Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-09-09
EDUCATION NOTES..

lUN NU
That language and literature in
country schools can be interestingly
and effectively taught through agri-
culture and domestic science is the
contention of Professor NJ. A. Lei
per-, of the Western Kentucky State
Normal school, in a bulletin just is
sued for free distribution by the
United State Bureau of Education.
Mr.. Leiper believes that the chief
purpose of the rural school, aside
from teaching the traditional rudi-
ments, us to develop a deep and
reverend appreciation Of nature, and
to give a fundamental knowledge of
that body Of facts by which man
may make nature yield the greatest
possible amount Of food and clothing
for sustenance and comfort" Lam
guage work Ia to deal as much as
possible throughout the course with
the life of the rural community. The
memorizing of poems and literary
gems; debates on subjects of farm
Ing and country life; verse writing;
keeping a diary, talking from out
lines before the whole school on
Countrywide topics; these r some
Of the steps suggested in the plan of
teaching language in a rural school.
What is the money value of an ed
ucation2 The average reduced to in
dividual cases, would be something
like this: Two boys, age IA, are
hnfh fnfnrna%nl In oooL1pJon n-n
goes into the shops, the other into
a technical school. The boy In the
shops starts at - a week, and by
the time he is 1S he is getting 81.
At that age the other boy Is leaving
school and starting work at $40 a
week. At 20 the s~hop-trained young
fellow Is getting $3.50 and the tech
nical graduate SIS; at "a the for
mer's weekly wage is $11.5O and the
latter's $40; and by the time they
are both 2b the shopworker finds
s12.75 is his pay envelope, while the
technically trained man draws a sal
airy Of $31. These figures are based
on a study of 1000 actual workers
made by the Massachusetts Commits
sion for Industrial and Technical
Education.
The rising national spirit of Chile
is indicated by a movement in the
National Education Association of
that country to emphasize in the
school histories the distinguishing
characteristics of Chilean history
and Of the constitution of the Re-
public as compared with other ma
tons. particularly those of North
America and Europe.
Swimming and ~life-saving will be
taught to teachers of rural schools
and pupils in normal schools in Swe-
den by the Swedish Life Saving So
ciety. The government has paid a
subsidy for the work and it is the
intention eventually to make swim
ming compulsory in all the schools.
Shanghai has a modern kinder
garten, and more r to be estab-
lished.
Better decoration of schoolrooms
is one of the aims of an association
for national culture recently formed
in Italy.
In European countries children at
tending private schools or being ed
ucated at home are obliged to pass
a State examination Identical with
that prescribed for children in the
public schools at the end Of the
course.
Nearly one-fourth of the boys and
girls who enter the American pub
lie schools reach the high school.
This, too, when the work of the high
school Of today Is almost as ad-
Vanced as that of the college of a
few years ago.
Holland like most European
countries, insists upon religious
training in the public schools, but
her system Is described as 'omnide-
nominational." Definite religious in
struction is given, but the children
are not allowed to be separated &C
cording to Confessions" Sectarian
schools exist, but they are essen
TALLY private institutions, and make
no claim on the state for support.
The international exchange of
children for short periods between
France and neighboring countries
steadily Increases. During the cur
rent year there were 1874 such ex-
changes between France and Ger
many: Sc between France and Eng
land; and 4 between France and
Spain. The total number of chill
dren represented by the exchange
was 664, OF whom 430 were boys and
124 girls. By this system the chill
dren of n country are placed in
families Of the other for the purpose
of acquiring practical use Of the for
e1gn language. The exchange Is
carefully supervised and a strict re-
port kept for each case.
1mprovised historical plays form
part of the history lesson in a Lon
don school. Children nine and ten
years old act the battle of Hastings,
boys representing William the Con-
queror and King Harold leading
parties of Normans and Saxons, re-
sp~ectively. Rulers serve as swords,
and the armies advance and with
draw realistically. When the chill
dren take their seats after the COM
bat, the teacher asks them histor-
tcal questions about the battle and
the characters they portrayed.
Among other plays presented are
THE Siege of Calais" and 1.-THE In
PRODUCTION of Printing into Eng