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ness, one or more should be to the north. A porch is very ornamental, and is useful for containing the bonnets and pattens. From forty to fifty children may be conveniently taught in a room of twenty-eight feet by sixteen. The floor should be raised at least one step above the ground to render it dry. The first class may be placed in the centre of the room, and the desk or table of the mistress near it. In some schools, each class has a box on the floor in the middle, containing the books and slates used in it; but except where the numbers are very large, one or two cupboards, with shelves, are more convenient. The desks are now often placed across the room, which is far preferable to the old method of having them against the walls, when they are only used during the half hour devoted to writing in copy-books. A very good plan, which has been adopted with great success in a village school, is to have three desks, forming three sides of a square in the first and second classes. They are found to be extremely convenient during the whole of school-hours, and need seldom be moved except for singing. A clock, and a black board and easel, are also necessary. The walls should be covered as much as possible with good maps. The most useful ones to illustrate Scripture are three maps of Palestine, intended for the time of the tribes, of the kings, and of our blessed Saviour, a map of St. Paul's travels, and of the wanderings of the Israelites. Those for geography are the maps of the world, of Europe, and of England. Forms must be placed round every class, and the children should not be allowed to stand for more than a quarter of an hour at a time. The necessity of ventilation must also be impressed on the mistress. The windows of a school-room should rarely be closed during the summer, and even in cold weather one or more should frequently be opened for a few minutes to change the air, and give a freshness to the room. Some teachers render themselves delicate for want of these precautions, especially where rooms are heated by a stove, and nothing makes children so listless and languid as breathing for some hours a close and impure atmosphere. Where coals are sold at a reasonable price, and where the room is not very large, an open fire-place is preferable to a stove. The windows should be placed sufficiently high from the ground to prevent the children from looking out of them. In village schools, a few little gardens, cultivated by the elder girls, have a very pleasing appearance near the entrance. The room should be swept out every day by one of the monitors, and thoroughly cleaned two or three times a year, by a woman who is paid for the purpose.

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ness, one or more should be to the north. A porch is very ornamental, and is useful for containing the bonnets and pattens. From forty to fifty children may be conveniently taught in a room of twenty-eight feet by sixteen. The floor should be raised at least one step above the ground to render it dry. The first class may be placed in the centre of the room, and the desk or table of the mistress near it. In some schools, each class has a box on the floor in the middle, containing the books and slates used in it; but except where the numbers are very large, one or two cupboards, with shelves, are more convenient. The desks are now often placed across the room, which is far preferable to the old method of having them against the walls, when they are only used during the half hour devoted to writing in copy-books. A very good plan, which has been adopted with great success in a village school, is to have three desks, forming three sides of a square in the first and second classes. They are found to be extremely convenient during the whole of school-hours, and need seldom be moved except for singing. A clock, and a black board and easel, are also necessary. The walls should be covered as much as possible with good maps. The most useful ones to illustrate Scripture are three maps of Palestine, intended for the time of the tribes, of the kings, and of our blessed Saviour, a map of St. Paul's travels, and of the wanderings of the Israelites. Those for geography are the maps of the world, of Europe, and of England. Forms must be placed round every class, and the children should not be allowed to stand for more than a quarter of an hour at a time. The necessity of ventilation must also be impressed on the mistress. The windows of a school-room should rarely be closed during the summer, and even in cold weather one or more should frequently be opened for a few minutes to change the air, and give a freshness to the room. Some teachers render themselves delicate for want of these precautions, especially where rooms are heated by a stove, and nothing makes children so listless and languid as breathing for some hours a close and impure atmosphere. Where coals are sold at a reasonable price, and where the room is not very large, an open fire-place is preferable to a stove. The windows should be placed sufficiently high from the ground to prevent the children from looking out of them. In village schools, a few little gardens, cultivated by the elder girls, have a very pleasing appearance near the entrance. The room should be swept out every day by one of the monitors, and thoroughly cleaned two or three times a year, by a woman who is paid for the purpose.

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The preceding time table is used in a village school of from forty to fifty children, and may of course be varied according to circumstances. Two classes only are mentioned, and this will generally be found sufficient, as it is not necessary to fix precisely the employment of the younger ones. Half an hour is devoted to each study, the lessons always following in the same order, but varying in the two classes, that the mistress may superintend the Scripture reading. It has also been found advantageous to commence with different lessons on alternate days, still preserving, as before remarked, the same order. On Friday morning an hour or two is appropriated to the examination of the school by the superintendent, who regulates what is to be done during that time.* At five minutes to twelve the slates and books are collected very quietly, and the grace before meat is repeated by one of the girls, the rest saying the Amen. The monitors then fetch the bonnets and shawls, and give them out, without a word spoken, while standing in the middle of the class. The children leave the room quietly, at a signal from the mistress, each girl making a courtesy, in silence, at the door as she goes out. The afternoon in most schools is appropriated to needle-work, and should be concluded by prayers, read by the mistress. In the village school, before alluded to, singing is practised on one afternoon in the week, and secular books are read for half an hour on one or two other afternoons.—Ibid.

TWENTY QUESTIONS ON METHOD &c.

PROPOSED AS EVENING EXERCISES FOR ADVANCED PUPIL TEACHERS

(From the English Journal of Education.)

1. GIVE your idea of a good boys'-school.

2. What is the use of a black board in a Scripture lesson ? 3. What methods for teaching spelling are you acquainted with? Point out the defects and advantages of each, and say which you think the best.

4. Write out a lesson, upon Prayer, making the first part in the form of a lecture, and the last catechetical.

5. If you were giving a lesson upon the life of Robert, the son of William the Conqueror, what religious applications would you draw from it suitable for children?

* The superintendent usually examines the first class in all the lessons learnt, and the Scripture read during the week; she looks at the whole of the copy-books, and the slate exercises, which, on that day, are generally written from a subject given the morning before.

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