Plymouth banner., 1854-01-05
The Seh0ol Books Of the State Board.

The Seh0ol Books OF the State Board.
We have received By Express from the
State Superintc ndent. Prof. Larabee, a
set OF the School Books. recommended By
the State Board of Education. for which
he will please accept our thanks. We
Suppose they have been sent for review;
aud We have taken as much time as the
pressure of business duties would permit,
to examine them, and especially to COM
pare them with the Books in use in this
part Of the State. and which have been
endorsed and recon ended three succc s.
sive years by the Teachers Institutes and
Educational Conventions Of Northern
Iudiana
The Indiana Readers" as they are cali.
by the State Board. appear to be McGui-
fey's Readers, with new covers on, fe W
pieces left ont. lad oihers disarranged, so
that the old and new work cannot be
used together. If the reading matter in
McGnfley's Readers is to be used. why
was this disarrange ment permitted by the
Board. inevitably causing confusion in
schools where the Old Series are now US
ed? Il will of course force such TO buy
new books. and thus put many thousands
Of dollars into the pockets of the publish
ers and book sellers; but We think the
State Board should have protected the
citizens of the State against the utterly
needless expense incurred by the revam-
ping.
Al to the merits Of these works. com
pared with Park-rs Readers. (the series
adopted by the Teachers and friends of
Education in Northern Indiana) we have
the testimony of some 800 practical
Teachers in favor of the latter: nearly all
OF whom have laid aside McGufley's (or
what is the same. the Indiana Readers)
and adopted Parker's. We would give
more for the recommendation of such
body Of men. who know by experience
aud daily use what Book should be.
than for the endorsement Of any Board,
however talented, whose members with
but one exception) have certainly no, had
any practical experience with School
Books. 1--WE say it without intending any
disrespecO since they graduated from the
birch OF their scheolmasters.
The contrast in the amount of matter
in The Readers Of the two Series is mark
ed and singular; besides being decidedly
against the series approved BY the State
Board. The First Indiana Reader con
tains but GO pages. while Parker's First
has l20. The Second Indiana has IA
pages. while Parker's Second has 2O4
The Third Indiana has lG8. while Parker's
Third has 256; showing very wide mar
gin for profits TO the publishers Of the
McGuney or Indiana Series.
In very hasiy examination. we fnd
that in McGuifry's Speller are number
of words scarcely ever used. such as ex
tramundane. antepaschal. incommunica-
biiity. &c. while many words III common
Us are no, to be found in the Book q, all
In the Third Indiana Reader. We. find the
following definition at ppge 32-"LovE
LY; very much. greatly. We can find no
such definition Of the word in Webster;
ana are puzzled TO tell what i, means. 1t
wilt surely mislead the pupil who relies
upon its definitions. Again. 81 page
III, the student is instructed that the
word "LEvELLED" means "throw down on
the ground He learns this Of course,
or should. thoroughly; hut few 2ages
further on he reads at page l54. without
any further explanation Of the word. or
any inlimation that it has there differ
ent meaning. that "a hunter leUcled his
gun with much precision" Is he TO un-
aerstand that he threw it on the ground?
If not. why is not the change in lis sense
explained?
1t must have been an oversight in the
Legislature when they left the power Of
recomme nding Books in the hands of the
Board Of Education. after the Circuit Su-
oerintendent system was struck off. If
The Snard Of Education consisted as orig
inalIy pro posed in the School Law. of
delegates from I'll parts of the State.
teachers would doubtless be generally
willing to abide by their decision But
where the matter is TO be decided by three
men only, two of whom make no pIeten
sions to practical knowledge on the mer-
its of School Books, and where they seem
10 have also taken such special pains to
overslaugh the wishes and expressed
opinions of the Northern third of the
State. il cannot be expected that those
who have spent years in the school room
will stultify themselves by an abandon
ment of their long recorded and we'll en-
dorsed opinion in order TO accede to such
a misindgment.
With the ARITnMETIcs also our Teach
ers are generally familiar. We notice
no new features. no pt rticulNr advantages
over Davies" the work adopted by the