The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-12-24
Hammond Children in Dailv
Attendance


households in which there is not soma
youngster who IS being groomed bv
ioNing mother or older sister for
school
At this hour of the day one may see
in every part Of the city groups Of
children on their way to school and
unconseiously ones thoughts 60 back
10 the school days of the past when
as boys and girls. We learned 'readin'.
Writin' and 'rithmetic, taught To the
tune Of hickory stick"
Cnconscientiously one combines the
pleasant memories of the past with
what one knows o. the improved school
system OF today and q picture of al
most ideal school life is complete. IT
is a picture of fancy. containing few
lines with which the average grownup
is familiar
A peep into the Hammond public
school system as it is today. however.
Will reveal the fact that what seemed
picture Of fancy. is a thing In real
lty' though not complete in detail. and
there is none TO be found anywhere.
YET a. good as the best in the state of
indiana. and Indiana ranks among
the foremost states in the union in
educational matters.
Standing at the head of the Ham
mond school system now in his third
year with a past record of twenty
three years as a teacher, principal OF
the Wlnona summer school and trustee
Of Wabash college. is superintendent
{ NJ. Mcdaniel, who has chosen the
motto, The Object of the school
Should be to Develop the Best That is
IN the Child,' Constantly he has ad-
hered to it in his career and has
brought it to Hammond where the
results of his efforts are beginning to
be seen. The problem is. ii ANYTHING
greater in Hammond with its hetero-
geneous population, than elsewhere but
a study of the system as applied here
shows 1t to be working like clock
work in all schools
With a corps OF seventy-ffve teach
ers, most of whom graduated from
normal schools. the work Of bringing
out the best in the child was begun
little more than two years ago. Supt.
Mcdaniel set himself to work and
produced a Hammond public school
manual for the teachers, outlining to
them the course of study from the
kindergarten to the last year in the
high school. 1t was stupendous
piece of work in itself but the author
has the satisfaction of knowing that
in many cities of the state it is being
used as guide for the production Of
similar manual Armed with this
manual a liberal education. and tbe
principles of the born teacher. the
corps is sent out in the field in the
beginning of the year The manual
is the connecting link between the
school room and the superintendent's
office and once the start is made, the
system goes into effect
/ BY making visits to every school
lending out bulletins, receiving term
Reports from the teachers, monthly re-
Rrts and various other reports. rec
cVds. etc, the superintendent keeps in
t Fuch with every teacher in every
grade and branch. 1t means much
work for both teacher and superin-
tendent, but the success that has been
attained has proved the system well
worth it. In weekly reports that the
teacher makes. she shows Just what
work has been done and how it was
done and what she intends to take up |
next. The result is that the superin- |
tendent can supervise the work |
the entire city finding last
what teacher needs extra help or adj
vice in order to keep her school at the |
same standing at which the others are. |
Should there be one, there will be re-
view work, of which there can never |
be too much in a school. The teacher |
has her daily preparation to make for
work for it is outlined in such a /
way that the teacher without prepare
ion is failure
The result Of her preparation is two
'old. The pupils receive her teachings
and unconsciousIy. con
Iciously from what she has prepared to
each them for that special day and un-
consciously from her bearing as a teach
er- The idea OF the system work can be
'ealized by an example of the language
ana grammar course that has been out
ined from the kindergarten to the
senior year in the high school Bearing |
n mind that the aid Of language and |
grammar is to teach the pupils to speak /
md write the English language cor
'ectly, the beginning is made in the
The teacher tells fairy
stories. myths and fables to the chill
iren and they in turn tell them to
he teacher. She is ever on the lookout
hat they tell them correctly. thus
eaching them the first lesson to speak
correctly.
It is not unusal when the little girl |
ONES home and tells some of the fairy |
stories to the father or mother who
lever heard them in their school DAYS
hat they would criticise the teacher
md the system, seeing no use for such
method, and regarding it all as a
mere waste of time. If they must
earn things by heart let them learn
omething useful" says the parent. for
getting that the aim Of the teacher is
0 teach the child correct speaking.
While the text book is not given TO
he pull until he reaches the seventh
Grade, the elemantary principles Of
grammar are taught nevertheless. as
arly as the second year. The pupil
earns TO write short sentences and 70
make the proper punctuation and cap
In this year instead Of
airy stories, myths and fables he be-
ONES acquainted with the Morse le-
,ends and begins to study pictures