The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1877-05-03


them every evening; and then they can
and mast il they wish to be success
ful-produce illustration8-mo or
less simple according to the age Of the
Pupils which cannot be crowded into
an ordinary text book. Now for YER
batim definitions. Many good teachers
claim that the definitions and rules
used in the books are better than any
that can be given by either teacher. OF
pupil.
| Perhaps they are. Yet the fact re-
mains nat many Of them are couched
in such language as the average pupil
.does not understand; and as long as
the study Of 2cords is SO much neglected
ii is sheer nonsense for anyone to say
that book definitions are the defnitions
to be learned.
AS an example: The writer in visit
ing a school last winter, had the plea
sure ~ Of listening to a recitation in
iU. S. history. Subject, Adams Adj
ADMINISTRATION. The class did well; one
lpupil handled the "Alien and Sedition
Laws" fuently, giving the exact words
Of The book. The writer finally asked
him what an alien was; the boy stam-
mered for q while but at last said, Il
don't know: but I guess it means q
Democrat" The boy did not mean it
as joke. The teacher assigned an adj
vance lesson, and the boy thinks an
alien and democrat the same. He
learned the words Of the book, all that
IS 42ece860qy.
I Again, many teachers think that all
in the text book should be taught just
as it comes. One teacher who has
taught long enough to know better.
says, Il commence at the beginning OF
Green's Grammar and go right through
so many pages each day. / will YER
ture the assertion that when he ''gets
through" the grammar, his pupils can
| neither parse correctly the words Of a
] simple sentence, nor write an ordinary
; letter without making q dozen mis-
takes. When so used, text books are
) a positive injury. The pupils have
learned mass Of dry definitions, but
know nothing Of the use or beauty OF
their language.
But it is in the beginning Of the
study Of arithmetic or Of numbers that
teachers make the most serious blum
! der. Although the statement may sur
: prise many, yet it is q fact that until
the pupil has 3 good understanding OF
the four fundamental principles OF az
itllnetic, and Of the principles govern
ing common and decimal fractions, the
text book should not be put into his
hands.
l The object Of primary arithmetic is
=, TO develop the perceptivo faculties. &c
bring out what a child h12o20a, and add
to this knowledge by the use Of those
! faculties The fuller development Of
The reasoning faculties comes with ma
turar years, How much better then
instead Of putting a book into his hands
and attempting to reason everything,
: is it to develop the idea Of number
, from what he can see. After this idea
has been followed so that o child can
: add, subtract, &C., readily using beans
Ipieces Of chalk, numerical frames, Sc,
to accomplish this-send hi1n to find
, the length, breadth, &C. Of the school
house, the yard, the wood-pile, &C..
Igradually Introducing new subjects as
: time, weight, &c. and the child will be
: more interested, learn easier, and four
times as much as the child who was
given the book. Teachers, try il.
: Break away from the text book; de-
pend more upon yourselves. and your
work will be more satisfactory to all
concerned. D.
ATTE2AlEE1T TO KIDNAP PACKARD.
i NEW ORLEANS, April 19-lThn fol-