The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1872-04-27
Heard From.

the meeting OF the Board, having probably
decided beforehand in secret caucus, las the
dominant party in the L. S. Senate are wont
to dc. with their most. obnoxious measures, to
plumb her through" anyhow, yet 1t is graft,
flying to find that they are willing to apologize
Tor and defend tue scheme through their or
gan, the Ottawa Republican. We have a
column of this defense in Thursdays No. of
the organ, and upon 1t we propose to make a
very few observations. The defence can hardly
be intended for the scheme but rather for the
motives of the man or men proposing it. Now,
on that subject we have not a word to offer,
except to say that we make no pretense of be,
ing able 10 sound the motives OF the proposers
OF this quixotic educational scheme, bat are
willing to concede at once their honesty and
sincerity to the fullest extent. As to the
scheme itself, however, we must be permitted
to say that 1t loses none of Its Objectionable
features the more We examine it.
There IS no better way of showing Its crul-
ity to the most inexperienced in educational
matters than to compare 1t with the "course
of study" laid down in the printed "Rules and
Regulations of the Ottawa Free Schools" and
which has been the growth of some 20 years
of experience. For instance, the Paullar
scheme, instead of dividing the pupils into
"grades," divides them into ''rooms.n Sup
pose, as often happens the primary ROOM
has 200 pupils, what will the teacher do with
them in aroom capable of holding but GO or
20? Again. the Paulian scheme totally omis
physical exercises and singing" Here are
IS pupils from to years of age The teacher
is expected to keep them perfectly quiet with
two or three brief recesses, for hours each
day. Was the teacher ever born that can do
it2 physical understanding marching,
stretching, lifting, &c.,-and singing are re-
sorted to in all sensible schools to give the
little fellows relief from the tedium of forever
sitting still, which no child, except in the con-
troll of a monster, can do tor an hour and
half at time. Again, this scheme is calcu-
lated for a building with SIX rooms How are
the pupils in wards with but two or three
rooms to be taken through this course
The scheme naturally omits "fornix," to
which we respectfully call the attention of
DR.. Adair 1t is the first educational scheme
OF character We ever heard Of that excluded
Elementary sounds Defamation, or ''spcak.
ing pieces" is also tabooed until the pupil
reaches the High school, where we presume,
it is permitted in the study of rhetoric
But the great crudity of the scheme-the
place where it becomes perfectly bizarre-is in
the High School. Imagine a pupil studying
'Field Botany in mid winter, or pursuing
such study at all without at least a smatter-
ing of Latin and Greek. The pupil begins.
"The vegetable kingdom is considered under
two great divisions, PhGnogamia and Cryptic
gamla." Here ire two strange, hard sounding
words. The pupil may learn their meaning,
and after weeks practice, may be able to
pronounce and remember them. But how
much easier would it have been if he under
stood q little Greek and then knew at a
glance that cryptic means secret and ganaa
marriage, and that the whole word therefore
means that order of plants whose stamens and
pistils, or parts that indicate the sexes, are
concealed, THAI is, not shown by fowers-in
a word, flowerless plants. Botany has five
thousand words Of this sort, made up of
simple Greek and Latin words. Geology,
Mnerology, Chemistry, Mental Philosophy -
in short, all the sciences are crowded with the
same sort of words. A years study OF Greek md
Latin will enable the common pupil to under
stand these words at glance Without some
knowledge of Greek and Latin no pupil can
commit and remember the meaning of and
use at will the technical terms used in Botany
and Minerelogy alone in twenty years of close
application.
The crowning absurdily OF the Paulian
scheme, therefore, is, that it proposes to teach
the sciences without the absolutely necessary
previous studies. 1t is rs absurd Us to under.
take to teach pupil to extract the square or
cube root without having previously taught
him to add, divide, subtract and multiply.
The scheme goes on the assumption that you
can bore hole into the top of a boys head
and podr in knowledge rs You would fill a
bottle with water.
AZ already conceded, the motives of the
ploposers of this scheme may be honest and
praiseworthy, but they are mistaken Their
attempt to teach science" in this way will be
n miserable failure. and the only result can be
N,h .s. ii,