The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-27

! of this country received was not such a
/ bad thing. They learned little of every
| thing and learned it well. That is a diff
ferent thing from superfciality. A man
who has dealt with French Canadians or
California Spaniards may not know very
much of either French or Spanish, but the
few words he does know are at his tongue
end and much more useful than a kncwl-
edge of polite literature would be.
In remodeling the American system of
education, therefore-and 1t is badly in
need of such a process-it is necessary to
eliminate some branches of study which
the German finds useful. The American
needs sort of education which will make
him ready for emergencies. and help him
to enjoy his own life and contribute to
the enjoyment of others. To this end it
is well that whatever he is taught he
should be taught so thoroughly that he
that he should delve into the mysteries
of qualitative analysis, but if he studies
chemistry at all he should have every
scrap of his knowledge at his fingers ends,
for that is the only way in which it will
be of any use to him. The ideal school
system for the American would be this:
The branches of study which the average
person will unquestionably need as a prep
aration for the work Of life should be
taught with absolute thoroughness. Every
child. on leaving the grammar school,
should know how to read aloud in clear
and pleasing manner. without mispro-
nouncing ordinary words. He should be
able to write a letter in proper !1rm,
legibly. dramatically, and with as much
ease as he would show in conversation. He
should know the mere skeleton of United
States history, and the rudiments OF geog-
raphy. He should be drilled in every page
of the common school arithmetic until no
problem which it presents is beyond his
powers. He should have been taught
few simple rules of grammar, just enough
to ensure correctness in speaking and
writing-and that does not include an eX-
tensive drill in parsing and conjugations.
There is no reason why the average child
of fourteen should not have learned all
these things, without overworking himself
or the teachers. And if he learns them
it is all that can reasonably be expected.
In some schools where the children are
exceptionally intelligent. other branches
of study may be added, but in most cities
the course outlined would be enough. The
secret of thoroughness is not in pushing
pupils along as fast as they will move,
but in teaching them to understand every
word as far as they go. n there is only
time to read one book of Caesar thor
oughly, the student will get more knowl-
edge of Latin out Of it than if he were
hurried through the five books.
After this foundation is laid, the wider |
the elective system the better so long as
the methods of teaching are the same. II
a child has a taste for any branch of /
study. 1t is generally safe to let him Iur-
sue 1t under proper guidance as far as he (
will, and the. more, spbjeets. the better. |
The trouble with our schools today is that /
the school boards are tying to arrange /
it so that every child will learn every |
thing that any child can learn, and that, /
n our extremely heterogeneous population,
IS not humanity possible.