Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-03-29
EDUCATIONAL BLUNDERs.
Teaching Science Old, But Yet Much
to Be Learned.

Teaching Science Old, But Yet Much
to Be Learned.
If every parent Of a schoolgirl who
brings lessons home to be studied
would put his or her foot down upon
the practice and send the child back to
school the next day with the lesson
undone, and with polite but firm ex-
PLANTATION to the teacher, one Of the
most salutary impressions would be
made upon our modern school system
That the whole system Of home study
Is wrong admits Of no question. The
teachers who insist upon it know It.
but they are powerless to act. Moth
ing would please them better than Tor
the parents to act, but only the abso-
lutte prohibition Of the practice at the
hands of the parents can make any
impression. No practice ever lnstitu-
ted leads so surely to deception. When
there are two or three boys or girls
they get together and work their prob
lens, each working few and then
combine results. Instead Of getting
100 per cent Of the work each child
gets about 25 per cent. but next day
he is credited with a perfect grade.
Where the parents take a hand In
the problems the result is even more
disastrous. Every parent knows that
he or she is sometimes staggered at
the problems that the child brings
home. A boy in the seventh grade not
long ago took home seventy problems
to he worked and handed in next day.
1t took the combined efforts of the boy
and three adults to accomplish the
task. The next day the boy had a per-
feet grade. Where the boy must work
out his own problems the result is
even more unfortunate. His mind Is
not fresh and his vitality Is low, and
whatever he gets out Of his lessons-if
he really gets anything-is got at the
expense of mental vigor and loss OF
sleep.
Home study, under any conditions,
defeats the very end 1t is designed to
bring out, and 1t should be absolutely
forbidden by parents. Then it will be
abolished; the school curriculum will
be changed, and our children will be
the gamers, both mentally and physi-
cally. But the conviction must first
be sure. and then the stand must be
firm and resolute.-Ladies' Home Jour-
nal.
Parents of children, i respectfully
ask that you take due notice OF the
state of educational" affairs as at
present existing. A bright girl, aged
Is years, has been tortured to the
verge of collapse of mind, brain and
nervous system by the. to her, horrors
Of high algebra.
Her mind was of such a nature, as
given her by the Creator, that she
could not possibly comprehend alge-
bra or arv other branch of mathemat-
les. But music, literature. poetry and
the languages were her delight. She
could learn the grammar, not only Ol
English, but of other languages, and
she was happy in these studies. This
was so because her mental nature was
of this order And all human powers
of incessant torture cannot change It
Early in the study of complex alge-
was her terror of approaching exam
ination. l have seen students in more
alarm and within deeper suffering when
coming to examination day than some
criminals on their way to sentence to
prison. She simply could not endure
the humiliation of total failure before
the entire class; but there was anoth-
er source of horror-disgrace-
she fancied would be brought by her.
self upon father and mother.
Now | think that this awful mento-
logical crime could happen in a great
modern state.
| put i'm seven years teaching the
mathematical sciences. and assert that
| encountered quite number of minds
of students, whose ages ranged from
1S to 90 years, that simply could not
form any conception Of a quadratic
equation, to say nothing of far higher
problems. These l excused.
And made this discovery, and here
assert that 1t is true: The forced study
of any subject abhorrent to the student
causes positive, and If persisted in
permanent. injury to brain and mind
For years l heard the statement that
the study of algebra disciplines thf
mind. So it does if the brain cells OF
the student were created to accept the
truths of algebra, but direct and pos
tive injury to the very structure OF
the cells if totally unadapted to math-
ematics. l reassert. a lifelong injury
Here is the horror forced upon this
poor. harassed and tortured girl al
ready burdened with twice too much