Webster's New International Dictionary, Merriam. Champlin Young Folk's Cyclopedia of Common Things, Holt. Adams--Harper's Electricity Book For Boys, Harper. Onken-How to Understand Electrical Work, Harper. Williams The Romance of Modern Invention, Seeley & Co. Baker-Boy's Book of Inventions, Doubleday, Page & Co. Cochrane The Wonders of Modern Mechanism, Lippincott. Bond-Handy Man's Work Shop and Laboratory, Munn & Co. Beard The Out-Door Handy Book, Scribner. Bond-Scientific American Boy, Munn & Co. Bond-Scientific American Boy at School, Munn & Co. Beard-Jack of All Trades, Scribner. Marriott-Uncle Sam's Business, Harper. Poems Every Child Should Know, Doubleday, Page & Co. Famous Stories Every Child Should Know, Doubleday, Prose Every Child Should Know, Doubleday, Page & Co. Wild Flowers Every Child Should Know, Doubleday, Page Pictures Every Child Should Know, Doubleday, Page & Co. Nugent-New Games and Amusements, Doubleday, Page & Co. Beard-Dan Beard's Animal Book, Moffat, Yard & Co. Wright-Romance of the World's Fisheries, Lippincott. Williams-Romance of Modern Mining, Seeley & Co. AGRICULTURE IN THE HIGH SCHOOLS OF MICHIGAN. The subject of industrial education is one of rapidly growing interest to all classes of people. The impression is gaining ground that the work of the public schools can be broadened without Industrial materially interfering with the so-called regular academic Education. work, and by doing this the public schools will more nearly meet the expectations of the people because it will more closely touch the activities of human life. Intellectual training has been the dominant feature of all educational work and it must continue to be such. At the same time we must recognize that education should produce efficiency. This means that we must add to our school work more thorough physical training, together with what may be called industrial training or training along the line of vocations. Agriculture. It is not possible to teach all the vocations known to mankind in the public schools, therefore we must select certain ones which are fundamental. At the present time the work in domestic science and domestic art, music, drawing, and manual training are preparatory for vocational work and to this list we must add agriculture, which is the fundamental vocation of inankind. During the past ten years the demand for vocational training has become more and more insistent and the experiments which have been tried show clearly that this work can be done and that its effect is to improve the quality of regular school work rather than to hinder it. Agriculture for the rural schools has been discussed under the head of nature study, elementary agriculture, and industrial education, and the interest is becoming wide-spread. Since 1897, History of during which year the first work in agriculture for secondary Movement. schools was done in this country, the movement has become quite general. At the present time there are fifteen high schools of the Minnesota type, sixteen colleges, one hundred fifteen State and county normals presenting courses in agriculture, and over five hundred public and private high schools including in their courses of study some instruction in agricultural subjects. The teaching of agriculture is required by statute in thirteen states. At present there are two lines of work being presented in secondary agriculture. One is in special secondary schools In Other such as are found in Wisconsin, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma. States. The second line is the introduction of courses in agriculture in the public high schools. It is not necessary here to enter into a discussion as to the merits of these two lines of work. Each line is demon strating its value, and time alone can determine which is the more effective and valuable for the people at large. Work in In Michigan we have one special school of agriculture which has been doing most excellent work during the past three years. One year ago we began the subject of agriculture in the public schools by introducing a course into one high school. Out of forty-six boys attending the high school, forty-four elected the agricultural work. The work was undertaken purely from an experimental standpoint but it has proved to be an eminent success. During the past year five additional high schools, have offered courses in agriculture and two hundred twenty-five young men have been studying in six high schools. Six additional schools will offer the course during the coming year and thus in the school year of 1910-11 we shall have twelve high schools in Michigan presenting agricultural subjects. The plan of introducing the work is as follows: We make the subject elective in each grade of the high school. For the first year we make botany a part of the agricultural course and add to the regular work what we term agricultural botany, which is a special study from the botanical standpoint of weeds, grasses, seeds, and grains. For the second year we give half a year of farm crops and a half year for horticulture. During the third year we offer half a year of live stock and a half year of soils. For the fourth year we present the subject of live-stock breeding and feeding and in the second half of the year farm management, farm machinery, and mechanics. This plan offers one unit in each of the grades that is agricultural, and the effect is to hold students in school during the high school course. It also affords an opportunity for young men to enter high school and select the agricultural course and take the entire work in one year. Plan. Practical tions. The work is presented largely from the scientific standpoint in order that there may be an opportunity for the practical application of the other sciences taught in the high school. We endeavor to show the students that agriculture is a science and that the operations of farming are based upon scientific principles and governed by natural law. Some time is given to agriculture from the art side. This is done by actual demonstration work upon plots of ground set apart for high school use, as well as actual demonstration on the home farms. Students are required to observe the various lines of farming operations as pursued on nearby farms and to study means and methods for improving present conditions. An attempt is made to set up ideals of the different phases of agricultural work. For instance, the student is taught how to produce a perfect crop and to know when he has a perfect product. In other words, he gets the true type in his mind. The same plan is pursued with other subjects, especially in the work in live stock. Teachers. In every case a special teacher is employed who is a graduate of the Agricultural College and is therefore competent to present both the science and the art of agriculture. These young men have sufficient of agricultural pedagogy so that the teaching is based upon correct pedagogical principles. The following facts have already been demonstrated: first, that there is a need Demonstra for agricultural training; second, that agriculture can be profitably taught in the public high schools; third, that expenses for materials, laboratories, etc., are comparatively small; fourth, that the work steadies the work of the entire school and produces most valuable results from a purely educational standpoint; fifth, that the results are practical so far as actual farm operations are concerned; sixth, that through the introduction of the special lectures for the farmers of the community, the interest of the farmer is aroused and the in- Facts fluence is wide-spread; seventh, that the presentation of the ted. subject in the high school at once raises agriculture as a subject of study to the same plane as the other subjects in the school curriculum; eighth, that the influence upon the individual student is very marked, as already we have seen young men change their course of life and enter upon agricultural work with great interest and zeal, and these same young men actually demonstrate on the farm that the theories they have learned in school can be applied in every-day life, and as a result there is greater enjoyment in the work, and greater profits from the farm. These results have been clearly secured and have demonstrated the feasibility and the practicability of introducing agricultural courses in our public schools. We believe that such a course, judiciously managed, will enable the school to measure up more fully to the definition of a real public school, that is, that it introduces training which enables the students to enter at once intelligently into the activities of every-day life and the school itself becomes a means of increasing the efficiency of the people because it touches in a vital way the activities of human life. Results. EXAMINATION AND CERTIFICATION OF TEACHERS. During the year in addition to the 618 teachers' certificates granted by county normal boards to graduates of county normal training classes, and 1,097 teachers' certificates granted to graduates of the four State Normals, the State Board of Education has granted 142 fouryear certificates to graduates of denominational colleges and the Agricultural College. Also thirty-two college life certificates were granted to those who had previously received the regular college certificate and had complied with the statute in regard to experience in teaching. 168 special kindergarten, music, and drawing certificates were granted by the State Superintendent. In compliance with the law authorizing the regents of the university of Michigan, through the faculty of the department of literature, science, and the arts, to grant to every person receiving a bachelor's, master's or doctor's degree, and also a teacher's diploma for work done in the science and the arts of teaching in said university, a certificate which shall serve as a legal certificate of qualification to teach in any of the schools of this state, 122 such certificates were granted during the year. Three State examinations have been conducted by the State Board of Education, the two regular examinations being held the second week in August, 1909, and the last week in March, 1910, and a special ex amination held the second week in September, 1909. From these examinations, twelve State life certificates were granted. The State Board has also recognized and indorsed sixteen normal school diplomas or State certificates granted in other states. Nineteen first grade certificates have been indorsed by the State Superintendent, and twenty-one previously indorsed certificates have been renewed. The regular county examinations were held in June, August, and October, from which first, second, and third grade certificates were granted. MASTERPIECES FOR TEACHERS' EXAMINATIONS. The following is a list of selections that have been studied by the teachers in preparation for the examinations in reading: June, 1901 Bryant. Evangeline (selection from). Longfellow. August, 1901 Enoch Arden. Tennyson. October, 1901 Elegy. Gray. Vision of Sir Launfal. Lowell. The Courtship of Miles Standish. Longfellow. Deserted Village. Goldsmith. Vision of Sir Launfal. Lowell. Sesame. Ruskin. August, 1903 American Scholar. Emerson. October, 1903 A Rill from the Town Pump. Hawthorne. March, June, 1904 Burns. Canto V, Lady of the Lake. Scott. March, 1905 Silas Marner. Eliot. June, 1905 Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Irving. August, 1905 Elegy. Gray. October, 1905 Oration at Laying the Corner Stone of the Bunkerhill June, Monument. Webster. 1906 Act III, Hamlet. Shakespeare. August, 1906 Intimations of Immortality. Wordsworth. October, 1906 1907 June, June, 1908 August, 1908 Gray Champion. Hawthorne. Speech on Conciliation of American Colonies. Burke. Ode to a Skylark. Shelley. Birds, Bees and Sharp Eyes. Burroughs. October, 1908 The Raven. Poe. June, 1909 Lady of the Lake. Scott. August, 1909 The Sketch Book. Irving. |