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<br />practically, than no invitation at all, but appointing a time for
<br />the visit. And bearing in mind that, alone, he can toil with
<br />but little success, they should show him, by their personal
<br />treatment of him, that his services are prized, and his right
<br />efforts shall be seconded. He, with themselves, is the teacher,
<br />guide, governor, of their children. Certainly in no instance,
<br />therefore, will they take so strange a course as, before the
<br />child, and systematically, to take his part against the teacher.
<br />Nor yet make him the informer, or, child as he is, -- with a
<br />child's passions, inclinations, short-sightedness, with his partial
<br />way of looking at and reporting what affects him, — make
<br />him the sole witness against the teacher.
<br />The Committee have quite frequently called the attention
<br />of the several schools to the general neglect of a book that
<br />should at least be in the hands of every child of ten or
<br />twelve years of age. They would commend the same subject
<br />to the notice of parents. Surely there must be room for im-
<br />provement in a school, when we are told what has been said of
<br />one, and what probably might be said of many, of the schools
<br />in town, that not more than two or three Dictionaries are
<br />to be found in it. A Dictionary like the Comprehensive Dic-
<br />tionary of Worcester should be at the disposal of every scholar
<br />old enough to use it. And he should be taught to use it, as
<br />well at home as at school, — should make it one of the treas-
<br />ures with which he is never in life to part, — nor cease to con-
<br />sult it till he has sounded the meaning of all the words with
<br />which he meets, or that he has occasion to use. It would be
<br />a curious and profitable matter for consideration, how much
<br />vague reasoning, and how much misunderstanding and conse-
<br />quent unjust and harsh feeling, have resulted from indefinite or
<br />incorrect ideas attached to words, — how many quarrels have
<br />hence sprung, and how many seeds of permanent alienation
<br />have so been sown. The Committee have been surprised to
<br />find how few words could be defined correctly in the sev-
<br />eral schools in town. The parrot -like repetition of words to
<br />which no meaning is attached must ever be an effectual bar
<br />against good reading. The Central Grammar School has been
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<br />the freest from this fault, and at its last examination the third
<br />class, particularly, acquitted itself very creditably.
<br />While we are glad to say, .that the order of no school has
<br />been very bad, we regret that we cannot say more than we
<br />may on this head. Good order is, of course, one of the first
<br />essentials of a good school. We should like, therefore, to say
<br />our schools were almost faultless in this respect. The Primary
<br />School in the Central District was as orderly, perhaps, as is de-
<br />sirable for a school of that class. The West School also, the
<br />Northeast Winter School and the Summer School in the South
<br />District, the first named especially, have done very well.
<br />One of the most important exercises in our common schools
<br />is that of reading. We have already referred to a hindrance
<br />to success in this exercise that we hope soon to see removed.
<br />The most important preparation for the quite young scholar,
<br />certainly, is the ability to modulate the voice so as readily to
<br />give any required tone or sound. This must be the result of
<br />much painstaking on the part of the teacher, and many exer-
<br />cises on the part of the scholar. The teacher in the Primary
<br />School in the Southeast District has been highly successful in
<br />this. Her first class, for its age, is superior to any other in
<br />town. There is too common a tendency for teachers to allow
<br />their scholars to pass over more ground than they can go over
<br />with thoroughness. It is irksome to insist upon exactness in
<br />details. Scholars find it tedious so to perfect themselves, and
<br />parents are too apt to measure a child's diligence and profi-
<br />ciency by the number of pages he has gone over in a given time.
<br />The Committee found that the Winter School in the Northeast
<br />District had avoided this mistake. The class in Algebra bore
<br />well a very detailed and thorough examination. The Summer
<br />School in the South District, the two Grammar and the two
<br />Primary Schools, and the West School, are to be in general
<br />commended for this. The class in Mental Arithmetic in the
<br />last-named school appeared remarkably well. A class of
<br />young scholars went through long processes in their minds,
<br />without the aid even of the question -book, in a manner that
<br />would have done credit to some of our most advanced scholars.
<br />The teachers in the Centre Grammar and in the Summer
<br />
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