The Portland daily press., 1890-12-26
TRAINING BoYs' MINDS.
Experiment. OF the Society for EriI
cal Culture.

The workingman's school is especially
intended to serve the needs of the chill
dren of the poor. Little ones from the
tenemen house districts are admitted TO
its free kindergarten at years of age.
They go from the kindergarten at 6 into
the school proper. which carries ont
Froebel's creative method on n higher
plane and with greater minuteness Of
detail The pupils continue in the school
until their fourteenth year. Thereafter
the instruction is to be continued In a
series of evening classes. Felix Adler,
Cne earnest etbital preacher, is its origin
ator. The school is carried on in accord
ance with the principles which form the
basis of his philosophy, which teaches
Its followers Ito do right for rights
sake" without expecting a reward.
The school building is so spacious,
we'll lighted and cheerful, and the teach
Ing so intelligent, progressive and inter
estins that the children of the rich might
envy the advantages offered to the off.
spring of the poof Here is glimpse of
the way they teach: The room happened
into Is the one in which natural his
tory is taught. Perhaps it is the big
windows and high ceilings that have
much to do with the brightness of the
room, or 1t may be the cheerful faces of
the forty busy children that gives the
place an exceedingly attractive air.
Each child has wasp on his desk be.
sides his pencil and notebook All are
alertly attentive and actively interested.
The subject under discussion is the pa
per making wasp, and each eager young
ster is trying to find out as much as ever
he can from actual investigation The
teacher is firing their enthusiasm by
adroit questions that provoke inquiry
and stimulate curiosity
METHOD OF INSTRUCTION.
He has sketched an enlarged head of
a wasp on the blackboard. He has told
them-but in such wisely suggestive
way that they think they have found it
out themselves-that 'the paper max
ing wasp has three simple eyes and one
compound eye. and that in the COM
pound eye are 5000 little microscopic
eyes," The teacher says as he dismisses
the subject Of the wasp's eyes, perhaps
next lesson you may find out what the
wasp does with its simple and compound
eyes The class looked rs if they were
sure they would.
Now, he continued, 1--WE have learn
ed certain things about this wasp this
morning, let us write about it. What
shall we name the story?" he queried.
'The Story of the Paper Making Wasp"
piped out small boy in answer The
title was thus written on the blackboard
and in the notebooks. "Who has any,
thing to say about it," was the next
question. Everybody evidently from
the number of hands eagerly appraised
One boy was asked what he had to say.
He responded with alacrity, Its body
amt SO very long" THAT does not
count for anything" answered the
teacher with quick directness. Cant
you measureT The boy was intelligent
enough to understand how vague and
meaningless his answer was; SO were his
classmates who were aching to tell: but
the first boy measured his wasp and
gave an accurate and clearly expressed
answer. BY dint of lively. keenly dis
eliminating questioning story was
written about the wasp. which read as
follows:
The paper making wasp is about one
half an inch in length. Its body is made |
up of rings. The wasp has three d.
visions to its body-the head, thorax
and abdomen. The wasp has small
joint which keeps the thorax and abdo-
men together Its body is full of hair"
AIN OF THE FOUNDER.
AS many of the pupils come from the
tenement house districts they have had |
no opportunity to get impressions of ma.
ture, and are unfamiliar with many |
simple things that country bred child |
imbibes with his breath. This need has
been provided for. In the picturesque
little village of Sherman, in Pennsyl- |
vania, provisions have been made for
vacation colony for the school Thither
almost all the pupils go in charge of the
principal, and spend the summer months
in the woods and among the hills, gain
ing health while they are storing away
knowledge to be used in their winter
studies
The founder of the school has formu- |
lated series of workshop lessons, based |
on mechanical and free haad drawing.
His aim is to educate the mind first that |
it may direct the hand Alright. Form |
stance, a pupil receives a model of a cone |
from which he takes measurements and |
then makes complete working draw
ing He then goes to the workshop with /
his drawing. and with tools and proper |
turns in his lathe cone accord
ing to his drawing. which is a copy of
the original model in the drawing room.
This plan it is proposed to pursue ac-
cording to the age and ability of the pu-
pill, from the simplest construction of a
triangle to the construction of steam
engine.
From the workshop where mechanical
drawing is the basis the children go
into the school atelier, where free hand
drawing cultivates the sense of harmony
and beauty. Little children of and
model simple forms of leaves, scrolls
and various architectural forms in clay.
They are led upwarl from a simple
of a square to the intricate
work of the features of the human face.
It is hoped that this process will awaken
the art instincts of the masses. America
can produce no great artists, architects
Or sculptors until the whole people have
the true art feeling.
In all probability there is not another
school like this one in the United States.
and it awakens the keenest interest in
It's friends and sympathizers. who won
Ter what the outcome Of the experiment
viii be.