New-York tribune., 1878-01-10
NOTES ON EDUCATION.

The Indiana counties have q total school
srportionmeut for this year Of ss69,206 80
There is talk in Iowa about abOlishng the
Office of County superintendent Of Schools leaving the
supervision Of the schools TO the local authorities
Nebraska is said to have more than $500,
600 of land set apart as permanent endowment
of the pubic schools Those school lands sold thus iar
have yielded an average OF 81 90 an acre
Harvard has received a bequest OF $l4O,0OO
from Mrs j. W Sever. of Boston, of which sum 100000
IL for building TO be called Hail. $4,000 for the
library, and $4,000 for purposes not specified.
Superintendent Stone, of Springfield, Mass,
wisely holds that much OF the peYplexes Of arithmetic
are of small value study, and of no value at all III
practical life; and that there is too much parsihg,
analysis and humbug generally about the st"us VI
grammar il is now commonly taught.
The people of Cleveland are said to COM
pain that reading and spelling are too much neglected
In the schools of that city One OF the critics quotes
reportod SAYING Of President Eliots: II child can
read write aud spe correctly and is versed ID 'he SUI
ence Of numbers, he has already good education"
Superintendent Shattuck, of Denver, says
what ought be but is not apparent to every ohe-'h
whenever people want teachers with brains 10 Tram
their children. and are willing to pay for such, the
brains will be found forthcoming When the rural popo-
aton take their inner consciousness this iact-ta
school of one month under teacher who is really and
truly apt to teaeh is absolutely worth than six
months under mediocre-then the order Will go iorth
"Iucapables the rear and they will hear and obey
The Rev. DR.. Mayo of Springfield, says that
NOT one of our teachers in ton has had any special train
ing for their work. most thorough supervision over
our schools ia most necessary free from political n
ence School boards cities should be reduced to com
mittees of work able size. county and state system
Of spery,sion should he instituted The West IA out
stripping New England in educational progress because
they employ system of supervisors vino are heo 10
strict accountability FOR results.
The teaching of some public schools has
been illustrated by the examination papers of apicants
for admission to the Michigan State Normal sehc" last
Spring among the examples of bad spelling we're dcfin
ate" intenee," "opreation," "speciic,' "pantha-
ism :" and the word respectfully" was misused for
"respectivey." " submeness " for "sublimity," and
externally" for outside" Sentences ran as fol
lows: Subject exhibits Themselves" and 1.-The
color Of leaves green" TOrrd was spelled with one
T. and frigd with two Ss Virginia bounded on the
west by Missouri south by Georgia north by Ohio and
Eew-YOrk. and west by Indiana" Not single examna-
tion paper was exactly in the bounding of Vr
ginia.
One speaker at the meeting of the Indiana
State Teachers Association talking Of teaching dun pu
pills said that education too often consists of empty
forms; there is too much abstract teaching and not
enough of the and practical working out OF real
problems. One school employed three weeks IN max
ing South America their play ground, till they under
stood every particular the geography of that country
the excited great that the whole school
wanted emigae South America. II is positive ne
cessty simplify the instruction for the benefit of
the duh pupils pays devote proper time to the steps
OF learning any branch especially In arithmetic
rather than nave only confused idea when ali had been
gone through. Tie work must be made pleasing
possible as to promote the feeling OF pride the part
of the pupil n pupil is not ready 10 graduate he
should commence over again, and graduation might be
twice year instead of annually
DR.. Samuel Eliot, of Boston, says: " The
greatest error into which teachers liable fall is
mechanical method OF teaching Education is a work Of
freedom One of the of thus mechanical process
OF teaching the forming OF pupils into one class and
treating them whole. This is not right. Each pupil
has peculiar organization, and must not be treated
machine that is Obliged to perform given amount OF
work in given time. Another cause is the assignment
OF inexperienced teachers to classes composed Of small
children This is very wrong both as regards the pupil
and as teacher The teacher very gets
in habit of producing the result sought by the quick
possible method, and the result is mechanical pro-
of education. IT, instead OF being assigned 10 class
of young pupils the inexperienced teacher placed
charge of older pupils who had not been subjected to
mechanical process the result would he that the mex
perenced teachers would learn the of the teachers
who had char 20 Of the scholars before them"