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TUESDAY EVENING.

8 o'clock (in the New Auditorium). Report of Committee on Elementary Schools John Dewey, Chicago, Ill., Chairman; W. N. Hailman, Washington, D. C.; S. T. Dutton, Brookline, Mass.; L. H. Jones, Cleveland, Ohio; Miss Sarah C. Brooks, St. Paul, Minn.; Miss Sarah L. Arnold, Boston, Mass.; Mrs. Alice H. Putnam, Chicago, Ill. The Mission of the Elementary School Martin G. Brumbaugh, Professor Pedagogy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Discussion.

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WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. 2:30 o'clock (in the New Auditorium). ConConference on School Hygiene ducted by Supt. G. V. Buchanan, Sedalia, Mo.

1. Lighting and Seating of School Rooms. (Paper 20 minutes) by Dr. W. A. Mowry, Hyde Park, Mass.

Ten minute discussion by Supt. F. Louis Soldan, St. Louis, Mo., and Supt. J. R. Preston, Water Valley, Miss.

2. Ventilation of School Rooms. (Paper 20 minutes) by Asst. Supt. A. P. Marble, New York City.

Ten minute discussions by State Supt. S. M. Inglis, Springfield, Ill., and Supt. J. L. Holloway, Fort Smith, Ark,

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"The Scope of Educational Journalism" - George P. Brown, editor "Public School Journal", Bloomington, Ill. Discussion Led by C. W. Bardeen, editor "School Bulletin," Syracuse, N. Y.; Ossian H. Lang, "School Journal," New York; G. R. Glenn, State School Commissioner of Georgia, editor "Southern Educational Journal," Atlanta; A. E. Winship, editor "Journal of Education," Boston, Mass.; O. T. Corson, State School Commissioner of Ohio, editor "Ohio Educational Monthly."

"Best Ways to Secure Subscriptions"

S. Y. Gillan, editor "Western Teacher," Milwaukee, Wis.

Discussion - C. M. Parker, editor "School News," Taylorville, Ills.; H. M. Pattengill, editor "School Moder

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"STORIES OF PENNSYLVANIA.''

The extreme importance of history as one of the branches required to be taught in our public schools is equalled only by the extreme folly which too frequently characterizes the methods used in presenting the subject. There is little choice between that method which results in nothing more than the mere memorizing of a few names, dates, and places which are learned only to be forgotten at the first opportunity, and that other method which assumes that small boys and girls are in possession of that maturity of mind which will enable them to trace effects back to their natural causes, and thus comprehend the "Philosophy of History." The first method is used by teachers who know but little history, and care less about the final results of their work, and the second by college professors and specialists in their presentation of impracticable theories before teachers' institutes.

It is only when such methods are discarded entirely and the subject is properly presented through storics of the life and struggles of the people who have made and are still making history, that children. can be benefited by its study. In this manner an interest is created

which not only makes the study one of pleasure and profit, but which also leads to such investigations as will bring to the pupil information of such a character as I will enable him when he reaches maturer years to determine for himself the causes of the g. movements which have stood out so prominently in the progress of the world. The pupil in the public school should be made to feel that it is not the dead past he is studying in history so much as the past made alive by the stories and incidents of the people who create history.

That the tendency of the times is toward better things in this respect is plainly indicated by the great improvement in the character of the books on history prepared for use in the public schools. Biography is made much more prominent, and the life of the people is constantly held up to the gaze of the pupils.

Of all the books that it has been our privilege to examine, the most helpful and inspiring one in its presentation of the subject of history from the standpoint just outlined, is "Stories of Pennsylvania," by Joseph Walton of the West Chester Normal School, and Martin G. Brumbaugh of the University of Pennsylvania.

This book is not, as its title might seem to indicate, merely a compilation of incidents which have only local importance and application, but an intensely interest

ing and instructive narrative of the remarkable history of one of the most remarkable of the thirteen original colonies-a history which fairly teems with facts and deeds of the gravest national importance. The mere suggestion of "Old Liberty Bell," "Declaration of Independence," and "Gettysburg" is sufficient to make plain to any one the possibilities of the proper presentation of such a history.

The book is composed of a series of stories setting forth in a charming manner some of the most important incidents in the pioneer history of the State, and reproducing in a large measure the very atmosphere of the early colonial life. The peaceful life and policy of the Quakers and the conflicts between the pioneer settlers and the hostile savages are described in a manner both entertaining and instructive. While these stories read like a romance, their historical accuracy can not be questioned, as they are based upon authority drawn in most cases from the Colonial Records, and the collections of the Pennsylvania Historical Society. Historical Society. Nearly every story has its appropriate illustration which is beautifully executed and historically cor

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recent editorial in the New England Journal of Education the following glowing tribute to the merits of the book is found:

Of course every school boy and girl in Pennsylvania will hereafter. hear or read these stories. There is no other book so indispensable to a Pennsylvania schoolhouse, and the public purse, rather than the teacher's sacrifice, should place it therein. It should be as universally in Maine and Texas, in Florida and Oregon, as in Pennsylvania. These "Stories of Pennsylvania" are not a glorification of men and women who were what they were because they were born or lived in the Keystone State, but of character and characteristics developed by dealing with the same elements of nature and human nature, tamed and untamed, as have been conquered on Cape Cod and in the Everglades, in the forests of Maine and Michigan, in the mines. of Superior and Alabama.

But when the "Stories of Pennsylvania" have been read year after year, far and near, they will not have fulfilled their mission unless they set the pace for the presentation of all the best historical discoveries through research in original American sources through the laboratory methods. Whatever is valuable to Americans in future discoveries in history should be treated by masters for the schools, and much of this should be given in story rather than in outline. The Messrs. Walton and Brumbaugh may see that a better title to their

charming book would have been "Stories in American History, No. I," of which an early appearance of No. II would have been welcomed. There is no reason why they should

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