USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > Town of Newton annual report 1879-1880 > Part 12
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66
1879
80
90
99
60
71
67
40
32
40
579
West Newton, 1877
71
51
75
60
86
43
32
36
29
483
66
1878
84
50
57
63
65
80
27
27
29
482
66
1879
82
58
48
49
77
40
66
31
18
469
Newton Centre, 1877 .
127
104
110
123
101
61
56
50
29
761
66
1878 .
134
104
104
113
105
80
56
46
32
774
66
1879 .
160
101
103
106
96
88
67
41
36
798
L. Falls, Aub'dale, '77,
48
32
37
46
52
39
21
34
31
340
66
'78,
63
34
27
35
48
40
27
22
29
325
66
66
"79,
43
45
40
39
29
43
35
27
18
319
Totals, 1877
424
321
361
398
394
225
214
199
126
2,662
428
347
306
341
392
300
194
190
157
2,655
66
1879
431
365
359
298
344
294
271
159
157
2,678
Per cent by Districts, September, 1878-79.
GRADES.
DISTRICTS.
Total.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
Newton, 1877 .
13.9
11
11.2
17.7
15.4
10
9.1
7.9
38
100
.
66
1878.
11.9
13.3
9.9
11.3
17.6
9.9
9.7
10.7
5.7
100
1879.
13
13.9
13.4
8.6
13.9
10.9
12.4
5.5
8.4
100
Newtonville, 1877
18.8
13.5
14.2
14.1
13.5
5.7
10.2
6.9
3.2
100
66
1878
15.2
16
11.9
12.8
15
8.8
6.3
7.3
6.7
100
66
1879
13.7
15.5
17.1
10.4
12.4
11.6
6.9
5.5
6.9
100
West Newton, 1877
14.7
10.6
15.5
12.4
17.8
8.9
6.6
7.5
6
100
1878
17.4
10.4
11.8
13.1
13.5
16.6
5.6
5.6
6
100
66
1879
17.5
12.4
10.2
10.4
16.4
8.5
14.1
6.6
3.9
100
Newton Centre, 1877 .
16.7
13.7
14.5
16.2
13.2
8
7.3
6.6
3.8
100
1878 .
17.3
13.4
13.4
14.6
13.5
10.4
7.2
6
4.2
100
1879 .
20.1
12.7
12.9
13.3
12.0
11.0
8.4
5.1
4.5
100
L. Falls, Aub'dale, '77,
14.1
9.4
10.9
13.5
15.8
11.5
6.2
10
8.1
100
66
'78,
19.4
10.5
8.2
10.8
14.8
12.3
8.3
6.8
8.9
100
66
'79,
13.5
14.1
12.5
12.2
9.1
13.5
11.0
8.5
5.6
100
1878
80
Primary, Grammar, and High Schools, September, 1879 .
GRADE.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
· SCHOOL.
Av.Age.
Av.Age.
Number.
Years.
Mos.
Number.
Years.
Mos.
Number.
Years.
Mos.
Number.
Years.
Mos.
Number.
Years.
Mos.
Number.
Years.
Mos.
Years.
Mos.
Number.
Years.
Mos.
Total.
Mason
.
· 1879 .
68
6
40
7
3
47
8
4
54
9
6
11
1
52
4
13
3
28 25
14 13
2
18
14
2
380 405
( 1878 .
47
9
42
2
48
8
6
9
4
10
3
42
10
11 11
41 51
12
7
2
16
13 13
5
10
1
225
Prospect
35
5
5
6
11
31
8
30
9
6
26
10
11
26
11
4
16
5
14
.
14
1
227
$ 1878 . · ) 1879 .
25
5
10
16
7
3
15
8
4
25
9
8
14
10
11
14
11
11
..
. .
.
·
.
·
.
. .
..
106
Hyde . .
29
.
15
7
1
16
8
5
16
10
2
22
10
10
8
11
1
..
..
..
.
. .
.
..
.
6
§ 1878 . 23
· ¿ 1879 .
18
5
.
9
7
1
8
8
4
. .
.
.
.
..
. .
. .
. .
. .
.
. .
..
.
.
14 14
8
25
Oak Hill .
( 1878 . · 1879 .
10
6
· 8
2
7
1
8
4
6
10
2
1
11
2
13
.
. .
. .
. .
2 2
13 13
3
1
. . 5
..
. .
..
Hamilton .
$ 1878 . ( 1879 .
20
5
11
7
9
S
8
10
9
11
23
10
5
8
11
11
11 12
11 -1
10
13
15
5
6
8
6
10
8
17
9
2
7
11
10
24
11
6
16 29
12 13
22 17
14 14
1 2
16 18
15 14
2
224
Williams .
( 1878 . · ) 1879 .
28
6
1
37
7
5
30
8
7
2.2
10
8
10
4 7
32 19
12 11
2 7
6
27 66
12 12
6 10
31
9
29 18
14 14
155
Peirce
.
. .
. .
.
5 5
2 6
6 6
6 9
29 23
8 7
· 6
18 25
9 9
5 3
24 40
10 10
4 8
..
:
.
..
. .
·
.. ·
. .
.
.
.
141
Franklin .
( 1878 . · 1879 .
. .
.
.
·
·
. .
..
. .
. .
..
. .
.
41 . .
11 . .
5
38 40
12 12
. .
..
( 1878 . · ¿ 1879 .
27 42
.
. .
.
11
6
13
12 12
( 1878 . · 1879 .
35
5
5
7
2
33
8
4
29
9
29
10
8
.
. .
..
. .
..
..
.
.
..
. .
·
. .
8
8
9
3
.
.
+
9
9
3
10 10
11
.
2
12
8
1
4
1
21
1
6
2
3
..
. .
·
14
..
101 97
43
6
2
26
7
3
19
8
8
25
9
9
11
25 2.2
162
.
.
. .
.
122
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
Av.Age.
Av.Age.
Av.Age.
Av.Age"
Av Age.
Av.Age.
Av.Age.
Number.
Years.
Mos.
Number.
6
21
15
..
109
39
4
8
.
.
35
'Thompsonville .
. .
4 6
4
13 13
10
·
24
.
13
8
222
5 5
36 35
14 14
24
59 47
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
Davis . .
( 1878 . · 1879 .
57 40
6 6
2 1
26 47
7 4
28 25
8 8
4 11
45 24
9 9
11 6
37
10
11
: :
: : .
: : . .
: :
. .
. .
..
. .
9 1
39 40
14 14
10 5
158 172
Adams
( 1878 · 1879 . 21 9
6 5
. 11
19 33
.. 6
21 31
8 8
11
4 2
15 28
8 8
3 5
24 15
9 9
6 7
45 35
10 10
10 4
24 34
12 11
4 9
24 9
12 3
3 10
. .
. .
3
16 21
6 5
10
51 50
5 6
43 34
77
33 40
8 9
9 1
34 28
10 10
6 4
42 36
11 11
8 4
27 33
11 12
11 6
12 21
12 12
9 6
.. . .
. .
.
.
242 242
Jackson ·
( 1878 . · 1879 . ( 1878 . · 1879 .
. .
.
..
..
.
. ..
56 44
9 9
9 8
87 71
11 11
1 2
49 56
11 11
10 10
48 63
12 13
9 4
53 28
13 13
8 11
28 15
14 14
3
321 307
Bigelow .
(1878 . · 1879 .
44 50
6 6
5 1
50 54
7
7 6
45 50
8 8
2 9
. .
..
.. . .
· . .
.
. .
.
.
..
. .
. .
..
..
Underwood
6 1878 . · > 1879 . § 1878 . · ¿ 1879 .
428 431
co 5
. . 9
347 365
7 7
3 3
306 359
76 72
16 16
+ 3
96 127
15 15
+ 4
Special
10
18
2
Total . Total . .
. 260 . 305
High .
.
( 1878 . · 1879 .
35 36
18 17
53 60
18 77
1
16 17
7
. . . .
4 19
8 8 8 8
2 5 4 6
.
.
..
..
..
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. .
.
.
7 157 7-157
14 14
2,655
9
9
11
392 344
10 10
300 11-294
12 11
· 8
194 271
12
8
190 159
13 13
1
.13
. .
·
:
..
. .
. .
341 298
9
9
Total .
Increase, 1879 . 23
. ·
Total, 1879, 2678 ; including High
.
.
.
· 2,993
Total, 1878, 2,655 ; including High
7
16 17
9 9
8 6
..
. .
.. . .
. .
10
13
1
42 32
12 13
. .
..
. .
179 165
Claflin .
1878 . · > 1879 .
31 23
7 7
6
..
..
..
. .
..
. .
. .
..
139 154
Lincoln
15 16
5 5
7 6
·
35 52
. . 5 5
81
. .
..
198 173
42
12
. .
7
2
.
:
.
..
·
. .
. . .
..
2,678
.
· 2,915
..
.
. .
82
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
ATTENDANCE.
The attendance -ninety-one per cent-is by itself the indication of interest on the part of the pupils in school- work, and also of the faithfulness of the teacher in maintain- ing a commendable interest therein. As compared with other places, Newton holds a high rank both as to the per cent of attendance of her school population and the per cent attend- ance of whole number enrolled.
Perhaps in no one matter is the interest of the teacher in school-work more manifest than in the vigilance shown in promptly looking up all cases of absentees. Though the repeated cases of absence without cause are few in number throughout the city, it is not forgotten that all such cases are the most deserving of attention ; and pupils making such a record need more than others the influences of the school- room. The watchfulness of the teachers in this direction merits the highest commendation. Failure on the part of a teacher to inquire at once into the cause of absence is a failure of grave importance, not only to the pupil, but to the whole school.
SCHOOLHOUSES.
During vacation, the schoolhouses and grounds received all necessary repairs. And here it may not be amiss to state, that, next after good teaching, the school accommodations of Newton have contributed to the excellent results of her school system. With ample seating capacity, her school- houses are located at points of easy access, their number obviating the necessity of very large buildings with over- grown schools, and crowded rooms. While the buildings are generous in proportions for the number of pupils to be ac- commodated, the number of pupils to a school, as will be seen by reference to the table of attendance by classes, is not such as to require that strict semi-military discipline in and about the premises that is no less a restraint upon the pleasure and development of the pupil physically than it is weari- some and cramping to his mental and moral progress. In
83
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
brief, the size of the schools is admirably adapted to a free and full development of the pupils under a minimum of restriction upon all their activities. In this respect the city is most fortunate.
With pleasant schoolrooms and ample play-grounds, both tastefully ornamented, - and the former generously supplied with needful aids to illustrate and diversify the daily tasks, -and abundant material for work of teacher and pupil, results of a high order are only a just and reasonable expectation.
TEACHERS.
With excellent accommodations, and most liberal supplies of incidentals, to maintain the schools uninterruptedly at a high standard of excellence, great care must be exercised in the selection of teachers to fill the vacancies from sickness, resignation, or other cause. Until our normal schools grant their diplomas to those only who have distinguished them- selves for aptness to teach, as well as for scholarship and good endeavor, we have no sure source of supply of good teachers to take the places of experienced teachers, causing vacancies.
With many names upon our list of applicants, it is no small difficulty to select with confidence one who will unquestion- ably prove a success in our schools. We have found but few among those assisting as apprentice-teachers who have shown first-rate ability to teach ; and, so far as opportunity offered, they have been employed as regular teachers. The plan adopted by the Board, of allowing the graduates of the High School to serve as apprentices, would undoubtedly secure much excellent talent for the schools; but, to be a complete success, several considerations must receive the attention of the Board, among which are the following : -
1. The apprentices must have shown a good record at the High School.
2. Must be as constant and regular in their work as the regular teacher.
3. Must pursue a course of study or reading during the apprenticeship, prescribed by the superintendent.
84
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
4. They must meet as a class, and discuss matters pertain- ing to teaching and school-work, as often as the superintend- ent may require.
5. Others than graduates of the High School, when prop- erly qualified, may be permitted to join the class.
6. Those who have served a reasonable time. and shown the required skill, shall have the preference with the Board in the election of teachers.
With a clear understanding of what is required, and the possible end to be attained, we have no doubt much talent, trained in the ways and methods of our schools, may be secured. But, to succeed in this, the responsibility of select- ing teachers for any given class ought to be definitely fixed, and the failure of a teacher to perform the work assigned should be reported from the same source.
The method of filling vacancies as they occur, either tem- porarily or permanently, deserves the early attention of the Board. Frequent embarrassment has arisen in attempting to fill vacancies requiring immediate action. An examination of candidates, or their credentials, at stated times, - say once or twice during the year, - would relieve the question of much of its present difficulty.
TEACHERS' MEETING.
Teachers' meetings have been held, as required by the Rules and Regulations. Much good results from the occa- sional interchange of views upon the work of the several grades. And the full attendance upon the grade-meetings indicates a clear purpose, on the part of the teachers, to maintain a high professional rank. Teachers who cannot find time to attend these cannot generally find time to improve their methods. The interest usually manifested at these meetings, as to the work to be done, and the methods of doing it, fully justifies the wisdom of the regulation estab- lishing them. During the past year they have by no means fallen off in interest or profit, or in attendance. Absences therefrom have generally been promptly and satisfactorily explained.
85
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
INSTRUCTION. - PROMOTION.
While following the course of study adopted by the Board as to the prescribed stages of promotion, it has been found necessary, in exceptional cases, to allow a certain degree of elasticity to promote the best interests of the pupils and the school. To remove all cause for misunder- standing as to the matter of promotion, a few words upon the policy advised by the superintendent in the matter of instruction of the individual classes may not be amiss. The frequently well-founded complaint against the graded system, that there is danger of magnifying the school at the expense of the pupil, when the number of pupils in attendance will not warrant separate classes for each grade, cannot be made against the schools of Newton. It has been the aim of the superintendent to strengthen the opinion, among teachers of every grade, that the necessity of two classes or grades in one room to a single teacher is a positive advantage rather than a disadvantage. This opinion is entertained by many of our ablest educators, and. we believe, is now held by almost all of our teachers. A very small number only, who have not time to do the work of a single grade, and never will have time, without change of methods, to attain their ideal results, hold to the contrary opinion.
Again : the most skilful teachers, with but one grade of forty or fifty pupils, do not attempt to treat them as a single pupil, all studying or attending to the same point at the same time. It is clear, that, by such a course, one-half of the time must be lost to the pupil, and therefore the class is made into, at least, four sections : while one section recites, the remaining three study, thus doubling the time for recitation and study both. Such a division gives room for extra work to the more mature, and the needed assistance to the more backward.
Active, competent teachers, who are always prepared to conduct their recitations independently of the text-book, can render all required help to their pupils while a portion are
86
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
reciting, can see that they are not wasting their time, and judiciously aid them in their work at the proper moment. As a rule, work that is not done at the proper time is never done. The proper time for school-work is from nine to twelve and from two to four ; and to learn to do their work at the proper time, to be prompt in attendance at school, and to prepare the task assigned in the hour given to it, is really to influence the life of the pupil more than any thing else to be learned at school, perhaps more than all else. To allow a pupil to remain idle habitually in school, and expect to reform him to good work by aiding him out of school- hours, is to defeat an important end of school-life, - the for- mation of habits of industry and punctuality. When the teacher substitutes the assigning of lessons and the hearing of them for the higher duties of inspiring a love for learning by all the ways that skill and tact always readily devise, and the stimulating of each pupil to a healthful activity, it takes but a short time for the very genius of dulness to gain full possession of the class, while all thought and effort of mem- ory become wearisome, difficult, and impossible. Neither the teacher nor the class can do the pupil's work: he must do it for himself; and while it is true that he must do it, the methods by which he is compelled to it distinguish clearly the power and rank of the teacher. No pupil is at his best, working under fear, - whether from fear of punishment, or loss of rank. The highest results are obtained when the pupil's conscious progress is the sufficient stimulus to greater exer- tion. To desire to learn something is the child's normal con- dition ; to succeed gives him pleasure, and encourages effort. To so apportion the work and agreeably diversify it as to quicken the pupil's interest therein tests the skill of the teach- er. The pupil will not fail to share the enthusiasm of the teacher; and on this account the skilful teacher makes the school, irrespective of per cents, methods, and courses of study. A genuine love for the work will always find a way of doing it; if not by one of the many already known, it will invent one of its own.
87
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
Occasionally an inexperienced or wearied teacher thinks this or that cannot be done, there is not time. Let us see. In our modern public-school system, the child enters at the average age of six years. If he leaves the grammar-school at fifteen, nearly one-quarter of his life is gone in school and vacation; if he leaves the high school at nineteen, and col- lege at twenty-three, one-third of his life is gone ; and ought he not at each of these stages to have accomplished much to prepare him well for the next half or third, which will be the limited amount he can give to greatest activity ? For during school-life his studies are supposed to task him so severely, that his vacations must be given to recreation ; and he is in no little danger of passing the golden period of his life with- out acquiring habits of voluntary industry, or becoming con- scious of the countless possibilities within the scope of his own powers. Time is not wanting to accomplish all and more than the course of study demands ; only a better knowl- edge of how to use it is occasionally needed.
We have said thus much to meet the criticism, sometimes made by others besides teachers, that the school-work is over-crowded. If reading, writing, and arithmetic, the essen- tials of a good education, were alone required, then our course should be reduced three years at least, if not more ; for six years' continuous effort upon these ought to suffice for the average pupil. But it is found that quite a percentage of pupils gain a year or more in the course ; and many of our teachers think more and different work could be done with greater interest and profit to the pupil. So that we are forced to the conclusion, that it is not the amount of work that troubles teacher or pupil, but the kind and method of it. Fulness of knowledge upon all related topics will enable the teacher to awaken and keep alive the pupil's interest in the narrow work of the curriculum. The instruction in the several grades during the past year, as shown by the written and oral examinations, has been highly satisfactory; and the success attained by several grades is shown by the tables annexed.
88
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
THE PRIMARY GRADES.
Very marked improvement has been made in the primary grades in reading, writing, and number. Lack of faith in the results possible to be reached by an earnest, wise han- dling of the little ones, and supposed lack of time to try better methods, have caused the exceptions. As the teacher cannot learn for the pupil, and his powers, physical and mental, are only beginning their development, the natural limits of the work of these grades are more easily discovered. And right here we think the first grave and important errors may be made in the child's education. And as these errors are fundamental, and vital to the successful working of any system of education, we have thought best to explain with some definiteness, at risk of the charge of theorizing, one or more of the principles we have endeavored to establish upon the much confused, at the present time, question of primary education.
While believing most fully many things in educational methods that have in fact had the sanction of the wisest educators for all time, but more definitely and widely since the time of Bacon, we at the same time wish to take excep- tion to some of the assumptions apparently supposed to underlie the philosophy of some of the methods in question. These are of the highest importance to any theory of edu- cation, since the whole superstructure must depend for its symmetry and permanency, in a large degree, upon the spirit and methods laying the foundations thereof.
The most damaging of these assumptions is the fundamen- tal one, in some of our normal instruction, that the child at five years of age knows nothing of number; and thereupon is built what may properly be termed the "idiot theory " of education, that is, the assumed idiocy of the child.
The enthusiast of this theory holds up three fingers to the child, and in answer to his question, " How many ?" the child says, two, or four, as the case may be ; and the answer is held to be proof that the child has no idea of number, and he is
89
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
forthwith doomed to a wearisome drill to develop his ideas of number, which is as insulting to his present knowledge and power as it is false in theory. There could not be, in our opinion, a clearer non sequitur, nor a more damaging one, extending its influence through nine long years of the pupil's life, to gain an incomplete mastery of the few principles underlying all arithmetical operations. As well might one say a mathematician failed in just conception of number, because at a glance he estimates a group at ten, which, upon counting, proves to be nine or eleven. We hold to exactly the opposite of this generally received opinion, and believe that the first
clear and complete conceptions of the child are of number ; that as soon as, by the aid of the geometrical faculty in differen- tiating form, the child is conscious of the existence of an object, even indistinctly, the idea of the existence of one thing is born, - one object, unity ; and, as soon as it can posi- tively distinguish its mother or nurse, not only is the idea of unity complete, but at the same time duality is realized, the rest of the world being one. As soon as it can rec- ognize two persons or things, the idea of three is completed ; these two, and all others as one, making three; and so on, the most definite ideas of the child being those of number. But he cannot express them readily in English or Arabic (the decimal system), or, for that matter, in Greek or Chi- nese, at the age of five years. Of course, special reference is had to ideas gained through the sense of sight, though it is difficult for one to imagine any ideas previously gained through other senses to be more clear and distinct in any other respect than in relation to the simple existence of objects or units.
The child's failure is not in the ability to imagine numbers of simple units, but in the proper use of the language com- monly applied to the expression of it, - the simplest form of which is the decimal system, - that he is to learn by counting objects, until made familiar with its simpler units, tens, hun- dreds, and thousands. When he has learned the decimal system in the representation of numbers, to attempt to treat
90
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
exhaustively the higher units with their fractional parts, so that when three hundred, for example, is named, the child will think of the number of its simple units, instead of only three units of a large number, is to abuse the child's imagina- tion, and defeat the very end to be served by learning the decimal system. While the free use of objects greatly aids in teaching the significance of the characters used in the deci- mal system, and objects should always be used therefor, yet if carried to excess, as it is liable to be under the "idiot theory," it will surely end in confusing the child's mind as to the object of the drill, and thoroughly disgust him with the whole subject of computation, affecting his whole subsequent progress in mathematical studies. The average child should seldom be troubled with objects after the first year in his arithmetical operations, except for occasional reviews of the decimal system, and illustrations of fractional terms. After he has learned the simple operations upon numbers, he is again to learn in denominate numbers modifications of the decimal system by the aid of objects, which will abundantly aid his imagination and judgment.
Next after this false assumption as to the child's ideas of number, and more damaging in its influence upon the pupil's successful introduction to school-life, comes that which must necessarily underlie the much abused object-method of teach- ing, as illustrated by those of whom it seems to have taken exclusive possession, under the impression that material ob- jects are the only legitimate objects of thought for the child. With them it would seem the assumption is made that the child has neither memory nor imagination ; whereas we would formulate the opposite opinion, that the child has both in a wonderfully free and untramelled condition, ready, without effort on its part, to serve the child in whatever interests it. No one can argue against true object-teaching ; and we only now refer to it to criticise certain misapprehensions as to its use, and to object to the absurd restrictions and limitations into which a misconception of its true scope is wont to lead the inexperienced in their work.
91
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
It best suits our purpose to illustrate its abuse in the very first steps taken by the child to learn to read. The child, for example, is to be taught the sentence, " I see a cat." There could be nothing more unphilosophical than to exhibit a cat, one or more, or to ask Johnny to describe his cat, and Jane to tell the color of hers, its name, &c., or to direct the attention of the pupil or class to the picture of a cat ; all which talk and picture would serve only to divide the pupil's interest, and so weaken his power to attend to the real pur- pose in view. The real and only objects to which his atten- tion should be directed are the words, " I see a cat," with suffi- ciently minute attention to each letter and its sound, to enable the child to recognize the word when reproduced, and with sufficient repetition to enable him to recall the forms on hearing the sounds. The simplest principles of philosophy require this. Hence it is much better to teach the child to read from the board or printed slips than from picture-books. All attempts to explain the ideas and thought are out of place, and confusing. There is no idea in the words. " I see a cat," that the child does not perfectly realize; and the thought of the sentence is as clear to him as to any one. He knows what it means as well as he ever will ; and to under- take to explain to him the idea of seeing, I, and cat, which he so well knows, is not only to insult his intelligence, but hin- ders his progress by absurdly diverting his attention from the proper objects of his thoughts, - the characters that stand for his oral expression " I see a cat."
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