New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-09-13
NOTES ON EDUCATION.

e,rrs comm,rtee on the course of study of tho ST.
you,s School Board has recommended that the
Dr;nc;nIe which underlies the kindergarten system
be extended to the primary schools, with
q view of eventually modifying the
whole plan of public instruction. The 81
Zouis Globe Democrat copmends the sugges-
hon. The obstacles, it says, (which stand In the
WAY of the adoption of the new method OF lmpart-
ing instruction are the difficulties OF overcoming
tho conservative notions of parents and schooi
wards and Of securing the right kind OF teachers
It would seem as if real science of teaching were
Mt last striving for foothold against educatlona
dogma. 1t requires higher order of instructor 10
appreciate what the juvenile mind Is capaole VI
receiving and digesting and to give III that anu ho
more than it does to follow in the TRADITIONAL RUS
The one is scientific and carefully studies results
and preparation and more than ordinary in'oi",
gence are requisite, not to speak OF an EARNEST
interest in the work, to fit an individual for this
species of teaching; the other almost any one can
hack away at The one makes teaching legi'i-
mate nrofessiop the other Classics 1T as make
shift for neople who do not know what else 10 40
When the immense amount of uuscentlhc and' 10
speak plainly brutal handling which the minus Oh
childra are made TO undergo IN the cou'llon
schools particularly in the rural districts, is con-
sidered. it makes one feel as if we were IN the
midst of perpetual slaughter OF the innocenlS
1t is said to be a fact that many schoolboys III
Belgium France and Germany are actually urlNen
IN snicide by too much study For example, inc
bouys at the Ecole NoTmae Supereure, III Fa'ls' are
reported as follows: Five 10 a. H., study 10 L.
instruction: to D. No. study; , to 4:3o lectures'
5to g. study-the study in all cases being III pun
he room under supervision. This means prdcticahy
that miniature schoolboys are compelled to work
4 Iva md q
twenty-tour 1t is SAID that three years course OF
this kind has produced few, If any, hrst rate
scholars To counteract such evils as tins, the
school board of Baden in Germany will hereafter
have the local physician as an er otc'o member,
whose duty it shall be to look after the physlcal
health IF the school children. The idea is most
praiseworthy, and might well be adopted IN many
places in tins country where education is supposed
10 he SYNONYMOUS with examining" for eXamiha-
tons
In the course of a vigorous article opposing the
proposition that the general Government shouiu
pass an appropriation for the purposes OF education
The ST. Pal Pioneer Press shows from recent status
,;rs that nhteracv is decreasing Il" In the ten
wears" it says, between the dates when THESE
statistics were collected but four States-Calilor-
MIA. Maine Nevada and New Hampshire
an increase in the percentage of illlterates hght
i,creas, In the percentage of those who coaid not
read is shown IN Oregon and IN every other OF the
thirty-eght States the decrease of teracy is posi-
tive, often very marked. Some of the most notable
changes are evident in those States which are most
frequently used to point the moral and adorn the
tale of national aid. Georgia has reduced the pro-
proportion of illitera es about per cent; Mssis-
nppl, that of those who cannot read per cent;
North Carolina over 5 per cent Tennessee not far
from the same and the case CT Virginia, showing
reduction Of nearly 10 per cent in both classes, Is
very marked And so throughout the whole list the
figures return a single verdict--that the States are
dealing With the question of ilteracy IN then own
way, and that they arc doing so eilectuay Con
ndering the material that they have to work upon,
Ind the nature of their resources, those IN which
nIiteracy s greatest are but little behind those IN
which it is least in their efforts and tae cheering
conclusion that the problem of education Is being
met and satisfactorily solved by the people every
where is self-evident"