Manitowoc County WI Archives History - Schools .....Courses Of Study, Gradation, Texts And Libraries ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wi/wifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com October 26, 2007, 10:53 pm COURSES OF STUDY, GRADATION, TEXTS, AND LIBRARIES The first pioneer schools set up in Manitowoc county were concerned with teaching the children the 3 R's of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Any grown person who could pass a very easy examination in these three subjects could be a teacher if he or she wished! The subjects of reading, writing, arithmetic, and grammar were the principal ones taught until the early 1850's.. Geography was added to the course in the 1850's, but the district board was given authority to add such "other branches" as it might deem advisable and necessary. The return of the soldiers after the Civil War brought a demand for the teaching of history and civics. Thus by 1870, spelling, reading, arithmetic, U. S. history, geography, grammar, and in some schools physiology were the subjects taught. The nineteenth century county school children were not graded as they are today. The irregular attendance of the children plus the intelligence levels existing then, as it does today, made advisable the division of the pupils into A, B, C, D, E, and up to O classes. These divisions were further grouped into primary, intermediate, and upper forms. The A class in the primary form was made up of children in the primers. Those in the upper form were considered the advanced students and were the ones who usually took the teachers' examination. Definite requirements for advancement of pupils from one form to another were set up as early as 1880. (For a citation of these standards, the daily school program, and other interesting educational facts, see the Teacher's Daily Register, No. 822, published by Donohue and Henneberry of Chicago.) The system of grading pupils into Grade 1 to 8 inclusive was instituted about 1910. Separate classes for each grade were conducted daily with the first and second grades spending their time learning to read and speak the English language. The fifth to the eighth grades were by 1915 studying grammar, orthoepy, physiology, mental arithmetic, U. S. history, civil government, written arithmetic, geography, agriculture, spelling, reading, and nature study. As the years passed, the state legislature required the teaching of more and more subjects which eventually necessitated the grouping of subject matter under more inclusive headings. An example of such grouping is the placing of agriculture, nature study, physiology and health under a science course. To further cut down on the twenty-eight classes which a rural school teacher had to teach by 1930, a system of "block" teaching was inaugurated? In "block" teaching all science classes, for instance, are conducted for Grades 3 to 8 inclusive as one class with a major problem to be solved, or discussed. The pioneer pupils in the log schoolhouses used whatever books were available in the community. Bibles, foreign language books, and English books brought from the East were used. The blackboard and the slate became important tools of learning. Text book companies began sending book salesmen into our county after the 1850's to sell text books to schoolboards to sell to pupils in their schools. This system of book sales was continued until 1919 when a County Uniform Text Book Committee was authorized by act of the legislature. After that date all text books to be used in the county rural and state graded schools had to be selected by this textbook committee. The first text book committee consisted of Frank Meisnest, Supt. Lillian Chloupek, Fred Baugniet, Elsa Nagle, and George Grady. This plan of uniform texts is still in operation in 1948. Texts in common use from 1870 to 1900 throughout this county in the order of their use were as follows: Spelling: Sanders, Watsons, Swintons, Harveys, Harringtons. Readers: McGuffey, Sanders, Watsons, Swintons, Appletons, Harpers, American Education. Arithmetic: Robinsons, Rays, Fish, Wentworth. History: Goodrich, Barnes Brief, Ridpaths. Geography: Mitchells, Montieths, Harpers, Harveys. Grammar: Kerls, Greenes, Swintons, Harveys. Physiology: Hitchcocks, Steeles. Readers in use after 1900 were the Cyrs, Jones, and others too numerous to mention. (See County School Annuals). It may be assumed that schools in the county were set up to teach the English language, but there was an expressed desire to include the foreign languages also in the school curriculum. In some cases where an English speaking teacher could not be hired, the school subjects were taught in the language spoken by the settlers. To eliminate this, the legislature in 1867 passed a law that no branch of study prescribed in the course of study be taught in any other language than English. No teaching certificate was issued unless the applicant could write and speak English. The foreign language adherents in 1869 got the legislature to pass a law allowing school boards to provide for the instruction of pupils in common schools in a foreign language for not to exceed one hour each day. So-called "German schools" were conducted for a month, at the close of the regular school term as late as 1910. Even after that date religious schools for one month and on Saturdays were held up to the 1940's in Manitowoc county. The early pioneer school had few books in addition to those used as texts. A perusal of the school histories given in this book will indicate that the few library' books which some schools did have were limited to geography and history. In one or two districts some settler donated a small personal library which he brought in from the East. There was no real library law enacted by the state legislature until 1887 when a township library law was passed. This law specified that one-twentieth of the school fund income be devoted to purchasing library .books. An equal amount had to be appropriated by the county for this purpose. That law was instrumental in beginning our present fine school libraries. In 1889, the legislature changed the law by authorizing town clerks to withhold ten cents per person of school age for the purchase of library books. This amended law really began building up school libraries in our county. In 1921, the amount was doubled to twenty cents per school age child, and in 1943 the law was changed again to allow for the distribution of all the income from the state school fund pro rated according to the number of school children on the school census in the state. The township library law was excellent in its purpose, but it did cause unequal library reading opportunities throughout the county. Small schools with few children on the school census were often limited to three or four books per year, while school districts with a large school census received as high as. fifty to one-hundred library books yearly. To equalize library reading opportunities in the county, a county circulating library was set up in 1946. The books for this library are obtained through an agreement with the district school boards to set aside fifty per cent of their regular library fund allotment each year to purchase library books for the circulating library. These books are the property of the districts but are circulated or "loaned" to other districts for a month at a time. The plan has met with complete success. Additional Comments: Extracted from: 1848 - 1948 CENTENNIAL HISTORY of the Manitowoc County School Districts and Public School System EDITED BY JOS. J. RAPPEL, COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 1948 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wi/manitowoc/history/schools/courseso52gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wifiles/ File size: 8.1 Kb