four. It is said to have occupied his time for seven years. G. P. R. James began novel writing at seventeen, with a series of stories called "Strings of Pearls." Mrs. Hemens wrote poetry as soon as she could write at all, and published her first volume at fourteen. Macauley was forty-seven when he began the brilliant fragment known as the "History of England." At the age of forty-one Milton issued the "Paradise Lost," which had been in preparation for twenty years. 44 The Marco Bozzaris," the poem by which Halleck is best known, appeared when he was thirty-seven. John is said to have written the Gospels which bear his name at sixty, and the Book of Revelations at ninety-five. "London Assurance," the first play of Dion Boucicault, was put on the stage when the author was nineteen. THE RED PENCIL. "If this line is marked," and so on, To the few who forget their subscription Mrs. Somerville was fifty-one when Sacramento Coffee and Chop House, her "Mechanism of the Heavens" appeared from the Cambridge press. Jules Verne was thirty-five before he turned his attention to scientific fiction in "Five Weeks in a Baloon." 45 Eldorado St., SAN JOSE, CAL. ALBERT E. WHITE, Prop. Good Meals from 15 cents up. Wonder Millinery Store O O Has all the Latest Novelties in 10 South First Street, SUPERB COFFEE FALL MILLINERY DO NOT FORGET IN BUYING SAN JOSE, CAL. Or in having Repairs of the same done, that M. H. OSGOOD will give fine goods and work and at the Lowest Prices. M. H. OSGOOD, 156 South First Street. RUDOLPH, Bendy Manufacturer FURNISHING PARTIES ICE CREAM AND ICE CREAM SODA 61 EAST SANTA CLARA STREET SAN JOSE, CAL. VOL. II. JANUARY, 1893. No. 5. THE STATE EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. An Excellent Program, well presented.-Stockton the Next Place of Meeting. Officers for '93. T HE late Educational Convention at Fresno was a very satisfactory one throughout. These association meetings as a rule lack snap. Fresno for that reason had a good influence. As to what will be the condition of the association after the Stockton meeting next December remains a matter of conjecture. The following is the program of the last meeting: "Practical Physical Culture," Miss Ida M. Windale, Fowler; "The Teachers' Relation to the Public," D. A. Mobly, Stockton; "School Hygiene, Thomas D. Wood, Palo Alto. This was followed by a general discussion. "The Mission of Our Common Schools," Charles E. Hutton, Los Angeles; "The Shadows of our Profession,' George D. Ostrom, Santa Barbara; "The Common School Course of Study; Its Duration and Vitality," and Vitality," Joseph O'Connor, San Francisco; discussion. D. M. Delmas, lecture on "Education." "Literature in Grammar and Primary Schools," Charles E. Markham, Oakland; "The Kindergarten as an Educational Factor," Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper, San Francisco; "The Question of the Course of Study," Herbert Miller, Marysville; discussion. Normal and High School Department, Melville Dozier, president. Discussion, "What should be the mutual relation of the High school and the university?" David S. Jordan, Palo Alto; J. B. McChesney, Oakland; Martin Kellogg, Berkeley; Miss E. A. Packard, Los Angeles. Discussion, "What should be the relation of the Normal schools to the High schools and to the universities?" Elmer E. Brown, Berkeley; C. W. Childs, San Jose; S. D. Waterman, Berkeley; Earl Barnes, Palo Alto; E. T. Pierce, Chico; Mrs. R. V. Winterburn, San Diego. Discussion. "What are the essentials of the different courses in the High schools?" English, M. B. Anderson, Palo Alto; classical, E. E. Lange, Berkeley; scientific, John Dickinson, Pasadena. "Should Normal school diplomas entitle the holders of certificates to teach?" (a) "How would this affect the Normal Schools?" Ira Moore, Los Angeles; (b) "How would it affect the common schools?" J. W. Anderson, Sacramento. Department of supervision, W. W. Seaman, president-Discussion, "County Supervision: What does it include?" Mrs. F. McG. Martin, Santa Rosa; "Written Examinations: To What Ex tent Should They be Employed to Determine Promotion in Our Public Schools?" A. E. Baker, Los Angeles; "Teachers' Examinations: Should There be a State Board of Examiners to prepare Questions and Review the Work?" Eli F. Brown, Riverside. "Practical Education: What Is It!" Charles H. Keyes, Pasadena; "City Course of Study-How Harmonize the Interests of Pupils Whose Schooling Ends at Different Points, Primary, Grammar, High School and University," Madison Babcock, San Francisco; "How Can Closer Relations be Established Between Boards of Education, Trustees and Superintendents to the End that the Teacher's Position be More Fraternal?" J. W. Linscott, Santa Cruz; Discussion. "Power that Should be Given to the City Superintendent," T. L. Heaton, Fresno; "Do Visits of Inspection Have a Permanent Value? How Should the Record be Made?" S. T. Black, Ventura; "The Business Department of the County Superintendents, Its Importance," Job Wood, Jr., Salinas; Discussion. General sessions-"Some Points of Contrast Between Organic and Human Evolution," Joseph Le Conte, Berkeley; "California as a Field for Teaching Elementary Botany," Miss Alice J. Merritt, Los Angeles; "Science Teaching in High Schools," Fernando Sanford, Palo Alto. (Election of officers, 1893; reports of standing committees; miscellaneous business.) "The Needed American Education," Hamilton Wallace, Grass Valley; "The Relative Values of Subjects Pursued in the Public Schools," Washington Wilson, Chico; "The Public School the Safeguard of the State," Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper, San Francisco; "The Study of Sv natic Pedagogy," Elmer E. Brown, "Poetry and Modern Life," Melville B. Anderson, Palo Alto; Resolved, That a law should be passed requiring city and county boards of education to grant grammar-grade certificates to holders of diplomas granted by California State Normal schools-George R. Kleeberger, San Jose; "Place of Christian College in the system"-C. G. Baldwin, Pomona; report of committees; miscellaneous business; adjournment. OFFICERS FOR '93. President, T. J. Kirk of Fresno, First Vice President, Mrs. F. McG. Martin, superintendent of Sonoma county. Second Vice President, George Goodell, superintendent of San Joaquin county. Treasurer, G. A. Merrill, principal of Cogswell Polytechnic Institute, San Francisco. Secretary, J. P. Greeley, superintendent of Orange county. STATE TEXT BOOKS. The committee selected at the Riverside convention for the purpose of examining the resolutions offered by J. G. Jury condemnatory of the State text books, reported favorably to the resolutions, and therefore in accord with the popular sentiment among teachers. J. G. Kennedy was chairman of the committee. HIGHER EDUCATION. The following sayings gleaned from Dr. D. S. Jordan's address at Fresno deserve a wide circulation. They are educational proverbs with which all should be familiar. The Fresno Expositor said: "The address of Dr. Jordan was fine, dealing in many elements of knowledge that enter into the make up of men. The applause from the audience was proof that the splendid address was appreci ated." Do not waste a $50,000 education on a 50-cent boy. Fools will come out of college about as they go in. It An education enables the man to face the great problems of life seriously. is worth 10 years of a man's life to know one truly great man. The associations with fellow students often amount to a great deal of good with young men. Many a great genius has risen and developed in solitude. The college intensifies the individuality of the man. It raises his natural powers from the first to the second or third degree, as measured in mathematics. It does not hurt a young man to be ambitious. It helps him to rise, to become what he admires. Nothing is impossible for the man who has the will. There is no greater blessing for a young man in this country than to be thrown upon his own resources. He has the advantage. He knows the value of every dollar. It is no advantage to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth when a little effort on your part would secure you a gold one. A man can have no nobler ancestry than men and women who have worked for a living. If you cannot get an education in four years take ten years. The world will wait for you and keep a place for you. It is wrong to put a $50,000 education on a 50 cent boy; but it is far worse to put a 50-cent education on a $50,000 boy. Yet this is what some people are doing for their boys. Make your system of education such that a great man may be formed by it, and the great man will appear. A college education will pay from a financial standpoint; but the educated man does not look upon his learning as valuable only from the amount of money he can make out of it. It increases patriotism, hope, courage, manhood. The grand free school system of the United States is working its way into every corner. American statesmanship is far beneath the statesmanship of Europe. We have none who compare with Gladstone or Bismarck. The training of the individual is a great help to the mass. There are to-day 50,000 boys in California. Which of these is to be the great Californian of the future? The future leader is among them. In the whole world there are not so many frauds and shams in the schools as in America. The catalogues read like advertisements of patent medicines, ready to cure all the ills that flesh is heir to. EDUCATORS PRESENT. Among the many present who have distinguished themselves in Pacific Coast Education were the following: Supt. J. W. Anderson, Pres. Martin Kellogg, Joseph Le Conte, Pres. D. S. Jordan, Prof. C. H. Allen, J. G. Kennedy, C. W. Childs, Prof. G. R. Kleeberger, Dr. Eli F. Brown, Prof. T. D. Wood, Hamilton Wallace, F. M. Campbell, C. H. Keyes, J. McChesney, W. M. Friesner, T. J. Kirk, R. Anna Morris, Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper, H. J. Baldwin, Mrs. F. McG. Martin, Chas. E. Markham, E. E. Brown, Prof Earl Barnes, Ira More, Job Wood, and others. Stockton was selected as the place of meeting in December '93. The hope of all who suffer, The dread of all who wrong.Whittier. God is ever drawing like towards like and making them acquainted.—Plato. The path of duty lies in what is near, and men seek for it in what is remote.Mencius. KINDERGARTEN AND PRIMARY DEPARTMENT. Devoted to the Psychology of Childhood, Scientific Study of Children, and Kindergarten System and Its Application to the Public Schools. Edited by MR. C. H. MCGREW, Secretary of California School of Methods, and Principal Professional Training School for Kindergartners and Primary Teachers. All communications for this department should be addressed to MR. C. H. MCGREW, Box 948, San Jose, Cal. LAWS OF CHILDHOOD. OR convenience and clearness in studying the Laws of Childhood, I have grouped them into Biological, Sociological, and Psychological Laws. Although there is no law of life that does not partake to some extent of the characteristics of all these groups, and yet in the main it bears more directly upon one of these phases of life than upon the others. In the last issue of the TEACHER I treated briefly the remaining Biological Laws. In this I wish to present in a simple way. THE SOCIOLOGICAL LAWS. I. The Law of Coordinate Activity. This law follows closely the law of heredity which endows with tendencies. It is simply the expression of the forces of life in physical, mental, moral, and social action. The life principle is spontaneous in its many activities, and in order for the child to develop and accomplish his mission in life, his activities must be coordinate. First in and with respect to himself, and second to and with respect to others. The first activities of the little child are spontaneous, random, and largely of a physical nature. But as the child developes and learns to coordinate its life forces, its activities ome more mutual and spiritual, and secial. Let us dwell for a moment upon the coordinating of the life forces and note how it is done. A newly born babe can not roll its eyes, or move its hancs or feet together, or do the thousands of things that it afterwards learns to do through its own experience in manifesting its activities. By and by it learns through countless efforts to move and find its eyes as one, to move its hands in unison, and to use its feet together in walking. Its physical organization, nervous and muscular endowments show us beyond all doubt the coordinate action in and with itself is a fundumental law of its being. By this it gains possession of its body, its organs and limbs, and learns to control and use itself in the most perfect manner. Now it must learn to coordinate its life forces to and with respect to others. This follows as a higher phase of the law of coordinate. activity. In a word the life forces must be educated morally, spiritually and socially. The child must be developed as a moral and social being. This brings us to the widest manifestations of the forces of life. The child must learn here also by experience to move with and for others, to adjust his life and activities to those of others, and in a word, while being complete individual within himself also to form part of the social group |