The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1903-10-29
Originality q ths SehosirooI.iss
PAPER reauThy Miss Anna chrystalat1the ateac
eys' meeting III Scotland last week

4 faper reaurhy Miss Anna Chrystslat1the teach
eFssnaeetlng 10 scotlandlas week.
g would bepresumption to suppose
[ mat lat one could give any original ideas
SIos psl used little sclIo0lToom when 50
many eminent educators I flooding
this country with methods#and devices;
20 it's hestsiust To consider the WAYS
We put these methods and devices into.
Practice without claiming a patent III,
them. There is nothing new under,
the sun Ia the way of thot. Our thotsl
VIII be found expressed some place So
ilpteachers may become conceited over
her plans. Itisthe way she works out
her plans. Her program las been iii
use many years somewhere, but 1T Isl
the way she uses it. Perhaps some
child lass5eoIns with d headache ON
/ ing TO q poorly ventilated sleeping
room. Will not this permit Of i deyia-
ton from the program . Il talk on
fresh air? Or another with5a cut finger
will allow a talk on Natures way of.
healing. Ora remark will suggest
something to the original teacher,
which will permit her plans to8be kept
over. System must govern the prep
aration of our plans but not The carry
ing out. These little things arouse en-
thusiasmand are an incentive to find
out things for heInsplvas
To i,ats res. saiiii,ss i'll ID ttiiausiasIn53i
where the teachers originality is best
shown, In the reading Glasses most,
the pupils are listless Those who Hive
in homes where reading is a lost art,
are the teachers bugbears. They are
careless; and one way to secure occur
acy in them is to make it a game to see
nlae4es; read the fartllesf without d
mistake. Mechanical reading will be
the result if carried too far. Vary by.
having the children take characters Or
sentences or even paragraphs. Try to
see who can read it the best. This will
arouse antagonism, but check 1T by ig-
noring the ones whose criticism is only
for ridicule. Let the children try to
read the way the teacher would read.
When they recite she will be surprised
ut the way she is supposed to read, but
do no. be offended as the child is Sc.
curing elasticity of voice and in a short
time you can mold it any way you
choose. Read and tell stories so the
chtld will i~nstinctively try to initiate.
Do not be afraid Of facial contortions if
they are only suggestive, as the teach
er's face is what the child reads. A
placid restful countenance is what we
wish to enjoy when our days work is
done. One little child in trying to i'm
itate screwed his face up, and his moth-
er asked why hethot his face looked
likelthe object of his iEiitation. He re-
piled: that his face felt like hers looked.
Reading is carried into numberwork1
( when the child has 10 write out thean-
alysis of problems and read them,
spelling when the significant 100 can
not be placed e the work if a word
is misspelled, even if the answer is cor
rect; punctuation in watching the
commas aud periods. BY a little in
genuity, the teacher can place the con-
mas in the problems where they will
come in the answer and the child will
grow up with the commas. Vary the
problems with words common to the
child's vocabulary and increase his
spelling capacity. To secure accuracy.
in number work, ask the children how
many think they have perfect work
sendsthem to the board aud place 10U
over their work. fla comma is omit
ted or a word misspelled or if the work
is not neat enough, the 100 must be
erased and 0 substituted, even if the re-
suit is correct.
Spelling is a serious problem in a
school where foreigners predominant.
One plan from an educational paper,
but modified for the school, was to
take lifelong vowels combine with each
%consOnant sound, use III Ii word, spell
by sound, mark accent and syllables,
and use the word in a sentence Have
everything written on the board and
copied for four days and the fifth lie,
the pupils write from memory, excus-
ing all the ones who have perfect pa.
pers and let the others try again. When
the long vowels are finished use the
short ones. This will teach a child to
spell and pronounce words instead OF
calling on the teacher. Stimulate then
to find out for themselves by seeing
how many can tell new words without
the teachers assistance.
Originality may be carried too far, as
a little poem in the October Primary
Education suggests. A lamb followed
Mary to school, and the opportunity
was seized for Nature study, and ev.
erything else let go. Consequently pets
accidentally came to school constantly
The last verse sums the whole thlng:-