Show the answer to the anea tion whether we attempt to too to 0 many subjects teach too ninny subjects de in public schools upon what wo demand df our schools in the cd by MARY E wyme world there are two groups first those who believe that a child develops judgment and initiative py by coming into contact with many subjects that in this way lie ho acquires adaptability adap tabi 1 lity a requisite very necessary to tho success of an american the second group of educators maintain that after eight or ton ten years on in our public schools a pupil should have the mental habits babits of accuracy thoroughness and concentration plus a mastery of certain tools which ho 10 can call use with absolute ewe ease the tools are the three Rs thew these educators say bay tho the curriculum musts must of course make somo some provision for the of judgment and ini initiative initiate tiati ve but it must also provide that the khe very initiative shall bo be supported by power to do well certain elemen ary thino things first we have a right to expect children to write easily and legibly band yet how often they write a clumsy or slovenly hand second the simplest eim pleat processes of arithmetic should have become absolutely mechanically accurate so that when a child has to add the grocers bill or to ie estimate tho the cost of a carpet he may not complicate tho the difficulty by errors in the simple fundamental processes of addition or multiplication ichird the pupils should have the power to read and that means much rt it means tho the power to get ideas from the printed page and to visualize the oe events or alv tko scene one is reading a about in short it means to read lin in such a way that a lively mental reaction occurs 11 II wo we attempt to teach a little french before the child can read ordinary english intelligently a little physics before he be knows any geography raphy and then add a little botany and a little music a little cooking a little dressmaking a little druwing drawing and a little american history should we be surprised that our young people lack accuracy and concentration with kith all the many demands made upon their attention outside of school sin n the way of amusements music lessons athletic associations and home duties plus the demands demanda of many subjects in the school program it is snot not strange that boys and girls are restless and superficial our schools reflect the spirit of the times abey do not lead it in germany where thoroughness is admired above initiative where a child usually adopts the work of his father the emphasis of the schools is laid upon habits of thoroughness and accuracy which can only be obtained by much drill somo some critics of the american public schools deplore tho the teeming inferiority of power in the boy of fourteen compared with that of the german bo boy y of the same age but we must remember that many anany influences in america are educating the child to play the game of bluff to be superficial and restless and that tho the schools cannot in justice be e held responsible for all these them undesirable qualities if a slight familiarity with many subjects does docs develop the much desired quality of good judgment then we should be willing to pay the price of the defects of this excellence if the tree has borne the fruit for which the public schools have been working ind and the boys of toil today ay show ietter judgment than uto me boys of twenty or thirty years ago when the j curriculum was simpler then the gil 7 I 1 1 are not dot attempting to teach too t oo 00 many subjects |