The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1885-01-06
PREPARATION FOR THE PRIMER.
IN. s. Townsend, President Teachers
Association.

Association.l
Fitness demands that the time
given to this paper be devoted to the
discussion of the work to be done in
the primary schools now in existence
in this kingdom; to The exclusion of
any direct discussion of that inc sti-
mable training which is given or
ought to be given in every kinder
garten.
The schools of the Hawaiian
Islands are peculiar in moro ways
than one. The fact that most of
them ;re taught in a language
foreign to the pupils, is scarcely
more noteworthy than the hetero-
geneous character of the pupils
grouped together in one school. One
teacher is frequently required to
teach representatives of four or five
different nationalities and speakers
of as many languages. 1t is the
methods of procedure in such schools
which will be discussed. Let the
city teacher not think that l thus
restrict myself to small class of
schools. A large majority of the
country schools, if | mistake not,
arc of this kind.
The most manifest preparation
required is knowledge of the
language to be read. How should
this knowledge be given? How
much of it should precede the use of
books! The statement of the scope
of this discussion has indicated
somewhat of my answer to the first
question. Without wishing to moot
the question of the relative merits of
that method which begins with ex-
ercises in translation and that which
begins with objects, l answer that
the latter is the only natural and
reasonable method to be pursued in
the schools here indicated. In say
ing this / think / run no risk of
contradiction. Who will say that
teaching English by translation is
practicable in school of beginners
who have no language in common?
If, then, it is decided that the object
method is to be used, it only re-
mains to discuss its application.
The modern worlds great master
OF the principles of instruction took
as his model an intelligent mother
teaching her children to walk, to
talk and to do the thousand and one
things which every sound child
should learn to do in the first few
years of his life. This is the proper
model for each teacher engaged in
this work to bear in mind. Time
being limited, it will be sufficient
for the present to consider the mo-
theirs method of teaching her chill
dren to talk. The philosophic mind
of PestaloZzi discovered that in
teaching her children Gertrude al
ways developed an idea before pre-
senting the word which represented
it. She put the thing itself before it's
symbol. This is a principle to be
followed out in the work under dis
cussion. Then let us proceed with
the mother as model, and the idea
before the word. What class of
words should be taught first ?
Answering this question in Yankee
fashion, What ideas are naturally
and most easily developed first !? 1t
takes no philosopher TO answer.
The individuality and identity of
objects. Then the words which ex-
press these ideas, the names of OBJ
Jects, should be taught first. This
is also in accord with our model.
And following that model into the
details of the work, we observe that
the mother does not teach her child
to say ''apple," for instance, and
afterwards show it an apple to ex-
plain the word learned. On the
contrary, she shows it the apple
first and then teaches it the name
afterwards. So should the teacher
present actual objects to the child,
and then teach him their names
while the ideas are vivid in his mind.
And it must be remembered that a