West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1906-04-12

systematic, bird's.eye-view of the modern
world. We begin with physical geography,
making the study include survey Of geology,
astronomy, me,eorology. geology, b,iany.
ethnology, and other topics. Then we turn
TO political aud commercial geogra ply aud
survey the world 10y countries in the light Of
the physical geography we have been study.
ing. AS a matter Of course, we give very
prominent place to current history, which is
really phase Of geography"
1--WE give good outline of chemistry and
physics, but as we are not college aud
little apparatus. we do not tire the students
with a textbook Of four HUNDRED Pages.
Elementary psychology is taught, especially
for the benef, of those who expect To teach.
Hygiene aud sanitary science receive con-
siderable emphasis"
"wha, is Your course in'history7"
"liere we make two general divisions.
We count as ancient history all that COME
prior to the discovery Of America. That
branch is treated concsely. Here If any
where the student needs a guide so as not TO
become entangled in the maze of details
fopnd in a thick textbook. lie wants to
keep his eye on the central stream of history
and see how the Heading events fall into
place along that stream When W. come To-
striking episode, VIC take time TO examine
1t. We interpret history according to the
democratic idea, and therefore we lay stress
on the social and economic phases. The
people hold the center of the stage. The
intrigues Of royalty and the messacres of
militarism are relocated TO subordinate
place. In passing TO what we treat as
modern history, we first give general sur
yey of the world in 1902. America and
foreign history are then carried along in
PARALLEL lines, the greater share of attention
being given to the story of the United States.
The history of our own land IS Of course
treated from national and not sectional
viewpoint"
SLOW do you teach civil government
"With much care and detail. We study
American institutions in our national, state,
and local governments. We also take up
political economy"
do you teach other languages7"
Not as part Of our regular course. Tn.
less perso on acquires a mastery OF a Ian.
guage. II is not very profitable use Of
time to take up the study at all IL is one
thing TO gain smattering OF a language.
and quite another thing to become pro.
hcient therein. meie smatiering does a
person very little good and il exposes him
to ridicule when he makes a display of his
ignorance. As practical proposition i'm
the case OF either the ancient or the modern
languages, II is only smattering that is ac.
CURED In the usual mode OF study On this
basis the Languages are little more than
ornamental branches. Few OF us find IL of
marked utility to gain a positive Familiarity
with foreign tongue. But when such
knowledge becomes desirable we should
seek out the person who is entirely capable
OF inparting such mastery In our study of
English words, we indeed turn aside "a
present an outline view OF the structure oI
Latin. This is to throw light on the spell.
ing and meaning OF the multitude of com.
mon words derived from that speech. But
as TO the classics In general they form mn
part OF our ideal OF a workaday education
Despite venerable authority they are not
essential to culture. mental discipline. or
grammatical knowledge"