The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1879-11-14
ESTABLISHED 1859.
Educational Department
]. H. SAUNDERS, EDITOR.
Enrnl Ys. PrincIpIe.

The school law says y o person
shall be deemed qualified to teach aDy
common school unless such person
shall first have obtained a certifcate
of qualification, &c. Those who IN
derstand clearly the principle involysd
in the subject to be taught, as wellas
the forms in which they are expressed,
shall be entitled to frst-class, frt-
grade certificate; those who know he
forms we'll, and have knowledgeof
principle, but not clear, shall be chi
tied to a first class, second-grade CIR
tifcate: those who know the forms
we'll, but not the principles, shallbe
entitled to a second class certifeat u
The State Board has decided, "TlRi
by principles are meant the elewents
tuac tuhere IL rhe branch Of -study.
That which is fundamental, is prlnei-
pie. Every form is constructed upon
principle. A form may be recognized
by observation An analysis of that
form and an application Of the prinei
pie or rule at every stage of the dis
tribution of the subject, constitutes,
what is meant by understanding the
principles.
Now, if it is necessary that We un
derstaud the principles we'll, why not
teach principles more and forms less?
If We succeed in teaching form only,
we make second class scholars; but if
we succeed in teaching principles thor
oughy, we make frst-cIass pupils
But how often do we see pupils VINO
are able to give no better reason for
their work than "that it is like the
book says-Or the rule says SOP IF
you ask John why he writes units
under units and teus under tens, he
replies: Because the rule says SO"
The answer is applauded as correct
and John thinks that he has learned
all that is reqlirsd. Try to teach
him anything more than this, aud he
thinks you are Offering insult He
gave that answer to Mr. A, and he
said it was correct-besides, it is the
answer in the book, and you certainly
do not know more than the book.
Susan performed her work just like
the book said and she knows she has
the right form, for she points out one
precisely like it. Business men have
learned the forms thoroughly by con-
slant practice, therefore they wish to
see their children perform example:
rapidly after the approved form. Our
book makers, ever. on the alert for q
popular breeze, teach forms much more
than principles, consequently we see
pupils say four times three yards are
twelve quarters, two times six quarts
ar4 twelve pints, and twelve times three
feet are thirty.six inches. We know
such forms are difficult for children to
learn, but we must teach them, because
the book says so and because it Is the
shortest method The book says: In
vert the terms of the divisor, and mul-
tiply the numerators together for a
new uumerator, and the denominators
for a new danominator Ask the child
why he does this and be knows no
higher authority than the rule. The
truth is, our fathers found that certain
forms would produce certain results.
We have memorized these forms aud
their results and have not stopped to
investigate the causes We, as teach
ers. have taught forms rather than
principles until the people have con
cluded that nothing but forms is teach"
ing In fact, that teacher VIII can
make the most brilliant display OF
forms is often pronounced the better
scholar. The consequence is that our
children must be sent off to school to
be taught principles, as we only have
courage to teach forms.