USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > Town of Newton annual report 1878-1879 > Part 8
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Respectfully submitted in behalf of Overseers of the Poor.
JOHN WARNER, Clerk.
REPORT OF CITY MARSHAL.
REPORT OF CITY MARSHAL.
OFFICE OF CITY MARSHAL, WEST NEWTON, Dec. 31, 1878. .
To His Honor the Mayor and the City Council of Newton: -
GENTLEMEN, - I have the honor to submit for your consideration my Fifth Annual Report, sum- marizing the services and showing the condition of the Police Department for the year ending December 31, 1878.
The present Police Force consists of fifteen men, organized as follows : A City Marshal, with head- quarters at the City Hall; one mounted Sergeant stationed at Newton Centre, whose duty is to patrol the city at night; one day officer on duty at Newton Village; one day officer on duty at the City Hall, and eleven night patrolmen. This is an increase of one over the force of the previous year, it having been found necessary to have an officer on duty at head-quarters both day and night, and for this purpose one man has been added.
The compensation of the Force and the contin- gent expenses of the Department for the year, have amounted to $14,954.34. During the same period there has been paid into the City Treasury for fees of officers, $680.55, thus making the net cost of the
108
Department for the year ending December 31, 1878, $14,273.79.
Of the several police quarters, it is proper to say that stations One, Two, and Four are in excellent condition, both sanitary and otherwise. To the condition of Station Three at the City Hall, I regret the necessity which again compels me to invoke attention. The need of material improve- ments at this station is more pressing than ever.
Its defects and necessities may be briefly indi- cated. It is altogether inadequate in size, its sani- tary appointments are notably deficient, and as a place of even temporary detention, it is quite inse- cure as is sufficiently attested by the fact that two prisoners have recently easily forced their way out and escaped.
The following is a synopsis of the general work of the Department for the year ending December 31, 1878: - -
General Statistics.
No. of Arrests,
339
No. of Search Warrants
66
Males,
308
· served, 6
.. Females,
21
Truants taken to
Americans, 69
School, 47
6.
Foreigners,
266
66
Provided with
Minors,
91
Lodging, 1,680
66
Commitments, 38
Lost property restored to owners, $1,477
Nativity of Prisoners.
United States,
69
Germany,
7
British Provinces,
4 Scotland,
5
Ireland,
232
Italy,
1
England,
16
Negro,
4
France,
1
109
Nature of Crime.
Aiding a prisoner to escape, 1
Fraud,
1
Assault and battery, 53
Fornication, 1
felonious, 1
Forgery, 2
Attempt to murder,
1
Incendiary,
3
Breaking glass, 3
Indecent exposure,
3
Breaking street lights,
2
Libel,
3
Breaking and entering,
5
Larceny, simple,
41
Bastardy,
3
felonious, 3
Common drunkards,
6
Malicious mischief, 17
Capias,
3
Murder,
1
Contempt of court,
2
Stubborn children,
2
Cruelty to dumb animals,
5
Suspicious persons, 6
Disturbing public schools, 5
Threatening bodily harm, 3
Disorderly
80
Truants,
4
Disturbing the peace 52
Violation of CityOrdinance, 10
Drunkenness, 80
66 Liquor law, 6
Embezzlement,
1
66 Dog law, 2
Evading car fare,
2
Vagabonds, 5
Escaped convicts
1
Miscellaneous Duties.
A very noticeable increase may be seen in the numerous tax-bills and notices distributed by the Police the past year, as also the numerous other duties which they are called upon to execute, many of which require much time and patience, as shown by the following statement : -
Accidents where assistance was rendered, 12
Buildings found open and secured, 156
Dangerous buildings re- ported, 3
Dead bodies taken in charge, 4
Defective lamps,
145
Defective streets, 17
sidewalk, 23
66 water pipes 18
Disturbances suppressed, 114 Dogs killed, 26
Defective gas-pipes re- ported, 4
Fire alarms given,
10
110
Fires extinguished without alarm, 6
Horses killed, 9
Insane, 5
Injured persons assisted, 21
Intoxicated persons as- sisted home, 128
Lost children restored to
friends,
12
Lights hung in dangerous places, 17
Nuisances reported, 47
Notices served, 7,300
Stray teams put up, 18
Street obstructions re- moved, 43
Stray cattle taken in
charge, 7
Tramps in 1878.
The subject presented in this caption suggests its usual difficult problem. In their social relations the issues involved in its solution possess grave interest and importance, but their discussion is not a matter within the scope of the report.
Although the number of tramps lodged and cared for at our police stations has been less during the past year, yet it is still large and troublesome. In some respects, however, there has appeared a noticeable change in those latterly seeking our benefactions. With few exceptions, they have been young or middle-aged men. And a very. much larger proportion than ever before have exhibited better character, antecedents, and more intelligence than their predecessors. Largely un- like the hordes who have crowded upon us in previous years, those of 1878 have seemed more generally familiar with recent industrial occupa- tions, and have manifested unusual readiness and desire to labor if opportunity offered; possibly this fact may be accepted as an indication that large numbers of men deprived of employment under the prevailing depression of business, have been forced
111
upon the road, and consequently, to the acceptance of this mode of public relief. If so, the tramp problem becomes of far more serious importance than heretofore.
Conclusion.
The multiplicity of duties obligated to, or expected from, this Department has been in nowise diminished. While any particular enumeration of details is here unnecessary, it is quite proper to attest the uniform care and fidelity of the Force in the discharge of police surveillance and duty.
As Health Commissioner, the City Marshal has had a difficult and laborious experience; but has endeavored to enforce in all proper ways the sani- tary regulations required by law and ordinance.
In conclusion, he has only to express his sincere thanks for the courteous consideration received from the Department under his charge, and from all associated with the municipal administration of the city.
Very respectfully submitted, R. L. HINDS, City Marshal.
1600 853
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
CITY OF NEWTON.
1 879.
No. XL.
WI
AND UN
OM.
FOUNDED
88.A CITY1873
30.INC.
UM.
N
ORATI
T
BOSTON : FRANKLIN PRESS: RAND, AVERY, & COMPANY. 1880.
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE. January, 1879.
HON. WILLIAM B. FOWLE, MAYOR, CHAIRMAN, ex officio. JOHN Q. HENRY, PRESIDENT COMMON COUNCIL, ex officio. REV. AMOS E. LAWRENCE, CHAIRMAN. ISAAC HAGAR, SECRETARY.
EPHRAIM HUNT, LL.D., SUPERINTENDENT.
Elective Members.
THOMAS S. SAMSON,1
Ward One,
Present Term of Office. Expires January, 1880.
HENRY E. COBB,1
66
66
66
1880.
HENRY O. MARTIN,
66
Two,
66
66
1880.
HORATIO S. NOYES,
66
66
66
66
1880.
JULIUS L. CLARKE,
66
Three.
66 1882.
ELIJAH W. WOOD,
66
66
60
1882.
WILLIAM S. SMITH,
66
Four, 66
6
66
1882.
JOHN A. GOULD,
66
Five,
66
66
1881.
CHARLES E. ABBOTT,
66
66
66
1881.
JAMES S. NEWELL,
66
Six
66
66
1881.
AMOS E. LAWRENCE,
66
66
66
1881.
GEORGE W. SHINN,
66
Seven,
66
1881.
LINCOLN R. STONE,
66
66
66
1882.
DISTRICT COMMITTEES.
NEWTON-CENTRE DISTRICT.
JAMES S. NEWELL, Newton Centre. JOHN A. GOULD, Newton Upper Falls. AMOS E. LAWRENCE, Newton Centre. CHARLES E. ABBOTT, Newton Highlands. GEORGE W. SHINN, Newton.
UPPER-FALLS DISTRICT.
JOHN A. GOULD, Newton Upper Falls. JAMES S. NEWELL, Newton Centre. AMOS E. LAWRENCE, Newton Centre.
CHARLES E. ABBOTT, Newton Highlands.
ISAAC HAGAR, Newton Lower Falls.
LOWER-FALLS DISTRICT.
WILLIAM S. SMITH, Auburndale. ELIJAH W. WOOD, West Newton. ISAAC HAGAR, Newton Lower Falls.
WEST-NEWTON DISTRICT.
JULIUS L. CLARKE, West Newton. ELIJAH W. WOOD, West Newton. HORATIO S. NOYES, Newtonville. WILLIAM S. SMITH, Auburndale. HENRY O. MARTIN, Newtonville.
1 Elected in joint convention of city council and school committee.
66
1882.
ISAAC HAGAR,
NEWTONVILLE DISTRICT.
HORATIO S. NOYES, Newtonville.
HENRY O. MARTIN, Newtonville.
LINCOLN R. STONE, Newton. THOMAS S. SAMSON, Newton. HENRY E. COBB, Newton. NEWTON DISTRICT.
LINCOLN R. STONE, Newton. HENRY E. COBB, Newton.
GEORGE W. SHINN, Newton. JOHN Q. HENRY, Newton. THOMAS S. SAMSON, Newton.
STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD.
High School. - Amos E. Lawrence, Thomas S. Samson, Horatio S. Noyes, Julius L. Clarke, William S. Smith, John A. Gould, George W. Shinn, Mayor, ex officio. Rules and Regulations. - George W. Shinn, Henry E. Cobb, Charles E. Abbott. Accounts and Printing. - Isaac Hagar, Elijah W. Wood, Julius L. Clarke. Schoolhouses. - Isaac Hagar, John A. Gould, Lincoln R. Stone. Salaries. - James S. Newell, John Q. Henry, Henry O. Martin. Text-Books. - Amos E. Lawrence, William S. Smith, Julius L. Clarke.
Music. - Amos E. Lawrence, Lincoln R. Stone, Elijah W. Wood. Drawing and Writing. - Horatio S. Noyes, John Q. Henry, Thomas S. Samson. Industrial Drawing. - James S. Newell, Charles E. Abbott, Henry O. Martin. Evening Schools. - George W. Shinn, Lincoln R. Stone, Henry E. Cobb.
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
January, 1880.
HON. ROYAL M. PULSIFER, MAYOR, CHAIRMAN, ex officio.
CHARLES C. BARTON, PRESIDENT COMMON COUNCIL, ex officio. REV. AMOS E. LAWRENCE, CHAIRMAN.
ISAAC HAGAR, SECRETARY.
EPHRAIM HUNT, LL.D., SUPERINTENDENT.
Elective Members.
THOMAS S. SAMSON,
Ward One,
60
66
66 1883.
66
Two,
.€
1883.
A. AMELIA SMEAD,
66
66
66
1883.
JULIUS L. CLARKE,
66
Three,
1882.
ELIJAH W. WOOD,
66
66
1882.
WILLIAM S. SMITH,
66
Four,
66
66
1882.
ISAAC HAGAR,
66
66
66
1882.
JOHN A. GOULD,
Five,
66
66
1881.
CHARLES E. ABBOTT,
1881.
JAMES S. NEWELL,
Six,
66
1881.
AMOS E. LAWRENCE,
66
60
1881.
GEORGE W. SHINN,
66
Seven,
1881.
LINCOLN R. STONE,
66
66
1882.
·
Present Term of Office. Expires January, 1883.
THOMAS MARCY,
E. FRANK HOWE,
DISTRICT COMMITTEES.
NEWTON-CENTRE DISTRICT.
JAMES S. NEWELL, Newton Centre. JOHN A. GOULD, Newton Upper Falls.
AMOS E. LAWRENCE, Newton Centre. CHARLES E. ABBOTT, Newton Highlands. CHARLES C. BARTON, Newton Centre.
UPPER-FALLS DISTRICT.
JOHN A. GOULD, Newton Upper Falls. JAMES S. NEWELL, Newton Centre.
CHARLES E. ABBOTT, Newton Highlands. AMOS E. LAWRENCE, Newton Centre. ISAAC HAGAR, Newton Lower Falls.
LOWER-FALLS DISTRICT.
WILLIAM S. SMITH, Auburndale. ELIJAH W. WOOD, West Newton. ISAAC HAGAR, Newton Lower Falls.
WEST-NEWTON DISTRICT.
JULIUS L. CLARKE, West Newton. ELIJAH W. WOOD, West Newton. E. FRANK HOWE, Newtonville. WILLIAM S. SMITH, Auburndale. A. AMELIA SMEAD, Newtonville.
NEWTONVILLE DISTRICT.
E. FRANK HOWE, Newtonville.
A. AMELIA SMEAD, Newtonville.
LINCOLN R. STONE, Newton. THOMAS S. SAMSON, Newton. THOMAS MARCY, Newton.
NEWTON DISTRICT.
LINCOLN R. STONE, Newton. THOMAS MARCY, Newton.
GEORGE W. SHINN, Newton. E. FRANK HOWE, Newton. THOMAS S. SAMSON, Newton.
STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD.
High School. - Amos E. Lawrence, Thomas S. Samson, E. Frank Howe, Elijah W. Wood, William S. Smith, John A. Gould, George W. Shinn, Mayor, ex officio. Rules and Regulations. - George W. Shinn, Thomas S. Samson, Charles E. Abbott. Accounts and Printing. - Isaac Hagar, Elijah W. Wood, Julius L. Clarke. Schoolhouses. - Isaac Hagar, John A. Gould, Lincoln R. Stone. Salaries. - James S. Newell, Charles C. Barton, E. Frank Howe. Text-Books. - Amos E. Lawrence, William S. Smith, Julius L. Clarke. Music. - Amos E. Lawrence, Lincoln R. Stone, A. Amelia Smead. Drawing and Writing. - Charles C. Barton, A. Amelia Smead, Thomas Marcy. Industrial Drawing. - James S. Newell, Charles E. Abbott, Elijah W. Wood. Evening Schools. - George W. Shinn, Lincoln R. Stone, Thomas Marcy.
CITY OF NEWTON.
IN BOARD OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE, Sept. 24, 1879.
The following-named gentlemen were appointed to prepare the Annual Report of the School Committee for the year 1879; viz., Amos E. Lawrence, Thomas S. Samson, Elijah W. Wood, Lincoln R. Stone, and Charles E. Abbott.
ISAAC HAGAR, Secretary.
IN BOARD OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE, Nov. 26, 1879.
The Annual Report was presented by Rev. Amos E. Law- rence, read and accepted, and twenty-eight hundred copies ordered to be printed.
ISAAC HAGAR, Secretary.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
GENERAL REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
11-22
Public interest in our schools
11
Additional masters .
13
Salaries
14
Music
15
Our graded system .
15
Methods of instruction
16 17 21
Advanced class in the grammar-schools
21
Conclusion
22
HIGH SCHOOL .
23-44 23
Last graduating class
23
Graduating exercises
24 25
Calisthenics and military drill
31 32
Mercantile department .
33 35 36 37
Department of natural sciences Department of modern languages
41
GRADUATES OF 1879, HIGH SCHOOL
44 45
REPORT OF MASON SCHOOL .
REPORT OF OAK-HILL AND THOMPSONVILLE SCHOOLS
REPORT OF PROSPECT SCHOOL
48 50
REPORT OF HYDE SCHOOL
REPORT OF HAMILTON SCHOOL
REPORT OF WILLIAMS SCHOOL
52 55 56
REPORT OF PEIRCE, DAVIS, AND FRANKLIN SCHOOLS
57 59
REPORT OF ADAMS SCHOOL .
REPORT OF JACKSON SCHOOL
60
REPORT OF CLAFLIN SCHOOL
60
Statistics .
Present system of instruction, - alleged defects
Standard of admission
Department of mathematics
Classical department
PAGE
Expenditures for 1879
12
Primary grades
Permanency of teachers .
10
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
REPORT OF NEWTON DISTRICT
64
REPORT ON DRAWING .
66
REPORT ON INDUSTRIAL DRAWING
70
REPORT ON MUSIC.
72
REPORT ON EVENING SCHOOLS
75
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
76-100
Summary of statistics
76
Promotion and other tables
78-81
Attendance
82
Teachers .
83
Teachers' meetings
S4
Intstruction. - Promotion
85
The primary grades
SS
Grammar grades
93
Penmanship, drawing, and music .
95
Discipline
96
High School
98
SECRETARY'S REPORT
101-106
2
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
TO THE CITIZENS OF NEWTON. - In compliance with the requirements of the Statutes of the Commonwealth, the School Board of the city of Newton respectfully submit to their fellow-citizens their Fortieth Annual Report.
PUBLIC INTEREST IN OUR SCHOOLS.
The lively interest taken by our citizens in their pub- lic schools is fully justified, not only by considerations of personal advantage to those who have children to be taught, but especially by the intimate connection of the schools with the public welfare. In a government by the people wide-spread ignorance is wide-spread dan- ger. Bigotry, superstition, class prejudice, and narrow- minded indifference to the general welfare, attain their rankest growth where ignorance reigns, and find their legitimate cure and preventive in the universal intelli- gence. If the people are to make the laws, and admin- ister the government, every thing will be imperilled by leaving them untaught. Here is at once the explana- tion and the sufficient defence of our public-school system. The government guards its own life, - seeks its own perpetuity. Society protects itself.
12
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
EXPENDITURES.
The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Board will show, that, of the $82,864.30 available for school-purposes the past year, there has been expended the sum of $82,260.08, leaving a balance of $604.22, and showing a decrease of $948 55 from the amount expended last year. This result is the more gratifying because it has been secured notwithstanding important additions to the corps of teachers which the Board have felt called upon to make during the year.
The expenditure for schools, exclusive of school-build- ings, during the last six years, have been as follows :-
Expenditure for 1874
$97,353 65
Expenditure for 1875
96,649 23
Expenditure for 1876 86,533 64
Expenditure for 1877 83,917 89
Expenditure for 1878 83,208 63
Expenditure for 1879
82,260 08
showing a reduction of $15,093.57 as compared with 1874.
This, it will be admitted, is a very large reduction, especially when it is considered that the number of our pupils has meantime increased more than thirty per cent, - from 2,446 in 1874 to 3,397 in 1879. The reduction, however, would be no cause for congratula- tion if the result had been a degrading of our schools ; if, in proportion as the expenses have diminished, the character of the teachers employed and the quality of the instruction furnished have depreciated. But this has not been true. It has never been the aim of the Board to see how cheaply the schools can be administered, but rather how well. In their judgment they have not been seriously injured; and their conviction is, that, as a
13
GENERAL REPORT.
whole, they were never in better condition than they are at present. In one department only does the policy of curtailment seem to have wrought decided harm ; and to this we shall briefly refer hereafter.
ADDITIONAL MASTERS.
Allusion has already been made to important changes during the year in our corps of teachers. In the year 1872 our schools were under the care of eight head masters. This number was felt to be larger than was warranted by the finances of the town, and was very much larger, in proportion to the number of pupils to be taught, than in any other of the cities or towns of the Commonwealth. Accordingly, in September of the following year, they were reduced from eight to four. But the working of the new system was never wholly satisfactory, and from the first was sharply criticised by the districts affected, notably by Newtonville, Auburn- dale, and the Upper Falls. These districts felt that unjust discriminations were made against them, and in favor of other parts of the city no more deserving than they. The friends of such schools as had been deprived of their masters did not cease to urge their claims for the same advantages as were accorded to others, espe- cially as they saw their claim strengthened from year to year by the steadily increasing number of their pupils.
The Board, therefore, decided, early in the year now under review, so far to retrace their steps as to limit the masters once more each to a single school, and to increase the number again from four to eight, except that one of the eight is, for the present, to have the title of principal instead of head master.
The publication of this purpose of the Committee
14
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
brought them numerous applications, from gentlemen of culture and experience, for the places to be filled ; and the only embarrassment of the Board, but a grave one, was in making from so many excellent names a selection. The result was the choice of Mr. George L. Chandler for the school at Auburndale, Mr. Walter C. Frost for the Upper Falls, Mr. William A. Spinney for Newton- ville, and Mr. George G. Edwards for the North Vil- lage. These are all gentlemen of thorough training, graduates of our best schools and colleges, and have all made proof of their capacity by years of success in teaching. We confidently hope to see in them here the same energy and skill they have shown elsewhere, and to find among their other qualifications for their office that union of caution with .audacity that makes the pro- gressive teacher, - the blending of a wise conservatism with a fearless questioning of existing methods that is not the less wise because it is inquiring and aggressive.
The Committee are happy to report that these changes have involved no increase of our annual expenses. The addition of the four masters made practicable the withdrawal of several subordinate assistants ; and the saving thus effected, augmented by a small reduction in other salaries, has enabled the Committee to make this important addition to our teaching force without increas- ing the salary-account of last year.
SALARIÉS.
But, gratifying as this result is, we must add, that if the Committee are to guard, as heretofore, the best interests of our schools, and if the citizens of Newton demand of us that we do not imperil the honorable reputation the city has so laboriously won, we cannot
15
GENERAL REPORT.
hold out the hope of further curtailment in our expen- ditures. We have repeatedly reduced the salaries of our teachers, till it is believed they have now reached the lowest point consistent with justice or safety. An incompetent pretender is dear at any price ; and com- petent teachers must be competently paid, or they are lost to us. " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that tread- eth out the corn" is an injunction as wise as it is old ; and certainly there is no true economy in starving the horse that draws the plough. The best interests of all concerned require that this question of salaries should be held as settled.
MUSIC.
There is another path on which we have reached, if we have not already passed, the limit of a wise econo- my. Two years ago the Board decided, though not without much misgiving, to dispense with the services of a special teacher of music; and Mr. W. S. Tilden, who had so long and honorably held that position, withdrew from our service. As a result Mr. Tilden's salary has for two years been saved to the treasury; but we are compelled to report that the music has declined. It is still taught in all our schools, and we require of all our teachers that they be able to sing, and to take charge of the daily musical practice. But our expe- rience has shown and emphasized the need of a com- petent specialist to supervise the labors of the teachers, and impart that life and enthusiasm by which alone any thoroughly satisfactory work can be done.
OUR GRADED SYSTEM.
It is the fault of whatever system, when pressed to an extreme, that it interferes with healthful freedom
16
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
of action, and becomes repressive rather than helpful. This has proved true of our system of class grading. The acute and eager have been held back by the slug- gish and the incompetent ; the lazy fret and hinder the workers, and the system keeps them together. And. yet we cannot give it up. It has too many advantages, and we have nothing to substitute in its place. We can modify it, however; and experience points out the way. Let there be allowed to the teacher and to the qualified supervisors of education a degree of discre- tion in the matter, let there be introduced into the administration of the system a measure of elasticity and freedom, and the evil and danger will disappear.
Without further discussion here, we commend, as worthy of particular attention, the observations on this subject in the accompanying report of the superin- tendent of schools, under the head of "Instruction and Promotion."
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
It is not our purpose in this report to discuss modes of instruction, or to claim that those adopted in the schools of Newton are the only good ones, or even that they are certainly the best ones. It is, however, true of them that they are not lifeless, are not dead forms ; and mere routine work is not acceptable work. Our teachers are chosen and put in their places, not for their cart-horse quality, - their ability to draw a load of given weight over a beaten path in the regulation way, - but for their intelligence, wakefulness, and independ- ence of thought and action. Teaching is recognized as a science, - one in which there are experts, indeed, and authorities to be respected as guides, but where
17
GENERAL REPORT.
each one of the guild has responsibilities of his own. The mind has its laws of growth ; and it is the privi- lege of every earnest teacher to study those laws, and the best way of working under them in the nascent minds before him. The philosophy of instruction has long had its earnest students, and has its acknowledged leaders ; but it surely will not be claimed that the field has been so thoroughly explored that the end is reached, and nothing more remains but to follow in the beaten track. Inquiry and experiment, where they are earnest and conscientious, should still be welcomed ; and the teacher should be encouraged to devise for herself the best ways of waking and guiding the minds in her charge. The outcome of this will inevitably be, in the primary grades especially, that life, freshness, and variety that will banish the traditional tedium of the class-room, and make school a pleasure. Another result, as naturally springing from this as light from the rising of the sun, will be the easy victory, by a wholly unconscious effort, over what were to our child- hood the frightful bugbears of reading, spelling, writ- ing, and number.
PRIMARY GRADES.
We have not far to go for an illustration of these general truths. The results gained the past year by our teachers of the primary grades, under the guidance of the superintendent, have been gratifying in the highest degree. Those who can recall their own child's experience in learning the alphabet, the dull monotony and listless drill of weary months, the thrill of joy when at last they had conquered the difference between b and d, p and q, 6 and 9, and were prepared to move
18
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
on to their " a-b-abs," could not fail to be gratified at the fruits of the first ten-weeks' training lately wit- nessed in our primary grades. The examination re- ferred to extended to four of the primary classes in different quarters of the city, and was without any reference to the supposed superior excellence of the material of the classes. The average age of the chil- dren was a little above five years. They had had no previous training, were at the close of their tenth week of attendance, and had consequently been in the teach- er's hands fifty school-days. Wishing to test the prog- ress of these little ones, we carried with us a number of sentences printed with the pen on slips of paper, to be laid before the child, that he might first study them. There were twenty-four different sentences, involving the use of thirty-four different words, combined as variously as was consistent with the expression of a distinct thought. They were such as, " I see a bird in the tree," "Is the pig as big as the ox?" "The boy can spin a top," " Yes, I will run to you." The busi- ness-like and determined way in which each little head bent at once over the paper, and attacked the problem, was one of the most gratifying and suggestive things the visitors saw. It was as truly study, and independ- ent study, as is the absorption of the collegian in the solution of his algebraic problem. For they were not allowed to call the words merely : they were expected to read them. They must know the sentences, there- fore, - must comprehend the thought, - before they rose to read. They did know them; and, in less time than we have taken to narrate it, rose, and read them as easily and correctly as a professional elocutionist, with a naturalness of tone and cadence entirely fault- less, because it was nature.
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