The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-10-21

The Course of Study-There is d
small but turbulent class of overwise
writer's who periodically belabor the
public schools. In their nightmares
they see thousands Of tender children
murdered or MANNED in the public
schools, and give v%ociferous ute.
ance to so much wild nonsense that
they have but one effect-making
people refuse to heed them even
whea they point out some real de-
feet. Some of these writer's have
warned US against one great evil
which we have gone on ignoring
that Of an o~vercrowded course OF
study. To be brief, some years ag7
our educators realized the poverty
OF our common school course Of
study; confined almost exclusively t.
the three RS. A just demand was
made for an enriched course, giving
q wider range Of subjects to tn
pupils. A number Of subjects has
been added. Now, in order to en-
courage individual initiative, I TAXI
It. the State Board of Education has
never prescribed a maximum or {;
minimum number Of subjects for an:
course. Instead it has adopted tex
books covering a rather wide rang
Of subjects, and grouped these inc
yearly grades, leaving each school t.
make up a course or courses fror
this list.
The building OF q well-balancef
course Of study Is the work Of ar
expert. Comparatively few teacher
lay claim to that stage Of fitness
Yet each teacher, or at least each
principal, experienced or inexperi'
enced, sets about to make his owr
course. Theories, prejudices, an'
tastes begin to clash for the mastery
One teacher is an arithmetic crank
and his course has but little else
In It; another's favorite subject Is
grammar, and he makes his pupil:
analyze and parse everything IL
sight; another has no taste for &C.
ography, and he practically omitE
It; another "dotes on" poetry, and
the whole school Is put to memoriz'
Ing and reciting gems; while a lot o.
thorough-going teachers who taks
everything literally, put the whole
adopted list into one course, and give
1t to every pupil in the school.
A great deal Of ignorant and un'
lust criticism is made against Tho
frequent and useless change Of tex
books. It would be neither wise moi
defensible to have a child use tn;
same reader through two or three
grades, or to use the same geog
raphy through the 4th. 5th and ST.
grade, for instance: If the book i;
suited to his advancement when h
begins it, 1t is reasonable to say tina
It Is not suitable two or three years
later in his life. And If a teacher
were to keep the child Of n n
these watchful guardians OF the
schools in a fourth reader, for IN
stance, for three years, this same
guardian would make the columns ci
the local newspaper smell OF sui
phur in declaiming against the out
rage (then fail to sign his name. J
On the other hand, many of Jul
schools do needlessly tax the pat
rons for books, and burden the chill.
dren with books. Let us give con
crete cases: / have just examined
the published course Of study In a
ten-grade school in n Of u towns
In that course are prescribed fifty
FIVE separate texts, exclusive of cony
books, drawing books, scratch pads,
etc. In the school are ten teachers.
In another ten-grade school. with
four teachers, there are sixty-four
texts prescribed. In the first men
toned school there are ten sepa-
rate texts required in the seventh
grade; in the second mentioned
school eleven texts are given in tn
eighth grade.
Every child ought to have the best
obtainable book in every subject h"
pursues, and he ought to have all
the books he needs-books suited
to his age and advancement, but I
protest that the above mentioned
courses are out Of reason. To under