St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-02-25

For the Calrdonian
Vermont State Teachers Association.
(COHcIHied from last Wcek)
FRIDAY MORNING.
! The morning session opened with PRAYER
10y j. ID. BartleN. Principal of Burling
ton High School.
ARITHMETIC.
! The first exercise was II paper on .'IIow
much prominence should he given to
Arithmetic ?! written by Prof. G.. y.
Abbott. of Mcrcersburg. Penn. and read
| hy Mr.. PollcnS. The questions treated
were. What is the least time absolutely
needtul for the mastery of arithmetic ?
| How shall the work he condensed into
this time and ut what age shall the
study be commenced The conclusions
of the author of the paper were: i.
That the pupil could profitably begin
the study of arithmetic very early. >
| That he should not finish il till he az
rived at Il sufficient age for gra<ping the
intricacieS of the subject. which. in the
case of the average pupil. even with
good opportunities. might not occur he
fore the age OF twelve to fourteen wears.
g. That the best method of contracting
the time devoted to the study j. to re-
duce the daily or weekly houi< of at
! tcntlOn to IT. to omit ii certain terms.
or t" alternate ii with algebra in the
latter part of the course. !. That the
relative Importance of this study is
greater than some Germans. a> for in
stance Schopcmhaucr. wnuld make il.
and So great that the study of other
sciences cannot bc successfully pruSccut-
eel without it.
&. ID. Mead. in the oral discussion
of the topic. thought that none too
! thorough Il knowledge of arithmetic Was
now required of our pupils that the
plan of study should be adapted To the
capacity of the average pupil: that the
work should ncgIn with the entrance of
| the child upon school work. and cannot
hc satisfactorily completed in less than
eight or ten wears time. Ordinarily
omt-thlrd of the pupils time should he
/ devoted to this subject
| President Buckham said that the diff
! iiculty in teaching arithmetic comes not
| III Ihc primary grades non IN the highest
| grades. bIli at some of the intermediate
stages. This l. the universal testimony
| of teachers. The inference from this l.
/ obvious. The elementary work of
/ arithmetic Is within the reach nt VcrN
| Young minds. lis highest work needs
/ maturity. Ii i, not best. then. To arrest
the study When it begins to he too all
Struse for children. and return t" it
| when the mind has acquired the re-
quiSite discipline for mastering it.
II. L. Fuller mentioned the tested
value of the study OF algebra before
completing arithmetic. In his school,
10y this means. six months "r more of
/ time waS generally saved.
| SHAKESPEARE A. a READING BOOK.
| Miss y. VI. Guernsey of Randolph then
| presented Il paper on "ShakcSpcarc as
Il Rradingl5"nk." Taking az an intro
ductiun the assertion of Prof. Braimcrd
of Middlcbury. that 'lhc study of Eug-
liSh Literature should he commenced in
the School-I"om the questions were
asked What can ne. the teachers of
nur state, do To awaken in the minds of
our pupils Il deeper interest III the lit
eraturc of our mother tongue? W hat
results may he obtained by introducing
the writings of the ''mNriad minded
Shakespeare into our common schoolS
Ii can he done. though it requires close.
careful study. and il will supply the
want of something new, which ss
many teachers experience. 1t L. better
To view these master pieces as II whole.
than to catch only the taHtalizing
glimp>cS of them which are given in
our text books on reading. This work
is valuable for purposes of clocutien and
may bc made Il powerful auxiliary III
the dreaded subject of compositions.
CLASSICAL SCHOOLS.
The need of IL Classical Fitting School
for Western Vermont. WAS then dis
cussed by Rev. C.. c. Torrey of Char
lottc. He spoke of what Dartmouth.
with her auxiliary preparatory schools,
had done for New Hampshire and East
ern Vermont. Like some other facts.
however. Vermont colleges are facts
which will not cease to exist and they
need introduccIS to their walls, 10y
schools in their immediate vicinity.
They may well admit some poor schol-
arS, but they need many good ones. 81
thoroughly trained that they can raise
the standard .t attainment.
Prof. Goodrich deplored the Subdi-
vision of the grammar school fund.
originally appropriated to schools giving
special classical instruction. The idea
that graded schools do good classical
work is not always justified 10y results.
Some high schools do excellent work
but not all. and for manifest reasons -
the instructor has to teach everything
and can seldom concentrate his energies
on his classical pupils. And it is not ia
he expected that Il skilled instructor in
the elements of Greek and Latin can he
found for every one of so many towns
In the special lifting school there is 4
we'll understood standard of attainment
at which every pupil aims. and clasSi-
cal tome unknown to the mixed schools
The atmosphere of the institution Ii
such as to furnish ii special stimulus t.
the whole body of students. The heads
of these schools have regulations t.
make or to keep us classical instructors
, and they have Il personal interest III the
standing of candidates for college. The
colleges in this valley have an ihteres
in Il fitting school that may compete IL
point of advantages and efficiency Will