New-York tribune., 1870-12-01
"CRAMMING"


., IA. Editer Of The Trt6une'
Go. Having been a reader of your paper
Cor wears have frequently noticed earnest protests
against the system OF hothouse culture III our Puuno
e,ools tnovp as "cramming." Your editorial OF 'he
,sIh nh inspired by the melancholy suicide OF young
s,orr and entitled Inviting DEATH" was weuumeu'
m ,aacbers however arc not TO blame. The Whole
,apl. and Il is very grave one, lies with the sdpeIh
,eaenta who virtually fix the courses OF study ana 'e
exact Of the poor pedasogues that they sha cope'o
taftn on pain Of dismissal or degradation To lusVa'e'
NV SON who Is nine years OF age, has recently oeeh pr"
.noted and is now studying in the third grade oi inc
Grammar school course This grade requires review o
,he entire geography both local and descriptive ana
must be finished by the middle OF February II embraces
over 100 large three column pages OF solid matter INH9
believe there are quarter Of million OF Pues'0ns
The pupil will be required to bound over 2oo ulu'Sa
countries, telling then capitals area, population -,
scrihing their SOIL climate, predictions ne anS What
features Take the single Item OF rivers alu; not only
vast number of them there are ana ne br they rise
Which way tbev run aud into what thsy nov. % canes
fhk what multitude OF lakes, t tbere arc upon the
gufs bays straits islands ana ce' ior and vet he
fsce of ali thp earth. Their name Is es Gi ~ S6e he
fore he pass good 1 ieeHs draft upon the
me,norvi who sufficient ior II & HS o tbe scbooIs
md - beaTtiy tired Of it, and wish ne Sou3
drop it and take UP some'uing gt1Ia NV a' e%I ut.
teTiy npractlcabe review. Again. thls graue III arl @
ree is very severe, and ought To nave AZ Was, Ss
n ~ 'nS. a,d enpjeaions There are 50 different
eases embracing interest discount proht ana cs
sSthae While il Is by far the most useful Is the
most diicntpart Of the science Many OF IL piuTt T
sre ehsfrse and s problems hard and ambiguous lhtIt
r m fu psges devoted 80 It, and boy is expected moi
NJ ~ Fndv all The rules and definitions and solve all
,l5 ss ~ & 6ncty and correcty as in the olden time,
hut he give the reason, the why and the
Tie mental arithmetic OF everything. To master II re-
ouires thorough knowledge Of all that precedes ~ ana
my son abOrs under great dsadVahidge III lIs - ~
sncc as in one Of the preceding grades the teacher was
gigE "a
10 be married, and did not care Wetnef se ds vlS N.Y.
thing or not In history the whole Revolutionary war
is ~ lie committed TO memory, embracing 80 pages Hl
compact matter, and describing over 90 DaItcs' Win
their dates and details III seems 20 me ae ia. ~ -
state OF society where the great majority O the hoy
leave school before they are 2 too mGeh tne sHouu
not be spent in study upon outlines OF Amein n's'S
ny boy is ignorant of the history 3i fI"H1E 9nu @
England as he is Of that OF Greece s9 hino, Il" la %
also To learn grammar: 100 PAGES oi 9 49,
and exceptions, including senteutal ahalysi,' lue
hardest aud most uncertain STUDY oi WoH'In u,re, [
tical. Is not well settled, and should he postponed
til the mind Is more mature. boy who cannon SPEAK
sentence without mulderlnt he hle LFrSu t ,l
not spend half his time IN trying 70 uraFe bnoty sun
gree" In addition 20 all this, my son mas 10 studl
German "a cOufe ssedy hard language ana he has nara
in dawn and vocal music write compositions, declam,
prepare for receptions and learn to spell several hd
must define them, and not only define them, DIt give
their etynoog that is their Greek roots ana Ln pre-
fxcs Beside an this he must learn ply sl0lOgy, orally
What this means do not know. II Is certainty very
vague, aud may De very vast ~ Is bSrvoTs. SnS
mat ne cannot stand stin, that he has no
appetite and cannot sloepi Is it any wonder, when we
consider the work be DONE and the shOrnesS OF the
time 10 do it-remembeTiug how duh many boys are
that teachers must coax, threaten hire brbe punish
put ON what they loosely term "superheated steam
In short. "cTdmin order TO accomplish tbe gaqeI Is
q any wonder that many bright boys lose their health
ana SO many dun are driven ont of school before
they years Old You cannot blame the teachers.
They must complete the gr0de, aud their pupils pass
good ex xamnaon, the burden OF blame will rest upon
Dem-thcy will DE humilted and lose their chances OF
profeuueut Tue whole system OF grades ana exanlna-
lions shOud be reformed. J. y. ClDE JR,
IoTl-. Nov. %. 1870.