8.—3

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the children and in widening their sympathies. This can never be achieved by the mere learning of long lists of useless names and facts. The treatment of the subject should follow the scientific method, proceeding from the near to the far, from the particular fact to the general idea, from the concrete to the abstract, and this is the principle on which the syllabus is based. Much of the work should be done out-of-doors, but we doubt whether it is so taken. No amount of oral description can replace actual observation, which should therefore have first place in teaching the first ideas in geography. Apparatus for observing the course of the sun, the direction of the wind, the temperature of the air, &c, is easily made, while relief models, even though crude in character, will serve to give a more correct notion of the country than can be obtained from a flat map. Stories of other lands, myths and legends connected both with our own country and with others, will serve to excite the curiosity of the children and to stimulate their imagination. Few of us have failed to note how eagerly Maori children listen to such stories, and how interested they are in the peoples of other lands. i. Handwork. —The simpler branches of handwork —paper-work generally, modelling, &c.— are treated in a satisfactory manner in the lower divisions of the schools, but the subject is not so efficiently taught in the higher ones. Cardboard-modelling should train the pupils in precision, accuracy, and care. It should be allied with the drawing, and should serve to make scale and model drawing matters of reality. In this way, too, the handwork will prove of considerable help in teaching arithmetic. Brushwork has been taken up in a few schools, and the results that have been achieved make us prepared to recommend the supply of necessary apparatus whenever teachers wish to take up this subject. We consider that brushwork, cardboard-work, and modelling in plasticine are the most suitable branches of handwork for our purpose, and suggest that in the future teachers should confine their attention to these only. The sewing in the schools continues to be very successfully taught. In recognition of special excellence of the work and of the interest shown by the teachers sewing-machines have been supplied during the year to several more schools, and the girls are taught to make their own garments and other useful articles. In this connexion we may mention that in some schools a uniform dress lias been adopted, the girls doing all the work—a matter of pleasure to themselves and of satisfaction to their parents. With regard to the sewing submitted for inspection we have to remind teachers that it is necessary that the girls should show acquaintance with every kind of stitch prescribed by the syllabus, and they should also receive instruction concerning the proper uses of such stitch. Apart, therefore, from the garments usually presented, we desire to see in each case a sampler showing the stitches specified for the particular standard. The parents should be encouraged to supply the necessary material for garments, as the special object in the course is to teach the children to make clothes for themselves. Instruction in woodwork is given in thirteen workshops, and the results are generally very satisfactory. The boys are trained to apply the principles in the construction of useful articles for which there is usually a keen demand on the part of the parents. Many of the workshops are in a large measure self-supporting, the working-expenses being covered by the returns from the sale of the articles made during the year. It is necessary, however, that teachers should not overlook the importance of drawing plans from which the pupils' work is to be done. In a recent conversation we learned from a young Maori who had been taught his carpentry in the workshop of a Hokianga school that he had recently built" five dwellinghpuses in various parts of the district, and that the only difficulty he had experienced in the work was in connexion with the plans. Several boys who learned their first steps in carpentry in our workshops have since become apprenticed to the trade, and have done well at it. Very little progress is made in practical agriculture, except in the case of perhaps a dozen schools. The most surprising results have been achieved at Te Kao and Hapua, in the gum lands of the far north, where the operations in the school-gardens have been an object-lesson to the community. Special mention is merited also in the case of Okautete School, where the lady teacher in charge has achieved particularly good results. The work in the majority of the schools is confined to the growing of a few flowers, and even this does not seem to be taken up very enthusiastically. Good work is still done in cookery, the pride of place being held by Ahipara School, where the subject is taught with much success. The subject is being taken up in an increased number of schools, especially the larger ones, and should in time find a place in the curriculum of all the schools from Grade 111 upwards. It is important that the interest of the family in the work should be secured, and for this reason the girls should occasionally take home the food prepared in the school. It is also desirable that the food should be sometimes served in the school in orderto furnish the occasion for teaching table manners as we understand the term. While the Department is prepared to assist in maintaining a supply of material, it is preferable for the girls to furnish it as far as possible. This gives them an additional interest in the work, makes them careful not to waste material, and, most of all, teaches them to be self-reliant. It has been said that the ideal way of teaching the girls would be to work in the individual homes, but as this is not practicable the utensils and equipment generally, as well as the foods prepared, should lie in keeping with the requirements and resources of the average Maori home. 5. Singing.—ln this subject the usual high standard has been well maintained during the year. In almost all the schools the pupils have a fair working knowledge of sol-fa notation, and find no difficulty in singing at sight ordinary school songs and pieces. There is a tendency in not a few cases to harshness or straining, tone and expression being overlooked. The selection of songs also leaves a good deal to be desired ; music-hall ditties and ragtime music should not find a place in the school. The song-books supplied contain a variety of suitable songs, most of them well within the compass of the children's ability, and many of them containing appropriate words.

2—B. 3.