The ordinary method now in use consists in imitating and repeating the words and sentences, often disconnected one from another, and the stories told by the teacher. The formal copying of the words and sentences written on the blackboard by the teacher, and reading children's books are sufficient to discourage the most ambitious student. Conversation is more successful than the story-telling method, and exercises in the reading of popular textbooks on farming and of popular essays on American history, geography, etc., are far more interesting to the adult settlers than children's stories.
THE ARRIVAL OF AN IMMIGRANT SETTLER IN 1883 WAS SHOWN
IN A COMMUNITY PAGEANT
THE SAME MAN IS WORKING FOR LAND AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The evening school in the rural immigrant colonies should be provided and attendance for the adult non-English-speaking immigrants urged, until they have mastered simple English, the elements of citizenship, and a rudimentary knowledge of farming.
In almost every colony visited the writer discussed with the settlers the advisability of compulsory attendance at evening or afternoon classes. No one was against compulsion, though a number suggested qualifications. For instance, the evening school should operate in the wintertime; the teaching should include subjects useful in farming; in the case of hired men, the school time must be paid for by the employer; the evening school should be a public institution, not a private, charitable, or religious enterprise; if private organizations wish to establish evening schools, they should do so only under public regulation and control; the purpose of the evening school should be to teach English, civics, and other useful subjects, not to serve any special or private interests, party, or class; the evening school should be free of charge to immigrants.
A few settlers wanted the evening school to teach the operation and repair of automobiles and tractors; some wanted singing, music, and theatricals taught; some wanted to be instructed in the growing and harvesting of special crops, as, for instance, onions, tobacco, and cotton. In general, the immigrants expect from the evening school more than English and citizenship. They want practical knowledge which helps them in their farming.