Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1881-03-26
A Werd with Parents and Teachers
About Reading.

You have already overcome the diff
fculty of learning to read, but you
have not forgotten it, and this fact will
enable you to appreciate what follows.
The child who has not learned to
read is in need of every possible aid
that can be given him. All that he
knows should be brought to his relief
in this most difficult undertaking. He
has by experience and observation
learned the names Of familiar objects,
such as cat, dog, house, father and
mother, as we'll as many words express
sive of their action, such as walk, run,
play, work, etc.
Now his knowledge of these is all
the stock he has to begin the business
of reading; which is simply pronounc-
ing the same words by sight which he
has already learned to pronouce by
hearing.
A man unable to read receives let
ter and hands it to friend to read it
to him. Here one gathers the con-
tents by sound, the other by sight.
Now which is reading? Evidently the
one who scalks by sight. Reading is then
the process of gathering the sense by
sight. Then why burden the darkened
mind of the child with the process of
spelling first each word in order to read
it, and then require him Immediately
to read ,cithOot "spelling his words ?"
The old method requires him to spell
the word to read it, and then not to
spell it in reading it. If he must at
last 60 by sight of the word, why not
teach him to do that at first, and save
the labor lost in the useless spelling
which is discarded before any reading
is done? But teachers who have not
tried it say this can not be done. This
was the decision about railroads and
telegraphs before they were tried.
But we ask teachers to try this
method faithfully before deciding
against it. And as means of testing
it, get the "New American Reading
Charts for Elementary Instruction,
which have been adopted for use in
public schools of Warren county.
These Charts teach the teacher how
to teach reading 1st by the Word
Method, I'd by the Phonic Analysis,
Sd by the A, B, G Method.
They teach first to read by the word
method, which is the natural and easy
way. We do not teach the child ia
speak the word dog by telling him tc
say dog, nor do we teach him to
speak the word father by calling the
letters. If he can by sound learn to
speak the word as a achole more easily
than he can by the letters and sylla
bles, can he not do the same by sight
Is not the impression by sight more
easily acquired and better retained thar
by sound? If not, why do we remem
Der faces better than names?
These Charts were gotten up for this
purpose they are now being used with
success in the best schools in the State,
and only need to be tried to be approx
ed. They are graded to suit the ad.
vancement of the learner, and one set
in a school room will be sufficient fol
class of 20 or 80 beginners, who,
during these exercises, need no book.
The directors of the schools should a
once see that each school house is fur.
nished with them as a saving in both
time and money to the parents.
The Charts are Is IN number, con
tanning reading exercises, analysis O
words into the letters and their sounds
and exercises with syllables, accents
&c, with much other elementary in
formation, such as the names and illus
tration by pictures of the primar!
colors, geometrical figures, &C., thus al
this early age teaching children to cal
things by their right names, as angles
cubes, circles, spheres, cones,9 DC
Again we say try this method with tn
Charts.