River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-03-27

good before the Teachers Association
held in Spring Valley last winter.
We boast much of our common
school system but there is room for
improvement OH every side. Often
many years of youth are given for
very meager results.
Theground is too broad, however, to
be all turned over bymy little plough,
and must, therefore, be satisfied with
turning furrow or two i'll the hope
of being aided by other plows great
and small.
Thos. Arnold said that children's
minds are like wax to receive and
marble to retain. How apt and how
true an expressioni How soft, yield
ing, and impossible is wax, and how
easily moulded into so many different
forms, beautiful and otherwise. But
wax may be remoulded again and
again until the artist attains his ideal.
Not so with the child's mind for hav-
ing received the impression it becomes
as marble in retaining it. Mistakes
made in moulding the youthful mind
are we'll nigh indelible. And yet this
precious mental wax,-this bundle of
unbound possibilities is placed into
strange hands, young hands, ineXperi-
enced hands, yea, what is worse, in
careless hands, even dishonest hands,
with an absurdly confding faith that
all will work together for good to
them that hlindly love and trust our
common school system.
This compound of wax and marble
capabilities often passes through the
hands OF so many and diverse artists
that it energies into the world with
its education fitting like hump on its
back, more troublesome than useful, a
burden instead of a help. Indeed, our
common school curriculum would bear
revision. part of it might well be
superseded by something more urgent
ly necessary for the insuring of a
healthy, prosperous and happy life.
Much of practical training that
youth should receive is obtained, if at
all, by haphazard.
Again the scholar comes or goes at
his or his parents pleasure, SO that
the best of teachers are powerless to
render him any great benefit. | may
form class in the primer in the word
method, and in three or four weeks
have them nicely started and interest
ed, rolling with increased momentum
every day, when in comes a new one
entirely raw who has been kept at
home for some paltry reason, or for
no reason at all.
Such things do not occur in the
schools of Germany. There all chill
dren, at an age fixed by law, must be-
-, Fo Of first
ing of school in spring and after that
no new ones are again received until
the next spring. So the school is
graded by years, and certain divi-
sion of the work is assigned to each
year. Then steady compulsory at
tendance makes it possible to main
tain this graded order, and change
of teachers is a rare occurrence. The
result is large and few classes, a def
mite aim, a well marked path, with
mile posts indicating the ground pass
ed over and the steps yet to take.
The teacher does not teach history
and geography to the same class for
half Il dozen years, and thus gains
time to instill the pupils with some
practical and very necessary knowl-
edge, for instance, decomposition of
that nature which is likely to be fire.
quently required in every person life:
as, letters, both social and business,
loan notes, receipts, orders, drafts,
advertisements, contracts, and tele-
grams. Music and experiments in
natural science give spice to the daily
bill of fare.
Another excellent feature is the
reader used in the last two years of
the seven years course. 1t is large
volume containing political history,
natural history and some physical sci
ence, etc. And all this is applied and
conducted by the intellectual force of
teacher who has been literally and
specifically trained for this as his life
work; and who will very likely spend
his whole life in single school. 1t
frequently occurs that the same teach
er who was the architect and builder
of the fathers educational structure,
receives also the son and moulds him
into an almost perfect similtude of the
father.
Even this thoroughly trained, long
tried and experienced teacher is not
confidentially trusted; for an examin-
er is sent around every year and
spends couple of days in examining
the classes himself, at which time tie
teacher neither aids nor suggests but
stands aside while his work is scrut-
inized as an employer scrutinizes the
wagon made by his journeyman.
This perfection of system seems un-
attainable in land like ours, where
every one glories in the liberty of
pleasing himself with generous will
ingness to let the next do the same if
he can.
There has been an effort made by
the best educators to mollify some of
the irremediable evils of our school
system. We refer to the State Supt s
Circular on the Grading System for
Country Schools. As this subject is to
be discussed to-day by Mr. Rosenber-
ger, | shall trespass no farther on his
ground than to exhort all earnest
teachers TO rally around this standard,
give it careful study, and operate it to
the very letter with zeal born of the
well meaning spirit of its aim, and
desire to win, not so much the tickle
and sometimes illjudged plaudits of
the populaee, as the approval of their