Year: 1859

II The following communication from tho
pen of highly respectable and intelligent gen
tleman, deserves the attention of school teach
ers and their patrons throughout the country
The parents and guardians of children at school
have long experienced the burden of purchasing
now set of school books for their children for
every new teacher that "takes up" n school for
a while in ncishborhood, Thisis heavy tax
upon that portion of the community, and is felt
in more ways than one. 1t is not only useless
expenditure Of money, but waste eg time aud
energy. The unframed minds of children can
not readily gather tho substance of an author
that differs materially in style and phraseology,
from one that he had previously studied nor
do teachers generally trouble themselves to ex-
tract the nearing Of the text books from u con-
fused mass of words and sentences for the use of
their pupils. Were uniformity of school books
adopted, this delay that necessarily occurs in
changing from one author to another would be
obyiated, and the progress Of the scholar be ac-
CELEBRATED. We have known sprightly boys and
girls kept in check by this means, and have seen
them begin ut enumeration and oscillatc thence
to vulgar fractions for years and no farther, from
the simple fact that their teachers had been
changed annually, and with each one. Pike, EN-
erson, Ray, or Davies had had short lived
popularity, according as each teacher had had
them for text books himself. Let teachers hold
meeting, and adopt some uniform system, and
let the patrons of the different schools encourage
the movement, and thereby save expense and
trouble and benefit your children.


For the Dallas Herald


or-HcraH Il hope that will not be re-
garded as an intruder, or us tramplng upon the
peculiar rights of my fellow laborers in the cause
of education, if make few suggestions upon
subject in which, not only we, but almost every
class of individuals in our community are more
or less interested. 1t has been suggested to my
mind, that it would be decided advantage to all
parties Interested in schools or school books to
have uniformity of text books in our schools
We see the stores of our country crowded with
q heterogeneous mass of books, some OF which
have perhaps laid upon the shelves for years, or
at least since the teacher who recommended them
passed through our country while others are
lust brought on to serve similar purpose
Now there must be some cause Tor tins state OF
affairs and that cause seems to he that every
teacher must have the same textbooks when
he used when at school, being satisfied in his
own mind. that they are better than any others,
he is ready to brand all who disagree with him
as ignorant, when perhaps, these are the only
books he has ever examined. But how is this
evil to be remedied! We answer by little con-
cert of action or the part OF teachers, or IN plai
terms. If the teachers of each county would
meet and consult each other, and decide upon
some course of Textbooks to he used IN their res
pectiye counties it would certainly aid greatly
in removing tho evil from our midst. But 1t
NAV be objected that each teacher has his prefer
ences, and it would therefore be impossible for
them to agree upon any particular set of books
This is rue. if every one were determined to
convince all others and make them agree with
him but if each one has the cause OF educA-
tion ut heart, and is willing to sacrifice his own
peculiar preiudices for the public good, and con-
venence and interests of his patrons, it is prob
able that all would agree, and the desired END bs
accomplished if not in manner to SUIT the
convenience of every nelghborhood under exis-
ting circumstances, at least in a way that would
prove advantageous to all in the end. If this
can be ACCOMPLISHED, it will certainly be better
for the merchant than to he compelled to buy q
great many book of different kinds that he mhy
be able to sell only few but the evil does not
stop here, nay, it has scarcely begun how many
of our honest and hard working citizens, VINO
are anxious to educate their children, though II
be done hv the sweat of their brow, are made to
groari under the two-fold expense of paying tut
eIion, and buying new set Of books for every
teacher they employ. There is another, and per-
haps greater evil arising from the use Of SC
many different kinds of books. Every author
must needs have different way of expressing
the same thing in substance. and the child must
learn the various modes of expression OF the au-
thors that he studies, before he can advance IN
the principles of the science and thus are was'
days, and even months OF precious I0 WTio Wbat
saw YOU, teachers, to the association. s. K. W.