The Press., 1885-10-08
IssuedEVery Thursday Evening
LOCAL TopIcs-pENN,D AND sclssoRED

The teachers institute held in Staf- ford Springs last Thursday drew a good at- tendance of teachers from the vicinity, also of school officials from the towns about.
 The predominance of ladies in the audi ence was natural result of the almost universal employment of lady teachers ill the rural districts, as well as of the interest taken by mothers in the welfare of the lit tie ones, and of their greater ability over the fathers to give the hours of daylight to attendance. The topics considered were generally relative to primary teaching.
 This was well, as it is in this department that methods have been most revolution ized in the last dozen years. Secretary Hines elucidation of present methods of teaching was plain. We only regret that there were not more parents present to hear it. He spoke of the difficulty of teachers in getting public sentiment to permit them to use. the methods they know to be the best. Any physician of middle age knows we'll that he must be continual ly discarding much that was taught him when a>student, and the good physician is the one who Is all his life student, and ready to learn as well as to unlearn. So better methods of primary teaching are coming into use. Experiment has demon strated that they are better. The child reaches a certain stage of knowledge by a different route from that pursued by it's parents, but when there has also grasped much knowledge that was in the days of the latter's childhood yet to be gathered
 further along on the road. The elders had learned the alphabet, but had no idea of the use to which their knowledge is to be put. The letters Log put together signi- fled nothing to them, and the rule which gave them their accepted pronunciation seemed to them meaningless and arbitrary.
 Parents have complained that their chil- dren were not getting instruction in our primary schools. They have examined them according to the old q, b, c methods, and found that the children did not get their drift. They further found that the children had no lessons assigned them from books. Some are yet complaining :; others, however, have had their tone changed to that of commendation. For, while complaining that their children were making no progress, they have suddenly found that their children have somehow "got there" It was as if one were vainly watching at the quarter pole for the race horse, and bemoaning its laggard gait, when suddenly the flying steed appears on the home stretch. The modern methods of primary teaching were well illustrated, in arithmetic, penmanship and reading. Many of these methods are now used in our own primary schools, and in the best | schools of the country are accepted with out question. In the rural districts it is more difficult to lay aside the old methods, because of the disposition of the parents to cling to the old ways. To convert these is work of time. Almost invariably those opposing change are the ones who do not and will not visit the schools and watch the new processes and the results.
 Miss Jennie T. Cunningham's tall about primary arithmetic was illustrated by calling mp class of beginners from he
 own school, and showing the means taller to give them instruction by the blackboard
 by the use of small objects, as blocks, but
 tons, the use of written cards, etc., mak ing the process plain to the elders, ant demonstrating through the interest of the little ones, how this study had been rob
 bed of the perplexity so sadly remembered
 by those who made their first essays b,
 the old methods.