How does March teach his students?

Teaching is tedious and time consuming work because none of the freed slaves have ever had formal, Western education. They do not know how to hold a pencil, let alone shape letters with one. Despite this, his students' favorite subjects are history and geography, but he is also teaching them mathematics and penmanship. March often teaches through storytelling, but he is overwhelmed by the amount of students in his classroom - there is never less than fifty at a time - and he wishes he could have an assistant.