The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-03-17
How the Indian Idea Shoots in
Virginia

Helen W. Ludlow in Harpers Magazine.l
The effort has been made for a natural, all
round growth rather than a rapid one. Books,
of course, are for long time of no avail, and
object teaching, pictures and blackboards take
their place, with every other device that inge-
nuity is equal to, often on the spur of the mo-
ment, to keep up the interest and attention of
the undisciplined minds, that, with the best
intentions and strong desire to know English,
have small patience for preliminary steps. A
peripatetic class was thus devised to relieve
The tedium of the school room, and had, to
speak literally and fguratively, quite a run.
1t usually began with leap frog and went gaily
on to find its 'books in the running brooks,
sermons in stones" etc. Geography is taught
with moulding sand and iron raised dissecting
maps; arithmetic at first With blocks. The In
dians are particularly fond of each ,and the ad-
vanced class is quite expert in adding up col
umns of figures as long as ledger page, and
equal to practical problems OF every day trade
and simple business accounts.
Nothing, however, can equal the charm of
the printed page. 1t has the old mystery of
''the paper that talks 'If 1 cannot read
when go home," said young brave, "my
people will laugh at me-" The gratitude of
the ST.. Augustines over their first textbook in
geography was very touching. Reading, writ
ing and spelling are taught together by the
word method and charts. Later, attractive lit
tie primaries have been useful, and unbound
numbers of chidren's magazines, such as are
used in the Quincy schools. Most of the Da-
kotas can now read at sight as simple English
as are found in these, and are beginning to
I take pleasure in reading or in listening to easy
versions of our childhood classics of Robinson
Crusoe, and Christopher Columbus and George
Washington with his little hatchet. One Of
their teachers who tried the hatchet story on
them in preparation for the 22d of February,
says: "Such attentive listeners never saw
before. They were perfectly enraptured. They
understood everything, even to the moral. A
few days after this was annoyed by talking
in the class. When 1 asked who did it every
one blamed his neighbor. 1 said, Now boys,
don't tell lie. Who will be a George Wash
ington?' Two boys at once stood up and said,
I'VE did it,"
Another teacher was less successful with
her moral, in'trying to explain the hymn they
had learned to recite:
''Yield not to temptation for yielding is sin;
Each victory will help you some other to win.''
The next day one of the girls came to her, ex-
claiming triumphantly, II victory! L victoryl
Louisa Bullhead get mad with me. She big
temptation. fight her. 1 victory!"
A love letter picked up on the floor of a
school with Hamptons views ON coeducation
need not shock even pedagogic sensbilities.
Written in an unknown tongue, however with
only the names to betray it, translation by
the private interpreter seemed only a proper
precauton. If l confde it to the gentle read
er the Indian lovers will be neither the worse
nor the wiser, while some others may find in
it valuable suggestions for similar correspon-
dence:
NORMAL SCHOOL, Feb. 8, 1879.
"MIss - said like you, and want to
give you letter. Whenever 1 give you letter, /
want yon to answer me soon. That's all l want,
and will answer to you soon after. When you
give me letter it raises up. 1t makes me heart
glad sister-in-law. When talk L not saying
anything foolish. Always my heart very glad.
L want YOU let know your thoughts. |
always like you and love YOU. L am
honest about what L say, l always keep in
mind. l want always we smile at each other when
meet. We live happy always. L think that's
best way, and you think il is and let me know And