Norwich bulletin., 1916-10-10

ed wonderfully to the productive ca pactty of Europe and America"
 Practical Training Necessary.
 No student of history, no manufac- turer, no progressive business man,
 who reads the results achieved within the last 25 years alone can long doubt
 the efficiency and the imperative ne
 cessity for the practical training of
 our youth in our public schools along
 scientific lines, The studies which
 served for our forefathers, however ad-
 mirably adapted to their needs they
 might have been, are totally made quate to fit the youth of today for the
 bread and butter struggle he IS bound
 to wage the woment he leaves school It is high time that we should awaken
 from our lethargic and trance like
 apathy in this regard and see to 1t that our schools line up with the best
 schools throughout the country in this
 respect, that our youth may have at least an equal chance in the struggle for existence.
 High School Expansion Also.
 And what is true of our grades ap-
 plies with double force to our high
 school. We have established and
 maintained a high school that has
 heen more than ordinarily successful
 in teaching thoroughly the old line
 subjects, English, Latin, history, math-
 ematics and the common sciences, but. we have reached the limit of our eX-
 Dansion in other subjects. To show
 that such expansion is more necessary now than ever before, l quote again from President Eliot.
 What Is Needed.
 In a paper published by the general education board of New York, ent1- i tied Changes Needed in American Secondary Education, President Eliot says: The changes which ought to be
 made immediately in the programs of l American secondary schools, in order 1 to correct the glaring. deficiencies of the present programs, are chiefly the 1 introduction of more hand, ear and eye Worl1-such as drawing, carpentry. l turning, music, sewing and cooking,
 and the giving of much more time to l the sciences of observation-chernis- | try, physics, biology and geography | not political, but geological and ethno- 1 graphical geography. These sciences | should be taught in the most concrete 1 manner possible, that is, the labora- l tories, with ample experimenting done by the individual pupil with his own 1 eyes and hands, and in the field l through the pupils own observation, l guided by expert leaders.
 School Gardens.
 1 In secondary schools situated in the 1 country the clements of agriculture l should have an important place in the | program, and the pupils should all work in the school gardens and experi- 1 mental plots, both individually and in | cooperation with others
 Manual Training Needed. "A manual training should also be | given, which would prepare a boy for
 any one of many different trades, not l by familfarizfDg him with the details
 Of actual work in any trade, but by I giving him an all-round bodily vigor, 1 a nervous system, capable of multifor1n
 -ordinated efforts, a liking for doing | his best in competition with mates, and
 a widely applicable skill of eye and l hand.
 Music and Drawing.
 | "Again, music should be given a
 substantial place in the program of | every secondary grade, in order that all pupils may learn musical notation
 and may get practice in reading music and singing, Drawing, both freehand l and mechanical, should be given ample time in every secondary school pro- gram, because it is an admirable mode Of expression which supplements Ian- | guage and is often to be preferred to It, lies at the foundation of excellence In many arts and trades, affords sirnul | taneously good training for both eye and hand and gives much enjoyment throughout life to the possessor of even moderate amount of skill" Power of Concentration, "Fhe observational, manual and scientific subjects often awaken in a boy or young man for the first time
 an intellectual interest and zeal in work which memory studies have never stirred. Hand and eye work often de- Yelops power of concentrated at- tention which book work had failed to produce, but which can be transferred
 to book work when onGe created, Right MsterIals and Methods, If the educational material and tf,e methods of instruction were right, the training given in the grades would be just as good for the chtldren who leave school at 14 as for those who ED on till 1s, aHd the trafntng f1 the higb school wenid be equally appro- pRtAts for pupils who do not So fe | eolleEe and for those Vf1o do, "Tho adoption of these principles would solve justly pTobienls fn the American fax-sHppgrted system q pubic education which have been de- bated for generattonsP Loeal eherteersfnss, This summarizes tfae ease as eeHaz p1etety as any, single Paragraph have
 our needs at the present time as fg= gaTds 0tsr high school We Aaek fife very clements .whfsh PresideHt Hlfet sn oenpaRy with every @QHeafaF aHA 3aF@e numbers Of bsfsfBesg HeR