Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1874-08-28
THE AUGUSTA TEACHERS INSTl'
TUTE.
FIRST DAY.

Rarnabas Sears, MI. James Ill. Blntord,
SUPERINTENDENT of Public Schools, Rich
mond: DR.. Edwin Leigh, of New Y orlk !;
Professor E. S. Joynes, OF Washington 4
Lee University, and Rev. Dr.. McGilvray,
of, Richmond.
DR.. Hamilton, in preliminary address,
stated that it was the first regular Institute
ever held here, but wherever they had been
in vogue they had given an impetus to the
cause of education. He saw around him
all the elements for making the present
meeting a success, and congratulated the
educators of Augusta upon having the dis
tinguished visitors present he saw around
him.
Prayer was offered by Rev. MI. Mini
cue.
Dr. Sears was then called upon to make
an opening address, and gave #brief state
ment of the origin ana objects of Teach
ers' Institutes. Experience had shown
that it was best to have regular corps of
instructors in some States, and the policy
had been pursued Of allowing men who
represented special branches in education,
and were eminent in their departments
the object was two-fold, to give the best
instruction and arouse the public to an in
terest in the cause. 1t had also been of
advantage to get the citizens of any place
of meeting to extend the Inequalities of
their families to the teachers, for as a conse-
quence of this education had missionary
in every household, and nothing was talk
ed of but education by all classes. AS to
the Institute, it was held to a certain eX-
tent under State auspices, and was EN- tirely
different from the informal associations
held in some States and Sc ctions, fol- the
interchange of views. 1t was absolutely
under the control of one person, who had
power to check irrelevant discussion, and
keeps the mind of the institution steady to
it's legitimate works They all could see the
advantage of bringing the teachers togeth-
Ell and creating professional feeling, and
educating sentiment. AS a class, the
teachers were poorly paid and badly appre.
ciated An architect had something to
show for his work, as did nearly every
other profession. When beautiful housr
q
structor, but it was often twenty years
before the result Of the teachers work was
seen. Next to the ministers, the teachers
exercised the greatest influence, and if they
worked faithfully they would reap theil
reward. He was reminded of a remark Of
Martin Luther, who said eff 1 were not a
Preacher, [ would be a Teacher" What
could be greater reward than the knowl
edge of having done good to the masses ::
having stood in the light of a parent tC
thousands
At the conclusion of DR.. Sears remarks.
DR.. Hamilton announced that Mr.. James
FL. Binford, Superintendent of Public
Schools of Richmond, would address the
meeting on teaching child to read. Mr..
Bnford stated that in his opinion the first
thing to be done was to commence at the
foundation, others would address them
on igher subjects but he wanted to go to
the root. He did not want the Institute
to think that he came to do all the talking.
If he was to teach school he wanted his
scholars to talk too. Now, how would YOU
teach a child five years old to begin to
read ?
A gentleman-''Teac him his letters"
Mr.. Binford-'His letters. Well, any
other method
A lady-"The word method"
Nh Binford-Any other?
DR.. Leigh-''By Objects"
Mr.. Binford. Well, Dr.. we will hear
from you after awhile. 1t isn't fair fol-
you to speak just yet. Mr.. Binford then
proceeded to discuss the ga B GU system
and the photographic. His idea was to-
take child just where it left off at home
For instance, take up a reader with aspic
ture of an animal, say a SCAT" and ask
what it is. The reply will be that it is
mt. Ask the child then what a cat can
do, and it will tell you, then ask it if tbs
picture can do all these things, and you
establish the difference between the Object
and a representation of the object. The
next step is to print the letters on the black
board, and set the child to copying it, Civ
ing it to understand that it also represe nts
a cat. Then teach it to understand a word
as sign for an object, then the sound of
the letters then the spelling Of the entire
word keeping always in view that encour-
agement, is a greater part OF the BATTLE
He would not give cent for primer
In teaching d child to read, give it some
thing that has sense in it, and let it know
every word on sight. He would also com
mence to teach grammar on the fifth grade
and the proper way to teach 1t IS when a
child makes mistake, correct 1t at once
and it naturally wishes the reason. In
emphasis in reading, good plan is not to
point out the word you wish emphasized,
but profess to misunderstood the child
and you will hardly fail to obtain q natu-
raj reading and proper emphasis. MI
Binford spoke at some length illustrating
practically all the primary steps of educa-
lion as pursued in the Richmond Public
Schools; comprehending spelling, empha
sis. punctuation, and the different meth
dds of inducing thought, the essential In
genuity in interesting the scholars, and Thu
methods of explaining the meanings o.
sentences and the great Importance O.
these facts.
H. Leigh, VI NEW Ok, "do IioAo III
PRODUCED and proceeded to illustrate hi
phonetic system, which consists of having
separate forms of letters to indicate Ger
tain sounds. The photography is no
changed, but the shading of AID addition
to the lines of letters, give them thei
weight in the work-silent letters bein,
printed in hair lines. The speaker statet
that the system was in use in some of tn
largest cities in the Union, and had me
with marked success. In st. Louis, expel
fence had shown that the German an
Irish scholars acquired proper pronuncis