The School With the Muslin Curtains

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 164, 1 October 1927, Page 24 (Supplement)

The School With the Muslin Curtains

A Cottage School that is per- j forming interesting educa- i tional work in the City of Auckland.

(Written for THE SUN by O. ARTHUR) ■ HEN John and Jennifer went to school they monotonously droned the fact that “toantoer four,” until it was glued Later they learned to chant, in the same monotonous manner, “A cat is on the mat,” or “It is snug' on the rug.” These simple facts were pounded into their little heads by sheer force of tiresome repetition. John and Jennifer are married now. Daily they compare the method by which young John and his sister Jennifer learn their lessons with the one they knew. Gone is the monotonous repetition, along with the weary singsong methods of droning multiplication tables and simple pieces of poetry. School is no longer a prison, lessons something to be abhorred. It is a game, which is always Interesting, always new. John and Jennifer are two tiny tots attending the model school in Richmond Road, Ponsonby, where Miss W. E. Gillespie teaches them the rudiments of education in delightful surroundings, and by a method which makes the children eager to learn. The school is a converted cottage, which was opened about six and ahalf years ago by the Auckland Education Board. During that time Miss Gillespie has obtained wonderful re-

sults from her tiny pupils, who range from five to eight or nine. But how unlike a school the converted cottage is. Muslin curtains flutter over the windows; round the walls there are pictures, lots of in teresting pictures; flowers blossom from vases on every shelf. Isn’t there a beautiful peach tree blooming in the old backyard, where, if the floral tributes run short, John or Jennifer cull enough to decorate the classrooms? It is more like home, and learning is a pleasure. There are times when the children just don’t want to gc home, even when the three o’clock bell has rung. John likes to put all the coloured chalks back into their box. Jennifer insists on cleaning the blackboards, or stacking all the copybooks in their proper places. Freedom is the spirit which reigns in Miss Gillespie’s model school. Complete freedom from the soul-destroy-ing methods of the old days. Though all the work is done according to the schedule of the Education Department Miss Gillespie can use her own methods. She teaches the children to learn of their own free will; she teaches them initiative really guiding their little brains into the proper channels. In one class room there is a big sand tray. This Is for the “babies”—

the tiniest ones. Here they learn geography remarkably quickly. They build the pyramids of Egypt on a sandy desert. Tiny palm trees are cur. from paper, and planted near The pyramids. They make mountains and rivers, gulfs and lakes. Learning geography no longer consists of hurriedly pursuing the teacher’s pointer round a printed map which hangs on the wall, gabbling the names along the coast line —it is now an interesting: game. The alphabet Is taught by sounds and pictures. Round each letter a little story is woven. Naturally the children become interested. Words are taught by- association; they are no longer built letter by letter. Coloured counters have replaced the old, monotonous method of repetition by which children were taught to count. Speech training is a feature of the model school, and every child at present attending it knows the correct use of vow'el sounds. The general knowledge of those children is amazing. I saw one class which was having a lesson on spring. Each child was drawing, in coloured chalks, a spray of peach blossom which was pinned to a board, and all the while there was an informal talk about “Spring”—the flowers, the months, growing things, the birds—all interesting to the children, from the questions they asked. So the lessons go on. Should the morning be chilly Indoors, Miss Gillespie takes her tiny charges out on the veranda into tile sun. There they sit together and talk about health and cleanliness. Perhaps they will all talk about the “brush family” —brushes for clothes, brushes for boots, brushes for the hair and Lor

the teeth. In this way the children are taught to take an interest in their personal appearance. Last week Jennifer won a prize for keeping her nails clean every day of the week! In one corner of the room there is a gramophone for lessons in music; In another the tiny tots are drawing on blackboards in coloured chalk all the things which grow in a garden. They discuss the pictures on the walls —ships and trees, birds and flowers, famous people, famous buildings, clouds, everything which makes for interest these little ones learn with a freedom which teaches them to use their own brains. In the school there are several students who are preparing for work in country schools. It is all part of a splendid system. > And what Miss Gillespie says is law, even in the homes of the children. A.sk any of the mothers whose children go to the model school. “If Miss Gillespie says it must be done, it must be.” they will tell you. But the children are happy. They learn quickly, and in surroundings which are as cheerful as the old schoolrooms were drab. Results have proved that the new' system ot education is making for a brighter, more intelligent race of young New Zealanders, who learn because they want to, not by compulsion.