Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1845-08-07
For the wa,chman and journal.
OUR COMMON SCHOOLS.-No. TIT.

For the Wa,chman and journal
OUR COMMON SCHOOLS.-No. III.
have spoken of the poor school houses now-in
use, and of the unqualified teachers EMPLOYED in
vermont. ] have complained that parents feel SO
hue interest in the subject of education, and that
we nave no standard by which to measure the quail
lhcatlons OF Our Teachers and but little disposition
to secure The services Of such as ure competent to
discharge the duties of their high calling
mere must De change in public opinion-a
waking up on this subject, and there must be Leg
's'dhre dction or our common schools (now com
paratively useessl will soon lose every thing but
the name that is valuable. We already suffer in
comparison with the neghboring States and we
must suffer so long as we neglect as we have done
the cause of universal education. Our common
schools are the veins in which flows the life-blood
OF our State. If into these we introduce poison
or by negligence allow the blood to staqnato how
soon will disease and death cnsue. We shall sac
rifce our safety, freedom, our ALL if we fail to
lmpart to our children correct instruction. We
must educate them as intellseual moral and relip-
ous beings, or they will be i'll prepared to sustain
the responsibilities which will soon rest upon them
But proceed to point out another prominent evil
in our schools, viz: the great want of care and
system in the selection and use of school-books.-
Too many schoo-books have been written. There
are not less than 100 English spelling books more
than $40 English granmars, and ECO arithmetics
That very many Of these are good books | will not
deny. Still affirm that tiro thirds of all the arth-
metics, grammars and spelling books extant, are
no Improvement upon the books they were calcula-
ted to supercede, and that the cause of education
would not suffer thereby should they be at once
committed to the flames. This thirst for author
ship, which has created so many books, has been
source of endless confusion in our schools almost
equal to the confusion of tongues at the building
OF Babel Every author has his friends who praise
his book and aid him in introducing it, not because
the book possesses any peculiar excellence, but
because they are his friends. Thus every book
written ilnds lis way into our schools, and they are
thus rendered n continued scene of change and
confusion. Glasses become so numerous that ;he
pest OF teachers can DO comparatively nothing for
the improvement of the school. In some cases
there are In the same school from fire to Ten differ
ent reading books, and some three or four different
arlthmetcs, Biographies and grammars. The teach
er must, OF course, divide and subdvde his classes
until he is obliged to hear three reciations while he
should hear but one Thus tuo. thiras of his time
at least, is wasted. A school should be classified
according to the age and capacity of the pupils,
and parents should furnish books for this purpose,
that the classes may be as few as possible, and
uniform throughout. If change of books is made,
1t should be for the whole class school, for the
same reason A change is often desirable and
even indispensable to the best interest of the school,
Will mention one case, where an entire change
throughout our State would do much for the i'm
provement OF our schools. | refer to the arithmet-
les now in use. / have the impression that Adams
and Smiths are the books most studied For these
! would substitute Greenleaf's Introduction and
National Arithmetics. Iregard the first mentioned
as defective books. | have taught them, more or
less, for twelve years, and knotC that scholars may
| learn all they teach and still be entirely ignorant
OF first principles and not know even chy we carry
for ten and begin at the right hand to add in simple
addition. | complain of these books, as | do of
some teachers, that they give no reasons, they fix