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offered by the average Normal school was all but useless. But now she must hold a two-year's teacher's license in her hand before she is allowed to enter. (At least such are the conditions in the Indiana State Normal school.)

What does she bring in the way of previous musical training? Very little. Nine-tenths of the students who enter the music classes in a Normal school have lived where musical advantages were limited to the Sunday-school and an occasional term of singing-school. While the average Sunday-school does the best it can with the music and means at its command, as a source of correct ideas of music and singing its influence is not altogether to be desired. The singingschool, (alas! for those whose main musical dependence it was,) is relegated to that past which is the home of the melodeon and "Lily Dale," "Fairy Moonlight," "Fairy Belle" and other old favorites, and nothing has taken its place as yet.

Taking her, then, with her meager supply of musical knowledge, what does the average Normal school do for her? Places her in a class with a hundred other similarly equipped students-or perhaps with that number of students in various stages of development, which is much worseand attempts to administer musical instruction in such heroic doses as she is ground with the ninety and nine others through the same mill, that she will come out at the end of the one or two terms provided in the course, fully equipped to direct the music work in her next school! Often that grind consists of mere mechanical things, and often the time allotted in the course of study to music is so short that there is absolutely no time for individual work, and an equally absolute necessity for a hurried going over of the many important fundamental things in music before the term shall end and the student depart forever.

Some Normal schools provide bountifully for the music work, but as a general thing the course is limited to two (or three) terms of twelve weeks each. How can a teacher of music be equipped in that length of time unless previous experience and training make it possible? And why should not those who desire to fit themselves for this line of public-school work find as ample provision made for their wants in music, as in mathematics, in a Normal school? As a matter of fact, more necessity exists for it, since the average student has had a more active mental experience with mathematics than with music. More especially is there a necessity for superior musical advantages in a Normal school now, when so much is expected of the regular teacher, and when music is being experimented with in so many of the smaller schools. The course should be such that when the teachers'

examination shall include an examination in music, the student will not look upon it as a bugbear to be dreaded, but will be able to answer any reasonable set of questions, after having finished the course in a Normal school.

What are some of the essential things in music? If it is public-school music, the answer would be one thing, and if it is instrumental music, the answer would be something else. The fact that vocal music is more universal than instrumental, is one reason for its study in the public schools, which leads me to say that the making of childrens' voice habits should receive much more thought from parent and teacher than has ever been given to it. Why should the teacher's voice stand in the way of the progress of your boy or mine? The advantage of a soft, low voice is preached on every side, and very little attention is given in training schools for teachers toward modifying and making melodious the oft-times sharp, wiry, aggressive voices of those whose peculiarities of tone and enunciation will be imitated by a roomfull of little ones some day and some where. A very large field opens to those who realize the importance of a well-managed voice, whether in speaking or singing, when the imitative faculty of even the dullest child is considered.

Have you ever visited a little country school where eighteen or twenty children of assorted sizes and ages were being cared for by a faithful teacher at so much per month, (and not so very much, either,) for from three to seven months in the year?-and have you heard this willing soul try to give a music lesson? Or perhaps you have in an unguarded moment asked to hear some of the songs the children have learned. Did you not say in your heart as you endured to the end that it were better never to have had singing than to have had it done in so barbarous a manner? Softly, my friend! Did not that little teacher do her most conscientious best, according to the light she had? And what more do you, oh! ye of ten talents! Let her sing and teach others to sing-but speed the day when her opportunity to learn how to sing and to teach others to sing may be largely increased.

Every Normal school can teach its pupils to use the organs of speech neatly and accurately, and what accomplishment is more valuable to a singer than this? Not all souls are capable of the largest expansion any more than all voices are capable of thrilling an audience, but all organs of speech and song may be cultivated to a higher degree of usefulness, and especially is this culture to be desired in those who are to look after the music work in any school. If in the coming years more general exercises of a voice-refining nature

are introduced in the Normal schools, our little district school teacher will be able to dispense with the nasal twang, the uncultured enunciation and slovenly articulation, or the metallic tone almost unconsciously, since she, too, is possessed of the faculty of imitation, and only needs opportunity to use it under advantageous circumstances to make rapid progress.

What an immense stone in the foundation we are laying is the rote-song! And how frequently is it used as a mere physical exercise. The fact that words count is so lamentably ignored by singers of otherwise fair intelligence that one is not astonished to find teachers who need the unseeing eye opened in regard to the manner of using songs in the school-room. Sacrifice the music if you will, but keep the sentiment underlying the words ever in mind. If there are doubts as to the childrens' ability to express and appreciate that sentiment, an error in selection has been made, and the song should be laid aside. Where shall the teacher lay the foundation for this discriminating taste and judgment in the selection of rote-songs? Her whole training and experience that makes her a success as a teacher of other branches aids her in this, and I see no reason why more definite work may not be done along the line of rote-songs in a Normal training school, when its vast importance is considered, and when the fact is recognized that in hundreds of schools the so-called music work consists of rote-singing entirely.

Everyone should be intimately acquainted with the tonic, dominant, and sub-dominant triads and their family connections and inter-relationship if she would enter more fully into the joys of music. Why not have Harmony in our foundation, since it is the essential element in our superstructure? Could not the public schools plant the seeds of harmony, at least, and in some instances even water them, trusting to Providence for the increase? Suppose the boy's voice is changing and he does not care to sing, partly because there is no certainty that he will succeed if he tries, and partly because he is relegated to the too-often tuneless realms of alto at the first suspicion of a croak, when he naturally prefers a tune. It is as certainly wrong to take all music study away from him at this time as it would be to force him to sing, croak or no croak.

Why not require less singing, and more study of the scientific and historical side of the subject at this peculiar period in the mental life of the boy or girl, through harmony and biography? Wouldn't the principal triads and the dominant seventh with their progressions and resolutions prove interesting to any mathematically inclined

youth? His ability to think tones certainly need not cease with his ability to make tones that are satisfactory to himself and others.

I question the judgment of a supervisor of music who does not call to his aid the unlimited source of interest and inspiration to be found in biography-one of the most important stones in our foundation. (I know a supervisor who doesn't -but he doesn't live in Indiana, and I don't know that he is present.) In one school-room with which I am familiar, a bust of Beethoven frowns down upon the children from his pedestal. "Why does he look so cross?" inquired a small boy. The teacher in charge knew just what to say, and within a week every child in the room had ransacked home and school libraries in search of points of interest in the life of Beethoven. Instead of the disagreeable expression they saw before they had read of his unhappy life, they found an element of sadness that aroused their sympathies every time their roving eyes rested upon his face.

Another stone that our builders are using freely is good music, whether written by the old masters or by modern composers of skill, and it is a most gratifying thing to note the purity of style and form to be found in the exercises and songs in the various courses in music for use in the public schools. It is not enough that the children sing good music, however. It isn't the music we ourselves are able to make that influences us most, else music's power would be decidely limited, in some cases. Why not brighten our structure with bits of color in the form of illustrated sketches of various composers, including American writers? Any of the simpler forms of the classics in an appropriate biographical setting may be invested with great interest for a room full of children if intelligently interpreted The masses will sing and play good music when they have been shown where to find it in the simplicity adapted to their needs, and it is through the door of the little red school-house, or stately portals of the city school building, or of the yet more dignified Normal training school entrance, whether controlled by state or private means, that this artistic touch must

come.

If we cannot have trained supervisors of music in every school in every county in every state, then in all justice give those who prepare for the work of school teaching in our Normal schools better opportunity to learn the fundamental things in music before they are expected to comprehend this (to them) almost unknown subject and teach it to their helpless pupils. As well expect a teacher ignorant of Greek to study methods of presenting the subject for a term, and then be

able to do successful work with a class of beginners! Not all students who attend Normal schools are destined to become shining lights in the teaching profession, but a large number will be engaged as teachers, and many of them will be obliged to teach with but little time spent in preparation, for financial or other reasons. It isn't to be expected that the subject of music will receive the time and attention its newness and importance deserves, but the training for teaching that does not aid in presenting a music lesson is not all it should be. A good teacher is often more successful with the music work than a good musician-and therein lies our hope.

The thing most teachers need is an actual working knowledge of the subject-matter of music first, and the ability to use the formal side subjectively, next. It is absolutely necessary for a teacher to know about the means of representing tones, else how can she know when not to teach signs? Even special music teachers need to be reminded occasionally of the fact that music does not consist of notes, bars, lines, spaces, etc., and what wonder if the regular teacher falls into the rut of sign teaching alone, when her training includes little more than sign work, frequently. The special teacher must have the intelligent assistance of the regular teacher if music is to be used to the fullest

advantage in the schools, and to-day, as never be fore, we look to the fountain head, the Normal school, for the training that will make this possible. The teachers will gladly take all of the instruction in music that the required course of study will permit, and I confidently expect to see such changes in the requirements as will give them the opportunity to prepare fully for this work, which is soon to be a part of every teacher's daily program in the common schools and in the grades.

Our foundation is, upon the whole, good. Our builders are, in the main, honest. Our architects are planning according to the needs of the masses. We are not standing still, neither are we losing ground. We have laid the foundation upon which to erect an educational edifice of more varied beauty and usefulness than has ever yet been erected, and the strength of the pillars which shall support the final dome of this intensely, artistically, characteristically American structure will be based upon public school music work which shall include mind, voice and soul culture; a knowledge of combinations as well as successions of tones; and an interest in what has gone before, what is, and what will be, with the regular teacher amply prepared to direct the music work as intelligently as she directs the work in other branches. The Next Step?-well, what shall it be!

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NATURE STUDIES FOR THE COMMON SCHOOLS.

T IS our purpose to print in THE INLAND EDUCATOR during the coming year extracts from a series of Nature-Study Leaflets prepared by the faculty of Purdue University for the use of teachers in rural districts. We shall publish in this month's issue the preliminary suggestions made by President Smart in his Letter of Transmittal:

"At the present time Nature Study is receiving considerable attention from our high schools, and, to some extent, from our city and town graded schools. But little attention, however, has been given to the subject by the teachers in rural districts. While it may seem that the difficulties involved in the problem of Nature Study in rural districts are great, we think that a careful examination of the conditions will show that these are more apparent than real. Indeed, the opportunities for work in the country are very much greater than for work in the city. We think it will be found also that the introduction of Nature Study will enable the teachers of district schools

to accomplish the work which they are now doing more easily and with greater success.

"In order to show that this kind of work has been found to be eminently practicable, we may call your attention to what is going on in a large number of elementary schools in Europe.

"I quote from Appleton's Popular Science Monthly for February, 1898:

'In many places in Europe school grounds are very much better managed than in this country. Not only do school authorities there aim to supply materials for study in the school-room, but they mean to impart clear ideas of horticulture and related occupations by various uses of land connected with the schools. They appreciate the training which results from pruning, budding and grafting trees, plowing, hoeing and fertilizing land, hiving bees and raising silkworms.'

In 1890 there were nearly eight thousand school-gardensgardens for practical instruction in rearing trees, vegetables and fruits-in Austria.'

In France, gardening is practically taught in twentyeight thousand primary and elementary schools, each of which has a garden attached to it, and is under the care of a master capable of imparting a knowledge of the first prin

ciples of horticulture. No one can be appointed master of an elementary school unless qualified to give practical instruction in cultivating the ordinary products of the garden.' 'In Sweden, as long ago as 1871, twenty-two thousand children received instruction in horticulture and tree-planting, and each of two thousand and sixteen schools had for cultivation a piece of land varying from one to twelve acres.'

'Still more significant is the recent establishment of many school-gardens in southern Russia. In one province two hundred and twenty-seven schools out of a total of five hundred and four have school-gardens whose whole area is two hundred and eighty-three acres. ****This movement has also widely spread over different provinces of central Russia.'

'Since 1877 every public school in Berlin has been regularly supplied with plants for study every week, elementary schools receiving specimens of four different species and secondary schools six. During the summer, at six o'clock in the morning, two large wagons start from the schoolgardens loaded with cuttings packed and labeled for the different schools. The daily papers regularly announce what plants may be expected, and teachers consult with the gardeners as to what ought to be sown or planted. Teachers take their classes into the school-gardens for lessons in botany, and are aided by the gardeners, who cut the specimens.'

"The general principles on which the leaflets will be prepared may be summarized as follows:

"First. No attempt will be made to issue the leaflets in the order in which they are to be used by the teacher. It is manifestly undesirable if not impossible to do this.

"Second. No specific indication will be made as to the length of time each subject should occupy the attention of the pupils. Some of the subjects may properly serve for many lessons and some but for a single lesson. This must depend chiefly upon the ingenuity of the teacher and upon the interest manifested by the pupils. Furthermore, some of the leaflets treat of subjects that should occupy the attention of the pupils for a brief time during the summer, and also for a brief time during the winter, as for example, the leaflet on "The Care of Domestic Animals."

"Third. Teachers should at all times strive to induce the pupils to see and hear and think for themselves, in short, to become original investigatore.

"Fourth. It would be well for teachers to organize observation clubs and take the pupils on occasional rambles through the country.

"Fifth. The pupils should be encouraged to make reports, to write essays and descriptions, and to illustrate on the blackboard and in their drawing-books.

"Sixth. The method of presentation should be oral so far as possible. Habits of correct expression should be cultivated, and the children should be encouraged to ask questions.

"Seventh. It is suggested that flower and fruit festivals in their proper season at which small prizes could be offered, might be helpful. The cooperation of the county agricultural society and other similar organizations might be secured with advantage.

"Eighth. Since the leaflets are to be used by teachers of varying experience and under widely different conditions in respect to progress of pupils, no uniform method of treatment will be employed. Some of them will be in the form of suggestions to teachers, others in the form of suggestions to pupils, others, again, in the form of oral object lessons, and still others will be in the form of stories; and, since they are prepared by a number of different people, no attempt will be made to present them in a uniform style of composition. "Ninth. It must be remembered that it is well nigh impossible to construct any leaflet that in its entirety will be adapted to the varied conditions existing in district schools, that the present leaflets should be regarded as suggestive rather than directive, that the teachers should select, adapt, and often translate into their own language, and most of all, that the teachers should add to the matter contained in this series information derived from various sources, especially from the science books recommended by the State Reading Circle Board.

"Tenth. It is important to observe that very much of the Nature Study by the children must be done out of doors, and in the spring and summer, but many of the schools will not be in session. Such of the leaflets therefore as especially relate to spring and summer work on the part of the children should be translated into oral lessons and given by the teachers of such schools during the term time. It is quite apparent the leaflets can often be used in this way with but few slight changes in phraseology. Thus instead of taking the children on an excursion in May to observe spring birds the teachers can re-phrase the leaflet on that subject, and use it as a basis for a conversation with the children, instructing them how to become good observers as they go about and requesting them to report the results of their observations at the beginning of the next term."

G

GEOGRAPHY IN THE GRADES.

By CHARLES R. DRYER.
IX.-The Crust of the Earth.

EOGRAPHY is often defined as "a descrip

tion of the earth's surface," and the majority of students are taught to think and say that we live upon the surface of the earth. A moment's thought will show the error of such a statement. The atmosphere is as much a part of the earth as the land or the water, and this outside gaseous shell extends far above the plane of human existence. In fact, we live about 200 miles inside the earth. The truth to be thought and taught is that we all have our legal and permanent residence upon the surface of the solid earth or lithosphere, from which some of us make occasional and temporary excursions upon the surface of the liquid earth or hydrosphere, and a few rarely into the gaseous earth or atmosphere. The surface of the earth has no inhabitants, and geography knows nothing of it.

He who studies only the surface of the lithosphere and hydrosphere has but a superficial knowledge of the earth and, in fact, can know little of that surface itself. Nothing is more curious in educational custom than the traditional fear, on the part of the old-fashioned geographical teacher and text-book maker, of looking or thinking an inch below the surface of land and water. It is as if one should confine his attention to the external form and surface of the human body with the pores, lines, ridges, hairs, paint or dirt he might find there, while rigidly excluding any hint as to the structure of the parts within. Such a study is possible and would have some value, but would be more superficial than beauty, which is, at least, skin deep. Surely no one would advocate the introduction of such a whim into the schools. Why are we hampered by a similar whim in the study of geography? True, geography deals primarily with the surface features of land and water, but it has the right to go to any depth or height in the search for an explanation of those features.

The crust of the earth is the foundation, the stage or arena upon which plants, animals and men play their most important parts. It forms the dry land and the bottom of the sea, but that part of it of which we have any direct knowledge forms but the thinnest skin or pellicle over the rock mass within. That mass may be practically solid or largely liquid. There is some evidence, and there are many theories, upon the subject, but of actual knowledge very tle.

The

deepest boring or cut ever made into it is only a little over one mile. This crust or skin, except here and there in a volcanic pipe, is found to be solid, and penetrated everywhere in its pores and crevices by liquid water and by the gases of the air. Is there any good reason why every little child who comes to school should not be helped to get an idea from his own experience of the materials and structure of this crust in his own neighborhood? In most cases, before he comes to school at all, he has made some investigations upon this subject. He is more or less familiar with clay, sand, gravel and pebbles, the almost universal surface materials. It is an easy task for the teacher to lead him to make his knowledge more exact and systematic, which means more scientific. One of the first generalizations is that all these rocks (a sand bank is a rock as much as a granite ledge: see Dictionary) are made up of loose, incoherent grains, some very fine and soft as in clay, some larger, hard and sharp as in sand, some much larger, hard and rounded as in gravel. A post hole, cellar or trench shows that these materials are several feet deep. Then there are wells going down still deeper, perhaps 100 feet or more, and. if they cannot be looked into, the owner or digger can probably tell what kind of material it passes through. Nothing creates so much general interest in the crust of the earth and knowledge of it as the necessity of going down into it for a water supply. If the country is at all uneven, railroads and highways have made cuts through the ridges where the materials are exposed in the banks on either side. Nature has done much for us also, for every stream is cutting a trench in which the materials of the earth's crust are shown, sometimes to great depths. Any hole in the ground, wells, railroad-cuts, and stream channels afford opportunities for this kind of study.

There are many counties in Indiana where none of these pricks, scratches or cuts in the earth-skin show anything but loose material, and the student would conclude from observations made at home only, that the earth is nothing but sand, gravel and clay clear to the center. Let not such localities be despised or neglected. He who knows from his own observation sand, gravel and clay thoroughly and their arrangement in the crust of the earth has learned a very important chapter of earth-lore. Many localities are more fortunate in this respect. Somewhere within reach of walk or

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