Page images
PDF
EPUB

more clear and interesting by its use. With it, large classes are taught with as much facility as individuals are without it, and there is not a moment in a day when its aid may not be required to elucidate some difficult point, or to teach to the eye what the mind does not distinctly comprehend through the avenue of the ear. A teacher that thoroughly understands drawing can make it compensate, in a great measure, for the absence of almost every other kind of apparatus. We look upon the blackboard as a school-house fixture almost as important as the roof or foundation-stones; and in this age of the world, there is scarcely a corner of the country so benighted where an effort would be made to dispense with its use. The blackboard should be a large one, if possible of a size sufficient for all the members of an ordinary class to work at it at the same time. It should be about five feet wide, placed two feet above the floor, and should extend entirely across the side of the room facing the school. In large rooms, where this amount of blackboard would not be sufficient, others might be placed on the sides between the windows. A trough should always be placed beneath the board to catch the dust, and to serve as a shelf for chalk and wipers. In all the designs given in this work, the blackboard has been placed immediately in front of the school, occupying all the space on that side of the house not taken up by doors.

14.

[graphic]

TEACHER'S LEVEL DESK WITH NINE DRAWERS. (Twenty-four by sixty inches.) Blackboards may be made as follows: Take thoroughly-seasoned clear pine planks, one and a-half inches thick, being careful to select those from which pitch will not exude; match them, and bring their surfaces to a perfect level and smoothness; set them in a frame, so that they may be driven together if they should shrink; then paint them thoroughly with the best kind of black paint, mixing with the last coat a quantity of pulverized pumice-stone, to make the surface slightly gritty, so that chalk marks can be easily made and distinctly seen. Blackboards made in this manner, will need repainting occasionally, but great care should be taken to avoid a shining surface that reflects the light. When a board becomes shiny, its dark, unreflecting surface may be restored by washing it in a mixture of lampblack, glue, and turpentine. A board made in this manner, requires great care, and must of necessity be quite costly, and many experiments have been tried to find some less expensive article that will supersede its use.

1. The Black Wall.-In constructing a black wall to be used in the place of a blackboard, care should be taken to have the foundation perfectly solid and unyielding. A brick wall would be the best, but it may also be made upon a lath and

15.

[graphic]
[ocr errors]

SCHOOL BOOK CASE. (Five by eight feet six inches.

stud partition, in which case the studs should not be more than one foot apart, and they should be thoroughly bridged before the lath is laid. The outer coat is made of the same materials as ordinary hard-finish, and is put on in the same manner, only a sufficient quantity of lampblack, dissolved in alcohol, is mixed with the plaster, to make the entire mass perfectly black. To succeed tolerably in making a black wall, it is necessary to have freshly-calcined plaster and pure white sand; and it should be put on by a workman who is accustomed to laying hard-finish. Many failures have occurred by neglecting these cautions. The following recipe, taken from the "Canada Journal of Education," is given as a guide to those who are unacquainted with the matter:

"For twenty square yards of wall, take three pecks of mason's putty (white finish), three pecks of clean, white sand, and three pecks of ground and calcined plaster; add to this mixture three pounds of lampblack dissolved in three gallons of alcohol, and lay it on evenly and smoothly."

[merged small][graphic]

TEACHER'S DESK WITH FOUR DRAWERS. (Twenty-four by sixty inches.) 2. Paper Surface.-The following recipe for a paper surface for a blackboard is given in "Barnard's School Architecture": "Cover the surface smoothly with ordinary wall-paper, taking care to remove all inequalities; then cover it with the following composition: grind a quantity of lampblack in alcohol, to entirely free it from lumps: mix with it the flour of emery and spirit varnish, using a sufficient amount of lampblack and emery to give the required black and abrading surface; and the varnish should contain only sufficient gum to hold the ingredients together, and confine the composition to the wall. The composition can be applied with a common paint-brush. The surface should be thoroughly dry and hard before it is used."

[merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Peirce's Patent Slate Surface.-This liquid slating is invaluable as a coating for all wood blackboards. It is applied with a

fine brush, in the same manner as paint or varnish. A coating costs from five to ten cents per square foot, and will last several years. The surface never becomes glossy or shining, as is the case with paints, and the marks upon it can be seen, from any part of the room, at all angles. The surface is hard as stone, and is not injured by water or any other liquid. For marking on this surface, common chalk, or chalk-crayons, or soft slate-pencils can be used.

[merged small][graphic]

CLASS-ROOM TABLE WITH ONE DRAWER. (Twenty four by thirty-six inches.)

Peirce's Patent Crayon is cheap, and having no chalk in its composition, makes no dust. The slating and the patent crayons are for sale by Warren Holt of this city, and at the bookstores generally. The price of quart-cans of liquid slate surface is at present two dollars and fifty cents; patent crayon, two dollars a gross. Teachers who desire to make daily use of blackboards, will do well to buy a can of this slating, at their own expense if the Trustees object to purchasing it.

A MODEL SCHOOL-HOUSE.

We quote the following picture of what a school-house ought to be, from a report, some years ago, by John D. Philbrick, the present City Superintendent of the Boston Schools:

Its admirable situation is what first arrests our attention, and disposes us to linger and enjoy the scene. In conformity with the principles founded upon the laws of health and the dictates of taste, it is placed upon firm ground, on the southern declivity of a gently sloping hill, open to the south-west, from which quarter come the pleasant winds in summer, and protected, on the north-east, by a thick wood. From the road it is remote enough to escape the noise and dust and danger, and yet near enough to be easily accessible by a smooth, dry gravel walk.

About it is ample space, a part of which is opened for play-ground, and a part is laid out in plots for flowers and shrubs, with winding alleys for walks. These grounds, it will be observed, are partially shaded by tall trees, not in stiff rows, nor in heavy clumps, but scattered in graceful irregularity as if by the hand of Nature. In the liberal play-ground, containing scarcely less than an acre, room has been found for a "specimen of the kingly, magnificent oak, the stately hickory, the wide-spreading beech, with its mass of shade, the symmetrical maple, with its rich and abundant foliage, the majestic elm, the useful ash, and the soft and graceful birch." In one corner is a cluster of the picturesque locusts, with their hanging, fragrant flowers; and the principal eminence is crowned with the hemlock and laurel, the most beautiful of evergreens. The flower-garden which lies between the building and the road, throws a charm around the spot, and gives it an air of elegance and taste. Here, in this school of Nature, where God himself teaches through his exquisite handiwork, the children, in hours of relaxation, may be seen among the roses, the viburnums, the honeysuckles, the sweet-briars, and many garden flowers, which fill the air with fragrance, unconsciously imbibing the love of the beautiful, and learning to find their pleasures and amusements in what is pure and lovely.

The building itself which occupies this well-chosen spot, is very different from most of the school-houses as they were but a few years since. From the size of some which we have seen, we might imagine that they were built for the purpose of packing the children in like pickled herring, instead of affording space for moving and breathing; while others, having been by the joint action of time and the vandal hands of the boys, clothed in dilapidation and ruin, present in their repulsive aspects, the very image of desolation and cheerless poverty.

It is quite otherwise with the one before us. Its generous size, its graceful proportions, and the good taste displayed in the finish, produce the most agreeable impression. Taken together with its pleasant grounds, it constitutes a view which charms every beholder, and is the fairest ornament of the village which it blesses. Within, everything is in keeping with the perfection which reigns without.

The preservation of health, the demands of taste, and the requirements of convenience, are equally regarded in all the provisions and arrangements. For each scholar there is a separate desk and chair, mounted on iron supports, and combining, in a high degree, elegance, comfort, and durability. The scholars are seated facing the north, and on that side of the room which is occupied by the teacher; the wall is covered with blackboards and maps. There, too, we find ready at hand, all needed apparatus, and a library, in a safe and convenient repository. The light is not admitted in front, to the great injury of the eyes, as is too often the case, but is received from the east and west, thus falling as it should upon the sides of the pupils, and affording the greatest supply when needed, namely, in the morning and afternoon. The warming apparatus is so constructed as to diffuse an equable temperature throughout the room, without subjecting any part to the extremes of heat and cold; while the apparatus for ventilation effectually removes the air as fast as it becomes unfit for breathing, and supplies its place with the pure, unadulterated atmosphere of heaven. Mats, scrapers, water, clothes-closets, and a suitable place for fuel, are all supplied.

And there it stands, the beautiful structure, with its little tasteful park, its shrubbery, its flower-pots, and all other needed appurtenances and ornaments. There it stands, the daily blessing of many children and youth who resort to it for the bread

« PreviousContinue »