Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1908-11-11

schools claim a four-year course. Sew
eral schools claiming four-year
course were credited with fewer units
of work than are required for a
standard three-year course and one
school claiming four years fell below
the requirements for standard two
year course. Tue standard applied
to the high schools was that generally
accepted by the colleges Of the State,
and is below that used By the Corne-
gle Foundation Board. The error in
to which most fthese schools have
fallen is to divide their pupils into
four classes with six and seven moth
intervals of advancement between
each two, then call each division.
year in the course. That the reader
may see the validity of some of these
claims, some courses are here outlin-
ed: This is the fourth years work
in one school: The first half of My
ers' General History, Comercial Ari-
thmetic five time a week. three books
Of Plane Geometry, and forty-fve
hours during the year in Tappan's
History of Literature. Another four
year school gets through the Second
Book of Caesars Gallic War, four
books Of Plane Geometry, and Tap
pans Literature. Numbers of these
courses show that the third year and
the fourth year classes are together IL
more than one study. One must not
be mislea by the term literature in
many of these schools. 1t is nothing
more than reading about the authors
of literature a. little biography, if the
truth must be told.
The poverty Of some OF these four
year courses is more than offset by
some of the plethoric three-ycar
courses. some of which are formid-
able affairs. At random 1 take one
years work from one of these
courses: Arithmetic, Algebra, Rheto-.
ric, Literature, Latin (reading, gram
mar, and prose composition). Physi-
cal Geography, History and Business
Methods Gan innocent little text.)
In. this years work every pupil takes
everything prescribed, and each pupil
is on recitation practically every pc
riod during the day. Several schools
have Arithmetic, Algebra and Geome-
try in the same years work. and a
few have Physical Geography and
Physics in the same year, with prac-
tically no other science in the entire
course.
The majority of the one-teacher
high schools undertake the impossible
Ito teach a full four-year course.
One such school has classes in Arith-
metic, Algebra. Geometry, English
Grammar, English Composition, Liter
Azure, Physical Geography, U. S. His
tory. S. c. History. General History,
Beginner Latin, Caesar, and Ovid.
One teacher may teach few subjects
th1ouoh four-year course, and do
it we'll. but on such course as the
one just given teacher is wasting his
time and energy. The greatest evil is
to the pupil. His time and effort are
divided up among SO many subjects
that he pursues none of them long
enough or far enough to get any train
ing or knowledge out of them. In
even the better schools the average
pupil gets but little out Of such SUBJ
jects as Physical Geography, Physics,
and Civics, because they are not stu
died long enough to benefit the pupil.
The high schools, like the common
schools. suffer from the endless chang
ing Of teachers. A comparison Of
this years schedule with that of last
year shows that the whole course has
been overhauled and reorganized, and
in some cases the new course seems 10
be given over to reviewing past work.
Perhaps such course Isl necessary, but
L5itsshows eaTful waste energy