The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1874-03-26
WHOLE NO. l4O1.

conlbatants. They don't believe in fight
ing and yet, what are they doing in the
army? Now let us muster the teachers.
The first one that comes along not only
fights, he whips every time. The next
does neither. He is moral suaslon,'
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" 50 TO SO 80 per yd Canton fan
i"Pestalozzl lse' the >rng- g-"of'vvf.-----
Teach without text books" "Oral in
struction is humbug." Kindergarten
and tie the millennium" "Music and
drawing though the heavens fall" "The
common English branches are enough"
"Out with the Bible; no priestcraft. -
"Moral instruction, or abolish the school
system" "The practical only. Mental
discinline" Couture" mo high
schools" "The public high schools are
the peoples colleges" can American
education for Americans German by
all means "The synthetic. The
anlvtic." ''The inductive method"
Analysis, synthesis and induction. now
and forever, onea and inseparable, &c.-
| E PI,iriJus Uiauna-Ne Plus Ultra. 1t
seems to me the common sense of every
teacher will suggest the best method
You are to teach elements only. Not the
! technical terms and scientific names, but
the fundamental principles, rudiments,
primary laws and facts, and the simplest
! things involved in knowledge of them.
How will you do this except by oral IN
struction The 'cramming process, by
which so many pages, chapters and books
| N q
! Text books are helps, and in the higher
grades the ''text book and oral methods
! can be iudiciously combined. 1t may be
| necessary for the teacher to have text
book near at hand for reference, but his
| text book before his classes should be
nature itself.
THE ORDER OF INSTRUCTIONS IN NATURAL SCIENCE
instituted by Supt. Harris of st. Louis is
worthy of notice here: "The first year,
| lowest grade, in schools began with les
sons on the plant; the second year was
taken up with animals, and especially the
structure of the human body; while the
third year initiated the pupils into ply
sical forces in various familiar applica-
tions and made some progress IN cQnsld-
ering the geological and meteorological
elements, such as earth, air, fire, and
water In the fourth, fifth and sixth
year the course took a more practical
| turn While in the first three years 1T
| had dealt chiefly with the rationale OF
the child's playthings and such phenom-
ena as excited his astonishment, IN the
second course he was to learn to under
stand what is useful to man in these de
partments In the sixth and seventh
year the maturity of the pupil allows him
to investigate with some degree OF scien-
tific interest and hence the more general
form is adopted" And now the ques-
ton above all others,
WHAT SCIENCES SHALL WE TEACH?
The law, if there is one, should specify,
or the State authority should decide.
But since the law is silent, and the State
authority is powerless, the teacher is left
to his own judgment. Let him exercise
| it prudently. If the teacher will notice
| the instincts of the child, there will be
no difficulty in making proper selections.
What is the first thing that naturally
attracts the attention of the child? Some
of those ladies that cultivate choice
flowers can tell you. After the little ur-
chin has admired and destroyed all your
fine flowers and cut his fingers with the
blades of grass and rubbed smart weed
in his eyes and made "a good square
meal on poke berries, he begins TO
weary of all these things. He turns
next to the dogs, and COWS, chickens, pigs
and lambs, and pursues his Investigations
until the smarting teeth of the cur,
kick from the COW, scratch from the
motherly'old hen, bite from the horse,
a run over by the porkers, chased and
punished by the old patriarch of the
flock warns him to desist. And naturally
enough he begins to whittle with his
iack-knife He wants to take things
apart and put them together again. His
curiosity leads him to break things to
peices to see what they are made of, and
then put them together again. Now
what does all this prove? Or rather in
dicate in the solution of the problem,
"What sciences shall we teach p l, Bot
ony; 2, Natural History; 3, Natural
Philosophy. And l will add as fitting
supplement- to these, as well as necessa-
nv branch: 4, Physiology, and Hygiene.
A word of caution Do not attempt too
much.
CONCLUSION.
We may, at another time, give some
methods of teaching these subjects.
The discussion of the questions presented
is next in order. Do you hesitate to
take step that will lift your profession
high above all others? The district
school teachers are the pioneers of the
great army of christian civilization.
They are the pillars and props of the re-
public. No trust is greater than that
committed to their care. No honors are
conferred on the man whom the nation
delights to honor, that does not reflect
credit and honor upon the school teach
ers of our land. The Natural Sciences
are the basis of all the productive indus
tries in the United States. They are like
unto the "Tree of Life that yields all
manner of fruit every month. Take and
eat, for there is nothing too good for the
American Teacher.
rolicions nersons saws that cotton