Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1889-11-21
Pastor Presbyterian
Suggestions to Tea cheers.

| GOVERNMENT.
1lt is a well known principle of civil author
ity that that government is best which pre-
tends to govern least, yet, in the matter OF
discipline, as applied to public schools, the
teachers authority should be hi intained al
all hazard and never comprised under any
circumstances. OF course this should be
done in spirit of kindness and no teacher
should ever punish child until he has first
convinced that child that the punishment to
be inflicted is a necessary consequence OF Its
wrong doing. Certainly in aggravated cases
of INSTRUMENTATION, the teacher is not ex-
pected to compromise his dignity by unneces-
sary delay and superfuous explanations.
The school law of Missouri now in effe It
provides that the use of profane and obscene
language by any pupil shall constitute good
cause for expulsion.
| READING.
| Remember that reading is the Foundation
of all school work, the subsoil ofintelligence,
and in Its true sense, the sum and substance
| of education;" that a failure in teaching
reading means, in this day, failure III teach
ing everything. Be sure, then. that the child
lSauS 5ioSPAho ANhy "H~ Si"--
ly the meaning of what is read. To do this
he must know the meaning of each word, of
each allusion, statement OF position OF wnat-
ever nature. That he may convey TO others
the meaning of what is read, the pupil must
read fuently, distinctly, and with prope-
meditation. The ability to do this can be
| accomplished by patient, persevering,- we'll
directed training only, The pupil should
never be permitted to Leave reading lesson
until he has'mastered it in every detail. As
a rule pupils are hurried over and through
their readers for the sake of getting "new
book" when the real truth is they do not
understand the meaning of a single lesson
in the book. l have never yet found class
that had been kept too long in any given
reader. Drill your pupils on the spelling OF
words in the reading lesson, requiring them
to enunciate each sound distinctly and pro-
nounce the word correctly. 1t is good plan
to have yonr pupils copy neatly portion of
each lesson, and underneath the paragraph
copied select list of ten or more words of
say three sylables, and, with the aid of
dictionary, syllabicate. accentuate and place
tie proper diacritical marks. Below all this
let them write a list of unfamiliar words,
always dwelling upon the meaning of words;
and then have them use unfamiliar words in
a sentence of their own construction. This
work should be designated ''written study"
and the time of one recitation can be profit
ably spent in correcting and commenting
upon this work. The next recitation should
be devoted to the reading of the lesson as an
elecutionary exercise, always requiring cor
rections to be made according to the rules
and plans laid down in the different readers.
Require the pupils to memorize and recite
poems and prose extracts of unquestioned
n crit.
SPELLING.
There is no royal road for learning to spell
the words Of the English language. Nothing
short of hard study and persistent drill for
a of series years Will make good speller. 1t
is of the highest impor, ance that pupils learn
to spell all common words by the time they
have arrived at the age of twelve years, since
what is learned in childhood, if thoroughly
learned, is recalled in later years, instantly
ard without effort. Have spelling exercises
mostly written. Require pupils to re-write
all misspelled words until they have
thoroughly mastered all words incorrectly |
spelled. 1t is a good plan to have pupils
keep list of all words wrongly spelled by |
them, and to review the class from time to
time by using these lists. Spelling should |
not be confined to the ord book only, but |
should enter into every exercise where writ |
ten work is desirable. Good spelling covers |
many defects in scholarship; whereas, bad
spelling by person of reputed educational |
causes us to believe that he
serving. Try to make pupils feel the neces-
Sly of becoming good spoilers.
ARITHMETIC.
In teaching arithmetic, bear in mind that |
il is not to make mathematitions, but for the
higher purpose of creating thought in the
pupil and developing his reasoning faculties.
The chief end to be accomplished is to make
the pupil familiar with the principles and
their practical application, and to develop
in the pupil the ability to make rapid and
correct computations. Make the unit the
basis of all operations, whether integral or
fractional numbers are involved. In addi-
ton, have the pupil learn every possible
of each two of the nine digits,
so that he can name the same as readily as
he can see and name nfO=no, ofn=on
Always strive to make clear every process
that you take up in the use of numbers.
Use blocks, stones, or anything that comes
to hand to illustrate the combination of
numbers. A child readily understands that
t hree apples and four apples are seven APP
Piles when he sees them put together. SO,
likewise, he understands that twelve apples
distributed among four boys, will supply to
each boy three apples. The pupil soon learns
division when he sees practical illustration.
When fractions are taken up, do not weary
and disgust the pupil with long string of
definitions of fractional unit, the unit of d
fraction and otEer incomprehensible stuff;
but take stick, or an apple, or crayon, or
anything else that can be easily broken into
parts, and make him see thata stick, broken
in the middle, is divided into two equal
parts called halves: that 2 written beneath
a line means halves and shows that thu
stick IS divided into two equally parts. Now,
take each half and divide it into two equal
parts, then place all the pieces side by side
and make him see that the four parts are