Show A TEACHERS THOUGHTS some sensible suggestions on suitable St studies udieN EDITOR Hrit HERALD ALil now that oil our r schools are full and hund hundreds redi of oatlie the young men and women of the farmers and the mechanics are in attendance perhaps f for or the last time the instructions given should be of the tilt most useful kind your coric correspondent docs does not pretend to lay down that rule of instruction st ft inch which should be given in in even case nor is lie so egotistical as to suppose that his ideas on oil this matter are the best but hia his observations and practice in flim mat su suggest agest certain thing to his iiii igind that might be taught with profit to the class referred too in the first place lace I they should be instructed ted flow how to measure surfaces HIM and solida solids so that they may be able to make out bills of lumber to measure grain bins to know how many malay shingles it will take to cover a house of any dimensions dimension Q to count the cost oella of plastering eteri price pr yard vard bein being given i ven to measure landa lands the cost kofl of excavations ions the number of perches of rock in an 17 given aven foundation the number num her of bricks it will take to build a house ol 01 any any given size ize to measure wood whether buying or selling and numerous other tiling thing which arc are useful in every day lay practice A simple rulo rule of computing buting interest may bo be given so that the students may know for themselves liow how much to pay or receive all of the above may be taught to those having the time to wade through the intricacies of common fractions or decimals cimala dc again it is is unnecessary unnecessary to study gcoy geography ra pity technically the student should be tau taught how to find any place on the map latitude and longitude being given giyen the scholar should be encouraged cou raged to read tead the newspapers especially the local one and become acquainted with the current t topics ic ll 11 of the day I have noticed wl that t the children whose parents take the papers and encourage their kofl offspring ig to peruse them are among i the T w cholaas in tal they e arc are the best read reader erv they can call define more words than those who arc are not readers of the p papers a ert they are more interested in tile the lysons acs sons on geography and in composition they arc are generally speaking always ali up to the mark the teacher I might encourage the reading of newspapers in in their school and from any odthe telegraphic columns find many texts for a leon lesson in practical geography ilius leading the student to practice the sae same course couric at home A course of this kind will soon give the children a general knowledge of the earth and its inhabitants give them to understand that they must be self reliant as there is no one element in a mans character that contributes more to his success in life than confidence or self reli anco ance in his own ability the teacher should discourage the seeking of assistance especially from fellow students encourage them to work w ork to think and to say what man has done man mail can do A fainthearted faint hearted man is unstable and will never excel faith in the endeavor to will and to execute is as impo important in a bucce successful career aa as is the keystone to tho the arch in all pursuits of life we c find that those who achieve honor bonor and distinction were self reliant when bo boys s or girls I would encourage the tile reading of natural history and the tile history of the united states instead of the third and fourth readers which of themselves give no information worth speaking of tito books mentioned by me are as cheap and as acce accessible Kible as the last at a t mentioned without presuming too much I would exhort the young to attend school regularly letting no trifles interfere with their stu diess for if they trifle away their time when you young they will be triflers tri flers through 91 i life parents should bo be very particular in the way they give their offspring pring opportunities to offer excuses for absence lest they teach them to prevaricate let parents look after their children give them ever every opportunity f t become useful members of society self reliant truthful virtuous honest and to have a never failing trust in the and they will then have joy fit in their hearts and go to their graves in peace PEDAGOGUE HUNTS huntsville VILLu nov 29 1881 |