"reform") is to close all the outlying schools, and bring the children in by wagon and sleigh to the center of the town, where they are all taught together in one big schoolhouse, fitted with a patent ventilating apparatus which does not work, and with a system of steam-heating. In one large town, not very far from Boston, which I used to visit a few years ago, I was struck by the fact that all the young men, even those of the purest New England blood, spoke with a strong Celtic accent. The explanation was that at school they had associated with the Irish children of the town, and both nationalities had profited by the companionship: the children of Irish birth had cast off a little brogue, and gained a slight nasal twang; whereas, as I have indicated, the children of American birth had picked up just about as much brogue as their Celtic companions had dropped, and so nothing was lost. What is true of school children's speech is true also of their manners, morals, and ideas. When all the scholars in a town are brought together in one huge building and playground, there is a fine opportunity to grind them into homogeneousness, as with a mortar and pestle, to smooth down anything peculiar or original in their characters, to elevate the bad children a little, and to debase the good children a little more,-in short, to carry out the great American idea of turning every man into the average man.

A MISSPELLED TAIL.

A little buoy said, "Mother, deer,
May I go out to play?

The son is bright, the heir is clear,
Owe. Mother, don't say neigh!"

"Go forth, my sun," the mother said.
The ant said, "Take ewer slay,
Your gneiss knew sled, awl painted read,
But dew knot lose your your weigh."

"Ah, know," he cried, and sought the street With hart sew full of glee

The wether changed-and snow and sleet, And reign fell steadily.

Threw snow drifts grate, threw watery pool,
He flue with mite and mane-

Said he, "Though I wood walk by rule,
I am not rite, 'tis plane.

"I'd like to meat sum kindly sole,

For hear gnu dangers weight,

And yonder stairs a treacherous whole-
Two sloe has been my gate.

"A peace of bred, a nice, hot stake,
I'd chews if I were home,

This crewel fete my hart will brake,
Eye love knot thus to roam.

"I'm week and pail, I'v mist my rode.''
But here a carte came past,

He and his sled were safely toad
Back two his home at last.

- April St. Nicholas.

I. Absolute divorcement of the school management from politics of every sort.

2. Thorough and competent supervision. Not a business supervision, but a professional supervision. One which devotes its efforts to educating the teachers. A supervision that shall both guide and inspire. He attributes the superiority of the schools of Indianapolis to the fact that they have been for so many years free from politics, and to the other fact that the supervision has been free and professional, and of one spirit since their organization.

3. The third requisite is that the teachers feel that "it is their first duty to grow," both in professional and in general intellectual strength. This is a necessary and inevitable sequence of the realization of the other two conditions.

He shows that our schools as they are can be divided into three distinct classes.

(a) In the lowest class and in the largest number of schools mechanism and formal instruction prevail.

(b) In the next higher class the teachers aim to make the ideas understood, and to deal with the things that words and definitions symbolize in such a way as to develop all the child's powers. They are students of psychology and appreciate the value of sympathy. But they teach each branch independently of the others.

(c) The third class subordinates everything to the natural unfolding of the powers of the child. All division lines between subjects are removed and each is used to assist the others in giving the fullest development. There is a unity of end which causes a fusion of the school branches, each with all, instead of the articulated unity of a system of studies, where each study remains something distinct in the mind. of the child. In this classification he refers especially to the primary grades. This unification of studies is the Herbartian doctrine, essentially.

In this field of generalization in respect to the needs of the schools, Dr. Rice is strong. His series of articles will do a great service in that they have been read by many who do not

generally read and are not interested in educational literature. The critic is weak in estimating the real values of school exercises. Education has been of the first and second kinds in the world for generations, and our present civilization is the outgrowth from it. We are heartily in sympathy with the demand that the school shall contribute more than it has contributed to the development of the whole child. And Dr. Rice is right in saying that if the schools can have free and competent supervision the evils will rapidly disappear everywhere, as they have already disappeared in some favored places.-Public School Journal.

THE SCHOOL ROOM.

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS.

ARITHMETIC.- We find in the arithmetic class much ill-devised work that comes through this failure to trace the current by means of the straws. John's slate is full of problems over which he has struggled for the past hour. One accustomed to the meaning of school sounds knows that he has been tapping with his pencil all the morning to indicate his counting the units in the sums required. The teacher sees no marks and hears no taps, and John is marked 100 because he has the right answers-is reported as doing very well in numbers, when he is doing ill. John readily grows to believe that the main thing in arithmetic and in life is to get answers and marks and does not learn to prize the power that comes through right doing. To the teacher the straw is a straw, simply, and not a guide.

Listen to another recitation. The lesson is division. The children confess to "wrong answers," and the teacher declares, "I shall put you right back and drill you on the tables," so the next lesson is the "table of twos," then "the table of threes," etc. But a careful reading of the condition of the class would show that they are not deficient in these combinations, usually better taught than anything else in arithmetic. They do not subtract readily, and division involves constant subtraction; nor have they learned to measure numbers to discover the nearest required multiple-and the so-called drill in the tables will never teach either. If short division were read in its relation to the operations upon which it depends, and the children's recitations were so read as to discover their meaning, half of the time spent in the lesson might be employed in something of greater advantage.

GOOD HABITS.-The child does not exist who can grow up natural or healthy without a fair share of wholesome neglect and judicious

exposure.

Few realize the tremendous risk of over-caution and over attention. A youngster is invariably happier with few and simple playthings than with a multitude of complicated toys. There is no such good fun or good training as making one's self useful, and it is cruelty to deprive the child of this pleasure and stimulus. Let the brain and body be trained through hand, foot, and eye. Dump a load of sand into the back yard and let the children roll in it. Give the boys a carpen

ter's bench; encourage the girls to do housework. Where possible, let both boy and girl have a little garden-patch, if only a few feet square, and the care of a few plants. A woman in her home, a man in his garden: this seems to be a fundamental type from which we cannot entirely depart without risk to body and mind. The training of the muscular reflexes should go hand in hand with the cultivation of simple, natural, beneficent reactions in the higher planes. Cheerfulness, sincerity, industry, perseverance and unselfishness may be acquired by practice and constant repetition, as much as the art of correct speaking or of playing the piano, and are far more necessary to health.

SELF TRAINING.-Make yourselves nests of pleasant thoughts. None of us know, for none of us have been taught in early youth what fairy palaces we may build of beautiful thoughts, proof against all adversity, bright fancies, satisfied memories, noble histories, faithful sayings, treasure houses of precious and restful thoughts, which care cannot disturb, nor pain make gloomy, nor poverty take away from us; houses built without hands for our souls to live in.

DISCIPLINE IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS.-The

discipline of the primary school should never be that of the camp and the court-martial. Its object is to train growing children, not to marshal an army. "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die" belongs to another scene. But the child who is to be put in command of himself needs to take hold of all reasonable laws to help him, and not to follow blindly the "Teacher says so," without other guide. "Mother, are my hands dirty?" calls little Helen, making ready for school. "No, but your ears are," replies the mother. "Never mind," as the child flies before the forthcoming implements for scrubbing "the teacher doesn't send us home for ears. The lesson on clean hands could hardly have been well given if it did not extend to ears-and evidently it had not extended thus far. with the passive, arbitrarily enforced obedience, which is dependent upon the teacher's will at

So

the moment, and is not determined by underlying principle. How much better the appeal, "Come children, let us take care of our lips, that we may not interrupt Jimmy's reading," than "The next child who whispers must have his name upon the board and stay ten minutes after school." Do not dream that the necessary order and quiet come less surely for the first than for the second. Obedience to the one is far better assured than to the other.Pop. Educator.

SEARCH QUESTIONS.

How is the sea kept from overflowing Holland? What fixes the time for Easter Sunday? If you were lost in a forest, how would you determine which is north or south?

From what country or countries do these come: (1) coffee, (2) tea, (3) cocoa, (4) sugar, (5) pepper, (6) rice?

Which is farther north London or Chicago? Rome or Washington? San Francisco or St. Louis? Boston or Denver? Paris or New York?

Which is the right and which is the left bank of a river?

Name the largest city in each continent?

Which of the following countries are kingdoms, which empires and which republics; Switzerland, France, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Russia, Mexico, China, Spain, Equador, Belgium, Venezuela, Greece, India, United States?

Name the largest island crossed by the Equator.

What states of the Union are in the same latitude as Spain and Italy?

Which is farther north:
London or New York?
Paris or Chicago?
Rome or St. Louis?
Athens or New Orleans?
Montreal or Pekin?

Upon what rivers are the following cities located: Nashville? St. Louis? Hartford? St. Paul? Omaha? Philadelphia? New Orleans? Washington?

Give the form of government and the prin

Name the countries upon which the sun's rays now fall perpendicularly?

What effect has this falling perpendicularly? Which is the largest city having south latitude?

Are the days and nights now of equal length on any part of the earth's surface?

What meridians are employed by the railroads of our country in establishing the standard time?

Where is the Congo Free State?

Who established it?

Can white people live there?

How long is the Congo river?

How large is it?

Is it navigable? How far?

Who explored it? When?

How many people does this country contain?

Their languages? Religion? Habits? Social customs? Wars? Slave trade?

The products of the country? Animals? Climate? Is it a good country for Europeans to visit? Why?

Is it best for such a country to tax merchandise and products exported or imported? What would be the best way of civilizing such a land?

QUESTIONS FOR THE GEOGRAPHY CLASS. What is the largest city in the world? One of the continents has more people than all of the rest put together; which is it?

land, Belgium and Japan.

What point of the United States is nearest the Equator?

A line drawn directly south from Moscow will strike what cities of Asia?

One European country does not border on sea water. What one is it? What countries border upon it?

area of

The Mediterranean sea covers an 1,150,000 square miles. Name a country having about the same area.

What are the most important ship canals of the world?

What parts of the world are most noted for their production of gold? Silver? Coal?

Of what benefit is Alaska to the United States?

If the United States were cut up into states the size of your own, how many would there be?

Mention the six most important seaports of the United States.

Map out an interesting pleasure route from New York to San Francisco. Why would you want to stop at the places you mention in this route? Common Sense Exercises in Geography by Seymour Eaton.

OUT OF DOOR QUESTIONS.

1. Where are the red-headed woodpeckers going? 2. How many kinds of swallows have you seen?

3. How does the barn swallow build his nest?

4. Where does the bank swallow make his? 5. Where shall I go to look for violets? 6. Have you found more than one kind? 7. Which kinds are sweet?

8. Do you know Mr. and Mrs. Towhee Bunting?

9. Which of them comes North first? 10. Do they dress alike?

II. Some people call them ground robins. Is that a good name for them?

12. What flocks of large black birds have you seen feeding near the grazing cattle?

13. What live things have you seen in the shallow water at the edge of the pond?

14. A tiny oak tree has just come up in my yard. The nearest oak tree is a quarter of a mile off. What four footed farmer planted

the acorn?

15. Do you know the brown thrasher's song? 16. He is sometimes called the brown mocker. Does he really mimic the other birds?

17. Have you seen any of the earth worms' burrows?

18. Do they work faster during the day or night?

19. Which birds sing on the wing? 20. Which eat while flying?

HINTS ON TEACHING FRACTIONS.

One of the troublesome cases in fractions is that one in which a fractional part of a number is given to find the whole; as 45 is of what number? The point which most pupils fail to grasp readily is that a third of some number is a fourth of some other number. Another source of error is the lack of close interpretation of the language of the problem. The pupil should be made to pay especial attention to the word "of" in connection with fractions. The word "of" belongs after every fraction; it is frequently omitted when the fraction is a part of the unit one, but it should be expressed in all other cases. The omission of this little preposition and its following noun or clause is the source of much error and confusion in fractional work. Teach the pupil that the problem itself gives the correct phrase to be used, and teach him to determine the phrase before entering upon the solution of the problem. Suppose this problem is under solution: 75 is of what number? You ask the pupil: "May you take of 75 in this question?" "No, because the problem does not say of 75.". "What does it say of?" "It says of a number." "Then, what phrase is to follow the eighths?" "The phrase of a number." If the pupil has trouble in the analysis and says, as many of the beginners will: "If of a number is 75, of the number is of 75," change the denominator eighths to the word parts-"If 5 parts of some number is 75, what is I part of it?"

It is also well to show the similarity of the reasoning in such fractional questions to work already mastered in whole numbers. For example, the above problem-if of some number is 75, what is the whole number, or of it?-has its counterpart in the problem-if 5 acres of land cost $75, what will 8 acres cost?

The pupil should be taught always to prove his answers to such fractional problems as are now under consideration. After the principles used in the solution of such problems are well in hand, then the pupil may be taught how to express the solution correctly in written work. A common error among teachers is to give the written form for such work before the reasoning is mastered. Let principles be mastered first in the solution of problems with such small numbers that the slate is unnecessary for any part of the solution. The thought should be mastered before it finds expression in written form.

Be careful that the pupil makes the written work tell the truth. There is much of falsehood in the solution of many questions. For the following problem we give two solutions, an incorrect and a correct one:

If of a number is 56, what is the number?
Incorrect solution, but very common:

Some teacher may say, "Well, what is the difference? Both get the answer." The difference is simply the difference between right and wrong, between careful, correct thinking, and very poor thinking. Besides, the answer is a very little part of the whole affair. The benefit in solving problems is the thinking that leads to the right answer; but with many children the right answer is very poor proof of correct thinking. Pupils work too much for answers and too little for the solution. The right solution, not the right answer, should be the motto. Some years ago a pupil had one of the once famous 100 examples at the back of Ray's Third Part given him to solve. It read: "If of the time past noon equals of the time till midnight, what is the hour?" Very much to the surprise of the teacher, the pupil reported in a very short time that he was through: When asked for the solution and examination he said: "I inverted, multiplied by it and got the answer-3 o'clock." He certainly got 3, but by what ceremony the 3 was joined to o'clock neither pupil nor teacher could tell. Under this heading belongs a class of fractional problems in which the value of one or

COMMON Sense geogRAPHY.

The Pennsylvania School Journal has an excellent article on common sense geography.

It urges that more attention be given

to the practical portion of physical, political, and commercial geography in place of the thousand little things that no one cares to remember. It says:

"A grain of coffee will make quite an interesting lesson. Describe the countries from which the coffee is brought, the route by which it comes to us, and the people who are engaged in its production. Indicate on the map the countries which produce coffee. Why is it not cultivated in the United States?

"A grain of wheat will serve as a similar lesson. Which states in the Union produce the most wheat? Which in Europe? Why is Africa not a grain growing country?

"Rice, sugar, cotton, wool, all these articles which can be had in any home, will do for the lessons. Find out why the wool-growing countries do not produce rice and sugar. Why wheat districts do not produce rice. Topics of this kind will make pupils think, reason and inquire, and that is what is needed in our instruction.

"Oysters, peanuts, coal oil, tobacco, pepper, salt and similar articles, which children see every day and yet know but precious little about, will form the basis of most interesting

discussions in the geography class. Where is the oyster field? How many can tell whether it is found in water or on land? Is it a vegetable or an animal? What is the difference

between a vegetable and an animal? Does the oyster breathe, can it move, has it feeling, is it eaten when alive or dead, is it a fish, bird, beast, radiate, insect or what?

"International trade or commerce is an interesting and practical subject. What does our country buy from the other countries of the world, and what do they buy from us? Reciprocity treaties should be considered in this connection.

The long isolation of number work from everything else has not only been hurtful to all other subjects thus deprived of its assistance; it has proved to be terribly self-destructive. In trying to preserve itself upon its pedestal of self-conceit and self-sufficiency it has been driven to most absurd lengths to obtain materials for subject-matter, and it has pressed upon teachers, methods of instruction that in many cases are simply senseless. It requires but a passing glance at any arithmetic that one may pick up to see that the subject-matter in arithmetic is as bad or perhaps worse than it ever was in the case of reading, drawing, or writing. It is not an exaggeration to say that at least ninety per cent. of all the exercises given in an average arithmetic fall into one or the other of two classes: Ist, those which deal wholly with abstract operations, and 2d, those which deal with material abso

3

lutely outside the experience of the pupil. lutely outside the experience of the pupil. A few examples will illustrate this point. Open any arithmetic and count the weary pages of such problems as "what is of 6? of 9? 4 + 8 = ? 134 ? += ? 1-6 +1-7 = ? = 2 = ?" ad nauseam. It serves no purpose for the teacher to say that he or she can create and sustain an interest in such work. Every one, doubtless, has been very much interested in just such problems, but if they are of intrinsic value, then why is it that all interest in them is lost the moment the pupil reaches the years of reason and accountability? A

subject of intrinsic value never loses its inter

est.

We gain a little from it when we are young, and that interest deepens and intensifies with age. The truth is that the young mind is so inherently active, it is so ready to grasp everything; that we frequently mistake the buoyancy of its self-activity for genuine interest in the subject in hand.-W. S. Jackman.

GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY.

As the growth of history is largely the result of geographical conditions, it is important that children shall early begin to cultivate the habit of associating every fact of history with its peculiar physical environment. Constant