The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1870-07-14
LETTER FROM MRS. J. g. SWISS.
HELM 81
4 NORMAN / SCHOOLS.

- q - Il
"A NORMAL SCHOOLS. 4
EE1ron JouRNAL.While attending
the examination Of your Normal
School, | was highly grati6ed by find
ing that one at least Of tho physical
sciences had beenssuccessfully studied
by the primary department, and hope
this is but the infancy OF system. of
education which will leave alb
stractions for more advanced years, and
lead children through the paths Of
knowledge which present objects ap'
pealing to their senses. I was still
more pleased to find they had no recita-
ton. in ."Mental Arithmetic" that
hybrid which processes to unite the phys:
ical and abstract, and gives us result
Of as much practical utility as Chinese
puzzle. The performances Of this de-
partment lett nothing to fear for them,
except that some of the brighter chill
drcn would be victims Of a prematurely
matured BRAN. OF these should name
Paul West, Willie Alden, Warren
Hamlia, Frank Montgomery, Nellie
Moore, Louisa Owen, Jennie Powell
and Clara Tobey. There are others IN
the class just as bright as these, who
have thicker necks in proportion to
their heads, who may keep up four or
five studies without injury, but q deli
cate or precocious child should never
have more than two. Every scholar
in this department, with few excep.
tious, acquitted himself or herself we'll,
but I was especially pleased with the
manner in which Edwin Vincent,
Charles Metzroth, Sam Gilman, Frank
Wilson and Charles Hcyt spoke out.
Vincent especially is elfpossessed as
well as modestin his manner, has a fine
physique, and ought to grow up first
class citizen. OF the girls, Mary Call
inault perhaps deserves most credit as
having overcome most difficulties. But
if any one wants to know all who did
| we'll iu this department, they can read
the catalogue, and there is only one
boy and two girls on it who did not
have their lessons so well that their
teacher must have been proud Of them.
I shall not give their names this time,
and hope that next year they too will
deserve praise.
When the Arithmetic class Of the
intermediate Department came up, l
thought, for while, We were to have a
general middle of words in lieu of the
characters which properly express arlth-
metical ideas; but the scholars got
leave to use the blackboard enough to
convince most people present that they
really knew. something about the science
Of numbers, even if they, like most
sensible students, failed to transmute it
into words, words, words. shall be
glad to see that "good time coming
when "Mental Arithmetic" will be
uni ersally known as the impudent
humbpg it is. I mover hear verbal
recitation in mathematics without
thinking Of the poor slave who said to
his angry master, CHOW, Mars, if you
whippy, whippy-and if preachy,
preaehy-::buat. no whippy and preaohy
too,"
! #. a teacher wants pupil to show
what he knows about figures let him
use figures if what he knows about
words, let him use words, but from the
eonglomeration. Of both which .univer'
sally places the pupil IN a most disad.
vartageous light and mysti6es or exas.
perates all listeners, may tho good Lord
deliver us! All the classes did we'll,
and I agree with your reporter in award
ing much praise to both teachers and
pupils, and in believing this school tt
be fully up to the requirements Of the
age; but I ask leave to suggest that
ten years will chan gesthe present stand
ard of Normal Schools. We art
hewing out new road to universal edu
cation, and the line lies through q dens'
forest of difficulties. The work o
building up one consolidated nation gu
of the Heterogeneous materials contribut
ed by so many different people, is ont
which requires skill and patience
Our education in years gone by ha'
D., been found to lack system and method
In supplying this lack, there is immi
j neut danger that we shall 60 to tn
opposite extreme and get too muc]
); System. .,,..,. 49,.
n. The method Of teaching bears t
I general education the relation Of q sea!
fold to a building. 1t is IF no impol
lance except to facilitate the work, an
/ never should be mistaken for the work
, The foundation of the whole. structur
is the District School, and in my min
there are grave doubts whether tn
! method taught in Normal Schools
f. quite applicable to these. institution:
/ 1t may be In the case Of children VII
go year after year,, and in all grade
schools, but the teacher who under
:: takes to apply, i io q s. school whor
r there are scholars Of all degrees Of &C
e., yancement, must be an exception if b
n does not expend most of his time
!, getting up the scaffold. Moreover
: each and every branch is absolutely ii