Evening star., 1927-10-30

the ScnOpI NdEu are CHANGING
from green to chrome yellow,
L tangerine and scarlet.
A flock of purple martins are
chattering in the branches. Now and
then two or three of the birds fit
across a patch of sunshine and beads
of green and violet light are shaken
like spray of wine from their neck
feathers.
Through the open window of the
schoolroom come snatcheS OF the in
cessant. drOwsy paStorale which after
noon sunbeams play on the harp OF
Autumn.
The little boy fdgets at his desk.
He turns his face resolutely from the
window and bends once more over
the problem in long division which he
is trying to solve.
Thirteen goes into 16I--.
"Three goes into 1--no, 13 goes
into 16-no, nine times 13-Gosh.
He can't keep his eyes on the paper.
Around him are the blackboards
shabby with their long smudges of
chalk. The potted ferns in front OF
the teachers desk droop as II they
had headaches-and no wonder. The
three goldflSh-those same tresome
old goldfsh-are fast asleep on the
sand in the bottom of their tank HIS
ewes rest on the picture of LongfeiloW
hanging over the bookcase. He hates
Longfellow. He pictures him as
a good, clean. mean little mamma &
boy. He glances over the monotony
of faces-little girls faces. He de.
spises little girls. lie wants TO pull
their hair and stick pins in their
backs. The palms of his hands itch.
He tears off a slip of paper and puts
1t into his mouth. a moment later
he has a spithall ready to snap AT
iaQ good little girl in
the next row who loves to study her
arithmetic.
''William--."
The sharp voice of the teacher
Mary Smiths guardian angel-pre-
vents the contemplated mischief.
Back again to long division. 1t is
dry, tasteless stuff The chalk dust
of numbers is blown into Williams
brain and makes his head ache. He
doesn't want to be President some
day; he doesn't want to be a rich man,
4. like the banker, or good man. like
the minister he doesn't want to be
that pestiferous Loncfellow. SO what's
the use of all this long division? why
not leave it to boys who really want to
be President, or rich. or good?
He looks out of the window once
more. In the blue distance wedge OF
wild geese, flying South
w llIldHt UiltISSiI hnONh AoA
dreamy moments the glorious freedom
of these wild geese sailing through
the clouds. There have been brief in
tervals. so vivid that they stick in his
memory, when he could float over
treetops, the strange phenomenon OF
levitation which is almost universal
in the experience of healthy hoyhood.
A frost-impregnated October wind
blows through the window and lifts
NJ h 'C 6nCly
''William sharp voice of the
teacher again-"shut down the win
dow"
So the boy, who can't sit still. is
snatched hack again into this prison
of chalk-smudged blackboards. with
no prospect of escape from long divi-
sion and spelling before 3 o'clock.
X X II X
OUCH was a common picture in a
~ Washington sclioolroom 20 years
ago, when so many Of the natural inn
pulses and interests of small boys
were considered tools Of the devil.
Then it was taken for granted that all
boys wanted to be President, or rich.
or good. If they didn't, it was felt
they should.
Now, human nature, most particu-
larIy boy-andgirl human nature.
hasn't changed, hut the schools them
selves have changed so that Williams
experience isn't SO common today.
There is an increasing appreciation in
education of the actual mental atti-
tude of the child He may not be
interested in spelling or long division,
hut the things in which he is intensely
interested may be worth even more
to himself and to the society which
is paying for his education.
Interesting things
60 be read and learned on the pages
of Rock Creek Park, changing with
the days and the seasons. than from
the pages of McGuffie's First Reader,
or even the more scientific primers
now used in the schools.
The sky of clear October evening.
with the Pleiades twinkling and the
Great Bear crouched under the Pole,
is far more interesting than multipli-
cation and long division, and as well
worth knowing about.
Why teach a child to write without
teaching him anything to write about?
Why teach him to add and multiply
without teaching him any objective
use for his arithmetic?
And the natural interests of a child
are concerned largely with the nature
about him---the birds. the bees. the
clouds, the flowers, the trees and the
stars. SO the educational experts who
plan the courses of study in the pub
lie schools of the District of Columbia
have taken into consideration the
mental attitude of William in the
sixth grade-and his smaller brother
I'm the kindergarten and his older
sister in junior high
Instead Of trying TO smother those
chords of transcendental music which
come to the ears of childhood from the
woods and the fields, they try to keep
the windows open as long as possible.
Few communities in the United States
have so rich and we'll developed Il ma
ture study course az Washington.
The opportunities here are greater,
probably. than in any other city of
comparative size. Few District school
houses are very far from a patch Of
woods where nature can be observed
almost in its primitive state. More
over, there is plenty Of opportunity to
study. in the various Government
establishments such as the Zoo the
Department Of Agriculture green
houses and the Bureau Of Fisheries,
the wild life Of other countries. Wash
ington fortunately never has become
a prison of brick for the enthusias site
mind of childhood.
Twenty-siX teachers are engaged
exclusively in directing and enriching
the child's interest in nature. In add-
tion to this the classroom teachers are
cooperating with these specialists in
training the boys and girls To use their
eyes with more skill in detecting the
interesting points about birds. flowers
and worms.
eve have not changed education -
saws Stephen j.. Kramer, assistant
superintendent Of schools. We have
enriched it, The child learns just as
much Of the fundamentals as ever but
he also learns a great deal more"