and, elk, elm, ink, orb, &c.; including those which have the same consonant repeated, as all, ell, ill, &c. To this table, as well as all the former, are annexed short sentences, in which examples are given of the words contained in it; such as, "Is it an ash or an elm? It is an old ash." "Is she to fry the egg?" The words also are of course explained or exemplified. Thus, on mentioning the word ebb, the child will tell the monitor, or more probably at first will be told by the monitor, that it means "the sea going back." The third table of this class gives examples of those words, in which the vowel is placed between the consonants, as Dab, Web, fib, rob, Cub, Bad, fed. "a great " 'He What is meant by a title? [To which the answer was, The Second Book, besides carrying the child forward in Scripture History, through the remarkable incidents in the lives of ISAAC, JACOB, ESAU, and JOSEPH, presents him with much interesting as well as useful instruction in the department of Natural History, such as an account of the dog, its fidelity, its various species, and the purposes to which they are applied; the horse, with the various methods of catchAfter the child has become master of the lessons of three ing and taming it; the sheep, the cow, and hog, with the various uses letters, he passes into the perusal of INTERESTING AND IN- to which their flesh, milk, skin, wool, horns, bones, gristles, fat, blood, STRUCTIVE PASSAGES; such as the histories of Adam and Eve, &c. are applied; the swallow, the herring, and salmon, with their Cain and Abel, &c. From the article on GOD we extract the migrations and other peculiarities; the oyster, and particularly that following paragraph, in order to illustrate our mode of expla-fishery; the bee, with the wonderful skill which it displays in making valuable species of it, the pearl oyster, with some account of the pearl nation in use at this stage: "God bids the sun to rise, and he bids it set. He doth give the rain and the dew to wet the soil: and at his will it is made dry. The heat and the cold come from him. He doth send the snow, and the ice, and the hail; and at his word they melt away. He now bids the tree to put on its leaf, but ere long he will bid the leaf to fade, and make the tree to be bare. He bids the wind to blow, and it is he who bids it to be calm. He sets a door as it were on the sea; and says to it, Thus far only must thou come." the various changes through which it passes, and the purposes to which honey and wax; the caterpillar, and particularly the silk.worm, with the silk is applied; the oak, and fir, with the uses which are made of their timber and bark,-of the acorns, galls, apples, (as they are called,) and saw-dust of the oak, and juice of the fir; the cotton, corn, flax, and hemp plants, with their important uses, and the various processes and hands, through which they must pass, before they are finally converted to their respective uses; the seeds of plants in general, with the wonderful provisions which had been made for their security, their turning themselves into their proper position in the earth, and their On the above passage, the child is asked some such ques- propagation: minerals in general, with their several species and retions as the following: Who bids the sun to "rise?" What spective uses; the manufacture of pins and glass, and the various is meant by the sun rising? Where it rises? When it purposes to which the latter article is applied; together with other rises? What its rising occasions? Who bids it "set?" miscellaneous information, of a kind interesting to young minds, and What is meant by setting? Where it sets? When it sets? tion, suck as descriptions of savage manners, &c. Every one of these calculated to impress them with a due sense of the blessings of educaWhat its setting occasions? What is meant by "dew?" passages the children of the Sessional School are taught not only to What is meant by "soil?" What good is done by wetting read, but to understand. Hence the fondness, which they acquire the soil? When "the tree puts on its leaf?" What is meant for reading all other books from which they may obtain similar inforby the leaf "fading," and "the tree being bare?" When mation; and hence, in a great measure, that extent of knowledge, this happens? What are "snow," and "ice," and "hail?" which has often astonished the visitors of the school, and been called What causes them? Who sends the cold? What makes in question by those, who have never witnessed the effects of similar them "melt?" Who sends the heat? What is meant by the word "calm ?" What is meant by saying, "He sets a door on the sea?" [Here we may remark in passing, that children come both to understand and to relish a figurative expression, much sooner than we might naturally be led to imagine.] When the passage is concluded, the child may be asked, Who does all these things, of which he has been reading? and what he thinks of one, who can do all these things, and who is so wise and so good as to do them?" None of the questions, however, are put in any one form, but vary according to the nature of the answers received. The child then passes into lessons composed of words of five, and afterwards, of six, letters. To render, however, the explanation of any general benefit, it is not enough that the child be able to communicate, through the assistance which he has received from his monitor, the results of what he has been reading. He must be also taught, as he goes along, to give as nearly as possible, the precise meaning of each sentence, and of every more difficult word. As a specimen of this, we shall subjoin part of an actual examination, to which we also to-day most successfully subjected one of the very young classes. One of the paragraphs, on which they were thus examined, was the following: "The history of Abraham, of which you had a portion in your for. mer little book, is one, that you should be sure to read with great care. This holy man, in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed, is in your bible again and again called by that highest of all titles, "The Friend of God;' and he is there held out as a pattern for all God's people to follow. You ought then to study well his life, and try to do after his example, if you would wish also to have God for your friend." Upon this passage the children were asked: What is meant by "a history?" And by "a portion?" What "former little book" they spoke of? And what it is "to read with great care?" What a "holy man" is? Who is here meant by "this holy man?" How all the nations of the earth were to be blessed in Abraham? [The child, to whom this question was put, answered, "By means of Jesus Christ." We then asked what Jesus Christ had to do with Abraham? To which he replied that he was of the family of Abraham. We asked if Christ was Abraham's son in the same manner that Isaac and Ishmael were? To which he answered that "he was his son's son's son's son's," evidently meaning that he was of a remote generation.] What is the " Bible?" What is meant by again and again? [To which the child answered, "over and over."] training. In the early stages, it is, of course, absolutely necessary to point out to them many things, which they cannot fail to notice for themselves at a latter period; such, for example, as the words for which the pronouns are substituted: while, in the more advanced stages, higher and more general information may be communicated to them, regarding both words and things, than would be at all profitable at any earlier one. The following will illustrate the method. The passage is from an article on glass: "You have already, in the course of this little work, read of several very extraordinary changes, which human art and ingenuity have been able to make upon natural productions. You have heard of the shroud of a worm in its lifeless state, of the fruit of one plant and the fibres of another, being all converted into articles of dress for human beings. But perhaps none of these transformations have surprised you more than that which you are now to hear of. Would you be lieve, that so clear and beautiful an article as glass, could be made out of so gross a substance as sand? Yet it is the fact, that glass is made by mixing sand with the ashes of certain burnt plants, and exposing them to a strong fire." On this passage the child, besides describing generally how glass is made, is asked, What is meant by "art?" What is meant by "human art and ingenuity?" What are "natural productions?" Can you tell me any of them? What is a "shroud ?" What worm has its shroud "converted into an article of dress?" Can you tell me the various changes through which that worm passes? Do you know any of the uses to which silk is put? What plant is it of which the fruit is converted into an article of dress? Are there more than one kind of cotton plant? Which is the best? Do you know any thing that is made of cotton? Can you tell me of any plant of which "the fibres are converted into an article of dress? Do you know any piece of dress that is made of flax? Do you remember the various hands through which the flax must pass before it becomes a shirt? What do you mean by "transformations ?" What is meant by a "gross substance?" &c. As the pupil advances, each passage is subjected to a more minute analysis, as for example: "How shall I describe to you the vast variety of wonderful and romantic prospects that we have seen since we came into Switzerland? These charming views are varied with mountains, whose snowy heads seem to reach the skies; craggy rocks and steep precipices, with foaming torrents gushing from the crevices in their sides, delightfully intermixed with beautiful valleys, adorned with groves of fur, beech and chestnut; clear lakes, rapid rivers, cata racts, and bridges of one arch, extending a surprising width from rock to rock. The cultivated parts of the mountains are covered with villages and scattered cottages; and then, the insides of the cottages are so very neat, and look so comfortable, that I should like to live in some of them that are situate in the most delightful spots, were it not for the dread of being swallowed up in one of those enormous masses of snow, that frequently roll from the tops of the mountains, and destroy everything in their way. In going to the tops of the mountains of Switzerland, you may enjoy all the seasons of the year in the same day," &c. mit. and what it would have been if it had been plural? As soon as these words singular and plural are so familiar, as not only to be easily distinguished from each other, but readily brought to recollection, the question is put in this form, Of what number is object? why? &c. A similar process is observed with regard to the genders.-Wood's Account, &c. The etymological instruction introduced by Mr. Wood is one of the most striking features of his method. The teaching is also inductive, and even incidental to the reading, though, of course, the teacher must have a plan or systematic arrangement in his own mind, that important omissions may not occur. As an example of their etymological lessons, suppose the pupil, in reading, meets the word "introduce," he is made to divide it, "intro" and "duce." He is told that "intro" is a prefix from the Latin, and means within. He is asked for some other word beginning with "intro," and soon exhausts "introduction," "introductory," &c. The other part is next taken up, and its meanidg (to lead) is explained. Examples of it are given by different members of the class, as “adduce," "conduce," deduce," "educate," "induce," "induction," "produce," &c. The teacher takes care that no important word is omit. ted in furnishing these examples. The true knowledge of the meaning of words thus acquired has led to the use of the method even in the classical schools, where it is found to furnish a new mo. tive to study, by placing one application of his knowledge immedi ately before the pupil. The great command of words which it must give, when derivations from different ancient and modern languages are thus called for, is quite obvious. 66 After reading the passage, the children are required to recapitu. late, in their own language, the substance of what they have read, and describe the peculiar character of the Swiss scenery, the interior appearance of the dwellings of the peasantry, the particular dangers to which they are exposed, the variety of climate and its cause, and to mention any other scenery of a similar kind which is nearer home; such, for example, as the highlands of Scotland. But, as the passage is read in school, not merely for the purpose of communicating to them the direct information which it contains, however interesting in itself, but like all the other passages which they read to render them familiar with their own language, to act as a vehicle for the communication of general knowledge, and as a field for examination on that which has formely been communicated, they are also called upon to answer some such questions as the following, or at least, as many of them as the pupil is not already acquainted with, or the time specially set apart for such examination will perWhat is Switzerland? What are its boundaries? What is the literal meaning of the word "describe?" What does the first part of that word signity? Can you give any other examples of that syllable having the same signification? (such as descend, depress, degrade.) What does the termination “scribe,” signify? Can you tell any of its other compounds with their various meanings? (Here the pupil will mention and explain the words inscribe, prescribe, subscribe, superscribe, circumscribe, proscribe, conscribe, ascribe. What is meant by "variety ?" From what verb does it come? What other words are derived from this verb? What is the meaning of "romantic ?" From what word does it come? What is a "prospect ?" What does the syl. lable pro signify? Can you give any other example of it? (such as progress, project.) What does the termination spect denote ? Mention some of the other words from the same root, (such as aspect, retrospect, circumspect, inspect, expect.) What word signifies, "that can be seen?" and the opposite? What is the difference between a "mountain" and a hill? What is the diminutive from hill? What is an inhabitant of the "mountains" called? What is the adjective from "mountain ?" Mention some of the principal mountains of Switzerland? What other name is given to "heads of mountains ?" What are "craggy rocks?" What are "precipices?" Do you know any other words from the same root? What are "torrents," and "crevices?" What is meant by "intermixed ?" What does the first part of that word denote? Give some other examples of its application, (such as interval, intermediate, intercede.) What are valleys?" Does the adjective "beautiful," ever take any In regard to discipline and other school and class arrangements, other termination? What is the verb from it? What are "lakes?" this establishment is not peculiar. Mr. Wood regards corporal What are they called in Scotland? Mention some of the principal punishment as necessary, but requires that it should be used as sel. lakes in Switzerland, describing their respective situations. Men. dom as possible. He is also an advocate for the system of places in tion also, in like manner, some of its principal "rivers." What a class, and of prizes for scholarship, but would especially encourare "cataracts?" What is the literal meaning of the word "ex-age self-emulation, the principle upon which some other teachers tending ?" What does the former part of that word signify? Can rely entirely, to the exclusion of the first. He disapproves of tasks you give any other examples of its application? (such as extract, or confinement in the school room, as associating study and school expel.) What does the latter part signify? Can you mention any with ideas of punishment. of its other compounds? (such as distend, pretend.) What do you mean by "cultivated?" What word expresses the art of cultivating fields? and the art of cultivating gardens? What are villages" What is the inhabitant of a village called? What do you call a smaller collection of houses than a village? What do you mean by "scattered cottages ?" Is there any difference between a"cottage" and a hut? or what? Could you express "the insides of the cottages" in any other way? The instruction in geography is entirely by the use of maps and oral explanations; places are pointed out on a map, and information given in respect to them. When their relative positions are well fixed in the pupil's mind, the points marking them are transferred to a black board, with or without an outline of the limits of the country where they are situated, and the pupil is exercised in naming them; similar plans are pursued in regard to other parts of the subject. This, as well as other branches of Mr. Wood's method, approaches closely to that used in the best German schools, and re. quires considerable attainments in the teachers. If left to monitors, it cannot fail to lose its spirit. 66 66 In order to illustrate our method of teaching grammar, let us take the commencement of a passage in the school collection:"The grandest, the most sublime, and extraordinary object, we have yet seen is Fingal's cave, in the isle of Staffa. It is a natural grotto of stupendous size, formed by ranges of columns," &c. If the class be only commencing this study, after telling them that all names are NOUNS, we desire them to pick out the nouns in the passage before them; when the first boy will give "object," the second, Fingal's," the third, "cave," and so forth, till they have exhausted the remaining nouns, "isle," "Staffa," "grotto," "size," "ran ges,"" columns." When they are a little farther advanced, the first boy at the time of naming the noun, “object,” will be asked why it is "object," and not objects, and the distinction of singular and plural will be pointed out to him, and so on with the rest. After a little time, in place of putting the question in this form, the boy will be asked at once whether the noun is singular or plural? why? 64 The exercises in arithmetic are among the most striking in the school. Mental arithmetic is particularly cultivated, and the higher classes acquire an extraordinary facility in its accurate use. It is begun simultaneously with the second book of reading, and the lessons generally consist in part of mental and in part of written arithmetic, one portion of the time being devoted exclusively to exercises, another to teaching a new rule with examples. The dull method of working through the questions of a book is not countenan. ced, the instruction as well as examples being given by the teacher or monitor. In writing, which is begun upon the slate, as well as in cyphering, the pencil is put into a tin tube, that the child may not acquire a bad habit of holding it. Steel pens are used here, and in sveral other schools which I visited, and answer well. This institution is a remarkable instance of an intellectual reform, beginning with a charity school, and extending upwards. It is but too often the case that schools for the poor are considered as appro. priately of a lower grade than others.-Bache's Report. HIGH SCHOOL OF GLASGOW. The high school of Glasgow, is a public institution and prepares students for the university, and for the pursuits of commerce, man. ufactures and the arts. There are separate courses, of classics, English mathematics, writing and drawing, which are so arranged, that any one may be followed alone, or several at a time, This ar rangement adapts it to the wants of a manufacturing and commer. cial city. The classical department prepares for the University of Glasgow, and as pupils may enter there at an early age, and require no very advanced attainments for admission, the studies of this school are comparatively elementary. The course lasts four years, and a pri. vate class may be followed for a fifth, by those who do not intend to pursue an academical career, or who wish to begin it better prepared than is usual. Greek is begun in the third year. The English department answers two purposes, it prepares very young pupils for the other classes, and it carries forward the more advanced through the higher courses of grammar, logic and belles letters. Elementary Education in Scotland. This admirable course may be thus arranged, according to the general information, and to impress the memory through the eye; subjects: no means the main dependence of the teacher for securing atten. the pupils change places, as in other schools, though this forms by tion. Corporal punishment is not at all resorted to. recreation, during which, also, the air of the school-room is thorBetween each hour of recitation is an interval of ten minutes for oughly changed. Both these are important details, and are very commonly overlooked. 1. Alphabet Class. Reading and spelling taught. Lessons on objects. Class books. Wood's Elementary Books. Elliot's Natural History. 2. English reading Class. Bible teaching and training as the foundation of moral and religious knowledge Readings in Biogra. phy, Natural and Civil History, Elementary Science, &c. Grammar for beginners. Spelling, meaning, and derivation of words. Class books. The Bible, Companion to the Bible, Wood's Instructive ex- a complete course with the classical and English departments, gives The commercial and mathematical department, besides uniting in tracts, First Grammar, English Etymologist. 3. English Reading Class. special instruction to clerks, book-keepers, surveyors, navigators, factures &c. illustrated by specimens and experiments. Grammar from nine to twelve years of age, from the other departments,) Lessons in Natural History, Manu. &c. The branches taught are geography (principally to pupils incidentally. Spelling orally and by dictation. Elements of com- physical geography, and the elements of astronomy, arithmetic, position by weekly practice in letter writing. Class books. Book geometry, trigonometry, heights and distances, mensuration, algeof Trades, English Etymologist, Parley's Natural History. 4. History Class. Familiar Lectures, Ancient History and Biog. raphy, Modern History. 5. Readings from the British Classics. Grammar and composi. tion. Recitations. 6. Grammar. Science and art of grammar. Pronunciation, Orthography, by dictation. Derivation of words. Synonyms. Punc. tuation. Composition. Practice in letter writing, and in the anal. ysis of narrative and descriptive pieces. Class books. M'Culloch's Grammar. Booth's or Irvine's Composition. Carpenter's Sy nonyms. 7. Higher parts of Grammar. General Grammar. Outlines of Logic, with exercises in composition. Elements of Rhetoric and Belles Lerters. English Literature. Class books. Crombie's Ety. mology and Syntax. Duncan's Logic, or Abridgment of Whately's Logic. Abridgement of Blair's Lectures. home. He has combined Each of these classes has, in general, one hour of recitation every day, but the more advanced pupils attend, usually more than one of them. The methods of teaching adopted by the English master* are among the best which I saw abroad. the knowledge of things with that of words. His pupils are as well trained in the knowledge of realities as in a school of a disciple of Pestalozzi, and in verbal knowledge as those of Mr. Wood. He relies more on the training of the school-room than is usual in England, and yet does not neglect the encouragement of study at The lessons on objects are illustrated by neat cabinet specimens of minerals, geological specimens, objects of art, &c. Mineralogy is early introduced as affording a pleasant stimulus during the walks of the pupils. Practical geology is, to a certain extent, useful in the same way; but I cannot assent to the introduction of theoretical generalizations, which are received by the pupils as established principles, and which make it difficult for them, in after life to separate the theories of the science from its facts. A knowledge of trades forms a second part of this instruction, and the various establishments of Glasgow are visited by the teacher and pupils. Habits of observation, of analysis, and of order are thus inculcated, while much knowledge not only of art, but of the people among whom they are to move, is acquired. The method of teaching orthography seems to me an improvement upon that of the German schools. Besides the ordinary system of dictation, the master writes upon the black-board, by direction of one of the class, a word which is to be spelled, the pupil naming the letters. Criticism is called for from the class, and among those who signify, by a sign, that they wish to make a correction, the master selects one. the direction of the pupil, submits it anew to criticism and so on. He alters the word according to The whole class is thus kept alive, a result which marks the ability of a teacher, in a way not to be mistaken. The same words are parsed in the grammar class, the use of the black-board enabling the teacher to make the instruction really simultaneous, where, otherwise it would be individual. Themes, or short essays, intended to introduce words assigned by the teacher, and more advanced essays, upon specified subjects or written by the pupils, and read in the class, attention being roused by permitting criticism by the pupils themselves. In the reading lessons, correction by any one of the class is allowed, the successful corrector taking the turn of the reader. These, and various other applications of the same general principle, of rendering the instruction simultaneous, make this school very remarkable. The arrangement of the school-room, with benches on raised platforms, is an important aid in the use of the method. The paraphrases of Whately's Logic, and other exercises in this branch, which I heard from the elder pupils, were very good. The historical lessons were illustrated by numerous drawings, calculated to convey accurate *Mr. Alexande J. Dorsey, who, having travelled on the continent and at home for improvement in methods of teaching, has adopted an eclectic method, which produces excellent results. He has especially studied the secret of the great success in the more modern German Schools, and has followed out their methods. mathematics, including the differential and integral calculus, and the bra, including quadratic equations, and logarithms. The higher gunges furnishes instruction in French and German. The writing elements of natural philosophy. The department of foreign lanmaster, and the first is subsidiary, in a degree, to the general obund drawing departments are each under the charge of a separate jects of the school. A chemical course has recently been added to the foregoing, on a plan to which I shall refer more particularly hereafter, in which the pupils manipulate. It is intended for boys from seven to fourteen years of age. The high school possesses a by the private exertions of its teachers, to the inhabitants of Glaslibrary and an increasing collection in natural history. It furnishes, gow, in addition to the regular courses for youth, others, for adults, which, in some departments, are well attended.-Bache's Report. NORMAL SEMINARY OF THE GLASGOW EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY. two: first, to provide a particular system; and second, to extend it. The objects of the Glasgow Educational Society, are principally but of training throughout in every department, physical, moral and intellectual. The first, namely the physical, must, of course, from The system which has been provided, is one not of mere teaching, its very nature be training, not teaching. The second has hitherto in almost all cases, been instruction rather than training, from an im. presssion that moral instruction and moral training mean the same is included in it. Intellectual training, whether on secular or sacred thing. Moral instruction is certainly not moral training, although it subjects, (both being equally intellectual, according to the system established and pursued in this institution,) is a picturing out of every subject and object, so as to enable the child to deduce the lesson; child takes a principal part, along with the natural process of quesor rather, by analyzing and illustrating every sentence, in which the tion and ellipsis mixed, and. bringing to account all his previously acquired knowledge, the child is trained to deduce the lesson with. this, by the subject having been presented to his mind in all its parts out the usual explanation by the master. and relations, as in a picture. The same natural principle is followHe is quite prepared for ed out in this department which the nurse adopts in the physical, by assisting its weakness and inexperience, and at the same time, when she trains the child to walk, not by carrying it in her arms, but causing it to use its limbs in the exercise. This is the system which has been adopted by the Society as its own, and which it is desirous to extend and perpetuate, by training school masters in a Normal seminary. There are therefore model schools upon the system, arranged and suited for the training of children of from two to fourwho when practically exercised on the system in all its departments, teen years of age; and secondly, the training of grown persons, physical, moral and intellectual, are termed trainers. Every school formed and arranged according to the principles of the system, and conducted by a competent trainer, or master, is termed a training school, whatever may be the age of the children attending it. principles of mental and moral disciplne naturally connected thereThe use and union of a school gallery and play-ground with the with, as first established in this Institution, is a new and most important feature in popular education. subjects in the intellectual department was introduced into the Until the systematic mode of picturing out sacred and secular Model schools, all attempts at extending moral training here and elsewhere, failed beyond a very few months of infancy. Picturing out, therefore, is not only highly valuable in itself, as communication; but by the saving in each lesson which the simultaa most natural, interesting and impressive mode of intellectual neous exercise of the gallery affords, it has in a great measure enabled the society to extend moral training on a sacred and scriptural basis (the only true moral training) to juvenile or ordinary parochial and private schools. three departments; yet one unbroken system is maintained through. The model schools of the Glasgow Normal Seminary, consist of out, namely, the Infant for children under six years of age; Juve. nile, for those of six to twelve or fourteen; and Female School of Industry for girls of ten years and upwards. These three model schools, with sixteen class-rooms, Secretary's rooms, Student's Hall, and five play-grounds, &c., for training children and students (the future trainers,) are the platform of the Normal seminary. MODEL INFANT SCHOOL. The mechanical arrangements of the school are, first, the schoolroom, with its platforms as usual raised in steps, called the galley, occupying a considerable part of the breadth of the room. Second, the lesson-posts and forms, where the little classes assemble under their monitors. Third, the detached room, where the master may retire with a class. Fourth, the play-ground, with its implements for exercise and amusement, its flowers and fruits. The school room is but tolerably well ventilated, though, no doubt, this will be remedied in a house built expressly for the purposes of the school. It is hung round with boards, on which, in large letters, are inscribed words or religious sentiments, or on which are pictures of animals, &c. The raised platform, in steps of due height, and where both boys and girls* are seated, combines many advantages; it enables the teacher distinctly to see every pupil, and in turn the pupils to see the master and each other. Thus the power of imitation and sympathy, which play so great a part in education, are brought to bear under the most advantageous circumstances. stances of a moral tendency, or calculated to instruct or amuse, or to arouse curiosity. This is one of the exercises they are most fond of, and which, if the master be apt, may be made as useful as any. The characters of the great and the good may be brought before them, their feelings interested, and thus early elevated, their patriot. ism excited, and evil tendencies repressed. It is the peculiar fea. ture of this school to draw such stories often from the sacred vol. ume, and in general, as an illustration of how attractive these may be rendered, it may be stated, that when left to choose the kind of story they will have, the children prefer a Bible history to any other. These various exercises of course are not continuous, nor do they even occur, sometimes, on the same day, and each of them is interrupted frequently for exercise, especially with untrained children. The elliptical method spoken of is to omit the last or some import. ant word of a sentence, taking care that it is one easily supplied by the children, and which leaves the sentence plainly imperfect until it is given. Thus the children are engaged in a kind of conversa. tion with the teacher, interesting to them because they are parties in it, and watching keenly the sentence, that they may seize the wanting word. In the ellipsis used in this school, the first sounds of a word are frequently supplied, requiring the little assembly to suggest the rest. I observed a great difference in the facility with which the children supplied the ellipsis of their master, by whom they were in the habit of being questioned, and that of others by It is in this gallery that the most important exercises are given. whom they were addressed, but found that it arose, generally, from The school opens with a short prayer, adapted to the comprehen- the too great rapidity of the uninitiated teachers, by which they did sion of the children, order being first secured, if there are untrained not allow the children time to think and to answer. This explana. pupils among them, by the aid of short physical exercises, raising tion supposes the ellipsis well contrived. The method of respon. and lowering the hands, rising and sitting down, and so on-such ses is frequently varied, by inducing some one or more of the chil. exercises never failing to produce this result. The children assem-dren to ask questions of the class, two or more of each other, or one bled here listen to the Bible lesson, the master occupying the front or more to volunteer to be questioned by the class. From the whole and centre of the little assemblage, with the Bible-stand to support of this method, emulation as a principle is excluded, it is not needhis book, and by its side the whistle and bell, which are to conveyed, and indeed it is truly held that it would be pernicious. I was signals intended to secure prompt obedience. The lesson having surprised, in witnessing some of these exercises, at the accuracy been read, it is broken up into detached parts. The simple ones with which the children stated their questions, resulting entirely from afford matter for direct questions, or the children are led to under- the imitation of the perspicuous style of the master. On the substand them by other preliminary questions, proceeding always from ject of imitative powers at this early age, many facts might be the known to the unknown. Replies from many are secured by the brought together; one struck me so much that I mention it here. elliptical form of answer, in which the master leaves a simple but I never visited an infant school in which the voice of the master or emphatic word, or part of a word, to be supplied. These are im- mistress were argrecable in singing, without finding melody among pressed upon all by a repetition of the ellipsis, the filling up of the children, and vice versa. It is recorded in this school that which all have now caught from those who first supplied it, and fi- nearly all the children learn to sing agreeably. nally the whole answer is repeated. The Bible lesson is frequently one of civil or natural history and geography. Simplicity in question is the desideratum in this and other exercises. The master must descend to the level of the child, or he effects nothing. Sing. ing a hymn, or physical exercises, or the inspection which ensures cleanliness, will vary this course, and above all, care must be taken that the attention of the children is kept up. If this fails, it is the master himself who fails. A principle which, if at all admitted, in more advanced education, does not occupy the place which it de serves. The gallery serves also for the lessons on objects, or pictures of objects, where simple specimens from the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdom, or of artificial productions, are made the subjects of actual examination or of description. Their properties, as far as may be, are observed by the children, led by the master, who directs their feeble perceptions. Words to express their ideas are furnished, when the want of these words is felt. With those somewhat advanced, the printed or written word is shown and imitated on the slate. At an earlier period the letter which begins the word is selected from a series of large brass letters, cut out for this purpose, and is held before the pupil, and its name or its most common sound in combination given. A word beginning with the same letter is suggested by a pupil, another and another may be written on the board and copied, and all or any of them may be made the subject of instructive exercise. At a later day the exercise of practical grammar, which will be explained when speaking of the juvenile school, is added. When places are spoken of, objects or pictures are shown in connexion with them. The children are in the gallery also during their arith. metic lessons, when the ball frame, so well known in all infant schools, is substituted for the Bible-stand, and the teacher gives his lessons by question and answer elliptically, by teaching a song in which the ellipsis of a word occurs in each line, or by the pupils singing simple songs already learned. These impress the easy operations of infant arithmetic powerfully upon the memory. The eye and ear are thus improving with the intellect, or the eye is exercised by the determination of angles by the jointed instrument, called a gonigraph, or by geometrical figures. The children are also in the gallery when hearing from the master a story, embodying circum. *It is considered most important to infant training, that both boys and girls should be united under a class under a master and mistress. The passage from the gallery to the lesson posts is performed while singing, and always in regular order. Sometimes an interval of out or in-door exercise separates the lessons. The monitors are chosen by the master, or offer themselves by the holding up of hands, when he calls for it, before the children leave the gallery. Each monitor has a class of half a dozen or more, to whom he explains the picture suspended upon their particular reading-post, and the letters or words beneath it. The classes change posts, after a reasonable interval, and the monitor has a new set to drill. Such teaching is not to be expected to be efficient, but it nevertheless answers a good purpose at this age. The lesson-posts are arran ged so that the board on which the lesson is pasted may be readily changed, and so that its height may be varied to suit the size of the pupils receiving the lesson. The boards are covered with colored prints of animals, representations of trades, of costumes &c. No formal attempt is made to teach reading, but it is found without it that the children insensibly learn to read. A useful exercise for the more advanced children, requiring study at home, and which also frequently excites the attention of parents, is to give them cards, with questions relating to natural history, &c., to be answered on a subsequent day. The answers are sometimes required from partic ular parts of the Bible. Behind the gallery are the places for hanging the caps and cloaks of the children, which they are trained to put off and to take again in an ordinary manner. The detached room enables a master to hear any class which he may wish, apart from the others, the mistress meanwhile superintending the school, or to teach the monitors, or furnishes a place for the noon luncheon, which many of the chil dren bring with them. The play gronnd in the system of this school is considered the "uncovered school-room," the true place for moral training, where the principles inculcated within are to be carried into practice, and where the tempers and dispositions show themselves more fully, in unrestrained intercourse, than in the school. There is in it a circu lar swing for exercise, wooden prisms in the proportions of bricks, for amusement, and flowers and fruits, to train them to respect the goods of others and of the public. The master is constantly with, or overlooking them, sometimes mixing in their sports, or showing them new or amusing games, and always attentive to their development of character, but unless in extraordinary cases, his interference is not necessary. The be. nevolence of some children prevents or remedies the accidents inci. dent to their plays, and justice insures a tolerably equal share of Elementary Education in Holland. the sports. When a fault is committed, it is noticed after the as- children entering at six, may have positively bad habits to eradicate. sembling of the children in the gallery, where the public opinion of Experience has proved, however, that they may be trained with the his equals in age is brought to bear upon the offender by a judicious others, only at a greater cost of time and labor. In this system, as series of questions from the master, without, however, making the in the corresponding infant school system, the play ground is the punishment a public one, by directly designating the individual who "uncovered school," and the moral training goes on in it; hence the is under censure. Punishments in or out of school are adapted to pupils must necessarily be under the superintendence of the master, the tender age of the child, and addressed to his peculiar tempera. who notices their aberrations without interfering, unless when ab. ment. Corporal punishment, even of the mildest kind, is seldom solutely necessary, and makes a school room lesson of their confound necessary. that one hundred and eighty children of the lower classes of Glasduct. The effective character of this training is proved by the fact gow were in the daily habit, for five months, of frequenting the play. ground of the school, without any injury to the borders planted with flowers, shrubs and fruits. When the play-ground cannot be used, the want is supplied, as far as possible, by games within doors, which are, however, very imperfect substitutes for those in the open air.-Bache's Report. JUVENILE TRAINING SCHOOL. Doors open ten minutes before nine o'clock, A. M. ments. If the pupils have come from the Infant School, they are in part prepared to read without the necessity of referring to first eleIn the alphabet class there are pictorial representations to Children assemble in described in Mr. Stow's book, as an auxiliary to this exercise, but I impress the words upon the memory. An orthographical desk is did not see it in the school. It contains compartments or small phabet, printed on paper and pasted on small square plates of wood. boxes, each of which has within it several sets of a letter of the al spells the name of the object, forming the word with the letters taken Other boxes contain pictures. The child selects a picture, and from his set of boxes. Another method of learning the alphabet and spelling, recommended by Mr. Stow, is to select a letter on a Eleven o'clock. The whole scholars in the play-ground, under the superin-ercise, to point out every recurrence of the same letter on the page. printed page, calling it by name, and requiring the child, as an extried, Among the various methods of teaching to read which have been regret not to have seen in use, so as to form an opinion of instead of letters, especially as it has been supposed particularly ap. its success, Jacotot's method of teaching, by beginning with words plicable to our language owing to the various sounds belonging to the same leter. It is the fact, that the children in the Infant School at Glasgow actually recognize the words, and can name them at sight before they can spell them. THIRD DIVISION, at ditto, under oldest monitor. tendance of the master. Half-past eleven o'clock. The whole assemble in school-room. Conduct in play-ground reviewed, then file off in divisions. FIRST and SECOND DIVISIONS at Arithmetic, standing in a circular form round the large black-boards, in the gallery, or sitting at the side-desks. THIRD DIVISION, in class-room gallery, under assistant master, at reading, Spelling, exercises on objects, &c. Half-past twelve o'clock. Lunch and play, under the moral superintendence of the Masters, who take lunch in school. All the children may bring dinner, which, as a practical exercise on honesty, ought to lie in open closets. Half-past one o'clock. Secular training lessont in gallery of school-room to FIRST and SECOND DIVISIONS, under head-master. Secular training to THIRD or youngest division, under assistant master, in gallery of class room. Two o'clock. FIRST and SECOND DIVISIONS at Writing. THIRD DIVISION at reading, grammar, &c. &c., chiefly in the gallery, Quarter-past three o'clock. All meet in gallery. Conduct reviewed. For the introduction of the admirable exercise on the roots, con- his own induction or by teaching, aided by his own comparisons. Four o'clock. The whole school seated in large gallery. Hymn. Prayer. class. Further. You wish me to give you a stick of what kind? Dismissal. School closes on Saturday at eleven o'clock. A lively marching air is sung by the children during almost every movement to and from the gallery and play-ground. Bible training, including the hymn and morning prayer, does not Occupy quite an hour; the rest of the day is divided between the elementary branches, scientific exercises, and moral and physical discipline. The moral superintendence of the whole, however, proceeds on the principle, that even the amusements of the play. ground must be conducted in subservience to the law and rule of God; in fact, that religion enters into the every-day occurrences of life. noun. A short, a long, a smooth, &c., will be answered. Short, long, &c., much less natural way than in the German schools already spoken It must be admitted by all who have made the trial with children, ting a map into a boy's hand, without explanation, is not likely to that the simple reading of the scriptures seldom, if ever, brings out lead to much inquiry. The methods of this school, however, it to their minds the full meaning of any passage, with the exception should be considered, are in a great degree experimental. of the narratives; and even these very imperfectly. This is more particularly the case with the emblems and imagery in which the tions, I have already said so much of mental arithmetic, that it is Bible abounds. To reach their full meaning, beauty, and force, a not necessary to dwell here again upon it. It has been permanently In speaking of the courses in the German eleemosynary instituknowledge of geography, eastern manners and customs, natural his-adopted in many of the English schools, where other improvements tory, and science, to a considerable extent is indispensable. with the ball frame used for infant instruction. have been slowly introduced. The lessons in arithmetic are begun A child entering from the infant school is prepared for the instruction and discipline of this: his education goes on in the same way and with the same spirit here as in the former school. Other * DAILY BIBLE TRAINING READ FROM THE SCRIPTURES BY AND WITH THE Monday.-Old Testament Biography. Thursday.-Moral duties, from Bible examples, and precepts, promises, &c. Saturday.-Bible Geography and History. †DAILY SECULAR TRAINING EXERCISES. Monday.-Animated Nature-Rational and Irrational, alternately. Thursday.--Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms, alternately. pupils accurately acquainted with the localities mentioned in the Sacred geography is used not only for the purpose of making the Scriptures, and with the curious physical state of the country, with its manners and customs and profane history, but as an incentive to them to search out from specified parts of the Bible the veises where particular places are mentioned, and to connect with the localities the incidents of the narrative. The lessons in objects are modified from those arranged by Miss Mayo, and are adapted to the different ages of an elementary school. They are intended as guides to teachers in communicating oral in. struction in regard to the objects met with in common life. The box of objects connected with them contains, in the small compass of less than three-sixteenths of a cubic foot, one hundred and twelve specimens of various productions of nature and art in differ |