Hand County press. (Miller, Dakota [S.D.]) 1882-1893, 1890-07-24

one who has made them Q professions
study. Good old fashioned way" .'old.
fashionen drills, new tangled notions,
ornamental branches" ''the three Rs,
are pet phrases with them. The people
seldom or never criticise the teaching o
advanced arithmetic. grammar, book
keeping. algebra. Latin, geometry, etc.,
hut in some cases they have gone so faI
in confident. conduering steps, as to take
for their battle-cry. "The alphsbet
method Of teaching reading must and shall
be preserved" and the winners at the polls
rs school directors. have voted the new
notion" to the rear to give place TO the
sweet. soothing. monotonous. method Of
their children
The ''people" here and there have been
induced to have their younger children
try the Kindergarten the start-off was
pleasant, children and parents were happy,
but soon the kindergartners were called
upon to SAY their letters" "spell cat. "
spell boy" and answer "who was the
Father OF our Country 2" The idiotic
look Of the dear children in answer to
these tests. was too much Tor the people
who knew what they were about, for had
they not gone all over IL themselves when
they were Young? So the kindergarten
had to "adnpt itself or starve, and the
common experience is that no amount OF
adal tation could save 1t from starvation or
a sickly existence.
In an experience. not narrow nor limit.
ed, have heard very few patrons com
plain OF the methods in the higher grades
and In the high school. Objection is not
to higher studies by those
who never pursued them: and SO long as
you cannot show that bad bargains are
the product OF bad grammar, the objec-
tion will live and thrive. IL the people"
were as familiar with academic studies as
they are with the elements OF the Three
Rs. there womld be educational music in
the air, in which dlscord sharp and start
ling would form the larger part. The
teacher OF academic branches, can change
his pronunciation of Latin to the extreme.
saving "KIR.A-Ro' for CICERO, "vEE-vAH
for VIVA yocE; he can modify his
methods in history in the lines Of culture;
throw aside the ''old nomenclature" in
chemistry puzzle his students with the
new, unmathematical exercises In alge-
braic factoring; start his beginners in
Latin by the natural method" or load
them down u; the start VIII. dry para
dicms. with no voice from the "people" to
oppose. Among the people" are those
who taught school . little in their young
er days, and as patrons. school directors,
and writer's of anonymous articles. they
speak with authority. One Of this class
wrote to a principal of long and very sue
cessful experience, II taught school my
self twenty five wears ago. and / know all
about it," As much as IL he had said,
when was boy I squeezed the edu-
cational orange dry in two terms Of teach
ing"
A editor OF thin education and some
political standing, who had ruled short
time In school-room. Informed the
people" In an editorial, that young chill
dren were allowed 10 be in our schools
for weeks without learning single letter,
unmistakable evidence that the pri-
mary teaehers were wholly incompetent" ="
The schools are in the hands OF the
people" aud IL efforts are made to take
them up mu-h above their educational
sight, destructive reaction is sure Is follow.
Much more needs to be done TO inform
the people" as to what are the best
methods in primary work in brief the
people" need to 90 to school. IL the school
Is to move ON in step with national
progress. The "people" learn about the
telephone, electric railway, ana
other mechanical improvements. and
they should be induced to know what is
old and worn out In educational methods,
what is last. fresh and in line mans high
est development.