The Pensacola journal., 1909-12-19
OLD FIELD SCHOOLS OF THE 10TH CENTURY
COMMON SCHOOLS OF THE 10Th CENTURY

Teacher IS committed TO the word
system and must rely upon his stock
OF pictures OF have recourse to his in
ventlve talents. He wishes TO teach
the sentence John saw a COW" The
rude picture of a boy is drawn on the
blackboard, and named John. The
child quickly inbibeS this astounding
fact, as well as that the succeeding
picture is called COW" Teacher. to
clInch this fact, sUTTeptitiOusly brands
the last picture COW. His inventive
genius supplies the missing link by
drawing the picture of a carpenters
tool with elongated teeth and proper
handle. The pTecOCiOUs child quickly
/ recognizes it as a saw" Teacher con-
graduates himself on the progress
made, and pupil gets his share Of
meTited praise.
BOY" and COW" in a Mixup.
This picture is sandwiched between
that of the boy and the COW. with han
die in convenient gTasping distance of
! the boys hand. The child, prompted
by pointer, reads John saw a COW.
EmbOldened by success. teacher
launches further out in the abstract.
He essays to communicate the fact
that John was a boy" He now draws
two boys and inveTts the handle of the
saw and graYely tells his attentive
pupil that when thus inverted the saw
is changed into WAS" Again he is
delighted when the sentence is read
correctly. Thirty minutes have been
consumed, but teacher counts them as
pToftably spent. Before dismissing
the pupil, he begins a review. The at
tentiOn is directed by pointer to the
first legend, John saw a COW" The
pictured is recognized as John; COW,
too, is familiar, but there has been too
much mOnkeying with the saw" AT
ter much heSitanCy on the part of
pupil and more coaXing on the part Of
teacher, the child takes a running
start and announces the amazing fact
that John was a cow
This is not an exaggerated incident;
many such ludiCrOus mistakes can be
vOUched for by teachers compelled to
teach after the word system.
Query 3-What remedies would you
suggest towards correcting the evils
of bad spelling and reading?
can better illustrate my answer by
using two quotations of st. Paul, and
by needing his admonitiOn: All
things are lawful unto me, but all
things are not expedient, (the margin
reads proftable); all things are lawful
for me, but | will not be brought I'M
der the power of any. LIST Cor, 6.12.
Again in First Thess. 5.21, he sOlemnly
admOnishes US to Prove ali things;
hold fast to that which is good
Where is the Deficiency?
Now. if the experience of years
shows that our Iabors have resulted in
turning out upon the public an abun-
dant crop of bad spoilers and poor
readers, We must necessarily conclude
that there is something deficient in
either the instructor or his method of
impaTting his instruction. If as teach
eTs We are not unalterably committed
to this new fad-am | permitted to say
innovation of the word" and "the
sentence" as the sine quo non" meth
cd, then let the piteous cries OF the
bad speller, and the dolOrous tones OF
the wTetched reader come up as Mace
dOnian appeals for instant relief. Let
the teacher face about, He has under
lawful authority tried teaching how
to read" before laying the indispensi-
bic foundation and proved this to be
ineXpedient (UnprOftable). Now, if he
is a conscientious instructor, he will
invert the handle of his method. take
OrthOgraphy first, teach this branch as
the stepping stone to reading and the
successive higher studies. If he can
not repair the damage already done
he can at least free himself from the
Odium Of becoming accessory to fur
ther mischief. Let him take the child
by the hand; stand him by your side.