Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-07-28


/ Under this heading, the editor of the Ohio
Educational Monthly gives the result Of his
obsesvstiont during areecni visit 70 our city.
His comments upon the school system Of
Cleveland are quite favorable, and wo would
like to publish them entire, but for want Of
space are compelled to eonfne onr quotations
to q few extracts. or the teachers, be re-
marks,
The Cleveland teachers, IN scholarship
and ability, viii compare favorably with
those Of any other city. They are mostly
graduates Of our baat Colleges, Normal and
High Schools, and Seminaries, and have been
chosen frOm large number Of applieants.-
Formerly, 8 large proportion Of them were
from abroad. They brought with them the
methods Of instruction and discipline used In
the best schools Of their several localities,
which methods soon became common prop
erty, and largely contributed 70 the signal
success achieved. More recently, the two
High Schools have furnished a majority Of
the successful applicants. We Wero pleased
to find so large a number Of our former pu-
pills successfully filling important positions" ["
In alluding to the system of teaching read
ing and spelling employed in the Primary
Departments, the sditor uses the following
words Of eommendation, incidentally paying
high compliment to one of the teachers on
the West Side, Miss N. E. Warrington of
the Hicks Street School:
"FOr nearly ten years, the word-method
Of teaching children to read has been used in
the Cleveland Schools. The results are evil
denee Of the general excellence Of the plan.
In our judgment the rGa ling Of the classes
below the 3Fammar Schools is not exeelled
in the State. In some of the Primary Schools
we may mention a boys school on Hicks
street, We heard classes drilled in a most ad-
mirable manner. The amount Of space gone
over during the lesson was limited-usually
not more than three or four verses-but each
sentence was read we'll before passing to the
next. In these drills, we were pleased to see
50 eommendable an effort to take the
thought out Of its verbal husk and plant it in
the mind Of the scholar. To this end cues
tions were asked on the passage; the 1nfa-
miiiar words were explained another schOl-
ar was asked to read it; a question revealed
the error; the teacher read it another sehol-
ar made an effort then the whole class in
concert, then another scholar, etc. The
senseless monotony Of permitting scholars to
read the same verse, one after another, around
the class, without drill or questions, was
avoided. Each scholar read with distinct
aim, and this was not so much to initiate the
utteranee Of the teacher as TO express the
sense Of the passage. Concert reading is
used only to a limited extent There was
very little hositaney or biundering on words.
The ability to call every word in the lesson
at s'ght Is made prerequisite to the reading
exercise"
In few paragraphs devoted to " "Writing,
Drawing and Music, the following criticism
is made:
SIN 1857, the Board dispensed with spe-
cial teachers in music and drawing, and. in
the following year, with the teacher of pen
manship. Since that time the instruction in
each Of these branches has deVOlved upon the
teachers in charge, with continuous decline
from the former standard of excellence. Ia
music there is really very little instruction
given, though there is singing in nearly all
the schools. In the intermediate, Grammar
and High Schools, enc lesson a week in draw
ing is provided for in the programme Of ex-
ercises. In the lower grades the scholars
draw more or less, but the subject does not
receive systematic attention. Under the
former special teacher Of this branch, the
scholars became very skillful in drawing from
nature now the exercises consist chiefly in
copying. Still we know Of no schools in the
State in which this important branch receives
as much attention as It does here. On enter
ing the various sehOol-rooms, the eye of the
stranger is at once attracted by the beautiful
drawings which almost cover the black
boards, aud by the engraYings and paintings
which adorn the walls.
In the grades below the Grammar DEPART
ment We found the German Slate Pietures,'
also published by Moore Minis, of Troy,
New York, in very general use. They are
greatly superior to the common Drawing
Cards.
In PenmanshiP, also, the schools have
lost ground. The results show that the best
arranged series Of eOpy-books cannot take
the place Of the living teacher. There must
be thorough instruction and drill outside of
them. The blackboard must aid the copy
book. In one or two Of the Grammar Schools
We saw such instruction given. We think
the falling of in writing is due in part to the
fact that the results have not been subjected
to systematic tests. Even the copy-books
have not been examined and reported upon
until recently. The present Superintendent
is taking hold Of this matter with his aecus-
toned vigOr, and decided progress has CON-
menced.
We have not lpaee to refer in detail to
the work done in the Grammar Schools. The
recitations which we heard were well con-
dueted. The results of the annual exami-
nations also bear testimony that the instFuc-
tion given is, on the whole, thorough and ef-
| feient. In addition to the common branch
es, the elements of Physiology and United
/ States History receive eOmmendable atten-
tion."