Milford chronicle., 1891-01-30
Teachers Institute

The Sixteenth Annual Teachers Insti-
tute. for Sussex County, was held IN Coul-
bourn's Hall, Seaford, January 2Ist to the
23d, inclusive.
Tuesday, Supt Gray presiding. After
prayer. by the Rev. ]. DuHadaway, the
following officers were elected President,
stunt. GRAY; vice-president, W. I. Leak
secretaries, Matte E Morris and Maggie
Cottingham.
Prof w. Sparklin, of the Seaford Pub
lie Schools, then delivered an aPpropr1-
ate address of welcome, to which Supt'
Crav respvoded with a cordial ami sym
natl1etic earuestness that made the leach
ers feel they had in him friend, and one
In whom they would be glad to co oper-
ate in ''that divine and beautiful thing
called Teaching"
Prof. w. II. Miller, of Bridgeville, fol-
lowed next in an able discussion OF the
subject; "Benefits of Institute Work"
Hon. Henry Houck, Deputy State Su-
neriuteudent of Pennsylvania, now made
his appearance before the Institute, and
forthwith began to make things lively and
pleasant He didn't devote much time
10 the importation of knowledge, but cold
Journalism among the teachers dlsap-
peared as though by magic under the IN
fiuence of his genial smile and hearty,
ioyial manner. The singing of "Coro-
nation" closed the session.
At s O'Clock the Institute met again,
and the exercises began with cornet
solo by Prof Miller.
Prof. George Bible was then introduced
and in his recitatons and character per
sonations, brought out the full range OF
the humorous, the pathetic, and the tragic.
THE entertainment was thoroughly en-
loved by the large audience.
"Wednesday morning the session opened
with discussion by the teachers, presided
over bv Chas. M. Morris; Shall Free
Text Books be Adopted p Much dever-
sitv of opinion appeared in the vigorous
discussion which ensued; the majority
favorlng the affirmative. By request,
Snpt. Houck told of the results Of the
adontiou offree books in other states, and
something of the results in his own state,
speaking enthusiastically in its favor,
and predicting that Delaware would soon
nut free text books in all her schools.
After a spirited rendering OF Amer
icau Supt. Houck spoke on Common
Errors in Teaching"
Prot. Bible then spoke on Methods OF
Teaching Reading" favoring the Word
and Object" method "The child thinks
n words and in sentences. The word IS
the unit of expression. The method re-
ferred to is the natural one. Nature sets
no alphabet before her pupil nor IS there
! in the teaching Of nature anything that
suggests such a notion as learning a. 3.
G. Natures teaching, is at first, analytl-
cal. not synthetical The child learns to
speak BY imitation, analysis and practice.
Whv not then let him learn reading IN
the same way2 Let him IN view OF en-
tire words, echo the sound Of then re-
ceived from the teacher let him learn
them thoroughly as wholes, let him oy
ANALYSIS, separate them into their sylla-
bles. and the syllables into their letters
and It will be found that the Phonic iac-
ultv Of the compound leads to that OF It's
I separate parts. I" Prof Bible gave copious
\ Illustrations of his remarks on the blac.S-
board which added very mnch to the IN
terest Of what he said.
AT the afternoon session Supt HoueR
). imnroved the opportunity to put IN
strong plea for the boys, asking that the
home be made the most attractive place
in tie world to them.