The sun., 1897-06-06
THE SUN, SUNDAY, JUNE 8, 1897.

whether In written spelling the words Of
the lessons should be placed In sentences or
in columns. With respect to both Of these
Inquiries the results of $4,000 tests were
indecisive. Concerning, therefore, oral and
written, column and sentence spelling, DIR.
RICE says only this: that the wise teacher
will acquaint himself with a. many methods
and devices as possible, and change from
one to the other in order to relieve the
tedium and to meet the needs Of Individual
children. In regard to another matter, the
deduction drawn from the figures is
distinct and pcremptory: 1t Is this:
that under no circumstances should
more than fifteen minutes daily be
given TO spelling. Whatever benefit the
pupils can receive from their instruction in
spelling, will be obtained within this period.
In the third place, DR.. RICE would recon-
mend that the words given out for spelling
be carefully graded, not only with regard
to photographed difficulties, but in accord
ance with the vocabulary Of the child as
well. In this way, the course in spelling
might be made as systematically progressive
rs are the courses in other subjects. Stress
Is also laid on the Importance Of giving
precedence to common words. while leaving
technical and unusual words to be taught
incidentally. BY excluding words of the
latter classes, the course would be mate
rally abridged, and the chances OF produc-
ing good practical spoilers proportionately
increased. Lastly, in DR.. RIcE's opinion, the
spelling course should be further abridged
by excluding words that contain no catch,
that Is, words which naturally spell them
selves. DIR. RIcEs researches on this point
indicate that more than half of tho COM
mon words belong to this category, and,
consequently, need not be studied.
The ideal ground, then, to be covered in
spelling. would be represented by care.
fully graded list Of the common words most
liable to be misspelled. The number of
| words in this list, as estimated by DIR. RICE,
| Is between six and seven thousand. When
the words to be spelled have been picked
out, the next step is a systematic treatment
Of the difficulties. Here, again, the work
Is open to simplifcation by separating
tho words that may be learned col.
lectively from those which must be
mastered individually. OF course, the
words that can DO acquired collec-
lively are those to which the so-called
rules or generalizations of spelling apply.
In some instances, the exceptions are 30 nu-
merous as to rob the rules of value; never
theless few of them are trustworthy, at
least for practical purposes. As even these
few rules govern thousands of words, it is
plainly less burdensome to master them
than to memorize such words individually.
| Among these rules two are singled out
as singularly comprehensive. These, in
DIR. RIoE's judgment, should be taught
year after year until applied automat-
ically. They are: first, the rule as to
| the doubling Of the consonant in parti-
ciples, az in run-'1Lnning; and, secondly,
the rule concerning the dropping of the
| final c in participles, as in bdke-baking 1t
appears that out of 252 pupils in the fourth
school year, whose papers were examined
In reference to this point, running was mis-.
spelled by ninety four and baking by sixty
nine. That, as spelling Is now taught, little
advantage is taken Of rules is manifest from
the fact that about as many errors were
made in words governed by rules as in
those to which they did not apply.
The words that must be studied individ.
ually are naturally those In which no clue
is given to the photography either by
sounds or rules. DR.. RICE holds that the
best that we can do with such words, un.
| til our spelling Is reformed, Is to bring
them to the notice Of the child and trust
to chance for tho results. He would
suggest, however, a separate list OF
those puzzling small words which,
though constantly used in writing are
yet frequently misspelled. 1t seems that,
even in the highest grammar school
grade, a considerable number of pupils will
write dose for does, trho's for rhose, there
for their, to for t,co, &c. Such list, how,
ever, as is recommended need not include
more than $50 or 200 words. AS these
perplexing little words cannot be too often
brought to the attention of children, the
drill should be begun as early as possible
and continued throughout the school course