The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-07-30
MAKING SCHOOL SIMPLER
School Authorities in All Sections Are Eliminating
 Much Useless Study
CHICAGO IS IN THE LEAD

Wu1l6 N6W YOTk flOuS
 Along Under, Old
 Methods
 Simplifcation of courses of study by eliminating much unnecessary study is now in progress in most sections of the country. In Chicago Mrs. Ella Flagg Young. the city superintendent of schools. has made and is making many and radical changes. Arithme- tic has been simpifed in Philadelphia and revision also authorized in Ralti- more. In New York Commissioner of Education Draper has promulgated a new elementary school course of study of six instead of eight years. Systems of penmanship have been abandoned in many municipalities. but in this city the attempt is still being made to systematixe pupils handwriting. The present course of study adopted in 1900 and alleged to have served as a model for other cities is still in oper- atjoR here. whereas other cities, if they did copy it. are rapidly modifying and simplifying it.
 Everywhere is heard a demand for trade education. Allegations are gen. eral that thousands of children leave school unfitted to earn a living. Trade schools are offered as a solution of the problem, but in this city the open ing of one for 300 or 800 pupils is regarded as meeting the need, and no provision is made for a more practical course of study in the elementary schools.
 It Is different in Chicago. There Mrs. Young is stripping the educa- tional system of the trimmings which nvyo ~ksnr~ SovH avrrx lz fnr1 has been dropped, compound fractions eliminated, and now she proposes a sensible method of teaching penman- ship. No set style of handwriting is to be followed, no leaning toward this or that method. The pupils are mere please, but write fast and legibly." Mrs. Young has gone even further. She has worked out a two years course in the High school. This will be a definite course with it's own di- ploma and its own organic relation ship to the educational scheme. Chill dren will enlist for 8 two years course who are dismayed at the thought of four years. The practical nature of the work, .dealing with commercial branches. domestic science. manuel and industrial, training. will doubtless make this innovation doubly popular by aiming at precisely those youths
 
 their livelihood and can spare no time for the "culture studies" Mrs. Young's plan will have a wide appeal to those interested in the adaptability of the public schools to public needs.
 During the closing months of the school term there was conducted in Philadelphia a vigorous campaign for a simpler course of study-one that would be practical and usable. and now Superintendent of Schools Brnm- baugh announces the first of the changes-simplifca of arithmetic. greatest common divisor and the least common multiple. However. pr. Brumbaugh's simpliication doesn't consist merely of cutting out the dead wood. The important features of it is that it adapts what is left in the course to the needs of the pupils and to their mentalities.
 The new course aims to ground the pupils thoroughly in the rudiments. The report says that the elementary results of addition and multiplication should be "so thoroughly fixed in the mind that there will be no counting of fingers or marks when adding or sub tracting. or any mistakes or hesitation in the process of multiplying or divid- ing. Intelligent repetition is the only way in which they can be committed to memory.'
 fleHieIupeTins lHdI drltnHietic, Hke every other school study. should be made an instrument for mental train ing, Dr. Brumbaugh says:
 The written work on the board or slate or paper should be neat and in proper form. No carelessness in this respect should be permitted. The fig ures and signs should be carefully and dicate just what is intended to be ex- pressed. Remember that accuracy of expression begets accuracy of thought. Care should be taken that in all exer- cises the language of the pupil should be correct and appropriate. The to make those exercises formal and unnatural.'' a
 He advises against definitions for young children. Teach them what the term means, is his advice. Then when they grow older let them learn to ex- press that meaning clearly and accur- ately. in words of their own choosing, as far as possible.
 Simple numbers are to be given in the early years. In the very first year the pupils are to be led to apply numbers to concrete things by teach the next year they begin to get weights and measdres. All problems are to be practical as far as possible, representing the operations of real life, in the store. the shop. the market. or the household.
 The keynote of the entire scheme is this: Pupils should be gradually trained to depend upon themselves
 In progressive New York city the old course, the same old studies. are still being taught
 Down in Baltimore many changes have. been made. Vertical writing has been abandoned. grammar will be taught in grades below the seventh, and spelling books required in the lower grades.
 In Duluth it has been decided that Tn the new course of studies for the High school history ought not to be taught in chronological order. and that United States history should come first instead of last. in the interest of those who are unable to complete the courses
 Here in New York principals and teachers have been urging the board of superintendents to modify it's ''pet"