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improvement might I Sected in this important matter with little effort. Some time ago we were Very much interested in the correspondence that had passed between the Maori children of one of outbest schools and European children at school in Australia. We do not know whether the correspondence is kepi up. but we certainly think the plan might be well adopted by our teachers its benefits are obvious to every one. Arithmetic. Tin Department should have every reason to be satisfied with the work clone in the preparatory classes in the majority of our schools, in many of which the degree of efficiency attained lea \es little to be desired. The benefits arising from the teaching of infant chile I ret ly such numbers as are within their Comprehension, and bom the large amount of oral work necessary in the lowest classes, are making themselves felt, and there is no doubt t hat when these- children come- to t he standard classes their ability to grapple with the more difficult processes will be- largely increased. For, after all, there is nothing in arithmetic but the- four processes; beyond that it is merely a question of interpretation of language a study in English. Far too much stress is laid on " rulc-s " in the higher classes, and this, combined with inadequate appreciation by the child of the language in which sums are stated, leads him into confusion, lie can work with accuracy sums that an- purely mechanical, but is puzzled if tin- questions are set in problem form ;he cannot see how his " rules" apply. The oral exercises ill the class books afford teachers ample- opportunity of inculcating the principles involved in steps of easy gradation by means of examples that ca,n be worked mentally, but these' exercises an- frequently ignored in favour of the mere statement ol a rule. Of course, the latter method is easier for the teacher : indeed, some teachers can teach simple- interest in one lesson where we ourselves should take several. It is important, too. that great attention should be paid to setting out el.-ally the several slips in the working of examples a mStter which is frequently reduced to a minimum, or omitted altogether. in assigning marks in cases when-, though the process is correct tin- answer may be- wrong, the explanation of the steps is indispensable. In all cases of practical arithmetic, such as bills of accounts, neatness and style should count for much more than they do. and typical examples may well serve for exercises in transcription. In very few schools can one find attempts being made to make thework in arithmetic a matter of actual experience. Children learn the \ arioiis tables, and talk of chains, miles, meters, and kilometers, but have had no opportunity of realising what these- distances actually represent in connection with their own districts. The number of miles from one place to another is still in man)' places a matter of the staying-power or speed of your horse. " G I horse, two miles ; bad horse, too far." is the answet given in connection with distances as great as thirty miles. At one school the children have placed on tin- roadside pens marking the mile and the kilometer, one on either side of t In- si ■ I I. and both of these distances are by this means made real to them ; but such laudable practices are by no means common. Actual measurements can easily be carried out even in theearliest classes, anil no table should be committed to memory until its constituents have been made a matter of personal experience in the case of each pupil. Elaborate and expensive appliances are not necessary ; the ingenious teacher will quickly find means to make- such as he needs, or. better, get the children to make them. Thus, lor example-, a piece- of wire, string, or rope can be marked off as a chain measure by means of which distances can be- measured and areas computed by tin- children. Small bags of sand can be used to represent the different weights, and articles can be- weighed. Tin- principle thus laid clown may be extended to all the tables with which the child is concerned during his school career, and thus the weights and measures would have connection with realities, and the tables would no longer be- a Btring of mere wore Geography. —A fair amount 88 has been made- in this subject, though most of the schools are in the transition stage between the old and the new syllabus of work. There can be no doubt that the alteration has led the children to observe more carefully natural phenomena as they appear in the neighbourhood of tin- school. Few teachers have made satisfactory schemes o! work, but have apparently followed rigidly the details of the syllabus without following its methods; they attempt too much, and have not time Io teach it properly. Nor does it sce-m that in every case " direct observation furnishes the method of approach." One or two lessons will suffice for the rough determination of the north and south line, the position of the sun at noon and similar phenomena. Models in sand or plasticine can easily be made' by the- children to illustrate the geographical features seen within a short distance of the school. In one school in the Hot Lakes district an excellent model in relief was exhibited showing the principal hot springs, the lakes, and the volcanic peaks. We have- no doubt that such methods will become general as teachers appreciate their value, and the- change is being made gradually. With regard to the political geography, a programme of the work co\en-<l should be available on tin- examination day. There is quite a large- store of geographical matter contained in tin- readingbooks and the School Journal from which such programmes can be formed. Sewing. This subject continues to be- well taught throughout the schools, and the practical side of the work receives careful attention at the hands of the assistant teachers, whose efforts in this direction are worthy ol every commendation. An increase has been made in the number of schools at which the use of the sewing machine is taught, and a large amount of useful work is done thereby, the women in some places attending the- class of instruction. Drawing uml Handwork. Elementary manual training in some form or other is taken in nearly all schools, and the results achieved are on the whole very lair. I'aper-weu-k of various kinds is done in the infant classes, but there is not, so far, much correlation of handwork with drawing, and the- work is therefore deprived of the greater part of its value-. The opportunity it affords of giving practice in English is also neglected to a large extent. Under these circumstances handwork becomes neutral; the mere- manipulation is of little or no value. Exercises in cardboard furnish means of teaching measurement to scale, and thus have a special value, but want of exactness spoils much of the work. In plasticine modelling excellent work is to be found in many schools, reproductions of natural objects being faithfully done.