Evening star., 1927-11-13
THE CLASS OF 1914 UNDERTAKES
TO MASTER THE ART OF READING

although II is maintained on much
higher authority That constant re-
search and the Application ct Science
h1ye brought about the modern
changes in tho art Of teaching chill
dren how to read.
No ono remembers learning to talk.
unless 1t hc that type Of person who
says he recalls distinctly being placed
on tho scales and hearing the doctor
sny. You have mn exceptionally fine
child here. madam" And after the
passage Gf many years only n lew
incidents stand out to recall the
Process whereby one learned te Eea6
the discovery. for instance. that ty
deliberately skipping hard words"
one could really derive some enoy.
n'"nt from reading. Eut it is mat
| ter of no small concern ON the part
ct ah older generation that the good
H'd ahhalot has been discricefullv
"hoVCd aside as Of no Importance. IS
trivial. silly and q relic of the past.
Tho class of 1914 is learning to read.
and learning rapidly, too without
! even speaking acquaintance with
the alphabet 1t is true that mary
Of lis members know thn alphabet as
| q rather meaningless rhyme. Eut
they have no more idea 0f what it
stands for than the children of a low.
or grade, not long ago. who shocked
/ tholr teacher hr singing. with all the
| c&rncFtrcSs and sincerity of child.
hooc. th9t part of the National An
'hcm which they had interpreted az
| IN. satan can sec. Ey the darned
! curry H@ht. "A sound conclusion. 3 : a
n''tfT ot fact. hut one which Francis
/ 'S'n'' NY did not see fl tn emphasize.
I n nlr1h I,Cs
! part IN teaching children how to read.
| They may absorb it gradually in their
! sNstems- hut no attempt is made to
| mike them swallow H. Nor arc the
snunfS Of letters considered importnnt
| at mrs.. Phonics comes later, ns A
| tool to bo used in prying out Of
! strange and more difficult cnmbira-
tions OF letters their meaning ~
words. Instead Of moronic sentences
'hout Nat and his cat. his hat and the
! rat, your modern class of 1914 makes
us own sentences. The teacher puts
| thNm on the blackboard and the class
/ comes 10 associate the picture of the
| words with Il definite experience. or
| meaning. Tho class learns October is
mere, and ii member of the class
| atef meets the single word October"
| ne may read 1t October is here" Eut
| TINS IS natural and according to HOWE.
I
| able to distinguish between words.
Later The class Will visit farm. and
! make up series of sentences. or a.
unit, concerning facts noted on the
excursion. The child will soon ba able
70 read "A pumpkin in field" and
before leng. "A farmer in a field" The
pumpkin may be discarded as useless
lor the chllds vocabulary and after
a snort visit 1t quits the picture. Rut
such words as farmer" ''in," field"
etc. are chosen and by constant repe.
| tition IN sentences are soon recognized
ny the child. After Il time the cIass
OF 1914 acquires Il reading vucaluJlarv
Of from 80 to 40 words, and with that
foundation the pages of the first hook
are. opened for exploration. In these
| BOOKS the words are most carefully
CHOSEN. their choice representing years
OF reseIrch in this country and abroad
| ny those who have studied the suaak.
ing vocabulary of the child of 6. There
Is no hesitancy in using "long" words.
rs matter of fact. ii is much easier
| Tor child to distinguish between IAN.
tomoblle" and locomotive" than to
choose bad" from dad" Instead of
tdb0riously aiialyzing each word at a
time, the class OF 1914 is learning to
thEe III the meaning of a number of
| words "it glance" Ev tho latter
| ~ VI tlC sCHboi year tle class or
1914 will begin to note the difference
betwcen such words as bending" and
/ So endin=. and the study of phonics
viii he inat@urated to be continued
with more emphasis next year. By the
| cnu OF this year the class of 194l will
nave read through some II books.
whereas the class of 1927. for instance,
was able during like period to mas.
ter at best. By the end of this year
the class will be able to read and com.
fnent lntelligently upon the account
of the base bali game i'm the $50 Star.
so that every parent should lie care.
ful to provide his child daily with one
! or these valuable. entertaining and
| instructive editions.
Later. will come the task Of learning
how to spell. For detailed instruction
IN how spelling is tnusht. please con.
suit your clild's teacher.