USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1894 > Part 13
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They have been a feature of our school system for several years, although not recognized by the School Board as an integral part of it until the present year, when authority was granted to district committees to establish them with the approval of the Board. At the present time we have but one Kindergarten in operation, and that is in the Prospect Hill School. Its sessions are held from 9 to 12. It is well attended, and its value is generally recognized. The extension of this fundamental feature of our school system is delayed only by lack of room for the purpose.
Some forms of manual training, such as drawing, paper cutting and folding, and clay modelling are taught in our primary grades. In the grammar grades all that is done in this line beyond the excellent work in drawing, is sewing by the girls of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades, and special work in mechanical drawing by the boys of
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these grades. The value of instruction in the use of the knife and other tools in woodwork for boys of grammar grades is everywhere acknowledged. As soon as suitable accommodations can be furnished, it will undoubtedly be given to all boys of our eighth and ninth grades.
The term manual training, as used in connection with high school boys, has reference to work with tools upon wood,- simple forms of carpentry, carving, turning, pattern-making, and cabinet work, - and also to work upon metals,- moulding, casting, forging, filing, turning, and other machine work. This work is always accompanied by draw- ing, working plans in all cases being first required. Manual training schools are in no sense trade schools. They are not designed to make boys carpenters or machinists. They give a knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of the chief fundamental operations of all mechanical trades. The primary object and principal value are not economic but intellectual, not to give skill to the hand, but power to the faculties of the mind. Experience everywhere has proved their value in this direction. It also shows that time taken for manual training results in no loss of progress or attainment, but rather in dis- tinct advantage along the line of purely scholastic work.
With this form of manual training nothing has thus far been done in Somerville. Not that we have been unwilling to admit its value, but so great have been the demands upon us for school accommoda- tions and for expenditures in other directions, that we have been obliged to forego it. We have, however, no longer any option in the matter, for, convinced of its advantages as an element of education, the Legis- lature of 1894 passed the following enactment :-
After the first day of September in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five, every city of twenty thousand or more inhabitants shall maintain as part of its High School system the teaching of manual training. The course to be pursued in said instruction shall be sub- ject to the approval of the State Board of Education.
This compels us to incorporate manual training as a part of our High School work.
When the English Schoolhouse was planned, several rooms were set apart in the basement for this purpose. A complete outfit would require four rooms, one for carpentry, one for wood-turning and pattern-making, a forging room, and a room for metal working. Only the first two of these are adapted to our building. To equip a car-
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penter shop with benches, tools, and lockers will cost $1,500. The second room, equipped with motor, lathes, benches, tools, and lockers will require an outlay of about $2,000. The annual salary of a com- petent instructor will be at least $1,000. These rooms would enable us to give all high school boys two lessons per week, and one lesson to boys in the ninth grade of the grammar schools.
XI. HYGIENIC CONDITIONS.
Whatever affects the health or physical development of school children is a matter of public concern, and it is incumbent upon those charged with the conduct of educational affairs to see that everything possible is done to promote health and vigor of body and mind. To this end the following things are essential : -
Every school child should be supplied with 1,800 cubic feet per hour of pure air of comfortable and equable temperature.
He should have a chair and desk duly proportioned to his size, where he can sit without the distortion or discomfort of any portion of his body.
He should be seated within at least 20 feet of a window, through which comes a plentiful supply of light from his left or from behind.
The tedium and confinement of his school hours should be broken up by periods of relaxation, change, and muscular exercise, graduated in length and frequency according to his age.
Reasonable opportunity should be given him to attend to his natural wants.
As far as possible he should be protected from exposure in any way to contagious diseases.
The work assigned him both in school and at home should be so wisely apportioned that undue application or nervous strain may be avoided on the one hand, and the influence of idle, listless, lazy habits on the other.
To what extent are these hygienic conditions secured to Somerville children ?
AS TO FRESH AIR.
Four fifths of them breathe comparatively pure air. The rest breathe in part the noxious exhalations of one another's lungs, air charged with all sorts of impurities. The six stove-heated buildings
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and the Bell Schoolhouse have no means of ventilation but the windows. The Prescott has a half-completed system of fresh-air supply.
The High School, after twenty-two years of waiting, has been supplied with a complete and perfectly satisfactory system of heating and ventilation, an adequate supply of fresh air being constantly forced into every part of the building by mechanical means, while an equable temperature is automatically maintained throughout the twenty-four hours.
AS TO LIGHT.
Many of our schoolrooms are insufficiently lighted. The window area of a schoolroom with ordinary exposure should be at least one sixth of the floor area. In the Beech-street building, for example, it is only one tenth, and in most of the older buildings it is far below the standard. In many rooms the strain on children's eyes on cloudy days is so severe, that considerate teachers dispense with eye-work. In this connection it may be remarked that blackboard writing and figures are often too fine and small to be easily read. Pupils are ex- pected to read them, whether large or small, at too acute an angle. The common habit of writing or ciphering with the neck twisted so that one eye is several inches nearer the work than the other is a fruitful source of optical weakness. Only teachers can correct these faults.
AS TO SEATS.
In many schoolrooms the chairs and desks are either too large or too small for their occupants. This is owing to differences in the size of children in the same class, to the use of the same room by different grades in successive years, or to the necessity of using the furniture on hand when changes or additions are required.
The extreme difference in the height of grammar school children · in the same class, will average about 13 inches, and of primary chil dren about 10 inches. Of course, where single-sized seats are provided, as is generally the case, some children are forced to sit day after day in constrained and unnatural positions at the expense of both comfort and symmetrical development. Besides, the trouble is often aggra- vated by chair and desk being wrongly adjusted to each other.
These serious evils are being lessened by the adoption of furniture
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made on hygienic principles and easily adjusted to varying heights. The old iron standards now in use should be replaced by the adjust- able pattern, a change that would involve little expense and result in great gain. So long, however, as we are obliged to use the old- fashioned furniture it should be readjusted whenever necessary to adapt it to hygienic requirements.
AS TO EXERCISE.
The recess midway of the session, as a period of out-door exercise and play, has been superseded by a brief " basement recess" for primary grades, and ten minutes of gymnastic exercises for the others. The change results in a slight gain in time, a marked advantage in discipline, and no apparent loss of energy, or health, or interest.
It must not be supposed that twenty minutes daily spent in gym- nastic exercises, however scientific or valuable in character, can coun- teract or neutralize the evil effects of five hours of sitting in cramped and unhealthful positions in a vitiated and enervating atmosphere. It would be wiser to strike at the root of the trouble. Nevertheless, aside from their educative value, the gymnastic exercises serve for change and relaxation, and in the majority of cases have great value in promoting physical vigor.
AS TO CONTAGION.
The law regulating vaccination is strictly enforced. Parental objection is rarely met. Two or three cases have occurred, when in accordance with a recent amendment of the law, the certificate of a regular practising physician declaring the child an unfit subject for vaccination has been presented. Children from households in which any contagious disease exists, are rigidly excluded from school until all danger is passed. An exception is made by our rules in favor of children affected by whooping-cough. Would not the exclusion of such children, during certain stages of the disease, at least, be a gain to the greatest number? It certainly would relieve the schools from an annoyance that at times occasions serious interruption.
The question has been raised whether the use of text-books and school material by all sorts of children in common, may not be a means of spreading contagion. If danger exists, no effort is spared to reduce
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it to a minimum. Books exposed to infection are burned. With the exception of books supplied in numbers sufficient for only a section of the class, every child uses the same books exclusively. All books are covered as often as need be, the expense being justifiable on the score of cleanliness and increased durability as well as for sanitary reasons. Paper is superseding the use of slates, being preferable in most grades for utility as well as cleanliness.
Our schoolrooms are not cleaned as they ought to be. Floors, woodwork, desks, and chairs should be washed thoroughly every two months instead of every year. Whitewash, paint, and varnish should be freely used, and every possible precaution taken to secure cleanli- ness, and freedom from whatever may endanger health.
As TO OVERWORK.
Are children overworked in our schools? No. On the contrary, they are underworked both in school and out of it. Too much is done for them, too little by them. Closer application, greater self- activity and self-dependence, more sturdy wrestling with difficulties, and less coddling and vicarious effort on the part of the teacher are needed to produce strong, self-reliant students with power to think and to do.
XII. EVENING SCHOOLS.
The city is required by law to maintain "evening schools for the instruction of persons over 12 years of age in orthography, reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, drawing, the history of the United States, and good behavior." In compliance with this law, for several years three common evening schools have been opened in different parts of the city in the month of October, and continued for four evenings a week, closing about Christmas, after from 40 to 50 sessions. These schools generally open with good numbers, and a commendable degree of interest. Very soon, however, the interest diminishes, and one by one the attendants drop out until when the schools close but few remain. For the last five years the average attendance has been only two fifths of the enrollment. For 1894 it has been even less, the enrollment being 391, and the average attendance 86, or 22 per cent. The industrious few who attend regularly, make satisfactory, and in
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some cases, remarkable progress. The many, who either come very irregularly or else leave the school early in the season, profit little.
These schools are expensive. When we consider that they are in session but a hundred hours during the year, we find that the meagre acquirements of the evening school pupil cost the city annually about three times as much as it pays for the education of a pupil in the High School, and four times as much as it expends upon a child in the day schools of lower grade. So long as we are compelled to maintain these schools, in view of their cost ought they not to be made to yield a larger dividend ?
There are many young men and women in our city whose edu- cational advantages have been limited. Scores of boys and girls leave our schools every year just as soon as they reach the compulsory school-age limit of 14. These young people all need what evening schools are designed to give. Cannot these schools be so modified in their methods and organization, as to attract a larger and more regular attendance with even a smaller outlay of money?
May not the three schools be profitably united into one, held in the English High School building with a better classification, and fewer teachers?
May we not secure greater regularity of attendance by requiring a deposit of a dollar or two from every pupil who registers, to be re- turned at the close of the term, provided attendance has been rea- sonably satisfactory, a plan that has been found to work well in other cities ?
Will not the adoption of a regular course of study, and the award of a certificate upon its satisfactory completion, be an advantage ?
Shall we not gain by increasing the length of the term at least to the extent of holding five sessions each week instead of four? If this should be done the extra session might be devoted "to lectures de- livered by competent persons on the natural sciences, history, and kindred subjects," in accordance with an enactment of the Legislature of 1894, "authorizing cities and towns to provide for evening lectures."
Our city has reached a population of 50,000, and hence under the law is obliged " to establish and maintain an evening High School, provided fifty persons competent and willing to attend petition for it." Should such school be demanded, it would naturally be kept in the
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
English High School building, and thus all the evening school work of the city could be concentrated under one management, with a de- crease of expenditure and an increase of efficiency.
For several years, in addition to other evening schools, a school of industrial drawing has been maintained, which has been regularly attended by about 75 young men, who have pursued their work with system, enthusiasm, and profit. In October of this year, in answer to an urgent demand, a large class in free-hand drawing was formed, the interest in which has been well sustained.
Table 18 in Appendix.
XIII. COURSE OF STUDY.
The work of teachers and pupils during the year has closely followed the lines and the time apportionment established in the course of study. The course is full and cannot be accomplished in its details in the time allotted. The aim has been to emphasize the essentials. Opinions as to what " essentials " are, differ widely. Each one judges from his own particular point of view. In establishing a criterion the fact must constantly be borne in mind that by far the largest proportion of our school children never enter the High School. Whatever the schools do to make the masses intelligent, useful, and loyal citizens must be done before they reach the age of fifteen. What will best accomplish this object is the vexed question.
The purpose of education is two-fold : The acquisition of knowledge, and the acquisition of power. These cannot be separated. Power comes of necessity through wise methods of imparting knowledge. " Not what is taught but how it is taught," and " Not what is learned but who teaches it," have become educational aphorisms. Besides giving knowledge and power the schools should develop character, not incidentally, but objectively. Character, indeed, is power, endless for good or evil. The influence of a teacher and his methods are, therefore, as much more important than the subjects taught as the child is more valuable than the facts that he knows. But the ex- pression " practical knowledge " is not meaningless. To fit him for the activities of life a child must be taught to read our language under- standingly. He must be able to speak and to write it clearly and cor- rectly. He must have a knowledge of number sufficient for the
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ordinary uses of business life. He should have a general knowledge of the land and world in which he lives. He should know something of the history and the government of the country which he is to love and serve ; and he must have some acquaintance with the laws by which his life and health may be preserved.
There is substantial agreement everywhere that these subjects - language, number, geography, history, and hygiene- are essential in common schools. They are, however, practically unlimited in their range, and hence, to what extent they should be taught has been a subject of discussion.
To these generally acknowledged essentials we long since added music, for its refining and elevating influence ; drawing, as a form of expression and manual training, and a means of developing the artistic sense ; book-keeping, to furnish a little knowledge of accounts ; sewing, for its practical utility and training ; gymnastics, for their hygienic in- fluence and their value in bringing every muscle of the body under immediate control of the will ; and more recently, the study of nature and its laws as revealed in countless forms about us, sending the child to the original source of knowledge to observe and investigate for himself, and to
" Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything."
As soon as possible we shall establish Kindergartens, and provide some form of wood-work for boys.
Shall we be satisfied to stop here, or shall we heed the suggestions of those who speak to us from near the top of the hill of science, and add, to an already overloaded curriculum, the studies of Latin, and algebra, and geometry, and possibly a modern language or two? Shall we consider the quality or the quantity, the thoroughness or the variety of our teaching? The transfer of college-bound pupils from the eighth grade of the grammar schools to the Latin High School will leave us free to provide for the wants of the great majority who re- main, untrammelled by the demands of the higher institutions of learning.
Other cities and towns are experimenting with courses of study. No one yet knows what is best. Shall we not do well to await the result of the process of evolution ? What we need is not additional (14号)
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
subjects of instruction, but more thorough and scientific methods of teaching what we already have. It may be wise even to eliminate rather than to add. If we can secure the best teachers, reduce the number of pupils assigned to each, provide suitable accommodations and appliances, and give the teacher time and freedom to work with individuals instead of classes, we shall have accomplished much toward increasing the efficiency of our schools.
One test of successful teaching is the love of knowledge and the desire for more which it creates in the mind of the learner. To awaken interest, to excite thought, to create a love for study, to make learning attractive, to produce dissatisfaction with present attainments - these are among the aims of the true teacher. Those whose school life is shortened by untoward circumstances need the inspiration of these influences even more than the fortunate few whose opportunities are unlimited.
It is very important that a love for good reading should be culti- vated and strengthened among the boys and girls of the upper grades of the grammar school. It is no easy thing to do this in these days of cheap and enervating, not to say pernicious, literature. More good books are needed in the upper grades, not scrappy selections, but volumes of the best literature -of biography, of history, of poetry, of travel, of the best fiction. These should be read under the direction of teachers, not only aloud, but silently. To do this, time should be taken from less important subjects. What better service can we render our graduates than to send them out into a world of books with a discriminating taste for good reading, and open to all the inspir- · ing and refining influences that come from the best in the field of literature ?
Much may be done in this direction by a wise use of the public library, but its supply of books is too limited in number to satisfy the demands. A thousand dollars spent annually in carrying out these suggestions would yield a larger return than any other equal amount spent by the School Board.
XIV. SCHOOL SUPPLIES.
The attempt has been made to exercise due economy in the use of supplies. Superfluous books have been collected from some school buildings and distributed to others in need. Careful accounts have
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been kept with each school, and by the Principal with each teacher. The last Friday of each month has been designated as " book-inspection day," at which time ail school property in the hands of pupils is ex- amined, losses and injuries detected, and repairs and settlements made. It has been the policy to keep each book substantially covered. The covers are renewed when worn or badly soiled. The expense has been considerable, but the advantage seems to justify the outlay.
To some extent in the upper grades, paper has been substituted for slates. This substitution will be extended during the coming year, in the interest of cleanliness and health as well as of habits of neatness and care.
There has been an unusual outlay of $1,228 for music books, occa- sioned by the purchase of a new book for the upper grades, and by the need of preventing the annoyance resulting from the use of the same set of books by different classes. Many books now in use are badly worn, and will need to be replaced during the coming year.
In Tables 2 and 3 in the Appendix the cost of supplies furnished to each school during the year is shown, as well as the cost per capita. In making comparisons it must be noted that some schools were better supplied with materials at the beginning of the year than others. The unusual cost in the Bingham and the Durell Schools is caused by the opening of new rooms.
XV. WORK OF SPECIAL TEACHERS.
No reports from special teachers have been requested. It is, how- ever, but just to them to say that they have conducted their special departments during the year with enthusiasm and success.
Drawing, under the direction of its efficient Supervisor, has made steady progress. Increased skill and relish for the work, as well as a growing taste for the beautiful are apparent in all the grades. The time spent upon drawing in the primary grades has been slightly re- duced and given to music and language.
As heretofore, two systems of teaching music have been in use during the year, the Normal method in the five lower grades, and the National system in the other grades, including the High School. Under the guidance of the enthusiastic Director, the lower grades have made remarkable progress. Theory and practice have kept step with each other, and a permanent foundation has been laid for ad-
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vanced work. The difficulties of transition from one system to another in the sixth grade have this year been hardly noticeable.
Of the work in music in the upper grammar grades and in the High School, it need only be said that it has been under the direction of the veteran teacher of music, so intimately connected with the musical taste and culture of the present generation of Somerville citizens. The crowded condition of the High School has interfered somewhat with the best results, but the completion of the new building will give an impetus to the work in this direction, and will require a readjustment of the time of the instructors.
Sewing continues to be taught to the girls of the fourth to the seventh grades inclusive, in the same methodical and scientific way, by the two teachers who have given character and distinction to the Som- erville system of teaching sewing. No work done in our schools is more practical or furnishes better training. It should be supplemented by instruction in cooking, given to the girls of the eighth and ninth grades.
In accordance with the recommendation made in the last annual report, the efficient services of a special instructor in the Ling system of gymnastics were secured at the beginning of the school year in September. New interest and enthusiasm have been awakened, and the exercises have taken on fresh life and vigor. If the same services can be continued for the remainder of the school year, the work will be estab- lished on a permanent basis, and can thenceforth be conducted by the regular teachers.
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