The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1881-12-30

The old method of teaching arith-
metic to primary pupils by c0mmenc.
ing with addition, and after following
this until the pupils could add num-
bers into the thousands, and then TAX
ing up satisfaction and teaching it.;
and 80 on with each Of the fundamen-
tai rules, teaching each separately, has
fallen into disuse in most schools, and
what is known as the " CRUDE Method"
has taken its place. In the last named
method all the fundamental operations
are taught together and effectively.
The first thing to do is to provide some
thing which the children can count
during the recitation-beans, pebbles,
pieces Of chalk, or anything else Of the
kind will do; wooden toothpicks are
the most convenient, and O box con-
tanning several hundred can be bought
for a dime. The abstract words one,
ts0o, three, etc., have no meaning to
many children, but if the words are
applied to some object or obiantes ard
II the children handle those objects
while counting, they will soon learn
what numbers are. The principle Of
the CRUDE method is to teach all the
relations Of each number to all the
numbers 6e1os0 it. The teacher gives
each pupil toothpiek, and asks how
many picks have you?" The answer
will generally be, "one;" although oc.
casionally we find a child that does not
know what one is. The teacher then
writes q straight line on the black
board and tells the class that it is one
straight line, and also the figure and
tells what it is. We cannot teach ad-
dition here because there are no mum.
bers below one; but we can and do.
teach satisfaction, multiplication and
division. Thus, the teacher says, /" II
you take one pick from what you have,
how many will be leftp" and the an.
sWer will be "none." The teacher then
writes on the board 1-1e0, and tells
the pupils that the figure which looks
like the letter is called zero, and that
the expression is read lone less one
equals gero," or zone minus one equals
nothing" This is enough for one les-
sou. The toothpicks are now collected
and kept by the teacher. The next les
son should begin by o review Of this
one, and the following added Kill,
which is read "one times one equals
ona, or once one equals one." AT
the third lesson the teacher asks, how
many times can you take one from
one| The answer will be "once,"g
and the teacher writes on the board
It'll, which is read :" from one one
may be taken one time" Or cone is con
tanned in one one time" The next les
son is addition. Two picks are given
to each Of the class, and asks, chow
many have you now?" Some Of the
class will answer two" The teacher
now puts two lines on the board and
also the figure 2. She then writes
1-+1-2, which Is read zone plus one
EQUALS two," or "one and one equals
two" The class is now set to making
combinations, as 1X1-2, 2-1=1,
|2-1-1@0, 2X1-2, 1X2-2, 2-.1=2,
|2x1=2.
In this way each number is combined
in every way with all below it, never
touching higher number until you
wish to teach 1t. Whenever a higher
number is reached another toothpick is
given each member of the class, and
the pupils count them when they per-
form the operations. All the possible
combinations should be taught at first:
thus when we reach FIVE there are flf-
teen different combinations.
When the number ten is reached the
teacher binds the ten picks together
and teaches the class that it is one ten,
and teaches them to write it in this
way: "Put zero in the units place for
the no units, and one in the tens place
for the one ten" Two or more tens
are treated in O similar manner, as for
| instance the number SO. Put two in
the units place for the two units, and
three in the tens place for the three
tens"
| We advise teachers to make haste
slowly when teaching class of begin
ners in numbers. One great trouble
with most teachers is that they rush
over the work too rapidly. A teacher
that can take a class to the number
ten according to this method in four
months term, and do the work right,
has done excellent work, for she has
not only taught addition, satisfaction,
and division, but she has surmounted
that terrible hill called the multlplica-
ton table. A few Of the teachers of
this county still cling to the old way
of teaching arithmetic, but they are be-
hind the times. There were teachers
who did more and better work with
this method last winter than has been
done in other schools in two years.
We have in this article given necessa-
rily only short view Of the method.
Teachers who have no work on the
subject can get one at any good book
store. A good treatise on the subject
by Prof. Sedan, Of st. Louis, costs only
twenty-five cents.