The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-10-21

to teach family ethics, theoretically, is
in the school room, but if we are to
prepare for life we must have fair
view of what is life.
81 don't believe one can properly
educate a boy or girl unless he gets a
bath at least once a week 1 believe
we ought to teach the principles of
proper eating and prope" sleeping.
Boys and girls who don't do good
work are those who sleep three or
four in a bed.
curiosity is the mother of all
knowledge Unless the child wishes to
learn it is impossible to teach him
much of anything. What we want to
do is to teach the child in elementary
work to be curious"
Pronounced Opinions Advanced.
Elimination of unimportant subjects
in high school work was the opening
wedge for a lively discussion among
the teachers Thursday afternoon in the
high school assembly room. Senti-
ment among the teachers was evenly
divided over the question of additional
features in the high school work and
several pronounced opinions were ad-
vanced by the speakers.
H. L. Miller, principal of the Kansas
| City, Kan, schools. talked for fifteen
minutes on the question, Are We Of
fering Too Many Subjects?"
Il take the position freely that we
may offer the new subjects without
! fear of infringing on the regular work, -
declared Mr.. Miller in the course of his
| talk. while 1 was in the Topeka
schools, 1 found that the pupils who
| took the elective work, did better work
than those who took only what we
usually term the traditional work, -
| said Mr.. Miller. who was formerly
principal of the Topeka high school.
| Speaking on the requirements of
pupils in relation to the course Of
study, Superintendent J. o. Hill. of
| Hutchinson, said: THE amount vi
work required by students is a stand
! ard and in my opinion is approximate
! ly correct. Owing to specialization
! however, I think that frequently the
| teachers expect too much of the aver
| age student. Again the standard is no:
| lived up to by the teachers. Some dc
not require enough work, while others
probably require little too much
| We must merge the needs of the
| schools; and in doing this some of thu
traditional requirements are not need
| ed
r. E. Hartsock. of Pittsburg. was Of
the opinion that physical training
should be a part of the high schoo
work and that music and drawing
should be given equal attention.
c. A. Wagner, of Emporia, compared
the old standard work of the higl
school and the new movement by al
allusion to the political situations
Lines In Schools Are Drawn.
There are standpats and insurgents
in the school of today" said Wagner
There are Uncle JOes and Murdock
and Madisons in our school work am
the Uncle Joe crowd is finding it neces
sary to sit up and take notice" Prof
Wagner declared the text books wer'
=, not practical. Men who write thes
b Oks," said Wagner, ARE college mel
who thoroughly understand the ques
lions they discuss, but they do not I'm
, / derstand the child mind that mus
grasp these books Speaking o
mathematics, Prof. Wagner said Their
! / were too many rules and analyse
necessary under the present course .
: study. The work is too technical" h
! said. land many of the most common
= examples are robed in the most min
! ute tables of analysis In mathematic
a student goes from one branch to an
: other, putting the old one on the shell
perhaps never to be looked at again, al
though the student may have sper
: several years in mastering the ques
ton"
1t was Wagner's paper that brough
: forth the most lively discussion of tn
meeting and the sentiment among tn
| teachers concerning his views Wa
/ about evenly divided.
r. F. Knight in a discussion of tn
l papers declared that the ordinary inter
probation of the inductiVe system wa
wrong. He denied that there was d
viding line between the grades of natl
ematics, as stated in the Wagner pc
per. He endorsed the policy of mar
ual training course to put the work o
a more substantial basis.
c. C. Brown, of Concordia, was il
clined to endorse the Wagner theory q
to classifying various topics taught
q high schools However, remarke
. Brown, the text books are not expec
f ed to take the place of an intelligeI
teacher; anG the books are general ar
cannot be localized. The average hig
school, offers anywhere from II to
SUBJECTS; but if the schools have adj
quate teaching facilities. I can see 7
objection to the heavier list of stu
les"
y. H. P. Butcher. of wellington We