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Show SUNMER 8OHOOLS. 469 Oar field matrons and nearly all officials who have had the opportnnity to invrs-tigate, are awakening to the fact that the day school is the wming achwl. Lwr tltr children he taught in the day school till 12 or 14 years of age, then let those who are capable be sent to the boarding school, and from there promoted to the non-reservation s~hwl. There is noocortsion for jealousy or friction; thereia work for all: hnt let each do it8 own work and not try to usurp the place of thepther, and after a while. when that happy hme shall have wme when reservabon llnea are no more and the Indiana become citizens of their respective States, they will have an ample school system ready to turn over to their own local governmeut. RESOLTEDT, HATC HILDRENSH OULD AT LEASTBE ABJX TO SPEAK, READA, ND WRITE THE ENGLISHL ANQUAGBEE BOREB EING PLACEDIN A NONRESER~A-TION SCHOOL. [C.F. P~mnc%,Superintendent,BlandreauS,. Dak.] After fonrtaen years' experience in both reservation and nonreservation schools, I am fnlly convinced that, as a general rule, no child shonld be sent to a nonreaer- Tation school until hehaa attained a fair knowledge of the English langnage and has reached the age of 13 years. To adopt the policy of removing the Indian child from the r ~ r v a tait a~n age of 6 or I years, as is advocated by many peraons, wonld nweemtate clmng or cur-tailing the reservation day and boarding schwls, thus removing the greatest factor for advancement on the reservation. Aside from the benefits to be derived from the presence of the child at the reser-vation school, there are also other reasons, from the standpoint of the child, why he shonld not be transferred from his home until he has passed a few years at. soh001 there. First, the period in a child's life from 6 to 14 years is a very important one, grohably the most important of his early life, and climatic chrvnges at this time avefrequently been the cauae of a breahng down of the constitution. Scrofnlona or tuberculous tendencies are more liable to become manifest during this period, and changes in altitude and temperature only tend to hasten the general break-up of the system. For this reason alone I contend that none but pnp~lso f at least 13 yearsof ageshould be allowed to transfer to any nonreservationschool, where the clrange involves any material change in climste. Again, the yonng child entering a training school does not appreciate the char-acter of the work that shonld ha accomphshed there, and has httle of the desire,to do; the school is simply his home, and he is contented to remain there and drift with the currant. He may advance, hut never with the same spirit that inspires the pupil that enters with the thought tbat it is school, and that he has a task before him which he shonld be able to complete within a certain number of years. At theageof about 14 years thereservationchild, if he hasheen regular in attend-snce at school, should be ready for the sixth or seventh grddes, and four years added to his knowledge already obtained, should prepare him for the life he will be most likely to lead, or, in a few cases, f? higher education. At this age he enters prepared for a hfoader life, with the intention of reaching a higher plane, with the knowledge tbat he is no longer a child, to he led, hnt that he shonld rely -to a greater extent upon ha own strength for hls standing. Snrrounded by new influences, he soon acquires new ideas and habits, and falls into line to take np the march of advancement, keeping step with others toward citizenship, with prospects for success largely in his favor. Finally, the boy who having been tsnght habits of indnstry at the reservation school, is better prepared to take np industrial training st this time than at an earlier age. At the ape of 14 years he is ready physioally and mentally to take up thia industrial training, not only in theory hut in practice, and I think experi-ence has shown that better results can be obtained in the nonreservatian schools schools between the ages of 14 and 18 than at other periods. provided, of course, that the proper fonndation hss been laidin the reservation school. The indnstrial side of the Indian's sducat~oos honld receive higheat considera-tion, for it is by habits of indnstry and frugality that he mnst finally make his success in life, and become a self-snpporting and respectable citizen in every sense of the word. WEAT TO DO IN THE NIGHT SCHOOL. [Miss AnonsTa S. HU~XASNnp.e rintendent, Grace Schml. ~ m tDaik ota.] Fill the evening hour with nice things that get crowded ont of the day. One evening each week shoold be given to current history, a simple acconnt of six or a dozen events of the week. Follow this with an ontline on the bulletin |