Adelphi Academy - Adelphic Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

Page 22 text:

A ADELP1-11 ACADEMY. 23 The Course of Study. The new course of study for the Adelphi Academy, herewith presented, has been partly anticipated during the present year and will be the normal curriculum of the school after the opening of the next Fall term in September, 1894. Arrangements will be made wherever necessary to facilitate the transfer of existing classes from the old curriculum to the new one. For a year or two, conse- quently, it will not be possible to avoid a few deviations from the new curriculum in minor points of detail. The attention of the community is especially invited to the following principal features of the new Adelphi curriculum : Firsl. The Early Study of Modern Languages. The study of modern languages begins among the primary grades. During the five years after leaving the Kindergarten the pupil will be enabled to give four years to German. and two years to French, and he may make the study of either language almost continuous, if he wishes, from that time until graduation. German and French are taught to the little ones conversationally, and the beginnings of Latin study are introduced in a partly similar way. English, German, French and Latin are thus closely associated as language studies rather than as grammar studies, and they are all made to contribute together to the acquisition of a copious and well-chosen vocabulary in the mother-tongue. Latin and Greek are each begun one year earlier than heretofore. Sammi. The Correlation of Studies. In the Academic grades, especially, the studies of English, History, Geography and Natural History, are closelyfaffiliated with one another' upon' a systematic plan. The study of English reading and of English sentences will be based largely upon historical, geographical and science readers. These readers are selected with especial reference to the synchron-

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22 ADELPH1 ACADEM.Y. K of the Adelphi, may be admitted under special conditions, enabling them to make up the omitted work. Pupils from the Brooklyn Public Schools will he exempted from examinations for admission to the Academic Department on those subjects for which they present a certificate showing a standing of not less than 75 per cent. Persons who wish to enter the Academy for the purpose of studying special subjects must give satisfactory evidence of ability to'pursue such studies, and must conform to all the regulations pre- scribed for those in the regular courses. The privilege of pursuing special subjects will be withdrawn from all who fail to comply with such regulations. . - Q mgiigggtlfb

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24 ADELPI-II ACADEMY. ous study of Geography and Natural History, so that, for instance, the student will study at one time the Geography of Europe and the flora and fauna of Europe, and will read the stories of English, French and German History. Third. Reform in the Study of Mathematics. The study of Arithmetic is made, so far as possible, the study of a business man's Arithmetic. Those portions of the Arithmetical text-books which really belong to higher mathematics are brought in Where they belong, under Geometry and Algebra. A change of prime im- portance and benefit is the introduction of Elementary Geome- try at an earlier grade than heretofore, and the relegation of Algebra to alater stage. This change is desirable not only on account of the highly imaginative character of Algebraic processes, but also because Geometry is essentially fundamental in Mathe- matics. The Elementary Geometry given in the Seventh Academic grade is the study of actual constructions, which the student is to perform with instruments in his hands. The work is not a drill in memorizing, but an exercise in the production of original demon- strations. This geometrical study, therefore, upon one side, becomes a continuation of the drawing-study of the earlier years, and upon the other side, it is the practical employment of mathe- matical principles in an exercise in logic. In the later years Mechanical Drawing, as an important part of the laboratory work in mathematics, receives the prominence that it deserves. Fazzrllz. A Comprehensive Education and Consecutive Studies. The Collegiate Department of the Academy presents a-more com- prehensive plan of education than heretofore. After the develop- ment of character the chief aim of education is to secure a liberal culture. With the course of study here adopted, although some specialization is permitted, regular students in all courses will profit by the consecutive study of liberal amounts of literature, history and politics, and science. The classical student will not devote himself too exclusively to Greek and Latin, neither will a scientific training debar the student from literature and history. It is noteworthy that the student who desires it may follow the study of a single subject through many consecutive classes. Thus, German may be studied for nine years, French for eight years,