Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-11-25

| tue ulTSClOIS Vi llt COlnIuOl-SClOOl ~ D
TEN still fdjitO meet The general rant, and
blindly persist in perpetuating false
system, HSiduOilSiy created by interested
persons, such as scientific pedagOgues,
schOol-boOk publishers, and sChOol-fur-
/ niture manufacturers. That reforms
are possible in the unscientilic methods
of teaching which now obtain is shown
| by the successful effort at Quincy,
Massachusetts, OF which Charles Francis
| Adams, Jr., is the careful historian,
PATIENT COMMITTEEMAN
found that pupils who knew every rule
Of syntaN, and could formally parse sem
fences, could not compose an ordinary
letter grammatically. They could not
| read any matter outside their text
| books without absurd stumbling. In
| short, they learned as parrots learn, and,
| after their course OF training, knew no
| more than trained parrots. The COM
mittee determined upon change Of
method, and, fortunately, had at call
| gentleman who had turned his back
upon the American school system as a
failure and sought instruction abroad.
| Mr.. Adams's remarks upon the changes
| wrought are worth quoting in full:
"The essence of the new system was
| that there was no system about it; it
was marked throughout by intense in
| dviduality. The programme found no
/ place anywhere in it; on the contrary,
/ the last new theory, so CuriOuSly am
pliiied in some OF our larger cities, that
vast numbers of children should be
taught as trains on railroads are run, on
a timetable principle,-that they are
here now, that they will be at such an
other point tomorrow, and at their
| terminus at such a date--while a gen.
eral superintendent sits in his central
office and pricks off each step in adj
vance of the whole line on a chart be-
| lore him, this whole theory was en-
! phatically dismissed. Experiments
were to be cautiously tried and results
| from time TO time noted. The revOlu-
/ ton, however, was all-peryading.
| Nothing escaped its influence; it began
with the alphabetand extended into the
last effort OF the grammar-school course.
The most notable change, however, and
that which has excited the most general
interest was at the very begining-in
the primaries.
THE OLD DANE SCHOOL
disappeared at once. In place OF
| it appeared something as Diff
ierent as light from darkness.
The alphabet itself was no longer taught.
In place OF the old, lymphatic, liStless
'school-marm, pressing into the minds
of tired and liStless children the mystic
significance Of certain hieroglyphics by
mere force OF over laying, rs it were
instead of this time hOnOred machine
process, young women, full OF life and
nervous energy, found themselves sur
rounded al the black board with groups
| of little ones who were learning how TO
read, in a word, exactly as they had be-
| fore learned how to speak, not by rule
and role and by pieCemeal, but alto
/ gether and by practice. The hours Of
school were, after all, little children still,
and that long confinement was irksOme
/ to them. \ play-table and toys were
| furnished to them, and from time to
| time the exercises were stopped that all
might join in physical movement. The
effect produced by this changed school
atmosphere on the children was, how
| ever, the point of interest. 1t show ed
| itself in the way least possible to mis-
take-going to school ceased to be a
homesick tribulation. That this should
be so seems opposed both TO child-na-
ture and to all human denial. The chill
| dren actually went TO school without be-
| ing dragged there. Yet the reason Of
| this was not far TO seek. The simple
fact was that they were happier and
more amused and better contented at
school than at home. The drudgery of
| the impossible primer no longer made in
FAINT life miserable. The alphabet was
robbed of its terrorS, and stole upon
! them unawarcS; while the most con-
founding thing to the members of the
committee was that in hearing the prim-
aries read not 4 child among them could
repeat its letters, or even knew their
names; unless, perchance, to the teach
ers increased trouble they had been
/ taught them at home
I'm the higher departments the change
/ went on. The multiplicity of studies
/ was discarded as productive of the
/ merrSt smattering of knowledge, and
| textbooks were, in a measure done
/ away with. instruction was confined to
reading, writing, and arithmetic, except
as grammar, spelling. history, and geo
| graphv were impaired incidentally with
| reading, which was not confined tO 4
| textbook and writing, which was not
| from copy, but otl-hand. The old
| reader having disappeared says Mr..
| Adams, "the teacher was at liberty to
/ put into the hands of the class geo
| graphes, or histories, or magazine ar
ticleS, and, having read them first, the
/ scholars might write them aiterward, TO
show that they understand them.
| Their attention was thus secured, and,
the pen being continually in the hand,
they wrote rs readily as they spoke, and
| spelling came with practice As in the
| primary departments, the results were
. highly gratifying. Mr.. Adams has not
neglected the practical side of the ques-
| tiOn-that side which has a keen inter-
est Tor the owners of property who are
discovering that great share Of the
burden laid upon it is imposed in the
name OF common education. Mr..
Adams adds:
"But while the improvement was APP
parent enough, and did not need to be
pointed out, the all-important question
remained: At what money cost was 1t
bought? lit involved a heavy addi-
ton to taxes, no matter how great the
improvement, il was nevertheless a
failure. The Common-schoOl system
OF Massachusetts, was, in the view of
the cOmmittec, in very great danger OF
crushing the community 1t was meant
to protect"
the AVERAGE ASNUAL COST or EDUCATING
a child in Quincy had increased five
fold in thirty years, and the experience,
of Quincy in this respect was not eN-
ceptional. 1t has already been sug'
gested that there is such a thing as
trxing community TO death, and it is
| mite annaran+ that the recent ratio OF