The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1852-1855, 1854-11-16
importance Of PuuctuaI ana
Regular Attendance A nj SrlionIs.


Regular Attendance at Schools.
We wish that this number Of the Jour.
nal could reach every one Of 10000 fam
HES, whose children wiIlattend school dur.
ing the coming fan and winter; that we
could urge upon them, by every consider
alton which could influence the hearts
OF parents, TO have their children ready 10
commence attending on the day the school
begins, and to allow nothing but sickness
or absolute necessity to detain them for a
single halliday, or even an hour, during
the session. --r .l .
One of the greatest impediments to the
improvement Of our schools and the ad-
vancement Of the scholars, is their irreg.
ular attendance. Scholars cannot be
taught unless they are in school; they will
not learn unless they have time to study.
they will no. love their school. or feel an
Interest in their studies, unless they attend
regularly SO as TO follow the course Of study
pursued PuDils must, in school Of any
size, be instructed in classes. To do this.
regular lessons must be assigned, there
must be irregular time for studyino ana
the scholars must be present 10 do both. or
they cannot be expected to profit. Ifnot
present 10 study the lessons, they cannot
be benefited by the recitation or the in
structions of the teachers; and if absent
from the recitation they loose both these
advantages, as well as the opportunity Of
hearing the lesson recited by others, which
has tendency to impress it upon the mind
even more effectually than Silent study.
1t needs no argument to show that the
absence of a scholar once or twice week,
or even three or four times in quarter,
must do much to destroy all the interest hee
may have in his studies. But this is moi
all; his absence diminishes the spirit and in.
terestofhis class. and discourages his teach.
er. On this point it should be remember
ed that very few scholars come into schoo
with an active earnest desire to learn. will
a real love for knowledge. True, this il
not so much to be wondered at when W,
think of the multitude of Influences calcu.
lated to draw their attention, from ever,
thing OF serious and profitable. character
The teacher has, therefore, to awaken II
their minds that interest without whicl
they cannot be expected to study or MAKE
any effort to improve. This requires con
slant and unremitting effort on his part
and an amount of ingenuity, tact and skill
rarely thought 9fby those not familiar witt
teaching. And when the teacher has madt
a favorable commencement with a scholar
has learned his peculiarities, secured hi,
confidence, and awakened something Ike {
proper degree of interest in the employ.
ments of school, a single absence for the
purpose of doing some trifling errand, at
tending circus or seeing its company en-.
ter the town, will often undo the work OF
weeks or months; and the scholar return,
to school to idle his time, or otherwis,
thwart the teacherin his plans, and des
troy the pleasantness and profitableness .
the school.
This is no fancy sketch: such incident
are occurring frequently in almost every
school. The children who DO Thus arr
from every rank and condition in life. they
are not confined to the ignorant or the vi
cious; nor those who might plead povert,
or necessity as an excuse.
Parents will you take this subject int
consideration? Will you doyour part to
ward correcting this fruitful source of diff
Guilty and disturbance in your schools? 4
year or two since, tho Superintendent o
Schools in one ofour large cities made tn
following statement: a. ~ .....
Scarcely difficulty has occurredsinc
the schools were organized. n9ta com
plant for punishment, or anything of tn
kind, which cannot be traced directly o
indirectly to tardiness, truancy or som
form of irregularity in attendance. Ye
the parents of such scholars are too fire.
quently the first to find fault both with tb
government and management of schools!'
The correction ofthis formidable evil de
pends entirely upon parents: the power i
in their. hands. A. D. L.
Ohio Journal Of Education.