Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/752

 ^'2S COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. maximum for one master and mistress is 150 children. The minimum space for tliis number of cliihlren is 150 lineal feet of bench or form for seats, and at least sis square feet for each child for standing room ; independently of room for the master and mistress, and the monitors, and without including two or more additional rooms, of not more than a fourth part of the size of the principal one, for giving instruction on particular branches of knowledge to small classes, or to the whole school in a compact mass. 1520. The Form of the Room should be deduced from the mode of teaching. One of the principal objects, in an infant school, is to gain the attention of the pupils, and fix it on one person placed on one spot ; and hence, the form should be such as to occasion the least possible trouble to the infants in their efforts to direct their attention to the master. It is also requisite that the voice of the master or mistress should be heard equally well in every part of the room by every infant, without effort on their parts. " If," says Mr. Wilson, " the master be obliged to raise his voice, in order to be heard by those who are at a greater distance than others, his tone will almost necessarily seem to approach to that of anger, and the good feelings of his little flock will, in consequence, be dis- turbed ; while, on the other hand, distance will encourage carelessness in those whose attention is not yet sufficiently secured." 1521. A Model Design, in conformity with these Principles, fig. 1374, is given in Mr. Wilson's work, in which a a are seats round the room ; b, a double rostrum, in the front part of which the monitor (who is to lead the rest when the school is engaged in a united lesson) takes his stand ; and on the back part of which the superintendent ])laces himself whenever he may wish to obtain the attention of the whole school at once, and to convey a lesson to them all at the same time. There is a gallery, c, in which all the children may be occasionally assembled within a smaller compass, for general examination. This gallery must have seats, at least equal, altogether, in length, to all the other seats round the room. There are seats, d, against the wall behind the rostrum. The advantages of a room in the form of a broad parallelogram over a narrow one are, that the distance of the several seats from the rostrum approaches more nearly to eijuality, and that the eyes 1374 P ^ (1 o o e o e fT, I S O a e c o ' o n of the children are more easily airectcd to that point. The seats for the monitors, c, must be placed at a sufficient distance from the benches against the walls, to leave room for the free passage of the children wlien they walk round tlie school two and two. They should be placed at the terminating line of each class, and be so broad as to allow the monitors room to stand upon them wh.en the lesson is given out from the rostrum. There are two smaller rooms, /', one of which, at least, forms an essential part of the infant school, for giving instruction in separate classes. One may be used for boys and the other for girls ; or one may be used for school furnitiu-e or lumber. There is a yard, y, embracing three sides of the school, and which may l)c extended in the direction of h.