USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1875 > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
89
In the ten Grammar schools fourteen teachers have been employed ten as principals and four as assistants. Of the ten principals five are male and five female. A great step of progress was taken when grammar masters were appointed in a part of the Grammar Schools.
There is hardly a teacher at present connected with the manage- ment of these schools that the town might not regret to lose. The attendance in them all has been kept high, and very few scholars who belonged to them at the beginning of the year have fallen off. Among them there exists a generous and healthful rivalry to make the best scholars in all the studies of the department, and to advance the largest proportionate number to the High Schools.
The Grammar Schools stand at the head of our system of common school education. They contain about twenty per cent of the school population. The course of study in them is designed to afford such a knowledge of the common English branches as will fit those who pursue it either for any ordinary business or for' admission to the High School. They aim to have the pupils who pass through them well grounded in a knowledge of the principles and facts of the ele- mentary branches of Arithmetic, Grammar, Geography, United States History, Reading, Spelling, and Writing. In addition to this, through oral instruction given from charts, they should not only receive much valuable information in regard to natural objects and phenomena, and matters of general interest, but also acquire a taste for their continued observation and study. They should also acquire fixed habits of reg- ularity, punctuality, order, application, industry, etc. The realiza- tion of this must be committed mainly to the teachers, and to them, also, must be awarded the credit for whatever of success is attained.
HIGH SCHOOLS.
The two High Schools opened at the beginning of the present year with an aggregate enrolment of a hundred and twenty-six members, sixty- · five at the North and sixty-one at the South. The numbers admitted on examination from the Grammar Schools were as follows : thir- teen boys and eleven girls at the North, and eight boys and fifteen girls at the South. These two schools had each thirty-seven girls in all their classes and a difference of four in the number of boys. The senior classes of the two schools contained twenty-six members, five boys and eleven girls at the North, and three boys and seven girls at the South.
The High Schools are under the management of teachers whose ex- perience extends over many years in the work of their departments,
90
and who are qualified in character, scholarship, and culture to impart the most thorough instruction and discipline to the pupils under their charge. The present senior classes are larger than those of any pre- vious year, and it is hoped that nothing will occur to prevent any mem- ber of them from completing the course and enjoying the honors of graduation. It is gratifying to see so many indications of interest in study, thoroughness in scholarship, and desire to go through the course and enjoy the advantage which an honorable graduation gives.
At the close of the term the North High School left the building it had occupied for so long a time at North Weymouth to enter, at the opening of the present term, the new and commodious building erected especially for them at Weymouth Landing. Each of the two High Schools is now provided with ample and elegant building and school- room accommodations, and it only remains to supply them with appara- tus for experiment and illustration. The appropriation made at the beginning of the term, of $25 to each of the High Schools to purchase apparatus, has been expended, and the beginnings of a set of apparatus made at the South and additions to their set made at the North.'
The two High Schools having become of nearly the same size, and both having the same course of study, both had the same need of an assistant teacher. Accordingly, Miss Alice R. Rogers, who had acted as partial assistant in the South High up to the close of the term, was then made full assistant. The advantages of the two schools for accomplishing results are now nearly equalized.
SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS.
The following table shows the number of school buildings, school rooms, scholars, and average number of scholars per room, in the dif- ferent localities of the town, the average seating capacity per room being sixty :-
Localities.
Buildings.
Rooms.
Scholars.
Sch's per R'm.
North Weymouth
1
2
67
33₺
Old North
1
3
174
58
Weymouth Landing
4
10
480
48
East Weymouth
6
10
507
50.7
South Weymouth
9
15
703
46.8
11
91
By the completion of the new High School building at Weymouth Landing two rooms are added, and the accommodations enjoyed at that part of the town are enlarged in capacity and elegance, and the people of that centre are to be congratulated on the valuable educa- tional influence which the sight and presence of such a building and school will exert.
By the removal of the High School opportunity will be afforded to enlarge the accommodations and improve the grading of the Adams Grammar School at North Weymouth, whenever it shall seem advisa- ble to occupy the two rooms with the sixty-seven scholars now occu- pying one.
One new school building is needed for the accommodation of the people at Weymouth Neck. There are scholars enough at that place to make a good-sized school, and they are so far from the Athens Schools that only a very few are able to attend. The distance from the Neck to the Athens School building is from a mile and a half to two miles, and over a bleak and lonesome road. The number of children there between five and fifteen years of age is forty-six, and the number under the age of five years is twenty-five. The number from that place that attended the Athens Schools during the first term of the present year was eighteen, and the number attending the present or winter term is five. Unless school privileges are carried to them they must remain without them.
The lower schools in the Athens building are so crowded that scholars have to be prematurely advanced to higher grades in order to make room for new scholars in the lower. In consequence of this the efforts of the teachers are crippled and the scholarship of the classes kept down. It would be fortunate if the 'erection of a new school building at the Neck would serve the double purpose of supply and relief. As, however, only a very small number come from the Neck, the withdrawal of these could not materially reduce the numbers at the Athens Schools. To relieve the Athens Schools, accommodate the Neck, and enlarge the Adams Grammar School, let a new building be erected for the children at the Neck who cannot go elsewhere, and then let the division line between the Athens and Adams Grammar School districts be carried a little nearer to the former school, and to a point more nearly midway between the two centres. This would withdraw the surplus scholars from the Athens School, and add enough to fill the two rooms at the Adams.
The largest school in town is the High Street Primary School, at East Weymouth, containing seventy-four scholars in a small and poorly
-
92
ventilated room. For the present this school could be partially relieved by letting more of the scholars attend at the Grant Street Primary.
The most badly constructed, inconvenient, and unpleasant room in town for the accomplishment of the purposes of a school is the room in which the Intermediate School is held on Middle Street. No part of the town, save the one already alluded to, has greater need than East Weymouth of new and commodious school accommodations.
GRADING.
At the close of the first term, and at the suggestion of the ocal com mittee, a more perfect grading of the schools in the Perkins and Mount Pleasant buildings at the Landing was voted, and at the opening of the present term was carried into effect.' In the six Primary and In- termediate schools of these two buildings two had three grades, two two grades, and two one grade. Of the three hundred and two schol- ars in all the classes one hundred and fifty-five were Primary and one hundred and forty-seven Intermediate. These, with a few cases of transfer from one grade to another, were separated into three classes each, and the six new classes thus formed assigned to the six rooms as follows : The Lower and Middle Primary to the rooms of the Perkins building, and the Upper Primary and three Intermediate to those of the Mount Pleasant. The numbers in the new classes, not reckoning the scholars who had left school, were as follows : The Lower Pri- ary, forty-three ; the Middle Primary, forty-eight ; the Upper Pri- mary, forty-eight ; the Lower Intermediate, forty-seven; the Middle Intermediate, forty-eight ; and the Upper Intermediate, forty-eight.
By this arrangement each teacher has charge of only one grade, the advantages of different teachers are equalized, and twice or three times as much attention devoted to each scholar. The third of a mile greater distance a few scholars have to go is more than compensated by the greater advantage enjoyed.
By the transfer of the third grade of the Broad Street Grammar School to the lower room of the High School building, each class of the Grammar School also is under the charge of one teacher.
In no other part of the town are the means at present afforded for introducing this thorough separation of grades. In most parts the population is too scattered and far removed from a common centre to bring together a sufficient number of scholars of each grade to make a
93
thoroughly graded school, and therefore most of the schools must re main with mixed or only partially separated grades. If the Adams Grammar School, the most miscellaneous school in town, containing all the grades from the primary to the high, were to receive more scholars and be divided into two schools to occupy two rooms, its grading and scholarship might be greatly improved.
At East Weymouth, however, all the means exist, so far as nearness to a common centre is concerned, for enjoying all the advantages of a thoroughly graded system. The schools of this part contained, in the first term, five hundred and seven scholars distributed among the three departments as follows : in the primary, two hundred and twenty-eight ; in the intermediate, one hundred and eighty-five ; and in the grammar, ninety-four. This gives an average of seventy-six to a room in the primary, sixty-one and two-thirds in the intermediate, thirty-one and a third in the grammar, and a total average of fifty-six to a room in all. A different arrangement in number and position of buildings would allow these advantages to be realized.
DISCIPLINE AND CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.
The aim of school discipline should be to cultivate in scholars feel- ings of respect towards themselves, their equals, and superiors ; towards good books and good authors ; towards schools and institutions of learning ; to form in them a high estimate of the value of school-days and literary privileges, and to foster a sense of obligation to make the most of themselves and of the opportunities they enjoy. It is entirely consistent, and even a duty for teachers to instruct their pupils at suit- able times in the principles of morality and good citizenship, and to commend to them an orderly, virtuous, and upright life. Such ideas are healthful and regulative, and cannot fail to go far in establishing that good order and interest in study which constitute the life and prosperity of a school. Constant employment and earnest work are the best preventives of disorder. It is generally found that in those classes where there is the greatest enthusiasm and improvement there is the least necessity for punishment. Corporal punishment should be resorted to only when other means of correction have failed.
The order of our schools has been generally excellent, and the quiet and correct deportment, the gentlemanly and ladylike bearing of most of our scholars without their buildings, on the streets, are evidences of the true discipline which very generally prevails within them.
94
CO-OPERATION OF PARENTS.
Without the co-operation of parents the best endeavors of the teacher can but imperfectly produce their results. Regular and punctual attendance cannot be secured without it, nor indeed the earnest and cheerful performance of any school duties. If home does not love and cherish the school, the latter must lack that impelling power which alone can set the wheels of its machinery in full and fruitful action. Parents should as often as possible visit the school, and see their children at their daily tasks. Visits are not considered as intrusions by teachers, but are a source of encouragement to them and a stimulus to greater efforts by the children.
VISITS TO PARENTS.
Teachers can do much to secure the co-operation of parents by means of occasional visits. It should be a rule with teachers to call at least once in a term on the parents of each scholar. Acquaintance with the parents and personal observation of the home influences and surroundings of a pupil cannot fail to contribute to a better under- standing of him and his wants. To familiarize himself with the individ- ual characteristics of his pupils, and adapt his teaching, discipline, and training to the peculiar requirements of each, without interfering with the daily routine and uniformity of the work of his classes, as a whole, and without impairing his influence and usefulness by exposing him- self to the charge of partiality and favoritism, is a very difficult and important part of the duties of a teacher.
In our public schools there is no distinction of person. All meet on a common level, drink from the same fountain, breathe the same intellectual air. In this ignoring of the individual lies the greatest glory and also the greatest danger of a graded system. In unskilled or unfaithful hands a system of graded public schools necessarily and inevitably tends to the fatal extreme of dealing with mind only in the mass. The intelligent, trained, and faithful teacher makes it possible to use the system with its advantages, and without its evils. He studies and knows his pupils, is able to adapt his methods to the pecul- iar requirements of each.
'COURSE OF STUDY.
As Geometry is pure, and natural philosophy to some extent applied, mathematics, and as an understanding of philosophy depends in part
95
on an understanding of Geometry, the teachers of the High Schools recommend that Geometry be studied before Philosophy, and that the course of study for the High Schools be modified so as to allow this change.
As Written Arithmetic is the main arithmetical study of the Grammer Schools, and requires so much mental in connection with written work, it is recommended that Intellectual Arithmetic be omitted from the Grammar School course as a required study, and that teachers be allowed to use it or not at their discretion.
The most difficult study for teachers to teach and for scholars to learn is English Grammar. On questions equally difficult there is no study in which scholars will go so low. In the written examinations held at the close of the term more trouble was experienced in Gram- mar than in any other study. It is recommended that oral instruction in this branch be given earlier in the course.
Teachers in the primary department think the scholars of the second class do not have enough to do, and that they could as well as not add Geography. The intermediate and higher grades would then have better classes in this study.
It would be difficult to show that Reading and Spelling are less im- portant than other studies. In the five one-grade Grammar schools there will be ample time to hear every study each day. In those of two grades, if the fourteen different recitations are heard each day, each will have an average time of twenty-two minutes, and if both classes write at the same time and each reads and spells at the same time, the average time of recitation for the eleven remaining classes will be half an hour. In the schools of three grades, in which there would be twenty recitations a day, the studies might be arranged so as to come every other day or twice in three days.
Reading is fundamental, practical, ornamental, and an aid to intellectual progress. Spelling is practical, ornamental, and an aid to facility in reading. Hesitation in reading comes from hesitation at calling words at sight. Increasing attention is being given to these studies in all the educational centres of the country. As branches of common school education they should be considered co-ordinate in importance with other branches and receive equal attention.
An easy, clear, consistent, and elegant style of penmanship is a valuable acquisition and an ornament. In mastering a system of writing there is much that needs study and still more that needs regu- lar and repeated practice. For such a study of the elements in their forms, connections, and combinations into letters, syllables, and words,
96
and of proportion in the height, slant, shading, and size of letters as to bring every part into conformity with some systematic principle, and then for the more difficult work of training the muscles of the arm and hand and bringing them under the control of the mind, daily exercises are needed.
Writing in its elementary forms should be begun earlier. In the third primary class the scholars might be drilled in the forms and and names and combinations of the elements as they are made by the teacher before their eye on the board. In the second class the drill might be on the simpler letters in the analysis and synthesis of their elements, thus clearly displaying the forms and combinations of the elements before the eye. In the first class the No. 1 Primary Copy- book might be used. Better writers might thus be made and inter- mediate classes be able to write with such clearness and rapidity as to easily perform the required written examinations. ;
PROMOTIONS. .
These should be but once a year, except in peculiar cases. In some places they are made twice a year, and some contend that they ought to be made even oftener. The argument in favor of this is that under a yearly system a scholar failing must wait a year for another oppor- tunity, while only a few months would be enough to prepare him.
As it requires some time to become acquainted with pupils, frequent promotions of scholars have some of the disadvantages of frequent changes of teachers. Scholars who fail to pass their examinations in general show that another year is none too much to spend in the studies of the same grade.
Parents who give their scholars extra lessons and extra aid at home should be allowed to have them promoted whenever they can pass the required examinations.
MUSIC AND DRAWING.
The principal argument for the introduction of systematic instruc- tion in music into our schools is the culture of the voice it would give rather than any musical knowledge and skill that would result. Musical knowledge and ability to sing are desirable and in some com- munities might properly be made the main object of musical instruc- tion. With us, however, the principal aim may rather be the advan- tage in reading and speaking that can be derived from its study.
1
-
97
Few scholars have a distinct articulation or enunciation. In every school there is great need of vocal training to prepare them for a dis- tinct, full, and clear-toned utterance. Ordinary school exercises give little opportunity for the culture of the voice. If a class of thirty scholars read or recite it gives one minute each of vocal practice to a half hour's lesson, and for the remaining twenty-nine minutes they are silent ; not doers, but listeners. Give music thirty minutes, and each scholar ha's all the time to use the voice, and under the most favorable conditions, since the eye gives the mind, through the note or symbol, what the voice should give in pitch, tone, and quality ; the mind directing the voice, not carelessly, as in reading, but to do exactly what the case demands. It can be shown that in any school where music is taught the reading is much better in every respect than where it is not.
The social advantage of music, which is more felt in society than that given by any other part of school work, since it is very generally a source of amusement in both public and private gatherings, together with the fact that in school it is a most useful and healthful recreation, are incidental and not unimportant considerations.
Drawing is now universally acknowledged to be a most important branch of public education. It is valuable as an accomplishment, on account of its practical utility in every-day life and in all the ordinary vocations of both sexes ; for the training it affords the eye, the hand, and the perceptive faculties ; and the cultivation it gives the taste and the habit of close and careful observation.
It is difficult to conceive of any occupation to which a knowledge of this branch would not prove useful. It is adapted to facilitate instruc- tion in all other branches of education. As a school exercise none could give greater pleasure to teacher and scholar. Every one loves to represent with lines on paper the forms and outlines of objects he has seen. Every one loves to draw. In school, exercises in drawing would afford such a stimulus and pleasure to teacher and scholar that as much progress in the solid branches would be made at the end of the year with the necessary time given to this additional study as would have been made without it.
The practical advantage of drawing is now so generally recognized that little argument is needed to show the importance of making pro- vision for instruction in it in school. Not only have cities and large towns adopted it as a regular study, but many States require it in all public schools under their jurisdiction by legal enactment. In foreign
7
98
countries its value as an element of national prosperity has been so clearly shown that its neglect can hardly be allowed in this.
It is therefore recommended that music and drawing be introduced into all our schools as parts of our regular school work. The time devoted to them each day may be brief, no more than fifteen or twen- ty minutes. The best of text-books can be obtained and without great expense. No extra teacher need be employed. The work can all be done by the regular teachers, and the fact that music and ele- mentary drawing can be taught by them as well as any other branches has been fully established. Success in these only requires the same preparation, skill, and interest as other branches. When these studies were introduced into the Boston schools all the teachers had to pre- pare themselves to teach them.
NORMAL, OR TRAINING CLASS.
The greatest need of schools is good teachers. Back of all theories of teaching is the teacher. The best methods and most elaborate and perfect courses of study must fail in the hands of those who, from faults either of temperament or training, are unfitted for their work. On the other hand, the real teacher will achieve success even with the most imperfect means supplementing all written formulas of in- struction by his own vital and incommunicable methods.
1
The qualifications of teachers are of two classes, natural and ac- quired. The former are original endowments, innate qualities, special aptitudes for a particular department of labor. Without them one cannot hope to succeed if he undertakes; with them, coupled with knowledge, experience, and genuine love of the work, success is certain. The aptitude for teaching comes by nature, but the science and art of teaching must come by study and acquisition. The time is past when any intelligent person at the age of twenty and upwards who is dubious about the future can be safely intrusted with the care of a school. The profession of teaching, besides the natural qualifications which no study can acquire, and for which no substitute can be found, requires a technical knowledge and skill for the acquisition of which special instruction and training are needed.
To furnish these let a Normal or Training class be established in each of the High Schools, and let all candidates for positions as teachers in our schools be required to pursue the course of study pre- scribed for it, or offer an equivalent before receiving an appointment.
1
99
Let the outlines of the course include, as in the State Normal Schools, the principles and methods of teaching, the organization and govern- ment of schools, and the school-laws of Massachusetts. A detailed statement of the course could be made out when the class is estab- lished. No time has ever been so favorable as the present for the in- troduction of this new feature into our educational system.
TEXT-BOOKS.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS.
Price.
50 cts Arithmetic .
Walton's Primary.
60 " Geography
·
Guyot's Elementary.
Reading
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.