Page:Elementary Color (IA gri c00033125012656167).djvu/86



N THE preceding sections of this book the author has aimed to so guide the teacher who is looking for aids in elementary color teaching that she can by actual experiment determine for herself the truths regarding color, and hence be able to choose such facts as are suited to the needs of her pupils from time to time, and to present them in such a logical order as, to render them of the greatest value in practical results.

It should be possible to interest the children in color more easily than in any other subject. Examples are always around them at home, in the street, in the garden and the field, if perchance they are fortunate enough to see the field, and those who see no attractive colors elsewhere certainly should find them in the schoolroom. To a teacher who is in love with the subject the world will be full of examples, every day. The beautiful yellows and greens of the spring leaves, the flowers, birds and butterflies of the summer, the autumn foliage, the sunsets and blue and purple mountains of winter, are but hints of the multitude of object lessons in color all around us; and if none of these are available the more commonplace subjects found in the latest seasonable colors of dress goods and house furnishings will be almost equally valuable. When the children are once interested they will discover, through their own observation, examples of such value as to surprise one who has had experience with only the old methods of trying to teach color, or rather the utter lack of all methods heretofore in vogue.

The value of kindergarten training has been so thoroughly demonstrated as to be beyond controversy, and all progressive school boards must soon recognize the necessity of adopting kindergarten methods in the lower primary grades, until such time as it may be possible to introduce the complete kinder-