The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1882-04-13
Y,E7'Y'I'R 51EO1f HR HAIL.

EDITOR EDUCATIONAL COLUMN:
If we enter the school room Of i sue
cessful teacher we find him showing
much originality; that is, never depen-
dent on text books for examples, and
seldom dependent on them for answers
to any questions that may arise. We
will fud him 50 we'll posted that lie is
able at once and without hesitation to
give an instructive answer to any ques-
tien that is likely to arise. We shall
find him always ready with an anec-
dote or al original story to explain
anything that is not understood by the
pupils. For instance, very common
question in the school room is in regard
to the meaning Of i word. We are
very certain that half of our teachers
are not able to give the meaning Of
very many words in common use with
out going to the dictionary: not that
they do not know tive meaning Though
their knowledge III many instances
amounts to nothing more than IL vague
idea) still they are not able to explain
it in 4 way to lie understood by tho pu.
pills, and the dictionary is often times
no better, even If they have one, and
this is not generally the Case in this
country.
One way in such cases is to give the
answer Immediately, just as if the ques.
ton had been expected. using the word
in its proper sense. This of course is
not always possible, but it is generally
SO.
a little story or anecdote is always
in order in aschool room and serves to
impress the subject upon the cIild's
memory better than all the text book
lessons that were ever printed. Not
b'tt what text books are useful gencr-
ally, hut SOME of them, especially pri-
mary arithmetic, we considcra positive
nuisance IL the school room.
4 good black board and Il slate and
pencil for each pupil, with Il teacher
who knows how to make use If them.
are of more use than all the text hooks
one could stack in a school room.
We notice that "peuagoguc" criti.
cises us severely in regard to what we
said III Il former article about country
school houses. We have also taught
school III old log houses, several of
them, and also in quite costly ones, and
houses. though not SO good as liz the
better ones, for we lacked the convent
enceS We had i'll the better ones. lie
assumes we do not make our schools
interesting. II we ever teach school
again, ana lie will attend, we will guar
antee lie will find our school interest
ing, ii not instructive.
In regard to our being one of the
NEWLY arrived" perhaps we SAW No.
bles Co. as soon as Pellayogue, and per-
haps not; but we will wager IL nickle
| we can guess as near as lie can us TO
| how many grasshoppers can sit Oh an
acre OF lana, or as to low lCnS it will
take All average invoice Of them to eat
up al acre Of corn.
| In our remarks on school houses we
did not intend to be understood as
meaning the cheap buildings that have
been pat up for temporary purposes
merely We meant that where IL dis
! trict spends from two to five hundred
dollars for Il school builui e it ought to
have comfortable: convenient house,
but we know that such is far from be
ing always the case, and il Pelay0gue
! will look the country over he will know
it also. We hope he will continue to
critlcise us when he thinks we are in
! error, but let him not assume what he
| does not know TO be 4 fact. or 1T least
have good reason to believe SO.
We would like to hear from others III
regard to drawing as an exercise in
country schools. If Prlagr.ue does
| not annlhlIate us we may SAY some
thing about it in the future but fear we
! haye made this communication too
long already. GEO. HALLAs.
| AWOvd to mothers .-NOtlers Should
remember it is Il most important duty
1T this season to look after the health
of their families and cleanse tllc n,alar-
III and impurities from their systems,
and that nothing will tone up the stom.
lch and liver, regulate the bowels and
purify the blood so perfectly as Park
er:s Ginger Tonic, advertised in our
colum'fs.-Post. See other column.
If tie comet that was discovered by
i young astronomer in Albany two
weeks ago fulli's half the promises
made for it, we may expect to behold,
in May or June, celestial spectacle
such as has not been equaled since 1853
or 1911. This comet, although some
200 000, 600 miles from its periheliou.
which it vii! not reach for three
months, shows bright tail and 4
starlight nucleus. The inference is
fair that the comet is Il very large one