The Medina sentinel. [volume] (Medina, Ohio) 1888-1961, 1914-09-04
NOTED EDUCATORS SPEND
WEEK AT LOCAL INSTITUTE

and the purifying OF the hearC..
The training of our youth into
strong intelligent, moral, useful cit
izinship, is the most economic thing
the state can do. Ignorance is waste.
The writer spent one whole summer
in examining the penal institutions of
Ohio under the direction of Governor
Herrick, and found that more than
nine-tenths Of the inmates were il
literates-a heavy burden to the state
as we'll as curse to themselves.
The most expensive commodity of
the present age is ignorance.
Our great thinkers know that all
great reforms and all true progress
must come not from trying to in
fluence the adult population, but from
the moulding of the youthful mind
into wholesome ideas of life. You
can TEACH people more easily than
PREACH people into goodness and
usefulness.
The type Of education to be given
to our children now must differ in
many respects from that given in for
mer years. Our education must
touch more closely the practical activ-
tiles of life. The teacher of agricul-
ture, domestic science and manual
training has come to stay. These are
closely interviewer into the lives of
cur people and teachers will do well
to infrm themselves on these subjects.
"Not an intangible veneer of cul-
ture, nor a doubtful amount of dis
cipline, but EFFICIENCY in OCCU-
PATTON is the fundamental aim of
the rural schools" Good order,
splendid discipline and willing obedi-
ence are always the prominent char
acteristics in all schools managed by
teachers who are fully prepared for
their work.
Children are glad to respect and
obey and even revere the teacher Of
high intellectual and moral endow-
ments. We are all more or less hero
worshipers. The world steps aside to
let him pass who knows where he is
going. The pupils take our measure
and they take it accurately When
I the teacher finds trouble, let him
i first look carefully into himself gEor
the catse. Some weakness IN hiTn-
self has caused it. Y
! By eliminating what was useless in
the old regime, we will have suffic-
ent time for teaching the useful in
the new.
"The teaching of arithmetic must
omit the tangled, logical problems
dealing with impractical conditions
and emphasize the arithmetic of the
farm, the shop and the home. Let
the arithmetic taught be correlated
directly with the lessons in agricul-
ture, manual training, domestic
science, the measurements employed
on the farm, the accounts of the
household, and it will prove both prac-
tical and interesting in degree
hitherto unknown" Simple problems
in analysis afford splendid mental
gymnastics which strengthen the
faculties for the common problems of
practical life and also form strong
foundation for future work in higher
mathematics in the high school and
college.
Analysis is the key which unlocks
the iron-bound receptacles of science.
Let us have more mental arithmetic,
more analysis and waste no more
time on long, complicated, impractical
and time-killing problems.
The teaching Of reading has been
neglected. Only few teachers do
this work well. .,.
"Instead Of the dreary set of school
readers, read over and over again, we
must open to the child the great
store-house of inspiring books, and
train his interests so that he will
care to read them. The library must
have historical novels and well-writ-
ten histories. 1t must have simple
books on science introducing the child
to the rich fields of modern, scientific
discoveries and inventions, and espec-
tally such as relate most closely to
farm life."
All communications between teach
er and pupils and all recitations
should be excellent language exer-
cises. The teacher should know the
correct forms of speech and insist on
their use, Constant repetition of cor
rect forms is the only sure way to ac-
quire ease and fluency in language.
By the time the pupils enter the
high schools they ought to have at
least fair knowledge Of technical
grammar. They ought to be able to
analyze simple, complex and COM
pound sentences. This will make
: their future studies in literature and