The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1885-09-02

may be presented under three heads
| W, classification or grading; (2)
recitation and division of time; (3), gov
eminent or discipline.
Classification in the common schools
has always been considered matter o
serious moment, Notwithstanding tn,
manifold advantages which exist owe
the barbarous appliances of the pre-
ceding twenty years, the district teacher
is too fully conscious of the fact thai
few downy pillows haye been prepared
on which to rest his aching head
Though the teacher, the superintend
ent, the school board, and that body Of
natural philosophers, the legislature
have made many efforts to remedy the
evil. still the great variety of text books
IL to the teacher, no matter how ex'
perienced, a perplexing maze. But from
this confused mass, this intellectual
and mechanical chaos, the credulity OF
his patrons expects his splendid genius,
angelic qualities and iron will To evoke
the most perfect order. IL perchance
he fails, how grievous are the COM
plants, when the district teacher, with
no earthly aid but his own ingenuity,
and Il may be the good nature of pupils,
finds himself unable To lead the school
en- ndsse through the most exclusive
circles Of Illion's classic groves. That
he fails 10 no matter of surprise; that
he succeeds is miracle.
A survey Of his surroundings, on the
first Monday in September Of each
year, will reveal the herculean labors
which he has to perform. IL must not
be forgotten that the district has made
no preparation for the opening of the
Fall school. Broken seats and desks,
house unaired, unswept floor, no bucket
or dipper, u stub of broom-this as to
the house. Now as TO the children.
Every conceivable text book is gathered
up for the first day. Assuming that he
begins his labors with an inquiry into
the standing of those who have studied
grammar, five or six different text
books on that study are presented, and
from that variety he forms his grammar
class. He has hardly begun to breathe
naturally, when his soul weakens at
the endless variety of readers f,om
which to form his reading classes; then
from the heterogeneous mass of ge-
ographies purchased within the last
five years, long suffering public ex-
pect its most obedient of servants to
make a pretense of forming at once
which, for want Of better
name, he calls a geography class; and,
to ease his troubled conscience, he dubs
it "adyanced."
His labors have barely begun. With
prayerful eyes uplifted to heaven, he
awaits the arithmetical thundergust.
The books are as varied AS the au,
tumnal foliage which greers his view
from door or window. However hercu-
lean the labor, he knows it must be
done. Resolved to succeed, he exam-
ines book after book, and finds that
there are not half a dozen of a kind.
Milne, Davie, Ray, Towne, Dodd, White
and Robinson-three or four of each.
From this array he must form his
arithmetic class. In sheer desperation
he selects Rays, and with smile
which no reasonable angel would envy,
he deslgnates it first arithmetic
class"
History follows. Despair is depicted
on every lineament of his noble coun-
tenance, as Goodrich, Stevens, Rid.
path, Barnes and HolbrOok-twO or
three of each-are presented as nucleus
of future class in history. l submit
it to your best thought how nearly im>
possible it is to perfect an organization
when such conflicting interests con-
front the teacher on every hand. With
resolution worthy of his cause, he
selects Barnes, at the imminent risk of
mourning the everlasting enmity of his
patrons. IL there are but two in the
class, and one is a handsome maiden,
and if he is single, or If the other is the
son Of the rich man of the neigbbor'
hood, he will never hear the last of it.,
and the charge of Partially Is instantly
thrown in his teeth.
have enumerated some of the diff
ficulties which beset every teacher at
the commencement OF every school,
and which his own genius alone can
remedy. 1t is true that when the
teacher is fortunate enough to have his
lot cast among cultivated and pro-
gressive people, the difficulties if not
wholly removed, are to some extent
mitigated. An enlightened aud Wig
orous SUPPLEMENTARY will labor with
the teacher for greater uniformity in
text books. The teacher who has
learned that "where there is will there
is way" will find means to remove
many of the difficulties in the way OF
his ultimate success.
Only one text book of kind is more
conducive to efficient labor by the
teacher, and no opportunity should be
lost to impress this fact upon trustee
and parent. 1t not infrequently hap
pens that the teacher has to educate
not only the children, but their parents
Perhaps the readiest way of molding
the chaos Of the first day into some
thing like form and system is to begin
the classification by an examination in
the fifth reader, and so on downward
to speller or primmer. Great care should
be taken at this step in the organization
to guard against imposition. Nothing
should be taken for granted, every ster
should be the result of rigid examina-
ton and actual knowledge. 1t is well