Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1899-06-03
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM.
BROOKLYN TO ADD A NEW FEATURE
TO ITS SCHOOL SYSTEM.

The Idea Is to Teach by object Les
sons the Manufacture of Various
Articles In Daily Use-AlsO Botany,
Agriculture and Animal Life.
Brooklyn is to have a children mC-
scum similar to those of st. Petersburg,
Vienna. Berlin, Paris and other Euro
pean cities These museums, of which
that at st. Petersburg is the most COM
plete, are an established feature of edu-
cational work abroad, but the Brooklyn
museum will be the first of its kind III
this country.
Acting on the suggestion of Professor
w. II. Goodyear, curator of the Brook
lyn Institute museum. and on the favor
able report of a committee appointed to
consider this suggestion, the trustees of
the Brooklyn institute decided at their
annual meeting to equip the Bedford
Park museum as an institution similar
to those in foreign cities When equip
ped, it will contain specimens, plates
and pictures illustrative of art and sci
ence. 1t will be rich in educational
material relating to all departments Of
knowledge and designed for children $
use. Professor Goodyear has suggested
that the initial purchase be the Musee
Scolaire, published by Emil Deyrolle of
Paris. This consists of a series of 10
beautifully designed and cOlored car
toons, each cartoon displaying a COM
bination Of natural specimens, wired to
the cartoon, colored designs and text.
In this way the making of glass, paper,
CLOTH bronze and other articles is illus
trated, each cartoon of the series hav-
ing all the materials processes and
stages of manufacture shown by nat
ural specimens and cOlOred pictures.
An elementary collection designed for
primary schools includes typical speci-
mems for use in studying zoology, bot
any and geology. Another set adds to
these material relating to agriculture,
food plants, plants used in the indus
ties, poisonous plants, technology and
manufactures, the history of the earth
and the animal kingdom.
The collection recommended by Pro
fessOr Goodyear is an expansion of
these, a complete museum of material
for object teaching the value of which
lies in its systematic, balanced and
comprehensive character. Considerable
material of a similar sort may be OBJ
tained in this country, but the Deyrolle
cartoons will furnish nucleus from
which the museum can grow. There
will probably be a regulation prohibit
ing the acquisition or exhibition of isO-
lated specimens and incomplete or mixed
collections
DR.. Julius Sachs of New York city
and his assistant, DR.. Leete, have gath
cred much valuable material for object
teaching in their own schools, and their
cooperation is expected to be of great
assistance in forming the Brooklyn mu
scum. DR.. Leete is leading authority
on the subject of European school mu-
seums.
The Spruner wall maps and Labber-
tan color charts will be purchased to
illustrate the field of history, and the
history of art will be covered by care
fully selected colored cartoons. The
simple and artistic English. color prints
known as the Fitzroy pictures will also
have "a place in the collection. All the
collections will be carefully labeled SO
/ lIldG VII Dc uIiltCtSSdINb
and director competent to explain
and help the young visitors will be in
charge. The building is to be repaired
and put in order at once for the recep-
ton of the exhibits, but it will proba
bly, be several months before these will
be ready for inspection. A committee
has the matter in charge.
Besides supplementing the formal in
structiOn of the schools the children s
museum will serve as a model for school
room decoration.
THE conception of aesthetics, where
instruction for children is concerned, "
says Professor Goodyear, "shOuld start
with color scheme and wall decora-
ton, | have always been opposed to any
conception of schOolroom decoration
which does not take into account the
whole cycle of knowledge. A botanical
chart or wall map may be as decora-
tive as a picture of the Coliseum. The
first aesthetic considerations in school
building are it's interior structure and
its color scheme. 1t will be our aim to
suggest by the arrangement of the
Brooklyn School museum what can be
done in this direction. -