Gloucester County Democrat., 1909-04-22


one who thought chemistry the most
practical study. Indeed so strongly
has the idea of a practical education
IN this practical age of ours gained
the foremost place with even our
youth, that it is question whether
ever again that education which cul-
lures the individual will gain the as
cendancy over the practical. What
the pupil wants at the present is only
SO much education as will enable him
to gain livlihood. The finer instincts
have been entirely neglected.
One remedy which has been sug-
gested for this state of affairs is as
yet only theoretical. Would that it
could be made practical. We are
undoubtedly in sympathy with the
movement which President Wilson, of
Princeton, is instigating whose motive
is to have the home and the school CO.
operate in working out the problem.
1t is true that the magazines and mi
nor periodicals in the boys reading
world are taking the place of the
standard clas sizes. We are asked,
Must these magazines not be read?
NY feAO 5OO0 AiCCA dIttlC cuu CduuOt D6
criticised. The only fault we find is
the fact that they entirely crowd out
the works of our first-class authors
from the book shelves. The library
tables of the homes are over-streWn
with such as "The Ladies' Home Jour-
nal, 'Delineator,' and others, but
Tennyson's poems or Ruskin's essays
are nowhere to be seen. We agree
with Wilson then that the parent as
we'll as the teacher must use his in
fiuence over thechild He must with
hold from him some of this passing
literature, but by no means remove
him entirely from it. They were only
the standard works which such men
as Johnson, Franklin, Milton and
many others read, for fortunately, per-
haps, in those days the market was
not over-croWded with current liter
ature.
Cooperation, however, is such an
ideal factor, especially where the
teacher and parent are concerned;
consequently suggestion which in
terests only the teacher is far more
timely. We must all confess, that as
a rule-and of course we recognize
there are always exceptions reading
in the Grammar Grades is not one of
the major studies. 1t has a scheduled
place, it is true, but how many times
has the arithmetic period, for ex ample
overlapped that of the reading. In
short, the reading lesson is too often
sacrificed for the others. Do you
blame the child for regarding it of
minor Importance? Again in how
many of the Grammar Grades is there
mapped out course of study for this
subject? With how many of the great
number of classics are these children
acquainted? An intimate acquain-
tance with the great masters alone
serves to arouse an interest in liter
ature. The child has the right to
know of Goldsmith, LongfelIow, Scott,
Franklin and host of others before
he reaches the High School He has
right to know, to read "The Deserted
Village for instance, and what pic
lures of poetry to appreciate. The
lack of interest in the classics in the
beginning of the course, say, is due
to the neglect of them in the grades. !
The subject of grammar, which is
only another phase of the whole Eng
lish, | believe has been made too much
study of rules and def nitions, too
theoretical and too abstract. 1t has
not been intimately associated with
everyday speech. The pupil, when
he enters III. S. has a horror of gram
mar, and anything which reminds him
of it. What is the. reason? He has
not mastered it. There is undoubted-
ly some radical wrong where a major
ity of beginning class in Latin, about
to study participles have not the faint
q al idoc ofC s,f 4Jxr
it is here where the Latin department
also suffers. Let the H. S. teacher at
tempt to expain and seek to fix in his
mind some of the fundamental prin-
ciples, and Mr.. Freshman is insulted.
He has passed by that stage-thinks
he-and he is ready for something
ahead. So he ought to be- 1t is an
injustice, I contend, to the pupil to
allow him to advance without obtain
ing all that is due him in his proper
sphere; for whatever is missed then
is lost forever. 1t is of the utmost
Importance, then, that English as
study, be more strongly impressed on
the pupil before his freshman year in
H. S.
have spent so much of my time
in attempting to set forth some of the
opposing factors in the training of the
child in this department, that some of
you present who know vastly more of
this subject. in spite of the fact that
| am speaking to you, say some of
you realize that in planning my sub
ject, have violated one of the first
regulations of composition, which says
devote most Of your time to the main
subject and sacrifice the minor points
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