The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1879-07-18
Educational Department.
Vacation.

How are the teachers o. Fulton Z
county spending vacation? Are they /
examining new text books, hunting |
new meihods ofiDparting instructions, /
Iccturiug Gu what they have learned /
and lisieripg 70 lectures from other /
teachers to Gnd what they have learn
ed2 Have you renewed your subscrip- /
ton for you school Journals? Have /
you added anything to your teachers /
library2 Have you read your old /
books a1d found some new or long for
gotten thoughts IN ,bem2 Have yon /
sep; Journal the last term IN which /
yea have recorded the important
things you have lesrned from expert
eucel Have you purchased any new
maps, globes, charts, or apparatus for
YOUR next term2 Have you read the
Hickman COURIS8 every week that
sou may interes, your pupils with
homo uaws? Nothing gaius the atteu-
iion Of class quicker, or retains /;
better than TO explain the lesson with
home Illustrations. Education, as
we'll as charity should begin at home,
lei your first lessons in reading bo
about objects with which your pupils
are familiar, your Grat lesson 10 spell
ing, be short familiar words; your
first lesson in numbers be counting
familiar objects; your fret lesson IN
geography, he drawing OF your school
room: yeur first lessen IN history be a
recital Of the biography Of your lead
ing countrymen But this is digres
sion Surely, no man who Processes
20 be teacher. who pirates about pubs
20 .Dirit and public enterprise. who
boasts of his labors for the diffusion Of
knowledge, surely such a public ger
cant as this does not nesd to be urg-
cd 10 read his county paper. Taking
IL for granted that every teacher in
FULTON county is q subscriber to the
COURIER, let US return to the subject
How are you spending vacation? Have
you re written all your journals Of
former terms, and placed the improves
ments in each branch under it, sppro
pirate head? In short have you made
eyery effort to improve your own mind,
aud prepare yourselfto be better quail
lied to teach this fall than you ever
we're before? Or have you thrown
aside books. and oil thoughts OF them
lett your old books to moIder on the
shelves, given no thoughts to new
uues, spent your money for 6sh hooks
Instead Of school apparatus, left the
school TO improve itself aud risked
your own chsnces for improvement ut TO
your good luck? Think of these
things now, aud govern yourself &C
ccrdingly. If you try to improve
yonr school, your furniture, your books
and your self, you may expect success.
But ii you have left everything TO
chance the chances are tina, you school
viii be failure, your patrons be dis
satisfied, your pupils not advance,
yourself IL trouble all the next term
your salary small and that little paid
Reluctantly and finally, you will find
yourself hunting another situation
Teaching, like every other profession
needs energetic people to engage 10 it
If we use energy and brains. we are
apt to succeed here as elsewhere
Otherwise, we fail here just as we
would in any other profession.
GRAMMAR.
How many Fulton county teachers
attended the Teachers Institute 10
Union City last July2 Those who at
tended, 20 doubt remember the lecture
on grammer. How one professor
proved there are six parts of speech;
another. that there are Only five; aud a
third, that Nil our books called gram
mar are misnamed, aud that the gram
mar Of the English language is YET
upwri,ten.
The time for the Teachers Institute
has returned aud our able professors
again assembling in the towns aud vii,
lagos of the South aud proving TO the
people that the study of grammar is O
humbug. Still these men 20 back TO
their schools and teach grammar for
another year. Now the question
wish to PROFOUND is this: do these
men really believe there Is no such
thing as grammar" Do they teach ),
merely because the people expect them
TO, and cot because they think there is
10 be any benefit derived from III If
they are honest, let Us Invite our rep
resentstives to our Institutes, prove 10
them that there is no such thing MS
grammer, and have the law abolished
requiring grammar to be taught in
cur common schools But if their
,org harangues have failed to convince
you that there is no such thing as
grammar, go 10 your institutions pre-
pared for these fellows, and the frs;
professor who begins two hours es
say TO prove to you that there is no
grammar, knock him down, and save
your time for something of more i'm.
portanee. You cannot afford to have
your time wasted by these fellows who
preach ~ bat they neither practice or
believe.
ARiTHMHTIC.
Is Arithmetic the science Of nuns
bors? 1t go, is it two sciences, or one?
Our school law requires written ex,
animation on eight branches. One of
these is mental Arithmetic and one.
Written Arithmetic. One set of ex-
implies is given TO be solved mentally,
ard another get TO be solved by written