St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-20
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

1t is pretty generally conceded among
educators thatR the children who have
attended the country district school are
better Informed i'll spelling. reading,
writing, arithmetic, geography, gram
mar AMI the history of the United
States than those who have attended the
city school. 1t would be singular if
this were not true. The whole time of
the country scholar is devoted to these
seven studies, while the city scholar is
required to divide his attention between
twice or three times as many. The long
and short of it is that the city school
seeks TO cram the scholars with so
much information that nothing is
learned well. beware of the man with
one book, remark OF a great scholar
or the past, means that the man who
has studied one book thoroughly is
wiser thar the one who has studied a
large number of books. ABRAHAM
LINCOLN studied SHAKESPEARE and
the Bible by the light of a fireplace, and
never saw the inside of another book
until he was nearly grown. He mas
tered Doth books so well that he could
call to his tongues end at will almost
any portion of each. Had he divided
the time between a large library of
books, he would have had a smattering
of many things, but no distinct knowl-
cage of anything.
The Importance of th0roughness is
completely overlooked in the city
school. and the scholar is required to
cover SO many studies that he can get
only a hint here and there of the multi
tude of thought before him. Only the
brightest scholar is able to bring order
out of the confusion of hints: the ordi
nary one is sure to be lost IN the mass,
and leave school knowing nothing that
is of any practical account to him.
The public school was never intended
to be more than a common school; that
is, for the teaching of the common
branches of education, we'll as for
the teaching of the common people.
The seven branches in the curric ulu IN
of the country district school are really
all that are practical in the ordinary
affairs of life. The majority of the most
distinguished men this country has pro-
uuCSu lISNtI SIuulCu IHOT6 LildU Il6SG
until they went out into practical life.
The majority of the greatest geniuses
the world has produced never studied
so many branches until after they were
grown. Many of the greatest scholars
of the world had only the commonest
education until they were past thirty
years old.
1t is great mistake to require schol-
arS under fifteen years Old to divide
their time between multitude of stud
les. Unless the student Of early years
gets clear insight of study he can
have no interest in it farther than to
commit to memory enough to pass his
Rotations and examinations satisfac-
torily to the teacher, and when that is
done he will never give the subject an
other thought. Interest is the agency
which enables scholar to get practical
benefit from a study, and when this is
absent he may as we'll quit the study,
for his time devoted to it is wasted.
The most efficient teachers are those
who inspire the interest of the scholar
and give him no more studies than he
takes an interest in. The day will
come when the fads of the city schools
will be wiped out of existence, and the
sooner the be-