The daily Cairo bulletin., 1884-01-24
EDUCATIONAL.
To the Teacher of the Mixed School.

Ill one OF the mOst remote cor
ners of the earth, You are public
character, and we know all about you.
You teach in District Number Five,
Birchville, that sleepy little town in
Nowhere county. Your school num-
bers all the way from ten to forty or
fifty. and includes all ages from five to
fifteen. You try to teach a primary,
an intermediate, grammar school at
once, with perhaps few high-school
studies thrown in for variation. You
are a normal-school graduate, or have
gained inspiration from Quincy or Can
ton. Perhaps you have read Of better
things than you before knew in the
pages Of some educational magazine or
paper.
1t is taken for granted that you are
earnest, sensible and ambitious; that
you have the teachable as well as the
teachers spirit. You do not wish to
grasp wildly at every new theory pro-
pounded, neither are you to shut out
truth, even if it comes to you in new
and startling guise. Your aim is
TO ring order out of chaos. In your
heart of hearts you have the determi-
nation TO overcome difficulties, and not
succumb to the prevailing theory that
mixed school must OF necessity be a
bowling wilderness. Others have been
in your place before, some are still; 80
don't feel that talk is cheap, and re-
form impossible.
In the first place, don't thave too many
classes. We have all heard of the
teacher who had twenty-four pupils
and twenty-five classes. This is true
in spirit if not in fact of many mixed
schools. and enough to ruin any teach
er's efforts. OF course you must have
a larger number Of classes than q gra-
,ded school.
Study combination; direct all the ge-
MUS you possess to that point, but in
such way that no pupil will be seri-
ously kept back, or pushed ahead be-
yond his ability. 1t is often delicate
and difficult thing to combine two class
es. Here all the tact and skill of the
teacher comes into play. One class has
perhaps taken fractions, a second has
Just finished division. Put the two
classes together, and take up some new
subject--decimals, for example. By
and-by, when union of spirit has been
effected, turn your attention to frac-
tions again; thus in reality taking up
all dropped stitches. Make your teach
ing SO plain and impressive that even
the dulleSt can follow. Fit its spirit to
those slower minds, the bright one $
will take care OF themselves.
Those who have had taste OF the
subject before will not be harmed by
the review. Indeed you will be sur
prised to see how much they need it.
You will be obliged to give some extra
thought and care to the duller pupils,
who might easily fall back II left to
themselves. This union may not all
be effected at once; you must plan for
it, look ahead to it, work up to it. Ere
quently weeks must elapse before any
two classes can be brought to point
where they can be safely united on a
new subject.
You have in your school, perhaps, q
large number of small children. The
best thing for both parties is to send
them home at recess, both sessions. II
this is not allowed, give long recesses,
and furnish some outdoor occupation
that will be safe and interesting. One
school yard, to our knowledge, has in
one corner great heap of beach-sand,
where the little ones dig in perfect
bliss, filling small carts and pals,
building forts and digging wells and
trenches. Once in a while the stone:
of the school ground are carted off.
For indoor occupation the mixed
school may collect an endless variety
OF objects. Blocks, splints, drawing
and building cards, beads and straw:
for stringing, paper animals and geo
metric forms cut from pasteboard tc
! draw around, bits of glass, shells, pa
per dolls, paint-boxes, patchwork, pic
ture books, Christmas and advertising
cards, scrap books, a Noah s ark. Gran
dalFs villages and acrobats, will bt
found useful For busy work, stories
drawings, number-lessons on cards ant
sips Of paper or copied from the boarC
will be found indispensable. Select sew
eral of the Older pupils to give out anc
keep in order these objects. Let it b,
a post OF honor TO be earned by extrs
neatness and good behavior. Hav'
lists of the various occupations ant
specified times for their usage. This il
better than indiscrimlnate choosing
Very likely such course will pro
woke some criticism, for people ar,
found everywhere who will condemn
all play, even If it be for the benefit o
whole school and an overworkeC
teacher. You will meet fathers ane
mothers who do not see why six-year
old Tommy or Grace should not stud,
or work all day even in mixed school
They seem to be utterly Oblivious tha
the school contains anyone but Tommy
and Grace; and do not see why thu
teacher should not be ready at any, ev
cry, and all times to attend to them
If you have tact and kindliness 70,
may succeed in pointing out to thes,
parents the fact that there are severa
other pupils in the room besides Ton
and Grace, and that they must hav,
some attention, and that to insure
quiet room during recita,ions In geog
raphy and grammar, little folks must b,
happily occupied.