Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1902-03-06
Woodbury,s School Needs.


IA copy of the following communication. was
placed in the hands of each member OF the
Board OF Education by Principal Frey last
Monday, and, it deals with subject peeu-
liarly public, we offer 40 apology Tor giving IL I
all the publicity at our commando
TO Tie Board Of Education, Woodbury., ~ J.
GENTLEMEN The wide interest mani-
tested in the problems Of education is sig |
nificant Not only do men that have made
education their life study continue to devote
their time to the many unsolved problems,
but the unprofessional man as well makes
these problems an object of much interest
and attention. From the man that miscon-
strues the whole system, from those that
hasten TO conclusions with mathematical
precision, from the fancies of the faddlst, !
from the super-conservatlve that cllng 20
medisevalisms, from those that would make
the schools the pack-mule for neglected
duties in every sphere of life, does educa-
ton receive mass of hints suggestions
and homilies.
Let no frowns be cast upon this efferves-
cling of educational ideas, for, sooner or
later, it must produce wholesome effect;
the we'll informed know that charlatism has
always hourished in the field of edu,ation.
The great difficulty is, not how to rid our
selves of this mass of conflicting opinions,
but how to choose that which is pure and
produces purity.
The schools of Woodbury. have done a
good work and are in better condition
than ever before. With the means at the
disposal of the teachers and the Board,
good work is being accomplished. We can
not, however, rest in idleness viewing with
pride what has already been done. for the
work still to be done is urgent. Knowing
the needs of our boys and girls, we are
called to push aside old and personal pre]u-
dices and institute better things.
The defects Of our schools lie IN two
directions-the lack of a larger adaptability
to our social needs, and the want OF con-
formity to the physical mental and moral
laws of child growth. Social laws are not
fixed, though such laws are clearly trace
able; but the laws Of physical, mental and
moral development are accepted as written
in the very nature of the being, and to
disobey these laws is to dwarf and to
| blight.
The human brain has practically attained
| its growth by the age Of seven Up to this
| time the rapid growth Of the brain and the
| limited organization Of the nervous system
preclude much formal instruction. So far
we have made very little normal provision
for this early period of the child. The
greater number of children enter school at
| five and are placed under formal instruc
ton in the first-year primary school The
| work in this grade is good, but it is not the
proper kind for so young child. So many
| little children, not because Of permanent
| dizziness, bnt because of lack Of physical
| development, are kept too long in this first
grade. The subject matter becomes unin-
teresting and insipid, causing habit in
| slowness of acquisition and sGQ}e cases OF
arrested development.
! For all children having legal right co.
enter school at age of five, and showing no
| aptness for formal instruction, kindergartens
should be established. With very few
exceptions, all children OF FIVE, large
number of those six years old, and excep-
| tlonally few of those seven years OF age
need kindergarten instruction. At least
| two kindergartens are needed. Under such
circumstances it is believed that two first
year primary schools would be enough.
The kindergartens should be nothing but
the best. Too frequently do such schools
exist only in name. The teachers should
| be qualified not only in the theory and
methods of kindergarten work, but should
have a good knowledge of the whole field
of educational means and aims. All rooms
for this work should be carefully appointed,
and the hours should not be too long Ten
| times rather have no kindergsrtens than
poor ones.
| While it is very convenient to have an
imaginary average pupil, there is in reality
no such being, and an attempt to reduce a
school to such an average means failure to
great degree. Yet an attempted average
must be the result if the teacher can not
give much individual attention to the
pupils. To produce good results the teacher
must have a smaller number than fifty
pupils. The inevitable result from placing
so large a number under the care of one
teacher is injury to the health of the teacher
and the forcing of the pupil to the mechan
| ical average. Mr.. Search, man of great
culture and wide experience in the actual
work of public schools, places the maximum
ideal number per teacher at GWenty-four,
and President Eliot, Of Harvard, without
speaking of an ideal number, places the
maximum at thirty. Speaking of grammar
school work. the latter gentleman declares
that no college professor person gener-
ally Of the widest culture and of the best
1 experience, would consent to do what is
| frequently required of an inexperienced
teacher of limited culture in the grammar
grades. Our fifth, SIXTH seventh and
eighth grades have too many pupils per
teacher to do good work, and we conf
IDENTIFY hope that arrangements may be
made whereby this defect can be remedied.
One Of the features of school that con-
Germs nearly every one is the withdrawal of
so many pupils.before they reach the upper
grammar grades and high school. Many have
been the speculations as to the probable
reasons for these Withdrawals Properly
to account for this condition is not an easy
matter. Pres Calvin NJ. Woodward, of the
St. Louis Board OF Education, has given
the best answer to this perplexing question.
Mr. Woodward, in his report of Nov 80,
i 1900, says:
''The attendance reports have shown that
the bulk of Withdrawals are the pupils
much older than those who remain. 1t
goes without saying that those pupils are
backward in their studies, the reason for
which may be sickness, or slowness, or lack
\ of interest. Poverty is frequently urged as
the cause; certainly the older pupils, the
retarded pupils, the discontinued pupils, do
not withdraw OR account Of poverty. If
abundant means on the one side and peuury
on the other have any influence on the
character, scholarship and ambition OF chill
dren in our schools, it is not seen in
unusual diligence and ability produced by
the former, and i'll idleness, inability and
lack of zeal produced by the latter. sus-
pect that the excuse of poverty is often
made a cover for criminal neglect on the
part of a parent or a feeling of discomfort
on the part of the child.
my deliberate conclusion, after careful
study of this matter, is that the prime
causes for the abnormal Withdrawals are
First, lack of interest on the part of the
pupil; and, secondly, lack On the part of
the parents of a just appreciation Of the
education now offered, and dissatisfaction
that we do not offer instruction and train
ing Of more practical character.
Pupils become tired Of the work that
they have in hand, and they see in the
grades above them no sufficiently attractive
features to invite them. They BECOME dis
satisfied and negleetful; failure follows
they get behind, and then they stop.
"As for the boys from IL to Is years DID,
their discomfort is not unnatural. They
are conscious of growing powers, passions
and tastes which the school does not recog-
nize. They find the restraints of the school
room and grounds very irksome. Many of
the things that they are required to do
seem petty and trivial, and freqent repeti-
tions make them intolerable. Their con-
L II.