Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-09-14

Q
COURSE OF STUDY.
At the opening Of the school year, the /
Primary, Secondary and Intermediate l
Schools were without place Of studies, ex- |
cept the indefinite tradition that certain |
textbooks were to be used to as great an [
extent as possible. 1t would seem that
before the opening of the Intermediate 1
School, a course Of study had been pre-
seribed for the Primary and Secondary |
grades The Interpolation of two addi- |
tiOnal years in the intermediate, without
any additional work to do, resulted in the
greatest confusion. Teachers Of the low
er grades did not know what was required
Of them, and each, therefore, did what she
best could and measuring her success by
the popular standard; she hurried her pu-
pills rapidly over their work, under the
I impression, it is to be presumed, that the
measure of their knowledge was the size
Of the book and the number of the page
they were studying. As a consequence,
no two Of the Secondary Schools had any
thing in common except tie name, and it
became necessary early in the year to put
the intermediate School upon work which
had been once gone over in the Secondary
grades, but which did not belong in any
sense to a Secondary School. Under the
/
was prepared for these departments and
placed in semi-monthly installments in
the hands Of the teachers, who were at the
same time instructed in the method of US
ing it. The plan Of instruction was new
to all Of them, and progress was neeessari-
| " slow at the outset. The teachers, how
ever, entered zealOusly into the work, and
to them is due the largest share of the
really great progress that has been made
in those grades.
The Course of Study recommended by
the n. E. Ohio Association differed so lit
tie from that prepared under your direc-
tiOn, and has been so generally adopted in
this section Of the State that it has been
substituted in the place Of our course. 1t
will require time, however, to work the
schools up to it.
Several attempts have been male during
| the year to introduce magazines and pc
/ riodicals as a means Of teaching
READING.
They would, of course, be made merely
auxiliary to the textbook upon this sub
/ jeet. The object in these attempts was
twO-fold: first, to furnish greater variety
I Of selection at n less cost than would be
! involved in the purchase of new text
| book which would contain the same
amount and variety of matter; secondly,
to present 4 better class OF childrens' lit
erature, than the @made up" pieces Of the
readers. The attempts failed of success,
through the indifference Of parents, or
their unWillingness to be at an additional
expense in the purchase of books.
For the Grammar and High Schools, q
more extended course of reading is emf
nently desirable. Teachers and Board Of
Education are not wholly irresponsible
for the wide circulation of "Beadle's Dime
Novels and the New York Ledger The
reading of these and kindred trash is due
to the want of literary taste, rather than
to a Titiated one. Ninety-nine-hun-
dredths of their pupils leave our Public
and Private Schools without knowing that
there IS anything better. A study in our
Schools of some work of Scott, Hawthorne,
Dickens; Of LOngfellOW, Bryant, Tenny-
son; Of Pope, Milton or Shakspere, would
do mU eh to Danish from society the per-
nieiOus influence of Modern romance and
newspaper doggerel. At any rate, an eX-
pertinent In this direction would be worth
the trial.
MENTAL ARITHMETIC.
The stndy of this as a distant branch of !
Arithmetic, has been abandoned. There !
is no distinction between SMental' and |
'sPrsctical, when the latter is properly /
taught The same methods of analysis, /
the same process of reasoning, the same /
kind and degree of mental discipline, are /
obtained from both. There Is no reason /
why a different solution should be given /
to a problem, when the members involved /
in the computation are within the ~Mul-
tiplieatiOn Table" and can be carried
without the aid Of q slate and pencil, from
that which is given TO problem whose 4
numbers are outside Of the Table and re-
quire the pencil to assist the memory BY
recording results as fast as they are OBJ
tained. German Educators, from whom
the most advanced methods Of Education
have been drawn, never adopted any dis
tinction between the .wo, and 1t is fast
disappearing in the best conducted Amer ]
lean Schools.
PESMANsHIP.
Bitlittle drill has been had in this branch /
during the year. Ofthe great amount Of /
work 70 be done in the way OF classifica- /
tiOns, and the introduction of new meth 1
DDS. some one must suffer neglect and I
this, being purely q mechanical art, easily I
ACQUIRED In q first course Of special lessons |
presented fewer claims to immediate atten- /
tion than any other. Besides our teachers, |
without special drill themselves, were not (
fully prepared to give instructions to their I
pupils. Written exercises in the several 4
lessons of the grades have been had, which /
have compensated, in q measure for the /
want OF instruction.
TIRE CONDITION OF THE LIBRARY
remains unchanged, and the report of the I
last year win answer for the report of this I
The absence Of large number of volumes, |
drawn out and not returned, LEFT it in so I
disOrdered a condition, that it has not been I
-, o. ~
iE now stands It is useless. IL might be I
sold and the proceeds applied to the pur-
chase Of apparatus, or, better still, it might |
be revived and enlarged by the levy Of the 1
tenth Of a mill, authorized by the law for /
library purposes.
WANTS.
Ofthe many appliances Necessary to 4 /
complete use Of the objective methods Of /
teachings, It is difficult to select the most 1
important. A list is submitted for the 4
consideration of the Board.
For the Primary Grades, (ineluding the I
Secondary SehOOls), Color, cards and /
blocks; yard sticks and foot rules; I
weights and measures of capacity, and
Geometrical solids.
For the Grammar Grades, [Ineluding
.he Intermediatel; Geometrieal Solids
and Natural History Tablets
For the High School Cnenic1l anu
Philosophical Apparatus, for all the
Grades; Perees Magnetic Globes are ex-
eeeding useful. ..Ir.=T
SUPERVISION
The time given to the work Of super
visinQ the schools, has been for the most
mart devoted to the Primary and Seconds
~ grades. While there has been no dis
gnise to neglect the interest OF the high l
School where Il is said, the work OF the
Superintendent has heretofore been prin-
cipaliy done, it seemed Of the utmost I'M ]