Arizona republican., 1909-12-29

with the different branches of eacf asking for different things. The. busi' ness man expects the boy or girl tc emerge from the public school compe- tent to go into the store or shop and do the things set before him that per haps he has been years learning through experience. The professional
 man expects the public school to turn
 out boys and girls ready to enter any
 one of the many courses in the univer- sity or colleges; the tradesman ex-
 poets the boy to be more or less a
 mechanic. and they all expect that they
 send the boys and girls forth good,
 honest. industrious citizens.
 There is no doubt that they should
 expect many things of the schools and
 the schools should fulfill these expec-
 tations>in many respects. yet we must
 realize the fact that school system
 cannot be organized that will prepare
 a boy for college and at the same time
 fully equip his brothers for business
 or a trade.
 Granting that the public, whether
 professional. business or trades, is not
 receiving from the public school sys-
 tenn of the country as much as they
 have a right to expect. let us notice some of the things which Ibring about
 this condition of affairs.
 First, We venture tO make the crlt- cism that the universities and colleges set the standards for the public schools: that instead of commencing with the primary school and building ttV fhYnnOh ha schools to the college and university they have reversed the order of pro ceedure and commence with the higher institutions and graded downward. We hear the university making certain high demands of the high school. the high school. in turn is forced to make it's demands on the grammar school and one grade of this school on the grade below If all our boys and girls were cetrain of n college education it would not be so bad, but when We stop to think that only about per cent of the children who enter the pub iIc school ever enter college and that more than 75 per cent of them never enter high school, how much better it would be if our system of common schools would emphasize a course of study that would be of most benefit to the children who can not attend these higher institutions of learning and allow the collges to arrange their courses of study to articulate with them.
 Do not understand me to be opposed to college education for bows and girls. for l would have them all at tend college if it were possible. but so long as S7 per cent of our children are forced to enter life without such training let us arrange our courses of study so that this 97 per cent of the receive the most out of the schools. Let us have a system of schools that will commence with the primary grade and build a strong foun- dation, and on this foundation build grade by grade through Sthe primary. grammar and high schools into the university and college and there let the | young man and young woman specialt ze as suits their tastes, but in the ! public schools let us have the things | that everybody should know.
 In line with the foregoing this | thought crowds itself in: "Overcrowd-i { ng of the school curriculum"
 There is belief among many edu- ,ators that there is a proper age for he presentation of cetrain studies to- he youthful mind.
 A few schools here and there have arranged their schedules with some bought along this line. but the com non school system at large remains he same as of old with all the new ads and frills of the present age added. Many new educational clements have 'een added, such as music. drawing. lomestic science and manual training. III of which are very good, but if great are is not exercised too much time will be spent on the new subjects at he expense of some of the old ones hat are very essential to the man IT woman in the world
 We have added all these new sub ects and have made little or no effort i" rid the system of any of the rubbish n the old l will illustrate what I mean by the subject of arithmetic. a ubject that most patrons of the chools think very essential to the edu- 'ation of the child believe in IT OciitNt tlldt OUT pbNS md girls of today are not getting 'nough arithmetic in the schools, yet
 believe we are wasting much valu- [ lble time in teaching much arithmetic, hat is useless To illustrate. the or iinary text book on arithmetic would each the child some six or eight diff erent methods of counting interest, when one is sufficient for any of us [ the interest is dne us and more thani ye need when the interest is due some me else. It is not so bad that the 'ook should give a variety of methods. ,ut the :loor teacher thinks because it Co s in the books she must teach the 'hild all of them. when the truth is I We should visit the banks of Phoe- iiN this afternoon tn have interest cal-i ,alated We woBld find the banker con 'ulting an interest table for the in ormation. What has been said about