The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-06-30
DRAWING IN SCHOOLS.
Arguments Advanced by n Friend of
the Public Schools for the Introduce
ton ofTNis branch of Study on u

10 ING EultOT Oh tHc lHtelHEcHCef. n u
SIR:--In every progressive town or
city. the question whether drawing
shall be taught as part OF the school
course has been discussed and It IL In
teresting to notice the result of this
discussion.
There was n time when the argu-
ments for and against the introduction
OF this branch Into the school currlcu-
lum waxed quite exciting. On the one
side stood the educators and the men
an women who urged that the children
ought to have It. while on the other
Side stood the people who claimed that
It would be a useless expense. That
time has passed. for it requires two
sides to keep up an argument and there
Is hardly thinking person now who
( would dispute the fact that drawing
has become very important factor In
school work. s
There is hardly city In the land, and
few towns or viiinges Of any import
ance. where drawing Is not taught In
the public schools. In many Of the
states even the country school teach
ers must pass an examination In draw
ing before obtaining certificate to
teach. ss
There was time when the schools
taught merely the three RS" readin'.
rItIn' and 'rlthmetc. but as the years
went by. other studies were added I'M
til the American schools stood fore
most in the ranks Of education. Yet
something was lacking! There was too
much Of the kind OF education which
Charles Dickens has described when he
gives us the teacher, Thomas Grad
grind, who says. Now. what want is
facts. Teach these boys and girls
nothing but facts. Facts alone are
wanted In life. Plant nothing else. root
out everything else. Stick to facts.
SIR" IN
There was n feeling that there was
too much OF the bare facts. and teach
ing by rote and that school work
might be made less dry and spiritless.
In 1860, drawing was introduced into
the schools OF South Kenslngton. Eng
land. The work was purely formal and
mechanical. 1t was not used in Ameri-
can schools until 1870. when Boston In
terested her people init. 1t was. how
ever, copied from the English method,
and was about as dead as,the mummy
OF Ramcses II. 1t was used entirely as
n separate study and no one thought OF
using II as an aid In other studies.
In 1880 came the Kindergarten move
ment, and that did much toward the
proper use Of drawing.
There IS probably no other line OF
work which has progressed 30 rapidly
during the past decade as has drawing.
both In the methods OF teaching and In
the results obtained.
In the days when our mothers and
fathers studied drawing In the schools,
there was nothing but an endless sue
ccssiou of straight lines and curves,
gcometrical figures and designs to
copy. Now and then some especially
talented lad or lass was allowed to
copy a picture of George Washington
cutting down the cherry tree. or Chris
topher Columbus sitting pensively on q
rock thinking about how.'he was to
discover America.
Bad as was the method of teaching
drawing. 1t paved the way to some
-lltng better.
1t would be useless to try to take up
the various steps by which drawing In
the public schools haS.comc to take the
place which 1t now takes iE the educa-
ton OF the boys and girls. Like nll
great changes 1t has come gradually.
There Is no city which has made
greater strides In this line than Chi
caEo. With western enthusiasm. she
has not only taken up the best Ideas
advanced in her sister cities. but she
has evolved methods of her own whish
other up-to-date cities and towns have
been only too glad to adopt. What are
some OF these modern ways OF teach
inE?" asks some one. We'll. to- begin
with, no child Is thought too tiny to
learn to draw In fact. the sooner he
begins the better, for very little chill
drcn are entirely free from any self
consciousness In making efforts. The
little tots have their drawing lesson
each day Just as do their older brothers
and sisters in the upper grades. Per-
haps one day the drawing lesson may
be from leaves or twigs brought In by
the children. Another day 1t may be
from the little wooden models. Or these
models are built into housesTor forts
churches or castles. and the children
delight not only to build them, but to
draw pictures of them.
Or perhaps In their nature study they
are studying the turtle. - Only the
teacher who has tried IL Knows what
added interest will come IL they carR
model little turtles OF their own. Gu
coons. birds. butterflies, shells. each
take on new meaning when the chill
dren have tried to make their pictures.
and while the observation is constant
~ being cultivated. the little fingers are
being trained to picture what the eyes
see.
Familiar objects OF all kinds arc
drawn. Then. too the tiny folks pose
for one another and though the draw
incs made are crude In the extreme,
still the wise teacher knows that time
will bring the desired results. The po-
sition OF model for the class Is as much
sought for among the little ones, as the
presidential chair by some of our poll
ticinns. and the boy who is chosen to
represent Simple Simon or Iacliy Hor-
ncr Is as proud rs LuClfer. The child
illustrates the stories the teacher tells
him, and the language work gains add
cd charm.
In the grammar grades the same
sort Of work goes on. only here the he
roes OF nursery rhyme are no longer
the themes. for the children are deep in
the mysteries Of Ahderson's tales. the
Pilgrim stories. and stories from his
tory Perspective principles are taught
from the models, and outline drawing
gives place TO shaded work Not nm un-
important part Of the work III the
grammar grades Is the study of lives of
artists past and present. and the study
Of examples Of their work. N'fN
In one town n very clever supervisor
OF drawing has awakened such an In
terest In this branch Of the work that
the grade teachers and scholars have
gotten together quite fine "circulat-
ing collection OF copies from the
masters. This collection IL made up OF
mounted photographs. blue prints, en-
cravings, magazine Illustrations and
tnt. like and la IA ~ 81