Sword and shield. (Clinton, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-09-25
A FEW FACTOR IN EDUCATION.


sociation, at West Point, Miss, JULY 2,
1886.
We live in an age noted for its rapid
strides in all that pertains to material
progress. Our people are ever growing
more and more practical in their tasps
and modes of thought. Educatioial
methods and processes must adapt
themselves to this growing tendeney
towards the practical Even an old
Greek philosopher, when asked what
boys should study at school, replied:
"That which they are to practice after
they become men," Much of what is
now meant by the new education" Is
but the training Of all human powers In
methods dictated by an appreciation Of
the practical as distinguished from the
purely theoretical. The idea is that
children are to learn to do by doing.
Another favorite expression, "Ameri-
can brains in American hands, is but a
different way of stating the same great
truth that there is educational power ip
training to do, in the use of fingers
as well as brains. The mind and body
of the child act best when acting to-
gether. He thinks Of his marbles most
when playing with them; Of his kite
most, when holding to the cord as it
sails overhead. Show boy or girl
anything pretty, and neither is satisfied
by merely looking, but must handle it.
and taste it, and if possible, must swal-
low it. Ask boy a question, and so
strong is his disposition to have body
and mind act in concert, that he will
first twist his body, neck, arms and legs
into dozen different shapes, before his
mind can be aroused into activity sut-
fcient to frame an answer A chair
has recently been invented that can be
adjusted to SO different positions for the
express purpose of accommndatssSs' =
Doy while at recitation. Make a boy
sit ur like gentleman, and three times
out of ten, his mind refuses to act and he
falls asleep. What then is the sensible
course to be pursued? Unquestionably
it is to make him use both mind and
body in answering the questions. For
instance yon ask juvenile beginner the
product of six times two IN answering,
let him take two steps six times, or
make two marks six times up black
boad, or put six pairs Of matches upon
a table It must be remembered that a
child's eyes and hands are wonderful
help to his brain, especially his hands.
While inducting child into addition
subtraction, multiplication, and division
the use of objects that can be seen
handled and counted, such as marbles
kernels of corn, etc., will impress the
truth that arithemtic treats of numbers
of things, and not merely OF arbitrary
characters called figures. The popu-
Iarity of the A. & NJ. College at Stark
vile. and of the industrial School fol
girls at Columbus, must be accepted as
ample proof of the fact that the people
of Mississippi are waking up to reali-
zation Of the great Importance OF The
practical elements of education,
Natural methods are fast supplantint
old contronatural methods that have
SO long previled in American schools
and which still hold sway in many uni
versities and colleges. Objects ar
brought into requisition in teaching
arithmetic, geometry, geography, as
tronomy, and other sciences capabl
of being illustrated. Object lessons ant
pictures that play SO important a part il
elementary reading, and the use of dia
grams in grammer, recognize the grca
truth that the eye presents the shOrtes
,, route to the brain. The old curriculuI
must be modified in most respects re
stricted lin others extended, to NEE
the demands of growing civilization
While the educative power of tn
classic languages of Greece and Rom
cannot be denied, yet it must be cor
ceeded that educative power likewis
resides in other subjects Of study an
[ investigation, subjects that have MOI
3 direct bearing upon the practical dutit
and relations of life. To make room fc
t such studies, the time once devoted
5 Latin and Greek must be cut dow
y (and this has. been done);.but in order sti
e with this reduced time to inculcate eve
g a higher degree of classical attainment
: new, improved, more rational, mo-
e natural methods have been adopted
r progressive institutions. Thus it hal
y pens that far more attention than her
e tofore is given to exercises In comp
10 sition. 1t has come to be more gene
lally understood that to learn to wri