The herald., 1896-12-02
THE Theory and PRACTICE Of TEACHING

work. Eye strain may show in other af-
fections of the body, when the vision
may apparently be good. If children
have habitual headaches or If extremely
nervous, they should be taken to the
oculist.
st. vitus' dance is a common result
from eye strain, and epilepsy may be
caused by the same.
The speaker illustrated on the black
board how overstrain on the nerve GEN.
ter at the base Of the brain, by the eye
may deplete the nervous force that
should go to other parts of the system
causing bronchitis, nervous dyspepsia
and what has been called brain fag. II
has been discovered that feeble minded
children may be greatly benefited and in
some cases cured by glasses. DR.. Pratt
gave the teachers valuable advice con-
cerning the sympathetic nerves of pu-
pills. Children are often seriously in
jured by playing on their emotions
holding over them shame or fear. She
gave an instance of teacher who never
Furnishes at the time the offense is CON-
mitted. but holds the child in terror OF
what may befall the day after. AS far
as possible. children should be kept
from the emotional; they should be nat
ural. spontaneous and volatile, and not
taught too much self-control.
Prof. Kirk addressed the fifth and
sixth grades in section s on Language
in the forenoon. followed by Mrs. Rice
in a practical talk on Music. The most
important fact brought out in the latter
was the recent discovery that the bass
notes vibrate more slowly and are
longer reaching the ear than those of
the treble clef; therefore. she counseled
teachers to be patient with the boys. If
longer learning to sing than the girls,
as they are not to blame.
In the afternoon Superintendent j. w
Linscott of Santa Cruz county COM
menced the work of the afternoon by
addressing the teachers upon the subject
of Reading. He stated. as all speakers
upon that subject do, that reading is the
least satisfactorily done of all our school
work. and gave his ideas of how it might
be improved: First. by not allowing the
pupil to read any matter containing any
word or term with which the pupil is
not already familiar; second. by having
the teacher read, carefully and precisely
every passage and every lesson to the
class before assigning 1t to the class.
This was followed by an interesting
address by Prof. Kirk on Morals and
Manners. He counseled patience with
boys We must not judge them by our
individual standards. What seems vic
iousness in a boy may be want of judg-
ment and development. We forget how
training and discipline we have reached
our own standard of conduct. Keep the
standard of the Great Teacher before
you in dealing with the boy.
The teachers of section 4 were ad-
dressed by Prof. ]. A Cutlery of Po-
mona on the Essentials of Arithmetic
At the close Of his remarks a spirited
discussion arose as to what are essen
tials and what non-essentials. This re-
suited in a motion that a committee be
appointed to draft a resolution request
ing the county board of education to
eliminate the work in metric system
from the arithmetic from the county
course.
Then followed fusillade of arguments
as to the merits of the metric system,
which was of intense interest to the
teachers. The motion was finally tabled
The afternoon work of this room was
bookkeeping and music.
Today IN section there will be lee
ture on Brushwork by Mrs. Ella G.
Lunt; Numbers, by Prof Kirk.
Section 2-Morels and Manners, by
DR.. Winship; Geography, by Prof. Lin
scott
Section 3-Geography. by Prof. Gut
terry; Drawing. by Mrs. Bradheld,
Section 4-Reading and English, by
Prof. Kirk: Essentials in Grammar by
Prof Cutlery