number 4 the fourth line. The teacher previously works out the three answers (Nos. 2, 3, 4), and examines. (3) Let the children work back to back, or one-half looking one way, and the other alternate half the other. PRACTICAL HINTS ON TEACHING ARITHMETIC FROM REPORTS OF H.M.'S INSPECTORS (STANDARD I.). "I must still complain of children being allowed to subtract (and multiply) without having been taught the principle involved in these exercises, and of their being easily caught by the trap in the case of subtraction of placing the smaller number first in your question."-MR. TREGARTHEN. "The good of working sums on paper is, that it makes the child more accurate, for if a false figure be put down, it cannot be replaced by another so readily as when on slates.” -MR. WILDE. "The chief defect I find in the Arithmetic of Standard I. is the (too) great use made of the fingers in counting. . . . If the child cannot subtract 1 from 7, etc., it has not learnt the simplest relations of numbers."-MR. WILLIAMS. "Arithmetic can be done in Standard I. efficiently and easily, and with pleasure to the children without either fingering or mere repetition. So vicious is the practice of fingering, and so dependent do the children become on its use, that I have seen many schools where the children were unable to do the exercises up to Standard VI. without the help of the fingers or marks. By this practice the children gain little more power of calculation than the adding and subtracting of units; whereas the aim of good introductory training is to give the power of operating with numbers easily and correctly by steps.-MR. JOLLY. 66 At least half the time allowed to Arithmetic should be given to problems."-MR. OAKELEY. "Children who generally write on slates readily acquire the habit of altering a letter or figure, and, if examined on paper, can only smudge or erase whatever they find it needful to alter. Those who regularly use paper learn to be more careful in what they first set down. Their work is tidier and more accurate. In too many cases principles are not sufficiently attended to." -MR. BALMER. "The multiplication tables are taught without illustration, so that a child who knows them all by heart up and down, will more often than not fail to tell the number of pence in 5s. or the number of days in six weeks."-MR. EDWARDS. "Arithmetic is still in most schools very mechanical, and the cause of this must be sought in the teaching, not in the children. "I have asked teachers to begin and teach one of the new rules for the next year's work on the day of inspection, and in these first lessons it is easy to find one cause at least for the want of intelligence afterwards displayed in the use of the rule. A model sum, always too difficult for a beginner, is put, on the blackboard; it is then worked by the teacher, and the different steps are pointed out, more or less clearly. Two or three more examples of the same kind follow, and then the children are set to work the rule for themselves. But of any use of Mental Arithmetic in leading up to the rule, or easy examples showing its application and its connection with rules previously learnt, there is rarely a trace."-MR. SYNGE. See also Reports by MR. VERTUE, MR. WARBURTON, and MR. WILLIAMS. CHAPTER V. CLASS SUBJECTS-SCHEDULE II. (STANDARD 1.). "The Class Subjects should be taught by means of readingbooks and oral lessons, illustrated, so far as possible, by maps, diagrams, specimens, and simple experiments." (Art. 109, New Code, 1883.) I. ENGLISH. "To repeat twenty lines of simple verse." II. GEOGRAPHY. "To explain a plan of the school and play-ground; the four cardinal points; the meaning and use of a map." III. ELEMENTARY SCIENCE. "Common objects, such as familiar animals, plants, and substances, employed in ordinary life. A progressive course of simple lessons on the above topics, adapted to cultivate habits of exact observation, statement, and reasoning. "As a rule, the examination in Geography and Elementary Science will follow the courses indicated in the Schedule. But if the managers desire, they may submit to the Inspector at his annual visit, and the Inspector may approve for the ensuing year, some similar progressive scheme of lessons in these subjects. In Elementary Science this scheme may be framed so as to lead the scholars in Standard I.-IV. up to one of the scientific specific subjects; or the scheme given above may be taken as a guide, suggesting heads for a sufficient number of lessons in each Standard." (Revised Code, 1883.) "In reporting on the subjects of Grammar (English) and Geography, you will report whether a grant should be made, and if so, whether the results of the instruction are "fair," or "good." The mode of examining is left to your discretion, and may be usefully varied from year to year. It is often advisable to invite the teacher of the class to put a few questions, in order that you may know what plan he has applied, before proceeding to propose questions of your own. ENGLISH.-"The recitation of a few verses of poetry have been prescribed in every Standard, and it will be the duty of the teacher to submit to you for approval on the day of inspection a list of the pieces chosen for the ensuing year. It is not necessary that the required number of lines should be taken from one poem." [This can hardly apply to Standard I.ED.] "They may be made up from two or more, provided that each extract learned by heart has a completeness and value of its own, and is understood in relation to the story or description of which it forms a part. The extract. should be pleasing and intelligible to the children. In testing the memory lessons, it may suffice to call a few of the children—not less than one-fourth in each class—to write each a few lines in succession. "GEOGRAPHY AND ELEMENTARY SCIENCE.-The Code recognizes as the means of instruction in Geography and Elementary Science, reading-books, oral lessons, and visible illustrations. But it does not prescribe the exact proportions in which these means shall be employed for each Standard and for each subject. These proportions should be determined partly by the special plans, and aptitude of the teacher, and partly by other considerations. In Standard I. (and II.) it will not be necessary for you to insist on the use of a reading-book, if provision is made for meeting the requirements of the Code by a systematic course of collective lessons, of which the heads are duly entered in the Log-book. In teaching Geography, good maps (both of the county and) of the parish or intermediate neighbourhood in which the school is situated, should be affixed to the walls, and the exact distances of a few near and familiar places should be known. It is useful to mark on the floor of the schoolroom the meridian line, in order that the points of the compass should be known in relation to the school itself, as well as on a map." (Instructions to Inspectors.) RULES OF EXAMINATION ON CLASS SUBJECTS. "(i.) The recognized class subjects are: 1. English; 2. Geography; 3. Elementary Science; 4. History; 5. Needlework for girls and mixed schools. (ii.) For the purpose of examination in class subjects a school is considered as made up of two divi sions. (iii.) The lower division must contain the scholars pre- (iv.) No more than Two class subjects, one of which (vi.) The girls in a Mixed School may take Needlework |