Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

An Incident in Germany.

training of the immortal minds of their offspring, and that, for a trifling pecuniary saving, they will risk the happiness and usefulness of those whom God has intrusted to their charge!

Those employed to teach in our primary schools should not only be well qualified in a literary point of view, but they should abound in every lovely and desirable trait of character. Decided, kind, affectionate, pleasant, and active, all their movements, actions, and expressions should be such as may be safely and profitably imitated. The teacher of a primary school should be a pattern of every good, a model worthy of the closest imitation. George B. Emerson, Esq., a distinguished educator, in speaking of a recent visit to schools in Germany, thus strongly and beautifully testifies to the importance of elementary schools, and at the same time gives some valuable hints on teaching the alphabet.

"The most striking and beautiful lesson I heard in Germany was in Dresden, conducted by a man of very high qualifications. It was a lesson in teaching the alphabet. Young ladies and young gentlemen are very apt to think, 'What a drudgery this is! Only think, that, with my qualifications, I should be content to teach the beggarly elements! What a position! O, that I could be in a sphere fitter for my capacities!' That is a great and fundamental mistake which leads any teacher to utter such words. There is no lesson ever taught in any school so important as the alphabet. Teaching our crabbed English language is the hardest thing in

Teaching the Alphabet.

the world. Our language is the hardest one to read, from the fact that there is not the most remote connection between the words used and the sounds expected. There cannot be a higher office than that of giving the very elements of instruction.

"What was very striking, in connection with the school at Dresden, was, that the teacher had a class of about forty boys, all nearly of the same age, and none of them less than seven years old, coming for the first time to learn the alphabet. Those sensible people, who wish to make as much as possible of their scholars, do not allow their children to be taught the alphabet before they are seven years old. The admirable teacher of these boys began by drawing a fish, and asking the boys to tell what it was. Some said it was a fish, some that it was a picture of a fish; but some that it had no color, and therefore was not a picture, but something the teacher drew. So they arrived, after a series of questions, at the conclusion that it was a drawing of a fish; not a picture, because that would have color; and not a fish, because that would have life. Then all the class were called on to say, together, That is a drawing of a fish.' As that would form a good sentence, they were required to repeat it till they could utter it as well as possible, giving every articulate sound clearly. Then he would ask each one to read the sentence. Then, from a set of large blocks, he selected the letters to spell the word fish, and, having shown them to the class, he asked them to select the letters to spell it, then to go to their seats

6

A Valuable Suggestion.

and draw the letters on their slates. Some would succeed well, and some would fail entirely; but to those that failed there was no reproof, though to those that succeeded words of encouragement were given.

"In about ten minutes he called on the boys again, and inquired, 'What is a fish?' and put several questions to lead them to think about a fish, and would converse with them about the facts in its natural history; and at each conclusion he would make them express their conclusion as well as their organs could utter it. That was the striking thing, -the lesson in making sentences, in speaking good German, and in pronouncing correctly.

The first thing to be noticed here is the fact that a gentleman of the highest intelligence, possesseď of all knowledge, a beautiful knowledge of natural history, did not think himself degraded in the least degree by teaching the alphabet. Another thing to be noticed was, that those things which, in the oldfashioned schools, were considered unsuitable, they were encouraged to do,— that is, to make pictures. Another thing that was very noticeable, was the thoroughness with which the languages were taught in the gymnasia. The master would have forty boys of just the same age and the same attainments. The little which the teacher attempted to teach at one time was a striking feature of the instruction. A single short sentence of three words was given; but in regard to them he led them to observe everything, and reviewed everything they had become

Rev. Dr. Lothrop.

familiar with, and they were kept familiar with it by continual repetition. After they had learned a single sentence, they were to use that in making other sentences. The degree of thoroughness with which this instruction was given almost transcends belief."

I trust the extract just given, together with what I may add, will tend to elevate, in your mind, the primary school, and though you may never become a teacher of such a school, it is very desirable that you should possess right views and a proper estimate of its true importance in the great system of popular education. If you clearly understand the subject, you may do much for the dissemination of correct sentiments.

The Rev. Doctor Lothrop, a member of the School Committee of the city of Boston, thus speaks of primary schools:

"As parts of a great system of public instruction, it is scarcely possible to attach too much importance to the primary schools. They are the base of the pyramid, and in proportion as the base is enlarged and its foundations strengthened, the superstructure can be reared with ease and rapidity, in graceful proportions, and to a towering height. Under the improvements which are now in operation, and others that will be introduced, it is hoped that the children in the primary schools will be rescued from that waste of time and misdirection of powers hitherto unavoidable, and so instructed and carried forward, as that every child, on attaining the requi

The School-House.

site age, shall be competent and qualified, not only to enter the grammar schools, but to improve the privileges and advantages there offered. And in proportion as the children entering the grammar schools come thoroughly qualified and prepared, these schools themselves will be improved, and a large number of pupils pass through them at an age sufficiently early to allow them to enjoy the benefit of the high schools, before the time arrives at which they wish to leave school for some active employment. Thus, by improving the primary, we improve the grammar, extend the advantages of the high schools, and make our whole system of public instruction, of popular education, what it ought to be, progressive and not stationary."

As you may, at some time, aspire to teach one of these elementary schools, let me, in brief, give you a few hints bearing upon them.

The School-House. When it is remembered that children are educated and influenced by what they see, as well as by what they hear, it would seem very important to have the surroundings of childhood's days pleasant and attractive. Especially should this be true of the school-house, in which the little ones receive their earliest school impressions. The spot itself should be one of Nature's choicest, -one which will be inviting to the eye. The school-room should be constructed with particular reference to the comfort and convenience of the children. The walls should be covered with

« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »