TEACHING ARITHMETIC

Chronicle (Levin), 10 June 1947, Page 2

TEACHING ARITHMETIC

INTERESTING TALK TO. HOME AND SCHOOL ASSOfclATION Owing to counter attractions tlie attendance at the monthly meet-i-ng of the Otaki Home and School Association was small, several apologies being received. Mr. R. Bills presided. The subject of .arithmetic was explained by members of the staff. Mr. J. Hewitson took the introductory section, and in a most interesting and instructive manner presented the history of primary school arithmetic up to the present day syllabus. While not agreeing that the new arithmetic syllabus was the very best yet, the speaker remarked on and showed samples of previous work which appeared to have been set to "trick" the child by its superfluous wording, hiding the mean'ing and necessitating a veritable Phythagoras' -mind to work the problem. The apparent needs of commerce loomed largely in the minds of those who framed the older syllabus, and it was this fact that caused the syllabus to be overcrowded with extraneous matter. A syllabus revision committee, set up by the Government, had made a good job of the new work, not forgetting that the same fundamentals of mechanical accuracy were required, £ind, basing the work on this, had given to the children an.excellent working unit. The text books on display were now complete, and when they had been tried out properly chere should be an improvement in results. One very good feature about the new work was that the children had a better attitude to the subject, being allowed to work to their individual capacity. The old methods of getting results by hook or by crook were deprecated by the speaker, who was accorded a hearty ovation when he finishe'd his address. Miss M. Lochore explained infant room methods, illustrating by use of materials displayed. With the crowded conditions in the infant rooms today, the space needed\for these new methods and the supervision required to see that every pupil did the work,' an mfant teacher's task had been made difficult, but when the conditions improved there was every chance of the method being successful. Mr. Townrow, as senior assistant, thought that the subject was being better tackled by the senior pupils b'ecause they understood to a greater' degree whai" was required of them. The long tedious working of purely mechanicallyframed sums disheartened children, very . few of whom ever attained to the standard set in the old days, when arithmetic was taught by somewhat drastic methods to the detriment of the slower pupils. After several questions were asked the various speakers, a delightful supper was served. It was decided to invite Mr. "Hunt, child welfare officer from Palmerston North, to address the next meeting on July 3. The need to have parents fully aware of what was being done for their children was realised, and those present expressed appreciation of the work being done by the association to foster a better understanding between teacher and parent for the benefit of the child. The headmaster, Mr. James, informed the meeting that a very enthusiastic committee was working with a view to presenting a schools' music festival in July, and asked for parents' co-operation. A capable conductor had been appointed in the musical specialist for schools, Miss Nation, who was conducting rehearsals each week in the various schools.