Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1900-05-23
EDUCATIONAL MATTERS AGAIN.
Light AMI Ventilation" Tells Of our Needs ard
Agrees Substantially with Dr.. Porter.

/ '1lghb ana entliatF On Is very EANd
! that the statistics have been brought To
| the notice of the citizens Of Niroqua, and
| trusts that the doctors articles may be
read by all voters in the district. There
should be more people interested, and 80
many articles written on this Important
question Of schools that the Doctor and
| Light and Ventilation" would not be
! obli,n to do all the discussing. There
is not difference of opinion enough be-
| tween the two to make an interesting
argument They both agree that the
| present accommodations are very bad
and if their conclusions are correct, then
surely something must be done and il
cannot be done too soon. In short If
! it were done when tbs done, then twere
well it were done quickly"
If the light in the stone building is so
| defective that the Doctors son, or any
other child is likely to become afflicted
with myopia, then we must not longer
delay in our effort for more light. There
must be some reason for the defective
eyesight of the childIen of the present
| generation Either the wearing of
glasses has become ridiculous fad; or
weak and defective eyes are alarmingly
| frequent among our school children.
| The fact that the eyes are more scientih
cally treated than they were gener-
alton ago is not to besdenied; but this
does not account for the fact that many
children are obliged TO wear glasses,
when their parents who are approaching
middle age, have not yet found such aids
to nature necessary. These children
70 1tea;nly had no inherited weakness and
there hlust have been a cause for the
effect
Black board work is one of the evils of
our schools today The child's eyes had
much better chance in the days when
teachers were textbook slaves, " for the
work that must be copied from black
boards often proves a serious strain on
tired or weak eyes. Then. too, it is
often impossible to locate boards n the
best light. In one room whe e DIR.
| Porter finds tue light only 3S pr cent.
of the minimum that best authority
! deems necessary, there is at present an
, average attendance of fifty pupils Shall
/ such conditions be allowed to continued
1t is true that the light in our most de-
| 1ctive school house is an improvement
over the average cow barn or hop kiln;
but it must be remembered that chill
dren are now kept in school for nine
months of each year instead of the few
weeks that were considered necessary in
| the doctors boyhood days. 1t is q
| TACT that the children Of today spend the
| greater part of their waking hours IL
the schoolroom. and this time is the
most important of their lives because
| they are laying the foundations for their
careers. II we send out from our schools
child afflicted with myopia as a result
| Of defective light in our schoolroous, or
a child with weakened lungs as result
| of defective ventilation in the same
rooms, We have sent cripple into the
battle of life. Can we take such con-
sequence upon ourselves? VIII there
| not be enough for each of US to answer
for without this crime against the chill
| drenP That the present conditions are
| bad is undeniable. The question ia
| What shall we do about it," We are
not able to change the law that permits
| children to attend school at the age of
| four years: neither is it practicable for
us to insist that parents shall send their
children to school only one-haf day in
stead of the time that is now customary.
| These are matters that will not be adj
| justed until a change can be made in
public sentiment and such change will
not be made in month or year Ed
vocational examining is certainly harm
| full and it is one of the serious faults of
the modern system of education. The
craze for some years past has been for
| diversity of learning When thorough
ness becomes the watch-word we will
better equip the child for the realities
of life. There are too many people who
have smattering of Languages and
sciences, but do not possess sufficient
| knowledge of mathematics for the or
binary transactions of business, or
enough knowledge of the English Ian
guage TO enable them to write a good
business letter
Light and Ventilation" would join
| forces with DR. Porter at any time to do
away with the examining system in our
public schools The reaction has begun
along this line and it is to be hoped that
we viii have much better system in
| the future The children of today are
sent 10 school at two tender an age and
are kept there too many hours; but these
are not arguments in favor of poorly
| lighted and i'll ventilated apartments.
! Indeed, it becomes still more important
that they should have the very best that
science and money can provide.
| Give the children light and air and
good instruct - and provide a kinder
garten, if necessary, for the little ones.
Put manual training into the curriculum
and give the boys and girls chance to
use their hands and gain some practical
knowledge. Two much cannot be done
for these children but do not let it come
in the way of additional examining
Give them light. air and exercise. They
are taught enough now. Their little
minds are developing faster than their
bodies They need plenty of good pure
air in the schoolroom; but give them
more time to roam through the woods
and fields where the Creator has pro-
vidad light and ventilation that are be-
yond our criticism. Let us remember
that our schools need three things and
these three are light, air and room.
The New Spirit of Education, an
article in the May Munsey, by Arthur
Henry, gives some excellent ideas on
kindergartens, manual training and
nature study. Let us so provide for our
schools that our teachers may be able to
use the most modern methods and our
children have a chance for sound
minds in sound bodies.
LIGHT AND VENTILATION.