The Garden Island. [volume] (Lihue, Kauai, H.T.) 1902-current, 1918-12-03

The annual convention of the Kauai
teachers met according to their recent
ly established custom, on Friday, Nov.
goth, at the Tip Top Theater, in Lihue.
There were one hundred and forty-flve
more teachers, every school save Mi.
hau, being represented, in all but one
or two cases, by the full staff of teach
ers.
There was some delay in getting
started owing to the detention of Mr..
e. A. Knudsen, the president, by
automobile trouble on the way.
Following the singing of the Star
Spangled Banner by he whole con
vention, and of a Koloa song, "Ulu-
wehi Kaala," by few of the teach.
ers from that school, the reports of
the secretary and treasurer were read
and approved. the latter showing a
comfortable balance in the treasury.
The election of officers continued the
tenure of the present incumbents, viz:
L. A. Knudsen, president; Miss X.
Mcintyre, secretary; and Mrs. Clara
MacGregor Treasurer.
How to Teach
Arithmetic
Another song followed; represent
i've of Lihue. The only distinctively
pedagogic number on the program
came next, "How | Teach Arithmetic
in the Grades" by Mrs. MacGregor
principal of the Waimea school, This
was a clear cut, original, forcible and
somewhat radical presentation of a
difficult subject. The speaker handled
the matter in a trenchant, practical
way that arrested your attention and
awakened your interest, even though
you found yourself constrained to
differ from her in some of her con
clusions; in most cases you agreed
with her most heartily. A few of her
salient points were: I'VE use far too
much scratch paper in our arithmetic; /;
there is far too much slavish and pro.
tracted writing out of method and
process. We ought to have a great
deal more mental work, which is
much quicker and neater and less
cumbersome, and for more applicable
to the real needs of life. To be tied
to the use of paper and pencil, and
to be more or less helpless without
them, this is an unbearable handicap
The use of games as means of teach
ing arithmetic should be avoided; the
side issues and interests of the game
distract and confuse the main issue
or prehaps even supersede the main
issue"
Practical
Demonstration
The speaker then went into practi
cal blackboard demonstration of how
readily arithmetic could be taught, te
the very smallest children, by means
of the group-picture method, where
the simple combinations could be
made by the manipulation of groups
of beans or pebbles, at a glance, anC
without the delay of counting The
tables must be learned by heart an(
must be mastered absolutely, to anC
fro, in every possible combination
Fractions should be taught by strip.
of paper, tearing the whole number
, into fractional parts. MensuratioI
should, of course, be taught graph
cally, and just as far as possible
mentally. The address was received
with marked interest and approved.
{ Mrs. Ahana then sang THE Isles q
? Aloha" dainty thing, with a tender
appealing tone to it. which she renter
ed very effectively, and with a touc!
of the pathetic that brought tears t
many eyes. Needless to say she VA
encored with enthusiasm, and thu
5 second singing was as acceptable al
the first
, The president then Introduce,
, District-Attorney S. c, Huber, who de
livered a very excellent address OF