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out and pattern-making. Every girl during her school life should learn to cut out and make the various garments suitable for her own wear, such as a pinafose or apron and a nightgown or blouse. In many of our schools much more than this is done, and, thanks to the valuable instruction given by ths assistant teachers, Maori girls appear in school neatly dressed in clothes of their own making, while their younger brothers are also provided for. (ft.) Drawing: The quality of a great deal of the work in drawing still leaves much to be desired. There is yet too great an amount of drawing from flat copies, which defeats the aim in view— i.e., enabling the pupil to see correctly and to represent accurately any given object. We think that free-arm drawing on blackboards or blackboard paper should be introduced, and this can be done without difficulty. But in any case the drawing should, as far as possible, be from real things, as nothing can be more useless than the drawing of meaningless forms. In a few schools the drawing has been correlated with the nature-study with a fair amount of success. The work of the pupils ai the WTiangape School is deserving of special mention in this connection, and may be taken as an indication of the high degree of excellence that can be attained by Maori children in drawing from nature. {('.) Elementary Manual Training : Elementary manual training continues to be satisfactorily treated, though there still exists the need in the lower classes for connecting the work with English and with drawing, and in the higher classes with the arithmetic. Again, we advise teachers not to attempt too many branches in the one year : but to arrange the various forms of handwork so as to provide a change in each year. Work in paper and modelling in plasticine appear to us to give all the variety that is required. (<■/.) Woodwork: There were during the year 1910 fourteen workshops in operation, and must of these have been provided with the material assistance of the Maoris themselves. All of the, workshops are doing μ-mnl work, and are of much benefit to the people, as well as to the pupils themselves. In one direction, however, there is undoubted room for improvement: the boys should receive considerably more practice in drawing plans, immediately before the corresponding bench-work is done. Their drawings should be made full size or to large scale, and should not be copies of other drawings. Further, they should be neatly and accurately executed, and should show all the necessary data. (c.) Elementary Practical Agriculture: We feel that this subject has so far been attended with but little success, and the lack of organization in reaped to it is very marked. In about a dozen schools we find gardens successfully established, the besi work being done at Manaia. In view of the disabilities under which our teachers labour in respect to attending classes for instruction, we have thought it desirable to supply to each school where a garden has been formed a copy of Jackson's "Studies in Elementary Practical Agriculture," a book well suited for the purpose. We think, however, that many of our teachers are still afraid to venture upon an unknown field, being under the impression thai they require n much deeper knowledge of agricultural processes than is required for the ordinary school garden. " School-gardening rightly understood is a branch of nature-study rather than a professional training for an industry. But it is also—and this is what makes it particularly suitable for the education of children— a stud}' which aims at producing visible and tangible results, which appeals to their practical and utilitarian instincts, and is closely connected with their domestic life." Teachers should remember, moreover, that in gardening even the mistakes and failures have their educational value, often indeed more than the successes : and the garden which has the finest show of flowers and vegetables is not necessarily the garden that best achieves the purpose for which it was intended —namely, the education of the pupils. The school garden at Rawhitiroa School, for instance, offered nothing to the eye but a series of grass-plots. These, however, were constructed with the definite purpose of ascertaining the grasses most suited to the land in the vicinity; and the experiment was full of interest to the farmers of the district, both Maori and European. Very rarely indeed we have seen note-books kept by pupils for the purpose of recording their observations on their work and matters affecting it. It is a matter of great importance that records should be kept of the operations performed, of the dates of the sowing and of the appearing of the crops, with a daily record of the weather conditions, and any inferences that the pupils themselves have drawn from their observations and experiments. We do not anticipate any difficulty in getting a supply of the necessary books and other requisites authorized when a real dlesire on the part of teachers is manifest, but we feel thai we must awail more encouraging developments before recommending any further expenditure; and meanwhile can only suggest that each application be treated on its merits. (/.) Domestic Duties: So far as the limited means ai the disposal of our schools will allow, instruction in domestic duties finds a place in our school curriculum, and much useful work is done. We have no schools of cookery and domestic instruction equipped with gas-stoves or electric cookers, and can only pursue in a humble way such a course as lies within our resources, and does not extend beyond tlie requirements of the average Maori kainga. Rut wo maintain thai ii, such Native schools as Ahipara, Oruanui, Omaio, and Tokaanu the practical training )7i domestic duties, including sewing, cooking, and housewifery, will compare favourably in both extent and efficiency with that afforded in any public school of similar size and situation in tin . Dominion. S'l in/ 1hi/.- -In a large number of schools singing is well taught, and very good work is done. In not a few schools it is excellent : songs are sung in two, three, and four- parts, and the pupils have an intelligent grasp of the principles of the notation used. It is pleasing to find that the tests given — modulator-tests, time-tests, and ear-tests —are performed in a very satisfactory manner. Phrasing, production of good tone and clear enunciation of the words of the songs receive careful attention. Tv other schools, however, the pupils are taught sour/* but not singing, the songs l>eing learned by ear, either from the teacher or from an instrument. As we pointed
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