430 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [11:9— Dec, 1915 



"Is arithmetic fundamental? Assuredly not! Even a casual 

 inquiry will show that in all Hnes of activity. . . . the need for 

 arithmetic is vanishingly small Is hand writing fundamen- 

 tal? The business man or business woman scarcely uses the pen 

 .... and even in social correspondence, it is felt to be something of 

 an infliction to have to decipher script when mechanical writing 

 is so much clearer, neater and more legible. Is spelling fundamen- 

 tal? Recent studies have shown that ninety per cent, of all the 

 words that are ordinarily used in writing are found in a list of looo 

 words. Of these not over 200 words would give trouble to any 

 one individual, and these could be learned with ease in twenty 

 hours of properly distributed practice. Is grammar fundamental? 

 All experiments agree that its contribution to efficiency in the use 



of language is negligible Of all the traditional elementary 



subjects reading alone retains its place of primary importance.'* 



And with the introduction of standards and tests in arithmetic, 

 spelling, writing, reading we are in position to speedily detect 

 defects in training. Then with the newer methods, based on scien- 

 tific studies, we can impart the necessary knowledge and skill 

 quickly. The child should be easily equipped with these tools of 

 an education early in the grades. Surely we may have time in the 

 elementary school, then, for an adequate basis of scientific fact 

 and an appreciation of the scientific method of thinking. This, 

 Bagley thinks, is one of the fundamentals in education. It surely 

 must be in an age that is dominantly scientific. It is good common- 

 sense, assuredly, to use as the core of the elementary course, after 

 the child acquires a reasonable command of the tools of education, 

 at least the elements of science fundamental to healthful living, 

 agriculture and the trades. These three lines include the vocations 

 of ninety per cent, or more of the children in the elementary 

 schools, a large percentage of whom will go no farther. The boy 

 or girl in the work of the home, the shop, the farm gains knowledge 

 at first-hand from objects much more often than from books. 



Yet our school work has long neglected training in such acquisi- 

 tion. He must reason to correct conclusions, if at all, on the basis of 

 his own observations, yet his school work has taught him to take his 

 opinions second-hand and has drilled him little in such independent 

 thinking. Habits acquired in shop, laboratory, garden and school- 

 kitchen are much more nearly related to those needed in winning a 

 livelihood than are those of the average school room. And the 



