The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1880-06-11
ARITHMETIC.

The greater part of the first eight or
ten years OF child's school life is
spent in studying arithmetic. At the
end of that time he has only mastered
what is known as " Practical" or "Com-
mon School" arithmetic. Surely there
is mistake somewhere; for he would
be considered stupid scholar indeed
who would devote the same number Of
years to any other study and make no
better progress.
Many of our best educators affirm
that better work would be accomplish
ed if child was not allowed to use an
arithmetic before he was ten or twelve
years old; but all must conform more
or less to public opinion, and as long as
parents have an idea that all school
work is lost unless their boy or girl is
studying arithmetic, just so long must
the child begin that study when he
first enters school.
Much time is lost in teaching the
mental and written parts of this study
as two distinct branches, as for in
stance-a child begins with the mental,
and studies it until ten or eleven years
old, then takes the written" as though
it was an entirely new study. If the
" mental" is not entirely neglected, the
class is, very likely, in fractions or COM
pound numbers, and in the written
arithmetic are first learning to express
operations in simple addition, sub
traction, multiplication, or division,
and when they get to fractions, or COM
pound numbers in this part of their
work, they have to learn to write what
they expressed orally years before.
Now could not time be saved by
teaching the child to express with pen
Gil or crayon just what he is expressing
orally in each lesson? When the child
is taught to count one, two, three, four,
etc., he should be Immediately taught
to write l, 2, 3, 4, etc. When he is
taught that two marbles, plus four
marbles, plus seven marbles, are thir-
teen marbles, he can very readily be
taught to write 4 u 13, and
so on with al the. operations through
the book. And thus the mental and
written should always go together, and
always with parallel subjects. If sep
arate textbooks are used, of course it
requires more labor on the part of the
teacher and pupil, and less satisfactory
results are accomplished than when
the two are combined in one book.
In teaching arithmetic, independence
in reasoning should be encouraged.
When a pupil says: 81 got the same
answer as John, but did not work it
as he did," ask for his way, and if the
reasoning is correct, accept and encour-
age his explanation. Do not let the
pupil have occasion to say, when re-
ceiving help at home, "That is nOl the
way the teacher has us say it." 1t it
is right way, assure him that it is just
the way the teacher wants. Insist up
on correct statements. whether written
or oral.
In recitation of written work it is
much the better test of the pupils
knowledge of his lesson not to allow
the book to be used in the class; and
instead of giving just the problems in
the lesson, give others that they have
not seen, but involving the same prin-
ciples as their assigned lesson. Read
the problem to the pupil, and have him
write it neatly on the board, placing
the solution under it. IT the problems
are long and time limited, allow the
pupils to copy from their books and i
then, putting away their books, change
places, so no one solves the problem he
wrote. IF the pupil has been accus- t
toned to take his book to the board