234 



EDUCATION, INDUSTRIAL. 



was of forty lessons, each of which was equiv- 

 alent to half of a half-day session. In 1880 a 

 change was made by which pupils did not have 

 to sacrifice part of their holiday for this in- 

 struction, and with it the attendance increased 

 from thirty to ninety-six. Lessons in carpen- 

 try were given during school-hours four after- 

 noons in the week, two classes being taught 

 each afternoon. Eight classes then received 

 instruction for one hour each during half the 

 afternoon session. Two classes and a part of 

 a third were made up of girls, whose work was 

 pronounced by the superintendent as equal to 

 that of the boys, and who seemed to enjoy it 

 heartily. The superintendent says : " A room 

 similar to the one we had can be fitted up for 

 a carpentry class for not more than $500. In 

 such a shop, thoroughly equipped, one teacher 

 can efficiently instruct four classes each day 

 twenty classes each school-week. Sixteen mem- 

 bers may be permitted to attend each class, 

 without detriment to the progress of each. Al- 

 lowing forty weeks for the academic year, and 

 making the salary of the teacher $20 a week, 

 the annual cost of instruction would be $800. 

 The cost of stock would not exceed 50 cents 

 per annum for each pupil. Upon this basis the 

 per capita cost of instructing 320 pupils would 

 be about $3 a year." The cost of this experi- 

 ment during its continuance of about eighteen 

 months was $742.50. It was discontinued 

 with the close of the spring term in 1880, be- 

 cause the city government refused to make an 

 appropriation for it, and the Hovey executors 

 were not willing to maintain it any longer. It 

 proved, however, some of the theories on the 

 effect of such training, and the example was 

 soon followed in other places. 



Upon the offer of the Boston Industrial 

 School Association, a similar experiment was 

 tried in the Boston public schools from Janu- 

 ary to May, 1882. A room in the D wight 

 Grammar-School for boys was fitted up as a 

 carpenter-shop, a practical carpenter was em- 

 ployed as instructor, and two classes of eight- 

 een members each were selected, one being 

 from the upper or graduating class, the other 

 from the 2d, 3d, and 4th grades. The boys 

 selected were of both American and foreign 

 parentage, and represented the oldest and 

 largest as well as the youngest and smallest of 

 their respective classes. The course of instruc- 

 tion was arranged in eighteen progressive les- 

 sons, each class receiving practically one two- 

 hour lesson a week. No pupil could keep on 

 in this course who did not maintain his rank 

 in his regular studies. Without any expense 

 for room-rent and heating, the total cost of these 

 lessons was $711.95, making the cost per pupil 

 about $6. The experiment was regarded as a 

 positive benefit to the students in its influence 

 on their other school- work. 



The second experiment in Boston was the 

 establishment, in 1884, of another carpentry 

 class. This was opened in the basement of 

 the Boston Latin School, and still exists. The 



course is similar to that taught in the Dwight 

 School. The classes come from the different 

 schools. Each is made up of about twenty 

 boys, who must be over fourteen years of age, 

 and who receive one two-hour lesson a week, 

 for which they are excused trom attendance at 

 their grammar-schools. 



Sewing, which is more a branch of trade- 

 teaching than an element of industrial edu- 

 cation, according to the restricted use of that 

 term, has for many years been a part of the 

 regular course of instruction for girls from 

 eight to eleven years of age in the Boston gram- 

 mar-schools. The cost of materials amounts 

 to not more than $200 a year for the whole 

 city; for, as the children become proficient, 

 parents are glad to have them make and mend 

 for the family in their school classes. The total 

 number of articles made in all the Boston 

 schools in 1887 was 72,721, and, by the skill 

 there attained, young girls fresh from school 

 every year find steady, remunerative employ- 

 ment as sewing-women. 



New York. The Free Kindergarten and 

 Workingman's School of New York city was 

 the first institution in this country organized 

 for the purpose of teaching children of all 

 grades of the school - age according to the 

 principles of the creative method quoted at the 

 beginning of this article. It was established 

 in 1879 by Felix Adler, President of the So- 

 ciety for Ethical Culture, under whose au- 

 spices the schools are maintained as a part of 

 their United Relief Works. In June, 1887, 

 class of eight pupils was graduated, the first 

 that had completed the full course above the 

 kindergarten. During the past four years the 

 schools have occupied their present quarters in 

 the large four- story school-building erected for 

 them at 109 West Fifty-fourth Street. They 

 are unsectarian, and receive pupils of both 

 sexes and all nationalities between the ages of 

 three and fourteen years, charging no tuition- 

 fees. At present the pupils are only those 

 from the poorest classes, since they have the 

 greatest need of the best education. The 

 course of study covers six years in the kinder- 

 garten and eight years in the Workingman's 

 School. There are now about 350 children in 

 both departments. The annual expenses are 

 about $20,000, and are defrayed by private 

 contribution. The school receives no aid from 

 the State. It has been found necessary to 

 alter the details of the original system many 

 times, and this year, under the new superin- 

 tendent of the echool and kindergarten, An- 

 drew J. Rickoff, the entire curriculum is to be 

 thoroughly revised and be made to carry out 

 more fully and precisely the educational and 

 humanitarian principles for which the institu- 

 tion was founded. The general plan will still 

 be the same parallel work in the shop for 

 manual training ; in the atelier, for the devel- 

 opment of the artistic and imaginative facul- 

 ties; and in the recitation-rooms, for the more 

 intellectual or literary studies. In connection 



