USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Town annual report of Quincy 1879 > Part 8
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2
5
II
26
Jeremiah Hallahan,
89
March
I
John McConarty,
I
6
25
2
Thomas McConarty,
2
IO
25
2
Henry F. Barker,
39
4
20
7
Margaret Greenough,
I
5
8
Henry Louis Badger,
I
4
23
22
Lucretia Foster,
78
8
22
James E. Maxim,
I
II
24
Charles H. Pratt,
24
3
24
Charles Cook,
60
4
28
Grace Cummings,
II
2
28
Patrick J. Moynihan,
16
I
1.4
29
Thomas Flynn,
37
3
29
William R. Dimmock,
42
I
I
Lawrence Rossiter,
65
7
I
Charles R. Cook,
22
3
3
Sarah R. Cook,
50
5
19
3
Elizabeth Gilrain,
14
7
3
Mary W. Goodwin,
69
9
5
Olive S. Sargent,
54
I
12
Nancy Gay,
87
5
18
David A. Phillips,
81
19
Lawrence H. Rooney,
6
6
2
23
Addie C. Beal,
23
8
21
26
Mabel E. Matthews,
II
S
27
Bridget McInerny,
66
May
I
Abbie M. Dee,
61
I
James P. Rooney,
6
20
5
Mary E. Gay,
59
8
4
5
George W. Simons,
7
4
6
Emma Prout,
8
6
6
Mary A. Frederick,
27
5
6
Rebecca Wild,
82
3
22
8
Margaret McCabe,
36
8
J. Eddie Parrot,
9
18
12
Mary Walsh,
33
April
Years.
Mths.
Days*
145
Date.
Name.
Age.
Mths.
Days.
May
I3
James Freil,
42
1 5
Thomas W. Horan,
I
4
18
William McCabe,
I
4
20
Emma F. Gordon,
O
24
Harvey French,
72
6
13
1
25
James Grady,
26
19
26
Lida J. Page,
43
IO
27
James Murphy,
32
31
Elizabeth Jemett,
81
4
31
Johanna Falvey,
55
June
6
Harry O. Wadmore,
I
8
Mary Hardwick,
78
IO
7
8
Maggie Cleverly,
5
8
Mary Mahoney,
43
IO
3
II
Henrietta Gould,
13
6
II
12
Annie Gould,
4
2
1 4
I7
Sarah A. Ellison,
71
2
17
James Berry,
I
17
Richard Berry,
4
7
20
19
Winifred Garbarino,
2
IO
20
22
Mary Ellen Mahoney,
5 12
27
Stillman H. Leavitt,
28
5
27
James Lowe,
74
29
E. Augustus Richards,
54
July
3
Margaret Egan,
80
4
James Reed,
48
4
John W. Robie,
47
5
Galen V. Bowditch,
70
4
13
6
Peter C. Brock,
73
7
7
Henry Littlefield,
73
IO
Alice M. Loring,
25
4
5
13
Emiline F. Turner,
60
5
16
Nancy Bent,
88
9
I
16
George Darby,
79
17
William P. Baker,
73
3
18
18
Harriet C. Tucker,
20
I
14
18
James G. Berry,
I
IO
20
Theodore Trosk,
65
8
3
21
Michael Doherty.
55
24
Robert T. Hayes,
28
6
28
1
Years.
146
Date.
Name.
Age.
Miths.
Days
31
Thomas F. Callahan,
I
4
August
4
Margaret Barry,
7
4
5
Lucretia Dunn,
8
II
Hannah E. Tobin,
I
9
16
Joseph Foster,
5
4
17
Mary Bowton,
4
15
22
Mary Agnes Lyons,
I
II
22
James Connelly,
3
9
September
2
Frances E. Ayres,
61
IO
7
Sarah E. Butland,
43
I
13
9
Edith Chester Bates,
I
7
26
12
Eleazer Frederick,
72
5
3
12
Levi L. Learned,
42
I
7
20
Henry F. Noble,
I
14
20
Edward M. Dole,
18
27
25
George Washington Prentice,
70
7
27
Susan W. Shaw,
55
8
5
30
Elizabeth J. Walters,
25
2
17
October
I
Susan Gove,
92
6
I
Charles Edward Hikock,
3
2
John James Shea,
I
3
I
2
- Burns,
O
3
Lucy Packard,
93
4
Mary Gorman,
28
6
Gertrude G. Keegan,
8
4
6
6
John A. Hasey,
39
8
James Boyle,
28
IO
8
Charles H. Morgan,
32
8
Edwin R. White,
32
9
.
Edward Doherty,
40
8
Alexander Green,
42
8
Paul Crowley,
48
8
Michael F. Wells,
48
8
Patrick Reagan,
28
6
21
8
Margaret Faulkner,
34
8
Bernard Collins,
26
8
William C. Stevens,
25
8
John T. Day, Jr.,
21
6
8
20
Lena F. Roberts,
3
Mary Ann White,
Years.
8
I47
Date.
Name.
Age.
Years.
Mths.
Days
October
8
Michael J. Caffery,
21
6
8
-
- Sullivan,
O
20
Catherine Malone,
80
5
21
Lizzie Horan,
8
7
22
Stillman K. Cudworth,
4
5
23
Jonas Stevens,
60
28
Mary Hull Claflin,
9
7
November
4
Alfred Hall,
5
2
14
IO
Rachei McDonald,
24
14
Mildred Wells,
2
6
9
16
Augusta J. Arnold,
53
5
14
20
Daniel Mahoney,
50
20
Dorcas Graves,
69
21
William Kent,
I
3
22
Ambrose M. Burrell,
61
2
9
23
Mary E. Baker,
22
I
18
24
Elizabeth G. Arnold,
34
3
6
25
Mary Gertrude O'Neil,
4
25
26
Hannah J. Rossiter,
29
3
24
30
- - McDonald,
0
December
I
Rupert Wadsworth Claflin,
5
IO
I5
I
Elizabeth Garrity,
59
7
24
2
Helen May Hinsdale,
5
6
17
3
Annie M. Corcoran,
6
3
I
4
Annie T. Gullicksen,
3
I
28
7
Freddie Hass,
O
8
E'lla Howe Hodges,
2
8
8
15
·Jeremiah J. Sullivan,
18
10
19
Daniel Sullivan,
3
5
22
24
James Doyle,
42
25
Joseph Provost,
I
7
27
Stetson K. Tarbox,
4
I
7
27
Ellen Cole,
6
3
27
Richard R. Ellis,
49
9
27
Gracie Mabel Pope,
6
6
29
Mary Ann Sullivan,
24
29
Frank Hughes Cannon,
2
9
31
Jessie Barnes,
4
3
27
30
David Shannon,
53
148
REGISTRATION OF DEATHS WHICH OCCURRED IN OTHER PLACES, THE BURIAL BEING IN QUINCY.
Date.
Name.
Age.
Place of Death.
Jan
6
David J. Burrell,
46
I
Taunton.
4
Elihu A. Nightingale,
Brockton.
23
Mary McClay,
70
2
4
Boston.
23
John A. Burns,
34
9
April
12
George Tyler Bigelow,
67
6
6
Boston.
May
II
Albert G. Savory,
62
6
Chelsea.
15
Martha B. A. Arey,
15
9
15
Woburn.
June
15
Katie Reardon,
9
2
5
Concord, N.H.
July
12
Geo W. Nutter,
61
6
19
Braintree,
29
Frank M. Marden,
34
IO
Togus, Me.
Aug.
IO
Susan Newhall,
74
3
Boston.
13
Edward W. West,
36
6
Waltham.
18
Mary Emily Arnold,
2
5
Braintree.
21
Elsie J. Hobart,
88
I
Abington ..
Sept.
3
Mertie F. Page,
4
25
Boston.
12
Charles W. Shaw,
5
Dedham.
19
Mary Phinney,
78
Taunton.
Oct.
3
Annis A. Lincoln,
82
2 IO
Norton.
8
Hattie G. Hayden,
20
Malden.
Nov.
5
Frederick D. Costeric,
55
2
4
Boston.
10
Eunice B. Pierce,
57
6
14
Boston.
14
Matilda L. Wedelin,
58
7
So. Boston.
18
Lena D. Capen,
2
16
Stoughton.
18
Geoege D. Newcomb,
50
5
12
Braintree.
Years. Mths. Days.
Noah H. Marston,
Greenland, N.H.
Jacksonville, Pa.
149
GENERAL RECORD.
Total number of death registered, 217.
Males.
Females.
Total.
January,
19
15
34
February,
3
7
IO
March,
IO
3
13
April,
5
8
13
May,.
10
12
22
June,
6
9
15
July, ..
14
5
19
August,
3
9
12
September,
5
9
14
October,
19
IO
29
November,
6
12
18
December,
9
9
18
108
217
Number.
Under 1 year of age
36
Between I and 10 years of age
66
10
20
66
20
66
30
66
66
66
30
66
40
66
16
66
40
50
66
66
66
21
66
60
70
6.
17
66
70
So
66
66
18
80
90
66
6.
II
66
90 " 100
66
66
2
217
66
¥ 66
9
20
19
66
50
60
48
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF QUINCY,
FOR THE
SCHOOL YEAR 1878-79.
School Committee.
JOHN Q. ADAMS, JAMES H. SLADE,
CHARLES F. ADAMS, JR.,
CHARLES L. BADGER, JASON G. WITHAM, EDWIN W. MARSH.
Superintendent.
FRANCIS W. PARKER.
BOSTON: COCHRANE & SAMPSON, PRINTERS, 9 BROMFIELD STREET.
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
Nearly four years have elapsed since the town adopted a system of superintendence by a salaried expert to supplement the general oversight and direction of its public schools, by the committee chosen by the people.
The practical working and results of this measure have been carefully reported, from time to time, as they gradually man- ifested themselves, to the inhabitants of Quincy.
It has been confidently claimed in the reports of your com- mittee, for three years past, that the town has derived very im- portant benefits from this service, and in several directions.
The report of 1877 described at some length the changes in methods of discipline and instruction which were then in prog- ress, and indicated the apparent advantages attained or antici- pated.
The report submitted in March last devoted a considerable space to the relative economy of the system as shown in dollars and cents, and, while it proved an actual reduction in rate per head, it claimed that if it were possible to demonstrate, by a similiar kind of contrast, the comparative value of the moral and intellectual product now and then, a far greater constructive economy would be disclosed.
During the year which closed February 1, 1879, the number of pupils receiving instruction in the public schools has been about one hundred more than the average of the year preceding, but the cost of maintaining them has been $29,628.41, against $29,926.17 for the former year. And, in order to enable every citizen to ascertain the actual and comparative expenses in- curred per pupil during the past year, the statistical tables, first published in our last report, are reprinted here with the addition
(155)
156
of the figures for the year ending February 1, 1879. A glance at these tables will show a decrease in cost, as calculated by units of "average daily attendance," as compared with the pre- ceding year of $1.10, and as compared with 1875 of $1.50. Or if we adopt the more reliable and legitimate basis of the " whole number of scholars," it appears that we pay $1.07 per head less this year than last, and $3.86 less than in 1875. In other words we educate more scholars for about the same money.
No. I.
YEAR.
Total ordi- nary school expenses. *
Whole number of schol- ars.t
Average am't expended for each scholar. sch'ls. #
Average number in
Amount expended for each scholar
Average daily of the aver- attendance age number ofsch'l'rs.§ in schools.
Amount expended for each scholar of the average number in daily attendance.
1875
$30, 170.60 1,544
$19.54
1,363
$22.13
1,30I
$23.19
1876
30,605.62
1,784
17.15
1,40I
21.84
1,335
22.92
1877
31,293.92
1,868
16.75
1,436
21.94
1,373
22.79
1878
30,628.41
1,953
15.68
1,484
20.64
1,413
21.69
* This includes salaries, fuel, repairs of an ordinary character, and every- thing except additions to buildings or furniture.
+ This includes all the scholars who have attended the schools during the year, irrespective of the length of attendance. The name of no scholar is registered twice.
# The average number of scholars is obtained by dividing the aggregate number of days' membership of all the scholars by the number of school days.
§ The comparatively small average and daily attendance was caused by the prevalence of diphtheria.
No. 2.
High School.
Adams School.
Coddington School.
Quincy School.
Washington School.
Willard School.
Wollaston School.
Year.
Amount spent.
Scholars enrolled.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
1875
$2,963 69
63
47.03
$5,975 00 377
$15.85
$4,877 25 207
$23.56
$3,285 35
165
$5,232 96
$6,222 98
402
$15.72 12.69
2,337 50
126
18.55
1877
2,740 23
112
24.43
6,005 15
439
13.67
5,015 43 247
20.30
3,453 57
210
4,758 42
264
6,633 25
499
13.29
2,787 56
148
18.83
1878
2,796 26
I37
20.41
5,832 55
436
13.37
4,798 66
274
17.51
3,215 79
195
16.48
4,594.52
284
16.18
6,805 80
528
12.89
2,568 30
I66
15.47
$2,481 08
100 $24.81
1876
2,649 97
77
34.41
6,098 63
421
14.48
5,057 65
246
20.56
3,741 52
198
$19.91 18.89 16.45
4,480 42 244
230 $22.75 18.36 18.00
6,158 21
485
158
But, while the cost of instruction has decreased, the quality of the product has not deteriorated. On the contrary, we are getting a greater actual value per dollar expended than we did last year or the year before, or, indeed, in any year known to your committee. Now although we are amply justified by the many facts within our personal observation in stating the fore- going deduction as an established truth, still we cannot but feel sensible of the difficulties of spreading the grounds of our con- fidence before the town. It were greatly to be desired, if the expense were less considerable, that an accurate test of the comparative proficiency of certain classes of pupils of equal ages in a few familiar branches in 1875 and 1879 might be offered by contrasting fac-simile examination papers in such studies as writing, spelling, language and geography.
In other words we should like to show to every tax-payer what kind of competence, for instance, in writing English cor- rectly, the money he then spent bought him, and what he buys with his present expenditure. So much might be readily and plainly shown by a reproduction of a sufficient number of average papers, and such an exhibition would be a valuable exhibit, and an instructive lesson in the present stage of edu- cational work in this town. But it would not be at all com- plete or exhaustive. The improvement in reading is very strik- ing and gratifying, but it cannot be gauged by such a test. It must be heard to be appreciated. The same consideration applies to arithmetic. In it the method of teaching is more important than the mere solution of problems, and the intelligent examiner cares more for the cultivation of habits of rational investigation than for rote facility.
Nor can the most important element in the composition of good schools be presented at all by any plan of examination short of the personal and patient study of many schools at many widely separated times by an experienced observer. That moral atmosphere and pervading tone which more than all else distinguishes good from bad or indifferent schools, can only be thoroughly appreciated by those who have given some attention to the science of teaching. This subject was dwelt upon at
.
I59
some length in our report for the year 1877, and its importance . justifies reiterated and sustained observation. We believe there is no surer token that your children are working advantageously than to see that they are working cheerfully, intelligently and happily. Now, marked as are the other changes which an ob- server might note in the Quincy schools in ten years past, the mightiest change would be found just there.
The general conclusion which we would deduce from all our previous reports and multiplied observation and study, and which we desire to impress upon the town, is that the people of Quincy have reaped and are gathering to-day a harvest of greater volume and value from their adoption of the system of superintendence than the committee ventured either to antici- pate or promise.
The excellence or peculiarity of our schools has excited a great deal of interest among those persons more particularly observant of such matters, and the somewhat embarrassing attention of previous years has been considerably exceeded in the last. The number of vistors from abroad, indeed, has some- times suggested an apprehension that we might be fostering a tendency to show and display, and that teacher and scholar alike might be injured by coming to consider themselves phenomenal exemplars. We shall carefully shun so disastrous a result, and endeavor to avoid alike a narrow and churlish ex- clusion and the encouragement of a spirit of vain and self-con- scious parade. Certainly none feel more acutely than the committee how poor and meagre are the best results we have yet attained, compared with the standard which we hold up and point to.
The term of four years, during which our Superintendent engaged to give us his services, if the town should require them so long, at a rate of salary fixed at two thousand dollars per annum, will expire in April next. This may seem, then, an appropriate occasion for once more renewing our acknowledg- ments of the great benefit which we think the town has derived from his skill, knowledge and ability. To him this town owes a debt of gratitude for the great advance which has been secured
160
in our educational methods, and more especially for his peculiar skill in smoothing the roughness of the earliest steps for little feet. It is not too much to say that he has transformed our infant schools from painful to pleasant places. While we are sensible that such a man is hardly doing justice to himself or his vocation in working much longer in so limited a sphere for such small pay, we are not prepared, in these days of retrench- ment, to beg the town for more money to offer him. But we shall certainly do our best to retain him as long as we can, at his present salary, if he can be induced to stay upon these terms.
The scope and detail of his year's labor, together with his suggestions and observations respecting the theory and prac- tice of our schools, will be found in his report, which we submit herewith. In it will be found much matter of general as well as local interest, and we urge its careful perusal upon all who wish to know what we have done, and how we have done it, and what we aim to do hereafter.
The growing inadequacy of the High School's accommoda- tions was spoken of in our last report, and since that time the inconvenience has become so great as to absolutely require a remedy. This may be found at a small expense by appropriating and remodelling the two rooms on the ground floor, now occu- pied by primary schools of the South district. But as they, if dislodged here, must be provided with places elsewhere, the committee found themselves forced to determine upon some plan of adequate enlargement for the school population of the southern part of the town. It is manifestly wasteful in a grow- ing town to make expensive alterations which are only ade- quate for pressing present needs. It is better to anticipate the probable requirements of a moderate term of future expansion. And when considerable alteration is to be made in the South district the temporary or total disuse of the old stone school- house should be an element in the problem. The two rooms in that building are very ill-ventilated, antiquated and inconvenient, and ought, if possible, to be disused. Bearing these conditions in mind the question resolved itself into two branches. Was it better to build a new house equipped for a complete graded plan
16I
from A Grammar to the lowest primary, at some point midway between the Adams and the Willard school-houses, or add to and remodel the Adams school-house in a way similar to the alterations made a few years ago at the West. Two considera- tions mainly weighed with the committee in deciding to recom- mend the latter alternative.
In the first place the immediate expense will be less, and secondly the annual charges would be not nearly so heavy for salaries. The salary of a male principal of a grammer school is considerably more than double that of a primary teacher, and then it is not more Grammar School teachers that we need. The superior schools are not full, the infant schools are crowded and continually overflowing. And in addition to this sufficient reason we find so great an increase in economy and efficiency as we collect and grade, that we wish all the children that can reasonably reach any given school nucleus to be there gathered and taught under one roof. We should wish then to add six, and we must add four, new school-rooms to the Adams building, and abandon the High school-house permanently to its proper use, and the old stone school-house until we are compelled to return to it.
The estimated cost of the alteration in the Adams school- house will be eight thousand dollars.
Some small addition of land to the present lot is very much needed ; an article has been introduced in the Town Warrant to authorize the committee to secure it.
It may be proper to add that still another plan has not escaped the notice of the committee, and it has been somewhat debated whether true economy would not dictate the erection at this time of a complete modern brick school-house proportioned to the probable demands of thirty years to come. Such a house would require the purchase of additional land for a yard, and would probably entail an outlay of about thirty thousand dollars. Such a sum seemed to the majority of the committee too heavy an expense to be proposed in times like these if for a reasonable amount we can probably secure very fair accommodation for some ten years yet. The substantial rebuilding of four of our
162
school edifices upon an enlarged and improved plan may prob- ably be forced upon us within that period, but we may hope that the heavy burden which the town will then be compelled to take up may be laid upon shoulders more capable of carry- ing it without distress.
The High School numbered nearly one hundred pupils during the last term, and may be expected to receive an increase of twenty-five to fifty more at the next admission. It will then require not only all the room released by the removal of the two primaries, but a second assistant teacher will be indispen- sable. Such a lady as might be expected to fill such a place would require a salary of about five hundred dollars. And that sum is added to our estimate of annual expenditure for that department.
It is estimated that the sum of one thousand dollars will be sufficient to make the alterations necessary in the High School building, to paint, repair and freshen up the rooms, and supply such additional desks and seats as its increased complement of attendance will require.
At the Washington School an extraordinary outlay of five hundred dollars is asked for to make needful repairs and supply some new desks.
The character of the privies at the Coddington School and their proximity to the rear windows of the house have long been sources of anxiety and alarm to the committee. Only a pre- dominant desire to avoid every expense which could be pos- sibly postponed has delayed an appeal to the town for a suitable and wholesome building at this point for their use. If no other reason could be urged the sanitary plea ought to be irresistible. Some fencing will also be requisite about the yards. These expenses cannot be set down at less than six hundred dollars, and we accordingly ask for that sum for this purpose.
The houses at Atlantic and Wollaston have not been painted since they were built and are suffering for fresh coats of paint, which it is calculated will cost about five hundred dollars for the two. To this sum should be added a further amount of $ 120 required for additional seats and desks.
163
-
To recapitulate and condense our financial statement for the year before us, we expect to pay -
For Teachers' salaries,
$23,595
Care of rooms,
1,785
Fuel,
1,100
Transportation,
800
Incidentals,
2,400
Books,
300
Alterations in Adams,
8,000
" High School,
1,000
Coddington,
600
Painting Atlantic and Wollaston,
500
Desks,
I20
Repair and desks, Washington,
500
Willard, repairs,
300
Superintendent's salary,
2,000
$43,000
In dividing the foregoing items in the customary manner we propose to ask -
For Salaries of teachers, care of rooms
and fuel,
$26,480
Transportation of children,
800
Repairs, &c.,
2,020
High School-house alteration,
1,000
Adams do do.
8,000
Incidental expenses,
2,400
Books,
300
$41,000
Superintendent's salary,
2,000
$43,000
J. Q. ADAMS,
C. L. BADGER, JAS. H. SLADE, EDWIN W. MARSH, C. F. ADAMS, JR., JASON G. WITHAM.
-
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT.
To the School Committee of Quincy : -
In accordance with your instructions I submit this report of my supervision of the Quincy Schools during the last four years.
In performing my duties as supervisor I have followed a plan, the outlines of which I had developed during twenty years of teaching and supervision. This plan is founded upon the pur- poses of Public Schools, which are, first of all, to prepare chil- dren for usefulness as citizens. The Republic guarantees its security, permanence and progress, by means of Common Schools. The immediate, primary motive of common educa- tion is to teach and train children to work, to form habits of sys- tematic work, to love work, and to put their brains into work. I would have every boy or girl who graduates from our Public Schools fully prepared to master the details of whatever trade, business or profession he or she may enter upon ; and to this end every step of school work, from beginning to the close, should be directed.
The most important and the most difficult duty of supervision is the selection and recommendation of teachers for your ap- proval. It is a common error to suppose that a supply of effi- cient instructors is ever ready at hand. This mistake arises from the fact that great numbers of College, High and Normal School graduates are continually applying for positions as teach- ers. It is true that a single advertisement for a teacher will bring hundreds of applications ; and it is also true that all the applicants may be carefully examined, and oftentimes not one really good teacher be found among them. It is common for superintendents and masters who can offer the highest salaries to search long and unsuccessfully for the proper person to fill a
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vacancy, even when the very lowest standard of a good teacher is taken. By the lowest standard I mean the ability to govern a school well. Cultivated, refined, trained artists in teaching are rare. The very low order of work usually required in Com- mon Schools is the prime reason for this alarming scarcity of competent instructors. Ordinary school-keeping, burdened by arbitrary courses of study, regulations and fixed methods of pro- cedure, has a strong tendency to degrade and depress the minds of teachers. Of the great number of school teachers in the Commonwealth, very few are growing into a better knowledge of the art of mind-development. An almost insuperable preju- dice against natural teaching, on the part of school committees, and even superintendents, generally stands directly in the path of all progress in this direction. I have thus briefly stated the greatest obstacle to successful supervision in order to make plain that which has of necessity taken most of my time and study in the management of the Quincy Schools.
The stumbling-block on the threshold was the lack of trained teachers.
The principles of instruction that I am trying to make the foundation of all the teaching in Quincy were long since dis- covered and established. With a few exceptions in minor points, all the eminent writers upon philosophical teaching, from Bacon to Spencer, have explained these principles and urged their application in practice. There has been no famous teacher for the last two hundred years who does not owe his fame to the application of them. The main laws of mind-development are so plain as to be almost self-evident to all who see them with unpre- judiced eyes. No intelligent person denies that the knowledge which underlies all knowledge and mental development comes into the mind through the senses. The products of sense-percep- tion can be compared and combined by reason and imagination. The strength gained in perception, reason and imagination is mental activity. Words (objects in themselves) are used simply to recall these products of self-perception, their comparisons and combinations. The teacher can present occasions for the proper action of the mind through the senses, and when the
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