The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1904-12-08
practicable. in connected discourse,


paper, spoke very complimentary OF
Miss Mathews excellent paper, and
gave his approval to the methods ad,
vanced by her for teaching reading tC
the primary pupils.
Miss Mathews subject was handled
in part as follows:
ain teaching reading there are two
ends to be sought:
"l-To make the pupil skilled and
quick in the recognition of word anC
letter form and value.
"2-To secure his interest in the con
tent of the printed form.
"The two ends in teaching reading
are both reached by the best method o
enabling the child to convert his ea
vocabulary into his eye vocabulary
That he may come to connect the words
already known to the ear with theii
written or printed form the letters and
sounds they represent being taught
later. If we stop TO think we know
that the child first learns oral language
by prononncing words in imitation ol
others. These words that he pronounces
early in life have some meaning to the
child and express thought. Letters
and sounds are not elements of thought,
but elements OF words. In the word
method the unit is the word.
"The first lessons in reading should
be given independently of the book and
be presented in writing on the black
board. In these lessons the writing
should be large, vertical script. In
planning the lessons for the board, the
teacher has before her list Of words
which the pupil will meet in the fore
part of the reader, and also other
familiar words. Take a real object
with which the child is familiar and in
which he is interested. 1t may be a
cat, dog or baby. Have q picture
or pictures of the object, a toy represen-
tation of it, the object itself, or all of
them actually present. Talk with the
child about the object, get him to talk
about it. Call his attention to the
spoken word that represents the object.
With this he is already familiar. Tell
him you are going to make the chalk
say the word and write the word on the
board. The word should be written
quickly in order not to lose the interest
of the thought. The pupil should from
the first, weld firmly together the word
and the idea which it expresses Point
to the word and let him point to the
object, naming it at the same time.
Let him attempt to write the word
Proceed in this way until he has learned
to recognize the names OF five or six
familiar objects"
Miss Mathews then went to some
length to describe in careful detail
methods of drill in slow pronunciation
The Glacier regrets it has not space for
the entire article.
"The most important thing in read
ing is thought getting, and If they fail
in this they fail utterly, and the teacher
should bear this in mind In reading
from the board and in early reading
from books the pupil should look through
the sentence and know what it says
before he tries to give it to others. 1t
is not well to point to each word as the
child reads, as it begets a halting habit
of reading. He should be encouraged
to ask what word or sentence means
before he is willing to read it aloud"
Superintendent Landers was then
called upon to describe the educational
exhibits at the st. Louis fair. every
where" said Mr.. Landers, "the first
aim of the exposition was to educate. I"
The speaker then went on to describe
the educational building, the first of its
kind at any of the great expositions.
The speaker went on to explain that
while the educational work is carried
on by the individual states, there has
come to be sort of national character
to the system, through the informing.
ling of the teachers and instructors at
the various gatherings and educational
meetings OF the national teachers
associations. Therefore the methods of
teaching are practically the same
throughout the nation. Pupils on the
Pacific coast do the same sort of work
and in many instances use the same
text books as do pupils in the New
England states.
The strongest foreign exhibit, and the
one most comprehensive in its scope,
was the exhibit IRON Germany. Spec
ializing in school work in Germany
begins early in the elementary schools.
This, said Mr.. Landers, is the chief
difference between the American and
the German educational methods.
Next in order of importance in the
foreign educational exhibits came
France, England, Norway, and then
Japan. In that country the spirit of
development has been based on the
educational system, which has advanced
by rapid strides in the last few decades.
A very complete and comprehensive
exhibit was made Of the actual work in
the Japanese schools.
The Philippine exhibit was also a
fine one. Actual work was shown by
classes of native children which had
regular periods otrecitation during the
fair months. The educational work
done by the United States in the Phil
ippine islands since their acquisition by
this country has been marvellous. More
natives speak English today than they
did Spanish during the 400 years Spain
held the land,
County Superintendent Neff explained
the method to be employed in prepar.
ing Wasco county's exhibit for the Lew
is and Clark fair. Mr.. Landers de.
scribed the cabinets considered best
adapted tor displaying the exhibits Of
school work 1t was brought ont in
this discussion that while the schools
Of Oregon appointed one day for prepa.
ration of work by the pupils for the
educational exhibit at st. Louis, the
other states invariably selected the best
work of the pupils for the term. Ore
gon teachers will be expected to follow
this plan hereafter.
At the suggestion of Mr.. Landers, the
following committee was appointed by
Superintendent Neff to look after the
preparing Of Wasco county's educational
exhibit at the Portland fair: ]. S.
Landers of The Dallcs, w. A. Wiley
of Hood River and II. Ii. White Of
Dufur.
Before sdjourning, Superintendent
Wiley urged the teachers TO write per-
sonal letters to the members of the
legislature with whom they are ac-
qusinted, and request the legislators
to use their influence in seeing that the
Pierce Eddy bill, which requires a
county tax levy OF $6 per capita for
school furpOsaa il not rpnpalpd