Orangeburg times. [volume] (Orangeburg Court House [S.C.]) 1877-1881, 1881-08-18
Old Field Schools.
editor Or tnqe6urq Times ;

l am glad that tho Editor has
made some comments on mine of last
week. Others may have misundcr,
stood, as lie did. l am much pleased
that lie has given me space for. setting
q few matters in q different light, but
l think, or expect to be ableto show
that DR.. Newell is not so Ear wrong
as might be supposed, The forbear-
ance ofthc reader is asked, fer the
continued discussion, because Of the
vital Importance Of the question.
take it That DIR. N. had reference,
rs | had, TO country schools whore
ouly a limited and much interrupted
time is at the command Of parents
and pupil. The Editor has shown
| where the difficulty lies, in quoting
from DR.. Calkins ofN. Y.
"Childrcn from five to ten should be
taught facts and train the pcrccp-
ton" This no doubt includes tile
letters, spelling, reading, &c. Five
years schooling from ten to fifteen
train the memory by Geography,
Defamation, dc, From fifteen to
twenty, Mathematics, Logic, &C."
This gives fifteen years schooling.
why you may teach everything
reasonable in that time. We will
drop five years, (and then many here
layen'tns many months OIL and on.
These gentlemen sticklcrs for tIor-
ough training evidently never lived
in Southern pine wood. They
seem TO take it for granted that
everybody has ten or fifteen wears
continued tuition without oDS and
OnS.
Let us likcn these nns and ons, say
to candle ends, rs everybody knows
what they are. The whole, spelling,
definitions and grammar can be
-lcarncd faster, and much more pleas
antly by extensive reading, even of
the paper OF the day.
or correct speaking and writing, it
is certain thatif a child hear moth
ing but pure Latin, he will not speak
cannot speak or write anything
else. The same Of French, the same
of English. But, if his parents and
associates speak jargon he is hound
to follow.
efficiency with the labors Of tile eX-
amining committee. He misunder-
stands. The word efficiency has
reference to the effects of the teach
er's labors in the school room. This
should he looked to by the trustees,
but isn't. The examining committee
is our surety rs to competrncy-so far
,l.,tn MI In, l. T
indebted to this committee for per
sonal tavors, which am glad to ac-
knowledge here.
am interested in the well-doing Of
our schools, and the Editor is also, no
doubt, interested IS Commissioners.
For that reason my paper was sent to
him.
1t is to be hoped that orr school
fund will produce better results than
he $4,000 voted for the Tea expert
mcnt ut Sumnervillc. We learn from
VIM. Sanders that three hundred
dollars is the expense attending the
outlay of sixty dollars in value Of
labor. We were about passing our
cups down for Summcrvifle tea, hut
will wait until The mansion is
renovated, the dry .ake bridged with
iron, and other works so neccssn,y
to the cuifiuafton oft"n be concluded
They don't consider that the time
Of children sent to room where half.
are i'll and half out alternately is
irrccovcrably lost.
really believe if there were no
4 l.
ter schools in some places.
Now, as to Grammar, would not
be understood as obiccting to it al
together; but syntax and prosoly
require Il very maturcd capacity; yet
it is some times, to satisfy some
fond parents, attempted too soon. 1t
is like puttitig Il tough! mouthiul, into
the mouth of an infant without
teeth.
/ The writer does not profess to be
an expert grammarian; and, although
| he tlhlinbcu the books as usual in
boyhood, in the limited way he is
speaking of, he was as ignorant
Of the more abtrusc parts as he was
ofGrcck. He does not object to the
primary study, If we have the candle
ends to spare. No doubt it develops
the memory, and like almost any
other study. has much to do with the
maturing Of the mind.
Dictionary, well We used TO spell
dictionary, bcinning ut A, and by the
time we were Mt, B, the end would
give out, and the next teacher would
start us at a again. But in the
mean time the "Amcrican," the par.