FRANCISCO AT SCHOOL
It was an important day for Francisco when he became old enough to go
to the American school just as Maria and his two brothers had done. In
the Philippines the hottest season of the year extends through March,
April, May, and June; because of this, school begins about the tenth
of June and closes the latter part of the following March. So it
came about that on a certain sunshiny June morning Francisco put on
his cleanest white trousers and his best pink sinamay shirt (which,
like other boys of his age, he wore outside of his trousers), and
started to school. His first teacher was Gregorio Nipas (Gre-go'-rio
Nee'-päs), a Filipino boy who had been attending American schools for
six or seven years, and could read, write, and speak English very well.
Francisco began his work in what is known as a barrio (bar'-rio)
school. A Philippine town includes all the outlying villages for a
distance of several miles around, and each of these villages is called
a barrio. Every barrio has its own little bamboo schoolhouse where
the elementary subjects are taught. As the boys and girls become
farther advanced in their work, they go in to the central town,
where there is a school doing work of a higher grade and having
several teachers. All the barrio and town teachers of one district
are under the charge of an older and more experienced supervisor,--in
most cases an American,--who directs the work of the schools in his
territory and visits the various barrios regularly. From time to time
he meets with the town officials to discuss the needs of the schools,
and as frequently as possible he calls all his teachers together to
consult with them, and give them instructions regarding their work.
Filipino boys and girls do not buy their own books; the government
furnishes the required texts and the pupils are allowed the use of
them while they are attending school. Each child gives a receipt
for all the books that are issued to him, and when school is over he
returns them to his teacher and the receipt is destroyed. In case he
has lost a book or has badly used it, he is required to pay for it.
When Francisco entered school he knew a few English words and
sentences that he had learned from soldiers and from older boys
who went to school. Such expressions as "Good morning," "How are
you?" and "Good-bye," were familiar to him, but of course he could
neither read nor write, and there were many children of his age who
knew no English at all.
For the first lesson with these beginners the teacher called them
up to his desk, and holding up a book so that all could see it, said
very distinctly the word "book." The children repeated it after him,
and in a few minutes they could call the word as soon as he held
up the book. Then he did the same thing with other articles such as
pen, pencil, and paper, until in a little while they knew thoroughly
several English words.
The next step was to form sentences. The teacher again held up the
book, saying slowly and distinctly, "This is a book"; and the children
carefully repeated "Dees ees a book." Filipinos have some trouble in
making the sound of short "I" and of "th" in this, these, and those,
usually saying "Dees," "Dees," and "Dose." Other articles whose
names the children knew were used in the sentences, "This is a pen,"
"This is a pencil."
After these were learned, their teacher made sentences such as "I
give you the book," at the same time giving it to some child; then,
"You give the book to Francisco,"--"Francisco, give the book to me,"
until in a few days the children knew accurately a long list of
English words which they were able to use in simple sentences. These
sentences were written on the blackboard for them to read and copy, and
thus they began to speak, read, and write the English language. They
worked at copying these sentences while the teacher taught the other
classes. Sometimes they sat and listened while the older children
recited, and in this way they learned new words. English was the only
language used in the schoolroom, and often the boys and girls spoke
it among themselves for practice.
After Francisco had worked several weeks in this way and could
recognize many words as soon as he saw them, he was given a primary
reader,--an honor of which he was very proud. He asked his father to
show him how to weave a grass cover for his precious book so that he
would not soil it. He made rapid progress, enjoyed his school life
greatly, and in course of time he completed the work of the barrio
school and went to the school in town.
Here he found two new interests which he had not known in the barrio
school. Mrs. Bond, the wife of the American supervising teacher, had
charge of the town school. She was an excellent musician and taught
the pupils many songs. Filipinos love music, learn songs readily,
and sing with great enthusiasm. The older pupils were becoming able
to read music and sing their different parts correctly, and Francisco
entered into this new subject with all his energy. The padre (pä'-dra),
or priest, was much interested in the children's musical training,
and he made frequent use of it in his church services.
The other interest that Francisco found when he entered the town school
was manual training, which was begun in the upper grades. The boys
began making simple things out of bamboo and coconut wood, such as
paper cutters, ladles, dippers, spoons, cups, and ash trays. Later,
however, the work was extended to larger and more useful articles,
such as tables, bookcases, benches, and desks for their own and
barrio schools.
Of course music and manual training took only a part of Francisco's
time; he was busy reading in more advanced books, and studying
elementary English grammar, arithmetic, and geography. He was growing
rapidly in body as well as in mind, and was learning some of the
simple rules of health that he had been violating before this time
because he knew no better. He was taking better care of his eyes,
was more careful about the kind of water he drank and about eating
overripe bananas. He knew now that it was better for him to keep the
window of his sleeping room open at night instead of tightly closed
as formerly, and he took some money that he had earned, by carrying
a basket of fish to the market, to buy a mosquito netting for his bed.
At last he completed the course given in the town school and was
ready to enter the provincial school, located in the town of Albay,
several miles south of his home. A province in the Philippine Islands
is similar to a county in the United States, and each one maintains a
high school which any boy or girl living in the province may attend,
after he has completed the work of the lower grades and has passed
satisfactory examinations. Courses are offered in the history
and government of the United States and the Philippine Islands,
in literature, in grammar and composition, in mathematics, drawing,
music, cooking, sewing, manual training, agriculture, and, when called
for, Spanish and other subjects. The high school at Albay contained a
very large assembly hall which was used for study when pupils were
not in classes. We shall leave Francisco studying in this room,
while we find out something of the history and government of these
interesting islands.