Adelphi Academy - Adelphic Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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ADELPH1 ACADEMY. 25 Latin for seven years, Greek for Hve years, while English study holds the prominent place in every year of the twelve. History and politics, in one form or another, extend through every year of the course except one, and the study of the Fine Arts takes its proper place by the side of History. Science-study is required of all students, and especial attention is paid to this work among all the earlier classes. Physics and Chemistry are each studied for four years, while Natural History and its kindred topics are studied throughout the whole course. Particular attention is also invited to the opportunity for two years' study of the Spanish language. This offer should be of special service to young men who intend to enter a business career. Finally, the advanced work of the Mathematical Department receives more time and assumes a more systematic shape than ever before. In conjunction with the required science of the Scientific Course it insures a sound training in pure and applied science, together with ample laboratory facilities. Fzfflz. Biology in the Collegiate Course. Particular attention is invited to the range and sequence of studies in the central course of the Collegiate Department, the Collegiate Course. Every thorough course of education should contain a strong sequence of science study experimentally taught. Biology and its related subjects are the scientific background of this Collegiate Course. Biology is the science which deals with life, and is, therefore, most closely connected with the study of life in history and literature. It is also the science that is most intimately connected with wornan's Work in the World, and hence this course of training will prove to be exceedingly valuable for young women. On the other hand, the extended study of Biology with laboratory equipment will be the best possible preparation for the study of medicine, and hence this course is recommended to the careful attention of young men who are thinking of entering subsequently upon the study and practice of medicine. Moreover, the Collegiate Course is, in general, preeminently a culture course in literature, language and history, and particular emphasis is laid upon the study of the history and philosophy of Art as a pendent to the study of History and Psychology. The

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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,

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26 ADELPHJ ACADEM Y. Art School already in the Academy makes this an especially fortu- nate opportunity. Szbctlz. The Continuity of Science Study. Natural Science is to become as continuous a feature of the curriculum as 'History or English. The study of the object or, where the object is neces- sarily lacking, of the picture, is made prominent in every one of the primary class-rooms. In each year of the lower grades the concrete facts of elementary natural history and of the physics and chemistry of daily life are studied and explained. Biology in the Collegiate Department is based, therefore, upon a considerable equipment of knowledge concerning Zoology and botany, and physics and chemistry, when taken up, connect naturally with the preceding study of life and its environment. Sevenfh. Arrangement of the Studies in the English Language and Literature. The mother-tongue is to be studied by the labora- tory method. That means that the younger pupils are to become familiar with the best books of juvenile literature. Such books will be used as reading books, and the study of English grammar will also be based upon them. The correct use of English, in other words, is to be insured as much as possible by constant familiarity with the best models. Formal grammar should be simplified, and its terminology should be made plain and practical. Similar methods will characterize the study of English Litera- ture. The library is the laboratory, and the class carries in hand not a description of the subject, but the subject itself. Practice in writing the mother-tongue well is to be secured not so much by the formal essay as by the writing of themes in the class, the natural expression of the moment's thought. The list of books from which reading books and texts in literature are to be chosen can be ex- amined in the catalog of the Academy. Ezghfh. Systematic Physical Training. Last, but not least in importance, is the new requirement of uniform,,systematic physi- cal training on the part of every student. Provision of time and in- struction is made for every class. The younger classes, to the Sixth Academic grade inclusive, are required to engage in the regu- lar calisthenic exercises as at present. Above that class each stu- dent must engage at least twice a week in systematic exercises un-