Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1869-01-21
educational.
EDUCATIONAL PAPERS.
PUBLICATION BY AUTHORITY OF KENT COUNTY
TEACHERS ASSOCIATION.

PUBLICATION BY AUTHORITY OF KENT COUNTY
| TEACHERS ASSOCIATION.
| NO. 0.
| In continuing our papers upon tho sub
ect Of education 1t may be well, since we
have pointed out the true order Of studies, to
treat some Of these studies specifically -
First in the usual order comes spelling, and
since this, in the way our schools are now
organized, is always the first thing taught it
may be well to consider some of the best
methods of teaching this important branch
1t is scarcely necessary to discuss here a
method Of teaching the alphabet, because
every child is supposed to know that before
ii comes to school. Ifa child has but lit
lie attention bestowed upon il at home, it
will learn these rudiments very easily, while
at school 1t often requires long time before
the child gets so far. We venture one sug-
geslion however for the benefit of parents
and it is that they should never make use of
those mangled terms commonly designated
''baby-talk," to their children. Where pa
rents practice this in their intercourse with
their children, the progress of the latter in
speaking, or as VIC should say, learning their
times vicious pronunciation is acquired
that lasts through life, or at least until the
child is grown up. Nor is it unreasonable
that such course should produce bad
effects, a child places greater faith in its pa
rents than any one else and if they use in
correct language 1t will most likely learn ii
too.
While tie vocal organs are pliable, almost
any sound can be learned without much
difficulty, hence it is the opinion of many
phiologists that the only time to learn Ian
guagc well is in childhood II is best that
we learn the language as we expect or at
least desire, to speak it ever afterwards.
We shall not then be obliged to learn one,
unlearn il and then learn another aud after
all have but one. Pestalozzi earnestly re-
commeuds the practice ofkceping constantly
before the child, even while yet in the era
die, the correct vocal sounds of the language
it is intended to learn first. 4 child can be
amused for hours by teaching ii 10 initiate
the elementary sounds; thus ca.ly can
amusement be combined With the acquisi-
ton OF useful knowledge. There would
certainly be u great advantage gained il chill
dren were taught to regard the literal SYM
bols as representing vocal sound Instead OF
teaching them tho names Of letters. In En-
glish, and perhaps in all other languages, The
names Of many of the letters have very lit
tie to do with the sounds of them, and il is
wasting time to teach child to call letters
by their name before it can read. For in
stance, the letter we call aitch, is simple a
rough, breathing and may be made when
the mouth is in position for any vowel. One
difficulty TO be overcome in English is that
we have but twenty-three letters, &c, q, and
x, being superfluous) to represent nearly
twice Us many sounds. We have DO hesi-
tation in saying that much time and labor
could be saved if chldred were at first taught
TO spell and read phonetically. Wherever
this has been tried the most decided success
is reported. Ii child has learnad to read
| fluently in this way, our present English Or
| biography will be remembered the more
readily for its comicality. The use of phon-
otype will also assist continually in acquiring
a correctness OF enunciation.
| If sucn course of teaching is pursued the
Cutiu Ctu aC0uHc luuCI uStlul Information
and learn something of the manner of study
lug before the transition to the common Or
biography is made, when, then, this is done
| much valuable genealogical information can
also be impaired. Words mnst be classified
before they can be understood, and if u child
is disposed to laugh at the roundabout meth
cd we employ to express the two or three sim
pie sounds0f whicn word may he compos-
ed, we may tell him that those silent or mis-
pronounced letters are but marks os il, an
cicnt pronunciation or of an error in il sup
posed derivation. Tho child will now lie far
enough advanced to receive much valuable
pathological Information both as respects the
sound and form OF letters that will not only
awaken scholarly .urn of mind, bu, also be.
sides other things relieve thr il oBotony Of
dwelling upon single study. II /, nothing
| to the point to say that the teacher can not
give this information or but little of IL. 1t is
his business to be able 10 do so and he can do
II il he teachers with the sincerity that he
ought to teach.
1t is matter that has been much discussed
among teachers, whether words should
be spelled without defining, or defined as well
as spelled. The advocates Of the former
rsetlod point exultingly to many of the spell
lers of the Golden time" who could spell
through IN entire spelling book without mis-
sing word. This may have been true in
few cases where pupils have but two or
three studies and great deal of time is de-
voted to spelling from the same book, re-
spectacle proficiency may be acquired. But
the question arises, Of what use is it TO be
able to spell large number of words that
we shall certainly never make use of. When
we find these words once in while in the
writings of others it will be the writer's bust
ness to spell them, not their readers, and
thus this marvellous knowledge of spelling
is of no use whatever. We gain pothing by
stock of words that we do not know the
meaning of, and it seems proper, as far as
possible to increase our vocabulary only as
we learn the meaning of the words. We
would not have any one learn to define one
word by using another that he does not un-
dcrstand, but understand it so as to be able
to use it, CHARLES w. StpER.
Milford Del.