Year: 1860

/ The complain is very general, that there is


not enough attention paid to spelling in our


schools this complaint is not against the
/ common schools only, bat higher institutions
| are charged with like remissncsS.


| It is alledged, and with truth we think, that
| schools are not as good as they were twenty


years ago. There may be partial reason for


this in the tact that, twenty or thirty years
| ago there were but three or four branches


ever taught in our common schools. conse-
quently teachers had more time to bestow
upon this important department. This may


be reason why it is so, but it is no excuse
for its eing so. 1t is as important now that
every person that ever expects to write for
Others TO read, should be able to spell cor
rectly as it ever was, and if persons are bet
ter educated now than those were who atten-
ded school a quarter of century SINCE they
certainly should be able, with all the rest of
their attachments to spell better


A persons real practical education is more
frequently estimated by his good or bad spell
ing than by anything else. IF he spells badly,
1t will not help the matter very much, in the
opinion of community, to have it known that
instead of Orthography, he understands the
higher mathematics, the sciences, and Latin
and Greek. 1t is as true now as ever, 'That


it is no credit to be good speller, but it is o
great disgrace to be poor one" and the bet
ter the scholar in other respects the greater
the shame


If all allow that this important, this essen
tial branch is neglected that our youth are
growing up without knowing how to spell cor
rectly many of the most common words in the
English language, that schools of all grades
are UIame-worthy in this regard, if all
agree that these things are so, will it not be
well to inquire why they are so? No one
pretends that it is not important to be good
speller, why then are there so many who do
dot spell well No teacher pretends that he
ought to neglect this branch, why then do
nearly all do it.


Perhaps one reason is the fact mentioned
above, that there are so many more things 10
study now than there was several years ago.
Pupils like to study something beyond the
spelling book, and parents and teachers in
dulge them, and when they become larger
they are apt to lhiuk that Orthography is too
small a matter for them to study, so they are
allowed to pass through school without be-
coming good spoilers. At the time spoken of,
it was considered the highest honor of the
school, to be the best speller, and for that
honor pupils strove So too the school in the
township that could, on an extra occasion,
spell d0Un all the other schools, was the school
above all others.


Evening sp,Ilingschools were then in vogue
In some portions of the country the teachers
were obliged, by their contracts, to have one
Such school each week, to which all the
schools were expected to go. Parents generally
attended, and there was, if the matter was
rightly managed, much enthusiasm excited
Schools prepared themselves to spell well, and
and were expected to spell well, for the pa
rents were to look on, their favortes were
there to see their disgrace if they did not spell
well pupils from other schools we're fire.
quently there to spell against them, and woe
betide the boy or girl, the young man or the
young woman who did not do his or her best
when the trying time came to spell down the
rival school. To be prepared to appear we'll
in the spelling battles, required study and
drilling and studying and drilling were done.
In each house there would be little spelling
school every evening-a sort of company train
ings preparatory to the general muster when
all were to come together 30 try their skill in
the great spelling battle Parents would
either pronounce words for their children to
spell, or would spell with them while some of
the older ones gave out the words Although
there are objections to these evening schools.
still we should like to have them brought in
to use again in schools where they can be con-
ducted with propriety, and by teachers who
can conduct them in such a way as to be ben
efcal but if they are made the occasions
for the assembling of the young people Of q
neighbCrhood for a sort of good time for q
kind OF social gathering in order to talk and
laugh and be merry, in such cases they had
better not be held. If teacher cannot so
manage spelling school that 1t shall result in
the Improvement of his pupils, he had better
not have them. We are sure the persons who
attended these schools regularly, and participa-
ted in the exercises, and all of the pupils we're
obliged to do, learned more about spelling
than they did in the day schools during the
term.