The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-02-27

you learn thar" mo" said ], ''nobod'
can. and what good will il do any wayg'
why" she sad, "Mr. Brown is trying
10 tell you what noun is" who ?
"Mr. Brown, the man who made tn
book" she answered. "When p said
why, here IN the book" she said, put
ting her finger on the paragraph. l war
little d zed and she added "Don'
you see p mo, don't see, where Is i,?'
She clUsed the book and said "You
have got a name, everybody has, ano
things have names" Yes, l said, ~
know t." and looked at her waItinl
To see if she would say anything more
could understand, when she said: "A
nn me is word isn't il p 'Ye-, IN d
"Well." she added, "Mr. Brown says al
that kind of words that are names uughr
all hp put in one class and be called
nouns "Where does he say 80 in tn,
ouuk," asked. "why, right where you
have been reading; read it and zee if
iont," and she passed me the book anu
was revelation. 1t was the frs
lme had ever dreamed that comhins
ION of words in a grammar were in
ended to express an idea. But there II
was revealed before me. and l shall
probably never forget Browns definition
of q noun
then reached out the grammar with
my finger on the Uerb. and sad. "Tell
me about this one and she simply read
& so could hear "a verb, is a WORD
ha' sign fies to be, to act or to be acted
upon" and then added. DO YOU uuu-T
81 .nd that ?-to run, IT, jump, tn eat. ar,
ii, DO III ~ a
sUmel hing, don't the, 2" Yes" "Wen
hen, such words art UerbS. That sell
led t. saw that grammar was in
ended from some purpose. and then
-asily learned the rules, and could ever,
make some myself.
This illustrates the working of boy
nnd. He must have some use for u
hing before he can fix his heart or his
mind upon it. Girls and gIrllsh boys
nay learn abstract words or things hut
genuine boy cannot. He must fir,
know what thing is for before he car
Tx his heart upon 1t, and until bis heart
fixed his bead never operates.
Hire has been the trouble in the be-
g'nnlng years of our mechanical schools
The teachers have tried to teach DO,
o make stick straight, without telling
he boy that the stick was intended foI
purpose, or letting him use il for any
hing when IL was done. To boy, thi-
Is only laborIous foOlishnesS, and he IL
tired of 1t from the beginning.
But tell the boy to make some hing
tor instance, wooden fl wer.put I,
carry home TO his mother, then insist
hat he cut every piece straight and
md hai t,, hAr To- I a..
Ups are rounded, scallOped, or nOtched
for ornament, the teacher should requlr'
this done in uniform, workmanlIke
and ornamental manner, and the bO,
",ll work with a will. This is dong
something tangible with an end in view
Such work ana such study furnishes 1t,
own incentive. When teacher CON
lie INNS piece of his work, and ORDER
nun to get out another piece he is mOrt
careful then and profits by his mistakes
ln fact no boy is safe upon a piece oi
| work until he has made it wrong once
and has / ad to make il over again. Hi
mistakes are his best if not his only
te cheers that write the knowledge Ol
mechanics indelibly upon his mind. T,
punish pupil for mistake, otherwise
tn IN OblIgiug him to do the work Ovel
again, would be an opportunity lost.
The value of mistakes is just beinl
discovered aud turned to advantage. Il
the school referred TO, when a pupil it
given piece of work, he is carefully in
sructed how to do it, then left to worl
II out until he asks for further instruc-
tIuns. If he is seen to be making a mis-
axe he IS not corrected or in any way
no ifi-d that he is going wrong unil hn
work l. done; then the mistake Is ex-
planned to him and when and how n
made it. Then he is carefully told agair
now to do it, aud the next time he will
get it right. The scholars under thi
tuition are rapidly mastering the arr
and he acho j Ia ~ rapidly coming int
favor.-C.S S Griffin, IN Belfast Journal