The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-12-08

learning the alphabet consisted in going
over aud over the tWentv-si& large and
name Of each was as familiar a the road
home. Daily dril In banning these in reg.
Ular order and finally out Of order 81 sight
Vas given The pupil usually irst Learned
the names Of the letters So that he could
say them of the book that is without
looking at the printed page Then be got
them So he could recognize them and name
them no matter how the teachers pointer
might skip about from top 10 bottom ana
back again.
Tho alphabet being learned. the pupil
was permitted to turn over the leaf and
behold the gories of the alb page, and in
time master this. These words of two
letters were spelled out and gone over
time and again until all were mastered, and
then words of three letters came, and so
on until the proud day when the pupil was
advanced to words Of two sylables and
triumphantly spelled b.a, ba, k-c-r, kerr
baker, which word marked an epoch In his
school life. This spelling book was gone
through in this way, and then II was gone
over again, the second time the spelling
being done cd the book Not until
every word contained in its pastebOard
covers had been mastered and could be
spelled Instantly on hearing II was the
ambitious boy or girl satisfied to lea te
the EVpIer ana get tuo Hfet reader. ne
work of these FIRST months Of those old
time boys and girls VAS something that
the primary pupils Of tue prt sent day have
but little idea Of. But old fashioned as
il was aud crude IS the teachers methods
may have been, the boy OF girl who had
gone through a term OF the spelling book
had advanced 10 the point where no ord-
many printed page was q mystery tnat he
could not unrayel for himself If ne had a
desire to do so. He mad gotten to the
nrst bench on the hill upon the top of
which the temple of knowledge stood and
II only depended thenceforth upon himself
whether he reached the top or not. But
n was hard climbing over those first piles
OF rocks,
while 1t makes the road smoother for the
pupil leaves u question OF whether there
Is any saving Of human labor, Il appears
to the layman that the work OF smoothing
the road. which Is done by the modern
teacher is fully equivalent TO the work
saved the pupil. This is more likeeT TO
he answered correctly by teacher, how
ever. than by layman. Whatever the
amount Of labor involved for the Instructors
In the newer methods n seems 70 be the
tendency Of the time 70 make the life Of
the child easier. and no objection VIII be
raised IN this score
II may he that there are grown people
who Learned their letters as starter in
school work who have never seen class Of
the present day getting over the same
ground IN a different way. A young lady
who has charge 81 the lowest grade those
who have lust come from the kindergarten,
Illustrated the other dav the method Of
teaching tho rudiments by impressing the
sound AZ the letters on the minns of the
punils in connection with the letter writ
ten on the blackboard No attention Is
paid 20 the tin,e-honored arrangement Of
the latters N the Alphabetical order In
his institution. or indeed in any that
comes after u Another wide difference
he, ween The new and the olNNa is in the
fact the child In learning the letter that Is.
its sound, from the very fest learns the
uritten form Almost from she hrst In this
system Of instruction the pupils begin 70
learn TO read. They are taught the appear