The Mena weekly star., 1910-02-10
County and Village Teachers.
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AStAS " "SNt tpiS VIII SifC ChiPi tnent to both the younger aud the older pupils. If judiciously di- rected 1t will keep all the younger pupils busily engaged in the preparation of slate work, and the older ones iu the topical pros ecution of their lessons.
 Both the master and his pupils must work. Indolence in him be- gets idleness and recklessness in them. Lite, energy and industry manifested by him, will be at once reproduced in them. The teacher must work to fit himself for his high calling and to ele- vate his profession. He mus work for his school 10 rouse and inspire his pupils, and to prepare himself for his daily teaching, thinking, or acting for his school. He succeeds, also, in making his pnpils work, not so much, how ever, by direct effort, as through the influence of a we'll managed and well governed school. With children of common physical and mental ability, it is not often nee. essary to euforce industry. It is the teachers business, rather, to direct and control this activity, in systematic process of self culture and development.
 Some one said many years since, "Study is mental gymnastics, sys- temalic thinking, and the end in view is development and culture. !"
 One great object of the school IS to induce and direct this men, tai exercise. Study is of the first importance, and hence must have the first attention of every prac- tical teacher. In the organiza- ton, classification, management iud government ot his school his chief aim is to induce systematic thinking. To this end he ar ranges certain hours of the day to be especially devoted to study When the school is perfectly sys- tematized so that each and every pupil has all the work he can do, lud so pleasantly divided between
 he hours of recreation as to in- duce the greatest effort, then the discipline is all that can be asked. IL is the systematic arrangement of ali the powers within the reach )f the tescher that produces or Ter, zeal, interest and love for school labor. On the other hand, teachers fail for the want of this systematic arrangement as would be suggested by the classification aud division of time to be found in well arranged course of study for the common schools.
 Objections Answered.
 It IS now our purpose to answer objections offered to such course of study; some of these have come to us incidentally aud others di- rectly from the objectors. Now, while alluding to the feature of the work, why not have sympo- sium of both objections aud en- dorsements as we'll as additional suggestions from the teachers aud friends of education in the territory where The Star circu- lates? Its editors will gladly give us space for these letters and assist in editing them. Let's hear from at least fifty, or more interested parties. Always rive name and address, not necessarily for publication but as guaran- tee of good faith on the part of the writer.
 One of the speakers at the meeting of the Polk County Teachers Association last No- yember made the statement dur ing one of the discussions that he could not see how 1t would be possible for a teacher who had an enrolment of sixty to seventy-hve pupils, consisting of all grades, to use course of study. We had no opportunity to answer him a! that time and will do so now, as the same objection possibly ob- tains In the minds of other good teachers.
 The course of study fixes limits of the several grades, thus fixing minimum number of classes while this minimum is invariably
 lower than that existing in the hap-hazard classification found where no course exists, 1t should also provide for the alteration oi studies-in these schools taught by one teacher. Based upon a prop erly arranged course of study, in- cluding the principle of alterna- tion, it is an easy matter to induce the classification at least fifteen or twenty per cent and in some cases as much as fifty per ceut. | if this is true, and we insist that l it is. cannot the teacher find more time to devote to each class as well as to the individual who needs special attention? He also l-t..a .t..t .t u,n,1d hardly ha