pressed and pressed all of the milk
out, and put in some salt, and then molded it into a most beautiful cake
of butter, with rosebuds on top.
And when Father Gipsy came home to dinner — there was a fresh
cake of yellow butter! And he had some on his bread and Mother
Gipsy had some on her bread, and Joe-Boy had some on his bread, and
Betty had some on her bread — and it was so nice. Then Father Gipsy
said:
"I wonder who helped to get this nice butter for our dinner?"
And Mother Gipsy said, "Well, the hay helped, the cow helped,
Betty helped, the churn helped, Joe-Boy helped, the store man helped,
and I helped!"
Now, how do you suppose they all helped?
72 LITTLE FOLKS' LAND
The Little Sick Girl
Tuesday
THAT night, when Joe-Boy was tucked away in his white iron bed,
he said, "Tell me a story, please, mother." And Mother Gipsy
said, "What must I tell you about ?" And Joe-Boy said, "About cows."
And then Mother Gipsy smiled as she gave him a love pinch on his
cheek and said, "You must think a great deal about cows these days.
Let me see, — I'll tell you about how a cow's milk made a little sick
girl strong."
"Once -upon -a-time there was a little girl who had been very sick —
so sick that all of the red blood, which made the roses bloom in her cheeks,
had gone away, and the little girl was very white and thin. So the
mother sent for the doctor to see if he could give her some medicine
which would make the little girl strong again — so the roses would
bloom in her cheeks. But the doctor shook his head and said, 'I have no
medicine that can make the little girl strong again, but go and ask the
cow — she will give you milk, fresh and warm, and when the little girl
drinks it, why, she will grow strong, — and the roses will bloom in her
cheeks again.'
"Then the mother took a pitcher and went to the cow, and she said,
'Kind cow, will you please give me a pitcher of milk, fresh and warm?
Then I will take it to my little girl, she will drink it and it will make
her strong, and the roses will bloom in her cheeks again.' But the cow
shook her head and said, 'I have no milk in my bag. Go bring me clover,
fresh and sweet, that I may eat; then will I have milk in my bag, and
will give you a pitcher full, and you may take it to your little girl, that
she may drink it and grow strong, that the roses may bloom in her cheeks
again.'
"So the mother went to the farmer, and said, 'Kind farmer, will you
please give me an armful of clover, fresh and sweet? Then will I take
it to the cow, that she may eat and have milk in her bag. She will then
give me a pitcherful, frdsh and warm, and I will take it to my little girl;
that she may drink it and grow strong, and then the roses will bloom in
her cheeks again.' But the farmer shook his head and said, 'I will give
you an armful of clover, fresh and sweet, if the sunbeams and the rain-
drops will fall upon it and make it grow. Then you may take it to the
cow, that she may eat and have milk in her bag, and give you a pitcherful,
LITTLE FOLKS' LAND 73
fresh and warm, and you may take it to your little girl, that she may
drink it and grow strong, that the roses may bloom in her cheeks again.'
"Then the mother looked up to the clouds, and she said, 'Oh, sun-
beams and raindrops, will you please fall upon the clover and make it
grow ? Then the farmer will give me an armful, fresh and sweet. Then
will I take it to the cow, that she may eat and have milk in her bag. She
will then give a pitcherful, fresh and warm, and I will take it to my
little girl, that she may drink it and grow strong, and then the roses will
bloom in her cheeks again.'
"Then the sunbeams and the raindrops smiled, every one, and they
said, 'Yes, if God will send us, we will fall.' And God did. And the
sunbeams and raindrops fell upon the clover, and it grew sweet and fresh,
and the farmer gave the mother an armful, and she carried it to the
cow, and the cow ate and had milk in her bag, and she gave the mother a
pitcherful, fresh and warm, and she hurried home and gave it to her
little girl, and the little girl drank the milk, and it was changed into rich,
red blood, which ran through all the veins in the little girl's body —
along her feet and legs and arms, and into her thin, white cheeks, and she
grew stronger and stronger and stronger — and then the roses bloomed
in her cheeks again. And the mother was very happy."
"Did she say, 'Thank you, pretty cow?'" asked Joe-Boy.
Farmer Green's Grain
Wednesday
ii\ ^ 7'ELL, Dick," said Farmer Green, "did you carry that cow
safely to Mr. Gipsy's house?"
"Yes, indeed," said Dick, "and the little fellow that
lives there, named Joe-Boy, was very happy to see the cow, too! He
patted her on the back and he smoothed her on the head and he called
her 'pretty cow' over and over again. I know she will be well taken care
of in her new home, for there was a nice supper waiting for her and a nice
red barn for her to live in, with a window and a straw bed."
"That's nice," said Farmer Green ; "I do not like to sell my cows to
people unless they treat them kindly. But come, we must do some plant-
ing today ; I believe that very same little Joe-Boy will be wanting some
oatmeal and bread to eat with his milk by and by ; and how will he ever
get it unless the farmer plants and the miller grinds and the grocer sells,
that his mother may bake? Come, we will do our part — plow the ground
and sow the seed."
e saw the twenty
little biscuits and the twenty little pones of bread, and the twenty little
dishes of oatmeal and the twenty little mugs of milk! Yes, they danced
and danced and danced, and while the children ate, the kindergarten
teacher told them all about the farm where Lady Cow came from, and
about Farmer Green who had planted the grain, and about the miller
who had ground the corn and wheat and oats into flour and meal, and
about the grocer who had sold some to Mother Gipsy, and how busily
78 LITTLE FOLKS' LAND
she and Betty had worked to bake for them the twenty little biscuits and
the twenty little pones of bread, and the oatmeal flakes so brown —
which every child likes to eat. And then the children gave five claps as
a "thank you," — a clap for Farmer Green, a clap for the miller, a clap for
the grocer and a clap for Mother Gipsy and Betty. And so everybody
had the nicest time!
Don't you wish you'd been there?
Program for Seventh Week — Food
Lady Cow's Butter
Monday
Circle talk, songs and games: Have you ever seen butter made? How
was it made? (Let cream be stirred in a bowl that children may
see the formation of butter.)
Play: "Churning." Take some to grandmother, gather nuts, etc., when
* returning.
Gift: Second. Use cylinder for the churns. Have a toy churn, and
real cream, for each child to use in turn.
Occupation: Modelling or cardboard construction. Make a churn.
The Little Sick Girl
Tuesday
Circle talk, songs and games: What do you like best to drink for break-
fast? What do you suppose is best to make little children grow
strong — milk or coffee? Then, which would you rather drink?
Listen while I tell you about a cow that helped a little sick girl.
Play: Cloverfield, sunbeams, raindrops, mother, sick child, farmer.
(Dramatize the story.)
Gift: Tiles. — Represent the clover field with beaded pegs.
Occupation: Parquetry circles or free cutting. Clover leaves. Older
children — water color leaf and blossom.
Farmer Green's Grain
Wednesday
Circle talk, songs and games: Show grains of corn, wheat and oats. Do
you like oatmeal? Do you know which one of these seeds it is
made of? Do you remember all about Farmer Green and Dick
LITTLE FOLKS' LAND 79
and the little sister cotton seeds ? I have another story about Farmer
Green, and some seeds like these we have looked at. (Stor>'. )
Game: Would you know how does the farmer?" (emphasize thresh-
ing).
Gift: 8th. — Sticks — Outline the three fields (emphasize dimensions).
Occupation: Shell corn, thresh wheat and oats. Fold bin, to hold seed,
ready for mill.
The Miller
Thursday
Circle talk, songs and games: Take the children to visit a mill. If not
possible, show picture of a mill, wheel, hopper and stones, also of
grain product. Relate story for the day.
Game: "Merry little river."
Gift: Fourth. Mill sequence. (Construct a toy mill wheel and show
its action.)
Occupation: Folding. Sacks filled with meal, flour and oatmeal.
The Kindergarten Lunch
Friday
Circle talk, songs and games: What is made from cornmeal? Flour?
Oatmeal? Would you like to hear about the party Mother Gipsy
gave the kindergarten children? (Relate story.)
Game: Mill. — Sell the flour to the grocer, and buy for Joe-Boy.
Gift: Period. Bake biscuit and cakes.
Occupation: Period. Picnic lunch.
Eighth Week
Joe-Boy's Letter
Civil Relationships — Postman, Policeman, Fireman, Doctor, Preacher.
Monday — Postman
NEXT to Joe-Boy's kindergarten teacher, there were five friends
that he loved very much indeed, and I must not forget to tell you
about them. You may count them on your fingers, beginning
with your thumb, as I tell you their names: The postman, the police-
man, the fireman, the doctor and the preacher. He loved them, every
one, and because he loved them he had made each one of them something
80 LITTLE FOLKS' LAND
pretty at kindergarten — and they have them now, so I am told. He had
known the postman longer than any of the others, because, you see, he
had been bringing letters and papers to Joe-Boy's house ever since it had
been built, and that was before Joe-Boy learned to walk, you know. No
weather had been too hot or too cold or too wet or too windy for the
postman to come, two times every day, so Joe-Boy had learned to love
and watch for his cheery whistle, as he came hurrying down the street
with his big leather mail sack stuffed full of letters for all the people.
It was always Joe-Boy who ran to the gate to meet him and get the
letters and papers, and he always asked the postman the very same ques-
tion, with a most wistful little smile on his face: "Is there any letter
for me today, Mr. Postman?"
And always the postman would look through his sack very care-
fully before he shook his head and said, "Not today, my little man, but
here is one for your mother and a paper for your father. Won't that
do?"
So Joe-Boy would take the mail and run into the house to Mother
Gipsy, but he wanted to get a letter for his very own so much he didn't
know what to do, and he kept wondering why somebody did not write
him one. But the postman always had a smile for Joe-Boy, ^yway, and
they grew to be the best of friends as the days went by. Sometimes when
it was very warm Joe-Boy would have a glass of cool water waiting for
the postman, when he came, and if it was very cold weather, why, he
would always ask him to come in and warm, though, of course, the post-
man couldn't do that, because the people were waiting for their letters,
you know, and he did not have time to stop. Then, when Joe-Boy had
started to kindergarten, the postman was the very first one he told about
it, and he made him a red basket with a gold handle to it, too, and the
postman thought that was most beautiful. And one day, not so very long
after that, the postman stopped in front of Joe-Boy's gate and blew and
blew and blew his whistle — so loud and long and merry that Joe-Boy
dropped his linen picture book on the steps in a hurry and ran with a skip
and a hop to the gate. And.when he said, "Is there any letter for me today,
Mr. Postman?" why, the postman took his sack down from his shoulder
and said very slowly, "L-e-t m-e s-e-e," as he looked through his sack. And
then he pulled out a big, fat letter and said, "Why, to be sure, this letter
must be for you! It reads, 'Master Joe Boy Gipsy.' " Then the post-
man laughed and Joe-Boy laughed as he took his letter and skipped to
LITTLE FOLKS' LAND SI
the house to show it to Betty and Mother Gipsy — such a happy, happy
boy, because he had a letter.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! mother, I did get a letter!" he said; "open it
quickly and read me what it says. Oh ! Oh ! Oh !"
And when Mother Gipsy opened it, just you guess whom it was
from? No, indeed, it wasn't his grandmother, and it wasn't his grand-
father, and it wasn't his uncle, nor his aunt, nor his cousin — it was none
of these. Why, it was from the postman himself! Now, wasn't that
funny ? And the letter said :
"Dear Joe-Boy:
"I write you this letter to tell you that I love you. I thank you very
much for the cool water you sometimes give me and for the pretty red
basket, too. I wish I were like you, and could go to kindergarten every
day. It must be great fun.
"I haven't time to write you any more now.
As ever, your friend, „_, _, „
The Postman.
How the Policeman Helped Joe-Boy
Tuesday — Policeman
JOE-BOY was so very proud of his letter that he almost wore it out
carrying it around with him. And, of course, he took it to kinder-
garten the very next day, because he wanted the children to see
it. The kindergarten teacher read it to them, while Joe-Boy smiled
and smiled and smiled, and the children thought it was a vtry nice letter
indeed, and everybody wanted to play "postman" right away! So the
teacher sang them a pretty song about a postman while they played the
game, and ever>'body in the circle got letters, and they had such a nice
time reading them to one another. Then when they went to the table
they built mail boxes and mail trains and answered their letters, folding
pretty envelopes to send them off in, so you see they had a merry time of
it, playing "postman."
After kindergarten, when Joe-Boy started home, he held his precious
letter tight in his hand, because he was afraid he might lose it, you know,
and every once in a while he would stop and peep into the envelope to
see if it was still there. Then he thought he would like to read it again,
so he pulled it out and was walking slowly down the street, reading —
as he had sometimes seen Father Gipsy do — and all at once, before he
82 LITTLE FOLKS' LAND
knew it, somebody ran up behind him and snatched the letter right out of
his hand, — o-oh! And when Joe-Boy turned round to see, there stood
Billy Sanders — a great big boy, and he held the letter away up high, so
Joe-Boy couldn't reach it, and then he said, "It's mine now! Oh, yes, it's
mine now! I'd just like to see you get it! Jump, sonny, jump!"
But Billy Sanders wasn't a kindergarten boy, — oh, no, indeed! I
don't think Billy went to any school, and he wasn't a kind boy, either,
because when Joe-Boy said, "Oh, Billy, Billy, do please give me my
letter! It's mine, Billy; the postman brought it to me!" Billy only
laughed and shook his head as he held the letter up, higher still, and said :
"No, sir! this is my letter now, and you'll never get it any more!
I'm going to run home and lock it up in my trunk."
And then Billy ran around the corner just as fast as he could go,
and took the letter with him, and Joe-Boy couldn't catch him. But some-
body else did, yes, sir! For just as Billy dashed around the corner he
ran right into the arms of a big, fat policeman, and the policeman held
him very tight, and Billy wriggled and wriggled and wriggled, but he
couldn't get away. And then the policeman saw the letter and he
thought something was wrong, so he said, "Hi there, Billy! What makes
you run around street corners like a steam engine, knocking into people
on the sidewalks? That's no way for a gentleman to do! What letter
is that you have in your hand?"
And then Billy hung his head and said, "It's mine." Wasn't that
dreadful? But the policeman said: "Just hand it here and let me see,
please. Why, Billy, this is no letter of yours! It reads, on the envelope,
'Master Joe-Boy Gipsj^' I hope you haven't been doing anything
wrong, foi; I only like brave, true boys to live in our town. Come right
along with me, sir, and let me see about this letter."
And Billy didn't want to go, very much, but the policeman held
his hand, and when they got around the corner there stood dear little
Joe-Boy, trying his very best not to cry — because he wanted to be a brave
boy, you know. And as soon as the policeman saw Joe-Boy he knew
right away Billy had taken the letter from him, and he felt very much
ashamed that big boys like Billy would take things away from little boys
and then tell stories about it, too — that was most dreadful!
So the big policeman looked at Billy very hard, and he said, "Now,
Billy, you just hand that letter over to Joe-Boy right this very minute,
and don't you ever let me hear of you doing such mean things any more !"
LITTLE FOLKS' LAND 83
And then Billy handed that letter over to Joe-Boy in a hurry, and
he felt very much ashamed of himself, too. And when Joe-Boy had his
letter again his eyes got full of sunshine, and he said, "Oh, thank you,
Billy, I vi^anted my letter so much !" And then he ran off home and told
Mother Gipsy all about it.
"That was too bad," said Mother Gipsy, "but I'm sure you are
glad we have such good, kind policemen in our town, to help people do
the right things. You can always go to them, when you get into trouble
on the streets. I hope you did not forget to thank him for helping you ?'"
"I just thanked Billy," said Joe-Boy, "but tomorrow, when I see
him, I won't forget."
And sure enough he didn't, for the very next morning, as he went to
kindergarten, he saw the policeman, and then he thanked him. And the
policeman smiled and smiled, and that is how they got to be such good
friends, for after that Joe-Boy alwaj^s called him "my policeman."
How Lady Cow Was Saved
Wednesday — Fireman
THE fire engine house was on the next block from Joe-Boy's house,
and, of course, when the fire alarm rang he was one of the very
first to see the large strong horses dash out with the engine and
wagons and gallop away to fight the fire. Often, at kindergarten, Joe-
Boy plaj'ed "fireman" with the other children, and that was almost as
much fun as being a truly true fireman. Sometimes he would be one of
the horses to dash off at the first tap of the bell and sometimes he would
be a part of one of the long wagons and sometimes he would be one of
the firemen to run up the ladders or throw the water from the hose
pipes over the burning house.
But one day the children had a happy, happy time, because the
kindergarten teacher took them all to the fire engine house, and let them
see everything! There were the shining engines which the firemen
kept so clean and bright, and the hose wagons and the hook and ladder
wagon and the brave white horses, standing right under the harness, all
ready to be buckled in, at the first tap of the bell. They knew as well
as the firemen did what it meant to do their very best, and, I tell you,
they could run! Upstairs were all of the iron beds where the firemen
slept, and near by was the big brass pole that they had to slide down when
the fire alarm rang in the night. They did not have time to come down
84 LITTLE FOLKS' LAND
steps, you know— no, indeed, that was too slow for a fireman! He
would just hold to the brass pole and down he would come in a twinkle!
One of the firemen showed Joe-Boy just how he did it, and then Joe-