CHAPTER XV.

COURSE OF STUDY IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS OF CITIES.1

What the Elementary School Is-The Quantity of Elementary Instruction—Character of Elementary Training-General Remarks-Reading-Arithmetic-Grammar-Geography and History-Subjects Comparatively New to the Course-Natural Science-General History-Geometry-Algebra Civil Government-Amount of Instruction and Number of Hours Devoted to the Several Branches (Table 1)-Percentage of Total Time Occupied by Each Branch of Instruction (Table 2)-Time Allotted to Reading in the Several Grades (Table 3)-To Spelling (Table 4)—To Writing (Table 5)-To Drawing (Table 6)—To Music (Table 7)-To Language Lessons and to English Grammar" (Table 8)-To History (Table 9)— To Geography (Table 10)-To Arithmetic (Table 11)-To Physical Culture (Table 12)-To Instruction, Principally Oral, in Morals and Manners, in Civil Government, and in Natural Science, including Physiology (Table 13).

INTRODUCTION.

What the elementary school is.—In reviewing the entire course of man's existence, differences in his powers at successive periods become apparent. These differences are so great that it is customary to divide the term of life into epochs or stages. The lines of demarkation between these epochs are variously placed by different writers, but all agree in assigning to the beginning of the period of puberty a peculiar significance as marking a new era in life. Psychologists also recognize this point and indicate it as the beginning of a new period of mental activity-i. e., the stage of judging or reasoning.

Now, since it is essential that the studies pursued at any particular time shall be suited to the mental advancement of the student, the course of study should be so constructed that, when the pupil begins to think as a man, and to reason as a man, he shall be led into fields of effort different from those with which he has previously been familiar. New subjects should be introduced which require, in a greater degree, the exercise of his reasoning faculties. A new order of proceeding and exposition should be adopted in instructing him.

To accomplish this most satisfactorily, the pupil is at this point transferred from the elementary school, which he has hitherto attended, to another department of the school system, called the high school, whose organization is especially adapted to the new methods of instruction, and whose discipline is suited to his increased capacity for self-command. The question of convenience in school management also enters into the separation of the higher department from the lower, just as in the division of elementary schools into primary, intermediate, and grammar schools in many of the larger cities; but the difference between the elementary school and the high school is a real one, based upon psychological causes that are recognized, or are supposed to be recognized, in the arrangement of every course of study.

If it be required, therefore, to give a definition of the place of the American elementary school in the scheme of education, it may be said that in it is given that instruction which precedes the assumption of the studies proper for the stage of reasoning. In practice the studies first taken up when this stage is supposed to be reached are chosen from the following: Algebra, geometry, physics, chemistry, general history, and a foreign language, ancient or modern.

The quantity of elementary instruction.-It is a well-established fact that the mind grows by the proper exercise of its faculties. Without such exercise those faculties do not develop as rapidly as they might, and the probability of attaining the highest mental development is lessened in proportion to the time and opportunities lost." On the other hand, even greater danger may be apprehended from unwisely overcrowding the youthful mind and subjecting it to tasks too great for its strength. Hence it is important that careful attention should be given to the quantity of study of each kind which a child is required to do. He should not be kept upon the This paper was prepared by Mr. J. C. Boykin, specialist of the Bureau in city school systems.

simpler studies of the elementary school longer than is necessary to prepare him for those of the high school, nor should his mind be taxed with the severer studies before his capacity is fully equal to the task.

It is still an open question as to what is the quantity of elementary study which will furnish the proper training without loss of time, and yet without overcrowding. Eight years is the time indicated in a majority of cases, but an examination of the tables presented herewith discloses wide divergences from this time. Without descending further into details than to note the number of years, it appears that there are courses which cover 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, and 10 years respectively. These courses all have a common object in view, i. e., the high school, with its characteristic methods and studies. Now, the study of algebra, which is the best test of high school instruction, requires the exercise of the same faculties, whether it is taken up in the sixth school year or in the eleventh. Then, if the opinion be correct that this branch with the others previously named represents the proper studies for a certain stage of mental advancement, it follows either that the pupils are prematurely forced in one case, or else that they lose several valuable years in the other.

It is not within the purpose of these remarks to set forth the advantages of either a long or a short elementary course, but they are intended principally to indicate the purpose and value of the subjoined tables, and to direct attention to many other variations, equally as radical, which are disclosed, in the hope that a general discussion of the points of difference may be productive of mutual benefit.

CHARACTER OF ELEMENTARY TRAINING.

In the previous paragraphs elementary instruction has been mentioned only in connection with its function of aiding in the development of the mind to the point at which a new epoch begins. But this is only a part of what the training given during this period must accomplish; for in common with all instruction it must also have in view the equipment of the pupil with facts useful for the present and profitable in the future years of his life.

American writers on education have generally been inclined in the past to take the view of instruction, including of course that given in the elementary schools, which subordinates the acquisition of knowledge for its own sake to the discipline of the mind.

The position taken by James Currie in his "Principles and Practice of Common School Education" coincides with the opinions which a few years ago almost universally prevailed in this country, and as an excellent presentation of this view one paragraph in this book is worthy of reproduction in full. His belief is that "On its intellectual side the school should seek to develop the powers of mind, so that the pupil may have the full use of them in after life. This consideration should determine the whole work of the school. Present knowledge is not given for its own sake, or with a view to future professional occupation, but that the pupil who has gone through the process of acquiring it, may gain there from the power of acquiring for himself as much more as he needs and the disposition to do so. And according to the degree in which it tends to give this power is any branch of knowledge a suitable or an unsuitable instrument for school purposes. The school has a general, not a special, design; it does not consider how much of this subject or of that will be required to fit the pupil for such and such a position, but how it can best discipline his mind. The elevation of character implied in the attainment of this end will better prepare him for the position he may be called on to occupy than any accumulation of knowledge presented to him from its apparent exclusive adaptation to its requirements."

But recent years have given evidences of a departure from this position, and the Spencerian doctrine "that the acquirement of those classes of facts which are most useful for regulating conduct involves a mental exercise best fitted for strengthening the faculties," is now widely accepted as true so far as it relates to elementary study, both in its direct and inverse application. Consequently, the writers of to-day manifest a strong desire to bring the subjects of school instruction more nearly in a line with the immediate demands of actual life. Evidences are numerous that these utterances and beliefs have had their effect upon the courses of instruction. Such evidences may be found in the abbreviation of the study of arithmetic; in the relegation of the science of grammar to the highest grades; in the popularity of manual training; in the introduction of supplementary reading with information as its primary object; in the legal requirements relating to the study of physiology and hygiene; in the appearance in many courses of study of "civics," bookkeeping, and other subjects supposed to have a direct bearing upon the pupil's life and conduct. The disproportionate growth of the lower stratum of our educational system and the necessity it brought for a more rounded elementary training had much to do with this change of belief, if it was not the direct cause.

When the number of those who attended school was limited in a large measure to persons who anticipated a full course of study extending through the elementary and secondary school, the college, and the university, each department was practically a preparation for that which followed. The elementary school had for its chief object the development of the faculties to the point of ability to pursue the studies of the secondary school. The secondary school was simply a preparatory department for the college, while the college merely continued the work of culture, and it was not until the university was reached that a beginning was made toward direct and avowed preparation for the work of life.

For those who are destined to pursue the entire curriculum this is still the approved regimen.

It would be a needless waste of time to give any attention to the elements of algebra, geometry, civil government, and general history, or more than a modicum of instruction in natural science in the elementary schools if all the pupils are expected to study these things in a thorough, scientific manner in a higher institution. But this is not now the case. The public schools are filled with those whose attendance is to cease at an early period, and the pupils who complete the entire course of instruction are too few to influence the shaping of that portion of the course which all pursue. About 84 per cent. of the children receive no formal instruction save what is given them in the elementary schools; they must be informed of facts necessary to right living while there is yet an opportunity.

Even if it be granted that the acquisition of such information is not "best fitted for strengthening the faculties," and that it would not be utterly contrary to the beautiful economy of nature if one kind of culture were needed for the gaining of information and another kind for a mental gymnastic," the time which the great majority give to school work is too short to dwell upon the recognized disciplinary studies to the exclusion or neglect of the information-giving subjects.

Social science, natural science, general history, algebra, and geometry are not, it is true, properly "information subjects" as they are taught in the higher schools, for the mental drill they give is such that their disciplinary value is even greater than their value in imparting knowledge. But the pupils in elementary grades are not ready for the deeper processes of thought involved in the proper study of these subjects, although a knowledge of their practical teachings is essential. Therefore it becomes necessary to divest these subjects of higher study of their dense garb of intricate reasoning, and to present the useful facts they teach clothed only in a thin garment of explanation which may be easily penetrated by the understanding of the elementary pupil.

Thus it is intended that the practical lessons of the advanced and highly disciplinary studies shall be learned by the child who proceeds no further in the curriculum than the grammar school, and that his training, though less thorough, shall be nearly as well rounded as that received by the high school or the college graduate. Mr. J. G. Fitch admirably expresses this principle in his "Lectures on Teaching" thus: "The course should be rounded and complete as far as it goes, on the supposition that, except in the case of schools which are preparing for the university, there is little or no chance that the time of formal school instruction will be prolonged. It is by losing sight of this that we often commit the grave mistake of conducting the school education of a boy on too pretentious a plan and on the assumption that he is to make a long stay at school. And the incomplete frustum of a higher course is not of the same value as the whole of a scheme of instruction which from the first has a less ambitious aim."

With so much in regard to the general plan of the present elementary course we may proceed to the consideration of the effects of the changed purposes upon its details. In this connection it is better to treat the several subjects according to the relative importance assigned to them rather than by considering the actual time devoted to each. In this way we may more satisfactorily judge the character of each course, both specifically and comparatively.

For this purpose twenty-nine courses have been selected, representing all the sections of the country and all the different periods of time covered, and the relative amount of time devoted to every subject in each course has been determined. In Table 2 may be found the result. Let us here remind the student of this table, in a parenthetical way, that the time which it is necessary to give to a subject is not always commensurate with its importance. For example, an important truth in physiology, giving the pupils a knowledge of his duty to himself, or in sociology, showing him his relations to society, may be inculcated in a very short time compared with that needed to instill a principle no more essential in mathematics or gramSuch a table as this is most valuable in showing changes or differences in the several courses.

mar.

READING.1

Prominent among the changes that recent years have brought in the educational field is the development of reading. From the partly mechanical exercise of involv ing only the oral interpretation of the written or printed word, the subject has grown until it embraces instruction in almost every subject within the range of the child's understanding.

To the design of teaching merely how to read is now added the broad purpose of teaching what to read and how to utilize the fruits of reading. Thus the pupil is not only led into the domain of literature, but geography, history, and natural science all contribute to the store of facts acquired through "reading."

With a few exceptions, like Macon, Ga., where the statement is made that "the average teacher can not do more than teach the children to get the thought from the printed page," and where a special teacher is wanted to teach pupils to read entertainingly," the oratorical feature of the subject is considered of secondary importance at most. Mr. George Howland, in his report for 1887-88 as superintendent of the Chicago schools, says:

"Above the primary grades the supplemental reading should be of such a character, I think, as to make reading a means and not an end. Reading should now be for culture, for information, for broadening and deepening the knowledge and thought of the pupil rather than for cultivating oratory, so called, one of the most useless, if not the most pernicious, exercises of the schoolroom." And this is the view which generally prevails.

The Chicago course of study assigns 30.9 per cent. of the whole time in school to reading. In addition to Appleton's series of five readers, Longfellow's Evangeline, Hawthorne's Wonder Book, Part II, and Whittier's Snow Bound, which are regular text-books, the following are furnished by the Board of Education as supplementary reading:

FOR PRIMARY GRADES.

First grade.-Sheldon's First Reader, Barnes' First Reader, Swinton's First Reader, Harpers' First Reader, First Reader of Students' Series.

Second grade.-Stickney's First Reader, Harper's Second Reader, Seaside and Wayside, No. 1, Cats and Dogs (Johonnot), The Book of Folk Stories.

Third grade.-Stickney's Second Reader, Harper's Third Reader, Feathers and Fur (Johonnot), The Book of Fables.

Fourth grade.-Andersen's Fairy Tales, First Series, Hooker's Book of Nature, Part I, Scribners' Geographical Reader, Dodge's Stories of American History.

The books of the first, second, and third grades are supplied in sets of twenty copies, and for the fourth grade in sets of thirty copies.

FOR GRAMMAR GRADES.

Fifth grade.-Hooker's Book of Nature, Part II, Monroe's Stories of American History.

Sixth grade-Hooker's Book of Nature, Part III, Heroic Deeds (Johonnot). Seventh grade.-Scudder's History of the United States, Eggleston's History of the United States, Boys of '76.

Eighth grade.-Stone's History of England, Montgomery's Leading Facts of English History (Ginn & Co.), Building the Nation (Coffin).

"The books for the fifth and sixth grades are furnished in sets of thirty copies; those for the seventh grade in sets of ten copies; those for the eighth grade in sets of fifteen copies, except Building of the Nation, of which five copies are furnished.”

In New York City the plan of instruction in reading has recently2 been modified, so that it now covers almost as wide a range as in Chicago. Suitable books on history, biography, travel, descriptive geography, fiction, and poetry have largely taken the place of the old reading book, which, according to Mr. John Jasper, the superintendent, "is usually a miscellaneous collection of short and unrelated fragments, many of which awaken no interest on the part of pupils in these days of an abundance of interesting books for the young."

To further emphasize the use of reading as a developer of the faculties and a means of imparting useful knowledge "silent reading by the pupils and the reproduction of the thoughts read, in their own words, have been practiced with very creditable results" in New York and in many other cities of the country.

In Boston the time devoted to the entire subject of language, including reading, spelling, writing, language lessons, and grammar, is 47.7 per cent. of the whole. Reading occupies a large part of this, but its proportion to the total time is less than

in either Chicago or New York. The list of books read, however, is even larger1 and is less supplemented by what is called the "circulating-library plan."

This idea is peculiar to Boston and is worthy of particular notice. It can not be better described than by quoting the following from School Document No. 20, 1888: "The object of the plan is not only to aid pupils to cultivate a taste for good and wholesome reading, but by furnishing them with good books for home reading to provide additional material for their work in composition and the study of English literature.

"Sets of suitable books will be purchased, each set consisting of sixty books. "Each set will be put up in a strong, well-made box with handles; the boxes to be made for the purpose, each set exactly fitting its box; the division to which it belongs and the kind of books it contains to be marked upon each box.

"A report card, upon which the principal shall note the condition of book when received, will accompany each set. The principal of the school shall receive the books, note on the report their condition, and see to the distribution in the classes.

"The sets of books in each division will form a circulating library for that division, to be moved from school to school at stated periods by the regular supply team. The transfer of boxes will take place during the months of December and March.” 2 The following are the titles of the books supplied:

Zigzag Journeys in Europe, Zigzag Journeys in the Orient, Scudder's Boston Town, Drake's The Making of New England, Towle's Pizarro, Towle's Vasco da Gama, Towle's Magellan, Fairy Land of Science, Hawthorne's True Stories, Higginson's Young Folks, Book of Explorers, Scott's Ivanhoe, Longfellow's Evangeline, Little Folks in Feathers and Fur, What Mr. Darwin Saw in his Voyage around the World in the Ship Beagle, Muloch's A Noble Life, M. E. Dodge's Hans Brinker, Lambert's Robinson Crusoe, Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, Abbott's Jonas on a Farm in Summer, Smile's Robert Dick, Geologist and Botanist, Eyes Right, Alcott's Little Men, Alcott's Little Women, Stoddard's Dab Kinzer, Scott's Kenilworth, Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby, Abbott's Mary Queen of Scots, Abbott's Charles I, Taylor's Boys of Other Countries, How Marjory Helped, Little People in Asia, Gilman's Magna Charta Stories, Overhead, Yonge's Lances of Linwood, Memory Gems, Geographical Plays, Ten Boys Who Lived on the Road from Long Ago till Now, Scott's Tales of a Grandfather, Hayes's Cast Away in the Cold, Sharp Eyes and other Papers, Lessons on Practical Subjects, Stories of Mother Nature, Play Days, Jackanapes, Children's Stories of American Progress, Little Lord Fauntleroy.

This list is for the grammar schools only. For the primaries and ungraded schools the books supplied are principally first and second readers of other series than those adopted as regular text books and as "permanent supplementary reading" books. The New Haven, Conn., Indianapolis, Ind., Baltimore, Md., St. Louis, Mo., and Brooklyn, N. Y., courses also assign a large proportion of the time to reading, and in all of them the purpose of obtaining information is no less conspicuous than that of cultivating a good literary taste, and entirely overshadows the aim of securing distinctness of articulation and accuracy of oral reading, which is for the most part the work of the lowest grades.

The list of "permanent supplementary reading" books is as follows:

PRIMARY SCHOOLS.

Easy Steps for Little Feet; Popular Tales (first and second series); Parker and Marvel's Supplementary Reading (first book); Tweed's Graded Supplementary Reading; Modern Series Primary Reading, Part I; An Illustrated Primer (D. C. Heath & Co.).

GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.

Class VI.-Seven Little Sisters, Each and All, Hooker's Child's Book of Nature, Our World, No. 1, Poetry for Children.

Class V.-Stories of American History, Guyot's Introduction to Geography, Hooker's Child's Book of Nature, Poetry for Children, Robinson Crusoe.

Class IV.-The Wonder Book, Tanglewood Tales, Stories in Mythology, Hooker's Child's Book of Nature, Poetry for Children, Nature's Book, Robinson Crusoe.

Class III.-Hooker's Child's Book of Nature, American Poems, with Biographical Sketches and Notes.

Class II.-Selections from American Authors, American Poems.

Class I.-Selections from American Authors. Early Englard, Harper's Half-hour Series (Nos. 6 and 14), American Poems, Green's Readings from English History, Phillips' Historical Readers (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4).

Any class.-Six Stories from the Arabian Nights, Holmes's and Longfellow's Leaflets, Book of Golden Deeds.

These books are supplied in sets of sixty copies each, one set being sufficient for these class-rooms. It is intended to discuss the subject of school libraries with considerable fullness in the next Educational Report, and for that reason no mention is made here of the uses in connection with the study of reading to which school libraries are put in many other cities.