under cents, and the dollars under dollars. The numbers may then be added as if the periods were not there. Add $33.18, $166.02, $133.63. Put the Write the dollars under dollars and cents under cents, and subtract as in simple numbers. period in the remainder to show the cents. Multiply as in simple numbers, and put a period in the product to show the cents. DIVIDING DOLLARS AND CENTS. Divide as in simple numbers, and put a period in the quotient when you get to the period in the dividend. HISTORY OF OUR COINAGE. The American Indians used strings of shell beads, called wampum, as money. If one Indian bought a blanket from another, he gave so many of these shells in exchange. The colonists at that time used musket balls, furs, pelts, and tobacco as money. To put a price on a horse in the southern colonies was to estimate its worth in so many pounds of tobacco. In 1652, the colony of Massachusetts decided that lighter and better money be coined, and John Hull was made mint-master. He struck off silver shillings, sixpences, and threepences for the colony, and in pay ment was allowed to make a certain number for himself. In 1659, Lord Baltimore caused sixpences and groats to be coined in Maryland. This was the second colony to have a mint. Florida and Louisiana had mints of their own before they became parts of the United States. In 1789, the constitution of the United States was ratified, and in it was an article providing for the establishment of a United States mint. No state was to make its own money. The mint was established at Philadelphia in 1792, and a year later was coining gold and silver money. Other mints have since been established in New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City, and Denver. Where are these places? Derivation of Names of United States Money: It may be interesting to know that the word dollar is supposed to have come from Dale, the name of a small town where dollars were first coined. Dime is from the French word disme, which means tenth. Cent comes from the Latin word centum, meaning hundred. Mill is also from the Latin, coming from mille, a thousand. Eagles were named after our national bird. DECIMAL FRACTIONS. TALK: By the time the teacher takes up the actual work with decimal fractions, the children are familiar with writing dollars and cents. Thus, the children have been using the decimal sys tem in a simple way, only they did not call it so. Since our money system is based on the decimal scale, they can perhaps approach the decimal fraction more easily from that direction. The children know that, 1 cent is one hundredth of a dollar. 10 cents are ten hundredths of a dollar. 25 cents are twenty-five hundredths of a dollar. Instead of writing the 10 cents as % of a dollar, they have been writing the number 10 with a period before it, and the sign $ before the whole, as $4.10. They read this "four dollars and ten cents," which they readily see means the same as, "four and ten-hundredths dollars." This has made the child familiar with writing simple decimals as far as hundredths, only he has not called them decimals. His work has perhaps in cluded much that is given on the next few pages. SIMPLE DECIMAL WORK. Almost as soon as pupils become familiar with easy common fractions, they may be shown that on tenth may be written in two ways, thus: At first, write only tenths in the two ways, and give plenty of examples until pupils are familiar with Pupils will soon prefer to add and subtract such fractions in the decimal way. This helps to drive away the idea that decimal fractions are something to be feared. Have the children read such expressions as 4.5, in two ways: four and five-tenths, and forty-five tenths. Show them that both expressions have the same value. Use many simple examples to make this clear. They will enjoy examples like these: The results in all such work should be given from inspection. With a little practice, it can be made a very rapid and pleasant exercise. Let the pupils copy, and write results for similar examples. Dictate many numbers to write, using the decimal point, as, four and five tenths, forty-five tenths, two hundred four tenths. Write numbers in figures and have them read in the two ways mentioned, as, 1.4 =ཝནྟུ .6 7.2 1.8 3.4 NOTE. The child's mind is not equally active at all times. Some of this work will require more drill than other parts. Give enough. Review often. |