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Show 336 REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN I3CHOOLS. said here of descriptive drawing applies with equal force to uarrative or story drawing, which naturally precedes with the Indian uhild the telling and writing of stories. Teachers who in these matters have follomed my suggestions have invariably attained gratifying success. It is gratifying, too, to uote that a few teachers are beginning to realize the great practical value of fa,miliarity with pl~ysicala nd chem-ical phenomena in the development of the industrial spirit and in the intelligent control of industrial material and proceslres on the part of the children. There call be no que~tionth at the physics aud chemistry of liitchen, laundry, and sewing room, or the carpenter and blacksmith shop, or farm and garden, are infinitely more valuabl.~a~s, well as more interesting a,nd educationally developing, to the Ii~dia,ug irls and boys, than the antiqtlated spelling torments and inanities of grammar which find it so hard to bid farewell to the little red suferers. Fortunately the adequate consideration of physic:al and chemical law^ in our schools is neither difficult. nor expensive, as has been repeatedly shown, A few pieces of apparatus may have to be pur-chased, bat all the rest can be furnished by the manual traibing rooms and workshops. OO~ON- SENSEM ETHODS. Another consideration which is besinnine to be more and more fullv nnrkrsrood and apprtciatec1 by tte;fcLr inihe iudiau-srhool servic se: the ueressitp of Ien8ing all written work in langu:~ges ~ n~ritdl~ u~cric up011 eonverdarional orural work,apd tbe relativeiy gienter i~r~])orta~~of reaching tl:r child to apeak English ns compared \pith the desirability of teacl~iupll iu~t o \!.rite Euglisll. Eve11 in civilization the oe(.:~hio~~for using &.a1 speech are a hindred times more nnmemus than thosefor using written speech, and in practical everyday life the ability to talk on one's feet is vastly more valuable than abilit,y to write at one's seat. This does not mean that the child is not to be taught to write, nor does it mean that he will become less proficient in writing if in language teaching the main stress is placed upon oral work. On the contrary, the experience of those of our teachers who have followed these sug. gestions shows tha,t children who control oral speecl~ acquire skill in writing with much less effort arid much more satisfactorily. Similar considerations apply to arithmetic. The fundamental stress should be placed upon the mental control of number relations in oral work. This mental control in oral work represents 99 per cent of the occasions in practical life when the Indian will be call.ed upon to make use of his arithmetical knowledge and skill; and, on t.he other hand, jt furnishes a firm aud secure basis 011 which the child can acquire in oom~arativelvli ttle time and wit11 com~arativelvl ittle effort full and ready controiof the loothods and devices of writien arithmetic. I am plea,sed to be able to report that these and otht:r similar matters coni~ectidw ith the work of the schoolroom are be in^ more and more geuernlly ~ ~ n d r r s r oa~nd~ dpr avrir~.rl1 1y our te.~rl~eris;l,r l rllat cornmoll-sense n~ethocln wit11 the 1, solid and permanent results are qtendily driv. ihc I'ron~t l~btie 141 ~nerrlvc ~onvenrionalc lasa.room tmditions wit11 their vapory and fleeting outoome. COURSES OB STUDY AND TIME TABLIZS. In spite of manydifficulties in the way, there has been steady improve-ment in the majority of schools in the adaption of oouirsea of study and time tables to local conditions and the needs of the children. The |
