The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-02

meets in Denver today, and IN many ways
it viii be the most interesting convention
the association has held. Never before
in the history Of education on the North
American continent has there been such
development Of educational ideas as IN
the past five years, and the twelve
months now ending repre- sent the climax
OF that movement The head ana the
heart and the hand are all being edu-
Gated in unison today. The storing or
knowledge in the mind Of the child mas
become a by-pTOduct of the higher ideal
OF training all his faculties TO increase
his usefulness TO himself and his fellow
man.
The hauling Of children to school IN
the country districts has passed the eX-
perimental stage, and IS now regarded as
Offering a solution TO the country school
problem. In years past a graded school
was possible only in thickly settled rural
communities, because enough pupils could
not be got together within a reasona Die
radius Of the school to fill it. Under
the new method II does not matter II
schools are as much as four or I'VE
miles apart BY consolidating schools.
and employing farmers teams to maui
the children to and from them. 1t mas
been possible TO secure graded scnOOl
advantages even in the more thinly pop
ulated rural districts. In many states the
little red school house on the hill. that
has long furnished a phrase for the stump
speakers, is now being torn down ana
hauled away to form a part of q modern
graded school
Manual and vocational training are still
holding their place with the educators
of the day Statistics show that fewer
young men who have had the benefit of
manual and vocational training go 10 prl-
son than those who have not. Ahis Is
taken by educators as being one o. the
best arguments in favor of teaching chill
dren practical instead Of theoretical
things. Also the statistics so far gathered
indicate that the earning power OF the VO-
CatiOnauy trained young men are supe-
riOr to the boy with a classical training.
There are hundreds Of college-bred men
to be found I'm the bread lines and other
charitable places in New YORK, out the
vOcati0nally trained are conspicuous by
their absence.
Germany is now leading the world in
the matter of industrial and vocational
training. The secret of her success in
meeting the competition of Great Britain
and the United States is TO be found IN
her system Of training the hands OF her
young people. Great Britain, to whose
existence a large foreign trade Is as es-
sential as the air its people breathe, mas
sent commissions to Germany to study
her schools and their methods are being
adopted in England even more rapidly
than in the United States.
There is just now a sort Of revolution
against the study of classics IN the
schools of the country An ASSOCIATION
for the promotion Of classical studies has
been formed for meeting this revolution,
but it is fighting against strong odds
One of its members recently sent out a
hundred letters to scientific men IN Vari-
Gus parts of the United States asking
their opinion as to the importance Of
studying Greek and Latin. Ghlrty-IlVe
answered, and of the thirty-flVe, seven
teen expressed the opinion that Greek
and Latin are not essential, While only
fourteen declared themselves favorable
TO the inclusion of those languages as
necessary parts of scienuHc course
Even the universities of Oxford and cam
bridge are inclined to break away from
Greek and Latin.
This same spirit finds echo in the COM
mon schools. James 3. FOrgan, presl-
dent Of the First National bank OF Chi
CagO, said recently that he had trouble TO
find young men who could write good
business letter. He Opined that more at
tentiOn paid to the three R and less to
what he regards as the frills, would re
suit in young men better fitted 1or the
duties of life. His theory seems to be
that at best the average boy can get only
a smattering of these frills, hence the
extra time devoted to the three RS is
spent TO much better purpose; Another
prominent business man of Chicago eX-
presses the same view. He says that
in employing hundreds Of young men ne
has found that the boy who halls from
the country school where the three RS
constitute the curriculum, IS better lifted
for business than the city-bred boy, who
has dipped into more than dozen differ
ent subjects.
Feeding school children is another new
departure in the United States 1t is held
by the teaching profession that half.
starved stomach cannot keep company
with a Well-nurtured brain, and tndt
there are thousands of children who are
backward just because they are deficient
" nurtUred. The time has not arrived
when the whole school will bs fed, but
in many cities the poor children are pro
vided with something to eat. The expert
ment was first tried in Boston, and with
marked success.
A school for mothers is the latest de-
parture in educational work. A philan-
trOpic gentleman, George H. +. Schrader,
has founded such a school in New YORK,
to be known as the Caroline Rest. Pow
erty stricken mothers with wee infants
are taken there and cared for. With the
pinch of poverty no longer felt, the moth
ers are able to devote themselves to learn
ing the science of chiid-care, under the
guidance of the trained nurses attached
to the institution. 1t is said that the eX-
pertinent has proved a gratifying success.
School savings banks are also new de
partuTe. Educators have long understood
what most parents seem never to nave
learned-that saving is a habit and that
it ought to be formed in the earliest child
hood. It is hardly to be expected that
the child who never learns the value OF
money in childhood will truly value it in
after years. To meet this condition eXDeT-
iments have been made in teaching chill
dren to save their pennies, through
school savings bank, and it is said to be
astonishing how easy IT is to lnculcate
habits Of thrift and economy in the mind
of the child. Europe has used, satisfaC-
torily, the system in its schools for many
years.
The railroad school system to be eStab-
lished by the Hartman lines will repre-
sent another inCUrsiOn into the field OF
new things in matters Of education. Aside
from the United States military and naval
academies these schools will be about the
only ones in existence where the student
is paid for his services. There will be no
guarantee of position to graduates, but
for technically trained men is
so great that a paying position IS prac-
tically sure to follow. This experiment
will be watched with especial interest by
all big employers Of men A most inter
esting feature Of the work is that all the
will be practical railroad men,
engaged in the work of the operating de-
partment at the time.