USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > City of Melrose annual report 1893-1895 > Part 11
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of this country and many in the old world. Mrs. Hopkins paid special attention to the work of kindergartens, and a part of her report on this subject is especially interesting. She says :
"The occupations of the kindergarten are arranged for the systematic development of the child's powers, based upon the child's natural activities ; they train the sense of touch to nice observation and the hand to careful and skilful manipulation for the tangible representation of all the ideas of the mind and the expression of all the emotions of the soul. In this training of the hand the various senses are also educated; the eye especially learns to see more exactly and completely, so as to obtain the knowledge requisite to truthful representation in hand-work. Accurate expression is the test of accurate knowledge. Accurate and complete perception is essential to tangible expression.
" The kindergarten occupations are connected with what are called 'the gifts;' the results of observation as developed by the gifts are recorded by actual representation in 'the occupations.' The occupations are also designed to lead up to the chief industries of life, as well as to the study of nature and the development of art. These occupations may therefore be regarded not only as the completion of obser- vation but as the beginning of training for industry, science and art; and in this respect they give the three-fold activities of the child their natural development, and may be taken as a model for all subsequent courses of manual training.
"In discussing the significance of the kindergarten gifts and occupations, we may say generally that the gifts are meant to aid the child in classifying his observations con- cerning the form or appearance of things, and to serve him in his efforts to gain knowledge of things. The occupations, on the other hand, are to serve him in his efforts to express
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his ideas of things, and to apply his knowledge to the realization of a definite purpose.
"The kindergarten occupations as laid down by Froebel are:
I. Building with blocks; card-board construction.
2. Making forms and designs with sticks, tablets or rings.
3. Folding and cutting paper into geometrical forms.
4. Weaving with paper or other material.
5. Sewing on perforated cards.
6. Drawing, as a language for expressing form ideas.
7. Modelling in clay and other plastic material.
8. Gardening.
"These occupations may be scheduled according to their relations, as follows:
A. Bodies ov solids :
I. Block building.
2. Clay modelling.
3. Card-board construction.
B. Surfaces :
I. Paper folding, cutting and pasting.
2. Tablet laying.
3. Painting.
C. Lines :
I, Stick laying.
2. Weaving.
3. Embroidery.
4. Drawing.
D. Points :
I. Bead stringing.
2. Peas, shells, etc. (arrangement of).
3. Perforating.
"With the study of solids the child is helped to apprehend the distinct individuality of things; the study of surface
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helps him to classify things on the basis of their shape; the study of lines leads him to counting, measuring and the apprehension of direction and proportion; the study of points leads him to understand position and relation.
"The clay modelling enables the child to record his observation of the most delicate deviations from the typical shapes, and leads him to an appreciation of type forms. The block building and card-board work develop his constructive talents; the paper folding and cutting stimulate his inventive power, and prepare him to record with brush or crayon the products of memory or imagination, and, with the weaving, embroidery and drawing, develop his artistic tendency.
"It is plain also that the proper use of the material of the occupations results in moral power, because it implants in the child habits of industry, clearness, accuracy and harmony, which in attitude and motive influence his whole develop- ment, and co-ordinate him with his fellows in social and benevolent organizations, so as to make him a factor for good in the community of child life. In all these occupa- tions the individuality and creative power of the child should have full scope. They may be connected with observation of nature and life or with the imagination and feeling, yet they should be conducted according to the legitimate growth of the child's powers, and, in the main, according to a pre- scribed sequence founded on the great laws of educational philosophy. The child should be led from the easy to the difficult, from the simple to the complex, from the known to the unknown, in all manual as well as mental training. The exercises must be for the child, not the child for the exer- cises or system, Whatever is given to the child to do should be adapted to his interest, to his stage of progress and to his relations with life; it should advance him in knowledge and skill, should minister to his manual dexterity and creative instinct, as well as to his desire to communicate to
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others what he has acquired, and become useful and helpful to all; in other words, it should involve the activities of the body, the mind and the soul in their natural relations and order of growth.
" Building is one of the most natural and pleasurable oc- cupations of a child; it leads him to constructive rather than to destructive work, to skill in handling, balancing and arranging parts, to mechanical contrivance, to unity of design, to an apprehension of proportion and symmetry; it teaches him unconsciously many of the laws of physics, gives play to his imagination and inventive faculties, and involves a study of material as well as of forces.
" Laying of sticks, etc., leads to decorative designs and the representation of geometric and natural forms; it cultivates a perception of planes and lines, or edges and faces, and may be utilized in the study of the geometric outlines of objects, so far as such study can be properly carried with the little child. It is also suggestive of the study of number and place.
" Paper folding and cutting gives skill of fingers and accuraey of measurement, and, combined with color, allows oppor- tunity for a study of color, form and proportion, which is essentially artistic in its tendency.
" Weaving involves color, careful hand-work, a knowledge of one of the most fundamental and inclusive industries, with opportunity for a study of material and the applications of the art to various material. It may also be combined with color and design, so as to make the industry artistic, and educate the sense of harmony and proportion.
" Sewing cultivates precision of the eye and hand, as well as the sense of regularity and measurement. It should, in the kindergarten, involve color and form, and be used as a kind of drawing and method of decorative design. It develops the moral nature, by training to habits of neatness, order,
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economy and helpfulness, as well as by appealing to the sense of beauty.
" Drawing and modelling should go hand in hand throughout all the manual training of the kindergarten. In the study of nature and of the type forms presented by nature and illus- trated by ' the gifts' of Froebel, the drawing should be en- tirely with the free hand, and should be used chiefly as a means of thought expression by the child. Drawing and modelling not only train to manual dexterity, they also offer the readiest and freest means through which the creative feeling of the child can find expression; they are capable of constant application to every branch of study; they are connected with all industries; they develop the æsthetic sense and powers, and are suited to every grade of school work and every stage of education. In the kinder- garten modelling the free fingers only should be used, and in drawing the pencil and brush should be used by the free hand only, other tools being postponed to the primary school.
" Gardening leads the child to a love of plant life and to companionship with nature, as well as to healthful out-of- door occupation. Every kindergarten should have a garden plot; but where this is impracticable, gardening may be carried on in the school room by means of window-gardening or a sand box. It is one of the most delightful kinds of work to the child, and exercises in full sympathy and harmony all parts of his three-fold nature. It should never be neglected in the kindergarten. It may involve careful observation of processes, as well as forms; the hand-work of pressing, mounting, drawing and coloring of plant forms; the original study of plants in their conditions, their habits, their parts their organism, their beauties, their processes, laws of growth, relations with nature and life, as well as their ex-
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pression of constant creative activity in nature; they lead to a recognition of the fatherhood of the Creator, and the sus- taining love and power above and within the material universe for each individual life, thus developing in the highest direction the child's growing powers.
" Although it may not be necessary to vary such a course of occupations as Froebel has laid down for the kindergarten, nevertheless there should not be an unyielding adherence to it under all conditions and circumstances. The purpose is higher than the means, and whatever is natural and edu- cative must be regarded as legitimate in the training of the child before the primary school age. Sympathy and original appreciation of the philosophy of the child's growth must determine the plan to some extent for every kinder- garten. The child should be prepared by the kindergarten for more distinct lines of study and more concentrated ap- plication of the will and purpose to achieve in all branches of mental and manual training. The kindergarten must reach upward toward the primary-school subjects and method of study, and the primary school should vitalize its work by the adoption, to a great extent, of kindergarten methods. The doctrine of "learning by doing" should be applied to every line of study, and thus the kindergarten and primary work be an unbroken series of progressions. The kinder- garten, as in most American schools, should be held in a room by itself, but in a building with the primary school, so that it may become familiar as a preparation for that grade."
"The kindergarten occupations can be directly applied to the language and number work of the primary schools, as well as to the observational study of natural forms. The material symbols of the manual training naturally introduce pictorial symbols, and these latter the conventional symbols of reading, writing and ciphering. Speech becomes a spon- taneous expression of ideas generated by manual training,
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and operations in numbers naturally arise in connection with many of the kindergarten occupations.
In considering feasible schemes of manual training for the primary school, we would suggest that the child be kept at work as much as possible on material which offers little resistance, such as clay, wax, paper and worsted. These offer a wide scope for progressive work, enabling the child to put the stress of his attention not so much upon the means as upon the end of his work, viz., the agreement of his results with his ideas. They can be readily made to re- produce, with a high degree of accuracy, his observations or imaginations. They also furnish excellent opportunities for social work; tiles of clay or mosaic work in paper and design, patterns of embroidery in parts, will supply groups of children or entire classes with tasks referring to a common plan or purpose. Woven worsted squares combined in a general design arouse the interest and cultivate the benevo- lent activities better than many isolated efforts. This work may be made to lead to the threshold of art, and prepare the children for full efficiency in all relations of practical life.
"Paper and card-board work in folding, cutting, pasting and construction affords means for adding to the gains from the handling of plastic material; habits of foresight and accura- cy, which are invaluable in every vocation, are iuduced by these occupations, because the slightest errors are followed by irretrievable failure, while conscientious and careful work ensures success. Card-board modelling admits of closer attention to detail than sloyd, and is therefore less crude and utilitarian. Paper cutting and card-board model- ling are a sure foundation for scientific artisanship, which rests primarily on accuracy and adaptation of means to end. They also lend themselves to ornamentation through draw- ing, painting, inlaying, cutting and carving. Paper and card-board cutting can be carried through the first eight
-
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years of school life as a means of illustration in geometry, and geography, minerology and botany, as well as artistic re- presentation, in all of which it secures inventive and construc- tive skill, with manual dexterity and delicacy. Work which is done by the fingers is more educative to the brain than that which is done by broader areas of muscular activity; delicate work of concentrated nervous power serves a higher physio- logical end than crude physical effort. As the courses advance they should become more closely associated and inter-relat- ed, as well as more distinctive and elective in each line, so as to give freedom of development for individual gifts and ap- titudes. Building with blocks may lead to discovery of laws of physics, as well as architectural design; weaving may be- come artistic, as well as more variously and usefully industrial; sewing may connect itself with art on the side of embroidery and dressmaking; clay modelling works for art culture, and especially for sculpture; coloring appeals most effectually to the æsthetic and spiritual nature; drawing as a means of expression and a common language of form seems to cover every part of the educational field equally with spoken and written language; gardening is appropriate to every period of school life, as a healthful out-of-door occupation, furnish · ing the environment of nature, and leading to a study of natural science and field work in mineralogy and botany. Every school should have a garden for the children to work in.
" All these methods of manual training may be applied from the beginning to the end of school life, and to every study, constituting laboratory work in every line. All manual training should grow into applied science or art, and vitalize every branch of study."
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SCHOOL REPORT.
During the past year two private kindergartens, of con- siderable size, have flourished in town, being well patronized, and the results therein, I believe, have been most satisfactory. At the Centre school, Miss Chapin has devoted considerable attention to kindergarten methods and has applied them with a portion of her school, and the results of her work have been most gratifying to those who have observed it.
I believe the time has come when two or more kinder- gartens can be profitably established in connection with the public schools of the town.
SEWING.
Last year's report contained a special report from Miss Atwood, on the results of her work with the girls of the third and fourth grades, at the Centre schools; she has continued the work this year with most satisfactory results, and the parents of many of the girls taught are highly pleased with the work.
The teaching of sewing in the public schools is no experi- ment, as it has been introduced into school curriculums of many towns and cities, and the results have, in all in- stances, been satisfactory, and the verdict is that sewing in the public schools has come to stay.
MUSIC AND DRAWING.
The work in these departments has remained in charge of the same teachers as last year, and the reports of Mr. Drake and Mr. Carter, which appear elsewhere in this book, tell what in particular they consider has been accomplished during the year. Mr. Carter is preparing for an exhibition in the Town Hall, at some time during the early spring, which will speak for itself; and I wish that a grand chorus of the school children might be formed to demonstrate what
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they can do in singing, as I believe that good results are being obtained by faithful work on the part of Mr. Drake and the regular teachers.
WRITING.
As the results in writing and the written work in language were far from satisfactory during the first part of the year, a special effort is being made to improve this feature of the school work and the services of Mr. J. S. Preston were engaged for a time. A great majority of children take as naturally to bad habits in writing as they do to other evils, and it is a painful process to reform these habits, once formed. I be- lieve, however, that good results are already apparent, and that Mr. Preston is doing good work in this line.
PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE.
In all the schools there has been a manifest desire on the part of the teachers to do something more than comply with the law requiring that physiology and hygiene be taught with special instruction as to alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics on the human system, and many of the teach- ers have made a special effort to impress upon the minds of their pupils the importance of temperance in all things, and with apparent good results.
HEATING AND VENTILATION.
School authorities are beginning to come to the conclu- sion that many of the systems of heating and ventilating are not entirely perfect, and this town is not entirely free from annoyance on this score, as there has been some trouble in both heating and ventilating several rooms. Efforts have been made, and are being made, to remedy
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these difficulties where they existed, and I believe they are in the main successful.
At Upham Hill a heating apparatus has been put into the closets that is proving a remedy for the nuisance that existed there last year.
At the D. W. Gooch school where there was quite serious trouble with the ventilation for a while, a better state of affairs now exists, and a recent examination by one of the State inspectors demonstrated that the air in the room that had been the most troublesome was good as to quality, and that a sufficient quantity was introduced to fully supply all the scholars with pure air. A close watch is being kept of the building, and I can assure the parents of scholars in all the schools that the welfare of the scholars will be con- sidered in all cases of this kind.
GENERAL REMARKS.
A few words in conclusion regarding progress in the schools and some criticisms we have heard made. In a report of this committee made to the citizens of the town several years ago we find the following, which can as truly be said of the schools at the present time as of those at that time :
"We realize the fact that our schools conform pretty closely to public opinion, right or wrong. It will be practi- cally impossible to ever raise them much above this standard, nor, from the nature of things, will they fall below it. Now it is true public opinion is sometimes fallible, and reaches conclusions that are wrong, and this result in school matters is disastrous. We believe it is wrong now in certain conclu- sions which it has adopted, and which some prominent educators have assisted them in establishing. One of the wrong conclusions, and a very important one, requires that pupils should be put through their school course somehow, with very little exertion of their own.
"There has been an impression prevalent for a long time
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that if everything were made plainer and simpler to pupils, and more time spent in teaching instead of studying there would be a vast gain in educational results.
"The practical result of this has been to make parrot-like imitators of pupils instead of independent thinkers and reasoners. They lose all courage to undertake anything requiring careful thought and demanding mental exertion, but become expert machines, running rapidly and splendidly in the ruts where they have been taught, and good for but little elsewhere. .
Now it seems as if the whole tendency of the times, the whole advice of our educational men and journals, the great desire of parents was to take out of education anything which looks like hard work; to enable our children to get an edu- cation vicariously, by somebody else's work and study. If a study comes hard to a child, straightway father or mother must petition that he give up that special study. The com- mittees and guardians of youth are warned that a few hours' study, (an amazingly few hours' study in many cases!) five days in the week, two-thirds of the year, is making a com- plete wreck of all our boys and girls. Perhaps so! For ourselves we believe the exact contrary. We believe that any reasonable amount of study, any amount which is re- quired by the school committees of Massachusetts towns, is a positive advantage to health. At any rate we would not give much for that education which does not involve some systematic hard work on the part of pupils as well as teachers.
It will not make the kind of men and women we need to grapple with the hard realities and knotty problems of actual life."
The above treatment of the "overwork" side of the school problem is as fairly and aptly stated as it can be to-day, and all fair minded citizens of the town will agree that the re- quirements of the present school course are not too difficult for any child of average intelligence and physical strength to undertake and carry through without endangering his health.
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SCHOOL REPORT.
Opposed to those who believe that their children are over- worked are a few who think the school course is not com- prehensive enough, and that the scholars are not held down to the three R's as they used to be, and that in the main the schools do not do for the children what they used to do.
In the main I believe that both these criticisms, which are made from exactly opposite standpoints, are unjust to the school system and the teachers, and that the fault lies with the scholar who is the one that is largely responsible for his own success or failure in school life as well as in after life. Parents and scholars should realize that school work is real work, and that it should not be put off or interrupted by every pleasure party that can be planned.
CO-OPERATION ON THE PART OF PARENTS.
In visiting the schools during the past few months I have seen but very few parents in any of the rooms, save upon some public days held at the close of the first term. Parents are welcome at all times in the schools, and if more of you could realize how much your visits encourage and stimulate both teachers and scholars I think you would take time to visit oftener.
The schools are not maintained for the benefit of the teachers, superintendent or committee, but for the sake of the children, and it is hoped that everything done in them is for the best good of the children.
Report cards are sent regularly to the parents by the teachers and it is the duty of parents to do something more than sign them. If your child's marks either in any study or in deportment are not satisfactory you should take pains to ascertain why they are poor, and more definite informa- tion than that given by the report cards will always be very gladly furnished by all the teachers.
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In regard to discipline, especially, there should be a good understanding between parents and teachers, and I hope that in all cases of discipline parents will consult with the teachers and hear both sides of the question before forming hasty judgment as to the justice or injustice of any punish- ment that may be inflicted. No question can be decided justly from hearing one side of it, and in the interests of the scholars rather than of the teachers this course is urged, as by pursuing such a course parents and teachers can co- operate wisely, and the results that are the best for the pupils can then be obtained, which is the desired end of all education.
In closing I desire to express my sense of obligation to parents and members of the committee for their hearty sup- port and co-operation.
Respectfully submitted, B. F. ROBINSON, Superintendent.
Melrose, Mass., Jan. 12, 1894.
In School Committee,
MELROSE, Mass., January 27, 1894.
Ordered, That the annual report of the superintendent be accepted and adopted as the report of the school committee of the town.
JOHN C. MAKER, Secretary.
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SCHOOL REPORT.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
It is with regret that the resignation of Mrs. Arethusa K. Miller, as a member of this board, is announced.
For the unusually long period of twelve years Mrs. Miller has untiringly and faithfully served the town in such a quiet and unpretentious way, that none but her associates and the teachers of the schools have been aware of the efficiency and magnitude of that service.
For several years, before the employment of a superin- tendent of schools, she acted as the purchasing and supply agent of the board, and won the approval of all having deal- ings with the school department, for promptness, accuracy and courtesy in all business matters.
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