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Show REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN SCHOOLS. DEPARTMENOFT TEE INTEEIOR, OFFICEO F SUPERINTENDENOFT INDIASCNHO OLS, Washington, D. C., September !25,1906. SIR: I have the honor to submit the twenty-fourth annual report of the superintendent of Indian schools, together with a r6sum6 of the ~roeeedines. DaDers. and discussions at institutes. which will be - , A fouLd in the appen$ix. ' The greater part of the year I have spent in the field endeavoring to improve the class-room work in Ind~ansc hools by demonstrating to teachers the good results that can be accomplished by following the methods used at noted schools-Hampton, Tuskegee, and oth-ers-- especially in correlating the literary and industrial work. When I have found that the method used in a particular class room was not oroducinn the desired results. mv olan has been to show the teacher how Lo %vercon~e the defekts "bi using another method. When the same defect has been observed in a number of schools a circular has been issued describing a method that has been tried in several schools and found effective. Frequently it has been found advisable to spend considerable time at a school in order to adapt the course of study to the local conditions Much tune has also been devoted to assisting individual teachers, especially those just enter-ing the Service, by going over with them the course of instruction to be followed and by preparing sample lessons for their guidance. Special effort has been made to eliminate from the curriculum everything of an unpractical nature and to adapt instruction to local conditions and immediate and practical needs of puplls. Too many teachers have the mistaken idea that their efforts should be directed toward transforming the Indian into something else rather than developing him along natural lines. To overcome thls, teachers have been urged to study conditions on the reservations, the home life and individual characteristi? of their pupils, and in plannii?g their work to examine rigidly their methods and results and bear m mind the fact that the valne of education to any child is measured by its usefulness to him in later life. By persistent effort the adoption of the objective method of teach-ing pupils to speak English has been secured m many schools, w?~ere children now acquire a working knowledge of the language in a shorter time than they do in other schools. On first entering the Service teachers do not seem to realize the differences in heredity and home environment between white and Indian children, and to appreciate the fact that methods of teaching which are suited to white pupils should be materially modified m instructin Indians. They also often overlook the fact that most Indian chi1! ir en when 407 |