The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1909-12-23
1.-THE Educational Value of Draw
ing in the Public Schools"

HG presentation W th~ ouCJN~'
of Drawing is one that requires
thought and deliberation. If the
subject of drawing has not been
studied by the teacher, it is even
more difficult for her to present
for, as has been wisely said, THE
teachers plans and purposes must
not be vague generalities; but they
must he definite, exact, precise,
and capable of clear and concise
formulation, for otherwise the con-
duct of the recitation will be a
mere chance. I"
Drawing, ,-one of the Industrial
Arts, lis truly a Language of the
hand" 1t Is just as much means
of conveying an Idea which is in
the mind, as is sentence the ex-
preston of thought. II is .er-
tainly a more natural means of ex
preston than is word language:
Schooling begins with a world
of strange things, and should eud
when ALL things are more or less
familiar. "One of the great aims
of the teacher of to day, is to make
the individual feel at home )" for
when one feels at home he Is
free to express his thoughts and
feelings,-and is not expression"
one of the objects of study
It certainly cannot be considered
that a child is educated until 1t has
learned something of the human
race, for each child has right to
know what others have known be-
fore he came into being who
would dare say leave out the study
of history? The knowledge gained
by others before we came into be-
ing, gathered up and formulated,
forms the school curriculum. And
when we see teachers refusing to
teach certain subjects, on the
grounds that they are unnecessary,
we often come to the conclusion
that 1t is because they know but
little about the subjects that causes
them to conclude that they are un-
necessary; however, the Drawing
in the public schools can be taught
successfully (if the teacher will
study with the pupils) whether the
subject has been studied by the
teacher or not.
Since we are striving to develop
the child mentally, morally and
physically, and since education is
life, we should include in our pub
lie school curriculum those studies
that will help develop the many
possibilities yet undeveloped in the
child; but at the same time we
should not continue to add new
subjects that will tend to make the
work more complicated.
Drawing will help us in nuiner-
Gus ways, it will help to interest
the pupils in the various studies,
such as Agriculture, Geography,
History, Language Study, and
Arithmetic. 1t not only interests
the child, but it often will make
the subject clearer. For example,
In Arithmetic at that part in which
the subject of square measure Is
taken up. A drawing of a square
foot divided into the one hundred
forty-four square inches will tend
to simplify it, or to fix it in the
memory. The drawing of the little
squares is drawing in its simplest
form. We know that drawing does
interest the child from the very
fact that he so often asks, May I
draw on the board" or Let me
draw from the chart" We also
know that drawing fixes things in
the memory, for the hand has a
memory of its own, and when one
has drawn a map of, say South
America several times, he can draw
a pretty good likeness from mem
Ory.
And likewise, from the very same
drawing we know that thought has
been exercised because he could
not have made the general form
and the minute details so nearly
perfect as they are, If he had not
pnt thought with the study.
Again, when drawing is taught
in connection with nature. study,
the school-grounds, home, and the
surrounding country are seen in a
new aspect. The essential details
are embodied. while the non-essen-
tial details are eliminated. Things
are seen as a whole, as parts. and
the relation of the part to the
whole is seen and vice versa. Thus,
would say that one of the great
est values of drawing Is the devel-
opment of a love for nature.
Right along with the nature
study another important thing
comes In, the habit of observation
Is fixed. It is natural that, when
studying the drawing of plants, the
children notice them as they pass
to and from school, and as they
pass from one part of the play
ground to another.
And right with the drawing of