GENERAL AIMS 



optional exercises to keep the most proficient busy. The 

 required work covers all the essential principles; and the 

 elective work is made interesting, broad in its scope, prac- 

 tical, and closely related to home and business affairs. 



It is claimed that the results obtained in arithmetic in 

 many schools are not at all commensurate with the time 



given the subject. No one doubts the jus- 

 Assignments 



tice of the criticism. Consequently, fewer 



and more practical topics are assigned the various grades 

 in our schools, and the time given to arithmetic is increased 

 in every grade above the second. The elimination of obso- 

 lete and impractical matter, combined with an increase in 

 time, should lead to better results, more particularly if the 

 following points are borne in mind by the teacher: 



Cultivate the spirit of self-reliance in the pupils. 



Give mental arithmetic its due proportion of time. 



Lead pupils to think of the conditions of the problems 

 before " figuring." 



Give full attention to development lessons and to object- 

 ive work. 



Lead the pupils by accurate observation into clear thought 

 and exact statement. 



Have a definite plan for every lesson. 



Do not give conundrums. 



Require the pupils to think more and to depend less upon 

 the teacher. 



Teaching arithmetic has passed through so many tor- 

 mented phases of being that considerable valuable informa- 

 tion is to be found in the way in which a modern course of 

 study has come into being. This is so clearly shown in an 

 article by Superintendent Barr of the Stockton schools, 



