The Republican journal., 1892-07-14

All Lllt l1dItll He WI spear
To that ole mule Will lir Greek,
Willie he parSes with the r!owStorks
An makes syntaN with the hoe.
Mrs II. NJ Plun>ett writing in the
Popular Science Monthly for July on Kin
dergartenS- Manual TIaining-Intlustrial
Schools says: ''Thele are now good
training schools for kinlergartners. where
all that can be impaired By teaching to
supplement natural ability can be learned;
and we venture to declare that the most
promising missionary field in the world is
to he found on the Otter fringe Of our
large cities where in = narrow tenement
the mother has hel erect on her lap and
her "kindergate ten ano her primary
and secondary" pupil at hel side, all I'M
der the age to be admitted iii the public
school. What more natural, when the
smallest goes to sleep than to send the
others il 10 the street, where they must
perforce earn its evil lessons? In the city
Of New Z ork there are many thousands
OF these children. Suppose that one thous-
and Young women. well instructed in the
art of teaching according to Froebel' sys-
TEN. should each gather about her score
of these undsciplined waits, teach them
to a school where manual training is mix
ed with "book leaning in the measures
experience has demonstrated is wisest. to
be taught till twelve--it would result in
the greatest salvation from evil, and in the
greatest addition to the working capacity
of the generation. that could be made.
Prcsque Isle Star Herald: ''The COM
mon complaint Of taxation for school pJr-
poses is the one involving the financial
burden, but the worst taxation in the
whole system is not the one that wrings
reluctant dollars ont OF the pockets of the
old and toughened heads of families, but
whiel. robs childhood of its happy priv
lege II freedom from care and undue
mental strain. and which loads il down
with all the "olo9ies' and Biographies
OF Il text books and starts it across the
desert Of lealning with its far too nfre-
uucnt GASES of vacation and recreation.
Tic world has grown much better in this
wise. and is easier. and more humane in
educational methods than formerly, but
there is yet need OF reform need OF still
more relaxation Of III grounded rules of
discipline, remission of excessive tasks.
and tightening of the loads for young backs
and Young brains in school
Prof A. S. Packard in the Popular Sci
ence Monthly thus answers the question,
why we should teach geology: Geology,
then in its broade>t scope should be
taught in our schools and colleges. and
for at least twelve good reasons,
AT the outset we world claim that it
holds equal rank with astronomy 81 biol
ogy. The former science tells us of the
existence of other worlds than ours. and
gives u, some conception Of the immenSi
ty OF 81 ace. The study of plants and ami
mails cauies an imi TeSsive lesson as 20
the unity prevailing amid all the diversity
of Nature besides Attending the hope that
we Ilay at some time discover the Origin
of life. since it has already opened the way
to an explanation of the origin of the eX-
Using foIlhs OF life: while the grand out
{, mc of geological study is that it brings
wildly befole the mind the immensely Of
time. enabling us t. realize that time is
only less than eternity 1t also teaches
us that our eaIth has lad a history that
our own race has had high antiquity !;
and illus the contemplation of past geolo-
gical ages, reckoned by millions OF years.
and tie fact that our earth is coeval with
the sun in age all these considerations
tend to UNNECESSARILY expand our mental
horizon, and thus to react in a way 10
broaden the mind.
Geology is also the complement of BIZ
ologN. AS soon as one has mastered the
rudiments of botany and zoology, and of
tile distribution of life forms in space. the
range of his thoughts should be extended
to take in the orderly succession of life in
past ages, and the evolution of modern
specialized plants and animals from the
earlier, generalized types
OF the youthful precocity of Julia Ward
Howe. Laura f. Richards says, in st.
Nicholas: school, which some children
regard with mingled feelings Tor so have
been told), was delight to Julia. She
grasped at knowledge with both hands
plucked it as little child plucks flowers,
with unwearying enjoyment. Her teach
ers, like the ''people'' in the case of the
Young ladies' whose eyes
Were unique as to color and size,
all turned aside, and started away in sur
prise, as this little red haired girl went on
learning, and learning, and learning. At
nine years old she was studying Paley's
''Moral Philosophy, with girls of sixteen
and eighteen. She could not have been
older when she heard class recting an
Italian lesson, and fell in love with the
meodious language. She listened, and
listened again; then got grammar and
studied secretly; and one day handed to