Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1909-02-18
High School Notes.

The term Education, as we hear it
echoed and re-echoed throughout and
without the school curriculum, is often
misunderstood 1t is not merely
training in which individual know
ledge is given to the pupil but it is a
training to develop character as well
as to impart knowledge.
Character is word which includes
in it's meaning habits and motives.
Right habits are of slow growth and
the highest motives that appeal to men
and women are beyond the mental
reach of the younger children in our
schools. It follows that character
building both on the side of habits and
the development of motives must be
slow, but should be consecutive pro-
cess. The principal habits for which
we strive are regularity, obedience,
politeness, punctuality, concentration
of attention upon the proper business
of the hour, truthfulness, and fair deal
inps with Others. On the side of mo
tives we strive for desire for good
standing, desire for honor, desire for
right and desire for duty.
The most important item after devel-
opment of character is to make teach
ing so lifelike and SO closely connected
with ordinary human affairs that the
years spent in school may be years In
which the future citizen is rapidly &C
curing the knowledge, power and
skill, that will be most useful in life.
To gain knowledge the pupil must
master and have at ready use various
kinds of knowledge. To gain power
we carry on the knowledge-getting
process upon well chosen material.
These fundamentals of education are
observed in various ways throughout
the grades but when pupil has reach
ed the Eighth grade or High School he
has reached that stage in life where he
looks upon these desires and motives
in a much broader sense. He is now
preparing, or has completed the work
which is to give him his first step in
life. He now begins to reason out for
himself the value of education and
shapes his life career accordingly.
The Eighth grade is a class of four
teen members who are preparing them
selves for their first great step in the
school world In this grade it is the
duty of the instructor to review and
complete any underlying fundamentals
of the Course of Study which the child
has failed to grasp in the previous
seven years and in addition prepare
him for his High School work.
The line of subjects as offered by the
Course of Study for the Eighth Grade
are Literature (one-half year,, Agricul-
ture (one-half year,, Grammar, Arith-
metic, History, Physiology (one-half
vearl. Constitution ltwo-third year, and
Orthoepy (one-half year,
In the subject of Literature it has
been the aim to give the pupils vari-
ety of good Literature for study and to
create that deep love and longing for
rood Literature. 1t IL said by our
greatest educators that the books we
read and the companions with which
WI, associate are the two great factors
which mold our character and deter
mine what we are to be. Selections
such as 1.-The Speeches of Lincoln, :
History of New York" and The De-
serted Village have been read.
brief introductory to each one has been
made by the study of the life and
works of the author Historical, geo.
graphical and literary illusions have
been explained and special attention
has been given to the fundamentals OF
reading such as pronunciation. articu-
lation and quality of tone IN order 20
secure good expression Important
parts of these selections have been
Committed to memory, for what pupil
of Literature does not delight in quot
ing beautiful quotations.
(To be continusd.s