American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1864-06-22
Educational department.
Parental Visitation

characters what they may, are those by
whom the first principles of an education
must be inculcated In the parent we
find one of the most responsible positions
as an ethical being. Parents must in
great measure answer for the moral and
mental training of their own children
Nor is it sufficient that they be trained
mentally and morally; they must be
strengthened and developed in their phys
ical functions also Mental, moral, and
physical training combined, is requisite
in order that children may attain that de-
gree of perfection which evidently was
the design of the Almighty in their crea-
tion.
Teachers need and desire the co-opera-
tion of the parents. Were the teacher an
infalliable being, it might be that the in
fiuence and cooperation Of parents could
be wholly dispensed with; but, such not
being the case, a full and hearty co-opera-
tion of teacher and parent must exist, that
we may arrive more directly and more
easily at the designed end of education.
Did parents interest themselves to the ex-
tent they should in school affairs, our
schools would stand on amuch frmer base,
and more might with propriety be expec-
ted from our school teachers.
What noble cause is inviting, yea,
even begging your ospousal A cause
not to be hemmed in either by state lines
or national boundaries; not so unstable as
the political factions, which are ever being
born and nurtured in the lay of fanatcism
not so transient as the meteor that flashes
across the heavenly arch, and leaves the
world only in greater darkness as it again
sinks into nothingness; but cause whose
breadth is only limited by the bounds of
the universe; its height, only by the ex-
alted position of our own and other en-
lightened countries, and by the flights
through which it has borne the human
mind; its depth, only by a state far be-
yond the bounds Of hopeless insanity and
idocy itself; cause frmer than the ev-
erlasting hills and mountains by which we
are surrounded, and lasting as eternity.
Is it a light, trivial, and unimportant
work Is the training of the human
mind, that masterpiece of all Gods ere
alton, that most Heaven-like attribute of
humanity, to be despised as a work un-
worthy the attention of mankind? Let
the world answer. Happily the work is
not so regarded.
Parents should manifest a livelier inter-
est in the education of their children.
As general thing parents are too negli-
gent of the educational interest of their
children. Their interest should manifest
itself not only in the amount Of knowl-
edge incucated but also in the kind, as,
also in the health and comfort of their
children while at school. How few pa
rents comparatively ever think of enter
ing the school room for the purpose of
seeing what is really taught and in what
manner it is taught! 1t is very seldom,
indeed, that the parent is ever seen in the
school room, and then in many cases it is
for the mere purpose Of lodging complaint
or seeking to quarrel with the teacher.
In no way can parents better promote the
welfare of their children at less expense
than by visiting the school while in full
operation. Pupils, knowing thatthcir pa
rents will be spectators, ma ke greater ef-
forts to learn; and having occasionally
the presence of their fathers and mothers
in the school room, they naturally arrive
at the conclusion that to be educated is
really of some account, and therefore
strive more earnestly to do well. The
teacher also is encouraged in his work by
knowing that parents are really interested
in what he is doing for their children
Much of the unnatural prejudice existing
against teachers would be removed, if pa.
rents did but attempt to see and judge the
teacher on the strength Of his own mer.
its and from his own actions, instead Of
listening to, and encouraging the idle
tales of disrespectful AID disobedient
children.
Few parents know the realinconvenience
and want of comfort to which their chill.
dren are subjected in many school houses
BY visiting the school they learn these
and if they have any affection for theil
children they will no longer tolerate the
existence of these wants. The children
in our public schools have been riding
rails and slabs in the school room quite
long enough. The comfort and health Of
the pupils must be consulted to greater
extent The stereotype argument urged
by many parents, that inasmuch as they
+" got their learning in these houses, and
inasmuch as they were good enough for