The Prescott daily news., 1912-09-11

NlulIouU IlSSlUdUlon that much Ot our improved methods and mod ern pedagogical theories are the verlest tommy-rot and need no greater argument to condemn them than 1 have already stated. II we keep on going in the same direction for the next few years we will probably abolish alto gether from our curricula the
 readin,' 'ritin' and 'rithmetic" idea which is the essential part of the boys or girls educational development.
 ' do not urge any objection to drawing, elementary zoology or necktieology or any of the new Tangled courses except that they take up the time that ordinarily the busy boy or girl, and especi- ally the poorer classes so much need to devote to the essentials. They are only conditionally i'm portant and should receive atten- tion only from those looking to the professional career. To be plain and brief we are fooling away too much precious time in doing nothing and accomplishing nothing. Some parents com plain that their children have had too much work to do in one year and prefer that they go over the years work again. This may be true and when it is the work should be gone over. Thorough ness is essential, but there are dozens of other boys and girls who have been held back simply because somebody else could not or would not do the work. This is a deplorable situation. Our standards are fixed with refer ence to the ability of the weak lings instead of the strong. It is a crime to hold any deserving boy or girl back one minute be- cause somebody else can not or will not do the work that he is doing There is no provision in our school system for the hustler who has "hitched his wagon to a star" You reply that it is i'm possible to do so as the teaching force is already overworked. You are perhaps correct, but that does not alter the fact that we have deplorable situation.
 l do not lay blame for these conditions on our teaching force or on the school beard. It is, more than anything else, due to our general system and what is true of our conditions is equally true of the other schools of the state. In many places there are movements for the organization of private schools for the reason that it takes too long to do the work in public schools. What we need is to cut out the non essentials in our courses and then prescribe the work to be done and require it. There is something wrong with the train ing of the patron who is in const- ant dread of nervons prostration overtaking his child from over work in school. He has forgot. ten his own experience with hu- man nature. It is true that some children do work too diligently at times, but such are the marve- lously few. Let the teacher play the part of the master to a finish and set the example of work and study they want the pupils to follow, and then see that it is followel, or show up clearly the reason why it is not.
 Our teachers can do nothing else but follow the course prescribed in the sys- tenn outlined. But 1 thoroughly be- lieve it is time we were recognizing the system and making provisions for better and more efficient work. How this could be done would be too long a story for a newspaper article, but am gratified to know from my own conver- sation that there are dozens of other people in Prescott and community who think as l do, and know that the trend or thought in leading schools of education throughout the notion is for leaving out non-essentials and short ening the period of school life. We are simply not doing the work. More than nineteenth of the hoYs and girls