Arizona weekly journal-miner. [volume] (Prescott, Ariz.) 1885-1903, 1900-05-02

UUK fU6LlG SGhUULS f!
The Work Being Accomplished by
ihs Second Primary Grade.
Miss Stanley Windss Doing Good Work in
Ter Department. Some Needed
improvements.
Tie Journal-Miner reporter again
reslimed his visit To the public schools
VS. Tday ana paid 4 visit 10 the first
primary grade. taught 10y Miss Helen
Stiange We found Professor Mat
thesvs. making an investigation as To
thel effect the measles and grippe was
havn.s ON the attendance of this grade.
and ~ announced To us that out of Il
total enrolment in that grade of fifty
seven. fcriy-oRe WcTe~preSent. and out
OF the SfNtefRs alssnt only one was
urtaiucd on account of measles. We
were also informed that thiS is the
largest enrolment of any one room
iu ihr schools. AMI THAI the aver;i ge
daily attendance Is better than any
other grade. Ihc average daEHsattend-
auce Tor the entire schools for the
moath which closed last Friday is
lower than for the corresponding
month Of last year owing To the great
amount of sickness in the city, hut
I'm face Of this the average for this
grade was greater than last year
During the time it was our pleasure
o. remain in this department we heard
several recitationS. including number
work. language test work. etc. and
we were more and more impressed as
the recifations proceeded. that the
primary grade of the Prescott schools
WAS under the guidance of Il teacher
who had few equals. and 50 far as it
aS ever been our observations. no
SuperiorS Miss Strange certainly was
born To he Il primary teacher. as her
control of the children seems marvel
oUs. and the methods she uses in her
instructions are the best known TO ed
ucatOrs of the country. Her rule is
one of love and kindness and her Sys-
TENS of rewards for honest efforts put
forth by the pupils are such as to
I
of the child'S being. and urge it on
to- further knowle-ge. She uses the
Pollard system of phonetic sounds in
teaching language, which has given
fHe most satisfactory results all over
the country and is acknowledged to
be superior to any other system known.
As an example of what this viii do in
learning the child to pronounce words
correctly on sight, Il lady in this city.
who has child attending this grade
and also one attending the seventh
grade. says the first grade child viii
often pronounce word correctly by
this method that viii puzzle the older
one. who WAS taught in beginning 10y
he old ARC. methods. Her system
0f teaching numbers is also calcu-
lated to give the best results for ac-
cUracy and speed ana to prevent many
confuSions that We're the results OF
older methods. Lessons in nature are
also begun in this grade which teaches
the child from its very earliest recOl-
/ lcctionS to he Il lover of the beauties
and truths Of nature. Another feature
that greatly pleased us was the work
in calisthentics. All windows and
doors were thrown open to allow q
full supply of fresh pure air. and the
drill began and the entire body was
put through Il vigorous and helpful
exercises. which not only teaches per-
/ feet system in the control of all parts
of the body. but gives the children
needed exercise-2p Development phys
ically.
We advise parents and friends of
the school to visit this grade and if
they are not fully satisfied with the
splendid work being done by Miss
Strange. we very much miss our guess.
The Journal-AIiner man continued
his visit to the schools and next had
the pleasure of spending an hour in
lie second primary grade, taught by
Miss Windes- On account of the
measles there We're only thirty-twO
pupils present in this grade out of Il
/ total enrolment of over fifty. We
were told by Miss Windes that her
average daily attendance is about
/ f0rty-three. The capacity of this
roOm at present is about sixty. so We
| found that this grade. as i'll the case
/ IF the other grades we had visited
/ he teachers have no difficulty in hand
| ling the number of pupils who attend.
| his grade is divide. into three classes
and during the past year it has been
| loUEd necessary TO prOlong the hours
| 1f study from 2:3O =. H.. as formerly.
/ 90 t D. H.. in order that full justice
may be done the work expected TO he
| covered by this grade. We had the
/ pleasure To listen to recItationS in
/ arithmetic by the different classes. and
! we're pleased indeed To note the stress
/ aid on mental arithmetic by Miss
| Nindes. This is an important thing
4 hat is so often overlooked in our
/ schools. and the value of which can
| scarcely be estimated. as it cultivates
/ he faculty of not only quick and ac-
-urdte thought by the child. but
/ earns the child 10 Dee methOdical. rs
well. and is great aid in helping
/ small children 10 express their thought
n words. thus supplementing the
language lessons.
! Another thing we noted with pleas
/ Ire in the reading lessons is the use of
! supplementary reading. This adds
/ lew interest and life to the usually
| Try reading recitatiOns, and often over
/ 0Oked in our schools. and opens up a
bread field for the child TO exercise
! iis powers of imagination upon.
There is one thing we would like
| % call TO the attention of parents and
sthers Interested in the schools. and
hat IS the necessity of making the
/ appearance of the school rooms more
| -heerful by the use of pictures and
/ lther articles of decoration for the
walls. This should be given special
attention to in rooms for children of
this size. as they are at that period
IN their studies where blackboard
decorations are difficult. and yet the
child is of that age when n sense of
coZiness and neatness will greatly i'm
press them for coed ana permanently
influence in the love of the beautiful
Miss Windes has been Il close student
Of primary work for several years
and has taught in the Prescott schools
for the past three years. but has de
clined to accept the position for the
coming year, and has accepted Il place
in the Jerome schools. as her parents
live at that place and she desires tc
he with them
----------
NEVER ADMIT DEFEAT.