Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1896-02-21

crease in salary as premium for earnest
and successful work after they have
made beginning
There are few other things that /
want to mention as help in our educa
tional work and then / leave the subject
to those who are to follow me. LIST. Our
schools are not yet perfect, but there is
SO much in them to be priced, SO much
indeed that we cannot do without them
and we ought to appreciate themmore and
work unitedly to make them better. Par
ents can do much to aid the school by
taking personal interest in the child.
ren's studies, asking them questions about
them at home and leading them to talk
about what they have learned at school,
and visiting the teacher and letting the
teacher know that you are in the habit OF
questioning the children as to what they
have learned, and the teachers will be
very likely to make an effort to supply
them with some new IDEAS daily, and the
work will be interesting instead of be-
ing a mere parrot like routine. Talk
freely with the children about the work
they are doing, but above all things do
not criticise the teacher before the child.
rem. The teacher must be an ideal char.
acter to the child, must have it's conf
dence to be able to do it any good, Great
care should be exercised to ogoid the
aronsipg OF any prejudice or antagonism
on the part of pupils towards the teacher.
Ii You have reason to believe the teacher
is wrong in any matter, go at once to the
teacher alone and talk it over in spirit
of kindness and fairness, and in nearly
every case satisfactory result can be
reached. Teachers are not and do not
claim to be perfect, but as class, are
persons of good practical sense, and some
culture, aud are more likely therefore to
profit by any good suggestions you may
give them.
Another thing to be guarded against is
the very natural feeling that our children
are just little better than our neigh
bors and must enjoy little preference
in the estimation of the teacher Over
every school house door should be writ
ten as in letters Of the morning light,
ave are one family, all who enter here
are brothers and sistars and entitled to
equal consideration according to our
Individual needs and conduct This is
trne Americanlsm and if This spirit pre-
walls in district the school cannot fail
to achieve a fair degree of success. If
the opposite spirit prevails aud every
petty neighborhood quarrel is brought
into the school as is sometimes the case,
nothing but discord and failure can be
expected and YOU may as we'll lock the
school house door and hang up the sign
"Closed for REPAIRS" know whereof 1
speak. for have observed these things.
have been called to investigate cases of
difficulties in schools and found the
cause to exist entirely outside of the
school and should nave boen kept out.
The teacher although entirely innocent
! of the cause of the trouble, and the child
rem only incidentally connected with it
were the chef sufferers. 1t is remark
ably easy sometimes to make scape-
goat of the teacher to bear away the sins
Of other people. In conclusion let me
say that the highest mission of men and
women on earth is to seek tue improve.
ment OF humanity, through the education
of the youth around them. Let us all
work together to this end and he who
writes the history of the coming centur.
les will record the results of our work,
which, let us hope shall cast no reflection
upon our intelligence, our fidelity or our
patriotism.