Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

these should be used later on. The effect of moving the candle up and down on the face of the globe, and slanting the globe at various angles should be tried, and results noted. A small piece of paper on the globe to mark the position of the school-house would add to the interest of the lesson, for, of course, the question in relation to the children themselves would be discussed first of all. Then other places would be considered until the far north and south came in for their share of attention. As an accompaniment to the latter part of the lesson, an account of Miss Falconer's experience, as a school-teacher, in the far away regions of the north, would bring the subject home to the children in a very pleasant way. Miss Falconer taught at Circle City on the Yukon and relates in the Century Magazine her strange experiences :

[ocr errors]

During the short winter days it would often be noon before all the children put in an appearance. When I

arrived at nine o'clock it would either be dark or brilliant moonlight. Smoke might be seen lazily rising from four or five cabins out of the four or five hundred. I would light one lamp and wait.

At ten o'clock a few children would straggle sleepily in, just as day began to dawn. By eleven o'clock, shortly after sunrise, the majority of the children were at school, some coming without their breakfasts. By half-past twelve all who were coming that day would have appeared. It was hard to get up before daylight on those cold, dark mornings.

It was necessary to light the lamps at half-past one, which was trying to the eyes, as we could not get enough lamps to light the large room. The children would crowd about the lamps, sitting on the floor, platform and seats.

A visitor might get the impression that there was little order in the school, but strict order was a necessity. Perhaps one reason why I liked the school so much was because it kept me so busy. Recess was limited, in order to make up for the tardiness of the morning.

At half-past three fifteen or twenty of the little ones were sent home. If it was moonlight, they would race away noisily over the snow. If it was dark, the more timid ones would take my hand and whisper, 'Please, I want to go with you.'

Most of the children were so used to the dark that they did not mind it much. The majority of the nights, though, were filled with glorious moonlight. It seemed to me that for days at a time the moon never set. It would shine through the day about as bright as did the weak pale sun. For about three weeks the sun would slowly rise in the south, skim along for a short distance, its lower rim almost touching the horizon, and then drop suddenly out of sight.

When at length the days grew longer and sunbeams began to steal in at the school-room windows, the children greeted them with shouts of welcome, fairly dancing with delight, and running to the window-sill to lay their cold hands in the warmth and brightness."

It would be a matter of some difficulty for Miss Falconer to explain to her children our changes of day and night.

It is

-THE following tribute to the value of classical training will not be without interests to many of our readers from the pen of Senator George F. Hoar, who speaks from his knowledge of men in legislative halls, court houses and political life generally. I think the best character, intellectually and morally, the best type of cultivated manhood, the best instruments for the people's service, in public life or at the bar, or in the pulpit, the most perfectly rounded type and example of the gentleman which the world has so far seen, is to be found in the product of the English and American universities and colleges. It is a type of manhood which in England, certainly, is improving and growing better from generation to generation. *** Now I have a deep-seated and strong conviction that one powerful influence in forming such a character, in the matter of taste, of mental vigor, of the capacity for public speaking and for writing, in the power of conveying with clearness and force and persuasive power, without any loss in the transmission, the thought that is in the mind of the speaker or writer to the mind of the people, is to study and translate what are called the classics, the great Latin and Greek authors. I think this not only an important but an essential instrumentality. I feel very confident that the men whom I have known at the bar, in public life, and in the pulpit, who have been good Latin and Greek scholars, and who have kept up the love and study of either language through life, especially those who have been lovers of Greek, have shown great superiority in the matter of effec

tive public speaking. And certainly the biographies of Englishmen of note for the last hundred years will show the same thing."

—TRUTHFULNESS.-A little four-year-old kindergartner remarked one day, "I saw a bee in the yard and it was this big," (indicating an object as large as a good-sized turnip. "Oh, no, that is imposible," replied a lady present, "bees are never as large as that." "No," said the little one inquiringly. "Well, I saw a bee as big as they usually are and it had four flies in its mouth." Meditation on the part of the listener followed. Along with the training of the imagination must go education in truth recognizing and truth speaking. The imaginative faculty is one of the most important that the child possesses, but it should not be allowed to control the whole being. How delightful the world of fancy is, we can very easily recall, by running back along the road to childhood and bringing to mind the delights of fairy tales, adventures and air castles in which we revelled. But the child must be taught that truth is not what he can get people to believe but is conformity to fact. If a child is to speak the truth he must be taught to do so, not by being punished for exercising his imagination, but, by being afforded opportunities of practising, under wise direction, the making of statements, whose accuracy or inaccuracy can be demonstrated to the child. This may be done by getting him to state what he sees at a given moment, or, to take messages to various people who note down the facts as given by the child. Commendation for exactness is an essential adjunct of such exercises. We sometimes forget, too, what an important part in securing this result certain school exercises play, for instance, the definition of words, relating what has been read without adding to or taking from the essentials of the narrative, exercises in arithmetic where the child can teach for himself at each step the accuracy of his work, translating from one language to another without deviating in the slightest degree from the thought of the author, and so forth.

-ADVERSITY has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant. -Horace.

-ON the whole it is good, it is absolutely needful, for one to be humbled and prostrated, and thrown among the

pots from time to time. Life is a school; we are perverse scholars to the last and require the rod.-Carlyle.

-RESOLVE to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence; if you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year.-Horace Mann.

-PERIODS which no master has described, whose spirit no poet has breathed, are of small value for education.Herbart.

-THE letter kills and the spirit makes alive. It is important to learn a trade, less for the sake of knowing the trade than for overcoming the prejudices which despise it. Rousseau.

THE Wolf of science will pounce upon the sheepfold of literature, and will soon have devoured its inoffensive occupants. Soon it will be mathematically demonstrated that not only Horace and Virgil, but Racine and Molière are "old fogies."—Fouillée.

-REMINDERS.-The teacher must get down to the level of the child, but must neither stay there nor leave the child where he finds him. Help him higher.

[ocr errors]

Give a child the desire to learn, and all devices for interesting him and shortening the process of acquiring knowledge may be dispensed with.

The child must early learn to rely upon himself. Accustom children to investigate for themselves.

The questioning of the teacher shows the activity of the teacher's mind. The questioning of the child indicates the activity of the child's mind.

Bring the child into contact, not with symbols for things, but with the things themselves.

Say good morning to the children.

-DEFECTIVE CHILDREN.-At the annual meeting of the New England Normal Council, held in Boston last May, the defects of children as to sight and hearing were under discussion. Defects with respect to nutrition and mental defects were also considered. Suggestions for detecting the defects were given. For finding out short-sighted children the Snellen test types were used, and for astigmatism converging lines. Hearing or rather want of hearing was discovered by the stop watch. The teachers-in-training are

sent into the homes of the children, in the schools attached to the training school, to note methods of cooking and preparing food. Mr. Munroe spoke of his way of detecting mental deficiency by physical signs, through limp, cold hands, a V-shaped palate, want of symmetry in the face, dragging of one foot, etc.

VALUE OF KINDERGARTEN TRAINING.

BY LOUISE DERICK.

That the pleasant is useless, the disagreeable beneficial, is an idea which lingers in many minds, and frequently finds expression in connection with the kindergarten. But a little observation should convince all that happiness and healthful play may be the accompaniments of work that leads to definite ends.

Froebel intended that the kindergarten should train the child physically, mentally and morally, and he devised various games and exercises for this purpose. Many modifications of and additions to his system have been made by later educators; but, like Froebel, kindergartens aim at a harmonious development of all the child's faculties.

A careful study of child-nature enables the teacher to follow natural laws, and to lead the child "from the known to the unknown" by such gentle steps that not exhaustion but a healthy stimulation results. Children grow by means of their own activity; and it is by guiding this activity, employing every moment, alternating stirring with quieter exercises, that growth in right direction proceeds steadily.

A child first becomes conscious of himself and is later brought into relationship with the external world by means of his senses. The various games and exercises of the kindergarten are adapted to the development of these senses. Objects are examined as to color, texture, form and size; colours are matched and arranged harmoniously; and the ear is trained by songs which emphasize other lessons.

But, before impressions can have their full value, they must find expression, means of which are furnished largely by the occupations. Drawing, modelling, sewing, weaving, etc., serve for the reproduction of mental pictures and permit that variety so necessary to young children. Single

« ForrigeFortsæt »