USA > Illinois > Kane County > History of Kane County, Ill. Volume I > Part 66
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"In the fall of 1867 Sanders' okl readers were exchanged for his new Union readers, and Warren's geographies were adopted, thus securing a greater uniformity of text books. A fuller and more definite course of study was pre-
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
pared for all the schools. In the high schools a three years' course was adopted. which included all the branches usually taught in high schools.
"In the summer of 1868 Rev. H. Slade was appointed superintendent. and C. F. Kimball principal of the high school, with salary of $1.200 per year, and Miss Emily J. Brigham assistant, salary $500, which positions they filled till the summer vacation of 1869, when Mr. Kimball was appointed superin- tendent but still remained principal of the high school, salary $1.400, continuing as such till the summer of 1873.
"During the summer vacation of 1869 Mr. Kimball was directed by the trustees to take the enumeration of the children for school purposes, to which he added a complete census of the city, with the following results :
White children from 6 years to 21 years. 1.545
Colored children from 6 years to 21 years 30
Total number of children 1,575
The white population of the city was 1,804
The colored population of the city was
Grand total of all was. 4.895
"The schools were regraded during the year and a more systematic course was adopted, including a two-years' course each for the primary and inter- mediate departments, a three-years' course in the grammar school, and a four-years' course in the high school. As thus organized the pupils made good progress. More school room was needed, and the old stone, or Baptist. church was purchased by the city council for $5,000, and three schools were opened in 1870. enrolling nearly two hundred children, forming a primary, intermediate and grammar department. Mrs. . A. S. Wing was employed as principal of the grammar school, which position she held till the close of the fall term of 1871. when she resigned.
In September. 1871. W. W. Kennedy was employed to teach vocal music in the schools, with a view of making it one of the branches of educa- tion. Although at first many doubts were expressed as to the feasibility of teaching young children to read music, and to sing by note, yet a fair trial was given, and he continued his work with good success, teaching in all the grades, from the primary to the high school.
"In 1872 the course of study was revised, and published in pamphlet form: also a 'Syllabus of Oral Lessons' for primary and intermediate schools. As revised, there were eleven grades from the primary to the high school. The first, second, third and fourth composed the primary department, the fifth, sixth and seventh the intermediate, and the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh the grammar department. Two courses of study were adopted for the high school-the English course and the classical course, each requiring four years for its completion. At the close of the school year of 1872, the first class of three young ladies. Misses Helen C. Kimball. Euphemia A. Martin and Julia A. DuBois, graduated from the high school. The exercises were held at the DuBois Opera House. June 27. Each graduate read an essay. and received a diploma from the superintendent.
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
"At the municipal election held in March, 1873, the question whether the schools should be organized under the general school law of the state or remain under the control of the city was submitted to a vote of the people. the result in favor of the change.
"At a subsequent election held in April, M. B. Baldwin, J. B. Newcomb, E. S. Joslyn, A. S. Barry, W. F. Lynch and A. S. Moxon were elected a board of education, who came into power the following July. During the summer vacation the new board erected a two-story school building to be used for primary and intermediate schools. Mr. Kimball was reemployed as super- intendent and Miss A. A. Clement principal of the high school. A class of five young ladies graduated from the high school June 28. 1873. In the gradu- ating class of 1874 were six young ladies and one young man-Edward S. Doney-he being the first male graduate from the high school. In 1875 a class of ten-seven ladies and three gentlemen-was graduated. There was then connected with the schools a superintendent and a corps of twenty-two teachers and an enrollment of 1, 103 pupils.
"We close this article by referring briefly to our school buildings. How- ever much we may prize our graded course of instruction, we must acknowl- edge that our school buildings are very inferior and lack the capacity to accom- modate all the children. But we are glad to chronicle the fact that the school board are taking steps to procure the erection of suitable buildings, and we trust that when the next history and directory shall be published this city can boast of as good school accommodations as any in the state."
The report of the superintendent of schools for 1908 shows the following :
TEACHERS EMPLOYED.
Superintendent and assistants
5
Principals
12
High school 21
Grades 82
Total 1 20
Men
0
Women
III
Total I 20
PUPILS ENROLLED.
Boys
2,229
Girls 2,148
Total
4.377
AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE.
Grades
3.048 High school 545
Table showing per cent of enrollment in high school who have graduated : 1896-97. . 7.8
1807-98. 6.2
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
1 898-99 .
8.4
1899-00.
11.7
1900-01
12.8
1901-02.
9.3
1902-03.
13.2
1903-04.
11.4
1904-05 .
12.0
1905-06.
11.7
1906-07
11.5
1907-08.
16.6
The following report made to the superintendent of schools by his assis- tants will best show the status of the schools at the present time and as com- pared to the situation in an early day as shown by the first article above :
REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF PRIMARY DEPARTMENT.
Mr. Robert I. White, Superintendent of Schools :
In accordance with your request I present herewith a report of the work done in the primary grades during the year closing June 12, 1908 :
Reading-Experience teaches that in the complicated process of teaching reading the teacher must use all methods to some extent, because reading and the coordinated subject-writing-involve all the ear, eye, mouth and hand centers. The first reading lessons have been taught from the blackboard. Great care has been exercised throughout these grades to make the pupils familiar with all new words as wholes before attempting to read sentences in which these words occur. Systematic phonic drills were introduced early in the first term of the first year and carried through the third year in order to train the pupils to become self-reliant, to secure good articulation and accurate enunciation. The pupils have read not only the number of books required by the course of study but several supplementary books supplied by the traveling library. There has been an unusual interest taken in oral reading during the school year. Dramatization of reading lessons has been an interesting feature in some rooms, especially room one in the Franklin school and room four in the Sheridan school. It has been gratifying to note the interest shown by parents in this feature of the school work.
Literature-The work in this subject has been closely related to reading and language and has consisted of reading, listening to and memorizing rhymes and poems, in listening to the reading or telling fairy tales, myths and stories and their oral reproduction. Through literature it seems to us life's relation- ships are truly and justly pictured in terms that pupils can understand, making the good attractive, the base ugly, rewarding virtue, punishing wrongdoing, thus awakening and influencing the moral judgment of the pupils.
Language-Lessons of the first three grades have been closely related to the literature, reading, nature study, history and geography work. In two first-grade rooms miniature farms have been constructed on sand tables. The sight of the sprouting seeds, waving grass, rustling corn, the pond, the house, the barn, the chickens, etc., furnished food for thought and unlocked timid
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
lips. In one room the peaceful farm on "Memorial day" was turned into a camp with its row of tents, its flag, its guns and sentinels.
Dictation-Exercises in dictation have been used in the first grade and carried through the fourth in order to train pupils in spelling, use of capitals, punctuation marks and paragraphing. In no other way. it seems to us, can these mechanics of written composition be so effectively and economically taught. Fourth grade pupils have become familiar with the first one hundred pages in Southworth's "New Lessons in Language." They have written at least two short compositions a month. In some rooms pupils have been re- quired to look over their own written work carefully before handing it in, in order to correct their mistakes. All the work has been corrected.
Nature Study-It is difficult to confine nature study to regular periods. and to present it in such a way that the children may take an active part in the work. Some of the most valuable work is done before school, after school and during rest periods. During the past year pupils have filled the window boxes with good soil, planted seeds in them, cared for the growing plants and studied germination. They have also brought in whole plants from field and park and cared for them. They have learned something of seed distribution. They have observed birds and their habits. Some classes have visited Lord's park in order to study animals and their habits. Daily records of the weather have been kept on the board or on paper. At the end of the month the number of sunny days and the number of cloudy days have been counted and the prevailing winds noted.
Geography and History-"The study of the home neighborhood is the key to the study of the world." The third grade children have studied the physical features, food products, plan of city, water supply, manner of lighting and a few of the industries of their own town. They have constructed maps of the school room, the school yard, neighborhood. the city and the county. They have taken real or imaginary trips to nearly all the important points of interest in and about Elgin. They have gleaned from "The Seven Little Sis- ters." "In Field and Pasture" and other books some knowledge of how people live in warm and in cold countries. They have learned the names and located on the school globes the continents, oceans, principal seas, gulfs, bays, straits and peninsulas of the world. In one school room the pupils made, in a sand box twelve by fourteen feet, a model of Elgin showing the physical features. In another room a stone quarry was well represented on a sand table. In history third grade children have become acquainted with the good In lian chief Shabbona, with the two noble pioneers, James T. and Hezekiah Gifford. with the hardships endured and the pleasures enjoyed by Elgin's early settlers. Portions of the history work have been emphasized by illustrations and by constructive work. In the fourth grade the assigned work in Frye's "Elemen- tary Geography" has been completed. The pictures in the textbook being excellent and suggestive have been profitably used in the study of the different countries. Fairbank's "Home Geography." for supplementary work, has been valuable in arousing interest and discussion. Drills in location of places on globes and maps have been given once a week. A brief "History of Illinois," compiled by Miss Bateman, principal of the George P. Lord school, has been
ELGIN ACADEMY.
ABBY C. WING SCHOOL. ELGIN.
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
thoroughly appreciated by teachers and pupils. Some of the topics discussed are food, clothing, shelter, sports and warfare of the Indians and the early settlers of the state. Here again constructive work has played an important part in making pioneer history seem more real. Pupils have constructed in miniature from wood, mud. large and small twigs, paper, etc., log houses, forts. flatboats, rafts, dugouts and wigwams.
Arithmetic-In the first and second grades emphasis has been placed on constructive work rather than formal number work. Our experienced teachers say that when properly taught it gives the finest mental discipline of any study in the primary grades. Through this work pupils have been taught to measure, to add, subtract, multiply and divide, using small numbers ; also to use the fractions one-half, one-third and one-fourth. In the third and fourth grades Walsh's "Primary Arithmetic" has been followed. More time, how- ever, has been given to the abstract work than to problems requiring exercise of the reasoning powers. Original problems given by pupils with reference to articles bought and sold at stores and elsewhere have proved valuable in teaching children to observe and think. During the past term emphasis has been placed on drills in the forty-five combinations in order to strengthen weak places in addition. The aim in the fourth grade has been to make classes as strong as possible in the four fundamental processes, addition. subtraction. multiplication and division. In some third and fourth grade rooms "model stores" have been kept by pupils one day a week. From these stores they would buy supplies. This concrete work has aided pupils in understanding the meaning of problems in the book and taught them something of the use of money.
Spelling -- In the first and second grades pupils have been taught to spell by visualizing, by dictation, by building with letter forms and phonograms and by memorizing short lists of words. In grades three and four Reed's "Primary Speller" has been used with fairly good results. Both oral and written spell- ing have been used. because some children learn through the eye and some through the ear. Results in spelling always seem meager compared with the time and energy put on the lessons by teachers and pupils.
Physiology has had a place in the first two grades, but in no really formal way. Teachers, however, have taken occasion frequently to teach simple facts of healthy living, of which the children could make immediate use.
In the third grade four lessons a week have been given for the required ten weeks. In the fourth grade a textbook has been used. Stress has been laid on the effect of alcoholic drinks and tobacco on the growing child.
Physical culture has probably not received the attention it merits. One period a day, however, has been devoted in grades one and two to rhythm; that is, to marching, running, skipping, etc., to music. In some of the third and fourth grade rooms games that require alertness, observation and judgment have been practiced daily.
Penmanship-When pupils first enter school they show a decided lack of muscular control and for this reason the early writing has been done on the blackboard, where large free movements are possible. In the second and third grades improvement has been slow and the result of much patient practice.
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
because pupils at this time still seem unable to control and coordinate their muscles. Pupils have not used pen and ink until they reached the third grade. In grades three and four copybooks have been used.
Manual Training-The day that contains the manual training hour has always been hailed with delight by the boys and girls in the third and fourth grades. It has often proved true that pupils who care nothing for books and who are slow to learn do good handwork and find delight in it. Handwork has been an aid in securing good order. Pupils in these grades have made reed and raffia baskets and made burlap holders, button and school bags, doll rugs and hammocks, portfolios and many other useful articles.
Notwithstanding the interruption in the school work caused by contagious diseases, the number of children promoted in the first four grades is equal to that of former years.
In closing I would thank all teachers for their cooperation. the experi- enced teachers for frank and valuable suggestions, and our superintendent for appreciation and encouragement. Respectfully.
JENNIE TAZEWELL, Assistant Superintendent.
REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC.
Mr. Robert I. White, Superintendent of Schools :
I herewith submit to you a report of the work done in music during the past year :
With few variations the usual program has been followed in the music department this year. In the grades each room has been visited once in two weeks. Afternoons have been devoted to the high school work. The progress has been very marked this year owing to the earnest work of the teachers and to the interest and enthusiasm of teachers and pupils which has come through the use of new material and methods.
In the primary grades the children have learned about sixty new songs. Through these rote songs the child has gained a broad musical experience --- along the artistic side. Later these songs are to be used as the basis for the technical study of music in the higher grades.
The work of the intermediate grades has shown a distinct advance from imitation song singing to definite sight-reading work. The work has been difficult in these grades this year, as we have made an earnest effort to master the rythmic problems as presented in the songs and exercises in the first and second books. The results have been satisfactory. Every pupil below the eighth grade has sung alone at least twice each week. This individual work has done much to establish music on a firm basis and to make the pupil inde- pendent. From the third grade to the eighth written work has been done every day, from dictation or memory.
The grammar grades have gained in taste and technique this year. thus laying a good foundation for chorus singing in the high school.
More than three hundred pupils in the high school selected music as part of their course, and this number was divided into three choruses. The Laurel Song Book, Beacon Songs No. 2 and supplementary octavo music furnished
765
KANE COUNTY HISTORY
material for study. Two glee clubs were organized, one composed of fifty girls and the other of sixteen boys. Two rehearsals were held each week, one during the fifth period and the other one hour after school. These clubs fur- nished music for all high school programs and were a valuable addition to high school life. The principal musical event during the year in the high school was a concert by the glee clubs and chorus, assisted by Maude Fenlon Bollman, soloist.
The Girls' Glee club sang the "Song-Cycle," "The Lady of Shalott" ; the Boys' Glee club sang college songs, and the chorus rendered Gounod's "O Divine Redeemer," Strauss' "Waltz Song," "In Vienna Woods."
This work has been of great value to high school students, giving them an acquaintance with and a love for the best in music.
Thanking the superintendent, the board of education and the teachers for their appreciation and cooperation, I am, respectfully,
ROSE E. JUDSON, Supervisor of Music.
REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING.
Mr. Robert I. White, Superintendent of Schools :
The following report of my department for the past year is respectfully submitted :
The Prang "Text Books of Art Education" have been in use during the past year, as in the two previous years, and the printed outline of the course of study has been practically followed. We have found this outline broad enough to allow of considerable variety in the treatment of any subject and have tried to bring into emphasis in each room the side of the subject showing greatest need, as, for example, appreciation of form or of color, handling of materials or judgment as to arrangement and spacing.
The first half of the year more emphasis was placed on the proper handling of material, such as charcoal, water colors or pencil and on careful observation and accurate representation of what was seen. In the last half we spent more thought on the arrangement of our subject, the balancing of light and dark for best effect, harmony of color and other things that pertain to design in the broadest sense. Through this work we have tried to keep each child to better judgment as to the making or choosing of useful and beautiful things.
Throughout the year we have tried to make practical what has been learned by the making of small articles suggested by the days of special inter- est to the children, such as Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the birthdays of poets and patriots. Valentine's day. Easter. Arbor day and others. Books and portfolios were also made and decorated, to be used in connection with other school work, uniting, as far as possible, the drawing with all other sub- jects in the curriculum. A great variety of articles was made in December for Christmas gifts, mostly of paper and cardboard. In some of the rooms bits of cloth were used in making needle books, penwipers, broomholders, and so forth. Several seventh and eighth grade rooms did stenciling of linen and cotton goods, making sofa pillow covers, curtains for windows or bookcase. table scarfs, laundry bags and other articles for home use. We found all this
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KANE COUNTY HISTORY
work brought growth in appreciation of good workmanship, and we are hoping to see a marked improvement in the judgment of the children in the selection or the making of things which are of interest to them.
We are trying to cultivate good taste in the children of the schools by showing them how to find the best and most beautiful in all their surround- ings, whether it be in sky, trees, birds and flowers or in pictures, furniture, clothes or books. We want to teach each child to choose from his surroundings what is finest and most fitting, and as a citizen, great or small, to see that he may produce the most useful and beautiful of its kind.
The cordial interest and enthusiastic cooperation of our principals and teachers has made it possible to accomplish much in the past year, and we have reason to hope for still greater advancement in the year to come.
Very respectfully. BERTHA H. HEISE.
REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF MANUAL TRAINING.
Mr. Robert I. White. Superintendent of Schools :
Some form of manual training has been given in all grades, from the first to the ninth, inclusive. Grades one and two have been given paper cut- ting and folding. clay modeling and weaving. Grade three has been given sewing on burlap samples with yarn, weaving of mats, clay modeling and paper construction. Grade four has been given weaving of raffia and reed baskets, weaving of mats from designs worked out in school, burlap school bags, broomholders and cardboard construction from drawings made by the pupils. During the first half of the year the boys and girls in the fifth and sixth grades were given cardboard construction. Through that work they became familiar with the more common geometric forms. Before making the models an accurate working drawing of them was made. During the sec- ond half of the year the girls were given sewing. beginning with a sampler, on which they learned the use of the needle and thimble, even and uneven basting. running and back stitch. French seam. hemming, gathering, basting and stitching gathers, and setting in of gathers. When time permitted appli- cation of these operations was made in making aprons, desk bags, work bags. towels, pillow cases and underskirts. The boys were given work with twigs and thin wood, using a sloyd knife, rule, square, nails, sandpaper and stain. Easels, cardracks, beds, tables, chairs and settees were made almost entirely of twigs, which were gathered by the boys themselves. Their drawings were made to a scale of one-sixth of the size of real furniture. After making these articles in school some of the boys made full-size pieces at home.
In grades seven and eight the work of the boys has been bench work in wood. They have been taught the correct method of using the tools, have become better acquainted with the nature and uses of some kinds of wood. and some of the principles of construction have been learned. While the boys were doing their bench work the girls were taught sewing. taking up the work where they left off the previous year. They were taught overhanding, over- casting, herringbone stitch, felling. hemming on patch, sewing on lace. darn- ing and making buttonholes. A practical application of these operations was
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KANE COUNTY IIISTORY
made in the making of towels, napkins, handkerchiefs, sleeves, making of buttonholes, darning stockings, table covers, fancy aprons and mending of clothing.
Each pupil in grades five, six, seven and eight made a portfolio with cloth back and covered with cover paper. These were made for their written com- positions. A sand table, map frame and art display frame were made by eighth grade boys for use in their own schools.
In the high school the work has been three-fifths bench work in wood and two-fifths mechanical drawing. The bench work has been the teaching of the basic principles of construction underlying the different processes of woodworking and becoming familiar with the proper method of using tools. A careful study of the several kinds of wood as to their nature, uses and habitat was made. The measurement of lumber was studied. The various methods of wood finishing was practiced. All projects were made from an accurate working drawing, which was made from a freehand sketch dimen- sioned. The mechanical drawing taught consisted of geometrical problems. orthographic projection of points. lines. solids, intersection of solids and development of surfaces.
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