74

in answer to my inquiries upon this subject, I
have sometimes been told that the shilling re-
quired for the purchase of a slate was the great
and indeed sole obstacle in the way of its ge-
neral use.

To WRITING, the same observations will
apply as to Reading, and it will be perceived
that the numbers in each class have increased;
whilst I think the quality also has improved.
Another year I propose to submit to the Board
specimens of the writing designated "good;"
which may also assist in showing the progress
in spelling, and in the power of reproducing
grammatically and consecutively what has been
read to them.

In ARITHMETIC, the progress is more mark-
ed, and is principally owing to the practice of
Mental Arithmetic, now general. Where this
has been steadily persevered in, and taught as
an exercise of the mind, and not merely by
rote, its good effects in giving general quick-
ness and aptitude as well as in making all the
common operations of arithmetic easy to per-
form and understand, are very obvious. "It
was through this medium," says Wood, in his
account of the Edinburgh Sessional Schools,
"that that energy was infused into the pupils
which afterwards pervaded every department."
In some of our Schools there is still much room
for improvement in this respect: the Scholars'
attention and interest have not been sufficiently
awakened; the Master failing to recognize the
important aid he might thus gain in every
other branch of his work. The old method of
teaching arithmetic, which was the merely me-
chanical repetition of certain operations with
figures, producing results by a sort of mental
legerdemain, for which no reason could be as-
signed, is now at an end. Of late years works
have been published, clearly explaining the
principles of the various processes. I have
distributed some of these; and have now re-
ceived others, which will enable all, with a fair
share of information and with very little trouble
to understand and explain thoroughly what
they teach.

In GEOGRAPHY and in GRAMMAR the num-
bers have materially increased, and a demand
for additional maps has arisen, which the
Board has now given me the means of meeting.
In HISTORY but slight progress has been made,
owing to the want of books; a want which I
shall now in some measure be able to supply.

In two or three Schools a disposition has
been shown to encourage DRAWING and MUSIC.
Unfortunately, few Masters possess the requi-
site qualifications; and, where they do, a fear
has been more than once expressed that an
undue amount of attention might be given to
these, to the prejudice of more necessary but less
interesting duties. This is a question which falls
entirely within the province of the local Com-
mittees to decide; but I may mention within
what limits it appears desirable to encourage
them. The Society of Schoolmasters in Eng-
land some time ago came to the conclusion that
when one writing lesson out of three was omit-
ted, and a lesson in drawing substituted, the
writing was not only not injured but improved
by the change; and, where the writing is al-
ready good, I believe every other lesson might
be thus altered with advantage, and for the
younger children, who cannot be kept to their
books during the whole of the school hours,
the pencil and slate furnish a never-failing
source of amusement, and afford great assist-
ance to the Master, by occupying the Pupils
who embarrass him the most. The attempts
to introduce Music more systematically have
hitherto met with but very partial encourage-
ment; and where it is practised, it is mostly
confined to a few verses sung in unison at the
opening or closing of the School. At Rich-
mond, where alone something more has been
done, a little additional time after the regular
school hours has been devoted to this pur-
pose.

In thus briefly remarking on the various
subjects which are taught in our Schools, I
have at the same time alluded to the particu-
lars in which, generally speaking, they may
still be improved; my private notes showing
their relative progress and my own recommen-
dations in various respects.

A few remarks on the plan I have followed
in inspecting the schools, my reasons for it,
and my views on the concern which their pre-
sent state and character seem to point out as
most desirable, will conclude this Report.

I have from time to time purposely varied
my mode of examination: a plan which has
been rendered very easy of adoption by its
frequent recurrence; this Province being, so
far as I am aware, the only place where the
number and contiguity of the Schools admit of
a Quarterly inspection. Thus at one time I
take the classes in order, examining any
every subject they are learning, and taking
notes of their individual proficiency; at another
I request the Master to examine, asking any
additional questions which occur to me, or sup-
plying what strikes me as deficient; and I
sometimes vary the examination by giving a
collective lesson, and then going over the same
ground by means of question and answer. I
believe that an occasional alteration in the
common school routine is very useful; and
think the old plan of setting children to learn
their lessons from books, is still adopted too
exclusively; and that an occasional reading by
the Master for ten minutes, or a short expla-
nation of some interesting subject, followed by