wagon are full and the children take turns in carrying or hauling. As they walk along together, they will like to say over their fall verses and this new one may be given if appropriate.

"The goldenrod is yellow,

The corn is turning brown,
The trees in apple orchard
With fruit are bending down."

Conversation and prayer:

When the school is reached, the teacher and children divide the fruit and vegetables-perhaps keeping some for the school pets, if there are any, and for a fruit party the next time they come together. The prayer at dismissal may thank God for the good time of the morning and for the fruit and vegetables for the winter.

LESSON XI

THE GIFT OF THE HARVEST (CONTINUED)

Conversation pictures:

As the children gather about the teacher she may recall their excursion by pictures of fruit and vegetables. The pictures may show the garden or orchard earlier in the year, at blossom time or in the late summer. The children will enjoy the song of "The Orchard":

"If you go out to the orchard,

You will find the blossoms fair.
Some are pink and some are pearly,
And their fragrance fills the air.

"If you go out to the orchard,

You will find the apples sweet.
Some are red and some are yellow,
All are very good to eat."

(Songs for the Little Child.)

The children will remember their own garden experiences and will tell about the planting, the watering, and the weeding. The teacher may ask what the plants need most in order to grow and produce the fruit and vegetables. Some of the children will know the necessity of rain and sunshine.

Prayer:

Not only the gardener's or farmer's part in the harvest but God's part in the giving of rain and sunshine should be stressed. The children will gladly join in the prayer: "We thank you, dear heavenly Father, for the harvest."

Story: Farmer Brown and the Apples.

After a brisk march to the garden (make believe) and back again the children may gather for a story:

Once upon a time there was a good old farmer who had a wonderful apple orchard. Every fall he gave a basket of apples to each poor woman in the village, and he was always passing apples over the fence to the children as they went to and fro to school. When he walked in the village his pockets were bulging with apples which he doled out to hungry boys, to bright-eyed little girls, and even to the old men who sat in the sunshine reading their newspapers.

One fall Farmer Brown, for that was the name of the owner of the apple orchard, had the rheumatism so that he could not gather his apples or store them in the cellar. He was very much worried because he was afraid that a heavy frost would come some night and spoil the apple crop.

"Mirandy," he said to his good wife, "I don't know what we'll do without any apples to eat in the long winter evenings and I'm sure the children will miss them too."

"Don't worry," his wife would say. "Perhaps it won't frost till you're able to be about."

Now, there were some boys in the village who had been eating Farmer Brown's apples ever since they could toddle. They had missed the old man since he had had the rheumatism and they knew that he could not get his apples in before frost. They planned a little surprise for him and his good wife Mirandy. One night when the two were fast asleep, the boys came to the orchard, carefully picked the apples until there was not one red or yellow beauty left anywhere, packed them in barrels and rolled the barrels to Farmer Brown's cellar. All this was done so quickly and so quietly that not even the mice in the cellar knew nor the old horse in the meadow.

When Farmer Brown woke in the morning a heavy frost

lay on roof and fence and garden. "O, Mirandy," groaned Farmer Brown, "our apples are frost bitten sure as I'm standin' here!" And without waiting for a reply Farmer Brown hobbled out to the orchard, but never an apple could he find anywhere. After looking all about he walked slowly back to the house with a dazed look on his face. Suddenly his eye lighted on the open cellar door.

"I remember closin' that door the last thing before I went in the house for supper," said he aloud. "May be whoever took our apples helped themselves to barrels." He went down the cellar steps and the moment he stood inside the door he saw the barrels of apples, red and yellow beauties, a full dozen of them.

"Mirandy," he called in a trembling voice, "come here quick! Who do you suppose has been in our apple orchard and fixed up this surprise?"

"I'm sure I couldn't guess," said Mirandy, as she wiped away the tears, "but whoever they be, God bless them. It might have been some of them lively boys that you're always feedin' apples to. There's no tellin'."

Song:

The children may join in singing the song of The Orchard. Handwork:

They will enjoy drawing apples and other fruits, or, if accustomed to using paints, painting them. Crayons and manila paper should be used for the drawing, and painting paper and paints for the painting. Apples and other fruits may be brought into the room where the children are working so that they can look at them to get clearer impressions of form and color.

LESSON XII

HOME ACTIVITIES

ALONG with the changes out of doors there are changes inside to correspond, and the little child is a part of these and very much interested in them. He likes to tell what is going on at home and the teacher helps him to appreciate better father's and mother's part. The child loves them more for the benefits received and God more for giving him a father and mother.

Song:

After the children have greeted one another they may sing any of the songs which they have learned. A song period is enjoyed either at the beginning or end of the morning and should occur frequently; in fact, the children should have some opportunity to sing during each class period in order that the song may become a permanent possession of the child. Little children enjoy the old songs with which they are familiar even more than the new ones. Certain songs may be dramatized while others lend themselves to a rhythmic response in clapping, tapping, or humming. Sometimes the pianist may play a few notes in order that the children may guess the name of the song. If the children or the pianist do not ask for "The Orchard," the teacher may suggest it. The song may recall the story of "Farmer Brown" which the teacher and children can tell again together. (Story and song given in Topic VI, Lesson II.)

Conversation:

The teacher may ask the children, if they do not volunteer