Volume 107, Page 1682 View pdf image (33K) |
14 tion to the children, in their care and cultivation. Men do not think of these things as they ought; but as a part of our improvement in education, we expect women to be extensively employed in our primary schools. The instincts of women take hold of and appreciate such influences more readily than the colder impulses of the other sex. Their humanizing sympathies, if allowed development, will eagerly avail of all those accessories we have mentioned, to aid them in training the hearts and minds of the pupils. Is any one so obtuse as not to recognize the fact that the teacher who places a rose or any other flower on her desk every day, exercises a silent power for the development of the good and the beautiful, which other teachers do not possess. Allow our teachers, in the arrangement of their schools, to avail of all the accessories we have hinted at, and the next generation will witness a refinement of taste and manners, an improvement in morals, an eleva- tion of thought and feeling in the every day life of society, the absence of which in the American character is so painfully noticeable to strangers." Thanks to the Editor for these genial sentiments. I am sure he must or will be a happy father in a pleasant home. The reports from the Counties set forth most emphatically the ne- cessity of action on this subject They reveal a condition of things unreasonable and even disgraceful. We express the earnest desire of every friend of education, and every person who regards the physical and moral welfare of children that the Legislature will not omit, at its special session, to devise plans by which funds can be secured for erecting school houses. They cannot err if they adopt verbatim the bill which will be presented by the Convention of School Commissioners. This body comes direct from the people— is well informed as to their wants, and represents most strictly the enlightened popular sentiment upon all subjects connected with education. It will be wise legislation to make it a penal offence to crowd School rooms, thus depriving children of pure air for their lungs Why should the National Congress pass an Act to prevent emigrant ships from being crowded, and we permit 60 children to be kept in a room '20 feet square, with a low ceiling? Ascertain the number of cubic feet of air required for healthful respiration of each child, and thus fix the number of pupils which may be safely admitted to a School room. Teachers, as well as parents, will hail with joy such an act of the General Assembly. IV.—SCHOOL REVENUES—NEW ASSESSMENT—STATE CENSUS. The reports of the Presidents of County Boards convey the unani- mous opinion that the revenue derived from the State tax of 15 cents per hundred dollars, will support the Schools no longer than six months each year. During the current School year, sessions will be prolonged only in those Counties in which a local tax has been levied. If this local tax be not renewed by popular vote, then the working power of the Schools under the new system will, in many Counties, be no stronger than under the old |
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Volume 107, Page 1682 View pdf image (33K) |
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