USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1896 > Part 14
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The work of elementary science has been materially changed, chiefly in the direction of definiteness, and the time devoted to it somewhat increased. The course in physiology has been made more specific, the work of each grade being in- dicated in detail. In nature-work the six lower grades have clearly defined courses in the study of plant and animal life, while the seventh and eighth grades are given the study of soils, rocks, and minerals. A detailed course in physics has been laid out for the ninth grade. The success and value of the entire course in elementary science are dependent on the methods of teachers. If they pervert it into the simple acquisition of facts, or the communication of knowledge in isolated or illogical form, instead of using it to train the powers of observation and analysis, to foster the study and love of nature itself, and to furnish the basis of the expression of thought in language and drawing, it will fail utterly of its object.
In reading and literature the suggestions are based on the conviction that children cannot learn to read and cannot ac- quire a love for good reading,-objects of equal and exceeding importance,-without being brought in some way into contact with books, with good literature, to a much larger extent than is provided by the meagre excerpts of the ordinary school reader. Hence, books that may be read to children by the teacher to excite the interest and whet the appetite, books that may be read by children with profit, and selections for memori- zing from standard writers, are suggested. Teachers are urged
276
ANNUAL REPORTS.
to co-operate with the Public Library authorities and avail themselves and their classes of the generous opportunities thus offered, and by all the means in their power to cultivate the taste and the desire for what is best in the great world of books.
The course in drawing is given in a general plan, on which detailed directions will be based and sent to teachers by the Su- pervisor from time to time.
Sewing continues to be taught in grades four to eight in- clusive along the lines of the old course. Boys of these grades are to be occupied during the sewing hour with mechanical drawing.
The work in music, which for some reason was not given in the old course, is outlined in detail in the revised course of study.
Certain general principles that are fundamental in teaching penmanship are presented, without any attempt to limit or di- rect the work of the several grades.
One hour each week is to be devoted to physical training in each grade according to the Swedish system of gymnastics as laid down in Enebuske's Day's Orders.
The courses for the High schools are substantially those that have been in use since the establishment of the separate schools. The characteristic feature of the English High School course is in the number of elective studies and in the wide range of subjects covered.
In general, it may be remarked regarding the revised ele- mentary course that it provides a sufficiently large variety of subjects for the symmetrical development of all the faculties and powers of the child, that it will fit him within a reasonable time for any lines of higher instruction, and that it affords a fairly practical equipment to those children whose circumstances force them out of school prematurely.
Of course everything depends upon the skill, and ability, and judgment displayed by teachers in the use they make of the course. Blind, unreasoning adherence to it is to be deprecated. Its flexibility is to be recognized. It is for guidance rather than for government. The circumstances of the class and of the in-
277
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
dividual are always to be considered, and no sacrifice of their interests for the sake of a system or a curriculum is to be ex- pected. The good of the child is the end-all and the be-all of the school, and to this policies, programmes, and theories are subservient and must give way. They can never serve as a sub- stitute for the intelligent, discriminating teacher upon whose judgment, character, and inspiration the success of our schools chiefly depends.
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND THE SCHOOLS.
In the last annual report mention was made of plans in con - templation for placing the schools more directly in touch with the Public Library. Through the interest and courtesy of its trustees and librarian the teachers of the schools and the pupils of the upper grades have been accorded every facility for the use of books. Cards have been issued to teachers enabling them to draw an unlimited number of books for class and schoolroom use. Pupils of the two upper grammar grades have received cards, and selected books have been delivered and collected each week at each of the large .school buildings at the expense of Library funds. The number of books delivered at each building since the plan was initiated is as follows :-
SCHOOL.
Books. 916
Deliveries.
Ave. No. Books.
Prescott .
28
33
Edgerly .
1,659
28
59
Pope
795
28
28
Knapp
1,464
28
52
Bell
564
24
24
Morse
951
28
34
Glines
.
69
2
35
Highland
834
28
30
Forster
1,302
28
47
Hodgkins
385
11
35
Total .
. 8,939
·
. .
278
ANNUAL REPORTS.
In addition to books supplied in this way, sets of from twenty-five to fifty books have been sent to several of the schools for the home reading of pupils in lower grades, the Principal assuming the responsibility for their careful use and safe return. Under direction of teachers who are deeply interested in its suc- cess, this method of circulating books has proved of great ad- vantage. The books are carefully selected, and comprise works of history, biography, travel, and the best fiction. They are in constant circulation. Parents read them as well as the children. The studies of the school are supplemented and reinforced. A taste for good books is being cultivated, and the lives of the children are made better and happier. It is to be hoped that this plan may be widely extended, and it would be competent and equitable for the School Department to share the burden of expense.
A taste for good reading is an invaluable acquisition. With the majority of children it is an acquired rather than a natural taste. In all children, however, it may be cultivated and de- veloped by careful and judicious training. A few homes fur- nish this training abundantly. Some others give a modicum of it. If the great majority of children ever receive it, however, it must be given them by cultured and sympathetic teachers in the public schools. Indeed, such teachers can always do this work much better than tired and overworked fathers and mothers.
It will not do to defer the solution of the problem until the later years of school life. It is then often too late to form a habit and to divert the thought and attention into this from other less profitable channels. It must be remembered that the great majority of children complete their education at or before the age of fourteen. The task must be begun early. Long be- fore the child has learned to read he may be attracted and charmed by hearing read or told the rhymes, and jingles, and fables, and stories that have delighted a dozen generations and become classic literature for the young. What he hears must first of all be attractive; it must be what he likes. Emotions of pleasure must be excited, and the child led on step by step from the lower to the higher .. He may begin, if you please, with the
279
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
old, old nursery rhymes that always stir the interest and fancy of childhood. These may be followed by the fairy stories and myths and fables so often told and yet always so fresh and new, in which the teachings of long experience are embodied, "legends and tales which form the traditional stock of the fan- cies and sentiments of the race." With these the child may first become familiar by hearing, and when he learns to read them for himself he greets them as old friends. Passing from the fairy land of fancy and fable the child enters the wide and bound- less fields of literature. Without a guide he is soon lost. Within the limits of his intelligence and understanding he must hear and be led to read the best books,-books that will broaden his interest and knowledge of the world in which he lives, that will excite and develop the imagination, that will quicken his sym- pathies with what is right and true, that will kindle in him moral sentiment and purpose, and that will lead him to imitate in char- acter and action what is pure and ennobling. To stimulate and direct his choice he needs a friend, cultured, sympathetic, help- ful. In no other part of her work can the true teacher render such permanent, such invaluable aid. In no other way can her influence be so lasting or so powerful.
When we reflect on how little some boys and girls read, when we think that in many, perhaps the majority of cases, the few lines through which they stumble in the school reading exercises cover it all, we cease to wonder that books have no attraction for them. To learn to read and to love to do it, chil- dren must read not lines but pages, not pages but volumes. They must be saturated with reading. They must be supplied with good literature in profusion. They must be educated as carefully, and patiently, and wisely along these lines as along any. No richer reward can any teacher ask than that which accompanies and follows wisely directed efforts in this direction.
EVENING SCHOOLS.
Four evening schools have been in session during the year. At the request of the pupils in attendance, the Prescott Evening School was continued during the first two months of 1896.
280
ANNUAL REPORTS.
October 1, schools were opened at the Prescott, Bell, and High- land buildings. The school at the Highland was closed in the middle of November from lack of patronage. During the second week in October, in response to petition, a school was opened at the Forster building. The attendance at these schools has been fairly good. The usual number dropped out early in the season, leaving the purposeful and determined ones free to en- joy the advantages of the schools undisturbed. So much in- terest has been manifested by the pupils that in answer to their request the schools are to resume their sessions after the holi- days.
The evening school for industrial and free-hand drawing was opened October 1, with unusually large numbers. In each department there are three classes, the most advanced free-hand class occupying the drawing-room of the English High School. The law requires the city to provide instruction in industrial drawing for all persons over fifteen years of age. As the Eng- lish High School furnishes both industrial and free-hand draw- ing as optional studies, pupils from that school were excluded from the evening classes. Grammar school pupils were refused permission to attend the free-hand class, this form of drawing being taught in the day school. The report of attendance and cost will be found elsewhere.
SPECIAL TEACHERS.
The Board employs six special teachers or supervisors. The director of drawing gives her entire time enthusiastically to the work, visiting each Grammar and Primary school once in three weeks. Friday of each week is reserved for special visits where most needed. No books are used. Outlines of work for each grade are issued in detail in September and January of each year, drawings being made in pencil or color on loose sheets. Great interest and enthusiasm are manifested from lowest grades to highest and gratifying progress is made. Similar outlines in mechanical drawing are issued for the guidance of boys in those grades in which sewing is taught. To show the character of the work two outlines are appended.
281
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
OUTLINE OF LESSONS IN DRAWING. GRADE III. FROM JANUARY TO JUNE, 1897.
Seventeenth Week.
Study of green group - yellow-green, blue-green : collect examples. Drawing from an elliptical object. Illustrative sketch involving ellipse.
Eighteenth
Study of oval as plane figure ; teach axis : collect objects and illustrations.
Week.
Study of oval objects and illustrations. Practice oval movement.
Nineteenth
Week.
Review green group : classify examples. Drawing from oval object. Sheet VII. Illustrative sketch involving oval.
Twentieth
Week.
Comparative review of curvilinear figures.
Twenty-first
Week.
Study isosceles triangle as plane figure, with details. Study equilateral triangle.
Twenty-second Week.
Practice drawing the different triangles.
Drawing from triangular object. Sheet VIII.
Twenty-third Week.
Illustrative sketch involving an isosceles or equilateral triangle.
Drawing of circular object involving judgment of pro- portion. Sheet IX.
Twenty-fourth Week.
Drawing of elliptical object involving judgment of pro- portion. Sheet X. Drawing of oval object involving judgment of proportion. Sheet XI.
Twenty-fifth Week.
Teach violet group - blue-violet, red-violet. Review of plane figures studied.
Test ability to draw them of different proportions and in different positions.
Twenty-sixth Week.
Review violet group : classify examples.
Review of borders and rosettes, using terms repetition and alternation.
Study of blue group - green-blue and violet blue : collect examples.
Review blue group : classify examples.
282
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Twenty-seventh Study and drawing of selected borders or rosettes. Week. Sheet XII.
General review of hues.
Twenty-eighth Week.
Teaching of surface patterns and their uses : collect ex- amples. Study of collected examples, using terms - unit, repeat, space.
Twenty-ninth Week.
L Classify greys - warm, cool, neutral.
Drawing of selected surface pattern. Sheet XIII. Practice in making original surface pattern.
Thirtieth
Week.
Study of contrasted harmony : collect examples. Drawing of surface pattern in contrasted harmony. Sheet XIV.
Thirty-first
Collection of leaves and flowers resembling geometric figures.
Week.
Sketching of collected examples.
Thirty-third
Week.
Study of space division.
Week.
Practice drawing grasses and simple spring plants.
Thirty-fifth --
Study of decorative arrangements.
Week.
Practice making decorative arrangements, simplest spring plants in oblongs and circles.
Thirty-sixth
Week.
Drawing of decorative arrangement. Sheet XVI.
GRADE VI.
SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, 1896.
NATURE.
Leaves, buds, flowers, seed vessels ; e. g., maple, oak, wild cucumber, clover.
Sheet I. Drawing of leaf and bud, flower, seed-pod, etc., of one plant. (Class exercise. )
Sheet II. Drawing of similar twig. (Individual work.)
Sheet III. Drawing of details of different plant. (Class exer- cise.) Sheet IV. Drawing of details of another plant. (Individual work.)
Thirty-second Week.
Drawing of leaves and flowers previously studied. Sheet XV.
Thirty-fourth
283
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, JANUARY, 1896-7.
MODELS AND OBJECTS. Foreshortening (continued).
Effect of level. a. On unequal circles.
. b. On concentric circles.
Convergence.
One set of retreating edges ( bounding horizontal plane.
vertical
Models : Hollow cylinder, cube, half cylinder.
Objects : Common applications of above models.
Review. - Foreshortening of circle.
Teach. - Convergence.
Study. - Real and apparent centres in circles. Unequal circles at different levels. Concentric circles.
Convergence of one set of retreating edges.
a. Horizontal. 6. Vertical.
Sheet. - Collected illustrations of objects involving principles studied.
Sheet V. Sketches of hollow cylinder standing in different positions below eye. (Class exercise. )
Sheet VI. Drawing of cup and saucer below eye level. (In- dividual work.)
Sheet VII. Sketches of cube showing front and top faces only. Sketches of half cylinder showing two vertical faces and top. (Class exercise. )
Sheet VIII. Drawing of box or book below eye. (Individual work.)
Sheet IX. Drawing of group to illustrate principles studied. (Individual work.)
Sheet X. Drawing of door partly open or of window. (In- dividual work. )
Sheet XI. Drawing from memory of model or object studied. NOTE. Drawings to be preserved.
Encourage sketching out of school.
Two persons direct the work of the schools in music. The supervisor of the six lower grades devotes three days each week to the work of supervision, most of the instruction being given by class teachers. She visits each room once in three weeks, and reserves Thursday afternoons for special visitations. At the beginning of the school year the Introductory Third Music Reader of the Normal Series was placed in the hands of sixth
284
ANNUAL REPORTS.
grade pupils, and books were supplied to lower classes in suffi- cient numbers to render the inconvenient and troublesome ex- change of books among several classes unnecessary.
The musical instructor of the High schools and of the three higher Grammar grades serves the city four days weekly. He gives a half-hour's instruction each week to the 7th, 8th, and 9th grade classes, and spends two periods in each of the High schools. A notable musical event in the school history of Som- erville was the production early in June of Gaul's Cantata of the Holy City, by the pupils of the English High School, under the direction of Mr. Hadley, their instructor. The object was the raising of funds for the art-decoration of the school build- ing. Mr. Hadley has scored many musical triumphs during his long connection with our schools, but it was the unanimous opinions of critics that on the occasion of which we speak all previous efforts were eclipsed. The music was of a high order, and its rendition was worthy of professional organizations.
Sewing is taught by two special teachers to the girls of the 5th, 6th, "th, and 8th grades, 1,449 receiving this instruction at the present time. Each class has a lesson of one hour each week. The interest and profit attending this work are note- worthy. Its practical value is generally recognized, but its edu- cational value commends it more strongly and justifies the ex- pense incurred, which is 83 cents per year for each girl taught.
The sixth specialist employed is the supervisor of penman- ship, who gives the city his entire time, instructing each class below the High schools a half-hour every three weeks. The subject of penmanship has been discussed at some length in the last two school reports. If all the regular teachers could catch the spirit and enthusiasm of the supervisor, the vexed question would be speedily solved. No school-room work yields so low a rate of interest on the investment in the opinion of teachers who want to see immediate results. All along the line the fin- ished product is desired. And yet no one expects to hear Beethoven's sonatas rendered by a school-girl. We must take longer views. To train the muscles of the arm and hand to re- spond with invariable precision to the call of the will, requires
285
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
much time and long practice. The plan pursued is the one fol- lowed for two or three years. It is the movement method. At- tention is fixed on form in the Primary grades, movement being disregarded. Correct movements are demanded in the middle grades and form is sacrificed. In the 8th and 9th grades the re- sult is seen, pupils then writing in an easy style with rapidity and freedom, the product being legible and reasonably graceful. It is the expectation that habits will be so fixed in the 7th grade chil- dren that movement and form can be combined in a pleasing product. Notwithstanding the over-claims made for vertical writing, there is much to be said in its favor, especially for lit- tle children. What its effect will be upon writing in High schools and in business remains yet to be seen. It is significant that commercial colleges, which live by supplying what the business public demands, have thus far made no use of the new system. As to writing in our own schools, we wait with ex- pectant interest the result of the efficient supervising work of the year.
KINDERGARTENS.
In June last the Board adopted a rule authorizing district committees to open kindergartens wherever they deem it wise, not exceeding one for each 800 pupils in the Grammar and Primary schools of the district. At the present time four kinder- gartens are in operation, in the Jackson, Prospect Hill, Glines, and Hodgkins schoolhouses. The attendance for. December is as follows :--
Jackson.
Prospect Hill.
Glines.
Hodg- kıns.
Total.
Number belonging .
41
39
41
45
166
Average attendance .
28
31
32
37
128
Per cent. of attendance
69
85
80
84
78.5
Average age of Children . 4 y. 5 m. 4 y. 7 m. 4 y. 4 y. 7 m. 4 y.
In each of these a trained kindergartner and an assistant are employed, the regular annual salary list being $3,425. The regular daily session extends from 9 o'clock to 12. Teachers are expected to devote such parts of their afternoons as may not
286
ANNUAL REPORTS.
be occupied in preparation for their regular work to visitation at the homes of their pupils. The object of these visits is to acquaint mothers with the aims and character of kindergarten work and to secure their application of its principles and the use of its occupations in the home training of the children. This is recognized as an important part of the kindergartner's work, for while it is always true that the home and the school should co-operate in the work of education, it is especially necessary that mothers should understand the methods and principles of the kindergarten that they may apply them in the home life of the children, which extends over so much larger portion of the time. Then, too, some of the best work of the kindergarten is done with children from poor or unfortunate homes, a personal acquaintance with which often results in marked benefit. In- deed, the kindergarten by common consent is an important fac- tor in uplifting the children of poverty and want. Its power is not only educational but moral, and one of the chief arguments for the establishment and maintenance of kindergartens is the salutary influence they exert in the direction of cleanliness and virtue and the healthful substitutes they offer for occupations that are pernicious and that lead towards vicious lives.
But when the limit of ten kindergartens allowed by the present rule is reached but a small portion of the children be- tween three and a half and five years of age whom it is desirable to benefit will be accommodated.
The value of the kindergarten having been recognized by its incorporation into our school system, we must be prepared to extend its advantages, for until all children receive the pre- paratory training which the kindergarten offers it will be impos- sible to tell how Primary schools can best be modified to meet the results which it produces.
MANUAL TRAINING.
The four forms that manual training takes in public schools are drawing, sewing, wood-working, and cooking. The first two of these, drawing and sewing, are now as well established features of our curriculum as writing and history. No one
287
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
would think of eliminating either, for it could not be done with- out obvious loss. The third form of manual training, and in some respects the most valuable, wood-working, we have intro- duced into the High School course where a relatively small number only can share its advantages. The board has voted, also, to introduce a course in domestic science, one feature of which shall be cooking, but lack of suitable accommodations has thus far prevented. These facts show a recognition on the part of our school authorities of the importance and value of wood-working and cooking as elements in a well-rounded course. Should they not be introduced lower in the grades, so that larger numbers and those whose circumstances do not permit High School attendance, but who would receive from them a greater degree of profit, may enjoy their advantages? Should not the girls of the 8th and 9th grades have instruction in cooking, not only for its practical but also for its educational value? The boys of these grades would greatly profit by a simple course in wood-working. It is feasible to provide accommodations in three different parts of the city for work along these lines. If it shall be thought that the expense involved is not too great, steps should be taken at once to provide needed rooms and equipment that the departments may be opened during the next school year. It may be remarked that under existing conditions the further introduction of manual training into our schools would raise the compulsory school age from fourteen years to fifteen, and this of itself would be a decided advantage to a large class of children.
The claims on which manual training in schools rests are briefly summarized as follows :-
"The period of special aptitude for the different forms of manual dexterity ends with the fourteenth or fifteenth year. The area of the brain which controls the hand and arm is much larger in proportion than that for any part of the body except the face, giving the hands as much importance as the eye, the ear, or the tongue. An untrained hand is a great disadvantage. One mind receives and discharges impressions best through the medium of things; another through words, the symbol of things.
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