The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-21
THE COUNTRY SCHOOL
A CHANCE VISITOR MUCH PLEASED
WITH MODERN METHODS.
Parents Have No Reason to Complain
that Children Lack Educational
Advantages.
New York Evening Post.

| New York Evening Post.
| 1t was hard for to believe that any
one in East Homer could be discontinued.
What more could anyone ask than a COM
, Portable home in this fertile valley? Every
house had its garden. Broad fields sur
| rounded the town, and anyone with suffi-
| cient industry to survive anywhere could
| make good living by labor here in the
open air. Everyone was his own master, TO
a degree unknown in the city, and the ex-
hausting noise and jostlng was far away.
| 1 found, however, a discontinued woman.
Her countenance was of a melancholy cast.
She looked with wistful eyes at the green
| hills that encompassed her tranquil world,
| seeing nothing of their beauty, for they
were to her grim barriers between herself
and life OF ill-conceived splendor and
| excitement. She thought her discomfort was
| due to the niggard fate that had left her
| in this forgotten quiet There is, however,
no light in all the world that could illumi-
nate countenance like hers. Reality
everywhere would fret her soul.
What do you want in the city?" I
asked. Would you like to be hemmed in a
little closer by your neighbors?'
"Oh, no, 1t isn't that, of course; though
| II is very dull here all the time"
| Would you rather look out upon tall
buildings and smokestacks than upon these
hills? Would narrow street between
| houses be pleasanter than your view down
this broad valley?"
but that is not all there is to the city,"
she said impatiently. There is always some
entertainment to go to there
And you would leave this wide view and
IT,
for the crowded quarters the restraint and
noise of the city, just for the sake of an
occasional show. or to be with a crowd in
a church or hall now and them"
1T isn't so much for my sake" she said,
the corners Of her mouth dropping plain
lively, las for my children. L wish that
my boys could have the advantage of bet
ter schools" She looked at me as much
as to say, "There is a conventional plea
for you, a well-worn and accepted ground
for my discomfort" Her Oldest boy was
twelve, and 1 recalled to her the long list
of great men who have grown to manhood
in such places as this, but she only sighed
for answer.
A UNIQUE COUNTRY SCHOOL.
AS 1 left her, I saw three children COM
ing into the village. along the valley road,
carrying their dinner pals. 1t was half
past eight, and they were bound for school.
1 called to my dog Bob and followed them.
Our way led us along a grassy path, by the
brookside, past the blacksmith shop, and
two or three houses. to the little school
at the edge of the village. From here
the road became country road, leading
up the Onondsga valley to Syracuse, thirty
miles away. The schoolyard was sur
rounded on three sides by stone wall.
Fine meadow lands encompassed it. and
not far behind rose a high hill, with a
| tempting wood halfway up the slope The
| Il
and hastily putting their dinner pals on a
shelf in the hall. ran out again. The boys
The two little girls Joined some eight. or
ten girls and boys at hide-and-seek. An
apple tree in the schoolyard was the goal
My dog ran pell-mell after the children,
barking and catching at their coats and
dresses But they were not afraid, and
when 1 called him off they told me not 20
None of these children had ever seen me
before, but they were neither curious nor
embarrassed. They seemed a very friendly,
, wel-balanced lot, and they were certainly
the healthiest comeliest, best-dressed
. | school, as a whole, / have ever seen.
. The last bell sounded, and the children
trooped inside. / told the dog TO wait for
me- and followed them.
There was no rostrum. The desk was on
the floor. in one corner. near the recitation
| benches. The teacher offered me her chair,
, | and without speaking with me, turned with
. | a smile of general welcome to her school.
The children took their seats without much
There was a pleasant sound of voices as
they spoke to each other. There was a lit
tie laughter. little rustling and shutting.
. | One boy slapped another on the back as he
passed In. Ii was not done syly, as would
have had to do in my own schooldays, but
UPON him. They were Quickly seated. and
instantly a dozen hands were up. The
teacher spoke name, and girl stood and
followed. The entire school was covered In
a few moments, with the exception of two
little ones, four and five years old. Boys
and girls of six and seven seemed to have a
, library of wise and pretty sayings at their
! tongues ends and they recited them SIM
ply, with real expression.
A belated youngster entered and after
him came my dog. who trotted across the
room to me. / took him out again, and re-
turned, surprised that his entrance had not
!, caused a litter. Mary and her little lamb
would not have caused the historic con-
; fusion In a school like this.
METHOD OF INSTRUCTION.
Five children from four to six years of
age were called to the benches This was
their first year Of school. They had been
coming now for six weeks. They had no
books. but they could already read written
sentences like these:
81 love my dog"
, my dog can catch me-"
The teacher wrote the alphabet on the
! blackboard. and skipping among the letters
with her pointer had the class give the
sounds of the letters and then pronounce
them. She wrote a few words they were
| familiar with and they sounded the letters
of each word and then pronounced the
, word.
Now she said, here is new word -
, And she wrote CATCH. The little ones
| fixed their eager eyes on 1T and began at
once to sound the letters, running the
sounds together more and more rapidly
| until the word catch" came out of it's own
accord. Their eyes sparkled with the dis
| covery.
| The teacher wrote sentence after sentence
with this new word in them. and many of
the sentences were altogether new combi-
| nations, but the little ones with a great
| deal of buzzing and kissing and vocalizing
sounded out all the riddles and read at last
every sentence glbly without other aid
than their own wit and persistence.
| What does IL mean?" asked the teacher
What happens when some one catches
your"
why. then you're it," exclaimed a boy of
| six.
The meaning was explained at last and
the class went reluctantly to their seats
| class of older boys and girls was called
TO read. The lesson was story, in which
| father bought his son a pony from a
gypsy boy. AS each child read a PARAGRAPH
the others followed. and when the reader
| was through made corrections