Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-03-19

The eighty two examinations we're
| given to the scholars in the academy
school, whose ages averaged eleven
years, year and half younger than
| those in the districts; the per cent.
was sixty-one. I then took all the
scholars examined in the two large
schools and found their combined av
| erage age to be eleven and three
| fourths, years, with a per cent. of
sixty three, or fourteen per cent.
higher than the scholars in the dis
| trict schools who were three months
older. also asked the beginners in
both the small schools and the large
to write me sentences on paper. The
| little folks in the small schools were
certainly two years behind those in
| the graded schools as the papers
show. The village scholars of all
| grades are two years ahead of the
scholars outside of the village.
| Now this fact ought not to be ig-
| nored or forgotten; and another fact,
the scholars in the village schools as
a rule, are more courteous and have
better manners than those in the
| small schools.
Now why all this? 1t is not that
| the children of the out schools are not
as bright by nature, it is not that the
| teachers of these schools have been
inferior; the reason is the old district
system of schools. The village schools
have been graded, the district schools
have not. The village schools have
been under the control of those who
knew something of the true princi-
Piles of teaching and who had at heart
the true success Of those schools.
Let me illustrate if I can the meth
| DDS of the old district system. Sup
posing that you are farmer, most of
you are. You have three hired men.
You have stock at the barn, nice cows
and horses, you say to the hired men,
| e'There are three barrels of feed at
the barn, oats, cornmeal and bran.
When you pass that way feed the
! cattle and the colts" General in
structions. One goes to the barn and
he thinks he will feed some oats, in
quantity to suit himself. Soon an
other comes along and he feeds meal
and he feeds a mixture of oats, corn,
and bran. Result-cows and horses
are all sick next day. That is just
the trouble with the children in the
district schools, Tom, Dick and Harry
teach the school just as they like, no
system, no grading, no knowing what
the condition of the scholar is, what
the teacher did before them. They
might have been good teachers but
the farmers system or lack of system
made the trouble.
Or again, supposing you send these
men out to hoe corn, first one then
the other, day after day. One goes
and hoes a row, then another comes
and he prefers to hoe the same row,
and the other comes and he hoes the
same row. The result is that they kill
the corn in that row and all the rest
is choked to death by the weeds. But
that is the way that the children are
treated in our district schools. Again
the district system as it has been con-
Quoted is like the man who started to
go journey, but discouraged by the
short distance he travelled the first
day, went back to his starting point
to begin again, and this he did indefi
nately. The helter- SHELTER system of
the district school gets nowhere. All
, the time and energies of the teacher
+, are wasted in looking after dozen
classes where there ought to but two
or three, constantly going back to the
starting point, never finishing any
thing. The scholar is confused and
discouraged because he knows not
what he lie doing or where he is 60
ing, all because of lack of system,
such as the business man has in ev-
efything, be he farmer or merchant
or whatever he be, If he is successful.
The town system Of schools will
bring order out of chaos if you will
give it a fair trial and put heart and
energy into the work as in other
things.
There ought to be a uniform sys-
tenn of grading throughout the town,
and enforced, SO that if one teacher
must follow another he shall know
the exact standing of every pupil
when he enters the school, so that
the scholar may finish something and
go on to something higher, and re-
ceive his markings. This grading is
demanded that it may do away with
the many classes and different text
hooks which curse the old district