Mexico weekly ledger., 1896-01-02

read the very sight OF every book
they have to handle is distasteful.
Teach them to read readily and you
smooth the path to knowledge and
render that a pleasure which would
be otherwise a disheartening task. 1t
is necessary to induce pupils to reada
great deal more than they have time
to repeat in,.the school room.
1t is plainly the province of the
teacher to direct the out-of-school
reading of his pupils, selecting such
books as are interesting, entertaining,
profitable, crowding out the low by
bringing in those books which beget
elevated thoughts and noble aspira-
tions. Teach the enquirer to carry on
an investigation for himself and show
him your method of "chasing down"
a subject.
We need teachers who are them
selves in loving touch with good lit
erature. By care and patience such
teachers can lead their pupils to love
the authors whose writings awaken
thought and encourage reflection.
When such taste is once established
there is no danger of its displacement
by the insipid stuff which Is ABUNDANT
ly placed in our libraries. The curse
of thousands of young people to-day
is because they read those books which
contain small ideas of manhood, of
citizenship, of society, of personal
honor, of righteousness. Cast away
the burrs. Burn the sensational trash.
Feed ON the meat only. Read great
books; enrich your mind with noble
sentiments. / fear that too many of
our teachers in the Public School nave
yet to be awakened to a full realiza-
ton of their duty in this respect.
Shall our methods consist chiefly in
imparting instruction.? Is it rush,
stuff, examine to the end of the edu-
cational race? With too many teach
ers the tendency is to measure prog
ress by the number of volumes read by
a pupil. Such an idea, if pursued, is
udHSCIOuss anu O. hdOib SSLtioSSS" oh
this basis leads to mental weakness
and not to mental power. The really
valuable selections to be read and ap-
~preciated are those master pieces
which grow upon us with every fresh
reading. The filling up process is a
vicious one. In the limited time the
youth of our land are under instruc-
ton it becomes u duty not only to
teach them tt read, but hoar to read
and aChdt to read.
The pupil must know of the authors
who will always pay his perusal. He
must know, by training and expert
ence, the use of reference books and
indexes. He must master the art of
getting what he wants put of 4 book
which he has not the time to read
through. Ignorance among u boys
and girls of how to do this is alarming.
Hence We suggest that this training
begin in the primary grades. Don't
tell pupils things which they can find,
| but show them hoW to find.
Encourage pupils to form libraries
| of their own. A child's school books
| form a nucleus around which may be
gathered a very useful library. Teach
them to care for their books and treat
| them as friends. Encourage them to
buy, read and love books. Tell them
of books you have read, and lose no
opportunity in creating a desire for
valuable reading.
Develop the power to grasp worthy.
hopeful, beautiful thoughts from books
and you have given the child a too
worth more than all other tools. Give
tine young minds a taste of the beauty
in good books and the nobleness II
great character. The child's world
will widen and broaden. He will learn
to love the right sort of literature, be-
cause he knows how to make friends
with it. 1t is generally conceded thai
the most successful teacher is the one
who has the faculty for thoroughly
imbuing his pupils with an %inordinate
love for the "best thoughts of the best
minds"
By determining the bent of apupil'i
mind or the tends of his tastes thu
teacher can plan and recommend {
course of supplementary reading, thus
improving his school opportunities
still more, and at the same time de
velop his Individuality, for no better
way can the school library be made tt
serve the valuable ends for which in
tended. Good supplementary courseI
of reading, which are too tedious t.
mention, may be found in many schoo
journals.
Be content to form the child's liter
airy taste without his being painful.
aware of it. So far as possible lea
the child to make his own discoveries
and respect choice and taste. Hi
Judgment, though crude, is of certai
value, and often proves a shrewd an
clever critic. 1t is what you teac
him to get himself, rather than tn
best you can give him, which he is t
take with him into the world. Great
in the child a desire to read and tn
) countless devices and apparatus be
T comes useless lumber. Think more
r the child and less of the system an
y methods.
q No time is too soon, no age to
9 young, for q pupils mind to be LITE
D to the idea that what he gets from tn
9 schools is comparable only to til
: reading of an index, the subject maj
q ter.
The great work of lf-e6ucatio
and development is just commence
,. when the school life is ended. Ar
progress that is then made must /
done through much reading of book
Il Teach pupils to use books of refe
n ence and to make them their constal
g companions in the preparation of the
a lessons and they will acquire a hat
n of thoroughness, not only in the
rs studies, but in their reading, openil
10 valuable and inviting avenues
knowledge.
b. The study of the text alone too fir
t. quently leaves the pupil to glib
repeat the words of another about
DO thing he but vaguly understands. I'll
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