The record-union., 1895-11-28
TEACHERS INSTITUTE ADJOURNED.
1t Finished Its Session Here Yes
terday
Conceded to be One of the Best Ever
Held in the County-VaIuable
Ideas Advanced.

est shown was still maintained, and the
teachers were in their places promptly
After a pleasing vocal solo by Miss
Katie E. Winn, the roll was called and
the institute divided, the county teach
ers going to Department Two in the
basement.
After Department Two had gone, City
Superintendent Erlewine arose and said
that language needs to be emphasized
in the Sacramento schools. Arithmetic
has a tendency to take hold of the mind
more than it should, and we must not
neglect other branches, especially Ian
guage, for the study of arithmetic.
He then introduced Miss Richardson,
who would" he said, present a gen
eral view of the subject"
Our standard of language in Sacra-
mento is high one, but we may be able
to better it by a careful exchange of
ideas. The strong and weak points will
be brought out in a discussion, and we
may be able to strengthen our weak
points. Language has a great deal to DO
with the development of character.
With a capital training in language the
pupil may learn how to turn the knowl-
edge of life to the best advantage. 1t
AGlpS 1lllI lO|JtCOIIG SOOQ lllclll. MANY
things are unknown to children when
they first enter school. Each item of
knowledge they gain is associated with
some other item, reaching outward in
all directions. The child'S knowledge is
a small circle that ever widens cut. The
prOnouncing of SylIables and oral spell
ing are important. They are very help
ful in learning to pronounce Ions words.
Memory, or Sight-Spelling, should go
hand in hand with dictatiOn spelling.
Voice culture, as well as the thought,
should be observed, and children should
be trained to read aloud in a pleasing
manner. Pupils should be encouraged
TO read other works of the author they
% are studying. The teacher should see
that the pupils have good books TO read
and should help to cultivate the taste
for systematic good reading. Teaching
the use of good language is important
Written work is also valuable, and pu-
pills should be taught to write correctly,
building their sentences wisely and
Symmetrically.
We must know what the child needs,
and then endeaVOr to supply its needs
Not how much, but how we'll" should
be our motto. and not the reverse. We
must learn that progress in mental
growth cannot be meas ured by per
cents. We should foster self-dependence
and develop original ideas in the child,
ana take care E4lal II uDES not lose us
mental strength Power and expression
should also be cultivated, and an effort
made to train the perceptive faculties
by the aid Of memory, imagination and
taste.
The practical value of work in para
phrasing below the High School seems
very small, and its results are discour-
aging, as the limited vocabulary of the
child and its lack Of imagination retard
the work. In conclusion, we should pre-
sent the subject in a logical manner,
giving attention to the weak points,
and not expecting great results at first
except in the consciousness of duty
done
READING AND SPELLING.
Ffarr Wagner then talked about read
ing, spelling and writing. He said AR
Coffey had spoken Of children going
coon hunting in school, but had not
told how to remedy it. The remedy is
To cultivate the habit Of observation
In order to know the children we must
watch them in their unconscious mo-
lnents, when they do not know that
they are observed. Their attention
must be gained by interesting.
The first law of attention is bigness-
The man who writes the circus poster
knows this and makes it big. The sec
ond law is brightness. Children as web
as grown people like it. That is the
reason that everything is kept bright
or a man-of-War None of us like SOM
Der colors, and bright colors are more
attractive Curiosity is another law of
attention. We are always curious to
know whether this thing or that is 60
ing TO happen. Another law is that of
beauty.
You must not hold the child at the
attention point too long, or you Will ia
tigue him and he will lose his interest.
T. Sc 10 or afr11 in
spect No matter how much the child
may be interested, its mind becomes
fatigued Taking up the immediate
subject of his talk, he favored correla-
ton of all three in teaching them.
Teachers, he said, have made a great
step in advance when they discovered
that there is no orthodox mode of
teaching reading The primary teach
ers of Sacramento and San Francisco
are far in advance of the report of the
Council of Fifteen. There are four
methods in use in this State, but the
best, he thought was a combination of
All of them. Ezra said, Read dis
tinctly. in order that the people may
understand" In some of the schools
the sound method is used exclusively,
and the child's education becomes dis
torted. In others the form method is
used. to the detriment Of the child S
spelling.
He favored the use of music and
teaching the scale as almost all chill
dren can sing the tones. The child
tones and voice will be improved if its
mother will battle the nasal passages
and catarrh will be much less preVa-
lent than it is. He asked various
teachers as to the methods they pur-
sued in teaching reading and the re-
suits sought or obtained by them. The
answers We're collated by him after he
had cleverly drawn the primary teach
ers into discussion Of the subject, and
variety of ideas were brought out 4
long discussion on the subject of teach
ing diacritical marking in the first
year followed.
Mr. Wagner said that the child comes
TO school at five or six years old with
his organs of speech in condition to be
trained and nodded. Teachers should
be careful that the child gets the right
sound of the words before they leave
him. He wished to know the method
pursued by the teachers in teaching
the pupil to pronounce new words, and
here again a great diversity Of opinion
and practice was developed. Mr. Wag-
ner said that no child could express a
thought till it understands the words
that express that thought. He thought
that the language of the Fourth Reader
was too difficult to make its use profit
able in the fifth grades.
In giving a child composition, its ex-
ercises should be done as carefully as
IL in the copybook. Conscious effort is
better than unconscious effort. There
is no better evidence Of cultured writ
ing than to keep the margins regular
and clean. He sketched an outline Of
the method he would adopt In giving tC
a class the poem tEvangeline." by
which he would cultivate a knowledge
of geography, composition reading
writing, spelling, and language, by Civ