IVHN H 
 
 im 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page iii, 8lh line, read devoted for denoted. 
 
 " vii, 7th ' " if h\& first operations — 
 
 " 16, 6th '• " the sound, for his sound. 
 
 " 20, 13th " " hand for head. 
 
 " 60, second paragraph, 3d line, read distnrb, 
 for distrust. 
 
 " 61, 3d line from bottom of page, read repro- 
 duction for reproductive. 
 
THE 
 
 SENTENCE METHOD 
 
 OF TEACHING 
 
 Eealii, WritiflE aM Spellii. 
 
 A MANUAL FOR TEACHERS, 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE L. FARNHAM, M. A., 
 
 Superintendent of Schools, Council Bluffs, Iowa; 
 
 Late Superintendent of Schools at Bing- 
 
 hamton and Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
 ^ MAY 7^ ;883' 
 
 ;kin^ 
 
 SYBACUSE, N. Y. : 
 
 C. W. BARDEEN, PUBLISHER. 
 
 1881. 
 
v^^r^- 
 
 Copyright, 1881, by C, W. Bardeen 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In his experience as teacher and super- 
 intendent of schools, it became evident to 
 the author, many years ago, that there was 
 something fundamentally wrong in the or- 
 dinary methods of teaching reading, writ- 
 ing and spelling. Viewed from the stand- 
 point of economy, the result bore no just 
 ratio to the time and effort denoted to these 
 branches ; and viewed from the stand-point 
 of education, the first years of instruction 
 seemed imperfect and unsatisfactory. This 
 conviction, which he shared with many 
 teachers throughout the country, led to ex- 
 amination and experiment. 
 
 In 1858, the phonetic system was intro- 
 duced into the schools of Syracuse, ^N". Y., 
 and for a time it was thought that the true 
 method of teaching children to read had 
 been discovered. After a trial of five 
 
iv The Sentence Method. 
 
 years, however, it was seen that while 
 pupils learned to read by this method in 
 much less time than usual, and attained a 
 high state of excellence in articulation, 
 their reading was nearly as mechanical as 
 before, and few of them became good 
 spellers. The two systems of analysis, 
 phonic and graphic, had so little in com- 
 mon that permanent confusion was pro- 
 duced in the mind. 
 
 The word method, next tried, was much 
 more productive of good results than any 
 that had preceded it ; yet by this method 
 words were treated as units, independent 
 of sentences, and reading almost of neces- 
 sity became a series of independent pro- 
 nunciations, perpetuating the mechanical 
 results of the old methods. 
 
 These experiments and their results led 
 to further investigation, especially in the 
 line of psychology. From a close observa- 
 tion of the action of the mind, and of the 
 relations of language to thought, it was 
 seen that the unit of thinking is a thought, 
 and therefore that the unit of expression is 
 
Preface. v 
 
 a sentence. The obvious deduction was, 
 that the sentence ought to be made the 
 basis of reading exercises. 
 
 In 1870 a series of experiments was in- 
 stituted in the schools of Binghamton, N. 
 Y., to subject this theory to a practical 
 test. The results far exceeded expectation 
 in the direct teaching of reading, spelling 
 and writing, and led to other results in 
 awakening mind and in influencing conduct 
 which were unexpected and gratifying. It 
 is safe to assume that the problem, how to 
 teach these branches successfully, has been 
 solved. 
 
 This little manual is substantially a rec- 
 ord of the plans adopted, and of the prin- 
 ciples involved in these experiments at 
 Binghamton, It is published with the 
 hope that it may prove a help to those who 
 have no time or opportunity for original 
 experiment, and an incentive to further 
 investigation in this direction. 
 
 The author would hereby express his ob- 
 ligations to his friend James Johonnot, for 
 valuable assistance in the final preparation 
 
vi The Sentence Method. 
 
 of this work. The large experience of this 
 gentleman as an educator, and his sound 
 judgment in all matters of education,Vere 
 constantly laid under contribution when 
 this problem was worked out. 
 • Council Bluffs, Iowa, January 1, 1881. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Goethe says, " Let no man think he can 
 conquer the errors of his youth. If he has 
 grown up in enviable freedom, surrounded 
 with beautiful and worthy objects ; if his 
 masters have taught him what he first ought 
 to know for more easily comprehending 
 what follows ; if his operations ' have been 
 so guided that, without altering his habits, 
 he can more easily accomplish what is 
 excellent in the future; then such a one 
 will lead a purer, a more perfect and hap- 
 pier life than another man who has wasted 
 his youth in opposition and error." 
 
 This statement is an admirable summary^ 
 of our most advanced ideas concerning ed- 
 ucation. In our educational processes we 
 have but to ascertain the manner and or- 
 dei' in the use of intellectual faculties and 
 powers in performing real life work, and 
 
viii The Sentence Method. 
 
 then guide and direct the study of the 
 youth, that they may acquire the use of 
 their powers in the same manner and order. 
 
 Some years since, while engaged in a 
 business that brought me in contact with 
 large numbers of literary, business and pro- 
 fessional men, I instituted a series of enqui- 
 ries in regard to their habits of reading, 
 writing and spelling. From the answers 
 received several items of interest were 
 evolved. 
 
 • First. Spelling. My question was 
 *' When in doubt in regard to the spelling 
 of a word, how do you assure yourself ? " 
 The answer, in substance, was, '' I write 
 the word, and when it looks right I assume 
 it is correct." Upon further questioning, 
 they were unanimous in the statement that 
 they had adopted this method as a necessity 
 after they had left school and entered upon 
 the active duties of life. Only three or 
 four, out of some hundreds questioned, 
 thought of the word as they had learned it 
 from the spelling book, ^nd these were 
 teachers. 
 
Inteoduction. . ix 
 
 Second. Reading. In regard to reading 
 I found that most c>f those who had 
 learned to read in school were slow readers, 
 pronouncing the words mentally, if not 
 aloud. Many found it difficult to take 
 in the author's meaning without pronounc- 
 ing the words audibly. On the other 
 hand, those who had learned to read at an 
 early period before attending school, and 
 many of whom could not remember the 
 time they could not read, were rapid read- 
 ers. Their eye would pass over the page 
 with little or no consciousness of the words, 
 and they would take in the thought of the 
 author much more rapidly than if the 
 words were pronounced. These persons 
 had acquired the art of reading without 
 conscious effort on their part or on the part 
 of others. Such persons could always 
 spell, and they were able to detect a mis- 
 spelled word in the most rapid reading. 
 They, also, were usually fluent writers. 
 
 Third. Penmanship. The results of 
 observation and inquiry in regard to pen- 
 manship were equally interesting. Per- 
 
X The Sentence Method. 
 
 sons who do much of original composition 
 are seldom good penmen. I have never 
 found a person who composed in the hand 
 taught and practised in school. Most who 
 practised some one of the conventional 
 systems for years in schools, abandoned it 
 when called to perform real work, only to 
 acquire a hand ugly in appearance, and 
 difficult to decipher. 
 
 The conclusions drawn from these facts 
 are : — 
 
 First. That the methods in spelling 
 and penmanship, upon which so much time 
 and labor have been bestowed in the school, 
 are laid aside the moment the student en- 
 ters upon the active duties of life ; and 
 that for the performance of these duties he 
 is obliged to form new habits under the 
 most unfavorable circumstances. 
 
 Second. There is sufficient uniformity 
 in the methods practised in after life, and 
 'adopted without instruction or consulta- 
 tion, to warrant the assumption that they 
 are best adapted to real work, and therefore 
 should receive attention from educators. 
 
Introduction. xi 
 
 Third. That in reading, the work of 
 the school, with all its rules and systems, is 
 immeasurably inferior in results to the un- 
 systematized and incidental work of the 
 home. 
 
 Fourth. That where habits have been 
 established by school drill they often prove 
 hinderances rather than helps, and ever 
 after there is vain endeavor to escape from 
 their thraldom. 
 
 It is in view of these facts, more or less 
 distinctly recognized, that experiments are 
 being extensively made to bring our 
 schools more into harmony with the real 
 activities of mature years, to give to the 
 pupil not only the tools of knowledge, but 
 the mastering of the use of these tools in 
 the discovery of knowledge and its appli- 
 cation to human purposes, precisely as he 
 must do in any vocation to which he may 
 apply himself. 
 
 The design of this manual is to aid in 
 this work. It is hoped it may prove a help 
 to many teachers who have long been con- 
 scious of the defects of the old systems,. 
 
xii The Sentence Method. 
 
 but have not liad time or opportunity to 
 work out a method satisfactory to them- 
 selves. The methods here presented are 
 not merely theoretical. They were elabor- 
 ated after careful study, and then subject- 
 ed to experiment and correction, and as here 
 given they are such as have survived the 
 ordeal and have borne abundant fruit. 
 
 It is believed that parents will find here 
 a simple process of teaching reading, writ- 
 ing and composition to their children which 
 will cause little interruption of their daily 
 duties. Indeed the well regulated home is 
 without doubt the very best primary school. 
 
THE SENTENCE METHOD 
 
 OF TEACHING 
 
 Reading, Writing and Spelling. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 fm^T ^F^IJMCIPLE^. 
 
 Definition. Eeading consists : — first, in 
 gaining the thoughts of an author from 
 written or printed language : — second, in 
 giving oral expression to these thoughts in 
 the language of the author, so that the 
 same thoughts are conveyed to the hearer. 
 
 It is important that this two-fold func- 
 tio of reading should be fully recognized. 
 The first, or silent reading, is the funda- 
 mental process. It is often called " Eead- 
 ing to one's self," a phrase significant as 
 indicating a wrong conception of the true 
 
14 The Sentence Method. 
 
 end to be accomplished. The second, o- 
 ral reading, or "reading aloud," is en- 
 tirely subordinate to silent reading. 
 While oral expression is subject to laws of 
 its own, its excellence depends upon the 
 success of the reader in comprehending the 
 thought of the author. The importance of 
 these distinctions is so great that I will con- 
 sider them in detail. 
 
 Sileut, or Eye Beading. It is scarcely 
 possible to exaggerate the importance of 
 correct " eye reading ; " — of the ability to 
 look over the written or printed page, and, 
 with the least possible consciousness of the 
 words used, to" fully comprehend the 
 thoughts expressed. 
 
 A common process is indicated by the 
 expression, " reading to one's self." This 
 means the translation of written into oral 
 language. The reader either pronounces 
 each word so that he can actually hear it, 
 or he thinks of the pronunciation. In 
 either case the thought is not formed in his 
 mind directly through the written language, 
 but indirectly after the written words have 
 
FmsT Principle. 15 
 
 been changed into oral expression. This 
 process is slow and laborious, it becomes 
 painful when long continued ; and its prac- 
 tice will account for the antipathy which 
 so many persons have to reading books and 
 articles of considerable length. 
 
 The object in teaching should be to make 
 every pupil an eye reader, — to give him 
 the ability to look directly through the 
 written expression to the meaning, or to at 
 once detect the unknown elements that 
 prevent the accomplishment of this object. 
 
 A New Use of the Eye. The ordinary 
 function of the eye is to take in the visible 
 characteristics of objects. This is the use 
 to which all children have become accus- 
 tomed, and they form jude^ments in accord- 
 ance with perfect confidence. 'No child 
 doubts his ability to distinguish his friends, 
 his toys, or any object to which he may di- 
 rect his attention. Through this sense, 
 aided by touch, he comes into possession 
 of most of his knowledge of the ex- 
 ternal world. The knowledge so obtained 
 is direct and tangible. 
 
16 The Sentence Method. 
 
 With liearing it is different. While the 
 ear recognizes sound as sound, it has been 
 accustomed from the earliest period to rec- 
 ognize thought through the sound of oral 
 language, until the thought becomes pri- 
 mary in one's consciousness, and his sound of 
 the language secondary. Indeed, language 
 becomes so purely representative of thought, 
 that, as sound, it scarcely appeals to con- 
 sciousness. The child associates speech 
 with thoughts divined from his experience, 
 and never regards it as having a separate 
 existence. The words he hears quicken 
 thought into conscious activity, and he in 
 turn is impelled to express his thought by 
 the use of words. 
 
 The child has come into possession of 
 his powers, both of thought and of ex- 
 pression, by a gradual and unconscious pro- 
 cess. He has simply been shaped by his 
 surroundings. By association with those 
 who talk, he has acquired the power of 
 understanding speech and of speaking. 
 The kind of speech, whether perfect or 
 imperfect, which he hears he reproduces. 
 
First Principles. 17 
 
 This fact should be distinctly understood 
 and realized. The powers of speech and of 
 understanding what is said, both come to 
 the child by a process so simple and natural 
 that he is conscious of no effort to acquire 
 them. Speech, objectively considered, is 
 only a combination of sounds uttered in 
 quick succession, having not the slightest 
 resemblance to the thoughts represented ; 
 but by the child it is understood with exact- 
 ness and uttered with precision. The 
 whole complicated process is matured with- 
 out effort, and without the intervention of 
 teachers. 
 
 To make the eye perform the office of 
 the ear, and the hand that of the organs of 
 voice, is the problem that presents itself 
 in attempting to teach a child to read and 
 to write. The vital point is to so change 
 the function of the eye that it will look 
 upon written or printed characters, not as 
 objects to be recognized for their own sake, 
 but as directly calling into conscious being 
 past experiences, and so becoming repre- 
 sentative of thought. All the efforts of 
 
18 The Sentence Method. 
 
 the teacher should be directed to this 
 end. 
 
 At this point our education has often 
 failed. The process of translating the 
 written language into speech is so slow and 
 difficult that a large share of the pupils of 
 our schools are condemaed to comparative 
 ignorance. The words as they a]3pear have 
 no meaning to them. One who acquired 
 the power of directly receiving thought 
 from the printed page, • is endowed with a 
 new intellectual faculty. His eye flashes 
 along the pages of a book, and he compre- 
 hends whole sentences at a glance. It 
 would not do to say that these rapid read- 
 ers do not understand what they read. 
 The fact is they understand much better 
 than the slow reader. The mental power, 
 being relieved from the necessity of trans- 
 lating, concentrates itself upon the thought, 
 and the thought is understood and remem- 
 bered. Our endeavor should be to give 
 pupils this power of eye reading from the 
 first, so that they may continually profit 
 
First Principles. 19 
 
 by it, and have na evil habits to over- 
 
 come 
 
 Oral Reading. When the habit of 
 sight-reading is acquired, oral reading will 
 need but little attention. The oral expression 
 IS subordinate to correct eje-reading, and 
 Its acquisition is largely incidental. When 
 the pupil has power to take in the thoughts 
 from the printed page directly, he will 
 liave but little difficulty in giving it proper 
 oral expression in the language of the au- 
 thor The pupil, being under the control 
 o± the thought obtained, must read the 
 thought as naturally as he speaks. 
 
 In oral reading there are always two 
 parties, the readers and the hearers. It is 
 as important that pupils should be taught 
 to obtain thoughts by listening as by read- 
 ing; and to this end the other members of 
 the class should close their books while 
 one is reading, the test of the value of the 
 exercise being their ability to reproduce the 
 thoughts which they have heard. 
 
 Writing, While the pupil is acquiring 
 this new use of the eye, and learning to 
 
20 The Sentence Method. 
 
 read in the true significance of that term, 
 he should be taught to write. This 
 process is simply the production of the 
 forms which represent thought, and w^hich 
 quicken thought in him. While silent 
 reading is analogous to obtaining thought 
 from the speech of others, writing is anala- 
 gous to conveying thought by speech to 
 others. It should be so presented to the 
 pupil that he acquires it unconsciously 
 while endeavoring to express his thought, 
 and the exercise should be continued until 
 the habit is formed of the head responding 
 as directly as the voice to the processes of 
 mind and to the mandates of the will. 
 
 First Principle. The first principle to 
 be observed in teaching written lan- 
 guage, is, "that things are cognized as 
 wholes." Language follows this law. 
 Although it is to be taught by an indirect 
 process, still, in its external characteristics, 
 it follows the laws of other objects. 
 
 The question arises, what is the whole ? 
 or what is the unit of expression ? It is 
 now quite generally conceded that we have 
 
First Principles. 21 
 
 no ideas not logically associated with 
 others. In other words, thoughts, complete in 
 their relations, are the materials in the 
 mind out of which complex relations are 
 constructed. 
 
 It being admitted that the thought is 
 the unit of thinking, it necessarily follows 
 that the sentence is the unit of exj>ression. 
 One may assure himself of the correctness 
 of this view by watching the operations 
 of a little child, even before it is able 
 to talk. You give such a child any direc- 
 tion which you expect will control its ac- 
 tion, and leave out any part of the sentence 
 that is essential to its completeness, and 
 the child will not be influenced by it. It 
 is true that elliptical expressions are some- 
 times used, but the missing portions are 
 supplied in the mind, before action is pro- 
 duced. Let any one attempt to remember 
 a series of words so arranged as to express 
 no complete thought, and he will see how 
 absolutely we are dependent upon the logi- 
 cal arrangement of language. A speaker 
 will have no difficulty in making himself 
 
22 The Sentence Method. 
 
 understood in any part of a large room, if 
 he addresses the andience in connected and 
 logical discourse. No one listening will be 
 conscious of losing a single word of what 
 is said. But let the same speaker attempt 
 to read the names of a dozen persons, or 
 give a list of disconnected words, and he 
 will hardly be able to pronounce them 
 with sufficient distinctness to be understood, 
 without repetition. 
 
 Second Principle. A second principle 
 is, we acquire a knowledge of the farts of 
 an object by first considering it as a whole. 
 Repeated recognitions reveal the character- 
 istics of the whole, so as to separate it from 
 other things. We descend from the con- 
 templation of the whole to the parts that 
 compose the whole. Otherwise the parts 
 would be more distinctly remembered than 
 the whole. But this is contrary to exj^eri- 
 ence. We have no difficulty in distinguish- 
 ing one person from another, but if called 
 Xipon to state exactly in what this difference 
 consists, we shall be at a loss for a satisfac- 
 
First Principles. 23 
 
 tory reply, unless we have made the matter 
 an object of special attention. 
 
 That words are no exception to this rule 
 is obvious from the almost universal prac- 
 tice of writing out the word and looking 
 at it as a whole to determine whether it is 
 properly spelled. We have more confi- 
 dence in our judgment of the appearance 
 of a word as a whole, than upon our ability 
 to reproduce it in detail, notwithstanding 
 this latter method is the one in which we 
 have been drilled. 
 
 The sentence, when properly taught, will, 
 in like manner, be understood as a whole, 
 better than if j)resented in detail. The 
 order indicated is, first the sentence, then 
 the words, and then the letters. The sen- 
 tence being first presented as a whole, the 
 words are discovered, and after that the let- 
 ters composing the words. 
 
 Third Principle. The third principle 
 is that while language, oral and written, 
 follows the laws of other objects so far as 
 its material characteristics are concerned, 
 
24: The Sentence Method. 
 
 it differs from other objects studied for 
 their own sake, by being only representa- 
 tive in its character. While it is to be 
 recognized, it must be so recognized as to 
 make the thought expressed by it the con 
 jscious object of attention. 
 
 In oral speech this is already the case. 
 The written language is to be so acquired 
 that the same results will follow. To do 
 this, it must be taught by an indirect pro- 
 cess. The language must be learned while 
 the attention is directed to the thought it 
 represents. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 First — Things are recognized as wholes. 
 
 Second — Parts are recognized while con- 
 templating the wholes. 
 
 Third — The whole or unit in language is 
 the sentence. 
 
 Fourth — Words, as parts of a sentence, 
 are discovered while recognizing the sen- 
 tence. 
 
 Fifth — Letters are discovered while con- 
 templating words. 
 
First Principles. 25 
 
 Sixth — Language, especially written lan- 
 guage, is to be learned indirectly, while the 
 attention is directed to the thought ex- 
 pressed. 
 
 Practical Hints. Before attempting 
 reading, a child should be able to use lan- 
 guage in conversation with considerable 
 care and fluency. Few children attain this 
 power before the age of six years. The 
 child must also be made to feel at home in 
 the school room and in presence of his 
 teacher. Without this freedom from re- 
 straint, the teacher can never judge cor- 
 rectly concerning the mental condition of 
 the child. The timidity and self -conscious- 
 ness of pupils when first entering school, 
 cannot be overcome by direct teaching. 
 The change of condition from home to 
 school should be made as slight as possible, 
 and the teacher should study to enter into 
 the thoughts and feelings of the child. 
 "When sympathy is fully established be- 
 tween teacher and pupil, and the pupil feels 
 as unrestrained as at home, the conditions 
 for successful teaching are secured. 
 
26 The Sentence Method. 
 
 The class should be as devoid of formal- 
 ity and constraint as is consistent with the 
 successful working of the school. Order 
 for order's sake is not desirable. Kequir- 
 ing the pupils to "toe the mark" or to as- 
 sume any precise attitude distracts their at- 
 tention from the lesson in hand, and tends 
 to make machines of them and to deprive 
 them of all spontaneity in action. 
 
 Children of ordinary health and intelli- 
 gence are always active. To compel quiet 
 for any considerable time is to do violence 
 to child nature. Neglecting to provide for 
 natural and necessary exercise is to convert 
 the school room into a prison house. The 
 mistake is often made of making education 
 consist of repression instead of develop- 
 ment, and natural, activities indispensible 
 to high achievements are ruthlessly sacri- 
 ficed to an ideal discipline, where quiet 
 must be maintained at all hazards. 
 
 Slates and pencils are acknowledged 
 necessities, and as the child acquires the use 
 of his powers they will be in constant ac- 
 quisition. Provision should also be made 
 
First Principles. 2T 
 
 for the unconstrained exercise of the pu- 
 pils, that will interest them and not dis- 
 turb the school. A vacant corner in the 
 school room, or a platform raised a few 
 inches above the floor and supplied with 
 blocks for the children to play with would 
 meet this demand. Building blocks may 
 be easily and cheaply obtained by taking a 
 common board dressed on both sides, three- 
 fourths of an inch thick, and sawing it 
 into strips one and one half inches wide. 
 These strips should then be sawed into 
 pieces three inches long, giving to the 
 blocks the relative proportion of bricks. A 
 few pieces should be left six inches long, 
 and a few of the common blocks sawed in 
 two, to give variety to the combinations- 
 made. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 JJXEF(CI^E^ !]pEFOI^E ^^OOK^ ARE "y^ED. 
 
 FIEST STEP. 
 
 The object of this step is to awaken 
 thought in the mind of the child by means 
 of objects, and to give to the thought com- 
 plete oral expression. 
 
 The teacher should be provided with a 
 number of objects such as may be readily 
 handled. At first those only should be 
 used that w411 admit of the use of the arti- 
 cle a before the name. 
 
 With objects in Hand. First — Let the 
 teacher and each pupil take an object in 
 liand. 
 
 The teacher will call upon one of the 
 pupils to tell what he has, and in reply the 
 pupil will probably hold up the object and 
 pronounce its name. 
 
Preliminaey Exercises. 29 
 
 Teacher—'' Jane, what have you ? " 
 Jwne — " A penciL" 
 Teacher—''' Who has a pencil \ " 
 Jane — ''I have." 
 
 Teacher—" Now tell me all about it." 
 J'an<?— "I have got a pencil." 
 j^eacher—" Very well ! But will one of 
 you tell me what he has, and leave out the 
 word' got r" 
 
 Charles—" I have a knife." 
 Teacher— "T\\^i is right. Now Jane 
 will try again. Tell me what you have." 
 Jane—" I have a pencil." 
 It is best to secure the proper expression 
 from the children, though it may take some 
 time. But if the teacher fails in this, she 
 will hold up her own object, and say, " I 
 have a book." Then call upon one of the 
 children who will very likely respond prop- 
 erly, "I have a knife." 
 
 The form of expression once obtained, 
 there will be very little difficulty in obtain- 
 ing similar expressions from each member 
 
30 The Sentence Method. 
 
 of the class. Let each hold up his object 
 and tell what he- has. This done, let the 
 children change objects, and repeat the ex- 
 ercise, telling what each one has. 
 
 Second — Next let two or three children 
 take hold of the same object, and let one 
 of them make the statement, ^' We have a 
 doll." 
 
 At first, the children may be inclined to 
 continue the old form of expression, and 
 the teacher may be obliged to take hold of 
 the object and make the proper statement, 
 but the children will readily take the hint. 
 Now, vary this form with the first, until 
 the children will instantly respond with 
 the proper ex23ression. 
 
 Tiiird — Let one pupil hold an object and 
 
 call upon another to make the statement. 
 
 If a boy has the object, the response will 
 
 be "He has a knife;" if a girl, "She has a 
 
 'pencil." 
 
 Fourth — The teacher will hold an object, 
 and the pupil will make the statement to 
 the teacher, " You have a map." 
 
Preliminary Exercises. 31 
 
 Fifth — Two or more members of the 
 class will hold an object, and one of the 
 others will make the statement to the 
 teacher, or to the remaining members of 
 the class, " Thej have a book." 
 
 These forms of expression will be re- 
 peated and changed in their order until 
 there is no confusion or tendency to error 
 in expression. The children should in- 
 stantly respond with the appropriate ex- 
 pression. 
 
 Each teacher will select such objects as 
 the circumstances may require. The fol- 
 lowing list may serve as a hint to the kind 
 of objects which may be used. When the 
 object cannot be used, a toy or picture rep- 
 resenting it may be substituted. 
 
 Book, slate, pencil, paper, knife, string, 
 board, chalk, desk, seat, table^ door, win- 
 dow, hat, cap, boot, shoe, clock, watch, 
 doll, knife, match, wood, stove, girl, boy, 
 man, woman, house, barn, dog, cat, cow, 
 horse, rat, pig, sheep, glass, nail, etc. 
 
 In regard to words other than the names 
 
32 The Sentence Method. 
 
 of familiar objects, the book which is to 
 be used should be taken as a guide. 
 
 With the Object in Sight. First, 
 Place an object before the class, and 
 call upon a child to tell what he sees, 
 and he will respond, " I see a hat." 
 
 Let another speak for himself and his 
 companions with " We see a clock." In- 
 troduce the other pronouns with the verb 
 see, as in the previous exercises. Next 
 introduce other verbs. A girl walks across 
 the floor, and the expression, "She walks," is 
 elicited. A boy will run, and the expres- 
 sion, " He runs," will be obtained. 
 
 Second. Introduce the names of the dif- 
 ferent members of the class, and use them, 
 in the place of the pronouns in the pre- 
 vious exercises. Secure variety by using 
 different verbs, as, " John sees the clock," 
 '' Susan heard the watch tick," " James ran. 
 home." 
 
 Third. Call attention to qualities of ob- 
 jects and secure the appropriate expression, 
 as, " John has a large book," " Jennie has^ 
 a white cat," " The black dog barks." 
 
Preliminary Exercises. 33 
 
 The following list of qualifying adjec- 
 tives is given by way of suggestion. 
 
 Black, white, red, yellow, blue, green, 
 brown, large, small, little, big, good, bad, 
 lazy, bright, tall, short, hard, soft, rough, 
 smooth, pleasant, light, heavy, dark, etc. 
 
 Fourth. Call attention to the position of 
 objects, and secure the proj)er expression, 
 as, "The book is on the table," "The 
 slate is under the desk," " The bird flew 
 over the tree." Continue this exercise until 
 the more common prepositions have been 
 used. 
 
 With two or more objects, expressions 
 containing conjunctions and the plural form 
 of verbs may be obtained, as, "A slate and 
 book are on the table," " John and Charles 
 run," etc. 
 
 In general, any form of expression in 
 common use may be obtained from the 
 children by forming the proper concrete 
 relations. These exercises constitute les- 
 sons in constructive language or compo- 
 sition, and should be continued until the 
 
34 The Sentence Method. 
 
 children respond readily with the expres- 
 sion representing the exact relations of the 
 things to which their attention is called. 
 
 This exercise may be varied by intro- 
 ducing object lessons with such simple de- 
 scriptions as the children themselves will 
 give. The children should also be en- 
 couraged to tell in complete sentences what 
 they see out of school, on their way to and 
 from school, and at home. They should 
 give accounts of any interesting event 
 which has happened to them, or which 
 they may have observed. These exercises 
 are especially valuable as preparing for 
 the next step. 
 
 SECOND STEP. 
 
 The object of this step is to awaken in 
 the mind of the child the exact thought 
 contained in oral expression, and to lead 
 him to make the appropriate concrete rep- 
 resentation. 
 
 In observation we pass from the thought 
 to the expression ; in reading, from the ex- 
 pression to the thought. This step is to 
 
Preliminary Exercises. 35 
 
 make clear that thought may be obtained 
 from .oral expression, as preparatory to the 
 final step of obtaining thoughts from 
 written expression. 
 
 The teacher will make a statement as " I 
 have a knife," and will then ask ? '^ What 
 do I have ? " 
 
 Pupil — " You have a knife." 
 
 TeacJier — '^How do you know that I 
 have a knife ? " 
 
 Pupil — " You said so." 
 
 The teacher will show the knife to con- 
 firm the statement. 
 
 The teacher will next call upon different 
 members of the class to state what each 
 has, confining the inquiries at first to ob- 
 jects on hand, and producing the object to 
 confirm the statement. 
 
 Passing away from visible objects the 
 children may be called upon to tell what 
 they have at home. John may say " I have 
 a large black dog," and Jane, " I have a 
 nice doll." The thoughts formed in the 
 minds of the children are as vivid and as 
 
36 The Sentence Method. 
 
 true, as tliOHgh verified by the production 
 of the real object. 
 
 This step is a short one, and will require 
 only a few exercises to accomplish its ob- 
 ject. 
 
 THIED STEP. 
 
 The object of this step is to awaken in 
 the mind of the child the exact thought 
 contained in written expression, and to en- 
 able him to express the thought in the 
 language used. This is Reading. 
 
 While of necessity, in reading, the expres- 
 sion precedes the thought, no lesson will 
 be a success where the expression fails to 
 awaken the thought. The order in the 
 third step is the same as in the second, 
 with the substitution of written for oral 
 expression. 
 
 The teacher goes to the board, and in a 
 clear bold hand writes a sentence, as : "I 
 have a knife." The pupils see the writing 
 but of course do not know what it means. 
 The teacher will call a pupil and put a 
 knife into his hands, and the pupil, in re- 
 
Preliminaey Exercises. 37 
 
 sponse to the impulse which is the result 
 of previous training will instantly hold up 
 the knife and say " I have a knife." 
 
 The teacher writes another sentence, as, 
 "I have a- pencil," and puts the object 
 in the hands of another child who will re- 
 spond, '' I have a pencil." 
 
 The teacher will proceed in the same 
 way until several children have objects 
 in their hands, representing as many senten- 
 ces upon the board. 
 
 The teacher will next call upon the first 
 child to point out and read his sentence, 
 which he will readily do as he still holds 
 the object in his hand. 
 
 Each child, in turn, will be called upon 
 to point out and read his particular sen- 
 tence. When several are written upon the 
 board, some child may forget which repre- 
 sents his statement, in which c • se the teach- 
 er will take the pointer and pass it over the 
 sentence from left to right. The child 
 will point out the sentence in the same 
 manner, at the same time giving the oral 
 
38 The Sentence Method. 
 
 expression. The pupil should not be al- 
 lowed to guess, but when he hesitates, the 
 teacher should point out the sentence for 
 him. 
 
 ]S(ext, the pupils may exchange objects, 
 and point out the sentences that express 
 the new order of things under the same 
 condition as before. It may be necessary 
 frequently to erase sentences before the 
 lesson is finished, but this will prove a 
 help rather than a hindrance, as the pupil 
 will more readily observe and remember 
 the sentences by seeing them written. 
 
 These lessons are to be continued day 
 after day, care being taken to vary the 
 order and the objects, so that the children 
 cannot recall the sentences by their location. 
 The teacher's faith and patience may be 
 severely tried, but steady progress is made. 
 Each repetition strengthens and deepens 
 the impression, until the association of the 
 thought with its written representative is 
 firmly made. 
 
 The objects used should be kept upon a 
 
Preliminary Exercises. 3^ 
 
 table in sight and reach of the pupils. 
 When a new sentence is written, the 
 teacher may hand the object to the child, 
 or point it out, allowing the pupil to take it 
 himself. By varying the exercise in this 
 manner, great activity may be secured on 
 the part of the class. 
 
 A little further along the teacher may 
 wait and give the pupils an opportunity to 
 select the object without its being pointed 
 out. When a child raises his hand and 
 expresses a desire to do this, it shows that 
 he has read the sentence, and is acting in 
 obedience to the impulse occasioned by a 
 comprehension of the thought. The oral 
 reading follows as a natural consequence. 
 
 The trying point is now past. One after 
 another will follow the example of the 
 first, and read the sentences as they are 
 written, independent of aid from the 
 teacher. The child will indicate that he 
 has read the sentence by raising his hand, 
 and then, when permission is given, by 
 selecting the proper object and "making 
 
40 The Sentence Method. 
 
 it true," as the cliildren express it, and by 
 reading the sentence aloud with the object 
 in hand. 
 
 An emulation will probably by excited, 
 and each child will try to be the first to 
 read. This may lead to guess work on the 
 part of the child, which the teacher will at 
 once try to repress. The raising of the 
 hand should be permitted only when the 
 sentence has been read and the thought 
 understood. 
 
 It is an easy matter to raase a false 
 enthusiasm, indicated by raising the hand, 
 snapping the fingers, rising from the seat, 
 and various exclamations. These manifes- 
 tations should be repressed, and that real 
 enthusiasm stimulated which comes from 
 certainty of results. 
 
 When a child reads a sentence from the 
 board, he should indicate it by the pointer. 
 At first the pupil will probably switch the 
 pointer across the sentence and read it 
 hurriedly at the same moment. These 
 are symptoms of natural and healthful 
 
Preliminary Exercises. . 41 
 
 action, indicating that the thought is in 
 the mind, and that the sentence is the unit 
 of expression. The motion and utterance 
 are simply in obedience to the impulse to 
 speak the sentence as a unit. A little 
 experience will serve to correct all that 
 needs correction. 
 
 Tariety in Expression. In using the 
 first form of the sentence, as, "I have 
 a book," and changing the object, the ten- 
 dency on the part of the pupils will be to 
 look only to the final word to determine 
 the sentence. This should be corrected by 
 changing the subject as well. 
 
 In the next changes, follow the order of 
 the First Step, introducing cautiously the 
 common pronouns, adjectives, verbs, prep- 
 ositions and conjunctions. The names of 
 the members of the class and the numerals 
 up to ten should be early introduced. For 
 suggestive lists, see' explanations under 
 First Steps. 
 
 Words are always used in their connec- 
 tions and made familiar by repetition in 
 
42 The Sentence Method. 
 
 the expression of various shades of thought. 
 
 Analysis. Soon after children begin to 
 read sentences, it will be found that they 
 recognize individual words. From the 
 study of the sentence as a whole they have 
 discovered the elements or words of which 
 the sentence is composed. 
 
 The use the child makes of the words at 
 this time is peculiar. He evidently recog- 
 nizes them, but has no impulse to pro- 
 nounce them separately, or at all, until the 
 sense is complete in his own mind. If, 
 when the sentence is written, a strange 
 word be present, he will make no effort to 
 read any part of it. When the unknown- 
 word is explained and the sense thereby 
 made complete he will read naturally and 
 without hesitation. 
 
 This is a most healthful indication, and 
 is a sure guide to the teacher in regard to 
 the steps to be taken. It points out the 
 exact difficulty which the child encounters, 
 and enables the teacher to remove the dif- 
 ficulty with the greatest economy of time 
 
Preliminaky Exercises. 43 
 
 and energy. The introduction of new 
 words is placed entirely within the control 
 of the teacher, and the vocabulary of the 
 pupil may be extended in any desirable 
 direction. Care must be taken that the 
 more active pupils do not monopolize the 
 time, depriving the other members of the 
 class of their share of the benefit. 
 
 As words become recognized as suchjand 
 their meaning understood from their office 
 in the sentence, it may be well to write 
 them upon a section of the board set apart 
 for that purpose, so that the pupils may 
 refer to them in their constructive work, 
 and be sure of the correct forms. These 
 lists are for reference and no other pur- 
 pose. 
 
 Writing. Early in this step some, if 
 not all, of the children will have the im- 
 pulse to write. This should be encouraged. 
 The first efforts will be directed to copying 
 what they see written upon the board, but 
 as the thought expressed is present in their 
 minds the}^ are in reality writing to express 
 their thoughts. The first productions will 
 
44 The Sentence Method. 
 
 of necessity be rude, but bj a few judicious 
 hints their muscles will be brought under 
 proper control, principally through their 
 own exertions. 
 
 The slates should be ruled to serve as a 
 guide to the size of the letters. A few 
 directions may be given in regard to hold- 
 ing the pen, the slant and size of letters, 
 but not enough to distract the attention of 
 the pupil from the thoughts he is endeavor- 
 ing to express. In this way the children 
 may attain great excellence in writing at an 
 early period, and at the same time their 
 penmanship will be as markedly individ- 
 ual as their faces. 
 
 Letters. While directing the writing 
 the teacher will speak of the letters as 
 though they were known to the pupils, 
 showing the size of the m's, t's, I's, etc., 
 and it will soon be discovered that the 
 pupils can distinguish the letters and name 
 them. This end has been accomplished 
 without calling direct attention to them, 
 and by the operation of the same mental 
 laws that caused them to distinguish words. 
 
Preliminary Exercises. 45 
 
 Teacher's Work. There should be no 
 careless work on the part of the teacher. 
 Educationally considered, there is no work 
 more important than the constant use of 
 the crayon on the part of the teacher in ex- 
 pressing thought to the pupils. It bears 
 the same relation to their writing, that the 
 conversation which they hear most fre- 
 quently does to their speech. If the 
 methods in both speech and writing are 
 correct, then correct habits will be formed ; 
 but if the methods are incorrect, the habits 
 formed will correspond, and no amount of 
 subsequent drill will eradicate them. 
 
 Everything written upon the board 
 should therefore be absolutely correct in 
 the following particulars : 
 
 First — In spelling. 
 
 Second — In the use of capitals. 
 
 Third — In punctuation. 
 
 Fourth — In grammatical construction. 
 
 Fifth — In penmanship. 
 
 Sixth — In^^form, such as indentations, 
 margins, etc. 
 
46 The Sentence Method. 
 
 Constructiye Work. One of the most 
 important educational ends is the ability to 
 express thought clearly and fluently in 
 writing. By the method there given the 
 pupils early acquire this ability, and though 
 the thoughts at first are simple, the mode 
 of expressing them may be made perfect. 
 Writing compositions is made as natural 
 and easy as conversation, and the practice 
 of reading compositions will make true in- 
 tellectual reading more easy and certain. 
 
 Criticism. By this method, drill as it 
 is commonly practised is entirely dispensed 
 with. The thought is the first object of 
 attention, and if this be clear, the express- 
 ion will be natural and correct. Any ob- 
 scurity, either from the use of a new word, 
 from the construction of the sentence, or 
 from not understanding the relations ex- 
 pressed, will manifest itself in the inability 
 of the child to read, or his giving express- 
 ion to a different thought. 
 
 The effort of the teacher in such cases 
 must be directed to clearing up the 
 thoughts. If the word is new and the 
 
Preliminary Exercises. 47 
 
 idea familiar, calling attention to the idea 
 will suggest the word or its equivalent. If 
 the idea and the word are both new, the 
 teacher must first develop the idea, cre- 
 ating in the mind of the child the necessity 
 for the word, and then give the word. 
 The custom • of spending much time in 
 " fishing for words " from the child is an 
 absurd one. When the idea is fully de- 
 veloped, the word should promptly be 
 given, so that the two may be associated 
 together. 
 
 It is very easy to destroy the indepen- 
 dence of the pupils and substitute mechani- 
 cal for intellectual reading, by the teacher 
 reading for the children to imitate, and by 
 concert reading. Both should be avoided. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 l\Ey\DINq FROM i^OOKg. 
 
 In the exercises so far, the end in view 
 has been to prepare the child to enter upon 
 the work of reading from the printed page. 
 If the work indicated has been well done, 
 the pnpil has obtained a considerable power 
 of thought and expression ; he has learned 
 to regard the completed sentence as the ex- 
 23ression of thought, and as having no sig- 
 nificance unless the thought is understood ; 
 he has learned to read readily what is writ- 
 ten, and he has acquired a considerable 
 skill in the expression of his own thoughts, 
 by crayon and pencil. If this has been ac- 
 complished, he will have little difiiculty in 
 changing from written to printed matter. 
 
 Steps in Transition. Let the pupils 
 look over some printed sentence made up 
 of familiar words, and expressing a familiar 
 
Keading feom Books. 49 
 
 thought, and if they experience any con- 
 siderable difficulty in gaining the thought 
 from the sentence, it will show that they 
 are not ready for the change, and that 
 written work should be continued. 
 
 When the time arrives for the transition, 
 the teacher should select some easy lesson, 
 and carefully examine it to find the words 
 that the pupils will probably not know. 
 These words are then to be made the basis 
 of blackboard exercises in which their 
 memory is developed, and they are used in 
 the expression of thought by the pupils. 
 In a familiar, conversational way, the 
 teacher may excite an interest in the sub- 
 ject of the story, taking care not to tell the 
 details so as to deprive the reading of the 
 interest which comes from the new ideas 
 obtained. 
 
 The books are put into the hands of the 
 children after they are assembled in class. 
 Let all the members of the class look at the 
 first sentence, and when ready let each one 
 raise his hand. Should a familiar word not 
 
50 The Sentence Method. 
 
 be recognized in its printed form, the 
 teacher will write it upon the board. 
 
 When all are ready the teacher will call 
 upon one ''to tell what the book says." 
 The sentence will probably be correctly 
 read. If mistakes are made in the read- 
 ing, it will be because the pupil does not 
 understand the sentence. Proceed in the 
 same manner with each sentence to the end 
 of the lesson. 
 
 If the class be large, the lesson may be 
 read a second time by other members of 
 the class, but care should be taken that the 
 pnpils do not learn the leSeon by rote, and 
 so repeat it without understanding. In- 
 telligence is the key to good work, and 
 should be the sole guide to expression. 
 
 General Preparation. It will require 
 but a few lessons to make the transition 
 from the board and slate exercises to the 
 book. When it is made and the pupils are 
 able to readily read the printed words, the 
 regular work for preparing each reading 
 lesson should be in the following order : 
 
 First — As in the transition exercises, the 
 
Reading from Books. 51 
 
 teacher will become familiar with the les- 
 son beforehand, and will give the books to 
 the pupils after they are arranged in class. 
 This is to assure freshness of thought in 
 the lesson read. 
 
 Second — The pupils will look over the 
 lesson for unfamiliar words, and will indi- 
 cate them to the teacher. As the object of 
 the exercise is to gain the thought, new 
 words must first become known. 
 
 Third — The pupils will then close their 
 books, and the teacher will develop the 
 meaning of each word by questions and 
 familiar conversation. 
 
 Fourth — The pupils will use the new 
 words in the construction of sentences, each 
 one expressing a familiar thought. This 
 kind of exercise -has already become familiar 
 to the pupils in their previous work. 
 
 Fifth — The new words, as their ideas 
 are developed, will be written upon the 
 board, so that the pupils may become 
 familiar with their written forms. As each 
 word is written it will be seen that the 
 
52 The Sentence Method. 
 
 pupils will carefully scrutinize it, as though 
 it was an object of interest. 
 
 Sixth — Pupils look over each sentence 
 carefully to see if they can understand 
 the thought expressed. In case they ' do 
 not, the teacher will develop and explain it. 
 
 Seventh — The pupil reads. As the words 
 are all known and the thoughts understood 
 before the pupil tries to read aloud, his 
 reading will probably be natural and cor- 
 rect. 
 
 Penmanship. The writing, begun with 
 the board exercises, will be continued after 
 books are introduced. The impulse to 
 write comes from the desire to express 
 thought to the eye, and the skill in the use 
 of the pencil or pen is acquired under this 
 stimulus. With the mechanic, the impulse 
 which controls his muscles and gives direc- 
 tion and force to his action, is the end to 
 be accomplished. The knowledge of his 
 tools is acquired indirectly and incidentally 
 while using them. To withdraw his atten- 
 tion from his work and fix it ujDon the 
 tools would be fatal to the work. So with 
 
Eeading feom Books. 53 
 
 the penmanship of the child. It should be 
 acquired incidentally in the endeavor to 
 express thought ; and turning the direct at- 
 tention from the thought to the "writing, 
 will be fatal to the highest success in writ- 
 ing. ^ Intellectually, it would change a 
 pleasing occupation into a mechanical and 
 onerous task. 
 
 As the child learns the use of speech 
 long before he learns the grammatical rules 
 that govern speech, so he learns practically 
 how to express his thoughts in writing long 
 before he is in a condition to be benefited 
 by the rules of penmanship. A few gene- 
 ral hints may be given from time to time, 
 as indicated in the Third Step, but the 
 pupil's progress will depend upon the 
 amount of practice which he has in the 
 direction pointed out. By this practice, 
 his muscles are brought gradually under 
 control,^ imperfections are eliminated, and 
 the habit of correct writing is formed. 
 
 Composition. The first lesson which 
 the child received was in the formation and 
 expression of thought, which was in reality 
 
64 The Sentence Method. 
 
 oral composition. As soon as he acquires 
 the ability to write legibly from copying 
 the work from the board, he will begin to 
 change his oral compositions into written 
 ones. This constructive, written work will 
 follow the same order, and accomj)any 
 step by step the oral work already indi- 
 cated. These first compositions furnish ex- 
 cellent reading lessons, for no two being 
 alike one reads for the information of the 
 others, conforming to the practice in real 
 life. 
 
 Like all the other exercises in language, 
 composition must not be taught directly, 
 but success in it is attained incidentally in 
 the endeavor to express thought. The 
 ability of a child to use words correctly in 
 oral or written composition is the only sure 
 test of his understanding them. It re- 
 quires far less familiarity with language to 
 read mechanically, than it does to use the 
 same language in the expression of our 
 own thought. 
 
 Subject-Matter. The first lessons will 
 be in connection with objects, as was given 
 
Eeading from Books. 55 
 
 m the^First Steps in reading. JN'ext objects 
 may be described. Then as new words are 
 found, each one will be used in the ex- 
 pression of a thought and in the construc- 
 tion of a sentence. 
 
 The child may next be called upon to 
 relate what has happened to him during 
 the daj^, the incidents of a walk, or a play, 
 or what he saw on his way to school. The 
 teacher may tell a story or read something 
 from a book, which the pupils will repro- 
 duce. The children may bring their own 
 little books, and each one may read a story 
 which the others will reproduce. In these 
 latter exercises another important educa- 
 tional interest is served ;— the pupils are 
 taught to listen to what is said, and to re- 
 peat accurately what they heard. 
 
 Spelling. In this course no place is 
 given to distinctive spelling lessons, as it is 
 believed that such lessons are productive of 
 little else than mischief. 
 
 JS'early all the real study of the child in- 
 volves spelling as a necessary incident. If 
 the forms of words which he has always 
 
56 The Sentence Method. _ 
 
 seen are correct, the forms which he repro- 
 duces will also be correct. To him a mis- 
 spelled word is either no word at all, or an 
 unknown element to be learned like other 
 new words. The misspelled word is not 
 recognized as expressing the idea of the 
 correctly spelled one. The child "reads 
 with his eye, and while reading is not con- 
 scious of the sounds of words. In the en- 
 deavor to express the thought in writing, 
 his hand responds to the impulse which the 
 thought gives, and in the way it was given. 
 As the thought was occasioned by form, 
 speaking to the eye, it will of necessity be 
 reproduced in the same form. Good spell- 
 ing is the result. 
 
 Oral Elements. When oral spelling is 
 practised, a disturbing element is intro- 
 duced. The attention is partially diverted 
 from the forms of the words to the names 
 of the letters that compose them, and lan- 
 guage, which should be used as a medium 
 of thought, becomes the object of thought. 
 The written and printed page is deprived 
 of its distinctive character of being a direct 
 
Reading from Books. 57 
 
 representative of thought; the written 
 words must be translated into spoken words 
 through the medium of letters ; and thus a 
 direct barrier is interposed between the 
 mind of the child and the thoughts con- 
 tained in the lesson. This result is, of 
 course, antagonistic to the eye and thought 
 reading which is here advocated. 
 
 The phonic analysis of words should 
 have no place in the primary schools. 
 Until the habits of thought reading and 
 correct spelling are well established, such 
 analysis is a positive evil. It makes the 
 child conscious of the oral element of 
 words, and as these do not correspond with 
 the written elements, a double evil ensues : 
 the mind has become directly conscious of 
 language which it should use unconsciously 
 or nearly so ; and it introduces a new set of 
 elements antagonistic to the ones used in. 
 the graphic expression. The habitual 
 action of the muscles coming from one 
 stimulus, upon which good spelling de- 
 pends, is directly interfered with by 
 another stimulus which urges to different 
 
68 The Sentence Method. 
 
 results. Tlie antagonism is radical and 
 irreconcilable, and bad spelling mnst result. 
 The reason for tlie early introduction of 
 the phonic element: — the securing of cor- 
 rect pronunciation, may be accomplished in 
 another way. The j)upils should be re- 
 quired to pronounce their words slowly, so 
 as to give to each sound its proper force, 
 and here imitation of the words as spoken 
 bj others is .the only w^ay to secure correct 
 results. 
 
 Correcting Mistakes. Under the sys- 
 tem here advocated, mistakes in spelling, 
 in punctuation, and in the use of capitals, 
 etc., will be rare,, but they will sometimes 
 occur. The teacher's work should be as 
 correct as human vigilance can make it, 
 and by this means the pupil's mistakes 
 will be reduced to a minimum. . 
 
 The mistakes usually made in school are 
 the result of guess work or of deliberate 
 judgment, when language has become a 
 subject of direct consciousness. The mis- 
 takes made when this system is practised 
 are the results of some distracting element 
 
Reading from Books. 59 
 
 which has for the moment disturbed ha- 
 bitual action. In the first case the mis- 
 takes, being in the line of habitual action, 
 make a deep impression and tend to per- 
 petuate themselves: in the second case, 
 being opposed to habitual action, they 
 make but little impression and are easily 
 eradicated. 
 
 Upon noticing any error of this kind, the 
 teacher should at once erase it, and substi- 
 tute the correct form. The direct at- 
 tention should be for the moment turned 
 to this correct form, and the pupil should 
 write the word several times to make the 
 impression deeper. This is one of the rare 
 instances where the direct attention may be 
 profitably diverted from the thought to 
 the expression. ' The sooner the object is . 
 accomplished and the attention again 
 turned to the thought, the better for 
 the pupil. The error should never be 
 brought into prominence, and if it can be 
 erased before the pupil has discovered it, 
 all the better. 
 
 If a child is in doubt, he should indicate 
 
60 The Sentence Method. 
 
 it, and the teacher should supply the 
 correct form. The reason for this is 
 obvious. The doubt has arrested habit- 
 ual action, and made the word or phrase 
 the object of direct attention. If left 
 without assistance, the mind must exercise 
 a judgment without the elements upon 
 which a correct judgment can be based, and 
 the chances are about even that a mistake 
 will be made. 
 
 A mistake occurring under such circum- 
 stances will make a deep impression, and 
 will tend still further to distftd^ habitual 
 -action, becoming the parent of numerous 
 future mistakes. Constant practice under 
 judicious direction is the only way to secure 
 the highest and best results. 
 
 Reading Matter. A great difficulty is 
 experienced in obtaining a sufficient sup- 
 ply of appropriate reading matter. The 
 book given to any class should be within 
 their comprehension, and it should be read 
 through, or such parts of it as are found 
 interesting. An ordinary first or second 
 reader will last but a few weeks, and hence 
 
Reading from Books. 61 
 
 there should be in every school several such 
 readers, or some equivalent reading matter. 
 
 By the exercise of judgment and tact, 
 the teacher may be able to secure several 
 such readers for use, and as an important 
 part of the reading exercise is for the 
 pupils to learn to listen, it is not strictly 
 necessary that each member of the class be 
 supplied with the same book. A single 
 copy of a book may be passed from hand 
 to hand, and in this way not only may the 
 text-books be utilized, but story-books 
 which the children have at home may be 
 used with jDrofit. From this variety in 
 reading, supplementing observation, the 
 materials are gained for any amount of 
 composition in the form of constructive and 
 reproductive work. 
 
 In general, children should be induced 
 to read what they desire to know, and what- 
 is worth knowing, and for the purpose of 
 knowing. Hence, all through the course 
 silent reading, followed by reproductive, 
 should receive special attention. A story 
 or sketch may be passed from child to child 
 
62 The Sentence Method. 
 
 and read silently, and then reproduced in 
 writing. Sometimes it may be reproduced 
 orally, and indeed oral and written exer- 
 cises should be constantly intermingled, so 
 that children may become equally proficient 
 in both forms of expression. 
 
 Economies. It will be seen that read- 
 ing, writing, spelling, and composition are 
 simultaneous operations by this method, 
 and that all are subordinated to the thought 
 gained and expressed. In this way much 
 time is gained, and the multitude of classes 
 in ungraded schools is diminished. These 
 subjects are all related to each other, and 
 are dependent upon thought ; and to treat 
 them separately is to destroy this relation 
 and dej)endence. 
 
 Again, by this method these subjects 
 are all taught incidentally. To teach them 
 separately and directly is to deprive writ- 
 ten language of its legitimate function of 
 being a direct representation of thought. 
 
 General Suggestions. Too much stress 
 cannot be laid upon the importance of care- 
 
Eeading from Books. 63 
 
 fill and correct woi'k on the part of the 
 teacher. Children at this earlj age are 
 confiding, and are readj to take whatever 
 the teacher has to give. " Bread or stones " 
 are received with equal trustfulness. At 
 the same time they are easily confused, and 
 ill-directed teaching ajDpears in slovenly 
 recitation. 
 
 The teacher must not be anxious for im- 
 mediate results. Anxiety in this direction 
 is a constant temptation to adopt those 
 specious methods by which apparent, 
 rather than real progress is made. The 
 letter, word, or phonic method will each 
 day accomplish certain specific results, 
 which can be weighed and measured. 
 Teachers, parents, and friends see this, and 
 are satisfied. But the results leave little 
 impress of true mental growth. JS'aming 
 letters and words, no matter in what order, 
 and remembering them, is not necessarily 
 reading. The thought must be reached, 
 and everything else must be subordinated 
 to this end. 
 
 The child learns oral speech by degrees, 
 
64 The Sentence Method. 
 
 adding word after word to his vocabulary, 
 as its necessity is felt in expressing his own 
 thought. Each new thought and new ex- 
 pression is assimilated by use. In reading 
 and writing, the same law holds. New 
 elements should be introduced no faster 
 than they can be made familiar by use. 
 The expression follows the thought. In 
 this way the mind of the pupil grows by 
 receiving its proper aliment, and the power 
 of expression increases with each new ac- 
 quisition of thought. 
 
 In this process, time is an important ele- 
 ment. An effort to cram defeats its own 
 ends. Hurry retards. Crowding the 
 memory with words weakens it for 
 thought. Filling the mind with the forms 
 of language that convey no thought, is like 
 filling the stomach with husks, — no diges- 
 tion follows. Worse than this, the mind 
 overburdened with this crude material loses 
 all power and inclination for real work. 
 
 The time necessary for each step cannot 
 be precisely given, as it must vary with 
 the capacity of the pupil, the tact of the 
 
Reading fkom Books. 65 
 
 teacher, and various conditions of the school. 
 The pupils should not be advanced from 
 the " first step " until they are able to give 
 oral expression to any well defined thought 
 without hesitation. The average time for 
 this will be about one month. The " sec- 
 ond step " will require but few lessons. Its 
 objects should be accomplished in a week. 
 In the " First Step " the practice of al- 
 lowing the children to construct the con- 
 crete relations, or, as they term it, " make 
 true '' the thought before reading it, should 
 be continued several weeks. This exercise, 
 more than any other, arouses activity, both 
 physical and mental, and excites a perma- 
 nent interest in the work. Tiie average 
 time for accomplishing all the w^ork of the 
 " Third Step " will be about two months, 
 giving three months for the preliminary 
 exercises before books are introduced. 
 
 When the children read a sentence that 
 cannot be literally illustrated, they should 
 feel that it is true in thought, and here 
 comes in the exercise of the imagination. 
 In the development and culture of this 
 
6t5 The Sentence Method. 
 
 faculty, the teacher may find some diffi- 
 culty. With their limited experience, chil- 
 dren with active imaginations have not yet 
 learned to distinguish between outward 
 facts and thoughts which exist only in their 
 own minds. This want of discrimination 
 is often mistaken for moral delinquency. 
 The remedy is found in the close observa- 
 tion of objects and facts and the literal de- 
 scriptions which follow such observations. 
 Making sentences ''true" is one of these 
 corrective exercises. 
 
 A very common mistake should be care- 
 fully avoided, and that is the endeavor to 
 fill the mind with the matured and con- 
 densed results of scientific investigation. 
 True education is a growth. The knowl- 
 edge upon which the mind feels must be 
 assimilated. This knowledge must be ad- 
 ministered in such proportions and under 
 such conditions as will best promote as- 
 similation. The effort to cram ideas is as 
 fatal as that of cramming words. The 
 reasoning processes of maturity do not be- 
 long to childhood. The true education 
 
Eeading from Books. 67 
 
 does not deal so much in the results of 
 scientific discovery as in its methods. 
 Tliese methods are: first, the observation 
 of objects, by which facts are obtained, and 
 the observing powers cultivated; second, 
 the expression of these facts in oral and 
 written language, by which process the 
 facts become clearly defined and perma- 
 nently retained ; third, the observation of 
 relations, by which comparisons and gene- 
 ralizations are made, and general principles 
 reached; and fourth, the application of 
 these principles, by which the more subtle 
 relations are discovered and the reasoning 
 powers are fully developed. To reverse 
 this process and commence with the rea- 
 soning, would be equivalent to laying upon 
 the shoulders of the child the burdens 
 which only belong to mature manhood. 
 No matter with how much care this may 
 be done, or what may be the apparent im- 
 mediate results, the permanent result is 
 distortion and deformity. 
 
Be. Graff (E. V.) PRACTICAL PHONICS. A comprehensive 
 study of Pronunciation, forming a complete guide to tlie study 
 (Sf the elementary sounds of the English Language, and con- 
 taining 3000 words of difficult pronunciation, with diacritical 
 marks according to Webster's Dictionary. Cloth, 13mo., 
 pp. 108 75 
 
 cPOCKET PRONUNCIATION BOOK, containing the 3000 
 
 words of difficult pronunciation, with diacritical marks accord- 
 ing to Webster's Dictionary. Manilla, 16mo., pp. 47 15 
 
 Uie School Room Ouide, embodying the instruction given by 
 
 the author at Teacher's Institutes in New York and other 
 States, and especially intended to assist Public School Teach- 
 ers in the practical work of the school- room. Tenth Edition, 
 with many additions and corrections. Cloth, 12mo., pp. 449-. 1 50 
 
 The Song Budget. A collection of Songsand Music for schools 
 
 and educational gatherings. Paper, small 4to., pp. 72 15 
 
 The School-Room Chorus. A collection of 200 Songs, suitable 
 
 for Public and Private Schools. Boards, small 4to., pp. 147. . 35 
 
 Farnham (Geo. L.) THE SENTENCE METHOD of teaching 
 Reading, Writing, and Spell '-^ - A Manual for Teachers. 
 Cloth, 12mo., pp. 50 50 
 
 Fitch (Joshua G.) The Art of Questioning. Second Edition. 
 
 Paper, 12mo., pp. 36 _ ' 15 
 
 The Art of Securing Attention. Paper, 16mo., pp. 48 15 
 
 ITendrick (Mary F.) ^ series of Questions in English and Ameri- 
 can Literature, prepared for Class-Drill and Private Study. 
 Second Edition. Boards, 12mo., pp. 100, interleaved ..- 35 
 
 Moose (James H.) Studies in Articulation: a study and drill-book 
 in the alphabetic elements of the English language. Fourth 
 Thousand. Cloth, 16mo., pp. 70.. 50 
 
 On the Province of Ilethods of Teaching. A professional 
 
 study. With an introduction by Prof. Charles W. Bennett, 
 
 D. D. Cloth, 16mo., pp. 376 1 00 
 
 IIiijj;lies (James L.) MISTAKES IN TEACHING. American 
 
 Edition, witJi Contents a7id Index. Cloth, 16mo.,pp. 13.") 50 
 
 New 'York STATE EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. Being 
 the questions given at all the Examinations for State Ccrtiti- 
 cates from the beginning to the present time, embracing 3000 
 questions in Reading, Writing, Drawing, Arithmetic, Geog- 
 raphy, Grammar, United States History, General History, 
 Algebra, Geometry, Book-Keeping, Composition, Rhetoric, 
 Literature, Civil Government, Physiology, Zoology, Botany, 
 Geology, Mineralogy, Physics, Methods, School Economy, 
 School Law, together with Latin as an optional in the place 
 of Geometry. To which is added a List of the Successful 
 Candidates. Flexible cloth, lOmo., pp. 191 - 25 
 
Huntington (Rt. Rev. F. D.) Unconscious Tuition. Second 
 
 Edition.. Paper, 16mo., pp. 45 15 
 
 Northam (Henry C.) Civil Government for Common Schools. 
 Prepared as a manual for Public Instruction in tlie State 
 of New York. To which are appended the Constitution of 
 the 8tate of New York, as amended at the election of 1880, 
 the Constitution of the United States, and the Declaration of 
 Independence. Sixth Edition, mostly from entirely new 
 plates. Cloth, 16mo., pp. 185 75 
 
 Periodicals. The School Bulletin and New York State Educa- 
 tional Journal. Established 1874. Monthly, 16 pp., 10x14. 
 Per Year.. _ 1 00 
 
 Bound Vols. I— VII, Cloth, 200 pp. , each 2 00 
 
 The New Education and Kindergarten Messenger. Established 
 
 1877. Monthly, 16 pp., 7x10. Per year 1 00 
 
 TOPICS OF THE DAY, a Monthly Leaflet for Supplemen- 
 
 tary Reading in Public Schools. 2 pp., 6x9. Per year... 36 
 
 ^THE SCHOOL ROOM. A Mpnthly Journal of Practical 
 
 Help to Young Teachers. 16 no., 7x11. Per year 50 
 
 Pooler (Charles T.) Chart of Cii4 Government. A list of the 
 Law-]\[aking Powers and Officers, arransred aecording to 
 the similarity of their duties, in the United States, State of 
 New York, County, Town, School-District, City, and In- 
 
 coiporated Village. Cloth, 16 mo. , folded 25 
 
 The Fame, in sheets 12x18, per hundred. 5 00 
 
 HINTS ON TEACHING ORTHOEPY. Paper, 12mo., 
 
 pp. 15 10 
 
 Regents' Questions. Ten Editions. Complete with Key. The 
 Regents' Questions from the first examination in 1866. Being 
 the Questions for the preliminary examinations for admission 
 to the University of the State of New York, prepared by the 
 Regents of the University, and participated in simultaneously 
 by more than 250 academies, forming a basis for the distri- 
 bution of more than a million of dollars. Jf£d Edition, to 
 
 June, 1880. Cloth, 16mo., pp. 408 2 00 
 
 Complete, without Key 1 00 
 
 Arithmetic, 1153 Questions. 25 
 
 Key to Arithmetic 25 
 
 Geography, 1687 Questions '-.I'-I".^^1"1!''1^I]]I^ 25 
 
 Key to Geography 25 
 
 Grammar, 2665 Questions.. ""'""".'"''""" 25 
 
 Grammar ««fZ /f<?^/ with References to Leading Grammars.]^ 1 00 
 
 Spelling, 4400 Words .... .-go 
 
 1000 Arithmetic Questions, Card- board slips and Keyl"".'" 1 00 
 Any book in this list will be promptly sent on receipt of price. 
 L Address C. W. BARDEEN, Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 ^IllJIIililllilllllilitJi 
 019 843 521 1