Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-07-11
IT'S EASY TO LEARN
BY MODERN Me HODS
ST. Johns Demonstration School
Is Popular With Children Who
Attend Voluntarily
MISS RoLNIcK IN CHARGE

81 those who are receiving inStruc-
ton All the demonstration school run
id connection with the summer school
at ST Johns find the work whole
lot more fun than remaining at home
and deyising their own ways 70 pass
the time.
Miss Frances RolnIek, of Annapolis.
is III charge Of the demonstration
classes, which the children attend be-
cause she makes the work Sd attract
i've that they really ike ID 80 90
school Teachers who are attending
the summer school receive practical
instruction IN teaching with the dem
onstration classes, and regularly take
observation lessons
The work isn't really work al all
10 the children. for the system By
which they are being taught makes
everything seem like play, and the
knowledge Just seeps III without any
consciousness of EFFORT on the part Of
the pupil lii fact. lis being done In
exactly the manner N which nearly
everybody wished 1t could be done
when they attended school When
people grow up II somehow seems that
they naturally begin to say that when
they attended school they always stud
led hard and enjoyed Il, and chose
their books IN the place of playing
,hide-and seek with the children next
door. They don't seem to remember
the time when they were sitting In
class and thinking how nice It would
be II teacher could Just put funnel
/ in one Of their ears and pour some
kind OF knowledge forming fluid In
to their heads. And they forget that
1.-THE dream went farther. and that they
were just reasoning that it would be
necessary to put cork in the other
ear to keep It from running out again
when teacher said:
willie Jones, Cor maybe Mary
Smffl'l will you pay attention or will
If have to stand you III the corner?
The new method almost fultills that
dream Of an easy way to acquire
knowledge. The secret Of 1t Is 10
make the work seem like play, make Il
entertaining. and the children are in
tercsted at once They are sent to the
board to do arithmetic problems mlll
duplication and addition and difficult
things like that. The teacher says,
Nov when count three You begin
Ia multiply, and will time you to-
see how long Ii takes Let's see who
finishes first Then II isn't work at
all. It's race, and everybody Ii IN
teresled The first one 70 finish
doesn't win unless all of the work III
right, and the students at their seats
are busy looking for errors.
Competitive spirit is developed, and
the desire to excel In the difficult
art 81 reading the children learn by
disqualification. This morning they
staged the story 81 Jack and the
Beanstalk," and 10 an observer It was
wonderful to see how the children
'yisnalized the tale. All OF the char
acters were assigned, and Jack start
ed TO market with his COW and traded
|heS for the beans. Then after he had
returned home and been severely
scolded for having given the COW away
he went out and planted them. This
he did with great care. scooping out
imaginary holes In the floor with IN
invisible shovel Into these holes he
carefully laid pieces OF chalk, and
pretended to cover them up. It was so
realistic that you could almost see the
pieces Of chalk grow into a gigantic
beanstalk while Jack slept
When ne awoke he began OF once
his imaginary climb, but that Wasn't
enough. No. sir, there was something
there that he could really climb up.
and the class wasn't TO be satisfied
with anything but real climbing So
he went up the steam pipe clear to the
ceiling, and then slid down to meet
the Princess and be conducted to the
Giants house.
the Giant had lots Of fun, too, be-
cause he came out making lots of
noise with his feet, as Is natural with
giants and small boys. and when he
said his re Fl 70 Fun speech Jack
trembIed with fear
No error escapes the children when
they become interested in the story ID
this way. Jack told the princess 81
first that he wanted the golden hen
ana the entire class at once corrected
him and said that what he wanted then
was something to eat
So the play went. and not single
child lost interest for minute An
incentive for reading IS given by maxi
ing Ii rule that whoever reads the
story and learns 1t best ii allowed 20
act ii the ay
After the class had Gniahed with
JACK and the BeanstaIk. and the
Giant had slid down the steam pipe
rapidly enough to convince everybody
that he waA falling, and then had lain
quite dead Tor moment, they al went
to their seats and waited eagerly Tor
the next work 70 bs done This was
q DEMONSTRATION of The Little Red
Hen, BY members 81 the first grade,
and the pupils showed their eagerness
rs u ka mart