The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-12-02

which will be fondly cherished So ,ons 90 Wc
shall last. Aiie4s 10 - ''"s as n''
Much of this-even all Of it-max he. e., :,
and absurd, il you please. But ibe mai,
point is, that it will surely delight the child
ish and yoathtul imagination, Even til,
most grotesque and absurd giant or lair
story, however, has its good points OF instruc
tion, easily conpsehendedo by the young, BE-
cause OF the broad colors In whcih Il is pre-
;. sented. As for iact--why there Is very ittl
IN all history beyond dispute. The mytholo
9ies, or religions OF the world, though false
deserve attention no less than military or 90
lItical events. Certainly, it is quite as need
ful to Know what was the religion of the
Greeks, what was the religion OF the Hin
docs, as to know whose banner now waves
over Delhi, or who won the battles OF Mara
tnon, Salamis and Platea, though upon tbeir
fortune hung the fortune of the world.
AGAIN, as acquisition Of facts should pre-
eeue exercise OF reason, those Studies which
deai largely with facts should come first =
Hence botany and mineralogy should lind a
place in the primary schools, no less than ce-
osraphy. Indeed, the principal facts Of every
science should be acquired before the reason
ing which shows why the facts are facts In
this way the child, by mere repetition. should
first learn to apply the rules OF arithmetic be-
fore troubling himself about the underlying
logic. The latter will come without difficulty
In Its proper season, when the reason asserts
its prerogative. 1t cannot well be acquired
| before. SOthe facts of geometry--of mechan-
les In general-should be learned. in connec-
ton with drawing, before any thought is Civ
en- 10 the demonstrations. President Hill, OF
Harvard University, rightly proceeds upon
this principle la his text book for geometry.
With prior knowledge Of the facts the dem
| Onstration becomes doubiy delightful. Be
cause the acquisition oil facts should precede
the exercise oil reason, In the order of nature,
/ grammar. as presented in the conventional
4 textbooks, cannot be successfully taught be-
low the High SchOol,--nor political economy
/ nor philosophical history, nor any thing which
is specially metaphysical, requiring delicate
\ discrimination OF Judgment. e''"7q ''s.i q
10 one other Characteristic of the childish
mind we should pay infinite respect-to that
spirit OF inquisitiyeness, of investigation so
strongly manifested by all children. Our
/ primary instruction should not be confined 10
one or two textbooks, but should take a
range wide as the free inquiry of the childish
4 mind. 1t should embrace the endless phe-
nomena of nature. OF themselves, children
will ask almost innumerable questions, ii per-
mitted to do so. They should be instructed
| to proceed according to regular system, so
there may be constant review Of the topics
considered. The teacher should note down
the questions. D. 1dsaa sl3 "a L4a2el5e
Primary education should be mainly oral
and 0cplar-the whole school being taught
at once, instead of single scholar. In this
/ way each would receive thee or four hours
OF daily instruction directly from the teacher!
| 1t does not now amount to more than twenty
minutes. 1t would also condace to health, as
there would be less need of SO much close
confinement. such change from the pres
/ ent arbitrary method OF instruction in prim-
| AIRY schools, to the natural method to the
| oral and ocular, would save at least three
| years Of precious time between four and ten,
/ which areinow worse than lost for the want
OF studies adapted to the childish mind and
taught according to natural method, Here
we we should secure m more time for new studies,
Common Schools cannot properly undertake
to give exhaustive instruction in any depart
ment OF learning though so far as their in
| strnction goes it should be thorough. Ii is
| for common schools to show the great body
| of citizens the way and teach them the first
and all important steps. Afterward they can
1 go further ii they choose. There must be
material abridgment OF present studies-an
| abridgment which can happily be made with
out material loss. "A b g7iE, 10 rmi3s4s
AT least one-half of the time now devoted
to arithmetic may be wisely saved. This time
is quite enough for all needful instruction IN
| geometry and algebra, from which all mere
puzzles should also be- excluded. Tough
/ problems are not so good for the illustration
Of rules and principles as plain, practical bust
ness examples. -. - s. -, ~
!, Writing should always be preceded q by
/ diawing, even though it be OF the crude kind.
| A dozen special lessons In writing will then
be enough, with the simple direction that the
i pupil hold his pen SO it viii make no noise
an write quick and plain as possible. e
For the study OF grammar, in the ordinary
| acceptation Of the term, there should be only
| one very small text book, and this should not
| be used More than six months. 1t Is the uni
/ versal confession OF teachers that fhe study OF
grammar in our common schools, Is almost "a
total failure. Then there should be very iew
set lessons in spelling and defining,-the few
er the better is the general rule but there
| should be concrete instruction in the form oil
/ composition. Commencing so early as six or
eight years fagc, there should be, at first,
/ daily compositions OF ten to twenty words, =
gradually growing in length, and, after a sea,
son. diminishing in frequency. That is thu
way-m the epncrete-which shows the use
OF what is learned and so makes the learninl
much easler-thaC is the way 10 learn /,
write and spell, to learn grammar--all that i
needfuI- and the clearest signification 0
words. BY thorough change from the alb
stract to the concrete In these studies a vas
deal OF time may be saved-while that wbicI
is learned will be properly learned and Sc
made doubly valuable. glit,,t. ~ sfll. I
/ Two small textbooks for geography are
| quite sufficient The first should be devoted
to descriptive reading exercises, such as win
give the child vivid and picturesque impres
sion OF the world beyond the reach of his Wis.
ion. He will then surely take delight in the
dry facts of the second book. Avoid minuti.e
with which it is worse than useless to bur
then the memory. One half OF the time now
devoted to geography may thus be proftabh
saved loii1asGl> 1aal IEoAe 4Oisf2sa
In the common schools history should be
studied not as a mere exercise oil the memory
which is so apt to disgust the young, but ratl
er Tor the purpose of creating love for his
toric reading to be gratified In after life. Il
1 should be studied by topics, only the mair
facts being meMorized; and It should bt
made the fequent subject Of ofcomposition.
Reading should receive quite as much at
tention as now,-berhaps more. But the ex
ercises should not pc wholly confined to Sc
textbooks; works OF IMAGINATION, travel, hi
ography and history should be read ,lai
from the infant schools to the close OF tn
grammer school course. In this way onl,
can the scholar be prepared for reading what
ever may fall into his hand with ease and un-
derstanding,-f0r in this way only can he ac
quire great versatility of execution, an ample
yocabulary,a a varied stock OF ideas and a gen
une taste for reading. fE-erl ttF ,srirz
Studied in this way more practical knowl
edge Of these branches OF learning could bt
acquired than now, while vast deal OF time
would be gained for new studies.
Chemistry, that greatest revelator Of Coz
wisdom and wonders, is OF practical use to TIL
| farmer, cook, dyer, DC. MineralOgy, the mi
ser OF the world, carries the key to vas
every one who owns or works land. Botan.
not only has Measure for him who loves ma