OLD-TIME SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL-BOOKS - online book

An Illustrated history & description Of Schools in the 18th & 19th Centurys.

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ADVANCED READERS
F OR several decades in the early days of the Republic the Catechism, the Psalter, and the Bible continued to be extensively used in the schools, and served for drilling the pupils in the art of reading. But the chad could not acquire a taste for reading from such sources, nor obtain from them information concerning history, or the world about him, or the world at large. There was a demand for more freedom in the use of secular material in the school curriculum. The national life was developing rapidly, interests were broaden­ing, and a steady theological diet was no longer satisfying. Besides, the general unity of religious doctrine which characterized the people earlier had given place to diversity, and Calvinism had strenu­ous opponents. As a result there was a marked increase in the number and variety of the school-books, and in these the nature of the child, his inclinations, tastes, and desires became more and more dominant factors in the choice and arrange­ment of the subject-matter. Instead of demanding that the child should adjust himself entirely to the course of study, efforts were made to adjust the course of study to the requirements of the child.
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