Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1904-03-09
PRIMARY WORK.
APaper Prepared: and Readily
Mrs w. S. Middleton before
the recent Teachers
Meeting.

have 00uDCleSS uau uuSu cAp
10 that particular line of teaching,
any information, yet, this is merely
an effort-more to help hold up the
hands of our Superintendent OF Edu-
cation in this field of teachers meet
ings. and a desire to be aided by throw
ing out some suggestions which may
he discussed by others Of experience,
in order that we all may thereby be
benefited.
All of nv work has been in the rural
schools Of my native staee, and tho 1t
extends over period OF seven. years
---years full. of enthusiasm In the
work and All increasing fondness for
chiIdren---I can truly say that ! am
utterly ignorant of the best methods
of teaching-primary classes, having
been guided as Pestalozzi says, "by
yery vivid feelings" The complex
natures of the few primary pupils who
came ul der my observation, as well as
differences of ability, ,environment,and
age all of which make vast differences
in the children themselves made il
necessary sometimes to pursue one
method, then another. In my treat
'ment of this subject too, please bear
in mind The fact of its having Deen
done in the rural districts, where there
had been no preparatory WORK for the
school life in kindergarten.
The subject Primary work being SO
broad. necessitates brevit! in the dis.
cussion of each line, and as readingls
onetf the first things taught these
days tits best to begin with tnat. l
never teach the alph bet.
The sane time expended in teaching
the child words is OF far more interest,
both to it and the teacher. The alpha
bet is too abstract for child OF SIX
years, while short sentences, concern
ing an illustration. are just as easily
ACQUIRED and stimulate the chlld's
ambition. Frequently, after telling a
child what two or three words are,
such as "the" scat" lis" ETC., select
one of the Words. for the child to find
for me on numbers of pages---and Ills
remarkable how much interest they
take in it.
After the child has been thoroughly
drilled in few words, the next step Is
TO teach those same words on the
board so the child may learn tn recog-
nize the written word as we'll as learn
to write it for himself. Observe that
in all of these methods say child be-
cause having mover taught just tbs one
grade. nor had more than one or tHo
beginners at once, L am not able to
say how 'twould apply to a class. Inc
children very soon begin inquirlng
what rhe c. 70 ponel.t parts Of the words
are and of course are told; these learn
"a b c's" through a desire 20 KNOW
what they are. Each day as new woIas
appear IN the lessons the names OF the
words are given, and alter sufficient
drill of that ls made, a review Ot all
words cone over, as far as practicable,
is given. Eyen In the early stages OF
reading, when the sentences are IN esc
repetitions of the same words whoa
are few in number, at tirst--I insist on
intelligent apprehension IS ven q
camnss shanssSa @ ae0 i6ea and strive
fso snseoSucs some life and enthusiasm
inte the lesson.
Fluent reading il almost-absolutely
necessary in the primary grades, a.
then the child is learning reading
language, and punctuation all In one
as well as the subject matter Of the
reading also laying the foundation fol
the acquisition of all knowledge. Ere.
ouentiy tits advantageous for The
teaoher to have little chat with the
nupils about the reading lesson beiors
the work 10 begun in order to see what
prepsration the child has @sae. Via!
fUyrls readers the best, They teach
the child truths about great men who
have had childhood, and who have
lived up to the best and noblest inspira
tions of their lives; and while the
child learns to read at the same time
itfeels that tits truth, and the great
lesson of cause and effect is intuitively
learned. tho underlined, and the beau
ties of literature are laid open to their
view. We can scarcely find a child
TODAY of seven years who does not
know and love Henry w. Longfellow
and his "Village Blacksmith" or Mr.
Whittier and his Barefoot Boy" The
! oems appeal to the cllilds aesthetic
side, and the result is an endeavor to
read we'll in order TO preserve the
beaut, of the poem. The usr of s.yeal
first readers hen sev-r.I diff ff4,rnt
,n d re r., ct +, | lind :. 0e h.
mel hod of aaimins the -; s l,.i !.
n, we'll Lulding 1t. Al. II us II"e me-
thing new aud the desire for new
book will stimulate the mental actiIi-
ties more than any other incentive !
know of, in small children. They pre-
pare the lessons well in order 10 hasten
the change to new book! 10 read to
them is a treat which will make them
study several lessons well, and if a
iudicious selection is made there may
be taught a great moral truth, or a
beautiful Issson of courtesy, kindness
to animals, or politeness, etc.
The more interest and enthusiasm
one can arouse in classes the longer
lived is the effect Of the instruction.
1t pays to make school life pleasant il
tits expected to make scholars of men
instead of more pupils. If the whole
school life is looked back on as
series of failures and punishment, the
mental activities along a definite
course of thought will stop as soon as
the tutelage is over, .Asceticism is
disappearing out Of life and should
be taken out Of schools as far as pos
sible.
The energies. and all children fnll
Of them, should be we'll direct .nd
one of the bet things 'is the ject
lesson. In this, try to lead t child
to discover acts instead of telling him
and showing him every thing yeu
notice, a proceeding such as that weak
ems instead of sti engthens tne powers
Of eelf instruction.
In tsaching numbers I follow tho
usual order, going from the known,
to the unknown, using objects as far as
the child's ability to grasp the nun-
bers adding, subtractigSe1A aisteaeR
,eMsgn % eDIA eDps, shsn twenty, and
|@ "a, @schina fractional parts, such
81 iourths, KS w which ARE easily
grasped. Multiplication too, can be
begun just here and the advancement
iD mathematics should be proportion
ute to that in reading and writing.
OF course, this is frequently not the
case, as many children have no gift or
Talent for 9f1pureS.n and SnOth her child