The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-05-03
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
Ey A. c. HuL.BERT.
CHAPTER III.

EY A. G. HuI.BFRT.
CHAPTER III.
When an ancient king sent to {
celebrated philosopher, inquiring
'Is there not an easier way of &C
quiring a knowledge of geometry
than that laid down by Euclid" the
prompt answer was, There is nc
royal road to geometry" This SEN
tence has come ringing down the
ages, and in our time and language
we have the expression familiar to
every one, There is no royal road
to learning" | should not consider
my duty done toward my pupils did
| notendeavor to impress upon them
the certainty that in every educa-
tional process there is a certain
amount of work which must be done
and done by every person for him.
self. A considerate and judlcious
teacher can make some of the rough
places trifle more smooth, can
pluck out of the pathway few ol
the briers, but he can do no more
The bulk of the work remains, and
it must be done by the pupil. One
person cannot perform the mental
drudgery" of another.
To-day there seems to be dispo-
sition on the part of educators to ig-
more these facts. There seems to be
desire to ignore the truism, There
is no royal road 70 learning" and to
find or to make such road; text
books are written, published. and
adopted, seemingly with some such
desire animating all connected with
them.
/ might have headed this article
photography, but prefer the good
old tune, spelling" l verify be
lieve that if any one is to become a
thoroughly good speller he must be-
come so before he attains the age OF
fourteen years. The mental drudg-
cry must have been performed, and
something more than the foundation
must have been laid. The extent ol
mans vocabulary" will depend
much on the extent of his reading;
by his vocabulary l mean the words
which he can use; he may be able to
spell all the words he can use, or he
may not, but to be good speller he
must be able to spell all the words
in common use. | am satisfied that
much of the bad spelling seen in
manuscripts originates in not being
accustomed to writing. | have, /
presume, examined thousands OF
manuscripts from teachers and pu-
pills; / have read the manuscript
sheets of hundreds of articles that
were intended for publication, and
i'm the great majority have found
errors, sometimes errors which sur
prised me- ! have written too many
articles Lot fully to appreciate the
effect of a slip of the pen, the plac-
ing Of a-tfut or a cross where none
should be, or vice versa. l fully
comprehend how the hand runs over
the paper in the vain attempt to keep
pace with the mind. / know that
the spelling Of an author is an au-
tomato process. My mind. while
write this line, is putting into shape
the lines which foNow two or three
ahead. | am not conscious of the
dotting of the is or crossing the t's.
pay no attention to the spelling,
and yet presume there is not a
word on the page misspelled i'll the
manuscript; there may be. Now
whence 90 derive my certainty OF
my correctness? answer, it is habit
the habit acquired by years Of
practice. Every man who has writ.
ten much will comprehend my mean
ing.
Why do we find manuscripts writ.
ten by men, who make some claims
to literary ability, containing such
egregious blunders as ''off," "bin,
"evry," "gon," for "of," "been,
"every," ''gone?" / have letter
from literary friend, man of rare
ability, of good education, a prac
ticed writer. find the word "there'
occurring three times in it; he ha:
spelled it every time "their." How
do / account for this when / know
that he can spell the word if asked
to do so? / answer, he did not &C
quire the habit of writing the word
correctly before hewa fourteen, and
whenever he uses it he writes as
have quoted. / used the word prac
tice line or two above. / went te
the dictionary for it. | will confer
with Webster when l want to us,
it again. 1t is one of the words
am never sure of for FIVE minutes
after l close my unabridged. ! wa:
taught to make distinction between
the noun and the verb, to spell then
differently. That word and a few
others will haunt me during life
What we learn in bovhood sticks
Remember this.
/ have given nothing as yet in re
gard to the method of teaching spell
ing. but, as the boy said, Il have
limited it at YOU" l do think thai
the spelling book cannot be Danish
ed from our schools. l am vel
aware that the proof-readers are oul
best spoilers, but were they not rea.
sonably good spoilers before they be
came proof-readers?
The spelling book should contain
the words in common use, and q
collection of those in occasional re
QUESTION. Study must familiariz'
the pupil with them. oral drill mus
give him facility in spelling then
orally. from pronunciation, and writ
ten drill must give him ability t
use them in composition.
These are the central ideas in my
mode of teaching spelling. PLENTY
of study, because menta, drudger,
cannot be avoided, and plenty o
drill, both oral and written. If Their
be one idea which / would impress
on the mind of the young teacher j
is drill, drill, drill, first, last, all th'
time and everywhere. Commence
the first day in the morning, and
only cease the last day of the tern
when you have reached your home