Materials of Instruction D . THE ORGANIZATION OF THE PROGRAM
The organization of the program of social science instruction in terms of age levels or school grades is fundamentally conditioned by the experience and powers of the child . i.
In the process of maturing the child manifests a twofold development : he extends his experience and he deepens his powers ; he progresses 2.
from the near to the remote in time and space, and from elementary sensory response to the most abstract forms of thought ; he moves out from the family into the neighborhood, the commonwealth, the nation, and the world, and from the present to the most distant reaches of the past and the future ; he proceeds from absorption in his immediate physical surroundings to an appreciation of such universal concepts as liberty, equality, and fraternity ; he advances from a condition ¢ of helplessness in social situations to ability to participate effectively in group life, to engage in profound movements of social reform and reconstruction, and even to provide political, intellec55