The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1893-09-08
HOW TO TEACH SPELLING.
Nom de Plume Gives Benton County Ped.
agogues His Views.
Editor CHRONICLE:

it is the very one that is taught in the
most bungling and least efficient mani
ner. don't mean by this chat spelling
is SO very important that it should be
taught to the exclusion of all other sub
jects-not by any means. None but
wilful bungler or a rank novice find it
necessary to keep pupils in the spelling
book from start to finish. / have known
scores of pupils who began their educa-
tional career in the omnipresent blue
back speller and finished it there, who
never peeped into textbook other than
the speller. And to-day, with all the
educational activity of the period and
the improvements in educational meth
DDS, [ meet pupils who have attended
school more Or less for six or eight years
and have never had the glorious boon of
studying reader. Again, Irepeat that
spelling heads the list of educational sub
jects in Importance, but the above prac-
tice is all wrong. Down with it, fellow
teachers of Benton County, down with
it! How many teachers of our county
to-day follow the old stereotyped prae-
tice of starting beginners in the alpha
bet and keeping them in the irrepressi-
BILE blue-back for one, two, or moro
terms without ever putting them to read
= ing? hope that such are few and far
between, and yet 1 know that some are
still following that old antiquated prac-
tice. L stamp this as the blind leading
the blind. 1t is the height of folly to
argue or believe that pupil must nee
essarily repeat over and over again,
scores of times a Ito him) meaningless
column of letters, and then in turn re-
) peat row after row of combinations of
letters that are not only meaningless to
him, but also to all other sane beings.
1t is needless and unwarranted waste
{ oftime and energy. For the sake of the
future welfare of the learner [ implore
!, you to stop it.
" But, do you ask what shall you do in.
$ stead? Nothing can give me more pleas
ure than to tell you. In the first place
, the way to stop thing is to stop it, then
:, you will need to do something else.
- That something else is simple enough
u when you have properly surveyed the
, field and figured OH the material and -fa-
cilities at your command. The child
. comes into school not entirely untaught,
as this old method presupposes, but
with a knowledge of from two to six
hundred familiar words-h Gus Ell old
words. These words consist largely Of
the names of familiar objects. Now, by
all means, let us utilize this little store
~ of information by putting the little
learner to work on reading lesson
Nv about one of these familiar objects, u.s.
ing familiar words, and then advance by
IS easy stages" from the known to the I'M
n. known. OF course he must spell these
w words.
le. The reading lessons may be learned
,st from the first reader, the chart. OF from
er lessons printed on the black board. eli
70. ther of the last two being better than
he the first. The words should be printed
an by the pupil, either on the slate or black
lis board, or both, and spelled orally al
recitation. When the pupil is LITTLE
IRE more advanced he should be required t.
TX. go through" the lesson and select the
nd words that have a certain letter in then
les and print them. About the time ht
mt, takes up second reader he should begir
ifs, to learn the different classes of words
ty, name-words, action-words, qualifying
Ihe words, relation-words, etc.-and prin
them for recitation No other stud,
should be taken up till after the compile
ton of the second reader, for surely witt
reading, writing and spelling the pupil
in time will be fully absorbed. 0ntakiny
up third reader placed spelling book i
sed his hands and assign him lesson t
to spell by sound Let me enjoin you
ern fellow teachers, never put pupils t
lity spelling by sight in textbook simpl
as a spelling exercise. When this poin
we'd is reached the teacher may adopt either
his or alternately all of the following meth
ERE DDS, the last two of which are much tn
and best:
/ to ~ Simply oral spelling.
(2) Have pupils write words on slate!
nat exchange and criticise.
ION, 90 Have pupils write words on blacl
hat board, exchange places and CRITICS.
for then each one returning to hisown plaC
lem spell orally and note criticisms.
or In using the last two methods the D,