THE PRIMARY SCHOOL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1008, 24 December 1910, Page 17

THE PRIMARY SCHOOL.

ndpv tw ? the schools have closed m,e n f ?yT s , wprk '' lt n, 'S M not -he ? e • t ° glaueo I)ack ""i consider. P 0 " 1 ? 5 111 connection ..with tlio evefyWhJ- 5 j - °?E primary schools, pno reads m the daily" newspapers ™t«- " 5 t n '?i •?" r °I )Km countries - the' percentage, of illiterates is-as"-liigh assevenper cent, of the" :porml!vtibhf -it 4 S'in" i n -V tllat iu o,lr DO- : W ,r to olir -excellent '■ svsttm of. education, it is extremely : rare" that Me hear of -cases of absoluto illiteracy n^' rc - ho "l Zealanders past' the school age. , The net of compulsion ■rtirhl- H? r n V? ct j cal 's: it is but •J-iiLI-: s!lou ' < l, be-so. ' Our truant' !when/(hcj,.und it .necessary,-."to resort to' the extreme step of .orosecnting parents re'dllrll- f ß ®"- 1 t( > sell ° ol i I ? v<m m 'bpse (lavs of onml > a i pr , osr^s thcro arc a-few, kl only a few, parents who through contempt of learning or ipnorance winch is-the same thins, or from « 1,1 ,™? ITes '' would '' "Hfeo to prevent 011 fr ° m attMulil> E school

Nowadays, it does not aonear to bo' tho custom to exact home lessons from •wWn " £ writer rDcalls that in Ms .schooldays they occupied a Very c'on'aiuHife wi!" — schiidl'proTOMrtjrte'./ -and although they were- regarded bV-the'-pupils as a very irksome imposition (hero is no doubt that tliev were p'roduc- ., ot . a vast amount of good; as thev made for -self-reliance ,bv obliging ' the nupil to learn for himself at first hand from the text books, those subjects which are really only -exercises .0f,.-" memory, such as history and geogranhy. and thus more time-was left; to -the teacher- to deal with branches of-.tho svllabus that required more direct teaching—such as mathematics and English. But within recent years Hie system of memorising .lias fallen somewhat into disrenute, but if one scans the panel's set at any oi public examinations-, he will find that a great deal of memory work has to be mastered if. candidates are to ecoUit thomselves creditably. If "knowledge is power, . thero can surely be no harm in nupils committing to memorv as manv facts as they nossibly can, for, as Lord Bacon says, "Reading maketli a full man. - t' •

It would- be a move in the right direction if all schools wore; sunnlied with the apparatus necessary-.for."the'..intelli-gent .teaching, of . arithmetic,- such " no scales and ..weights, measuring, tanes, and vessels to show the various nieasureS-of capacity, i Many pupils who. can arrive, mechanically at.'the correct answers of difficult exorcises in advanced arithmetic show themselves very deficient whw called upon to do practical work, involving a thorough knowledge of the weights and measures. When mensuration is taught practically,- it arouses ercat interest, and tho pupils are very oleased with themselves when- they can. for instance calculate tho area of the school-ground or garden, and tell-the'number of gallons of;water the school tank will hold, anil various other exercises on' the same lines Til view -of there being, a greater likelihood of accidents occm-ing during the' holidays, than at any other- time of tho year, many teachers, previous to the brcaking-up, : give useful lessons in first aid, showing how to restore breathing in the caso of the apparently drowned, a'his practice, is to bo highly commended; s.eo-ing-the largo numbers of young• heople there are who disport; themselves in tliu -briny';during_ the summer months.. Oiiestions'in parsing <lo not 'now aonear on" the' examination ; cards- issued by ."the Education Department, so, presumably the subject has "been" eliminated froin the school syllabus. This "is" ratlier n pity, since some knowledge of parsing' is indispensable if- children are. to understand the rules of .'syntax,_ which teach them .how to speak and write correctly, or, in other words, to lise good grammar. "When a I boy .commits, the very common error of saying.'"lt is me," instead of "It is I," it is almost impossible to make him understand why the former is wrong, if he does not possess some idea of parsing. The examination cards referred to above often contain most elabriratelyplanned intricate errors in syntax for correction : by tho 'pupils. The" teacher very often has to spend a considerable time unravelling' these far-fetched 'specimens of "bad grammar." whereas, if more '"attention were bestowed in endeavouring to correct the more glaring' and' common errors in( n which the great majority of school children and, indeed, for that'' nv'tter, adults as well, .are ronh'mially falling, Ihorc would soon take place a marked , jmnrovenioiit. in .the use of correct .English both.' iii shaking and writing.—l am, etc., INTERESTED.