LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. flap ©upgrig]^ In Shelf ..tS.lE- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A QUIZ MANUAL OF THE Theory and Practice OF TEACHING. BY / ALBERT P. SOUTHWICK, A.M., AUTHOR OF ** HANDY HELPS," " SHORT STUDIES IN LITERATURE," " QUIZZISM ; AND ITS KEY," " DIME SERIES OF QUESTION BOOKS," ETC. -NGTO^ New York and Chicago : E. L. KELLOGG & CO., IBISSS .S7Z ''Zhc ZTeacber is tbe Soul of tbe Scbool/' ''Uq tbe ZTeacber is, 00 10 tbe Scbool/' tlbinhfng, not ^rowtb, makea manbooD^ Bccuetom 150ur6clt, tberetorc, to tbinhtn^. Set yourself to imDcr= 6tanD wbatev>er ^ou ecc or reaD. ^o join tbin?^in^ wltb reading is one of tbe first majimB, anD one ot tbe eaaieet operations^ —Isaac Taylor. Copyright, 1888, A. P. SOUTHWICK. PREFACE. Aware of the fact that a work of this nature invites criticism because the canons of pedagogy are not fixed and immutable like those of mathematics, and that there are opposing views on all the subjects here discussed, the writer has refrained from making statements that may seem dogmatic, and has tried to avoid all appearance of inviting antagonistic re- flections, or of conflicting with general professional opinion. The teacher should know that there is pre- eminently no " The Method." Method is the out- growth of philosophy, and must adjust itself to the laws of mind and to the exigencies of science. The power of every true teacher is in himself, his person- ality, his character, his spirit, and his attainments. *^ The science of teaching is abroad one, embracing many laws, and the facts to be noted in actual w^ork are of sufficient importance to induce the thoughtful student to study its philosophy. The true teacher ever seeks to classify the facts daily observed in his teaching, drawing a distinction between those on the one hand which lead to nothing, and those which furnish the ground-work to laws and principles 4 Preface. which make teaching a distinct profession. Use more facts ; look for more laws ; study the relation of the one to the other." No apology is offered for the repetition of certain ideas in the text, the duplication of which is essential to a thorough analysis of the subject in its various divisions. A. P. S. Baltimore, Md., August lo, i888. CONTENTS. Wiih few variations, the subject-matter will be found arranged as indicated below. The number enclosed in the parentheses is that of the query com- mencing the special division. (i) What is Education ? Education Defined. — Noted Educators. — *' New Education." — Methods. — Kindergarten Instruction. — Teaching, Talk- ing, and Telling, ......... 7 (29) Reading. Primary and Advanced. — Methods. — Questioning. — Primary Literature. — General Information. — News Bulletin. — Drills. — Elocution, . . . . . . . .8 (76) Arithmetic. Teaching Number. — Mental Work. — Analysis. — Inverting the Divisor. — Tables of Measure and Money. — Squaring.— Rules. — Arithmetical Signs. — Longitude and Time. — Higher Mathematics. — Metric System, . . . .10 (143) Natural History. Teaching it, .......... 14 (146) Language Lessons and Grammar. Methods. — Diagrams. — "Verbal Purism." — Outlining. — Rou- tine Teaching. — Definitions. — Prosody. — Punctuation, . 14 {187) Composition. Letter-writing. — Methods. — Selection of Topics, . . . * 16 (202) Rhetoric. Teaching it, 16 (204) Etymology. Teaching it, 17 (207) Literature. Methods. — Scrap-book. — Arousing Interest. — Higher Instruc- tion, 17 (220) Orthography. Oral. — Written. — Primary. — Methods. — Spelling-matches. — Definition Class. — Use of Dictionary. — Orthoepy. — Dia- criticals. — Drills. — Orthographic Parsing, . . . 17 (247) Psychology. Its use, etc., ig 6 Contents. (250) Natural Science. Science Teaching. — "Query Box." — Remedy for Defects in Teaching, ......... 19 (256) Physiology. Methods. — School Hygiene. — As a Moral Factor. — Preserva- tion of Health. — Calisthenics. — Ventilation. — Lessons in Plants. — Plea for the Sciences, . . . . .19 (280) Geography. Methods. — Use of the Globe. — "Moulding." — Descriptive Geography. — Map-drawing. — Writing Pad. — " New Method." — Games. — Variation. — Note-book. — Astron- omy. — Place-names. — Standard Tjme, . . . .21 (320) History. Methods. — Primary Teaching. — Ethics of History. — Discard- ing the Text-book. — Mnemonics. — Exciting Interest. — Collateral Reading. — Current History. — Civil Govern- ment. — Its Importance. — Patriotism, . . . .23 (352) Penmanship. Methods. — Mechanical Systems. — Primary Instruction. — Letter-writing, ......... 24 (364) Drawing. Observation Culture. — Industrial, 25 (374) Discipline. Government. — Why Kindness Fails. — Motives. — External Conditions. — Aids to Discipline. — Human Nature. — Chronic Diseases. — The Remedy. — Punishment. — Moral Training, 25 (432) Attention. Means of Securing. — How to Fail. — The Highest Art, . . 28 (444) Miscellaneous. Opening School. — Programme. — Recitations. — Whispering. — No Recess. — "Seven Laws of Teaching." — Friday Afternoons. — Music. — Dismissal. — Habits of the Teach- er. — Bookkeeping. — Exhibitions. — Expositions. — Giving Assistance. — Making Presents. — Industrial Training. — Examinations. — Schools and Teachers. — Giving Prizes. — Director and Teacher, 29 (501) Addenda. Manual Training, ......... 32 QUESTIONS, EDUCATION AND TEACHING. 1. What is the great problem in education ? 2. What is education ? 3. Name some noted educators. 4. What are the " Nine Laws *' of Pestalozzi ? 5. What educational principles have always been asserted ? 6. What is meant by the ^^ New Education "? 7. What change is indicated ? 8. What is meant by the History of Education? 9. What is the object of education? 10. What may be said of the educator? 11. Can " anybody " teach school? 12. Of what does the " Art of Teaching" consist? 13. What does the Theory and Practice of Teach- ing embrace ? 14. What is a method of instruction ? 15. How many methods are there in use? 16. What is the Socratic method ? 17. Is a knowledge of mental philosophy of any benefit? 18. What, then, is one element of successful teach- ing? 8 Questions in the Art of Teaching. 19. What is meant by mental faculties? 20. What are aids in cultivating memory? 21. What class of teachers do our primary schools require ? 22. What salaries should be paid primary teachers ? 23. What is Kindergarten instruction? 24. How may ^* nature lessons " be taught? 25. What is the difference between the work of the teacher and that of the pupil ? 26. What is the difference between teaching and talking? 27. What is the difference between telling and teaching? 28. What faculty is predominant in teaching? READING. 29. What is reading? 30. How can we teach children to talk ? 31. What are the characteristics of a good reader ? 32. What are the ends to be attained in teaching reading? 33. vShould we ** mind the pauses '*? 34. How many methods are used in teaching chil- dren to read ? 35. What may be said of these methods? 36. How is the ** object method " used ? 37. For what is the *Mook-and-say " method claimed to be advantageous? 38. What is the application of the *^ word-building ** method? 39. Should the spelling of words in the reading lesson be allowed ? Readim, ^>' 40. Should* we follow the rules given for inflection '^ 41. What are the results of " Mental Picturing"? 42. What illustration can be given of this? 43. What distinction can be made between '' good reading " and elocution ? 44. Why should primary instruction be more largely oral than higher instruction ? 45. What is the " Golden Rule " relative to talking in the school-room ? 46. What may be said of questioning? 47. What are its various classes ? 48. Describe Socratic questioning. 49. When is Examination questioning used ? 50. Why are " leading questions," or questions that can be answered by '' Yes " or " No," objectionable ? 51. What is meant by the term Exposition? 52. State your opinion of what a child of average ability should accomplish in the first year at school. 53. What do you understand by unconscious tui- tion ? 54. What is the best evidence of thorough instruc- tion on the part of the teacher? 55. Should the teacher make special preparation for the reading class? 56. How may the teacher succeed in giving in- struction in reading? 57. What is the most common error among read- ers ? 58. Should pupils be required to commit to mem- ory the definitions in the readers ? 59. How would you instruct a class using the sec- ond reader? lo Questions in the Art of Teaching. 60. What variations may be used in the reading lessons ? 61. What is the first step toward the introduction of the pupil to the study of literature ? 62. How should instruction be given in the third reader? 63. How is the dictionary to be used ? 64. When is such a drill to be given ? 65. What illustration can be given of these errors ? 66. How is this fault to be corrected ? 67. What are the advantages of this plan ? 68. Should newspapers be used in the school ? 69. How can this theory be applied in the district school ? ^0. To what will this lead ? 71. Has instruction in '' phonics " proved beneficial in connection with the reading lessons? 72. What are the three forms of reading? 73. Is this ordinarily taught in schools? 74. What are " reading drills " ? 75. What is one express fault in the pupil's read- ing? ARITHMETIC. 76. What is the object of a recitation in Arith- metic ? 77. Explain the Grube method. 78. W?iat should be taught the second year? 79. Describe the plan of procedure after this. 80. Which operations in arithmetic are essential ? 81. How do you conduct a recitation in arith- metic ? Arithmetic. 1 1 82. How should ** catch-questions " be treated. 83. What must be remembered in teaching ^' num- ber " ? 84. Is primary teaching of the utmost importance ? 85. What should be taught a child at first ; the process of writing numbers, or the rule of notation ? 86. What are the results to be obtained by the study of Mental Arithmetic ? 87. Mention some of the " common artifices " that may be used. 88. What is the value of mental analysis in teach- ing arithmetic ? 89. Of what practical benefit, if any, are the G. C. D. and L. C. M. ? 90. What is the simplest method of finding the greatest common divisor ? 91. In division by fractions, how do you explain the inversion of the divisor ? 92. Which should be taught first, long or short division, and why ? 93. Should instruction in common or decimal frac- tions have precedence, and why ? 94. What are the '' new methods " in arithmetic ? 95. How are the tables of weights and measures taught ? 96. How can all arithmetical problems be taught? 97. What are the results of these " new methods " ? 98. Give an illustration of primary teaching in arithmetic. 99. What method has been used in teaching Feder- al money ? 100. What should be impressed upon the pupils ? 101. Give an illustration by means of a problem. 1 2 Qiiestions in the Art of Teaching. 102. How may this subject be extended ? 103. How should problems be *^ worked " by the class ? 104. What is the new method of squaring num- bers ? 105. What is the real arithmetic? 106. How is arithmetic generally taught? 107. Should problems be solved by rule ? 108. What is displayed by analysis ? 109. What language should be used ? 110. Of what does the solution of a problem con- sist ? 111. Why are language and arithmetic the two most important subjects taught in the school ? 112. What has been taught for arithmetic ? 113. What is the correct use of mental arithmetic ? 114. Why has mental arithmetic fallen into dis- favor ? 115. Are errors taught in arithmetic? 116. Should arithmetical *^ curiosities " be used in the school-room ? 117. What is the origin of the arithmetical signs? 118. What is the source of the division sign ? 119. Of what does the child's real knowledge of number consist ? 120. How is a knowledge of things and their names together to be learned ? 121. What instruction follows this ? 122. What is one cause of the confused knowledge of arithmetic found in older pupils ? 123. When should the use of objects be discon- tinued in teaching arithmetic? Arithmetic. 13 124. How should higher or written arithmetic be taught ? 125. What is the most difficult division of arith- metic to teach ? 126. What may be said regarding the teaching of problems of longitude and time ? 127. How is this to be remedied ? 128. How may this principle be further instilled into the minds of the pupils ? 129. With what class of problems in longitude and time is the greatest difficulty experienced ? 130. State the difference between teaching a rule inductively and deductively. 131. How much assistance should be given to the pupil in the arithmetic class ? 132. How should mensuration be taught ? 133. How shall the New Education be accepted ? 134. What should be one characteristic of a recita- tion in arithmetic ? 135. What should be prominent in the instruction in arithmetic ? 136. State the difference between the objective and subjective course in arithmetic. I37« What are the principles of instruction in Algebra ? 138. Of what value is Geometry as a study ? 139. State briefly the importance of a course in the elements of geometry. 140. What may be said of methods in the Higher Mathematics ? ^ 141. When should Algebra be studied ? 142. Should the Metric System be prominently taught ? 14 Questions in the Art of Teaching. NATURAL HISTORY. 143. How are the Natural History sciences taught ? 144. How are Philosophy and Chemistry to be taught ? 145. What may be said of ^udies outside the text- book ? LANGUAGE LESSONS AND GRAMMAR. 146. What is meant by Language Lessons ? 147. What fact follows from this principle ? 148. Why should pupils be required to recite in good language ? 149. How does the pupil acquire the use of good English ? 150. Why should we study grammar? 151. How should children be taught English Gram- mar ? When ? 152. Of what benefit are diagrams ? 153. When does their use become injurious ? 154. The formation of correct habits of speech de- mands what ? 155. What are cognates of this study? 156. What is the principal subject of school in- struction ? 157. Of what must the young teacher be careful ? 158. What may be said of "verbal purism "? 159. How is this exhibited at Institutes? 160. What are really the ** two troublesome words " to the teacher ? 161. What are the "common errors of speech" among pupils ? Language Lessons and Grammar. 15 162. How are these errors to be corrected ? . 163. How may this subject be further illustrated ? 164. What is the principal fault in grammar in- struction ? 165. By what result is it followed ? 166. What may be said of the conclusion that grammar should never be studied ? 167. State your method of teaching grammar. 168. What, then, should the teacher do ? 169. What is the relation of habit to grammar in- struction ? 170. How can correct language only be attained ? 171. What will be the result of this unconscious tuition ? 172. What should be shunned by the teacher? 173. What may be said of all methods of teaching grammar ? 174. State one of these '^ original " methods. 175. What does this method insure ? 176. What are the advantages of written parsing ? 177* What kind of oral parsing may be used ? 178. What are the especial benefits of this method ? 179. How may " routine teaching" in grammar be avoided ? 180. How should the verb be introduced to the notice of the class ? 181. What definitions should be given in grammar ? 182. In view of this, what should characterize the teaching of definitions ? 183. Should prosody be taught in the common schools ? 184. How much punctuation may be taught by the district teacher ? 1 6 Questions in the Art of Teaching. 185. Illustrate a Lesson in Grammar. 186. What questions may then be asked ? COMPOSITION. 187. What may be said of the Composition prob- lem ? 188. What are the '' helps " to the teacher in this exercise ? 189. What is one ^^ practical form " of composition ? 190. What should be the first form of a composi- tion ? 191. What subjects should be given for composi- tion ? 192. Should the teacher select the topics ? 193. How often should the composition exercise be given ? 194. What success have you had in teaching com- position ? 195. How is a class to be instructed in original production ? 196. Of what length should the composition be ? 197. What form of composition can be taught? 198. Name one of the most valuable exercises in grammar. 199. What are unnoticed ellipses ? 200. What forms of grammatical structure should the teacher give ? 201. When should advanced grammar be taught ? RHETORIC. 202. How is rhetoric taught ? 203. By what is this followed.? Etymology — Literature — Orthography. 1 7 ETYMOLOGY. 204. Is etymology an advanced study? 205. Of what benefit is etymology to the reader ? 206. How should it be taught ? LITERATURE. 207. What is the highest form of word memorizing? 208. Can literature be taught in the common schools ? 209. How should it be taught ? 210. Under what form may this topical outline be arranged ? 211. How can pupils gain a knowledge of the author's life and writings ? 212. What special effort should the teacher make in teaching literature ? 213. How is the literary scrap-book to be used ? 214. What is one form of arousing interest in the study ? 215. How is the study of literature abused ? 216. How should literature be taught in advanced classes ? 217. What methods are used in the higher grades of schools ? 218. How should the selections be treated ? 219. What is meant by the History of Literature ? ORTHOGRAPHY. 220. What is the purpose of spelling ? 221. What are the methods of teaching spelling? 222. What are the advantages of the pronunciation of the syllables in oral spelling ? 1 8 Questions in the Art of Teaching, 223. To what should the child be led in writing words ? 224. How is correct spelling to be attained ? 225. What are the benefits of practice in spelling by sound ? 226. What may be said of the relative merits and demerits of oral and written spelling ? 227. What conditions are attached to oral spelling ? 228. By what means should spelling be taught ? 229. Should the spelling book be abolished from the school-room ? 230. Should the spelling lessons be kept ? 231. What directions may be given to pupils for studying their spelling lessons ? 232. Do you have spelling matches or ''bees" in your school ? If so, why ? 233. Does constant spelling necessarily make a speller? 234. To what does this lead ? 235. How is the definition class to be taught? 236. Name some of the valuable uses of the dic- tionary. 237. What else may be learned from the dictionary ? 238. What is t?ie connection of the teacher with this study ? 239. What is the best method of using the dic- tionary in our common schools ? 240. What is connected with this ? 241. In what respect are teachers deficient ? 242. Name one especial disadvantage of written spelling. 243. What are the '' steps " given in teaching writ- ten spelling ? Psychology — Natural Science — Physiology. 19 244. Should primary pupils be taught the sounds of letters ? 245. Give some of the rules for the new spellings. 246. How is orthographic parsing to be taught ? PSYCHOLOGY. 247. Should the teacher possess a knowledge of Psychology ? 248. What connection has Mental Philosophy with the teacher's work ? 249. What may the teacher especially learn ? NATURAL SCIENCE. 250. How should Natural Science be taught ? 251. Of what practical benefit is a knowledge of natural science ? 252. What effect has science teaching upon the pupil ? 253. What defect in teaching do scientific studies remedy ? 254. What can be taught in connection with Nat- ural Philosophy ? 255. What practical chemistry can be taught? PHYSIOLOGY. 256. Has not Physiology been much neglected in our common schools ? 257. What are the important results of this study? 258. What primary instruction may be given ? 259. Of what value is a knowledge of physiology to the teacher ? 20 Qiiestions in the Art of Teaching, 260. What may be said of School Hygiene ? 261. How has the subject been taught ? 262. What moral lessons are to be instilled ? 263. What other division of the subject can be taught? 264. "What is the teacher's duty ? 265. How should the teacher exercise care of pupils? 266. What should be the teacher's first care ? 267. What relation does this subject bear to the teacher as an individual ? 268. What are the benefits of calisthenic exercise ? 269. How is the school-ioom to be ventilated? 270. Have new methods of ventilation come into use ? 271. Give a method for ventilating the school- room. 272. How may this method be improved ? 273. What may be said of physical training in the school-room ? 274. What may be taught in connection with this subject ? 275. Where can this be taught most successfully ? 276. How is the teacher to make proper prepara- tions for this instruction ? 277. How is the perfection of ventilation to be reached ? 278. What is of the utmost importance to the teacher ? 279. What is a practical illustration of the uses of hygiene ? Geography. 21 GEOGRAPHY. 280. Why shoulci a pupil be taught the geography of his home before he is taught that of the earth ? 281. How would you show a child that the appear- ance of a ship at sea is a proof of the earth's rotun- dity ? 282. How should the globe be used ? 283. What should be the method of teaching geog- raphy ? 284. What are the conditions of primary geography teaching ? 285. What is the origin of this fault? 286. How is the study of geography to be intro- duced to the pupil ? 287. Describe a ** recitation " at the moulding- board table. 288. When should map-drawing be commenced? 289. Should maps be used in giving primary in- struction ? 290. How can the ^* cardinal points " be practically taught ? 291. How should map-drawing be taught to small children ? 292. What should be the first instruction in map- drawing? 293. What has been given as an elementary ex- ercise ? ^ 294. By what may this be followed ? 295. How much time should be devoted to the ex- ercise? 296. What is the " new method " of studying geog- raphy ? 22 Questions in the Art of Teaching. 297. What are the succeeding *^ steps " ? 298. How are errors made by the pupil to be cor- rected ? 299. In what are teachers lamentably deficient ? 300. Should memorizing of the text be allowed ? 301. What forms the basis for all accurate geo- graphical study ? 302. How can the monotony of a geography recita- tion be relieved ? 303. What other ^* diversions " can be used ? 304. Give a common method of teaching geog- raphy. 305. How does the teacher conduct the recitation ? 306. Does this method give a good result ? 307. What other method has been used ? 308. What is your method of teaching geography? 309. How may this method be improved ? 310. What is the length of the lesson assigned ? 311. When should reviews be given ? 312. What may be used in connection with the ad- vanced class ? 313. How can geological changes be shown ? 314. What further representations can be made ? 315. What study is useful in connection with geog- raphy ? 316. How is a topical recitation given ? 317. To what may the attention of pupils be called ? 318. What do you know of the *^ new standard of time"? 319. What study is the natural ally of geography ? History, 23 HISTORY. 320. How should history be taught ? 321. How would you teach history in our common schools ? 322. How is an interest to be awakened in the study ? 323. In what way are historical errors to be de- tected ? 324. How is history to be taught in the primary grades ? 325. What is meant by the ethics of history ? 326. To what does a study of history lead ? 327. How may the study of literature be made -to subserve the study of history ? 328. Should the text-book be discarded with ad- vanced classes ? 329. Should mnemonics be used in teaching his- tory ? 330. What system of mnemonics do you use ? 331. How do you assist pupils in memorizing dates ? 332. Should history lessons be read ? 333. How is the pupil's interest in the study to be obtained ? 334. How is an advanced class to be taught ? 335. What use is to be made of dates in teaching history ? 336. What is the great p7^i?iciple in the teaching of history ? 337. How should primary instruction be com- menced ? 338. What, then, should be the grand object of the teacher ? 24 Questions in the Art of Teaching. 339. What is a noted weakness in our schools ? 340. How may this current history be taught ? 341. What form of topical outline is to be used ? 342. What division of this study is sadly neglected ? 343. How should the subject be taught? 344. What especial form i-s to be used in the rec- itation ? 345. How may the interest of the pupils be in- creased ? 346. How often should a recitation be held ? 347. What are useful auxiliaries to these studies? 348. What is it necessary that the pupil should know ? 349. What is the highest form of history teaching ? 350. How has a knowledge of prehistoric people been obtained ? 351. What may be said of the importance of the study ? PENMANSHIP. 352. What should be the pupil's position while writing ? 353. When should instruction in writing be given to the pupil ? 354. How may pupils be taught to practice writ- ing ? 355. How is penmanship to be taught ? 356. Should a manual be used by the teacher? 357. How has penmanship been taught ? 358. What drills may be given by the teacher ? 359. By what means are primary children to be taught ? Drawing - Discipline and Moral Training, 25 360. How can the pupils be interested in writing? 361. What division of this subject is neglected ? 362. What aid may be used in writing ? 363. What may be said of movement exercises ? DRAWING. 364. What are the uses of drawing ? 365. What does industrial drawing represent ? 366. To what will this lead ? 367. How is drawing to be taught ? 368. What are the benefits claimed for industrial drawing ? 369. Can all pupils be taught to draw ? 370. What should be the length of a recitation in drawing ? 371. What general law governs instruction in this subject ? 372. How is drawing usually taught ? 373. Can such instruction be given in the common schools ? DISCIPLINE AND MORAL TRAINING. 374. What is the purpose of discipline in a school ? 375. What should be the first aim of a teacher in managing a school ? 376. What is the chief object of school govern- ment? 377. State the advantages and disadvantages of a self-supporting system in school government. 378. State this opinion in a ^' nut shell." 26 Questions in the Art of Teaching. 379. What is the secret of school government ? 380. What great principle lies in securing govern- ment ? 381. Should the teacher act the petty tyrant ? 382. What principle of conduct is prominent in children ? 383. What are the external conditions of good dis- cipline ? 384. How is discipline secured with little children ? 385. Should the teacher threaten in order to secure obedience ? 386. Should the teacher have a set of rules ? 387. What are the objections to the '' self-report- ing " system of government? 388. What effect has ** appearance " upon securing discipline ? 389. How would you act in case a boy refused to recite ? "^ 390. What other illustrations may be given ? 391. What principle on the part of the teacher is an aid in securing government? 392. How may a bad boy be controlled ? 393. What other influence has an effect upon the government of the school ? 394. What line of conduct is to be avoided by the teacher ? 395. Name another valuable adjunct to discipline ? 396. How is the discipline of a school impeded ? 397. Vsf hsit fact should be fully impressed upon the teacher ? 398. How is discipline aided by tact in '' seating " ? 399. How may the teacher gain the assistance of his pupils ? Discipline and Moral Training. 27 400. What should be the discipline of the arst day of school ? 401. Of what 'should the teacher have a thorough knowledge ? 402. What object is to be secured by discipline ? 403. Which psychological /al\ cents a pound? The product of ii^ by ii^ is easily ascertained from a knowledge of geometrical principles to be 132J ; that is iiXi2-t-4"i32ir. These artifices are of invaluable use to teacher and pupil. They should also have memorized the product of whole numbers of the same kind to 25 times 25. 88. No words can convey a full appreciation of the importance of mental arithmetic. Only those who have experienced the tran- sition from the old methods to the new, can fully realize the supreme value of this study. Indeed, it is generally believed that the method of mental arithmetic is the greatest improvement in modern edu- cation ; and the world owes a debt of gratitude to Warren Colburn, its author, which it can never pay. 89. The former is used in reducing fractions to their lowest terms, and the solution of some practical questions, as, e.g., what is the least number of square blocks of granite that will cover a floor 7 ft. 8 in. by 10 ft. 4 in.? (Ans. 713.) The latter is of much use in changing fractions to the least common denominator, and in solving mechanical and astronomical questions. 90. There are two principles commonly used in Algebra which may be very profitably applied to arithmetic : I. ^^If one of the quantities contains a factor not found in the other, it may be cancelled without affecting the common divisor." Find the G. C. D. of 48 and 60. 48, 60—12 G. C. D. It is evident at a glance that 5 is a factor of 60, but not of 48. Dropping the factor 5 from 60, the other factor, 12, is seen to be the G. C. D. Find the G. C. D. of 70, 154, and 819. 70, 154, 819. 35, 77 Ans. 7 G. C. D. Dropping the factor 2 from 70 and 154, 7 is seen to be a factor of 35 and 77. It is also a divisor of 819, and is the G. C. D. This method is simple ; it saves time, and gives the pupil a drill in rapid mental calculation. 91. There are several solutions that can be given, but probably the following simple method can be used with good success. Taking any ordinary problem, as f-r-f, or I-^f , explain to the class that in- verting the divisor is simply a short method of reducing to a com- mon denominator and comparing numerators, or dividing one numerator by another. For example : (|-r-f. 20 = com. denom.) that is, if-^if = -ft ^^ ^tf* Using the same fractions, and inverting the divisor we obtain |X^ = \l = iiV- 92. Lo7?^ division ; because every step of the process can be put Arithmetic. S i before the learner in figures, while short division is a contracted method, and leaves nearly all the work, especially the multiplication and subtraction, to be done mentally. 93. Decimal fractions, so far as the system goes, because it is easier — being merely an extension to the right of the point of the notation system for whole numbers. Number classes should learn, however, the practical icse of a few of the simplest common frac- tions, as \, J, etc., before they get to any kind of fractions as usually given injarithmetics. 94. Mental arithmetic, as practically illustrated, is as follows: The teacher recites rapidly a series of mathematical perplexities in this way: "I had six apples; I took one away, added five, divided by two, squared them, gave away five, lost one, sold two, bought ten and ten and five and four and three, and lost seven, and divided them all with Kate and Jennie and Tom and Ned. How many did they have, and how many were left?" There is a pause of about thirty seconds, and then one calls out that he has it, and then another and another, till they all say they have solved the problem. Allowing a minute to elapse, one pupil is called upon for the answer, and then it is put to the vote of the school whether or not the answer is right. 95. There are tin and wooden measures, with a pail of water and a bushel of bran, ranged on the table before the class. The teacher holds up the smallest tin measure and asks what it is. Some say it is a quart, others declare it to be a pint. After some delay it is decided to be a gill. "Can any one spell it or write it on the board ?" This is done, and the next step is to experiment with the measure. One of the girls fills it with water and makes a statement about it. "I have one gill of water." Having obtained a unit of measure, the next is taken, and the pint is considered by filling it with water by means of the gill measure, and count- ing the number of gills required to fill it. For dry measure, the bran is used instead. 96. By the blocks, the wet and dry measures, the rules and tapes, without once referring to a book. In point of fact, it does not appear advisable to use books at all, but to study numbers from objects, or by means of the board or stories of imaginary transac- tions from real life. The study of numbers is confined to the first four rules, simple fractions, and, perhaps, interest. This takes the pupil about half way through the grammar school, and it covers all that is required in ordinary business transactions. The tables, addition, multiplication, weights, etc., are in time all learned, but they are placed last, and not fir<^t. 97. The pupils are probably weak on the "tables," or in the 52 Qtiestions in the Art of Teaching. mere parrot-like recitation of formulas, but the}'^ display a degree of quickness, a readiness of memory, comprehension, and reason- ing, that is remarkable. With shorter questions, involving two sums in one rapidly spoken sentence, the answers come in a vol- ley from the class the instant the sentence is finished, showing that the mental processes have been just as rapid as the spoken words. Such are the '* results" in many schools. As the majority of children leave school when about half way through the gram- mar grades, the question whether this objective teaching is fitting the boy for his probable position in life, or whether this is the best "schooling" for the poor man's child, can only be answered by the facts of future years. 98. The teacher writes a series of simple examples in addition on the board, and the whole school watch her with the keenest interest. Now for a grand competition in language, grammar, arithmetic, and imagination. As soon as the figures are set forth a dozen hands are *'up." ''Well, Jennie?" Jennie rises and says: *' I was walking in the fields, and I met two butterflies, and then I saw two more, and that made four butterflies." "Good." The answer is put under the sum, and another child is called. " I had seven red roses, and a man gave me three white roses, and then I had ten roses." By this time the school has caught the spirit of the game. Forty hands are up, trying in almost frantic eagerness for a chance to bowl over one of the sums and tell a story. Whispe7'ing is plenty. One by one the sums are answered and the quaint stories told. Then all the upper figures of the sums are removed, and the lesson is changed to subtraction. Again the stories. " I had four red apples, and I gave two away, and then I had two apples," etc. Nearly every one mentions the color of the article described. They take their subjects from out- of-doors, as if all their thoughts are of the woods, the fields, the street. The most striking feature of the lesson is the intense eagerness to tell something, the alertness, the free play to the imagination of the pupils, and the absence of formality and any- thing like task or recitation. It is practically an exercise in imag- ination, grammar, language, expression, and arithmetic. 99. This subject logically follows Decimal Fractions, but as many pupils are compelled to leave school to follow business pur- suits before they reach the grammar grades, this important practi- cal " study" should be placed in the highest primary course, im- mediately succeeding the four fundamental rules. If pupils are instructed to express all amounts of United States money in dol- lars, cents, and mills, they will have no difficulty in writing money correctly. When the teacher says, ** write twenty-five cents," the pupil will write $.250 not 25 merely. Or, if the teacher asks for Arithmetic. 53 the writing of three dollars, the pupil should write $3,000 and not $3. or $3.00. The main advantage, or rather absolute necessity of th'*s, will be appreciated when division of Federal money is reached^ especially the case in which money is divided by money. 100. That the dollar mark (|) and decimal point are all-impor- tant; and that the work is of 710 value unless these signs are prop- erly placed. If all money be carried out to cents and mills, there will be no necessity of teaching reduction of Federal money, pro- vided the pupils are familiar with the table. 101. " Add five dollars and two and one-half-cents, thirty-seven and one-half cents, one dollar and sixty-two and one-half cents, forty-four cents and three mills, and two dollars and fifty-three cents and two mills, and subtract one cent from the sum." Have the pupil proceed thus: $5,025 .375 1.625 .443 2.532 10.000 .010 Ans. g.990 As the class is supposed to have no knowledge of Common Fractions, the teacher will instruct pupils to write five mills for one-half cent. Teach no other fractions of a cent. 102. Drill thoroughly in practical questions involving combina- tions of Addition, Subtraction, and Multiplication before com- mencing Division. The latter may be classified under the follow- ing cases: Money divided by an abstract number; money divided by a comparatively large abstract number; money divided by money; and then form combinations in problems similar to this: Tf 240 pounds of salt cost $6, what will 25 pounds cost ? 240)6. ooo($. 025 $.025 480 25 1200 125 1200 50 Ans. $.625 or 62^ cents = cost of 25 pounds. 103, When the teacher is instructing the class, all the pupils may, of course, solve each question simultaneously. In testing the school, however, the pupils should always have different 54 Qtiestions in the Art of Teaching. problems, and, when practicable, those involving different opera- tions. To prevent copying, let all the right-hand pupils on each row of desks perform on one involving division, while their com- panions by their side, on the left, are engaged upon one involving multiplication; or have the former at work upon one division and one multiplication, while the latter use two divisions. 104. It is as follows: Beginning at the left, multiply the double of each digit of the given number by the number represented by the preceding digits, and write each product under those already obtained in such a way that its right-hand figure shall be two places to the right of the right-hand figure of the preceding prod- uct. Then square each digit successively, beginning at the right, and place the right-hand figure of the first result, one place to the right of the right-hand figure of the last product before obtained, and the right-hand figure of each succeeding square two places to the left of the right-hand figure of the preceding square. Add the columns, and the result will be the required square. 105. Mental arithmetic. Written arithmetic is the bringing in of slate and pencil, pen and pencil and paper, chalk and black- board, to aid the memory when the numbers become too large and too complicated to be carried in the mind. School work should aim to accomplish tw^o things: to develop thought and to teach ex- pression. Hence the language used in solving problems and in ''working examples" should be correct. The expression of an idea is of no less importance than the idea itself. For, it is from the expression of the idea by another that we get an understand- ing of the character and quality of the idea, as it exists in the mind. Such expressions as "1 multiplied by so-and-so, and it gave me," and so on, are incorrect in many, many ways. 106. Written — slate-and-pencil arithmetic — is made the arith- metic of the school-room in the town and city. In the district schools the blackboard takes the place of the slate, and this is pref- erable with the higher grades. In both, mental arithmetic is being set aside, looked upon as an incumbrance, the natural sequence of the subject being made a ** hobby" by many teachers and then ridden to death. This is wrong. It is true that mental and written arithmetic should not be looked upon as two separate studies, and treated as two subjects completely isolated from each other. This is wrong on the other extreme. 107. The old idea of ''working arithmetic by rule" has ex- ploded. For instance: From the analysis of a question we obtain a formula; from the formula we deduce a rule. Now, if we can /analyze, what use is there of a rule? We do this by.analysis* The result is the principle made into an instrument with which to Arithmetic. 55 work out results. Instead of machines, we should aim to make our pupils machinists. 108. The test, efficiency and thoroughness of the comprehension. If the lesson includes a half-dozen problems, require each mem- ber of the class to prepare this lesson, writing out in full — or as fully as necessary — on slate or paper, the analysis of each, and let this work be brought to the recitation by the class, and while a question is being placed on the blackboard, the class may recite from their slates or papers. 109. It is just as necessary that the language used in an arith- metical recitation be elegant and accurate as that it be elegant and accurate in a recitation in Grammar, for expression is not only a test, but also a help to correct thinking. 1 10. I. The statement and question; 2. The analysis; 3. The conclusion — or, really, the answer to the question asked in con- nection with the statement. This analysis may be, and should be, shortened and condensed just as soon as the pupil is able to do it, and do it intelligently and correctly. 111. Language is important, because any amount of learning is of little use if it cannot be expressed. Arithmetic, because it is necessary in the transaction of such business as must be done by every one, no matter what his calling may be. 112. Figures, instead of the science of numbers. Go into any average school, and ask to be shown a number, and the child will go to the board and write a figure; ask for a fraction and he will write *'^" — which is no more a fraction than the word '* cat" is a cat. We teach figures, and the bright children apply them to numbers. Give to the ordinary pupil this question: I have a cord of wood, sticks four feet long, to be cut into three lengths for a stove, for which I pay $2; if I want another cord cut into four lengths, how much proportionately should I pay? And he will answer with edifying assurance, |2.66f — which is wrong, of course. If I pay two dollars for two cuts, three cuts are worth three dollars; but the child didn't think; he used figures. — Col, Parker. 113. To develop the faculty of ready and sharp logic that is required in the applications of arithmetical process to the business of common life. A mental habit of readiness and accuracy in the processes of exact reasoning is of the highest value. We need this kind of mental drill, and greatly lament its 'general d.h's^nz^ in the daily work of the common schools of to-day. 114. Through an improper use of Warren Colburn's admirable book. Teachers came to require of their pupils mere routine work and formulated processes of analysis in recitation — absolutely 56 Questions in the Art of Teaching. foreign to the author's design. In many instances children were assigned daily lessons from this book and required to commit not only the examples, but the formula of explanation, to memory. Any single deviation from a prescribed form was treated as a fail- ure on the part of the pupil. Such absurd and unphilosophical teaching of mental arithmetic serve- to secure its general abolition. The foolish abuse of the principle of analytic induction caused its abandonment, and the substitution of books and methods of a diluted and undisciplinary character. 115. Yes; and perhaps necessarily from "the eternal fitness of things." The primary pupil is instructed that 4-I-6X2 — 7-)- 9-1-3 = 7 J, but the correct answer to this combination is (4-|-[6X2] — 7-|-[9-^3] ) = 12; from the principle derived from the application of higher mathematics, that precedence is first given to the quanti- ties connected by the sign of division, then those united by the multiplication sign, and finally the disposition of those governed by the plus and minus sign, no priority of use in the two latter changing the final result. 116. The wise teacher will avoid everything having the appear- ance of educational jugglery; but frequently in the communica- tion of general information, in the five or ten-minute "talks" that many of the best and leading teachers in the country are in the habit of giving to their pupils, reference may be made to "light- ning addition," obtaining a repetition of figures by the multiplica- tion of the nine digits, circulating decimals, casting out the gs and the 7s, and an explanation of the origin of the signs. 117. The sign of addition, called " plus," is derived from the initial letter of the v^ord plus, thus, P P P /> +, each time written more carelessly. The sign of subtraction, called "minus," was derived from the Latin minus, which was contracted into the letters m n s, with a horizontal line drawn above them to denote contrac- tion. In the course of time the letters m n s were omitted, leaving the short horizontal line [— ]. The multiplication sign was ob- tained by changing the sign of addition into the oblique cross X, and this change was made for the reason that multiplication is the short way of performing many additions. 118. Its origin is a little obscure, but it is said to have been employed to save room on the printed page, and preserve its regu- larity. The dividend was written at the left of the sign, and the divisor at the right, and a dot was written in the places of the dividend and divisor. Thus 12-7-3. The radical sign was derived from the letter r, the initia- letter of radix. Thus V9. The sign of equality was first used by Robert Recorde, physician, in his Whetstone of Witte, published in 1557. He gives his reason in his own quaint manner, in the Arithmetic. 57 following words : "And to avoid the tediouse repetition of these woordes, is equalle to, I will sette, as I doe often in woorkeuse, a paire of paralleles or Gemowe lines of one lengthe thus =, because noe 2 thynges can be more equalle."* 119. In recognizing numbers of things at sight. Ability to count must not be confounded with the true knowledge of things. Counting is generally ordinal ; his four or five is apt to be nothing but the fourth or fifth. He may know numbers without knowing their names or the words that recall them. The names of num- bers are frequently learned very early, and many children learn to count as far as lOO before they know even the letters of the alpha- bet, and long before they are placed in school at all. 120. Hold up three objects and say, " Bring me so many," is the first and easiest test. If this is successful, hold up a number of objects (not more than four), and say, " Bring me " (nam- ing the number). Third test : hold up a number of objects and ask, "How many?" Fourth: request the child to bring you so many, giving the number without showing the object. 121. As soon as the children have a clear idea of 77tore or less, which is the true idea of quantity, they should be taught to make small calculations. They are naturally fond of such exercises and acquire a facility in their performance. At the outset they should be led to exercise their own skill in "doing examples'' adapted to their age and capacity. They should be required to observe and explain their method at arriving at results. If these methods are not the wisest, the teacher should act the part of a sagacious helper, and show his skill in imparting better ways. 122. It results in greater part from the attempt to teach too much during the first year. Too many teachers argue that the child can not reason, and therefore he must be taught the lan- guage, before the things. All this unreason arises from the at- tempt, that tradition forces upon us, to teach far more than the child can learn. There is no time in the child's life when he can- not see, judge, generalize, and imagine, providing the work is adapted to his mental capacity. It is this lack of adaptation which leads to this erratic theory and ruinous practice. Give the child time to grow, and wait patiently until the germs of power burst out of their fruitful soil of unconsciousness. 123. Cease using any object when it can be remembered and used without the presence of the object. This is a general rule, and applies to all object-teaching. 124. There is absolutely nothing new to be learned in all * For further notice of the curiosities of mathematics, explanation of deri- vations, etc., see No i8, Dime Series of Question Books. 58 Qitestions in the Art of Teaching. arithmetical teaching, except the processes which large numbers involve, such as is found in the additions, multiplications, sub- tractions, and divisions which can not be performed without the use of slate and pencil. All these processes should be discovered by pupils. 125. Probably that of percentage and its various applications, and it \s possible that here a memorized knowledge of the rules gov- erning the various cases — though in direct contradiction to the philosophical methods of teaching arithmetic — is of more utility in advancing the pupil than in any other subject of the study. Con- tinued and persistent explanation, illustrated by the " thirty pos- sible problems " of percentage, will only and alone give a mastery. 126. The average pupil experiences nearly as much difficulty in solving problems under this division as in the more difficult ap- plications of percentage. 127. By the teacher insisting upon the memorizing of the simple fact that when longitude (or a difference of such) is reduced to time, 15 is used as a divisor ; that, conversely, in reducing a difference of time to degrees of longitude, 15 is used as a multi- plier. 128. By having them draw a circle on the slate or blackboard — the latter is preferable — and then, furnished with a thorough in- struction in the apparent revolution of the sun around the earth, making so plain the cause of one hour's difference in time repre- senting 15 degrees of longitude that the pupil may be able to give this explanation in connection with his solution of the problem. A school globe is a very useful accessory at this time. 129. With those especially in which the number of degrees (usually) is smaller than the divisor 15. This can be removed only by an illustration from the teacher of some three, four, or half a dozen cases, if necessary, of solutions of this class of problems. In the question : What amount of time is represented in 4 de- grees, 23 minutes, 17 seconds? the showing to the class that, 4 being indivisible by the given divisor, a reduction to the next lower quantity or degree is essentially the first step will be found to aid the pupils sufficiently well, and encourage them to such de- velopment of their mathematical reasoning as will result in ob- taining the answer — a correct one, if they have been drilled in securing accuracy of work. 130. By the Inductive Method, w^e solve each case by analysis, and derive the rules by inference or induction. By the Deductive Method, we first establish a few general principles, and then derive rules of operation from these principles. 131. Only so much as is necessary to show him how to study, Arithmetic. 59 and keep him from discouragement. Let him do the work, while you point out the way, and encourage his application. And, if he asks for light, give him only twilight. This is Nature's method of imparting light to the world. First, in the morning, the darkness is relieved by the glimmering twilight ; and by imperceptible de- grees it steals upon us, more and more, until we bask in the full blaze of noonday. The anxious pupil sees but dimly the principle and the fact. He longs for more light. Encourage him to strug- gle for it, and let it in upon him slowly, and only as he needs it. " Never do anything for a pupil that he can be led to do for him- self." 132. The working of all problems should be accompanied by drawings of squares, rectangles, circles, spheres, cubes, cylinders, etc. It adds interest to the recitation ; ensures a more thorough knowledge of the subject ; develops habits of accuracy and neat- ness ; cultivates the hand and eye, and frequently arouses an honest rivalry in each member of the class to do better than his neighbor. 133. The term has come to be an acknowledged name for the definite departure from the old process of mind cultivation, and has already suffered by its practical adoption in the school-room by unthinking, unreasoning teachers, v/ho only copy others as parrots learn to talk. They do not think that it is a lack of skill on their part that they fail, and that such failure results from not studying what to do and what to avoid. No one can ask or expect, before making a first attempt, a thoughtful, intelligent teacher, who has followed a certain course faithfully because it has seemed the best way for him, to lay it aside at an hour's notice, and work as conscientiously for a new, untried, though highly recommended, one. But let the winnowing process of careful experimental study be applied to them without prejudice and without haste. In this way only can the chaff be separated from the wheat. 134. Neatness and carefulness in the small item of making exact figures, and forming beautiful combinations of numbers. The scrawling, irregular-shaped figures that deface the blackboards of very many country and town schools should give place to order and precision, and accurately-shaped characters. It is quite prob- able that nine-tenths of the mistakes and failures which occur at the board find their origin, either remotely or immediately, in this slipshod work. 135. Practical applications ; and, in solving such problems, pupils should be required to understand the words in which the problem is expressed, to point out the relation of the thing re- quired to the thing given, to present a neat solution, and to explain their work in concise and appropriate language. 6o Qiiestions in the Art of Teaching. 136. The former busies itself with finding out what are the facts in the case, and what these facts signify. The latter employs itself in arranging the facts in order, and in devoting them to such uses as will most effectually serve humanity. 137. First : to lead the pupil to make the transition from arith- metic to algebra. Second : to begin algebra with concrete prob- lems, and not with the abstract operations of the science. Third: the pupil should have a thorough drill in the practice of algebra. 138. It ranks among the first of all studies for the discipline of thought power. It is the perfection of logic, and excels in train- ing the mind to logical habits of thought. In this respect, it is superior to the study of Logic itself ; for it is logic embodied in the science of form. While logic makes us familiar with the princi- ples of reasoning, Geometry trains the mind to habits of reasoning. No study is so well adapted to make close and accurate thinkers. Euclid has done more to develop the logical faculty of the world than any book ever written. It has been the inspiring influence of scientific thought for ages, and is one of the corner-stones of modern civilization. 139. I. A knowledge of geometry is adapted to the young mind. 2. The elements of geometry should be taught for their practical value. 3. Instruction in the elements of geometry lies at the basis of drawing ; and 4, lessons in geometry will be of value in school discipline. 140. The methods in Algebra, Geometry," etc., are those for impressing abstract and symbolical notions and principles. The understanding must accompany the work throughout ; the stage of routine manipulation, worked up to automatic dexterity, is left behind. To a certain extent, the mechanical processes may enter into Algebra ; the pupil may receive certain instructions, and, without'understanding the reasons, perform the simpler operations of adding, subtracting, multiplying, as in Arithmetic, but in the resolution of equations the principles must be understood. 141. Alexander Bain states that this science is better learned after Geometry, inasmuch as it works in part by demonstration or deduction from principles, for which by far the best commence- ment is Geometry. It has its own specialty, which consists in wrapping up the problems more completely in symbols, so that the inferences have to depend upon the validity of the symbolic repre- sentations and processes. The symbolic processes should be jus- tified by explanations and demonstrations at the outset ; and the pupil should fully comprehend these. 142. Of its utility — as it is the whole assemblage of measures derived from a fundamental standard, called meter — there can be Natural History — Language Lessons and Grammar. 6i no question. Originating in France, it is a mooted question whether it will come into general use by the people of other countries. lis opponents declare that it is no more necessary to adopt it than it would be to accept the monetary system, decimal or otherwise, of France, England, etc. Its adoption by the Government, and al- most universal use by scientists, does not necessarily make it *'a part of us." Certainly a knowledge of its divisions — beautifully uniform — can be imparted to the pupils in a short time. NATURAL HISTORY. 143. These sciences are typified, and made up chiefly, by Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology. The methods of teaching these are not difficult to assign, although there are some things that serve to complicate them. It is understood that they repeat facts, notions already obtained in the general sciences, and that they are occupied with the arrangement, classification, and description of vast numbers of individual objects. Any of these sciences, and particularly the last two, would swamp and overwhelm the strongest memory, and the details would be unprofitable when lodged there. The teacher has to make a principle of selection that will guide him in making the most of a limited amount of time. 144. Principally by experiment. And this principle applies to Zoology, which can not be learned with any degree of sufficiency and exactness, unless the student practises dissection. In our com- mon schools, topical diagrams alone supply the deficiency result- ing from lack of apparatus. 145. Every school-room should contain a cabinet of the native woods growing in its vicinity. Our pupils are taught much con- cerning foreign countries, but very few can give correctly the names of half a dozen trees in sight of which they have lived for years. Boys and girls ought to know exactly the names, charac- teristics, uses, and value of the commonest trees and plants grow- ing in their neighborhood. The early winter is the best season for the collection of specimens, as the bark is firmly adherent, and the wood is free from sap. LANGUAGE LESSONS AND GRAMMAR. 146. A system of language lessons conforms to Nature's method of teaching language. The little child, prattling in its mother's arms, is engaged in its first lessons in composition. The simple name, the quality and action word, the short sentence, all come in the natural growth of the power of expression. In teaching, we must observe Nature's method and follow her golden rules. A 62 Questions in the Art of Teaching. correct system of language lessons is founded upon the way in which a little child naturally learns oral and written language. 147. That a knowledge of language should precede a knowledge of grammar. This is the historical order of development. The ancients knew language and could use it in literature, but they had very little knowledge of grammar. Homer sang in immortal verse, and probably could not distinguish a noun from a verb. The Iliad embodied the rules of grammar, without the author being conscious of them; the rules of grammar were derived from the study of the Iliad. This is also the natural order, — practice precedes theory, the art comes before the science, — and should be followed in the early lessons on language. 148. That they may learn what is good language and form the habit of using it. We acquire language through imitation ; the pupil who has always heard good language will use good lan- guage; his ability to use good language does not depend upon his knowledge of grammar, but upon his having heard good English, read good English, and practised good English. No teacher can afford to dispense with the language exercise. 149. Not through the study of words, but through familiarity of speech; and the teachers's conversation, in school and out, has more to do with the child's power of expression than the teaching of grammar. True, the latter is essential as much for its reac- tionary influences on the teacher, as for its effect upon the pupils, but it is the teacher's unguarded utterance that has most perma- nent influence in moulding the child in the use of language. 150. Bain very cogently states some of the reasons why. He writes : A fezu perso7is, accustomed only to the best forms of the language, might approximate to a faultless style without grammar teaching; but not so the mass. By the ear alone we may be taught to avoid "houses is''\ but the insidious breaches of concord due to the distance of the subject and the verb — "the price upon the houses are'' — can hardly be explained without the terminology of grammar. ... It is an aid to readiness, ease, correctness, and effectiveness of composition, to be lead to examine the structure, arrangement, and constituents of the sentence. We may dispense with this training, but it will be our loss ; we shall not compass the arts of style so rapidly in any other way. 151. The first aim would be to have the meaning of the words of any simple story or narration understood, by telling or other- wise. The second would be to sort out or classify all the words meaning persons, places, or things. Then the words used to ex- press doing or being. Next describing words — i, of Nouns; 2, of Verbs. Next connecting words simply, and then words connect- Language Lessons and Grammar. 6;^ ing and showing relation. Thus far, no grammar should be used. The pupil should then learn the inflections and syntax of the text- book. Technical grammar should not be studied too early. Cer- tainly not before a child is in its '* teens.*' 152. These are figures or drawings, usually formed of lines oval, straight, or slightly bent (as in the brace), used to facilitate a demonstration of the agreement, construction, and arrangement of words. They are useful in picturing to the eye the several relations of words, phrases and clauses in the sentence. 153. When used merely as a mechanical form without the addi- tional and supplementary training in outlining, verbal analysis, and parsing. Their constant use results in surfeiting the pupil with a mastery of pictured analysis and some skill in the elements of geometrical drawing, without teaching him the use of his mother- tongue. By judicious use, they will ever be a beneficial auxiliary in demonstrating his knowledge of proper grammatical connec- tion. 154. In addition to systematic instruction, there is required: i. Correct speech on the part of the teacher. 2. Careful selection of words by the teacher. 3. Care in the choice of reading and of arrangement. For several years from the beginning, the course of language-lessons runs closely parallel with object-lessons, and they must be treated as mutually complementary. As the child's intellect expands and he becomes capable of examining objects minutely, his attention should be called to resemblances and differences, to the parts, material, qualities, and uses of the objects presented. Exercises of this kind, properly conducted, give a large number of concrete nouns and of such adjectives as are needed for simple descriptions of material things. 155. Reading and spelling might be considered as coming with- in the scope of this subject, but the special aim here is to develop the power of using the language with readiness, grammatical propriety, elegance, and force; for one of the chief ends of educa- tion is universally conceded to be the cultivation of the power of thought, and words are its expression. 156. Language. No intellectual necessity of man is greater than such a knowledge as shall unlock for him the records and treasures of all ages, enabling him to contribute of his own knowledge and thought to the profit and pleasure of mankind. If the teacher can realize what a blessing he is conferring upon humanity when he teaches language, he will not enter upon the grammar hour with so much reluctance. It will never be as satisfactory as mathematics, *' an ^xact science;" or as reading, which may become an imitative art; or as geography, which may 64 Qtiestions in the Art of Teaching. be fervently taught; or even as spelling, that may be almost silently taught; but it may be so directed as an exercise as to be of the highest value to them. 157. Of that captious disposition which results in magnifying little matters. In the teacher's daily duties and surroundings, and in the examinations upon minutiae to which he is constantly sub- jected, it is easy to discover the cause of this "disease." But it is none the less unfortunate. 158. All young teachers have this incipient form of great wis- dom, and it seems to be as absolutely necessary to their after better mental condition as the measles are to a healthy develop- ment of childhood. It is to be noted that there are many books published on this subject — some apparently on reliable authority — that are totally unworthy of the attention of the teacher, proving as they do veritable pitfalls for him, while others, manufactured to order, are to be received, ciun grano salis. The study of philol- ogy is a most abstruse one, and no single writer's opinions are by any means infallible. It is no sign of ''smartness" to advance these objections culled from other sources. 159. Sometimes, unfortunately, by a spirit of unfairness in at- tempting to trip the fellow teacher into some statement antagon- istic to the "decree" of the text book author, or by a confession of ignorance of the construction of a word of which the querist was himself, possibly half an hour previous. Precious time has been thus wasted, when a proper discussion of ways, means, methods, and the solution of the difficulties of the school-room was the proper work. All such jugglery should be decried by the good sense of the presiding officer. 160. Like and As. " The similarity and yet difference of these two little words often give use to obscurity in the writings of even the most thoroughly educated. A sentence in a newspaper remonstrating against the laborers in a gas-v/orks being compelled to work twelve hours a day before red-hot furnaces, runs thus: * The directors could fill their places in three hours from the docks alone; but that does not give them a right to use men up like Cuban planters.' Of course the writer meant to say that the directors had no right to use up men as Cuban planters use up negroes. The obscurity of his expression arose from the misunderstanding of the distinction between like and as.'' — O71 the Use of Words. 161. Outside of gross vulgarisms and barbarisms — common in many cases to both pupil and teacher — are the uses of the past tense of many verbs with the auxiliary verbs have, had, etc.; the use of the participle instead of the past tense with the first person, Language Lessons and Grammar. 65 as I done ; and the euphonious error of don' t \v\X}[i the third person singular. 162. Principally by having your class or classes drilled on the conjugation of the verbs. Assign the verb "believe'' to them daily for slate work, in one or more tenses, through the active and passive voices. Succeed this by similar drill in "fall," "see,'* "freeze," "eat," and many others, varied by having the class write on the blackboard such sentences as " I should have fell," " I have froze," " I haven't saw," etc., and then rewrite the sen- tence correctly, explaining the fault in the former sentence. 163. By further illustration of the puzzling verbs "lie" and **lay," "sit" and "set," and an explanation of the auxiliaries shall and will ; and here where so many grammarians are sus- piciously silent, it is best to simpjy state that shall is used in the first persons, and will in the second and third, in ordinary affirma- tion ; or vice versa in their use, when strong determination is asserted. 164. It is one that frequently does not exist owing to the paucity of knowledge of the subject by the teacher, or in its stead there is a pseudo-criticism fever permeating his instruction as to whether five and six are eleven or five and six is eleven; but it is that resulting from trying to teach too much where the instructor is scholarly and really well versed in the subject. 165. The pupil can readily give a very charming analysis of those oft-quoted lines from Whittier's Snow Bound, and furnish on slate or blackboard a picturesque diagram (according to Clark or some one of the manifold modifications and variations of the Brace System) of the interesting lines selected from Goldsmith's The Village Schoolmaster : " Here, in his noisy mansion, skilled to rule, The village master taught his Uttle school;*' and at the very moment possibly, or some minutes later, in- dulge in one or more of the ungrammatical expressions that result principally from not being drilled in such a simple matter as the conjugation of verbs. 166. It is a mistake. English grammar, well studied, puts the student in possession of many important facts concerning the English language. The student thus adds to his stock of infor- mation. Additionally, it will give the pupil a kind of discipline he can not gain in any other way. Distinctions of words and forms, idioms and constructions, are important in themselves, and the nice observation of them develops a critical faculty that can not be obtained from mathematical or scientific studies. It is a study, however, for the advanced pupils. 66 Qtiestions in the Art of Teaching. 167. It should be so taught as to improve the pupil's use of language. Even if a pupil has a good command of words, forms, and constructions, there are still some things that he must learn by rule and practice. He may by imitation pronounce his plurals and possessives correctly, but he can not thus spell and write them. But in the cases of the majority there are numerous errors of speech that spring from association, and that'can be rooted out only by persistent criticism and correction. Some of these are errors of Etymology, and some, errors of Syntax. 168. He should pay much attention to the practical side of the subject; the grammar study and the language lessons should be taught together. Moreover, the teacher must not be content with mere corrections of errors. In the discussion of false forms, four steps may be noted; the error, the reason w^hy it is an error, the correction, and the reason why the correction is made. 169. Voting pupils do not learn half as much good English from their text-books as they do from their teacher, if she is accurate and choice in her language. A pupil may decline the pronoun ** I" a hundred times, and repeat the rule for the objec- tive case as often, and yet he will say "Olla gave the flowers to Mary and I " if his teacher uses such construction. On the contrary, if his teacher says "She gave it to Mary and me," he will say the same, though he never looked into a grammar. Con'ollary i. A child would never use bad grammar, if he had never heard had grainmar. Corrollaiy 2. Children in their language are much the same as are their models. 170. The important thing in the guidance of children toward the acquirement of ease and correctness of expression, is to see from the earliest moment in school-life that every spoken or written sentence that comes under their observation be correct and even elegant. That this shall be done must be made the constant care of every teacher. The pupil watches the movements and imitates the words and actions to a far greater extent than the teacher knows. 171. Let the teacher never speak incorrectly himself, nor per- mit an incorrect expression of a pupil to pass unheeded, and there is a probability of our seeing and hearing such forms of language for them as would honor even "a well of English un- defiled." 172. That feeling which is common among many district school teachers, of constraint, awkwardness, amounting in some cases to almost shame, to speak grammatical English when at home, on the farm, or by the fireside. If you are to be exposed to ridi- cule for speaking correctly, even if it comes in contradiction to Language Lessons and Grammar. 67 the language of your parents, the sooner the matter is settled by a judicious stand, the better for the sake of all, and especially your own welfare. The attempt to indulge in too set forms of speech — One for the schoolroom and the other for the ** world" — can not be too much decried. 173. As there is no royal road to learning, in general, so there is no one method for teaching language so pre-eminent that it may be regarded as the best method. It is, however, strikingly manifest that those teachers secure the most satisfactory results who work in accordance with methods of their own arranging; who are not mere imitators, but intelligent executors of methods which they have thoughtfully devised. 174. As one of the objections made strongly against the **rote'* parsing (characterized by some as "senseless memorizing") of *' John is a noun, singular number, masculine gender," etc., and yet as it is absolutely necessary that a knowledge of the properties of the various parts of speech should be held by the pupil, there can be used "outlines," similar to the following, and given as slate-work or produced on the blackboard: For the Substantive, Species. Class. Sub-class. Person. Gender. Number. Declension. Case, Construction. For the Verb, Species. Class. Sub-class. Voice. Mode. Tense. Conjugation. Person. Number. Construction. 175. Closer attention on the part of the pupils to the tech- nicalities of language. The work being before the eyes of all — blackboard outlining is preferable — a spirit of emulation is aroused between the members of the class, resulting in growing accuracy, daily. They will not withstand the criticism of their associates. 176. First, it enables all the class to be reciting at the same time. Second, it impresses the relations of words by seeing them written. Third, it leads to an exactness of statement that the oral method does not always attain — even if used; and the popular expression of our leading teachers is against its use. 177. That which properly may be denominated ** collateral " parsing; where, using the same form of outline as above given, after a sentence has been written on the blackboard or a line or 68 Questions in the Art of Teaching. two of poetry and prose recited by the teacher, the pupils "in turn" parse the word. 178. Securing the attention of the class and developing the faculty of criticism among the pupils. Necessary corrections may be indicated by the up-raised hand of the pupil. 179. By dispensing with the book, for the time being, as soon as a knowledge of the noun has been obtained. Select familiar sentences from their readers and have them simply parse, outline, and diagram the noun until it is well understood, and stop/z/j-/ before this subject even is monotonous. So complete the study with these variations from text-book to slate or blackboard, or both. 180. By following a similar plan concerning the noun. First make the pupils familiar with this part of speech by numerous illustrations and examples. They will then be ready for the name verb^ and possibly for a definition. The arrangement of its properties and its construction naturally follows. 181. Those of the simplest form and accurate in statement. Teachers have not the time nor opportunity, in the ordinary grade of schools, to enter into discussion with the pupils regarding text- book statements. To commit and " parrot off the definitions of others is time worse than wasted. In schools of the higher grade there is time to investigate, to decide, to point out errors, to carry a proposition to logical conclusions, and to analyze these are positive advantages. 182. The teacher must be in the position to have his statements accepted by the pupils unquestioned. Necessarily, he should be correct. Do not accept the definition of a regular verb as '' one that adds d or ed to the present," as this would include hear, an irregular verb; or "a regular verb is one whose past indicative and perfect participles end in ed,'' as this includes the irregular verbs /^^and led; but simply that **a regular verb is one which adds ed to the present to form the past indicative and perfect participles." 183. It frequently happens that a teacher, from a natural liking or knowledge of the subject, and sometimes simply as the result of an affected conceit, attempts to give some instruction in this division of grammar, but always with the only result of having called the pupil's attention to a curiosity, or of wasting a few days of the school's recitations. Properly, it should be left alone under these circumstances. 184. Considerable. The knowledge which he may attain by a study of any one of the half-dozen excellent little manuals pub- lished on the subject, may be imparted to the pupils, additional to Composition. 69 that contained in their grammar, by writing simple sentences on the blackboard, properly punctuated, wiih specimens of the super- scriptions of letters, forms of address, letter headings, etc. The use of quotation marks, interrogation and exclamation points, may be insisted upon from the start. 185. Write on the blackboard the following : " The day is done, and the darkness Falls from the wings of night As a feather is wafted downward From an eagle in his flight. " I see the lights of the village Gleam through the rain and the mist, And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me. That my soul can not resist:" — Longfellow, 186. I. Those relative to Punctuation and Capitals, [a) Call the attention to the use of the comma in the series of nouns, and then form a rule. (6) How many commas in the whole lesson ? (r) Name and use of the punctuation mark after " resist." (^) Why is the dash used before the author's name ? (e) How many periods in this lesson ? How many sentences ? Why does each line commence with a capital letter? 2. Regarding the Parts of Speech, {a) Write in column all the nouns. How many are there? {b) How many nouns are plural? (^) Write the verbs. How many? (<^) How many times is the article the used in this lesson? The article a or an? (e) How many prepositions in the lesson ? (/) How many times is the conjunction and used} (^) Name the pronouns, {/t) How many paragraphs? How many sentences? (i) Write from memory the first verse — the second, (j) Compare with original and cor- rect the punctuation and other errors. COMPOSITION. 187. The teacher could not be confronted by any more appall- ing task than that of managing the compositions of a hundred or more boys and girls — or even the lowest allotment of twenty-five or thirty — who are neither innocent enough to work for praise, nor experienced enough to know the value of literary accomplish- ments. About equally convinced that compositions are of no value in themselves, and that if they were, he himself could never write anything worth reading, the average boy teaches himself to look upon them as an unmitigated nuisance, and upon the teacher who requires them as an enemy to his happiness. 188. He should remember that as there is a traditional antipa- thy to the task, it is best in the first place not to insist upon their production loo often. During the first of the term they may for a 70 Questions in the Art of Teaching. short time alternate weekly with map-drawing. Later, require them only once in three weeks, and if a holiday occurs on Friday — the usual day for making the requirement — delay the exercise until the next week. It gives an " air of freedom" to the matter that is appreciated by the pupils. Again, if possible, obtain their consent to write one complete essay, treating a subject fully and prepared with especial care, giving them an extension of time for its composition. This is of more value in developing the ability to compose than a number of short ones would be. 189. Letter writing. A matter that is sadly neglected in our common, graded, and even many of our high, schools. The teacher should place upon the blackboard a drawing of. a par- allelogram — the ordinary shape of the envelope — and write some three or four different forms of addresses. Then furnish the pupils with an example of proper dating, letter heading, the address of the letter itself, some hints relative to the ** body" of the epistle, showing them varying forms of closing, and request them to bring in the composition, with a cancelled stamp placed on the upper right-hand corner, with an imitation of the post- office stamp. 190. Reproduction from memory. It demands a low grade of the inventive, originating activity of the mind. The pupil in trying to reproduce the idea calls into operation every faculty of the mind to select the words most suitable for the idea. Un- successful efforts to express are the best means of teaching the value of the words. We learn the value of words by needing them. Having really felt their want, when we at last get them they are appreciated. The constant failure to express ideas well is the best possible training toward ready language. 191. Topics taken from the reading lesson may be used. An exellent preliminary drill is to read to the class (grammar it is presupposed) some short, interesting, spicy narrative, and at its close request them to write it on their slates for your inspec- tion. Taking special opportunity for this, you may correct these embryo theses while the pupils wait, reading aloud certain por- tions that indicate discrimination or good judgment, or, on the contrary, require som.e present criticism, grading them as you proceed. The name of the writer should not be mentioned, and this applies only to a class of twelve or fifteen members. 192. As a general thing, yes. Don't ask young pupils to make their own selection. It is cruel. It is shirking a duty which is harder for them than for you. Don't make too much of these efforts. Take time for it, and real, genuine, healthy progress will be your sure reward, Composition. 71 193. This depends greatly upon the grade of the school, its morale, the advancement of the pupils, and the efficiency of the in- struction. In the matter of grading, some district schools are superior to those in town, and here elementary composition writ- ing in connection with the grammar may be used daily ; in others two or three times a week ; in some once a week only. In graded schools it is generally a requirement made fortnightly from the pupils, alternating with map-drawing. In the grammar schools of the different cities various exercises are demanded on succeeding Friday afternoons, such as printing (in script, German text, etc.), compositions, and map-drawing, So that this study comes up but once a month. 194. Very good. We once asked the pupils to open their geographies to the map of the British Isles, and then followed a supposed route from the extreme southwestern point of England, mentioning the larger cities, such natural curiosities as came to our memory, reference to the poem in Home's Douglas of *' On the Grampian Hills, '^ etc., an account of Balmoral Castle, the summer residence of the Queen, on to Duncansby Head. We then referred the class to the account of John O'Groat given in the Webster's Unabridged lying on the desk, supplemented it with some addi- tional information, and then announced as the topic, '' From Land^s End to John O'Groat's House." No copying was allowed during the preliminary talk, or from their text-books. Out of a class of thirty-five, some six or eight compositions were produced quite suitable for the columns of the town paper (weekly) to which they were referred and in which they were printed. The class con- sisted of boys and girls, of ordinary intellect, from twelve to fif- teen years of age. 195. This is the highest, most profitable, and, if the matter is properly managed, really the easiest, form. It may be oral or written. A thousand devices will lead to it. If the Fsalm of Life is the reading lesson, you may request the pupils to be ready to tell what they would have their life to be, as their next lesson. Have the relation of a military funeral, a steamboat disaster, a great fire, a noted flood, a terrrible cyclone, the beauty and strength of the ocean, an account of a field of waving wheat or other grain, with a great selection of a variety of topics, such as meets the taste or circumstances of the pupils, and after the oral recitation ask for its ** written account." 196. It is quite difl5cult to regulate this matter. A hint pri- vately given to a pupil furnishes better result than any other form, though the general statement may be made that the teacher desires nothing less than three or four or six pages of note paper as of sufficient length. To the boy or girl who shirks and brings you 72 Questions in the Art of Teaching. but a page or a page and a half, carelessly written in haste and badly composed, some special correction should be given by forc- ing him or her to prepare a belter substitute. In higher schools, compositions are frequently presented with the sheets stitched to- gether and fastened with ribbons in artistic fashion, and, in some cases, accompanied with drawings of real excellence. There have been presented compositions that were exquisite in tone and al- most faultless in penmanship and punctuation ; and it is quite possible to receive some very miserable '* scrawls.' 197. Without trenching upon the advanced subject of essay writing taught in high schools and required from the college stu- dent, in the guise of a theme, valedictory, etc., the pupil of the common school may he taught to write biographical sketches, com- mencing possibly with an autobiography, stating his name, date and place of birth, parents, with ages and occupation, first remem- brances, where educated, personal appearance, favorite occupation, characteristics, and plans for the future. The teacher may aid materially by placing upon the blackboard a skilfully arranged outline of this as a preliminary movement. 198. It is the filling up of omissions or ellipses, so common in every language as to be an authorized fact of the language. Half the diflSculties of grammatical parsing grow out of these ellipses. "Please to give me (or, more commonly, please give me) some- thing to drink" is a grammatical puzzle until the full expression is given — **May it please you to give me something that I may drink." 199. The elliptical use of nouns, as '* stone walls;" "walls that are made of stones." Another important contraction is the turning of clauses into abstract nouns — "What we see, we be- lieve," "seeing is believing," "sight is belief." 200. The arrangement of words and clauses in sentences ad- mits of great variation, and many of the most successful teachers in this study insist upon a lengthened drill in the different placing of qualifying words, the substitution of subjects, predicates, and the auxiliary elements (adjective, objective, and adverbial) in sentences lacking such. The teacher can form to himself a scheme of variation, for which Grammar and his own sense will be the guide. 201. When pupils have arrived at a stage of intellectual devel- opment to enable them to comprehend the principles of language as a science. This can seldom be done in the country school, but must be left to the instruction that can be given under the favoring conditions of a high graded school, or the private academies and seminaries. Rhetoric — Etymology. 73 RHETORIC. 202. As the subject is but a continuation of advanced grammar, its treatment must be similar, consisting largely of drills in the correction of false forms of diction, construction, and the avoid- ance of ambiguity of thought and expression. 203. By an exercise in the analysis of words in which the pupil is made familiar with the results of modern philological research in regard to the formation of words and the growth of language. By the careful study of his own vernacular, he obtains a knowl- edge of the roots derived from all the languages which enter into the English; he gets that nice and discriminating use of words which is usually sought in the study of a foreign language, and he ac- quires the power of etymological analysis, which will be of great worth to him in practical life, and in the continuation of linguistic studies. ETYMOLOGY. 204. Not necessarily. It may be introduced into classes of ordinary advancement in grammar, and especially with beneficial results where there is no probability of the pupils receiving higher instruction in a language course. A study of this kind, while it can not take the place of a thorough culture in the classic *' tongues," will be found an excellent preparation for such cul- ture, and it will prove of much greater practical value than super- ficial classic study. 205. It aids in the use of words with precision and accuracy, when we know their history as well as their present meaning. It is the science of etyjiions ; that is, of true primitive forms, and traces words from language to language back to their origins. Un- fortunately this branch, which is one means of teaching a correct use of language, does not appear to be taught so much as it was twenty years ago. The more general teaching of Latin has crowded it out of the curriculum of many of our higher schools. But a large proportion of children do not have time for Latin, and it is proper that all who get beyond the bare elementary branches should be taught, at least, the prefixes and suffixes used in English words, and thus be intel- ligently fortified against such very common mistakes as the use of "except" for 'Vaccept." The child who clearly understands that accept means to take to one's self, while except means to put out^ will probably cease to "except" its friend's letters. 206. Any good text-book on the subject indicates properly the 74 Questions in the Art of Teaching. method of instruction, which is supplying the definitions of roots, prefixes, and sufl5xes (affixes) in addition to the drills in original meaning of words, and the interchange of synonyms. The better grade of readers furnish this latter exercise, which, in connection with composition work, is of the greatest benefit. LITERATURE. 207. That which leads to the study of literature as a distinct branch. While studying the models of English composition, the student should be assisted to undertake a course of reading care- fully planned by the teacher. Each author should be thoroughly studied, and his characteristics as a writer, his peculiarities, habits, tastes, personal appearance, etc., noticed. Following this, an ex- ercise may be held each week, to which all the members of the class are required to contribute something relative to the author. This can only be done, successfully, in the schools of our larger towns, having ready access to books of reference through the medium of public libraries. 208. Yes ; and by an earnest teacher with the most gratifying results. A small manual* placed in the hands of the pupils as supplementary to the reading lessons and ultimately as a special study, will, in many cases, revolutionize the mental condition of a school, and serve as an intellectual incentive to additional interest in other studies. 209. The probability is, that after the first fresh enthusiasm that pupils always feel, everyiuhere, in haying possession of a " new book," it will require some tact on the part of the teacher to prevent the exercise from becoming dry and insipid. A mere recital of the dates of birth and death of an author with the list of his works, is not literature, nor the study of literature. It should be remem- bered that the knowledge of the teacher must be sufficient to fill out and supplement the brief descriptions of a text-book. As soon as practically convenient, have the class engaged in preparing topical outlines of the authors, giving their birth, death, incidents in their career, their married life, manner and conversation, striking peculiarities, social standing, the financial reward of their labors, list of productions, some leading familiar quotation or "oft-repeated phrase," and their burial place. 210. By having the pupils place upon the blackboard — the teacher should illustrate at first by some three or four examples — a brace, or any form of connecting outline, filling in similar to the following: * Short Studies i?i Literature^ Elcir^dge & Bro., Philadelphia (price, 69 cents). William Shakespeare. Literature. 75 1564 — April 23 — Birth; Stratford-upon-Avon. 1582— Marriage to Anne Hathaway. 1584 — Departure for London. 1598— Acted for the last time in Ben Jonson's Sejanus, 1611 — Returned home. i6i6 — Death ; on fifty-third birthday. List of works. Familiar quotations. Personal appearance, characteristics, married life, style of handwriting, etc. Note: — The "matter" following date of death is left unfilled, as such in- formation can be derived from the text-book. 211. Naturally, no small text-book can supply else than a few meager facts relative to an author, and offer but a few brief se- lections from his works ; but not only the teacher but the pupils should have cultivated a disposition to search for additional in- formation and extracts. Hardly any community is so isolated but what they are favored with their weekly local paper, and hardly any rural publication but what will contain, frequently, just such details, in the way of literary gossip, clippings, stereotyped news, and some poetical selections. To the schools in villages and larger towns the "daily " and the circulating library, offer all that is needed. 212. From the beginning, he should place himself within the reach of all means tending to a full knowledge of the subject, which he can do by subscribing to some two or three cheap publi- cations — as low as fifty cents per annum — and constantly search the columns for such literary gems as will be useful. A scrap-book containing all these cuttings will be of inestimable value to him. Under passably favorable conditions, he can secure the co-opera- tion of his more intelligent pupils, and they, too, will furnish scrap- books for use in the recitation. 213. It should be remembered that all these remarks are based upon the supposition — and such is frequently the case — that the school is comparatively ignorant of the subject and that even the teacher may be but indifferently prepared to give instruction. In our larger towns and cities, where school children have access to the morning and evening paper, the school and public library, and a hundred-and-one mediums of information, a love of literature — the study of good books — is fostered from infancy, and the class accept an introduction into the use of such text-book with more or less delight, based naturally upon their inclinations, but it is in the retired village or comparatively obscure and isolated district- school, that the scrap-book becomes the circulating library and is the great incentive to the acquisition of more knowledge. The teacher may loan his, under certain restrictions, to the pupils, and those that have been '* made " by them should be at hand for ready 76 Questions in the Art of Teaching. use. The wise teacher will have his prepared as an introductory movement in which to engage the interest of the class. 214. The recital of such anecdotes illustrating the whims, pe- culiarities, struggles, rewards, and habits of authors, as may come to the notice of the teacher — and there is an immense fund of such '* gossip" — by him, to the pupils, at appropriate intervals, but exer- cising sufficient judgment to prevent himself from degenerating into a mere story-teller. It is quite impossible to have children like literature at first from simply the innate beauty of the expres- sion or the sentiment conveyed. Such appreciation is a ** plant of slow growth," but it will come from these simple elementary aids to be a matter of need, producing that culture which tends to the harmonious development of mind and soul. 215. By a devotion to low and sensational literary works. Like the growth of a poisonous fungus, the taste for this literature absorbs the vital forces and destroys all that is noble in life. The teacher should do all in his power to extirpate this evil, and make every effort to cultivate a taste for the works of the great masters of human thought. Experience shows that there is no more effec- tual way to prevent the mind from dwelling upon impure and gross subjects than by filling it completely with those of an oppo- site character. 216. As a part of human history, and as a result of human effort, and such instruction should be introduced objectively in the senior grades, and receive a more thorough treatment in the aca- demic department under the heads of English Literature and Gen- eral Literature. 217. Frequently the leading authors are arranged in an inter- esting chronology, and an attempt made to have this fixed in the memory long before the characteristics of each can be under- stood. Their lives also are read, as narrative interest ; including the mention of their works, the dates and subjects of these, with a few necessarily vague expressions respecting their merits. This is scarcely lesson work, however ; it is rather the amusement of growing minds. The teaching of the subject has also taken the form of the study of selected works from Chaucer downwards. High Schools and Colleges are provided with an ample series of such works, with every needful aid in the way of commentary or annotation. 218. The later authors are to be preferred to the earlier, and the prose authors to the poets. The first of these two maxims arises from the fact that English prose style has improved and is improving; while the thoughts and the general interest are still more in favor of the moderns. The pupil, at the outset, should Orthography. 77 see prose at its very best ; and should be led backwards to the less perfect examples. The interest of many of the older prose writers, although not entirely exhausted, undergoes an almost steady decrease with the lapse of time. 219. Narrowed to its strict domain, it is the criticism of literary works in all that relates to style or composition. What makes the history is the regarding of our authors (English and American) in a connected series, each having more or less relation to the pre- ceding. This historical treatment of literature is itself a branch of the Belles Letters, being always conducted with studious regard to the graces of composition. ORTHOGRAPHY. 220. During the first year it is entirely to prepare for compo- sition or " talking with the pencil." Indeed, all spelling is for the sake of composition, and it has no other purpose. The words first taught on the blackboard in reading, and the commonly used and constantly recurring words of the child, in short, the script vocab- ulary, should be the words first spelled. It should be remembered that those who do not learn to spell when young, seldom acquire the ability to do so. Consequently, make every step with the small child a success, otherwise you may disgust the mind with its failures. 221. The Oral and the Written. The first possesses several advantages : It teaches pupils to pronounce words, which the written method does not. It also teaches the correct syllabi- cation of words, and it admits of several interesting methods of competitive recitation. Its disadvantages are, that pupils taught to spell orally will not usually spell correctly when they are writ- ing. It is frequently noticed that pupils will spell without mis- take, when pronounced to them, the words which they have misspelled in a letter or composition. Neither can each pupil of a class spell as many words of the lesson as by the written method. The advantages of the written method are, that we learn to spell more readily by sight than by sound ; a pupil taught by this method will spell correctly when he writes (which is the principal object to be attained in the study of orthography) ; he will spell all the words in the lesson ; and it gives him an oppor- tunity to review the misspelled words. 222. If the syllables are pronounced, the w^ords can be more easily pronounced. It is a kind of analysis of the word. 223. To copy sentences as soon as possible, and after that keep to sentences, for they are the written forms of thought expression, and the stimulus of the thought enables the child to recall the 78 Questions in the Art of Teaching. word-forms in writing, just as it does in reading. Do all this work easily and slowly, and in the doing of it let the child alone and don't "fuss" with him. If he makes anything wrong, rub it out at once; make a sort of dissolving view. Have him acquire the power of copying from the blackboard with pei-fect accuracy any sentence he can read. Never accept any careless work. Don't scold, but let the work vanish under the sponge with quiet celerity and have the child do it over. A better vocabulary can be gained by writing than by reading. 224. By holding your pupils responsible for correct spelling in every written exercise; otherwise the habjt can not be formed. Make and retain lists of words misspelled. Let the practice be mainly on such words. Pupils learn to spell by practice, not by studying columns of words. Accustom them to observe carefully the spelling of words as they read. The teacher can stop during the recitation to refer to the dictionary, or from the abundance of his own knowledge, refer to the duplicate spelling of a word, or its obsolete use and modernized version, and allow them to bring in lists of words as test exercises. No pupil should be allowed to write a word from dictation unless he knows exactly how it looks correctly spelled. Never let him guesSy but draw a blank when he is in doubt. 225. Training the organs of hearing so that children may readily distinguish the sounds heard in speaking; that they may learn to produce the sounds correctly in using language; and that they may acquire an articulation which shall be at once both accurate and tasteful. 226. Oral spelling secures correct pronunciation, and awakens a keener interest in pupils; written spelling is the more practical, but is apt to become wearisome if carried on exclusively. In written spelling, we have the use of the hand as an aid to memory. With diacritical marks, the value of this exercise is greatly in- creased, and should be written in connection with written lan- guage lessons and drills in phonics. A judicious combination can be made of oral spelling with written exercises. With the writing- exercise, after the paper or slates are corrected, require pupils to rewrite their misspelled words. 227. Words should be known by the pupil in their spoken form and in their use before he is required to use them. The pupil should spellall the words in the range of his experience, all he has occasion to use in his daily needs. He should read any new word in an original sentence before he is required to spell it. 228. The blackboard is possibly the best. Then the slate and pencil, although the blank-book or sheet of writing paper is Orthography. 79 preferable — writing tablets and ** scratch" books are to be pur- chased for the veriest trifle — and with great care a spelling-book, if the teacher needs it. 229. It will be qiiite impossible to do so in the common school, no matter how feasible such action may be in schools of higher grades. The teacher is unfortunate who can see nothing in a book but a succession of words to be spelled, and nothing in a word but a string of letters whose chief use is to be shouted across the school-room. And it is quite possible to use a spelling-book so as to interest the mind. It is well to know, however, that the tendency to discard the use of the spelling-book, substituting therefore lists of words selected by the teacher, has been stopped, and that there is a return to the " good old way." It will not do to waste time over words that a child could not misspell, but rather, drill on words of difficult orthography. 230. With primary pupils it is hardly neccessary, and where there is nothing but slate or blackboard work it is naturally quite impossible. With the higher classes, even in the common school, it is quite advisable to have the pupils use blank-books for their spelling lessons, and the principle should be instilled into them of keeping them neat and accepting them as "records" of their lessons and additionally, as specimens of their penmanship, exhib- iting, it is to be hoped, a noteworthy progress in both studies. Under certain conditions in the ''district," the teacher will not have the power to insist upon an exclusive use of paper, though the exercise of tact on his part will help to determine the matter. Naturally, he will follow the expressed wishes of his patrons. 231. Tell them (i) To look at a word long enough to see it perfectly. (2) Shut the book; think how the word looks, then write it upon the slate. (3) Compare the words as written with the printed page, and make a check against the errors. (4) Repeat the process where mistakes have been made, looking more care- fully still at the words spelled wrong, until a correct image is made in the mind. It may be remarked here, that there is un- doubtedly a "vain repetition" in spelling or giving to pupils almost constantly the words which they do not misspell. 232. It is quite probable that many a teacher devotes too much time to this pleasantry; that it has its merits there can be no doubt, and it is a fact of self-experience that district schools have frequently been taught but little else. The Memorus Wordwell of the community was the leading citizen in an educational and always in a popular sense, but it is our duty to supplant the constant use of this exercise, even if in opposition to the expressed wishes of the pupils and the inclinations of the parents, to some extent, by the introduction of some other form of mental advance- 8o Questions in the Art of Teaching. ment. Many rural communities have gladly accepted, when initiated by a teacher of tact, the reading club, the literary circle, and the debating society. There can be no doubt, however, but what the spelling match contains an element of popularity sub- serving some good purpose, and may be used, at long intervals, in the graded school and schools of higher instruction, as is fre- quently done. 233. No; the verbal reiteration of long columns of words, or of words disconnected in sense, produces but very little good results. In repetition of a previous statement, there should be a judicious combination of oral and written spelling, the latter increasing in use as the pupil advances in years. But even this will prove comparatively unsatisfactory unless an incorporation of the words into sentences is had, and, additionally, their definitions and use as so defined. 234. To the formation of a *' definition class." It is remark- able with what avidity a class of boys and girls of common ad- vancement in their studies, and under the most ordinary circum- stances, will accept the introduction of this praiseworthy mental exercise and the amount of work required from them, for its suc- cessful prosecution. If the school is without an Unabridged and the teacher is unable financially to secure one — though we have known of many instances of impoverished teachers securing them as a premium by acting as agent in getting subscribers for a paper, collecting a small SMva per capita from the pupils and then adding the balance necessary to make the amount of purchase money, even in the "backwoods" — try to secure the co-operation of the direc- tors or the patrons of the school, or both, in raising the sum necessary to buy one. If all this fails, you can certainly secure the adoption of some three, four, or half a dozen copies of the smaller grammar school or academic editions. 235. Before the class is formed, require the pupils, occasionally, to define the simpler words, which they will naturally do to the best of their ability, and to construct sentences showing the mean- ing and the use of words. When the dictionaries are introduced, give the pupils a model similar to the following: "John came slowly toward his cottage hom.e." The underscored word indi- cates the one whose definition is required. Some five or six sen- tences may be placed upon the blackboard daily, or simply that number of words — to be incorporated into original sentences by the pupils themselves — for the morrow's lesson. 236. The pupils may obtain a better knowledge of ordinary words: (i) Examples of simple words frequently mispronounced; as aunt, God, won't, want, extant, etc. (2) Examples of simple words frequently misspelled; as cupful, separate, repetition, until. Orthography. 8i etc. (3) Examples of simple words frequently misused; as don't for doesn't; can for may; shall for will; equals for equal, etc. In fact, the use of the dictionary may be regarded as a variation of the work of the spelling and grammar classes, and leads to the introduction of the study of the distinct branch, etymology. 237. The correct pronunciation of geographical names, many of which are omitted from the vocabularies of geographies; as Pompeii, Worcester, Balaklava, Trafalgar, Monaco, Balmoral, Alnwick, Seville, etc.; the correct pronunciation of biographical names found in the lessons and in current literature; some account of the noted characters of fiction; history and mythology, whose names are found in the reading lessons and in various selections; the interpretation of foreign words and phrases frequently met in our readings; and the origin of many words in common use refer- ring to customs, persons and events. 238* It should be remembered that the best teachers are gener- ally those who consult the dictionary most frequently; the most to be condemned are those who teach error rather than make the exertion to ascertain what is correct and true, and those who are disinclined to consult authorities before pupils, fearing thus to ex- pose their fallibility. Not only should the teacher make frequent use of this book for himself, — he should teach the school the value and the use of this important work, assured that the lessons he imparts and the habits he thus inculcates, will be of use to the members in all subsequent life. 239. The teacher should refer to it in all cases of doubt and re- quire the pupils to do the same. Pupils should be encouraged to write in a note book for future investigation, all words or expres- sions about whose spelling, pronunciation, or correctness they have a present doubt. («) meanings; {b) pronunciations; ic) syl- labication of words, and in advanced classes {d), their synonyms which can be found in this book. There are some 2,000 words in English as to the pronunciation of which there are important dif- ferences, and a great many of accepted, varying orthography. Preference, therefore, must be given by teachers for the best usage and for the simpler forms. 240. Drills on sounds and the names and uses of the diacritical marks — a subject generally very little understood, except in the North Central States — though these are not necessary to the skil- ful use of the dictionary. Definite drill on sounds with chart — the teacher should have them written upon the blackboard if he pos- sesses no other "appliances" — will familiarize pupils by eye and ear at once, with the marks and sounds they indicate. Attention should be given systematically to the reading matter at the begin- ning and end of the book. Pupils are in danger of missing these §2 Questions in the Art of Teaching. laboratories of learning unless made acquainted with them in school. Faithful teachers will not omit the appendices, both for what is curious and useful to the pupils and themselves. 241. It is a fact, too well known for recapitulation, that appli- cants for a teacher's certificate are woefully lacking in the triple subject of orthography, orthoepy, and etymology. There is no excuse for this, as a strong elementary acquaintance may be made with these studies at a slight cost,* and a thorough knowledge of them tends to increased excellence in other and advanced branches. 242. In the closely crowded school-room, and such is fre- quently the condition, especially in district schools, the oppor- tunities offered for ** communicating" are increased from the na- ture of the exercise. Additional watchfulness on the part of the teacher, accompanied by an instantaneous punishment of this vio- lation of a presupposed rule or law — unwritten or expressed — is the sole remedy. The form of punishment should be a removal from the class and association with it for the instant, fol- lowed by a marking of demerits and such remarks at the close of the recitation as show the hurtful and immoral tendencies of the act of transgression. 243. First, the simple spelling or reiteration of the letters of the word; second, the proper division of the word into syllables; third, the marking of the letters diacritically; and, fourth, the proper ac centuation of ihe word. Though objection is offered to the repeti- tion of the syllables in oral spelling as in innocent : in-tn-no-no, znno, etc., it is the testimony of many able educators that such use secures better articulation, pronunciation, and spelling. It cer- tainly cultivates the habit of carefulness, a very desirable quality in the pupil. 244. They should be taught incidentally (both in spelling and reading), but not until pupils are perfectly able to take this work, and in a third grade — or class corresponding — and above, they should be taught the diacritical marks and their uses. 245. I. Omit a from the diagraph ea when pronounced as e short, as in hed, helth, etc. 2. Omit silent e after a short vowel, as in hav, giv, etc. 3. Write / iox ph in such words as alfabet, fantom, etc. 4. When a word ends with a double letter omit the last, as in shal, clif, eg, etc. 5. Change ^ LiET, Supt. Schools, Springfield, Mass. Well Fitted for its Purpose.—" I find it well fitted for its purpose in testing the acquaintance of students with the principles that govern the several departments of science and their application to special cases. I can see how a teacher can make good use of this book in his classes." — D. L. KiEHiiE, Supt. of Public Instruction, St. Paul, Minn. Without a Peer.—" It is without a peer."— J. M. Greenwood, Supt. Schools, Kansas City, Mo. Best for its Price.—" It is the best book for its price that I ever pur- chased."— Miss Eva Quigley, teacher at La Porte, Cal. Best of the Kind.— " It is decidedly the best book of the kind I ever examined."— D. G. Williams, Ex-Co. Supt. York County, Pa. Will Furnish Valuable Ideas.— "It presents a larger variety than usual of solid questions. Will repay very largely all efforts put forth by examiners and examined, and lead to better work in the several branches. The questions have been carefully studied. They are the result of thoughtful experience, and will furnish valuable ideas."— Chas. Jacobus, Supt. Schools, New Brunswick, N. J. J. H. Hoose, Prin. of the Cortland (N. T.) Normal School, says :— " It will be helpful to those persons who cannot enjoy an attendence upon courses of study in some good school." Hon. B. G. Northrup, of Connecticut, says:— "It is at once concise and comprehensive, stimu ati - g and instructive. These questions seem to show the young teacher what he d es not 'know and ought to know, and facilitates the acquisition of the desired knowledge." School Education (Minn.) says:— "Many a young teacher of good mind, whose opportunities have, been meagre, and who does not yet know how to study effectively in a scientific spirit, may be stimulated *to look up points, and to genuine progress in self -improvement by such a book as this. The questions are systematically arranged, worded with iudgment, and are accompanied by numerous analyses of various sub- jects," SEND ALIi ORDERS TO E. L. KELLOGG & CO., NEW YORK & CHICAGO. 9 Taynes Lectures on the Science and Art of Education. Reading Circle Edition. By Joseph Payne, the first Professor of the Science and Art of Edu- cation in the College of Preceptors, London, England. With portrait. 16mo, 350 pp., English cloth, with gold back stamp. Price, $1.00 ; to teachers, 80 cents ; by mail, 7 cents extra. Elegant new edition from new plates. Teachers who are seeking to know the principles of education will find them clearly set forth in this volume. It must be remem- bered that principles are the basis upon which all methods of teach- ing must be founded. So valu- able is this book that if a teacher were to decide to own but three works on education, this would be one of them. This edition contains all of Mr. Payne's writ- ings that are in any other Ameri- can abridged edition, and is the only one with his portrait. It is far superior to any other edition published. Joseph Payne. WHY THIS EDITION IS THE BEST. (1.) The side-titles. These give the contents of the page. (2.) The analysis of each lecture, with reference to the educa- tional points in it. (3.) The general analysis pointing out the three great principles found at the beginning. (4.) The index, where, under such heads as Teaching, Education, The Child, the important utterances of Mr. Payne are set forth. (5.) Its handy shape, large type, fine paper, and press-work and tasteful binding. All of these features make this a most val- uable book. To obtain all these features in one edition, it was found necessary to get out this new edition. Ohio Educational Monthly,— "It does not deal with shadowy theories ; it is intensely practical." Philadelphia Educational News.— J' Ought to be in library of every prog:ressive teacher." Educational Courant.— '' To know how to teach, more if needed than a knowledg-e of the branches taught. This is especially vaiuable." Pennsylvania Journal of Education.— "Will be of practical value to Normal Schools and Institutes," SEND ALIi ORDERS TO E. L. KELLOGG ^ inches. Cloth. Price, $1.50; to teaxihers, $1.20 ; by mail, 14 cents extra. New edition in paper cover. Price, 75 cents ; to teachers, 60 cents ; by mail, 8 cents extra. These articles contain many things that the readers of the ** Talks on Teaching" desired light upon. The space occupied enabled Col. Parker to state himself at the length needed for clearness. There is really here, from his pen (taking out the writings of others) a volume of 830 pages, each page about the size of those in *' Talks on Teaching." 1. The writings in this volume are mainly those of Col. F. W. Parker, Principal of the Cook County Normal School. 2. Like the ^* Talks on Teaching" so famous, they deal with the principles and practice of teaching. 3. Those who own the ** Talks" will want the further ideas from Col. Parker. 4. There are many things in this volume written in reply to inquiries suggested in *' Talks." 5. There is here really 750 pages of the size of those in '' Talks." '' Talks " seUs for $1.00. This for $1.20 and 14 cents for postage. 6. Minute suggestions are made pertaining to Reading, Questions, Geography, Numbers, History, Psychology, Peda- gogics, Clay Modeling, Form, Color, etc. 7. Joseph Payne's visit to the German schools is given in full ; everything from his pen is valuable. 8. The whole book has the breeze that is blowing from the New Education ideas ; it is filled with Col. Parker's spirit. PARTIAL LIST OF CONTENTS- Be^nnings. Reading-— laws and principles ; Ruling Slates ; Number and Arithmetic; Geography; Moulding; History; Psychology; Peda- gogics; Examinations; Elocution; Questioning on Pictures; on Flow- ers ; on Leaves ; Rules in Language : Answers to questions respecting the Spelling-Book ; List of Children's Books on History ; The Child's Voice; Ideas before Words; Description of Pictures; Teaching of 1; of 2; of 3; of 4; etc. ; Form and Color; Breathing Exercises; Paper Folding ; V erbatim report of lessons given in Cook Co. Normal School. Busy Work ; Answers to Questions in Arithmetic, etc. ; Why teachers drag out a monotonous existence ; Teaching of language to children ; Supplementary Reading— list of books ; Structural Geography ; Letters from Germany ; Hand and Eye Training ; Clay Modeling ; List of Edu- cational Works ; Joseph Payne's visit to German Schools, etc., etc. SEND Alili ORDERS TO E. L. KELLOGG ay. 6 ^os. A collection of fresh and original dialogues, recitations, declamations, and short pieces for practical use in Public and Private Schools. Bound in handsome, new paper cover, 160 pages each, printed on laid paper. Price 30 cents each ; to teachers, 24 cents ; by mail, 3 cents extra. The exercises in these books bear upon education ; have a relation to the school-room. 1. The dialogues, recitations, and declamations, gathered in this volume being fresh, short, easy to be comprehended and are well fitted for the average scholars of our schools. 2. They have mainly been used by teachers for actual school exercises. 3. They cover a different ground from the speeches of Demosthenes and Cicero — which are unfitted for boys of twelve to sixteen years of age. 4. They have some practical interest for those who use them. 5. There is not a vicious sentence uttered. In some dialogue books profanity is found, or disobedience to NEW COVER. parents encouraged, or lying laughed at. Let teachers look out for this. 6. There is something for the youngest pupils. 7. *' Memorial Day Exercises " for Bryant, Garfield, Lincoln, etc. , will be found. 8. Several Tree Planting exercises are included. 9. The exercises have relation to the school-room and bear upon education. 10. An important point is the freshness of these pieces. Most of them were written expressly for this collection, and can he found nowhere else, Boston Journal of Education.— " Is of practical value." Detroit Free Press.—'' Suitable for public and private schools.*' "Western Ed. Journal.— " A series of very good selections,*' 6END Alili ORDERS TO 80 E, L, KELLOGG <& CO., NEW YORK & CHICAGO. Song Treasures. THE PRICE HAS JUST BEEN GREATLY REDUCED. Compiled by Amos M. Kellogg, editor of the School Jouit- NAL. Elegant green and gold paper cover, 64 pp. Price, 15 cents each ; to teachers, 12 cents ; by mail, 2 cents extra. 10th thousand. Special terms to schools for 25 copies and over. This is a most valua- '■'i""l*i'''''i ble collec- tion of mu- sic for all schools and institutes. 1. Most of the pieces have been se- lected by the teachers as favorites in the schools. They are the ones the pu- pils love to sing. 2. All the pieces '' have a ring to them ;" they are easily learned, and will not be forgotten. 3. The themes and words are appropriate for young people. In these respects the work will be found to possess unusual merit. Nature, the Flowers, the Seasons, the Home, our Duties, our Creator, are entuned with beautiful music. 4. Great ideas may find an entrance into the mind through music. Aspirations for the good, the beautiful, and the true are presented here in a musical form. 5. Many of the words have been written especially for the book. One piece, '' The Voice Within Us," p. 57, is worth the price of the book. 6. The titles here given show the teacher what we mean : Ask the Children, Beauty Everywhere, Be in Time, Cheerfulneas, Christmas BeJls, Days of Summer Glory, The Dearest Spot, Evenmg Song, Gentle Words, Going to School, Hold up the Riffht Hand, I Love the Aferry, Merry Sunshine, Kind Deeds, Over in the Meadows, Our Happy School, Scatter the Germs of the Beautiful, Time to Walk, Tne Joliy Workers, The Teacher's Life, Tribute to Whittier, etc.. etc SEND ALL ORDERS TO E, L. KELLOGG & CO,, NEW YORK & CHICAGO, Seeleys Grubes Method of Teacbing ARITHMETIC. Explained and illustrated. Also the im- provements on the method made by the followers of Grube in Germany. By Levi Seeley, Ph.D. Cloth, 176 pp. Price, $1.00; to teachers 80 cents; by mail, 7 cents extra. 1. It IS A Philosophical Work. — This book has a sound philosophical basis. The child does not (as most teachers seem to think) learn addition, then subtraction, then multiphca- tion, then division; he learns these processes together. Grube saw this, and founded his sys- tem on this fact. 2. It Follows Nature's Plan. — Grube proceeds to de- velop (so to speak) the method by which the child actually be- comes (if he ever does) ac- quainted with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. This is not done, as some sup- pose, by writing them on a slate. Nature has her method ; she begins with things; after handling two things in certain ways, the idea of two is ob- tained, and so of other numbers. The chief value of this book then consists in showing what may he termed the way nature teaches the child number, 3. It is Valuable to Primary Teachers.— It begins and shows how the child can be tanght 1, then 2, then 3, &c. Hence it is a work especially valuable for the primary teacher. It gives much space to showing how the numbers up to 10 are taught ; for if this be correctly done, the pupil will almost teach himself the rest. 4. It Can Be Used in Advanced Grades.— It discusses methods of teaching fractions, percentage, etc., so that it is a work valuable for all classes of teachers. 5. It Guides the Teacher's Work.— It shows, for exam- ple, what the teacher can appropriately do the first year, what the second, the third, and the fourth. More than this, it sug- gests work for the teacher she would otherwise omit. Taking it altogether, it is the best work on teaching num* her ever published. It is very handsomely printed and bound. DR. LEVI SEELEY. EIGHTEENTH YEAR! TThe S chool J ournal -"- is published weekly at $2.50 a year. Amos M. Kel- logg and Jerome Allen, two teachers of life-long experience and progressive ideas, devote their whole "ifc' time to editing it. Established 18 years ago, it is to- day the best known and widest circulated educational JL, weekly in the country. This reputation has been won strictly on its merits, as its subscribers know, and you will too (if not now a subscriber), if you send 6 cents 'A' for a sample copy. TENTH YEAR! , The T eachers^ I nstitute ^ is published monthly at $1.25 a year; 12 large 44 page papers constitute a year (most other educational A mox-.thlies publish but 9 or 10). It is edited by the ^ same editors as the School Journal, and has, ever since it was started in 1878, been the most popular ^ monthly educational published, circulating in every state — a national paper. This was because it was practical — little theory and much practice — crammed 'A' with it. Sample copy 10 cents. ELEP'ENTH YEAR! T reasure- T rove ^ is a beautiful illustrated 36 page monthly, for the boys and girls. Price, $1.00 a year. We must refer you to our descriptive circular for particulars about this 'A' charming paper, for we have not room here to tell you the half of its value. It is used by thousands of teachers as an aid to their school room work. 'At Sample, 10 cents. E. L. KELLOGG Sr CO., Educational Publishers, NEW YORK AND CHICAGO.