The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-10-11
PRESENT SCHOOL
METHOD CRILLED
DR.. J. [. MERRIAM BRUSHES
AWAY THE C0BWEBS
Some of the Things That Ought
Not to Be Done by
Teachers

Avast the old school curriculumsi
Away with superfluous text books,
and down with the customary sched
ule of "readin' 'ritin', and 'Tithmetic,'
and all the other knotty problems
which have perpleXed school children
for .generationsi According to DR.. j,
L. Merriam of the University Of Mis-
souri,, Columbia, Mo-, the best way to
teach is not to teach until practical
experience serves as an example. How
happy the children ought to be if the
dreadful ordeals of the school room,
as pictured by DR.. Merriam, are abol-
ished. He gave some rather start
ling ideas that if followed would rev.
olutionize methods of teaching and
make childhood days paradise in
deed.
"We are teaching distractions in
stead of concrete things" stated DR..
Merriam last night in his address at
normal hall before the Southern Min
nesota Teachers association. II be-
servation will work great changes in
our school systems. We have TOO
many text books, and it is a great
waste of money. We would not think
of spending so much money for any
other one thing of similar worth. Take
for instance class in history, class
of perhaps sixty pupils. That class
will have sixty text books. Sixty
text books, and for what? To gain
the contents of one. All we get for
our money really is the information
of one text book, as they are all
alike. Just think what an amount of
information we could buy for that
amount of money and it is all spent
for sixty books. each one containing
the same things.
Waste of Time to Recite.
Another habit in the school rooms
is the asking of the pupils to stand
and recite. 1t is a real insult to our
boys and girls to ask them to recite,
Think of the waste of time while all
the other pupils listen to that one who
is irving to recite! The government
has issued an order requiring the SOL
der students to stand and recite I
think the government is much behind
the times on that matter:
There Should, be no assignment of
lessons in school, and why should our
boys and girls carry loads of books
home to study when they ought to be
out playing? 1t is an insult to them
to ask them 10 take their books home
to study.
Should Be No Examinations.
There should be no examinations
in the ideal school, because they are
not needed Why should the young
boy or girl be given haro problems
in arithmetic? After they are out of
school awhile they forget them, and
learn to solve their problems by prac-
tical experience. A young boy and
girl in school should not be bothered
with fractions. Why should the pu-
pills study the history of past ages
anyway. We have no use for the his
tory of the old Greeks and Romans
except as we may compare it to that
of modern times.
Drive Pupils More Freely.
i advise the teachers to drive their
pupils little more freely, to give
sshem a little rein. Especially you
superintendent and principals give
The teachers more rein and they will
accomplish more. Then take the idea
tc the school boards" (Applause.) -
George j. Miller of The Mankato
normal school gave an intensely in
teresting lecture on "The Evolution
OF Germany and the Great War"
which was illustrated with stereopti-
con views. With map views Mr.. Miller
showed the size. of Germany as COM
pared with the United States, prov
ing that the entire empire is about
as large as the state of Texas. He
showed the immense increase in pop
ulatlon in comparison with that of
other countries. the population of
Germany increasing about a million
each year. Explaining the geographi-
cal nature of the empire he showed
that the country IS not blessed with
richness of soil or ideal farming con-
dltlons, but that continual strug-
gle must be made by the people to
make their living. He then review
ed the history,o of Germany, and dwelt
upon her efforts to enlarge her ter
ritory.
Review of History.
Mr.. Miller gave a comprehensive
review o. the history of Germany from
1870 to the present time, and dwelt
upon the well known cruel and grasp
Ing nature of the present emperor
whose desire it was to CONQUER the
world, establishing an immense an
tocracy. Some pitiful views of mutt
lated Belgian children were shown
and the tokens" which the govern
ment gave. to the cruel soldiers were
also shown
Under autocracy the individual
exists for the state, and under de-
mocracy the state exists for the in }
diyidual, stated Mr.. Miller. "Both
cannot exist. together. One must per
ish from the, EARTH"
superintendent F. j. Sperry presid-
ed during the session last evening
The program opened with two piano
numbers, beautifully played py Miss
Katherine Brown. and following DIR.
Merriam's talk Miss Anna Lee sane
a group of two songs and an encore
number Both musicians were enthusi-
astlcally received.
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