Book Description

Excerpt from Rational Grammar School Arithmetic The present book is an outgrowth of the notion that arithmetic as a science of pure number, and arithmetic as a school science, must be treated from two essentially different standpoints. Viewed as a finished mental product, arithmetic is an abstract science, taking its bearings solely from the needs of the subject; but viewed as a school subject, arithmetic should be an abstracted science, taking its bearings mainly from the needs of the learner. The former calls only for logical treatment, while the latter calls for psychological treatment as well. In other words, to be of high educational value the school science of arithmetic must take into full account the particular stage of the pupil's development. The abstract stage must be approached by steps which begin with the learner, rise with his unfolding powers, and end leaving him in possession of the outlines of the science of arithmetic. To break vital contact with the learner at any stage of the unfolding process is fatal. A controlling principle in the development of the various topics of this book is that any phase of arithmetical work, to be of value, must make an appeal to the life of the pupil. But the social and industrial factors in American communities enter largely into the pupil's life. This renders material drawn from industrial sources and from everyday affairs of high pedagogical value for arithmetic. The recent infusion of new life into the curricula of elementary schools through the wide introduction into them of nature study, manual training, and geometrical drawing furnishes a basis for a closer unifying of the pupil's work in arithmetic with his work in the other school subjects. Wide use has been made of all these sources of arithmetical material. A rational presentation of the processes and principles of arithmetic can be secured as well through material representing real conditions as through material representing artificial conditions. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.