Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1859-04-26

/ convey To OtnerS what tney nave IN their minds
| Let him ask how they would convey an idea
of what they had seen during the day. They
go along the street. they have seen houses, aud
| trees, and wagons, men, woman, and children,
and now let them. the very first day that they
go into school and sit on the benches, attempt
to represent what they have seen. Let them
all be called upon TO make figures of what they
have seen They have seen trees, and let them
| represent a tree. and while they make that at
| tempt let the teacher tell them what different
kinds of trees there are, and the difference
which exists between trees let him explain
that there is variety of trees and let him rep
| resent the elm for instance the pine. for the
elm has characteristic branch SO peculiar th at
| it can never be mistaken for pine and then
again. the maple will be represented in way en-
tlrely different from either the pine or the elm,
arising from the very nature OF the tree Here
| Prof Agassiz drew on the blackboard skeletons
of different kinds of trees, and directed attention
to them, by way ofillusiratIor.
! One who is acquainted with trees, will know
that that is a skeleton hsure of the maple, that
that is the elm. aud that that Is a pine
The teacher r.Iay explain the differences, but
then that might become tedous-tbat might be
a long process to represent all these different
kinds of trees in that way. Then let 1t be short
ened Let fork represent the elm, double
fork the maple, and on, and In the course of
time there may be impaired npon that one sub
leet an amount of information which the pupil
learn to record in that way. On another day.
let some implement of the household be brought
forward and its parts analysed and represent
ed In the same manner, and when they have
been drawn accurately and minutely, and copied
on the slate. let them be represented as 1t were,
in shorthand by figure which will come In
the SIMPLEST outline nearest the object 1t was
meant to represent. And In course Vi time, the
pupils will have collected thousands Of different
images representing things with which they
have become acquainted all OF which Will be
familiar to them and being called upon to rep
resent one of those objects, they will readily
make signs therefore and AS they advance In
that way it will be found that the signs have
become so numerous that 1t Is trying To have So
many things recorded and then Will be the
tlr,e to show the children that this can be done
in a more expeditions way-that we need not,
in order to record all the things with which we
are familiar to have as many signs as there are
different things but that everything has a
name. and having received a name, instead OF
recording the thing itself, We may record the
name.
We NAV record the sound of which we ex-
.ess the thing, and to record the sound We may
agree to let one of these signs which we use tor
elm represent part of the sound OF elm-the
E; we NAV use one of the signs by which we
represented the maple or part OF the sound Of
maple-the NJ We may use one of ,he signs for
representing the pine to signify part of the
word pine--the p and then We can combine
these signs as to represent the sounds with
which these objects are designated. That is
the way in which the letters were invented
The letters we use now may be traced back to
Phpuicia they are in imitation of the hierogly-
phice of Egypt and if the teachers only knew
them they would know at once that these three
letters which read bag are only repre-
sentation of signs made In the manner In which
these signs made by the PhnnIcians near
ly thirty five hundred years ago. They were
borrowed by the PhpuIcian merchants from
the Priests of Egypt, and then carried IN their
business transactions all over the eastern world,
and came down through the Greeks IN our al
phabet. Would not such things interest a
child +? Would they not very soon learn their
A, B, G., and while learning 1t, learn great deal
more which would be useful in their lives after
wards {? (Appiause) And what may be done
for the A, b, G. ought to be done IN every branch
of study. 1t ought to be done In tine study of
ASTRONOMY it ought to be done in the study of
geography, it ought to be done in the study of
natural history.
A mistake In our elementary education IS that
we teach everything in the same way. We re-
sort to books as if everything was to be learned
from books and from books alone. ] will speak
from personal experience. l have been teach
er since fifteen years of age, and l am teacher
now, and hope | shall be all my life. Gap
plause.) / do love to teach, and there is no.
thing so pleasant to be placed in position
to develope the faculties of my fellow beings
who in their early age are entrusted to my care.
(Applause.) Aud | am satisfied that there are
branches of knowledge that are better taught
without books than with books. and there are
son cases where 1t is so obv,ous, that l wond-
er why it is always to books that teachers re-
sort when they would teach some new branch
in their school.
When we teach music we do not learn it by
heart commit ii to memory, bus we take an
instrument and learn to play on It, When We
study natural history, instead OF books let us
take specimens, stones minerals and crystals
When we would study plants let us go to plants
themselves, but not tn books describing them
When would Judy animals let MS have ami
mails before US, and not go to books IN which
they are described. In geography let US not
resort to books, but let us take class and go
out into the field and point out the bills, val
leys and rivers anG show them what are accu-
mutations of water and expanses of land.