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Show j- . . I The answer to the qties- flTT HT R It C I , 1 tion whether we attempt to &jj . 1 OO Many OUbjectS teach too many suh jects de- in Public Schools PenJs. upu what we dcmand of our schools. In the ed- Ey MARY E. WYNNE , ,, ,, I ucational world there -are J two groups : First, those wdio believe that a child develops judgment and initiative by coming into contact with many subjects, that in this way he acquires adaptability, a j requisite very necessary to the success of an American. j The second group of educators maintain that after eight or ten years in our public schools a pupij should have the mental habits of accuracy, thoroughness and concentration, plus a mastery of certain took which he can use with absolute ease. The tools are the three ll'a. These educators educa-tors say the curriculum .must, of course, make some provision for the development of judgment and initiative, but it must also provide that the very initiative shall be supported by power to do well certain elementary elemen-tary things. First, we have a right to espect children to write easily and legibly, ,and yet how often they write a clumsy or slovenly hand. Second, the simplest processes of arithmetic should have become absolutely mechanically mechan-ically accurate, so that when a child has to add the grocer's bill or to estimate the cost of a carpet he may not complicate the difficulty by errors in the simple fundamental processes of addition or multiplication. ;Third, the pupils should have the power to read and that means much. It means the power to get ideas from the printed page and to visualize the events or the scene one is reading about; in short, it means to read in such a way that a lively mental reaction occurs. i If we attempt to teach a little French before the child can read ordinary English intelligently, a little physics before he knows any geography, geog-raphy, and then add a little botany and a little music, a little cooking, a little dressmaking, a little drawing, and a little American history, should wo be surprised that our young people lack accuracy and concentration? Vr ith all the many demands made upon their attention outside of school, in the way of amusements, music lessons, athletic associations and home duties, plus the demands of many subjects in the school program, it is not. strange that boys and girls are restless and superficial. I Our schools reflect the spir; of the times they 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. Some critics of the American public schools deplore the eeeming inferiority of power in the boy of fourteen, compared with that of the German boy of the same age. But we must remember that i many influences in America are educating the child "to play the game of j bluff," to be superficial and restless, and that the schools cannot in justice j Le held responsible for all these undesirable qualities. If a slight familiarity with many subjects dors develop the much- I j desired quality of good judgment, then we should bt willing 'to pay the j price of the defects of this excellence. If the tree has hnrn the fruit for which the public schools have been wording and the I ovs of todav show better judgment than the boys of twenty or thirty ve:;rs ago, 7hen the j . curriculum was simpler, then the . -.s-w yy-cl' echooh ara not attempting to teach S 7 too many subjects. 'a |