Evening star., 1869-08-21
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CONVEX.
TONS.
Especial correspopdence ofthe Starl


with ideas on the SUBJECT OF teaching TO an un-
limited extent. i confess that heard q great
deal tnat wss good, but not much that was
Heeo Before leaving 1 heard some good sing
ing nom the music teachers, with q heavy cho-
rus of five hundred school marms;' after
tnat capital eXtemporaneous lecture on
DRAWING, by Prof. Woodman, OF Dartmouth
College, the only objection being that The Pro-
lessor cons umed forty minutes in prelimina-
ries and ten on the practlcal illus ration OF his
ideas which mainly declared Internationally
Tor "Drawng" as a standard branch in all
schools. The Professor declared il 70 be an in
dispensable fine art, and easily taught and cul-
nv ated He illustrated a first lesson by draw
ing very badly (because hastily / sup
pose) a dozen or so vertical aud paril-
lei lines on the blackboard with a single
movement. OF the forearm. He then crossed
the parallel lines with horizontal ones, then
creSsed 'hSm again with oblique ones, then
RON circle round all of them. then INSIDE of
that an elpse. L wished he nad said more on
tne practical part; as it was, he devoted nearly
all his time 20 Nefy classical and eleg ant ap-
peal 10 hls auditors 10 make the subject the
every day lesson in schools. Well, this same
pertinacIty is manifested in regard 70 music,
physiology, geology, mlnsraloyy, chemistry,
optics, acoustics, object teaching. penmans hIp,
vowel sounds, Consonant sounds, gymnastics,
callSthenlcs, and lot Of other things. TOO nu-
meroEs 10 mention. Now, / want 10 know,
when We teachers devote time for a lesson
every day TO one or more of this enormous cal
alogue OF studies, where is the time TO come
from for the old.fashioned drill in SPELL
ing, grammar, arithmetic and reading-for we
must remember that this last is also now re-
CURED 10 be taught as IS a ..fne rt,''-as an
essence OF aesthetic culture-as, indeed, prop.
erly taught, IL really is, and il taxes about as
much time and labor to teach II well as does
any other "fne art" Our next lecture was
from Prof. E. L. White, of Ohio, on the
class slcal or dead language" culture, as
oppoeed 10 natural SCIENCES. This was the
old war over again. Science clIiIns 10 be
alive, kicking, and working upwards and
iofwards' while the classics claim the els-
m FhaFsA
body decides when doctors dis agree, and so
will IL be with the te Ichers. In the model
school building where the Convention met
there was grand show OF school books, maps
charts, rulers, nkwelIs, desks, i'm proved seats
and the most elegant and elaborate specimens
OF penmanship that l ever behsld. About a
dozen new writing systems We're displayed
the most conspicuous OF which were "Eils-
worth's" and "Packard-s." Mes of them re-
sembie the Spelcerian suspiciously close The
school book publishers have had g.and In.
dusTlal Exhibition, illustrating the Scriptural
statement thar "of making many books there is
no end"
New York is said TO be dun. Dull or not. a
man has 20 be sharp in getting through the
enormous PROFESSIONS of business wagons
dIays, trucks, hand carts. omnibussas and
street cars, II ne is not he Will be ..eul hared"
before Ne Knows L. I. f. ].
School Defects and their Remedies
Gar corrss sspondenI yes lerday referred 10 the
paper on " Primary Schools-RadIcal Defects
and Radical Remedies" which was read be-
fore the National Teachers Association a
Treuton, on W. dnesday, 10y Mr.. H. Richards.
Superintendent OF Public Schools III this city.
We make a few extracts from an abstrac. OF
II : paper. Mr. Richards said:
Among the detects IN primary raining IL he
sudden anu unnatural change from the free
dom OF pleasant home 20 the restrain, Of th-
blank school room, where The child must ST.
peri, ely quiet, VIII folded hands, aud do
Nc lILg AID say nothing ter hour eaca day.
But this is not the worst. Every caIId, in a
school Of nifty or sixty pupils. has AZ the rlt :,
but nVe OF SIX minctes OF personal attention
from he teacher. and Is CnlY required 10 repelt
Il lew names Oi letters aHL 4 half z don
words, which are as UnmranIng 70 il as -
aggTava 2 the evil, for words and stori,s are nm
INTO item which can have LITTLE OF no inter II
I0f vnN4TeA, and AZ the pupu learns any.
tllhS n oar schools, excspt. perch the
N.Tttes oi ne strap, The feTI.e. and The Ounce
OIoc.. Il i 10 mans . the mode OF mean OF
Eu.. '. 'JdeE such training has sens. oil-
ilies ana IT. frs OF observation are blunt d
ana his nj nlled With disgust and
haired toward the sohoOi-r0Om, which he looks
upon as a KIND OF penitenII lry. Is II any
wonder ma; boys under such treatment have
mama foc play NJ TUant, The love OF truapcy
l. usually the strongest proof that the chiId-s
nature has been preverted by the ahsurdfties
OF the school--oom. The boy, who under ordI-
nary circumstances, runs away from school 10
q clrcas, menagerie, or even to the fish
pond and the woods, filed with singing birds
Il h.
does IN d month OF such schooling Children
as rule, learn lar more during the first five
years OF life spent at home than during The
next hve years spent at school PupIls ar.
not stupened, as Is sometimes alleged, by
teachlng them too much, but by putting them
throrgh an unnatural process of lnstru ction
a large portion o. their time is spent IN what
Dy courtesy Is called reading although IN
redIlty II is merely a senseless repetition of
words, by which no knowledge is gained
Another fault is the habit of assigning lessons
han
ing OF the words in The lesson. for all mem oriz
ing OF words net well understood is worse than
useless. The attempt to simplify our primary
school books has reduced many of them ~
mere nonsense, and this so-caIled simplication
though II may answer very well for hook
makers, is not necessary for live children or
i've Nachers. II may be doubted whether
there Is any such thing as natural order OF
STUDIES winch should always have PRECEDENCE
over every other order, for when lapguaga IS
once acPulrod tnere are several classes of facts,
any one OF which may be adyantageousIy
tahen up hrst 1t is another grave fault IN 4.
IN 100 many OF our primary schools there is a
failure TO impress upon the pupils, by whole
som" pTecept, d Eacred regard Tor truth The
onerIng OF prIzes holds out unnatural Irdnce
mentS, and Is by NO means TO be commented
Io remedy the evils cited, the first thing necas
safy Is thoroughly competent teacher, with
quallncatlons not limited to familiaritv y,-itb
Inc DOCKS us6t The teacher should be the
embodiment OF the principles TO oe lmpressad
On On the pupil mind, for no one can teach what
De nas never learned. The second great rem
edy Is We'll prepared series of text books con-
tanning Just the facts which the pupil is TO
learn. arranged In the order in which thay
snould be presented. Language is the chief
lnstrumenfality TO be used in the acu uisItion OF
knowledge. and language, therefore, should be
the hrst and chief object OF primary instruc.
ton. The third remedy Is spacious and well
ventilated rooms. There should be, for each
class OF children, at least two rooms-a school
room, Tor intellectual training, and q play
room or exercise room-well provided with
appllances lot amusement and ply sical tram.
ing; and children should never be Confined 10
the school room except when thew are actuaIiy
receiving instruction, which, during the first
nve years OF school life. should be mainly oral
Yesterdays Proceedings.
BY telegraph we learn that the National Su.
perintendents' Association Yesterday elected
the following officers for the ensuing year
President, j. p. Wickersham, Pennsylvania;
vice Pre- idene. s. 5. Ashley, North Carolina;
John L. Warren, Johnston, Me-; B. @. Hobbies,
Indiana Secretary, William r. Breezy, lodi.
ana; Treasurer, Jas. Cruikshank, New York.
A series OF resolutions were adopted 70 ap.
point committee Of three 10 act in connection
with one OF the Teacher6 Association to confer
win the authorities At Washiugton in regard 10
the best intsrestS 81 the nstional bnsssn Of
education. and to represent to Congress their
unanimous desire that it be clothed with ample
powers, although no interference be desiened
with estabiished State sytems. t''
The American Normal School Association
re- olved hereafter TO hold Independent sessions
week previous 10 the Teachers Association,
n tne same place. q t9ff- ~. s1. % r' ~
Miss Catherine E. Beecher, at $50 q. m ad.
dressed, through Miss Porter, proxy, large