The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1922-08-04
Guiding books on geography,
travel, and biography

library Is S4SIl.#TheS nunDef ADD
ed during the year 21-1922
was rs Number books Of books of
science loaned, that is the number
| Of times book was used, is 1896:
\ The number Of books of history
loaned is 1898. The number Of
books of fiction loaned is 1851.
THE number Of books on general
reading loaned is 56S. Total
numbe Of books loaned during
1921 and 1922 is $3.50.
| "The fifth and sixth grades also
did some reading and the files Of
magazines such as John Martins
Book, Youths Companion, and
the Popular Mechanics maya
zines furnished them both in
formation and pleasure.
New Texts-New Methods.
THE new text in geography by
Brigham and McFarlane adopted
to take the place Of Fry's has
added new interest to a subject
which heretofore has had but
little to attract to its study, due
largely to the arrangement of
use and also to the method of APP
proach. To be attractive geo
graphy must be related closely to
| the life OF the child, and the APP
proach must be easy and natural.
Geography is connected up with
the, study of nature which first
lsends the child out to find things
for himself Independently of
| books. This is the nature study
approach and the one which fits
and prepares for the more thor
ough and systematic study of
home geography peculiar to
given locality Again, children
are naturally interested in peo-
pie, and il this interest is proper
| ly directed the other approach to
! the study of geography is found
through stories of children of
| other lands which leads to a
knowledge of1the world and Of
I the various countries. This is
the, history-story approach, and
these two phases of educational
| deev1opment--thc study of ma
| ture and the history story-are
emphasizing during the first
three and a half years of the
child's school life as prepare
ton for the more intelligent
| The next texts adopted are adj
| mirably written and suited for
| the fuller development OF this i'm
portant subject.
tThe new spe1ler adopted, Els
sentials Of Spelling by Pearson
and Suzzallo. is graded for each
half year and attempts to teach
only the essential words of the
written vocabularies of children
and adults. 1t advocates fewer
words and more drill, and insists
upon the application and use of
each word taught: 1t presents
about three thousand words from
the vocabularies of the average
child and adult. in regular lessons
and supplementary lists to be
learned in the course Of the ele-
mentary school. It is claimed that
from four thousand to five thou
| sand words are about all that the
average person uses in good
working vocabulary Hence, the
uselessness of teaching long lists
| Of unusual words.
| 1.-The Beacon System of Reading
! adopted for the first three grades
has again. proved the wisdom of
sometimes changing text. This
/ system after years of research and
! investigation is based upon sclen-
| tific principles and with plan SO
natural and easy for the child that
] he cannot fail to learn to read If
the teacher understands the me-
thods Of presentation. The sys-
TEN is based upon the phonic ele-
ment. proceeding synthetically to
the word, from the word to the
phrase, from the phrase to the
| clause, from the clause to the SEN
tence and finally to the paragraph
and to the finished composition.
That this system might be proper
ly installed an expert was brought
to the city to demonstrate and
instruct the teachers in the meth
J Cd Of presentation. A like ar
arrangement has been made for the
second aud third weeks of the
| next term as new teachers are
coming into, the system
Penmanship and Art
1.-TWO new departments were
added to the schools for the school
year just closed, and will be con-
tinued as a. part of theipermanent
school organization Penmanship,
a subject which has had but little
attention given to it in our schools
! for several years past, is once
more being emphasized and splen-
did results being obtained, many
certificates being awarded to the
pupils by Zaner and Blosser, the
authors Of the system adopted for
the schools. Results obtained
more than Justify the main tenance
of this special department,
'tThe art department, another
avenue through which the child
finds opportunity to express him
self, has been source of much in
terest to the pupils as well as a
means of strength to the school
system. and of usefulness in the
child's educational development.
The subject of art was not
brought into the schools just to
have something new, but because
Of its great educational,va1ue; not
as an isolated subject. but as one
closely correlated to all other sub
iects In the course of study. It
should teach the child to appre-
ciate more fully the beauties of
nature and create in him desire
for more pleasant surroundings