The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1855-02-08

towns, &c, till they are familiar with th'
mountain ranges. Let them fix their at
tention upon these, and then determine
what must, of necessity, be the course o
the rivers; then an examination of th'
facts will be full of interest.
Do not confine a class in Geography
for any length of time to the textbook tx
the exclusion of the map. Much time il
lost in this manner, and distate for the
study contracted A careful reading o.
the surface, climate, soil and productions
except with small children, will general.
ly be sufficient, if care is taken by the
teacher to require them to compare states
and countries, CHASING together such as
are alike. For instance. Why allow
scholars to spend portions of several sue
cessive days, in learning the soil, produc-
tons, &C., of as many of the Southern
States bordering upon the Atlantic Ocean,
when at single recitation, and in con-
nection with lesson upon the map, they
may be made familiar with all that Sec
tion of country And it will not be diff
fcult to determine which will be most
easily remembered, associated or isolated
facts. Again, suppose the subject of the
lesson to be the islands off the east coast
of Asia. If you would make the lesson
both interesting and profitable. speak to
them of the importance of the empire Of
Japan at the present time, of the scenery
as vessel approaches the harbor, OF
their habits of non-intercourse, of the
personal appearance of the people, draw
ing vivid pictures to the Imagination, of
the painted faces, half-clad feet, enormous
sleeves, girdles, fans, &C., and you will
probably find, at the next recitation, that
none of these facts have been forgotten;
perchance they may have added much to
their store from other sources.
In commencing the study of Grammar;
an interest is best maintained by rcquir-
ing copious written examples. These
may; at first, consist only of the parts of
speech; but they will soon be taking their
first lessons in Composition, though prob
ably without being aware that they are
pursuing study that is SO generally dis
tasteful to the young. Do not enligbten
them upon the subject at present. As
they advance, repeat to them (it would
lose half it's interest if read, instead Of
repeated, some interesting anecdote with
a good moral, and require them to write
it from recollection, and present it at the
next recitation. AS soon as they can
parse few words, give them sentence
or phrase upon the blackboard, to be
parsed on the succeeding day. This meth
cd may be continued till they are able to
parse from textbook. If this course is
pursued, we are confident that there will
be no lack of interest among boys or girls,
and no need of resorting to various meth
DDS, such as choosing sides, to excite en-
ulation, as they will study from the love
of it, which is far the better motive.
A word upon Writing. and I have done.
Some would not have children learn to
write before they are ten or twelve years
of age. Much is lost by this delay, and
it is doubted whether anything is gained,
We have seen children who commenced
writing before they were eight years of
age, and who, before they were ten, could
write page of which young lady Of
eighteen need not be ashamed. And has
not such a child decided advantage in
learning spelling, composition, &C., over
one who never handles a pen till twelve
years of age? Sometimes child be-
comes so much interested in writing, as to
be reluctant to leave it at the given time.
If possible, take advantage of such slim
ulus, taking care that the energies be not
too much exhausted 1t will be found
that more improvement may be made in
one hour at such times, than in many
hours when the task is Reluctantly per-
formed
If more has here been said of through
ness and correctness, than of ease, in
methods of instruction, is is because it is
believed that no method will in the end
prove easy, that does not combine these
two essential requisites.