The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1873-05-08

and That therefore uo lgndtUFulsl change
In oaF system s. desirable, even i ig were
possible
Tbemo casual glance &C the history otI
The past few wears viii ,ahl,e to show
as, too, whai pag Improvement. have
been made iu all atpcrlsin. 20 thc or
sauiuiiau, discipline aud furnishing u
tbc school The old-limc schoohhouse,
uo,ouons i0r il, ugInssst Is giving place
to finer bindings. while tor The comfort
aud beauty Of the scbool-ruom We have
Improved desks aud seats, improved map,
and charts, improved slate. and globes,
aud improved textbooks good enough
aud numerous enough for as io quarrel
over tlll the end Of timc IN short, iu an
the paraphernalia Of he school, from thc
childreu picture cards to lbe most eabo.
rate ii6capparains, we are certainty
far ia advance Of anything ia our own
past, and are said 10 be far iu advance Of
other nations.
But just here, il seem, 20 me, is Che
/ line Of oar greatest defect and our great
est danger III looking so closely after
I the mechanism Of education, we have lost
something Of the life aud spirit OF oar
/ teaching. oar methods are tending
more aud more 10 become formal, me
chauica aud super fetal, We secure dne
recitatioos,it may be, but we fail to train
our pupils to independent thinking. Aud
here, that facts may speak for them
selves, | trust that shall be pardoned for
almdng TO my own experience Not
long ago, us was at the house Of u
/ friend, she asked me II would bolp her
little boy in his arithmetic The new
ways Of teaching, she said, were so dill
creut from the old, that she could not
help him much,
found the littlo fellow ia tears over
some cxamules, Of which the following is
a specimens. "A boy had u apples; 70
one companion he gave 3, to another s,
90 another three; how many had he left
Thinking this neither beyond my own
comprehension nor that of the child, !
tried to help him; but seeing still the
troubled look, said, Don't You under
stand It? Understand il? OF course do!
but that amt getting it; we have to say
over some words, and don't know what
they are. or course could not tell him
the exact form OF words in which his
} teacher required him to say It, so had
to let him go Nor is this solitary in.
stance to prove that in much Of our teach.
! ing the form is made of undue Importance
\ lady Of fine intelligence and genuine
culture told me recently that she was de-
prived of the pleasure of helping hen
children in mathematics, because The new
: methods Of explaining are 50 different
from the old. Now, she said, it seems tc
Z me that any method is right which rea.
! sons correctly upon the principles inyolv
ed; but whenever try TO help them
! they say, No, mother, that isn't the way
the teacher tells us we must say it. Ant
s who OF us has not attended many /
Z dreary examination where all the pupils
, would grind of their explanations in pre-
c cisely the same words, with exactly tht
same infections, and after an immense
0 amount of verbiage, bring ont the trium
i phant therefore at the close, all making |
Y grand show, if only one admires uniior
} nifty and a smooth flow of words NOR,
n than anything else!
But iCthere is any power that ought t.
u be cultivated in school, IT is the power t
discriminate between what is wortl
|, learning and what is not; between thl
e essence or kernel Of truth and the husl
+ which may enclose it. II the mind i
: forced to take in both wheat and ehail
II both will doubtless be undigestcd, an,
c the heathful growth Of the mind be eficc
tually prevented.
6 Moreover, it takes away from the pupi
e more than half the pleasure Of study, 4
cfamp him with unnecessary restriction
II as to methods. Provided he understand
the principles, bis thought is essential
s. the same a. the teachers, but the form O
1I the thought viii be different; aud it !
. worth something TO boy, it stimulate
+ bis seli.respect, TO know that his ow
thought, as il comes from his own min
:" is good Just as it. is, without being dress
II ed in any other persons clothes. Aud
20 teacher who has taught from the book
some verbose and clumsy methods, ma
T. often learn something from the simplicit
and directuess Of a child's expression
For that method is uudeniably the be-
which states the principles most clearly
and reaches the conclusion with fewei
words.
have a little friend who never recilt
handsomely, aud is always called dull
school; but one day be came home rad
ant with triumph over the eonqnere
~ multiplication table, and eager TO have I
ns test bin newly acquainted powers. llo
Iic much is eight times severn some OF
asked. o, hain't got beyond the iyet
o- bat wait a minute, / guess ! can tel
ed then, after a few minutes Of quiet lhinI
or ing-lt's dity-six, aiu't itt Yes, bl
.sl how did sou know IL you hadn't Iearnc
H. the .eyens OF eght,i Wei, I s'pose cigI
mn times seven would be- twiee as much
Fl. four times seven, aud know the four
pa. so udied Two taeuie. aHd Two cigbts
Ib. Now, Nc have all ST d. had sueu cd
te dreu 90 our e,as.rs, lnii oi qnatut. odg
-.. nal wats OF doing tting-. luf wha d
D.. .t.. ga tft.g ff. ff.gst,.,5.f Oil. q.