RESUME OF LECTURES ON EDUA, TION, BY C. C. HOWARD, ESQ. F.R.G.S.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 2, Issue 114, 21 August 1877, Page 2

RESUME OF LECTURES ON EDUA, TION, BY C. C. HOWARD, ESQ. F.R.G.S.

Lecture IV.—Subject—Special training of particular faculties. Lessons inform, & colour, height, distance,' &c. Music in schools. Its great importance in infant education. The lectiner commenced, by briefly reviewing the chief points dwelt upon with previous lectures. Every system used, must be adapted to the children, and every child has the power to inherent for its own education. The teacher ought not to experiment for the child, but to help the ■ child to educate itself, and to develope the perceptive faculties. Children should be assisted to perceive and remember. Children have five senses, or wits, called by Dr. Wilson, " the five gateways of knowledge.' Some have one sense more developed than * other senses, and therefore teachers should attend very carefully to the individual peculiarities, of .tlie children. Cultivate observation and thought, and exercise all the .* senses as much as possible. The sense of sight is more enduring than other senses, because of impressions made upon the eye. The use of pictures in illustration is of

great benefit. Sight 'is 'strengthened by use, as is instanced by the keenness of sight Observed among sailors, bankers, &c. The teacher needs a Cultivated eye to observe disorder, and dirt in school, and to detect mistakes, &c, in work. Train children's sight by the use of maps, pictures, models, &c, all of which should be well provided in schools. Tabulate things to assist memory, and train the eye to observe. Exercise each sense in its own proper sphere, and accept nothing on trust. The child's observation should be accompanied by helps and questions, and all exercises should be various, and made as amusing as possible. The success of the work undertaken should be estimated by the interest which the, children take in the lesson, rather than by the answers given, as children cannot readily and clearly express their ideas and knowledge, owing to their deficient knowledge of language.

Give plenty of work to be done in exercising children's faculties. For development of sight exercise in form, colour, distance, height, weight, &'c. Form Ist. Draw and define a straight line, then lengthen and combine straight lines, illustrating at the same time by objects within sight. 2nd. Draw and define a plan, and three, four, and five sided figures. 3rd. Solids, prisons, &c. Ath.__My.rved lines. Note special rules, and graaiiate the instruction carefully. Use blackboard objects in hand, and associate figures with objects named, explaining design and construction. Teach the alphabet as a lesson in form. Colour. Ist. Primary fundamental colours. 2nd. Combined. Mix colours and let colours in articles, &c, be named. 3rd. Shades of colour. Cultivate correct taste. Height and Distance. Shew how form and colour will vary with these. Teach Ist relative height. Compare the heights of children—alter the arrangement, and illustrate by height of things in the schoolroom. Endeavour to amuse and interest by tales about difficulties reported of giants aud dwarfs. Stand children out in schoolroom to reach heights, and compare heights of animals, &c. 2nd. Absolute height, units of measures, &c., and treat of distance and length in the same way. Training the Ear.—The lecturer dwelt at length upon the influence of music upon men and animals. The love of music inherent in children. Wesley, Mozart, and others, were very remarkable as musicians from childhood. Music in schools is of great value and highest importance, for its disciplinary effect. Singing should form part of the daily routine of infant schools, and in the upper school the theory of music should be carefully taught. Lessons should be carefully graduated, aud great attention paid to accuracy in time. The singing should be made lively, and the words explained before being committed to memory. The following works were highly recommended :— " On the culture of the observing powers of children," by a lady. Currey's " early and complete course of lessons." ■• Lecture V.—Subject—Drawing and writing lessons. How best to teach them,, and at the same time subserve other purposes. Imitative exercises. Development and.eoHstructive faculties. Kindergarten gifts and other useful infant school apparatus. Writing and drawing exercises are nearly allied to each other, and should be taught as much as possible, as if one and the same subject. Both are lessons on form. They differ in practice inasmuch as writing, must be correctly done from the first, while drawing may be erased or improved. The necessity of instruction in writing is too frequently underrated as if only a mechanical exercise, and great tendency exists to place greater value upon drawing. The lecturer dwelt at some length upon the great danger of studying particular systems of writing, instead of studying the individual characters of the children, and recommended teachers to avoid as much as possible all existing systems, and adopt their own methods to the individual necessities of their pupils. Writing may be considered a popular test of a school, and a reliable criterion of its work, as reflecting distinct characteristics of the teacher. Writing should be taught as carefully as drawing, and slate writing as carefully as booh writing. The lessons should be graduated with great care, and every difficulty be mastered separately. The letters in copy setting should be classified. The lessons methodical, and no difficulties should be passed over, or allowed to remain unmastered. Avoid flourishes and all unnecessary strokes, and make the letters small, suited to a child's fingers. Commence by teaching roundhand, and gradually diminish the size of letters, and do not compel little children to write large letters. Give lessons also on the separate parts of letters, and as early as possible combine letters into words/ Set special copies for special defects ; dictate letters and words, and compete for superiority. The teacher should cultivate taste, freedom, and facility in and make the study of writing as attractive and pleasant as possible. Teach the uppQi- classes to form letters in different ways, and different styles, and to combine letters into monograms. Mr. Howard dwelt for some time upon the use of the kindergarten apparatus, its great value in developing the initiative and constructive faculties in children, and its application to various subjects of study. He recommended that drawing be made as interesting as possible, and that object drawing be taught early. Children should not be confined to exercises of mere imitation, but should be encouraged to invent and think out problems for themselves. In arithmetic, the}' should not be bound to the hard and fast rules usually given, but should be allowed to find out the shortest and best way of solving a problem. In the playground, let children invent their own games, but play with them. The lecturer strongly recommended the display of maps, diograms, pictures, &c, in schoolrooms, and the use of models, in preference to diograms, whenever possible.

(To be Continued.)