345 
to interfere but little with the teacher's individuality if he is for- 
tunate enough to possess such a quality, but on the contrary they 
are not sufficient to be a guide to the beginner or to the teacher 
of moderate ability and attainments. An example of this may be 
found on page 17 under the heading 'Proper use of language/ 
for Grade VIII, namely, 'Review and commit to memory the fun- 
damental principles and rules of English composition in connec- 
tion with the daily work.' It may be expected that this will be 
construed in as many different ways as there are teachers, and 
may require anywhere from five to five hundred hours of school 
time in a year. 'Illustrative work' is specified for all the grades, 
but there is so little of detail for the higher grades that the teach- 
er is left almost wholly to his own resources. 
"Such meagreness, or vagueness, is noticeable throughout the 
document, but there is a marked exception to it in 'History and 
Language' for the higher grades. The requirements in this re- 
spect for Grade VIII are truly formidable, including American 
history under the constitution, the French Revolution, the Con- 
quest of India, the Union of the North German States, Govern- 
ment of the World, Hawaiian history, and several other topics. 
Any one of these might easily occupy months of study and to 
introduce them all will necessarily mean scrappy and disjointed 
work ; and history, of all subjects, should be pursued in an orderly 
and consecutive manner, and not as a series of disconnected inci- 
dents. 
"It is recommended, if a new course is in preparation, (1) that 
it be made more specific and direct in statement, leaving less to 
the individual judgment of the leacher, for not all teachers are of 
equal ability; (2) that it describe each year's work in greater 
detail, and that in each grade the w^ork prescribed be approxi- 
mately sufficient to occupy the year; (3) that in each study the 
minimum number of hours per week and of weeks per year be 
specified, the time being so arranged as to leave a reasonable mar- 
gin to be apportioned according to individual preference or to local 
conditions." 
(Note). Mr. Boykin's objections are answered in a large 
measure in the preceding notes and by saying that a detailed out- 
line has been prepared for the first four grades and is being pre- 
pared for the grammar grades also, which divides the work by 
terms and months. In respect to the criticism in History in Grade 
VIII it can easily be seen that the objection is caused by a mis- 
conception of the work. The commissioner's understanding" of 
what is intended is the correct one, that is that the War of the 
Revolution is the real history work of that year and the inci- 
dents and parts of European history referred to are used as col- 
lateral work. 
P. P. Claxton, Commissioner of Education, Washington, D. C. : 
"I have just looked over the course of study of the schools of 
the Hawaiian Islands, which you sent to this Bureau sometime 
ago, and also the correspondence in regard to it. I have just come 
