The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1874-01-01
Teachers Department.
RAMBLING REFLECTIONS.
PRIMARY Reading and PrInsa-
ry Readers.

Seeing an article some time since
from Harry of Carmel, on the sub.
lect OF Heading I append q few
thoughts on very important part
Oh that important subject-Yiz: Pri-
mary Reading.
An idea prevails among many that
almost any one is capable of impart-
ing primary instructionin this branch;
thatlt requires no previous prepara-
tnon and but little thought. We shall
see the fallacy of this, when we reflect
that the foundation of great deal
OF the wretched reading which we
meet with in our schools was doubt
less laid in the earlier part of the
course. r-- nrt r-~-
The past few years have witnessed
great improvement in methods Of
primary instruction. But many
places are still behind the age. I
have been amused tosee little fellows.
totally unable to read, make their de-
but at school, armed with a copy of
"Webster's Elementary Speller." A
child at this stage has no use
Whatever for spelling-book. The
old idea OF putting him through a
regular course in that ridiculous
eonGlomerate ofsounds without sense,
o-a, ba; be, be; hi, hi, etc. has gone,
we trust, where all such foggy notions
ought togo-into oblivion. Educators
are awakening to the fundamental
doctrine of all successful teaching
ideas before words.
What Is known as the sword meth
cd, or some modification of it, is
proving successful in the hands of
many teachers. But even with this
method, much depends upon the man
ner IN which it is used. We must
not commence with abstract ideas.
The first words which the pupil should
be taught to distinguish should be
the names ot familiar objects, cat,
dog, OK, etc.
After he has acquired small vo-
cabrlary of these, teach him words
expressing simple qualities fat,
red, etc. then verbs, as run, fly, etc.
teaching as few abstract words, mere
onne3tiVas, e.. as possible. Right
here is where some of our Primers
and First RIsssadA.s ffsa.iI-, failI 60.
CONSTRUCTED on false philosophy
introducing propositions, interiec-
tions, etc. quite freely, in the first
stages, simply because they are
spelled with but two or three letters.
Only enough such should be taught
the beginners, to combine the nouns,
adjeotiyes and verbs into simple sent
ences. A very few will enable the
skiIlsul teacher to construct a great
variety of exercises. I prefer the use
of the blackboard for the frstlessons.
The first Reading lessons should
be simple, natural and sensible.
Let as apply these tests to some of
our existing text books. I have been
examining a First Reader" which
claims to "differ from all other sys-
TENS, IN commencing with words of
one letter and gradually forming
additional lists, by prefxing or
affxng single letters" and also 'in
arranging the lists of words with
regard to their vowel sounds in al
phabetical order" I make the follow
ing extract from its first exercises:
''If lie or L can on an OK, do go to il"
''Ho be by me-" ''Is he ofus."r
These are defective, lacking sim
plicity and naturalness; being COM
pose1 largely of words to which the
child attaches no definite idea. l
quote again:
rs the rat fit to eat7 Oh, no; the
cat or the kit may eat the rat. We
eat no cat, nor rat, nor kit; we can
eat lye." And again: '1s the man
or his son foe to the dog; or the
dog 4 foe to the man and his son?
No; the dog is no foe to the man
or his son; and the man or his son is
no foe to the dog" This style is al
so objectionable, lacking not only sim
picity and naturalness, but sense. 70
Another book of the same series
confirms such sentences as this:
THE man has ham in the pan for the
tat cat.
In thefrst examples, sense is made
subordinate to brevity; in the last (
one to similarity of sound. Is
1t seems to me that the true phil
osophy is this: The child doesnot re-
words on account of their
orevi5y alone, or of a correspondence
n their sounds, but because of the
IDEAS with which they are associated.
he will much sooner learn to dis.
'inguish the word cat and dog, than
i and as, though the latter contain
ewer elements, and correspond in
,ound.
1 found the sshool which 1 am
provided with the National
Series of Readers, to which the above
nent oned books belong. I am
'ausing my beginners to get McGuf-
eys First-Readers, thus throwing
,ut the National 1st, and making Nc
iuft Us 1st a stepping stone to the &
Natic nal End, which is quite a good
book Wilson's Primary Readers are
open to some of the same objections
Is those of the National series. L