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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

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LIBRARY

OF THE

University of California.

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PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION
PRACTICALLY APPLIED

J. M. GREENWOOD, A. M.

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, KANSAS CITY, MO.

NEW YORK
APPLETON AND COMPANY

1899

COPYBIGHT, 1887,

Bt d. appleton and company.

THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

The motive that induced the author to submit this
little volume for publication is to help the teachers of
this country to do better and more intelligent work in
the schoolroom.

It assumes that education is a science ; that school-
teachers can understand the principles of this science ;
and that in their daily work they can apply these prin-
ciples with unerring certainty to the children under
their control.

In the presentation of topics the teacher is told in
plain language what to do as well as what to avoid.
The directions are therefore simple, pointed, and em-
phatic.

The object of the work throughout is to impress
this important question upon the mind of the teacher :
" How shall I teach so as to have my pupils become self-
reliant, independent, manly men and womanly worn-
en?"

J. M. Greenwood.
Kansas City, Mo.

216597

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. — The Application of the Principles op Psychology to

the Work of Teaching 1

II. — School Management 20

III. — Principles of Class Management 37

IV. — Methods of Conducting Recitations — Directions to Pu-
pils— Directions to Teachers 49

V. — Length of Recitation 61

VI. — Art of Questioning 71

VII. — Teaching Reading 82

VIII. — Teaching Composition and Language .... 98

IX. — Teaching Penmanship . 114

X. — Teaching Geography 128

XI. — Teaching History 140

XII. — Teaching Arithmetic 153

XIII. — Health and Hygiene 165

XIV.— Only a Boy 1?3

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION
PEACTICALLY APPLIED.

CHAPTER I.

THE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY
TO THE WORK OF TEACHING.

This subject will be treated under three divisions :
I. Temjjeraments.
II. Educational Psychology.

III. Educational Principles and their Application.

It is assumed that the teacher must learn what to do,
how to do, when to do, and when to leave oft*. Owing
to the nature of his work, he deals chiefly with mind
and its manifestations as made known through the
body, and hence he is supposed to be familiar with the
elements of psychology, and not unacquainted with the
theory and art of teaching. Thus qualified, his success
as a teacher hinges entirely upon the right application
of the educational forces he uses in imparting instruc-
tion and in arousing self-activity in the minds of the
learners. This gives a double phase to education — in-
struction and culture. The foregoing implies upon the
part of the teacher a working knowledge of the human
mind in general, its laws of growth, modes of action,

2 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

and methods of culture ; also, an intimate acquaintance
with the physiologic, hygienic, and mental conditions of
those to be taught, and the nature, influence, and limits
of the means employed in. conveying knowledge and
awakening thought. The teacher, it is admitted, may
be well read in psychology as an abstract science, and
capable of talking intelligently upon any special depart-
ment thereof, and yet fail in teaching, because of ina-
bility to adjust and to adapt his educational psychology
to the capacity of his pupils. Owing to this fact, many
intelligent and conscientious teachers, having worked
earnestly and industriously, are puzzled in trying to
understand why their efiorts are so unproductive of
substantial results. Perhaps some light may be thrown
on this mystery.

As a class, teachers do not study child-mind under-
standing^. They begin the subject at the wrong end.
What psychology the most of them know has been
learned from books, and to nearly all of them it is a
nebulous mass at best. Much of it, when put into the
plainest language, needs to be translated or diluted be-
fore they know what it means. Eight heartily do they
" wish that writers on psychology would mix more or-
ganized common-sense with their metaphysics, and con-
vey their ideas in simple words that common people
can understand." Doubtless this is the reason why so
many teachers have associated an intangible something
— difficult to grasp and harder to retain — with the
words " mental philosophy, psychology, and metaphys-
ics." Turning away in disgust from a subject that
yields so little, they fall back on experience and observa-
tion, and thus virtually deny that the scattered facts in

PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY IN TEACHING. 3

methods of culture are susceptible of classification, and
that any general principles may be deduced therefrom.
From such premises, indeed, it is not strange that they
fail to discover any relation between psychological prin-
ciples and their application to living children ; and,
moreover, they are apt to look with distrust upon any
statement affirming tiiat such a relationship exists, and
that it can be discovered and applied in teaching. Being
unable to harmonize bookish psychology with the facts
before them, they depart on divergent lines of thought
and action in their school- work. Against nature, their
pupils are mentally and physically forced so far as the
educational machinery can crush and form them into
the same molds. Instead of intelligent work, it is edu-
cational mechanism. Both teachers and school-officers
need awakening on this subject. Child-mind must be
studied in the children themselves. The child is the
starting-point. Here the teacher must begin as an in-
telligent, patient observer, and watch carefully the un-
folding of every faculty, its laws of growth and meth-
ods of culture. Books and lectures are helps not to be
disparaged, yet they are not the only sources of knowl-
edge. For instance, the boy who studies geology only
from books may pick up some general notions in regard
to that science, but put him out among the rocks and
he is lost, helpless, and confused ; and so it is in study-
ing mind, divorced from living people. Naked mind,
we are not familiar with, and do not know how to
treat it.

Let us attend, however, to a more practical phase of
this subject, and one, too, that is neglected in nearly all
the training-schools of this country, and yet it is, in my

4 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

opinion, one of the most essential qualifications that the
teacher can possess, namely, a critical knowledge of

L The Human Temperaments.

The brain is the organ, or instrument, that the mind
uses in acquiring or in imparting knowledge ; in other
words, it is the organ of the mind, and the mind is
manifested through the brain. Now, the human mind
is so constituted that it groups objects that are alike
together, and separates those that are unlike. This is
the natural method, and it lies at the foundation of all
logical classification as well as all progress in the vari-
ous fields of human thought. A law that is so universal
in its nature and so comprehensive in its details, and is
alike applicable to individuals, species, genera, classes,
and kingdoms, should not be neglected in the grand
work of human culture. To give a more practical di-
rection to these suggestions, let us consider briefly the
object of our solicitude, the child, composed, according
to the teachings of physiology, of three systems, con-
sisting of ten apparatuses, forming thirty-nine different
organs. This is the child as a material organism. This
organism can exist only by complying with certain well-
known conditions, and these are conditions of growth,
which are proper food, clothing and shelter, exercise,
rest, and sleep. For purposes of classification according
to their functions, the three systems are the blood-pro-
ducing, blood-circulating, and the nervous system.

At a glance, an experienced physiologist can tell
which of these systems predominates in any particular
person that may come before him or be accurately de-
scribed to him ; or he can balance with nice discrimina-

PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY IN TEACHING. 5

tion the relations that these systems bear to one another.
Such knowledge is acquired by observation, experience,
and reflection. In the art of healing, this knowledge
is an essential element. Experienced stockmen will
select from a large drove of cattle or horses those ani-
mals having peculiar qualities and dispositions. Those
judges of animal nature seldom or never make mistakes.
Vast differences exist in the iiber and structure of the
various kinds of wood that lumber-men well under-
stand. They know what strain or pressure each kind
will sustain, and what weight it will support. Should
the teacher's knowledge of those committed to his care
be any the less accurate ? Should it not be more so ?
True ; but how can this precise knowledge be acquired ?
Answer : By the teachers' studying the temperaments of
living people closely, carefully, and intelligently, until
they can tell instantly the prevailing temperament or
combination of temperaments of any child. Tempera-
ment determines the prevailing bias of disposition,
whether natural or acquired, and upon it depends the
sum total of our inclinations and prevailing tendencies.
The temperaments are formed by the proportion of
those elements that enter into the bodily structure, caus-
ing the diversities in shape, form, and mental character-
istics that we observe; and whether we employ the
words " lymphatic, sanguine, bilious, and nervous," or
" vital, motive, and mental," to denote the bodily con-
stitution of individuals, these terms' correspond to those
real distinctions which prompt the possessor to move or
act in a certain direction. The mind is a unit ; it mani-
fests its activity in various directions. A distinct kind
of mind activity is called a faculty of the mind ; conse*

6 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

quently, there are as many faculties of the mind as it
has distinct kinds of activity. In like manner, the body
is one organism, constructed upon temperamental con-
ditions. The manner of their combination produces
tendencies either to mental activity or to sluggishness,
causing all those variations in human nature that we
observe. When the intellect, sensibility, or will pre-
vails, there is found a corresponding temperamental de-
velopment which exerts a controlling influence, and
shapes and colors the whole character of the possessor.
He lives and acts in harmony with his nature. Teach-
ers furnished with eyes, ears, good sense, and an inclina-
tion to study, can tell what tendencies prevail in the
pupils they are called upon to teach. This is justly re-
garded as the key to eminent success.

The child in whom the nervous temperament pre-
dominates certainly requires different incentives, both
in instruction and management, from the one whose
strongest temperament is the bilious or sanguine, or a
combination of them. It is not claimed that studying
the temperaments is the same as studying mind ; but
the channels along which the mind's activity and inten-
sity manifest themselves are legitimate subjects of in-
vestigation. Furthermore, the teacher who first pre-
pares himself by a thorough working knowledge of the
temperamental conditions of childhood is better equipped
for discerning character and the various modes of treat-
ment applicable to it than the one ignorant of these
truths. Of all persons, the teacher should be the
most deeply versed in the philosophy of the human
mind. He should be familiar with mind in its higher
as well as in its simpler forms. Mind in childhood, in

PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY IN TEACHING. ?

its most elementary forms, he should know. A word
or a smile to one child may be more repellant or at-
tractive than a whipping or a valuable gift to another.
A teacher who is a correct judge of human nature
knows how to adapt instruction to the capacity of learn-
ers. From the very first day that the child of a highly-
wrought nervous organization enters school, the intelli-
gent teacher feels a deep solicitude for him, and advises
much out-door recreation and frequent rests from study,
early bedtime and refreshing sleep. The sturdy boy,
having a compact organization, capacious lung power,
and good digestion, needs to work off his superabundant
energy in various directions. The school-house may be
either a prison or a palace to him, depending upon how
he is put into it and kept there. And just here we are
brought face to face with one of the most serious ques-
tions connected with American civilization, namely,
whether we are not developing too highly, in the school
children of this country, the nervous system, and dwarf-
ing the growth of the blood-producing and the blood-
circulating systems. Information collected from nu-
merous sources points in that direction, particularly in
our cities and towns. As it is beyond the limits of the
present discussion to pursue this phase of the subject
further, reference to it in this connection serves the
purpose of indicating the vast issues involved in the
subject of education, and as influencing the physical
characteristics of our people. This is a serious question
that educators must meet.

JSTot only should the teacher be able to tell at sight
what temperament predominates in any particular child,
but also what temperament prevails in his own organiza-

8 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

tion, and its combining ratios with the other tempera-
ments. Knowing himself, he can institute a series of
comparisons between himself and others, and possibly
this may be the means of correcting some of his own
faults. It is a well-established fact that the tempera-
mental condition of a person may be somewhat modified
in a series of years. The teacher, by vigilant effort, is
able in time to tame the young barbarian into an intelli-
gent, refined, and cultursd gentleman. Nervous chil-
dren, if placed under a calm, quiet, self-possessed teacher,
one that does not fret and worry and fidget, will become
steady ; he will teach them to avoid many excitants that
would otherwise strain their nerves to the highest pitch.
The teacher who can not adapt himself to his pupils,
and who fails to acquire a firm grasp on their affections
by holding in check the vicious tendencies and unfold-
ing the better ones, will not succeed in making thein
useful and honorable members of society.

II. Educational Psychology.

Education is not a matter of chance. It is an order-
ly development of man's powers, that furnishes his mind
with knowledge, and gives him skill to use it. All
growth proceeds in accordance with some regular plan
of development. This plan is the law. All plants and
animals grow according to laws governing their lives.
They grow under certain conditions, and, if these condi-
tions are not supplied, death ensues. Law is written
everywhere and in the plainest characters. Proper soil,
heat, moisture, and light, the plant must have, or it
withers and dies. The wild bird, imprisoned in the
cage, frets and struggles and dies— dies trying to free

PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY IN TEACHING. 9

itself. Plant-life symbolizes human growth and cult-
ure ; yet the educational life of the child as far tran-
scends that of the mere plant as human intelligence rises
in grandeur above the life-principle imbedded in the
kernel of grain. Education as a science is based upon
fundamental principles, which express the laws of hu-
man life and its development. The highest interpreta-
tion that we can give to this conception is the perfection
of the individual for the duties of life.

The child is the central figure in all educational
systems. His powers are multiplex, and his possibilities
infinite ; the former may be unfolded in their natural
order by the skillful teacher, while he can only direct
the latter by inspiring to lofty endeavor, v Thus the
teacher is the molder, builder, and architect of his own
school. As his conception of education grows and ex-
pands daily, so will his workmanship become more per-
fect and symmetrical. Such high trusts demand con-
summate skill, rare tact, cultivated taste, and unerring
judgment. Earnest, diligent, enthusiastic, and soul-
inspiring, the true teacher is always a learner. All
possibilities of the race he recognizes as latent in the
child. When the child is charged, can the teacher draw
out the sparks % This human machine may contain a
concentration of pointed and startling traits of character
transmitted for a dozen generations. Herein lies another
difficult question, and one which embarrasses thousands
of teachers. No account is taken of hereditary tenden-
cies. Presuming that the ponderous school-mill will
grind out about the same quantity and quality of flour?
however great the variety may be in the grain furnished,
teachers are too frequently forgetful that blind forces,

10 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

working upon sensitive minds, may blight and mildew
the fairest hopes and the brightest prospects — may cause
the most active minds to stagnate. Teachers at the be-
ginning of school should acquaint themselves with all
the essential factors and tendencies of each pupil. Such
information simplifies school management, and effectu-
ally disposes of " that Yery peculiar boy " who rules the
household and is so annoying to his teacher. In pos-
session of such facts, the teacher would enter upon his
work intelligently. There may be twenty different
factors in a pupil's nature that the teacher ought to
know, but, being ignorant of them, a system of guess-
work is adopted, with the usual well-known results !

It is no unusual thing in " school-keeping," as it is
called, to find the " keeper " ignorant of the nature,
habits, associations, and dispositions of the pupils attend-
ing his school. Every child is a problem to be studied,
interpreted, and understood aright. A mere lad is not
qualified to preside as judge in our civil or criminal courts
to mete out justice to the people. The judge is a man
learned, or supposed to be learned, in the law. The
minister, whose calling is a high and saered one, must
keep abreast of those vital issues which bear directly upon
man's present and future happiness. How much more
important, then, is it that the teacher should have that
professional knowledge that study and experience only
can give ! The teacher, owing to the relation that he sus-
tains to his pupils, is judge, physician, minister, and teach-
er, all centered in one individual. These sacred trusts are
committed to his keeping. Should he cease to improve
or to grow in knowledge and wisdom, they will perish
in his hands. To stand still is death ; only growth is life.

PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY IN TEACHING. H

III. Educational Principles.

I. To grow is a law of our being.
. 2. The mind is self-active.

3. Body and mind are interdependent, and must be
studied together.

4. The teacher must know the nature of childhood
and the laws of human development.

5. The teacher should understand the order in which
the faculties of the human mind are unfolded.

6. This knowledge can be acquired by studying body
and mind and their phenomena.

7. Education is a growth, and is effected by thought
and the expression of thought.

8. In teaching, the matter and the method must be
adapted to the capacity of the learner.

9. The teacher must know the subject-matter to be
taught, and its relations to other subjects.

10. Attention on the part of the learner is the con-
dition of acquiring knowledge.

II. In teaching, the learner must pass by easy steps
from the known to the unknown.

12. The concrete phase of a subject should precede
the abstract, and the objective should precede the sub-
jective.

1 3. Only one thing should be taught at a time, and
the learner's understanding should be thoroughly reached.

14. All intellectual progress depends upon the learn-
er's ability to discern agreements and differences.

15. The teacher stimulates and directs the learner,
but all education comes from the learner's voluntary
effort.

12 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

16. " The highest perfection of the individual is the
true object of education."

The foregoing principles are based upon the science
of human development. Some of them refer to the
learner, others to the teacher, and others again to learner
and teacher. Those referring to methods may be
employed in teaching any of the common or higher
branches, and at any stage of the learner's progress.
No restrictions are imposed on any of them save the
limits of the teacher's ingenuity to devise illustrations.
Educational principles are guide-posts that say : " This
way, sir ! " When the teacher departs from them he
travels over rough and thorny roads, and is kept re-
tracing his steps, hardly making any progress. When
the blind lead the blind, there is no one to watch for
the ditch, and, when they tumble into it, there is no
hand near to help them out. The word " struggling "
well represents most of the work in our schools. Strug-
gling teachers, struggling children — all stragglers!
How we long to lift them out and set them traveling
on smooth roads and face foremost! Straggling with
words, rules, tables, and definitions, appears to be the
end and glory for which school children live and suffer.

Some illustrations will now be adduced from meth-
ods of teaching arithmetic. The following are se-
lected from an arithmetic just published, and will serve
the purpose of illustrating one phase of this subject.
The pupil is directed to copy and complete the follow-
ing and other exercises :

4 + 2=?, 5 + 2=?, 5-2=?,
f + 3 = ?, 2 + 5=?, 3 - 2 = ?,
6-2= ?, 3 + 8= ?, etc.

PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY IN TEACHING. 13

It is evident that such, exercises possess some genu-
ine merit, yet they make a very thin mental diet. Let
us take the equation 4 + 2 = ?, and examine it. Put-
ting four and two together is one act of the mind — a
synthesis — and so of the other expressions of like form.
Again 5 — 2 = ?, involves an additional element— an-
alysis— and is one step in advance. When once the child
has learned that four and two are six, a thousand repe-
titions will give him no new information, and it is a
waste of time to keep him employed in that manner.
Suppose, however, that we put this equation under an-
other form and less restricted, the figure " 6 " may then
assume a new meaning. Suppose we request the class
to find all the numbers by adding two at a time that
will make "6" At once they are set thinking, and
each one must think for himself. The number " 6 " is
broken to pieces, the parts examined, and put together
again. Genuine sparks of thought fly about the num-
ber " 6 " as the little hands are raised in token of
results. Here are the results in full, using integers
only :

Operation.— 4 + 2 = 6, 3 + 3 = 6, 5 + 1 = 6,
6 + 0 = 6. The child sees " 6 " under all these forms.
Having drilled on a few numbers, the work may be ex-
tended by adding three numbers at a time to make " 6."

Operation.— 4 + 1 + 1 = 6, 3 + 2 + 1 = 6, 2 +
2 + 2 = 6, 5 + 1 + 0 = 6, 6 + 0 + 0 = 6.

Such exercises may be indefinitely extended, fol-
lowed immediately by taking numbers together and
apart. Given 4 + ? — ? = 6. Here the missing num-
bers are to be supplied, or as many of them as time will
permit.

14 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

Operation. — 4 + 3 — 1 = 6.

4 + 4-2 = 6.

4 + 5-3 = 6.

4 + 6-4 = 6.
etc.
By a slight change we have ? + ? — ? + 2 = 6, and
again the learner may start in pursuit of results. It is
now evident that these and similar exercises may be ex-
tended till the signs of multiplication and division are
employed, and fractional numbers are used with the
same facility as integers. Such exercises require clear,
concise, intelligent thought-work, and stand in striking
contrast to dull mechanical drudgery : that only stag-
nates and does not educate.

Again, a class is to learn the " Table of Long Meas-
ure." How shall they learn it ? Committing the
" table " to memory by repeating it over and over till
all " can say it," is the universal method. This method
is an outrage, an insult, an irreparable injury to the chil-
dren. It violates every educational principle, except
one prevalent in China. To verify a table is the ra-
tional manner of learning it. Each pupil should be pro-
vided with a foot-ruler, and set to work measuring such
objects in the school-room as the teacher may designate.
The arbitrary length, the inch, is marked off, and from
it the learner gets his first definite conception of meas-
ured distance. Counting the inches in a foot, the unit of
measure is fixed in his mind. In measuring, care must
be taken that it is done correctly. By short steps the
/earner goes from the foot to the yard, from the yard
to the rod, and, by reversing the steps, back again to
inches. Having measured different objects in the school-

PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY IN TEACHING. 15

room, a wider field of objects may be selected about the
school grounds. Pertinent questions by the teacher, ad-
dressad to the pupils as the work progresses, will fix
the facts firmly in each mind. In every act of measure-
ment the pupil uses analysis and synthesis — reduction
ascending and reduction descending. Mentally, he
passes rapidly up and down the scale. The foot-ruler is
to be followed by using the yard-stick and tape-line in
measuring objects of considerable length. Such practi-
cal work cultivates the eye, hand, observation, attention,
judgment, and reason, and the pupil retains what he
learns.

As another exercise, " Wine Measure " may be pre-
sented. The school should be furnished with a gill, a
pint, a quart, and a gallon measure ; also with a bucket
of water, or a bushel or two of sand. Everything
in readiness, a member of the class will dip up a gill
of whatever is to be measured and empty it into the
pint cup, and repeat till this vessel is filled, and it in
turn emptied into the quart cup, the class noting par-
ticularly the number of gills in a pint, and also in a
quart. Now the gill, pint, or quart measure may be
used to fill the gallon vessel or to empty it. The chil-
dren, keeping account of the gills, pints, and quarts in
a gallon, understand every step in the process, and know
the why and wherefore. The table means something,
and they can explain the meaning. Doing is the way t
to knowing, and this is the fact emphasized. What is
true of these two " tables " is correspondingly true of
other tables of weights and measures. Thousands of
children can repeat glibly " Avoirdupois Weight," yet
they can not weijdaf^^qu^i^pf butter on the scales.

16 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

Shall we not bridge this great chasm between school
work and the practical duties of life ?

The world's great teachers are most valuable to us,
not on account of the discoveries they have made, but
on account of the power they have given us to get
knowledge for ourselves, and the mental activity they
inspire. Hence one of the great objects in teaching
is to put the learner in such a position that he must
get knowledge for himself, and follow his own incli-
nation doing so ; yet his efforts should be directed by
the teacher. To keep abreast of his work, the teacher
is required to analyze his subjects and frequently to re-
construct them, and to devote his attention to the learn-
er's mind. Thoroughly conversant with his subjects
and well grounded in the principles of human nature,
he is properly qualified to impart instruction and to
manage children successfully. He is able also to trace
the proper connection of what he teaches and how he
teaches with the fundamental operations of the hu-
man mind as related to the body and acting through
the nerves, muscles, and special senses. Intellectual
acts he distinguishes as belonging to two classes — the
perception of agreements and the perception of differ-
ences, supplemented by memory, or the power to hold
in the mind what has once been perceived. The power
of observing differences is, perhaps, more important in
an educational sense than that of noting agreements,
although they are the complements of each other. Dif-
ferences strike us everywhere. By differences persons
and things are separated and regarded as distinct. Com-
plete knowledge unites in thought what an object is, by
separating it from what it is not. Agreements form

PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY IN TEACHING. 17

classes, and individual objects picked out of classes
make differences. The unskillful teacher relies almost
entirely upon teaching agreements and neglecting dif-
ferences. Such instruction is one-sided, narrow, and
superficial.

Certain operations of the mind take place in the
acquisition of knowledge. The several steps in the
process are so clearly established that all thinking per-
sons accept them. Analyzing a mental operation by
which an object of thought is reached and fixed in the
mind, the steps appear as follow :

1. Attention ; 2. Abstraction ; 3. Analysis ; 4. Syn-
thesis ; 5. Comparison ; 6. Identification ; 7. Discrimi-
nation ; 8. Classification.

To obtain these results, it is the teacher's duty to
stick closely to the point under consideration. Instead
of spading around in the neighborhood of any particular
topic, he digs it up root and branch, and holds it before
the minds of his class till they grasp it with a power
that never relaxes. By appropriation and assimilation
it becomes their own.

Another important distinction, but most unfortu-
nately lost sight of in teaching, is in not distinguishing
sharply between thought and the expression of thought.
Thought naturally precedes expression. Thought ap-
pears to spring up instantly in the mind, while the ex-
pression is of slower growth. Ideas go before words.
Words symbolize ideas, that others may grasp the
thought they are intended to express. Therefore, edu-
cation is composed of two complementary parts — thought
and the expression of thought. It is important in all
cases for the teacher to know whether any difficulty

IS PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION" PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

that a pupil may have in learning is owing to an error
in thought or to a defect in expression. If an error
exist in thought, it can not be corrected by correcting
the language. The source of error is deeper than any
verbal distinction, hence the necessity for deciding cor-
rectly to which the error belongs. A learner may use
language well, apparently, yet be incapable of thinking
either correctly or vigorously. No amount of language
drill will cause him to improve his forms of thought,
and neither will thought -work always improve or culti-
vate the power of expressing ideas clearly, forcibly, and
elegantly. Dimness of thought, or failure to grasp an
idea firmly and to hold it tenaciously, may be the weak
point in the pupil's mind. To remove dimness of
thought, repeated explanations and demonstrations are
necessary. Defects in expression are remedied by con-
stant and careful practice in the choice of language,
which should be a prominent feature of every recitation.
The uppermost question in actual school work is the
form of thought and how to express it. The ability to
do stalwart thinking is one of the lost arts in most
schools. The general drift is setting strongly to memo-
rizing. Memorizing rules, definitions, " beautiful senti-
ments," and a vast amount of gilt-edged rubbish and
padding, that have no educational significance, except
as clogs to thought and leaden feet to progress. Awk-
wardly the boy may express his ideas, and with diffi-
culty make himself understood ; yet this awkward boy
may think well, and in time acquire an easy, natu-
ral, and graceful style of expression. Rob him of his
thoughts, and his language betrays his ignorance. Edu-
cation rests upon the thought-basis as its pivotal center.

PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY IN TEACHING. 19

Thought has life, activity, growth in it. Memory is the
form of education minus the soul. It is the receiving*
vault in which thought is imprisoned, and then starved
to death.

CHAPTER II

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT.

In discussing school management we aim to ascer-
tain the best methods of conducting all the affairs of a
school. The particular points to be considered are,
first, the school-house; secondly, the organization of
classes ; thirdly, the movements of classes ; and fourth-
ly, the daily programme of exercises.

The construction of a school-building may aid the
teacher very materially in the management of the school,
or it may be so inconvenient and so poorly adapted to
school purposes as to subvert many things that should
be accomplished in school work.

In this discussion my remarks are intended to apply
to country schools as well as to city and town graded
schools. Nearly seven tenths of all the children in the
nation must be educated in the country schools. These
schools are the people's colleges. The remaining three
tenths are educated in private and graded schools.
Most of the States have systems of schools, and, though
not alike in all respects, the following general classifi-
cation will apply to most of them.

Under a State system of schools there are, first, the
ungraded and graded elementary schools ; secondly — a

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 21

step higher — the high schools, academies, and semina-
ries ; and thirdly — still another step higher — the nor-
mal schools for the training of teachers. Besides these,
there are, in many of the States, universities for a still
more advanced course of study, and many private
schools and colleges. This simple classification will
show what is meant by a State system, though the or-
ganization in many of the States is as yet very imper-
fect.

School-houses and their location. In some of the
country districts the school-house is to be found in one
of the most inaccessible places in the district. It is a
matter of considerable importance where the school-
house in a district is located. It should be central, so
that children from all parts of the district can easily get
to it. The grounds about it should be desirable and
inviting as well as convenient, and should be selected
with a view to the interests of the children rather than
to those of some one who wishes to give an acre of land
which he can not cultivate, and which the district ac-
cepts without due consideration. Sometimes the ground
is selected in a ravine, or perhaps on a hill, or some
other place difficult of access, forcing .the children to
walk across fields instead of along the traveled roads in
order to reach it.

The school-house should he properly constructed in
the arrangement of the halls, rooms, and stairways ;
of the heating, ventilation, lighting, and seating. Some
school -rooms are not in good shape for auditory pur-
poses. Every school-house should be so well heated that
it is comfortable in every part ; it should be commodious,
so that every person in it shall have enough breathing

22 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

and working space ; it should be well lighted, so that
the constant use of the eyes need not result in injury to
these most useful and sensitive of organs ; it should be
well ventilated, so that the workers within it shall be sup-
plied with pure air, and yet not in such a manner as to
expose any one to the death-dealing draughts ; it should
be supplied with comfortable seats and desks adapted to
the sizes of the pupils who occupy them ; and it should
be well supplied with such other things as facilitate the
work of instruction. There should be a clock in every
room. Time is an important element in the manage-
ment of a school. Work must be begun on time, con-
tinued full time, finished on time. The habit of being
on time in the performance of every duty should be
formed early in the life of every child, and a clock ever
before him, telling the time, is needed among the first
items of furniture in a schoolroom. A teacher who
fails to be on time can not succeed any more than can a
business man who is always behind time. The railroad
train never waits for the laggard.

How was a school ever successful without a black-
board ? is a question that we ask nowadays. I can
recollect a place in Illinois where a heated discussion
arose in regard to the introduction of a blackboard into
a church. This was at an early day, and nobody in that
part of the country had ever seen a blackboard. A man
came out from the State of New York and taught arith-
metic and a little English grammar, and he wanted a
blackboard. He was conducting his school in a Baptist
church, and the elders opposed the use of anything
black, as they thought it might be begotten of the devil,
and have a bad inlluence on their spiritual welfare. But

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 23

he finally persuaded them to allow it, and when Sun-
day came there, was the blackboard, not larger than
our penmanship charts, and they turned the black part
to the wall in one corner of the church. Ideas, new
ideas, spread with wonderful rapidity, and now a school-
house without a blackboard would seem like a wagon
without wheels. A blackboard ought to extend entirely
around the four sides of the room. It must be made
low, so that the little children can use it, and high
enough for the larger children. And there are maps
and charts — the tools without which a teacher can not
do all the work of the school properly.

The water furnished for school children should be
pure and fresh ; and, if taken from a well or cistern,
should be drawn and exposed to the air in pails. No
well or cistern should be covered to exclude the air, for
air helps to keep the water pure and healthful. Recent
experiments show that more people die of typhoid fever
caused by drinking impure water than from any other
one cause. Not long since one of the ablest mathema-
ticians in this country died at the early age of thirty-
seven, and his death was attributed to drinking impure
cistern-water. School children must be supplied wTith
pure water to drink. "We have no right to be careless
about this. There must be no poison in their drink, in
the food they eat, nor in the air they breathe.

Play- Grounds.

A play-ground is almost as necessary to a school-
house as the latter is to a district. It should be large,
well fenced in, and there should be trees and flowers
and pleasant walks to add to its attractions. The love

24: PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

of the beautiful ought always to be cherished in the
hearts of the children, for this love has a strong and
permanent influence in molding character, and in pre-
paring them for useful, happy lives. And, when the
walks and grounds are made beautiful, the children
should be encouraged to use them, to care for them.
And, too, the decoration of the school-rooms themselves
by the children should be encouraged. Let them bring
flowers and pictures, if they will ; and, be the offering
ever so simple, express yourself pleased, thus giving
great joy to the heart of the little child.

Myopia.

Before taking up the second division of our subject
we will refer again to the proper lighting of school-
rooms, in order to call attention to the care of the eyes.
In this country and in Europe much complaint has been
made of the myopia, or near-sightedness, of so many
pupils in the schools. More than sixty per cent of the
students who go through the German schools leave
there near-sighted. There must be a reason for this,
and many physicians who have investigated the subject
agree in thinking that much of it might be avoided
by an observance of the following points : The light
should not be allowed to come directly in the face of
the child, but from the left side. Care should be ex-
ercised in regard to the amount of light. If there is
not enough light in a room, there results an unnatural
and injurious expansion of the pupil of the eye if an
effort is made to use the eyes.

Again, teachers should see to it that children do not
sit with their bodies bent forward and downward, nor

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 25

with the eyes too close to their books, nor hold their
books so that the rajs of light strike their books at too
obtuse angles.

Teachers have better opportunities for preventing
or discovering optical defects in pupils than parents,
and should at once notify the latter when there are in-
dications of an abnormal or of a diseased condition of
the eyes.

Classification and Promotion.

The most difficult problem, especially for young
teachers going into country schools, is that of the organ-
ization of classes. The statements of the children can
not be relied upon to give full data for classification,
nor can reports left by a former teacher always be trust-
ed, as they give so little information on this subject.
Frequently boys go to school one winter, and get nearly
through the arithmetic, say from fractions to square-
root, during a three months' term of school. The next
year comes a new teacher. Some of these boys do not
return, and some new ones come in. Those who return
usually have to begin just where they did the year be-
fore, and pursue the same old track. This goes on
sometimes for six or seven years, and the pupils never
get any farther in their studies than they did in the first
winter.

Every teacher who is employed in a country school
should leave a record in which are the names of all the
pupils, with a distinct statement of the advancement of
each, so that a new teacher need have no difficulty in
organizing the school without loss of time.

There should be a definite basis of classification, and

26 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

this the teacher should know and follow. If one teacher
grades on spelling, and his successor on penmanship,
and a third on something else — each on his own hobby
— no good results can be secured in a school.

It is generally conceded by educators that all classi-
fication in schools should be based upon reading and
arithmetic, the former in the lower grades, and the lat-
ter in all the more advanced classes.

If there be a large pupil, whose mental powers seem
tolerably well developed, and he can apply himself more
closely than others, he should be placed in more ad-
vanced classes, even though he can not read very well.
By this means he will be able to derive all the benefit
possible in the short time he remains in school.

Some time since I prepared the following Course of
Study and Daily Programme for country schools, mak-
ing it extend over a period of eight school years, allow-
ing six months to the year. Many pupils will complete
it in less time. The school is arranged in two depart-
ments, primary and grammar, four years' time given
to each department, and each year being divided into
two terms of three months each. The year and grade
are made to correspond. The fractions indicate what
part of a subject is completed during a term. The star
indicates that the instruction is entirely oral, and that
the pupil does not have a text-book. In language and
primary geography the oral instruction is supplemented
by the book. The object of this course of study is to
systematize the work in country schools, to aid teachers
in the work of classification, and to secure better results
than can be done under the loose plan, with nothing
definite in view.

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT.

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28 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

Many persons have an idea that the graded-school
system is a kind of Procrustean bed upon which pupils
are fitted without regard to their interests.

The mechanically graded school and the heteroge-
neous country school represent the two extremes of the
common-school system. In one it is all system reduced
to a monotonous routine, while the other presents all
the varied beauties arising from the advantages (?) of fre-
quent promotions — a systemless school.

There is certainly need of reform in some graded
schools, in which the whole machinery has become petri-
fied, and a little shaking up would do the rigid fossil
some good. But, while this is true, it is also true that
the introduction of some system of classification into
the ungraded and country schools is not only necessary
but most desirable.

In classifying pupils, there are some questions which
are applicable to all schools. For this reason their in-
troduction just here seems not inappropriate, and may
be a help to teachers in either city or country schools :

1. Has the pupil ever attended school?

2. What does he actually know ?

3. After he has entered school, if at any time he is
able to do the work of a more advanced class, is it the
part of wisdom to promote him ?

4. What influence on his health would an undue
stimulus have ?

5. Is he old' enough to be rushed through his studies,
and has he the constitution to bear it ?

6. What are the home influences ?

7. If he has been in school, why did he fall behind
his class ?

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 29

The last question arises more frequently in graded
than in ungraded schools.

In the graded schools are representatives of the fol-
lowing classes of pupils :

(a) Those entering school for the first time.

(b) Those who have finished the work of their grade.

(d) Those who have fallen behind in the regular
class-work and can not keep up.

Only in rare instances, if a pupil is regular in at-
tendance, does he fail to " pass."

The work laid out for each term is what the child
of average ability is capable of doing. Many can do
more.

One of the chief reasons why the charge is made
that children make slow progress in the graded schools
is that those making the assertion fail to distinguish be-
tween what young men and young women can do in
school in two or three years, and the inability of little
children to do the same amount of work in the same
time.

Maturity of mind is required to make extraordinary
progress, and small children, unless precocious, do not
have it.

Were the pupils kept out of school till twelve or
fifteen years of age, they could then do the work of the
graded-school course of study in two or three years;
but we must consider this subject as it at present exists.

Suppose the utmost tension is given to the graded-
school system, are there not then weighty objections

SO PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

which play an important part in the education of chil-
dren?

(a) The frequent change of teachers is one of the
disadvantages of the country schools. Now, if it be
injurious to change teachers every few months in coun-
try schools, how can the reverse of this be true for town
and city schools? I know of no rules in reasoning that
will warrant contradictory conclusions from the same
premises, and both conclusions be correct.

(b) It does not answer to say that the pupils are
hurried through the lower schools till they get into the
high school, and will then remain under the influence of
the same teachers for three or four years.

(c) Introducing an unnatural excitant has a tendency
to destroy the main object for which public schools are
supported and patronized. The idea, whether inten-
tional or not, is held out to both teachers and pupils to
prepare for promotion by "stuffing," u cramming," or
" packing." These are the feeble words used to express
the hurry and waste and haste in order to get through
and make a show. Teachers feel that, if their brightest
pupils are not hurried onward at race-horse speed, their
services are not duly appreciated, and there is danger of
losing their positions. This is certainly a serious ob-
jection which I have not seen satisfactorily answered.
Under high pressure, the object of education is not
the acquisition of knowledge for its own sake, but the
delusive phantom of promotion, wThich is always tan-
talizing to the mind of the sensitive pupil. The pu-
pil, when leaving school, should go away with the con-
viction that he has finished the school-work up to date.

(d) The health of the pupil in this race is neglected,

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 31

and the intense strain on the nervous system destroys
the natural and healthy action of the vital functions,
thus insidiously undermining the constitution and laying
the foundation for disease.

By exercising reasonable care in classifying at the be-
ginning of the school-term, few mistakes will be made,
and these may in a short time be corrected. The reme-
dy is in the hands of the principal and teacher. Pupils
should be promoted because they have completed the
preceding work, or have the ability to go on with a
higher class. Promotions for other reasons are usually
a positive injury to all parties concerned.

In the graded schools we call the first year in school
the first grade, the second year the second grade, and
so on through the eighth grade, after which comes the
work of the high school. A difficult problem now pre-
sents itself for solution, and that is the number of classes
and the number of studies to be taken up by the pupils.

Possibly three new branches of study besides read-
ing are as many as any pupil can pursue profitably at one
time. Writing, drawing, and music are properly classed
as " drills.'- but drawing is an excellent exercise for train-
ing the hand, the eye, the judgment, and the imagina-
tion.

If a student has Greek, Latin, and mathematics, he
has enough new work. These are the studies usually
pursued in high-school and college classes. Some pupils
take more, but the effect upon the health is usually bad.
Hundreds of college students are wrecking their whole
lives because teachers encourage them in this course.
Tear after year I look into the faces of pupils whose
vital energies are being exhausted by mental overwork.

32 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

Movements of Classes.

Suppose a young lady goes for the first time into a
schoolroom to fill a vacancy occasioned by the absence
of the regular teacher. The children are full of life.
It is time for recitation. How shall she call out a class ?
One bright little girl reports that her teacher says " At-
tention ! " and then taps with her pencil. The first tap
means " turn," the second " rise," the third " pass," and
the children pass to their places on the " line." This is
a good way to give signals, and the movements are just
what are needed. But suppose the teacher has been a
little unsystematic. The new teacher says, " The class
in the first reader will take their places." They run to
their places, each child trying to be first. There is
confusion, and it is difficult to get them into line, and
to watch them. But, if the teacher is quiet and digni-
fied, she will succeed, even though she does not under-
stand the work of the regular teacher. It is a good
plan for her to explain in this way : " When I say
' one,' turn your feet into the aisle ; when I say ' two,'
rise ; and when I say ' three,' pass to the place where
you recite your lessons."

I have seen children going to their places with their
hands behind them, and walking on their toes. Old
men sometimes walk with their hands behind them, but
is it natural for children ? Teach children to walk and
to stand flat-footed. Do not distort the natural form of
a child for the sake of a death-like stillness in the school-
room.

In returning them to their seats at the close of a
recitation, the same plan should be pursued, first call-

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. 33

ing " Attention ! " which means to close open books
and take position ready to obey the signals which will
be given for them to turn and to pass to seats. The
plan adopted by many teachers of having them stand
at their seats till all are in place, and then be seated at
one signal, is a good one.

Movements at the Blackboard.

Each member of the class should have his place
assigned him. Then, suppose the lesson is in arith-
metic, and there are five problems, let the class num-
ber in sections of " live," each member of a section to
have the problem corresponding to his number. Then,
at a signal, all turn in one direction — to the left — till
they face the board. If the names of pupils are not
already written, at a signal they write names and num-
bers. The next signal means "work." After a rea-
sonable time has been given for placing solutions on
the board, " Attention ! " should be called, when all
should turn from the board, this time turning to the
right. Explanations are then called for and given.
At the close of the recitation, the signal " erase " being
given, they obey it ; then, at the closing signal, " atten-
tion ! " they turn from the board and stand in position
ready to obey the signals which seat them.

Programme.

In a well-managed school there is a definite time for
the beginning and close of every exercise. There must
be a time-table so arranged and placed that the teacher
may know just what each pupil is doing at any hour—-

34 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

that is, what lessons are being prepared and by what
classes, as well as what recitations are being conducted.
It is quite as necessary to assign time for preparation of
lessons as for recitation and recreation. In making out
a programme, it should be so arranged that the different
classes have an equal number of recitations. Again,
that programme is the best which provides that no two
successive recitations are on the same subject, because
those who are studying are less apt to have their atten-
tion diverted from their own lessons, or to get assistance
of a character which relieves them of the exertion re-
quired to master their own difficulties. It is also impor-
tant that the programme be placed so that all in the
room can see it. The pupils should be taught to un-
derstand it, and thus learn to be systematic in their
work.

As a fitting conclusion to this subject of programmes,
I place here for inspection one which I prepared for
country schools. It shows when each class recites, and
what ; and, at the same time, what lessons are being pre-
pared by the other classes. The recitations are printed
in italics.

The same general plan is that best adapted to graded
schools, the teacher making necessary changes in the
details.

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT.

Read and spell.
Read and spell.
Write rumbers on slate.
AVrite numbers on slate.
Writing or drawing.

Recess.
Read and spell.
Read and spell.
Write reading- lesson on slate.
Write reading-lesson on slate.
Write numbers on blackboard.

Noon.
Read and spell.
Read and spell.
Writing language exercise.
Writing language exercise.
Writing language exercise.

Recess.
Writing language exercise.

a
,2

1
\t

■

Read and spell.
Read and spell.
Read and spell.
Read and spell.
Writing or drawing.

Recess.
Arithmetic.
Arithmetic.
Arithmetic.
Arithmetic.
Geography.

Noon.
Geography.
Geography.
Geography.
Read and spell.
Read and spell.

Recess.
Read and spell.
Read and spell.
Read and spell.
Language exercise.
Language exercise.

Dismiss.

1
1

2
a

Grammar.
Grammar.
Grammar.
Arithmetic.
Writing or drawing.

Recess.
Arithmetic.
Arithmetic.
Arithmetic.
History, U. S.
History, U. S.
Noon.
History, U. S.
Geography.
Geography.
Geography.
Reading or etymology.

Recess.
Reading or etymology.
Reading or etymology.
Intellectual arithmetic.
Intellectual arithmetic.
Grammar.

Dismiss.

to"

1
1

>
a

Opening Exercises.
Grammar.
Arithmetic.
Arithmetic.
Arithmetic.
Writing or drawing.

Recess.
Arithmetic.
History, U. S.
History, U.'S.
History, U. S.
History, U. S.
Noon.
History, U. S.
Physiology.
Physiology.
Physiology.
Physiology.

Recess.
Reading or etymology.
Reading or etymology.
Intellectual arithmetic.
Intellectual arithmetic.
Grammar.

Dismiss.

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36 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

Analysis. — School Management.

I. School-House.

a. Location.

b. Construction.

1. Heating. 3. Lighting.

2. Ventilating. 4. Seating.
e. Well and out-buildings.

, d. Furniture.

1. Clock. 8. Maps.

2. Blackboard. 4. Charts, etc.
e. Play-grounds.

1. Walks. 3. Flowers.

2. Trees.

II. Organization of Classes*

a. Basis.

b. Ungraded schools.

c. Graded schools.

d. High schools.

e. Colleges.

III. Movements of Classes.

a. How called.
6. How seated.

c. At blackboard.

d. How dismissed.

IV. Programme,

a. Time-table.

b. Preparation.

c. Recitation.

d. Subjects.

1. Order. 2. Alternation.

CHAPTER III.

PKINCIPLES OF CLASS MANAGEMENT.

Classes having been organized, how to manage
them becomes an important problem for the teacher to
solve. Very few teachers would hesitate to confirm the
statement that " attention must be secured before in-
struction can be given, or any school work successfully
done." How to secure attention is the first lesson for
the teacher to learn. The ability to do this when ap-
pearing before a class of restless boys and girls is an
all-important qualification for a teacher to possess, and
especially so if the class is composed of small children.

It is not easy to tell in words just how to get the
attention of a class. Some persons seem gifted with
the power to secure and hold the attention of any with
whom they enter into conversation. Some call this
power magnetism; we can not tell certainly. It may
consist in the skill with which they can present a sul>
ject ; it may be in the tones of the voice. Some teach-
ers with soft, low tones have secured what commands
could not have done. It was not the authority of the
teacher over the attention of the child — that the teacher
can not command in words. The faculty of attention
in the child must be cultivated, so that it shall come

38 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

under the control of his own will, which, in its turn,
must be guided by the teacher's will.

Suppose a teacher appears before his class and tries
to explain something about a lesson. Half the class
is inattentive. The teacher is conscious of the fact,
and yet he does not know what to do. The pupils dis-
cover his helplessness and take advantage of it. The
teacher fails, and the school is demoralized.

Yarious devices are resorted to by teachers who can
not easily secure the attention of children. They tell
anecdotes ; they offer rewards ; they threaten to punish,
and do many other things equally futile. It n^ay be
that the real secret of securing attention consists, in
knowing how to adapt the instruction to the capacity
of the learners, how to interest them, and get them to
tell what they know. As stated before, attention is
not secured by commanding it, but by arousing the
mind of the child to an interest in the subject. Hence,
an important part of the teacher's work is so to train
the child that he can, by the exercise of his own will,
concentrate his attention upon whatever subject he has
to consider. Children do not, at first, know how to do
this ; it is a lesson they must learn.

"When a person has learned how to fix his mind upon
one subject to the exclusion of all else, despite outside
influences, he becomes the thinker, the learned man,
the great man ; and this power is what distinguishes
him from the ignorant man. It is not absent-minded-
ness, it is not forgetful ness, but it is the ability to take
a subject, think only of it, turn it over and over, as it
were, in the mind till it is understood ; beginning in
the darkness of ignorance, soon letting in a little gleam

PRINCIPLES OF CLASS MANAGEMENT. 39

of light, the very faintest ray, perhaps, but leading
out into the broad sunlight of knowledge through what
seemed impenetrable darkness, the darkness of igno-
rance.

The teacher who would lead a class out of ignorance
into knowledge, and attain the highest success in class-
management, must himself possess this power — that is,
lie must be able to bring his own faculty of attention
entirely under the control of his own will. Then, and
then only, is he prepared to control the attention of a
class.

We can conceive how a stone can grow by accre-
tions to the outside, but we can not conceive how a
human being can grow physically by such a process.
It is true he might be encased in the shell of a mol-
lusk, and thus appear to be enlarged externally, but it
would not be true growth. Neither would it be true
growth for the child to be covered all over, if that were
possible, with knowledge as with a plaster.

Physical growth is produced by the assimilation of
the material used for food and drink, and conveyed to
the different parts of the body. We do not quite un-
derstand the process, but the material is gathered and
passes through the changes wrought by the various or-
gans of digestion till it is prepared for assimilation and
enters into the life-blood of the individual.

And thus we grow intellectually. Information — ■
food for thought — is gathered through the senses into
the mind, and by the mind itself is prepared for as-
similation, giving mental growth in the very effort.

Again, the teacher should not forget that his pupils
must get knowledge, must have ideas, and must learn

£0 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

how to express these ideas. If tlie teacher does all the
talking, all the reciting, the pupils are being robbed
of the benefits to be derived from the recitation. The
pupil must recite, not the teacher. Can a child learn
to walk if not permitted to use his own feet ? Can he
learn how to express his thoughts if not permitted to
try 'I The teacher must guide, must lead over the diffi-
cult places, must encourage the feeble, but must not do
the work, must not recite for the child.

A hungry child remains hungry still if he has but
looked wistfully on while another has eaten the food.
The hungry one represents the pupil who desires knowl-
edge, and the other the teacher who recites, who talks all
the time. What would be thought of the teacher who
should argue as follows : " Should I not recite at least
half the time ? Am I not here for that purpose ? Am
I not to help the pupils ? I am the teacher, and I must
talk about the lesson to them. I can do it better than
they can."

Neither should the teacher be an interrogation-
point, doing nothing but asking questions, or reading
them at the bottom of the page while the pupils fol-
low with their fingers and glance at the answers as
given above. That teacher is wise who is able to
control his tongue and not talk too much. The apostle
was right when he called the tongue an "unruly mem-
ber."

The teacher must explain lessons, but the explana-
tions should be appropriate and pointed, so that even
the dullest pupils can understand them.

The above point suggests another. The teacher
should manage to reach every pupil during every reci-

PRINCIPLES OP CLASS MANAGEMENT. 41

tation, but no one should know when he is to be called
on. The question should be asked first, and in such a
manner that it will apply to one pupil as well as to
another, making all feel responsible for the answer, and
then some one called on to recite. It is not as though
each had a separate u grist to grind," and must stand
in the line waiting his turn, as did the people in olden
times, when each of those who went to the mill had to
wait in the line " till his corn was ground and he could
get his meal."

Knowledge is not like meal ; each can take all, and
yet all is left for the next hungry mind. No one is
robbed, and all gain mental strength as well as knowl-
edge. The faculty of attention is receiving cultivation,
and the teacher is no longer troubled about how to
secure attention. The difficult problem is being solved
in a safer way than the " going up and down " method
formerly so much in vogue, and the lesson of the day
is not lost.

In certain schools it was the custom for the pupil
who carae first to school to recite first ; and, if there was
a class recitation, the head pupil recited first, and then
waited till every other member of the class had been
called on, when it came his turn again. If it was a
reading lesson, the head boy read his " verse," whether
in prose or poetry ; the second boy his, and so on down
the clask If there were not enough u verses to go
round," the recitation was ended. Occasionally, the
words in the reading lesson were spelled. In the spell-
ing classes, a good speller would spell nearly all the
words. If a pupil missed a word, it was passed quickly
to the (t next," and the " next," and the " next," till it

42 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

got to a good speller, who usually stood at the head and
did most of the spelling.

How will that compare with a recitation like this ?
It was a class in Latin, and all the boys and all the girls
wanted to answer. If one happened to make a mistake,
the hands of all the others went up, showing that all
were held responsible for the lesson. The teacher
called on one after another, but in such a manner that
no one knew when his turn would come. In a certain
celebrated college in which there are many very learned
men, I once heard a lesson in chemistry recited. The
class was seated, and the " professor" called on Mr. A
to recite, and Mr. A stood up and told all he knew
about the subject, and was excused. Then the " pro-
fessor" called on Mr. B, and Mr. B gave attention.
But, while Mr. A was reciting, I noticed that Mr. Y
and Mr. Z were busy upon other work, and did not
seem at all interested in what Mr. A was saying. When
Mr. B got through, Mr. C prepared for consultation,
and waited with a great show of respect for the question
which he knew was sure to come, and his recitation was
a repetition of what Mr. A and Mr. B had said. In
this way the very distinguished professor worked on till
he got through with Mr. Z. This, I learned, was con-
sidered a model recitation. I should add that the very
celebrated professor would not allow students to per-
form experiments in chemistry " lest they break some
of the little jars."

The same system, I am sorry to say, is pursued in
some other institutions of learning. There is this diffi-
culty— so many teachers can only copy, copy, COPY,
doing just what their grandfathers did, and in precisely

PRINCIPLES OF CLASS MANAGEMENT. 43

the same way. Some teachers still insist upon doing
everything jnst as it was done by those who came over
in the early days from England and Holland. In these
later days we oppose some of those old methods, and
say they are not the best. Not a few living persons can
remember when geometry was taught by " rote." The
" professor " was often a person who knew nothing
about geometry. A certain number of propositions
were given for a lesson, and their numbers were written
on pieces of paper and placed on the table. The mem-
bers of the class, one after the other, drew each his lot,
and examined it to see whether it contained a prize or
blank. Whoever drew a numbered paper recited ver-
batim the demonstration of the proposition having the
same number ; but those who drew blanks had nothing
to do.

The temptation to encourage bright pupils to do all
the reciting is one which teachers should resist. The
bright children might be benefited, but such a course
is intellectual death to the dull ones. The latter should
receive increased attention ; the points over which they
struggle should be developed, and the whole class bene-
fited thereby.

Let us take this circle, O, to represent the positive
knowledge that is possessed by the pupil. Beyond this
he has some vague ideas of some subjects, and these
may be supposed to form a hazy outline to the circle of
his definite knowledge. This circle is to be enlarged
by investigations in the misty regions beyond.

Different subjects lie in different directions. In one

direction there may be natural history, and the teacher

desires to expand the^upl^mmd in that direction.

44 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

To do this, some definite questions must be asked ; the
pupil set to thinking. He must be encouraged to tell
what he thinks, and then be required to get some defi-
nite knowledge by further investigation out in that
misty region. He has been shown how to find his way,
and it is now time to observe a principle, too often over-
looked, that the teacher should get a pupil to do all he
can for himself, and not do his work for him. u Why,"
says a student, " is it not better for me, if I have studied
a subject over and found it difficult, to get the teacher
to do it for me \ It would save me so much labor, and
it is the teacher's business to help me, to make my work
easy for me." Pupils would usually be pleased to have
the teacher do all the difficult work for them ; but those
who can be induced to study a subject and master its
difficulties alone will be most profited. The teacher
should suggest the direction and method of study for
pupils, and then, having put them on the road to certain
knowledge, watch their progress. Having given them
the clew, he should be sure that they have made an
effort before he helps, and then not help them too much ;
only just enough to help them help themselves. By
their own mental effort comes their own mental growth.
We are told that one of the Greeks had a problem to
solve, and that, after he had spent some time in study-
ing it over, he noticed that when he got into a bath-tub
partly filled with water the water rose, and that when
he got out it sank again. He thought of this for some
time, and then rushed out crying " Eureka 1 w He had
solved his difficult problem ; he could find the cubical
contents of an irregular solid by immersing it in a ves-
sel full of water and measuring the water that ran over.

PRINCIPLES OF CLASS MANAGEMENT. 45

A teacher asked a class to tell him the number of
cubic inches in a large irregular stone. They looked at
it, but there was no solid like it. Some tried to divide
it into triangular pyramids. They examined it very
carefully. The teacher gave them more time for the
study of the problem. The next day came, and several
members of the class had learned that they could meas-
ure it by putting the stone into water and seeing how
far the water rose in the vessel. They remembered
their own discovery better than if the teacher had told
them, and the gain in mental power was of more value
to them than any help the teacher might have given.
Men have been known to work on one problem five
years or more before they conquered its difficulties.

Assistance must, of course, be given ; but when and
how given are important questions. A certain teacher
whom I once knew used to walk around the school-
room to see how her pupils were getting along. If
they were at work on a "sum," she would explain
it and " work it out " for them. If they were studying
a geography lesson, she would pronounce and explain
all the hard words. She would even remain after
school to help them prepare their lessons. She made
a mistake in doing this. Help should be given before
the whole class and during the time of recitation, and
never at any other time. Tupils may complain of this,
but it is the better way, especially for advanced pupils.
"Why? may be asked. Because, if an explanation is
necessary, the whole class should hear it given ; the
teacher of large classes can not afford to give private
tuition to each member. With such a precedent estab-
lished in the case of one pupil, others will soon de-

4G PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

mand it, and the teacher dare not then refuse, and soon
becomes a slave to her pupils, who will neglect pur^
posely the preparation of lessons at the proper time.
Inattention results during the recitation, and the pupils
are forming the bad habit of u procrastination." Re-
member that part of the time of a recitation rightfully
belongs to explanations for which the pupils then may
ask. And it is just as important that they should im-
prove this time as any other, and be held to strict
account for it. I have seen schools in which .the
teacher, while engaged in conducting a recitation, was
continually interrupted by pupils coming from their
seats to ask unimportant questions, and to get help
which they did not need. If they are permitted to do
this, is it possible for the recitation to be of any value
to the class ? Can a teacher do more than one thing at
a time ?

Just imagine a case like this : The teacher is con-
ducting a recitation in arithmetic. A boy who belongs
to another class is preparing a spelling-lesson ; he looks
at the first word, names the letters over to himself, runs
up to the teacher, who stops whatever she is doing to
pronounce the word for him. By the time he gets to
his seat he has named over the letters in another word.
He drops into his seat, but bounces out immediately,
and runs to the teacher, who stops again to pronounce
the second word for him. The performance is re-
peated again and again, till the teacher has pronounced
every word in his lesson. He is not the only one.
Other pupils have as much right to demand help as he
has, and the continual interruption becomes an intoler-
able nuisance.

PRINCIPLES OF CLASS MANAGEMENT. 47

A strict observance of the rule " to help only during
the time of recitation " will not interfere with a gen-
eral supervision of all pupils in a room. If they are
under good discipline, and have been properly trained
at the beginning of the term, they will not think of in-
terrupting a recitation, but will devote the time to quiet
study.

Formerly, very little attention was given in schools
to any written work outside of the regular lessons in
writing. It is now quite the custom to divide the time
of recitation about equally between oral and written
work, and, while the benefits to be derived from oral
recitation are not lost, the written work affords better
opportunity for the teacher to reach and criticise the
work of every one.

It has been said before, but will bear repeating,
" Train pupils to use their own language." Let each
express his ideas in his own way, then criticise and
correct Be not too severe and discourage him, but
make criticisms so as not to wound his feelings. Yoa
can test the accuracy of knowledge by the language
used, unless it is a verbatim reproduction of that found
in the book.

There must be system, vigor, life in all good school-
work. The teaching should be adapted to the capacity
of the pupil, and the steps in passing from the known
should be made easy.

What a teacher says should be said in a definite,
incisive manner, showing confidence in self and in-
spiring it in pupils. The teacher must be wide awake,
must believe in his own ability to succeed, but must
keep in mind the fact that he ought to be progressive,

48 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

and never think himself too old to learn. He may be
self-confident, but not egotistical ; must have that kind
of self-confidence which insures success.

II. Class Management.

1. Secure attention by right methods.

2. Adapt instruction to capacities.

III. The Recitation.

1. Length.

a. Primary classes.

b. Grammar classes.

c. High schools.

d. Normal schools.

e. Colleges.

2. Division of time.

a. Review. 1. Definition.

b. Lesson of the day. 2. Object.

c. Criticisms. 3. Howl

d. General information. 4. When f

e. Talk about the next lesson. 5. By whom ?
8. Assignment of lesson.

a. Subjects rather than pages.

b. Lessons too short rather than too long.

c. Instruction — how to prepare.
4. Object.

a. To gain knowledge.

b. Mental development.

CHAPTER IV.

METHODS OF CONDUCTING RECITATIONS — DIRECTIONS TO
PUPILS — DIRECTIONS TO TEACHERS.

There are three elements to be considered in con-
nection with every recitation, not including the subject-
matter : First, the method of conducting the recitation ;
secondly, the pupils or persons to be benefited by the
recitation ; and, thirdly, the teacher or person who con-
ducts the recitation.

Under methods there are three divisions : recitations
may be entirely oral, entirely written, or a combination
of the two methods. In advanced classes it is well to
have recitations about half oral and half written.

There are advantages in both oral and written reci-
tations, but neither should be used to the exclusion of
the other.

If a recitation be oral, it must be either individual
or concert, or both, the time occupied in recitation being
divided between the two.

If the recitations are by individuals, the choice lies
between the consecutive and promiscuous methods. By
the consecutive method, the pupil at the head of the
class is required to answer first, then the next, and so
on, in the order of their positions in the class. A

50 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

serious objection to this method is that pupils soon
learn to keep tally with the number of questions, and
make close calculations as to what questions are likely to
come to them, and will learn to answer only those, neg-
lecting other parts of the lesson entirely. The plan
of calling on pupils promiscuously is much better, secur-
ing more surely the attention of the whole class to every
part of the lesson, and making each member of the class
feel that he is responsible for the answer to every ques-
tion that may be asked, or for the omission of any
point in the lesson if the recitation is by other than the
method of questions and answers.

As a general thing, recitations in concert should be
avoided, and, if used at all, should be very sparingly
used, never exclusively. Yet the concert recitation has,
perhaps, advantages. Some children are very timid, and
it is difficult to get them to speak so as to be heard. A
concert recitation may give courage to 6uch as these,
but, if the courage thus gained is not sustained and ap-
plied to individual work, even this is a doubtful advan-
tage, and courage had better be developed in some other
way. A very skillful teacher may use it in teaching
reading when pupils have difficulty in pronouncing
words, or are inclined to read too rapidly, or when he
wishes to harmonize voices and bring them to a uniform
pitch. It is also useful in teaching inflections. Few
teachers, however, are able to conduct concert recita-
tions without allowing pupils to acquire the sing-song
habit, which, once acquired, is almost impossible to get
rid of.

When a teacher can not prevent this sing-song in
concert recitation, he should banish the method from

METHODS OF CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 51

his school-room. The effort to counteract the sing-song
habit produces results but little better in reading. Here
is an illustration : Not long since I heard a class of in-
telligent children read. In conversation, their words
were very naturally spoken ; but when they read it was
very different. They had often recited in concert, and
could sing it off in fine style. To break up this habit,
they were required to stop after every syllable. This,
too, was a severe struggle. Every feature of their faces
assumed a rigid aspect. The muscles of their bodies
were strained to the highest pitch, and they read this
simple exercise, " Gyp was going to the mill, and he
saw a frog," with a laborious effort, cutting and snap-
ping at the words in a frightful manner. There was
no variation in pitch, there was no attention to em-
phasis, and every syllable was jerked out and snapped
off as if the pupils were afraid of their own voices,
which sounded so unnatural because of the great exer-
tion they were making to read as the teacher had
directed. A small boy was asked to read it. It was a
repetition of what the class had done. When he closed
the book and repeated it, he threw off that stiffness
which hampered him when he tried to read from the
book, and his tones at once dropped into the conversa-
tional style. When this habit is once acquired, it takes
months to break it up.

It is best, I think, to conduct the recitations of small
children by asking questions which they must answer.
They have not the power of continued attention, and
should not be required to do more than they can do
easily till they have learned how to study, and they
can not study so as to master a topic till they have

52 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

learned how to read that from which they must study
for recitation.

Timid children must have a little help and much
encouragement until they get well acquainted.

For larger children, the topical method is used to
great advantage, as it makes them rely more upon them-
selves to remember all the points in the lesson, and
forces them to greater effort in the use of language.
The questions asked by the teacher are often very sug-
gestive, giving a clew td the pupil which helps him,
even though they may not be leading questions.

If the classes are very large, a variation of the top-
ical method is sometimes adopted. The different topics
are assigned to different pupils, each being required to
report upon his topic such information as he can get.
This gives a collection of reports upon which they can
institute comparisons, study and discuss relations, and
so develop the thinking faculties. This method is par-
ticularly adapted to classes in rhetoric, literature, and
the natural sciences.

Teaching by lectures can scarcely be called a recita-
tion, but the same results are sought to be accomplished.
In the German universities the students never recite.
They listen to the lectures, take notes, and study up the
subject. Then, as I understand it, when they are to be
examined for graduation, each one goes alone before the
faculty, and is questioned by all its members.

Sometimes it is advantageous for a recitation to take
the form of a discussion. Among older students, this
is both interesting and profitable, and is admirably
adapted to some of the subjects taught in normal
schools and colleges.

METHODS OF CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 53

Again, there is the reciprocal method, which may be
profitably used in ordinary school-work, and in most of
the grades. In this, the teacher asks a question, and
calls on " A " to recite. When " A " has recited, he
asks another question, and calls on u Z " to recite. M Z "
answers, and calls on some one else to recite. In this
wray the whole lesson is recited, the questions and an-
swers passing from one to another till all have taken
part. If one pupil can not give a complete answer, he
may call on some one else to finish what he has begun.
This method is particularly useful, in that it is apt to
excite considerable animation among the members of
a class.

Recitations entirely written are not common, nor are
they to be desired except for examinations.

The combination of oral and written recitations is
usually that in which pupils are required to write a dia-
gram or outline of the subject of the lesson, and then
to recite from what they have written. It can not be
very well employed with small children, but with
larger ones, and through the school course, beginning in
the middle grades, it is valuable, because it formulates
and systematizes the knowledge gained, so arranging it
in the mind as to make it available whenever it is needed
for use.

Knowledge to be available must be classified. He
who does this by means of outlines, or diagrams, has
his information at his command and ready for use, and
is far better prepared than he who leaves it "lying
around loose."

54 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.
DIRECTIONS TO PUPILS.

There are directions to be given to pupils which
they must be required to observe. The first is this :
"Stand or sit erect." Some of them have shoulders
that tip forward ; some have not a strong digestive aj>
paratus, and, if they are allowed to bend forward, their
vital organs will be cramped and weakened. This di-
rection has special reference to the care of their health,
and upon its observance much of their success as students
depends. It does not mean that they should always sit
bolt upright, though it is better to do this than to ac-
quire the habit of dropping the shoulders forward and
contracting the chest, so that the lungs can not expand
as they need to do in performing their functions.

A close observer will notice that a person breathing
takes every fourth or fifth breath fuller, deeper than the
others, and thus unconsciously performs the act of ex-
pelling impure air from the lungs. The person whose
blood is in good condition is in good health ; but this
is impossible if the blood is not purified by contact with
pure air as it passes through the lungs on its way back
to the heart after its journey as scavenger through the
circulatory system. Drowsiness is a result of impure
blood, and perfect mental development is checked.

The class must understand all signals, and move
promptly and quietly when they are given. It is worth
while to spend several hours drilling pupils to a military
precision in all school movements. The teacher who
will do this establishes his authority in the school at the
beginning, saves time, and avoids much subsequent fric
tion which might otherwise occur.

DIRECTIONS TO PUPILS. 55

Not only must pupils be taught to move promptly,
but quietly ; there should be no stamping, no tramping.
This has been spoken of before ; but repetitions are
sometimes necessary — they do not need to walk with
their hands behind them, nor on their toes. They can
walk quietly, easily, and naturally, placing their feet
iirmly and squarely on the floor. The tip-toe walking
required by many teachers in order to avoid noise is
unnatural and ungraceful, resulting too often in perma-
nent awkwardness, and should not be tolerated a mo-
ment. Suppose they do make a little noise ; better
that than to destroy the natural grace of childish move-
ments.

Pupils should at all times be polite to their teacher
and to one another. A strict observance of this rule will
make school-life both pleasant and profitable, and form
a habit which will be an advantage to them when they
come in contact with the world in after life.

Each pupil must recite in his own words. This is a
necessary requirement. It does not mean that his lan-
guage must be elegant ; it may be even incorrect ; but
his ability to express whatever ideas he may have in his
own words indicates that he understands what he has
been studying. If he has mispronounced words, or his
language has been grammatically incorrect, corrections
may be made afterward. I have heard pupils recite
history and other lessons verbatim, when they had no
idea whatever of the meaning of the words they were
repeating.

Another direction to pupils in close connection with
the last is to give every answer in a complete sentence.
If they have the thought, they should be able to give

56 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

entire expression to it. In no other way can their
knowledge of a lesson or subject be thoroughly tested.

Pupils must not " prompt " or assist one another.
Each must depend upon himself if he would get the
benefit to be derived from the recitation.

They may raise hands, provided, first, that no one
is speaking — politeness requires the observance of this
rule ; secondly, when they can answer ; thirdly, when
they can add to an answer ; fourthly, when they wish
to criticise ; fifthly, when they wish to ask a question ;
sixthly, when they wish to communicate with another
pupil.

They should always speak in low tones, not too
rapidly, and always distinctly.

DIRECTIONS TO TEACHERS.

The last direction to pupils applies to teachers as
well, for how can they expect pupils to speak in low
tones of voice, slowly and distinctly, if they do not
themselves set the example ?

Neither should the teacher " prompt " in recitation
or examination, though the temptation to do so is very
great. " Prompting " another destroys self-confidence
and degrades self-respect. It is an unkind act, however
well intentioned. The sooner the pupil learns that self-
help is the best help, the better it is for him.

The teacher should be polite to pupils. It always
pays. One point I would insist upon is, that no teacher
should ever address a pupil by his surname without pre-
fixing a title. It is both coarse and rude. In address-
ing a young lady, the title " Miss" should be prefixed to
the surname. In speaking to a young gentleman, speak

DIRECTIONS TO TEACHERS. 57

to Mm in a respectful manner, using the title " Mr." or
" Master." In the case of younger pupils you may use
their given names, but the manner should never be
other than polite. Politeness, even to the verge of for-
mality, does not weaken the authority of a teacher, but
strengthens it by securing and retaining the respect of
pupils.

Do not repeat questions. This habit on the part of
a teacher encourages carelessness and inattention on the
part of pupils.

Do not repeat answers. It is not necessary ; it
wastes time, and makes the teacher appear like an echo-
ing machine.

Govern yourself ; do not get angry. Never let
pupils see that you are annoyed. Nothing so delights
mischievous or vicious pupils so much as to see that
they can annoy the teacher, and they are quick to follow
up an advantage thus gained. Woe to the teacher who
thus places herself at the mercy of " young tyrants " !

Govern your own pupils. Do not show weakness
by asking the principal or school-board to come to your
assistance unless in a great emergency. The teacher
who is continually referring cases of discipline to the
principal or board can not long maintain control of her
pupils.

Again, a teacher or person in charge of a school-
room is supposed to be able to manage it, and all com-
munications to or by any one in it should be made
through her or by her permission. No person has a
right to disregard this rule, whether a pupil or other
person.

Should a superintendent, director, or any one in real

58 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

authority, even over the person in charge, wish to cross
the room, or to address any one in it, he has no right
to do so without iirst being recognized by, and obtaining
permission from, the person in charge. The proper in-
fluences can not be exerted in a school where the rights
of all are not duly respected.

Teachers should take care of their health, and bring
vigor of body and mind to the recitation.

They should always prepare the lesson. Even if it
is a simple subject, the teacher should know just what
is in it, and the ideas of the author of the text-book
used. He should know just how he intends teaching
it, and how to meet and explain difficulties apt to arise
in the minds of the pupils. The teacher who thinks
there is nothing to be done but u grind out the lesson
of the day by asking a few set questions " and listening
to the corresponding answers has much to learn. New
fields are opening all the time, and teachers must keep
abreast of the times if they would succeed. There is
a spirit to be brought out, developed, in the boys and
girls. It is for the teacher to arouse and direct the
energies of her pupils, so that they will become inter-
ested, and do their best in every recitation.

The words and acts of teachers should be such as to
honor their profession.

DIRECTIONS TO TEACHERS. 59

Methods of Conducting Recitations.

1. Oral.

a. Individual.

1. Consecutive. 2. Promiscuous.

b. Concert.

c. Questions and answers.

d. Topical.

e. Lectures.

/. Discussions.
g. Reciprocal.

2. Written.

3. Oral and written.

a. Diagrams.

b. Outlines.

Directions to Pupils

1. Stand or sit erect.

2. Obey signals.

a. Promptly.

b. Quietly.

3. Be polite.

a. To teachers.

b. To one another.

c. To everybody.

4. Give answers.

a. In your own words.

b. In complete sentences.

5. Do not prompt.

6. Raise hands — when

a. No one is speaking.

b. You can answer.

c. You can add to answer.

d. You wish to criticise.

e. You wish to ask a question.

/. You wish to communicate with any one.

7. Speak.

a. In low tones.

b. Slowly.

c. Distinctly.

60 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

Directions to Teachers.

1. Speak.

a. In low tones.

b. Slowly.

c. Distinctly.

2. Do not prompt.

a. In recitation.

b. In examination,

3. Be polite to pupils.

4. Do not repeat.

a. Questions.

b. Answers.

5. Govern yourself.

6. Govern your own pupils.

7. Prepare for recitation.

8. Let all your acts and words be worthy of your prof essioa

9. Be

a. Original.

b. Enthusiastic.

c. Energetic.

d. Spirited.

e. Systematic.
/. Kind.

g. CheerfuL

h. Firm.

i. Self-possessed

k. Dignified.

/. Patient.

CHAPTEE V.

LENGTH OF RECITATION.

In this chapter will be considered the length of reci-
tation, the assignment and preparation of lessons, and
criticism.

A recitation should not continue too long ; nei-
ther should it be too short. If it is too long, pupils
grow weary, the teacher can not hold their attention,
and the advantages of the recitation are lost ; if the
recitation is too short, the subject of the lesson can not
be properly discussed or understood. In colleges, reci-
tations are usually about an hour in length ; in high and
normal schools, from thirty to forty minutes ; and in
graded and ungraded schools they vary from ten to
thirty minutes in length, being ten, fifteen, or twenty
minutes in primary rooms. In looking over a pro-
gramme recently, I observed that the teacher had ar-
ranged it so as to give ten minutes daily to the most
advanced grade in arithmetic, ten minutes to United
States history, ten minutes to the class in physical geog-
raphy, and ten minutes to the primary class. He had
arranged for a certain number of classes, and thought he
must give the same length of time to the beginners that
he gave to advanced pupils, and that every recitation

62 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

should be just ten minutes long. " Now," said he, u the
people can not complain, for I give as much time to
the little children as I do to the large boys and girls."
This programme was published in the newspapers to
show the particular work of the teacher in the school-
room. It might at iirst appear to be just, because of
the equable division of time. But, when we come
to examine the subject carefully, most of us would
agree in pronouncing it unjust. And why? Let us
consider it in this light. Little children can not con-
trol their attention for. a great length of time, hence
their recitations should be short, lest they grow weary
and learn - nothing. With larger children, who have
learned to keep the attention longer under control of
the will, and who have learned how to study a new sub-
ject understandingly, it is quite different. They are
better prepared for recitation, and can bear extended
criticism and the questioning and cross-questioning of
the teacher and classmates better than little children.
For this reason it is quite evident that the length of a
recitation for small children should never be more than
fifteen minutes.

In the higher grades of ward-schools, and the ad-
vanced classes of ungraded schools, thirty minutes may
be profitably given to recitations, but never more. In
a normal or a high school, forty minutes should be the
limit of length of recitation. The two extremes must be
avoided. Time enough should be given to have all the
points in a lesson brought out and understood, but in
no case should the recitation be continued so long that
pupils lose their interest in the subject.

The length of the recitation determined, the division

LENGTH OF RECITATION. 63

of the time is of importance. Since every lesson is
connected with the one preceding it, five or ten min-
utes should be taken for review.

Suppose the recitation to be one in general history.
History is a continuous stream ; it is not simply the life
of an individual, but of humanity ; and we look upon
all humanity as passing down the current of time. We
study that stream from its source. We look back over
thousands of years into the early ages, or we glance
forward a thousand years into the future, and we dis-
cover that everything is related to something else —
every event to some other event. This relationship is
not only true in history, but equally true of the facts in
the sciences, whether of the natural sciences or the sci-
ences of political and social economy. The time set apart
for review will give opportunity to discuss this. Then
allow ten or fifteen minutes for the blackboard work.
Dividing the class into sections corresponding in num-
ber to the number of topics in the lesson, let the pupils
pass to the board and write outlines of the topics. That
done, the remainder of the time well improved will be
ample for oral recitation upon these topics, and for the
introduction of general information gathered by pupils
from outside sources which they think may have some
relation to the subject of the lesson. This relationship,
if existing, may be shown ; or, if their judgment is in
error, the error may be made to appear, and their men-
tal faculties receive additional culture by this.

For illustration, one teacher required all the pupils
in his room to write each week the new facts learned
during the preceding week. On one occasion some of
the pupils brought in notes upon the trouble between

64 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

China and France, while others had been writing about
" comet dust," supposed to have been the cause of the
red light seen evenings and mornings in the sky; still
others had been investigating the proceedings of u the
Court of Inquiry," and others had followed out a line of
railroad between two cities remote from each other. It
is possible to bring to bear upon a historical question
a great many facts, and the relationship of a railroad to
the history and development of the country through
which it passes may be shown to have a bearing upon
the lesson of the day.

The teacher who is no broader than a text-book is
narrow indeed. He should understand a subject so
thoroughly that, if the text-book were lost, he could
teach as well without it as with it. In the German
schools the teacher must be able to stand before his
classes and conduct his recitations without the aid of
text-books, and, if necessary, throw additional light on
any point not fully presented by the author. Each sub-
ject should be taught as though the teacher were a
specialist in that subject.

You know what Emerson's views were upon success-
ful teaching. In teaching, as in everything else, the
secret of success is inspiration ; and the inspired teacher
can get pupils to know their own ability to do some-
thing. In a primary-school not long since, I saw a
good illustration of this. There were many of the
children so small that they could not put on their over-
coats. The teacher arranged the children in platoons,
and the larger children assisted the smaller ones. Many
primary teachers complain of having to dress and un-
dress the children. This teacher had found a way out

ASSIGNMENT OF LESSONS. 65

of the difficulty. She directed the children, and they
did the work.

Assignment of Lessons.

It is important that lessons be properly assigned and
carefully prepared. Much progress has been made in
the last few years in this department of educational
work, and, in order to give the reader an idea of how
things have been done in some old-time schools, I will
tell the story of an ambitious boy who studied arithme-
tic under difficulties. He had studied reading and
spelling for some time, when the teacher, in a gracious
mood, said to him one day, " George, I think you are
big enough to cipher." George, very much elated, ran
home as soon as school was out and told his father what
the teacher had said. His father was delighted, and
promised to get a slate and an arithmetic for him.
This promise he sacredly kept, and the next morning
George was the happy owner of a slate of immense
proportions, and a copy of Smith's arithmetic. He
felt grand indeed as he entered the door of the old log
school-house at the end of the lane. He showed his
new property to the teacher, who gave him his first
exercise in arithmetic. The teacher said, " If you have
one apple in your right hand, and another apple in
your left hand, how many apples have you in both?"
Could such an exercise ever be forgotten? George
solved that problem, and, happy in the knowledge that
he might have two apples, turned over a leaf or two in
the book and came to the addition table, which he com-
mitted to memory, and then worked on as fast as he
could through addition, subtraction, multiplication, and

66 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

division. No lesson was ever assigned by the teacher,
but he simply worked out each day as many problems
as he could. Whenever his slate was full he showed it
to the teacher, who would say, " Very well done," and,
with a shy glance at the slate covered with figures, hand
it back as quickly as possible. He never had a recita-
tion. When he came to a problem too difficult for
him, he took it to the teacher, who solved it (if he
could). In the same school, in the reading lessons, each,
oue read a " verse," as it was called, the teacher correct-
ing the mistakes in pronunciatiou. Whenever the
teacher did assign a lesson in anything, it was assigned
by pages, never by topic.

The lesson assigned should be as much as the aver-
age pupil can learn well. Care should be taken not to
give too much, and thus discourage pupils, nor too lit-
tle, but enough to require earnest effort on the part of
the pupil to master it.

There should be a definite time for taking up and
studying a subject, and a definite time for laying it
aside. At no time and on no account should a teacher
go beyond the minute, or allow a pupil to do so. The
order of exercises should be so distinctly understood by
the pupils that they know when to prepare every sub-
ject as well as when to recite it. To enable them to
meet this requirement, the programme should be placed
on the blackboard where all can see it.

To recapitulate. The important points in assigning
a lesson are :

First. Assign subjects rather than pages.

Secondly. Assign as much as the class can well pre-
pare.

ASSIGNMENT OF LESSONS. 67

Thirdly. Let the lesson be a little too short rather
than too long.

Fourthly. Instruct the pupil as to how you wish the
lesson prepared.

The last is a very important point.

Should you wish to teach pupils how to commit to
memory, select a sentence for example the following:
" With regard to the origin of the cause, there has been
the greatest diversity of opinion." Read it slowly
through — once, twice, three times, as many times as you
think necessary — and close the book ; then try to repro-
duce the sentence from memory, thinking carefully
about it, and referring to the book if necessary. Ex-
plain to the pupils, in words, the process, showing them,
by the use of terms simple enough for their comprehen-
sion, that we commit to memory by repetition — that
iteration is a law of memory.

It has been asserted that more pupils fail in arith-
metic from the fact that they do not understand the
language than from any difficulty there may be in the
subject itself. The teacher must be sure that they get
the idea, and then illustrate to them the process of ex-
pressing the idea. In arithmetic this is done by the
solution and explanation of a problem, using the rule
that is given as a guide. Having read the problem
carefully through, do with it just what the rule directs,
taking one step at a time, and describing it f ally as it-
is taken. The problems and rules fall under certain
general principles, the use of which children should be
taught to understand, and not required to commit to
memory. The rule is like a sign-post, showing which
way to go; but definitions should be committed te

68 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

memory by the process already indicated, when the lan-
guage is fully understood. In every definition there is
what may be called the " key-word," without which the
definition loses its force, and this very word is often the
one children are inclined to omit. A little care on the
part of the teacher will teach the children to look for
the u key-word,"' and the learning of definitions will
not be very difficult. As an illustration, take the defini-
tion of the " greatest common divisor " ; omit the word
" greatest M in it, and the whole definition is wrecked.

In teaching children how to study, impress upon
their minds the value of cheerful, earnest study. In-
sist upon cheerful faces, and set the example yourself,
even though behind your own apparently cheerful face
there linger traces of care, of anxiety, of illness. The
very effort to appear cheerful drives away much of the
hidden pain, and the children should not be permitted
to suffer because the teacher suffers. If she is irritable,
they become so ; if she suffers, they suffer ; f or they are
sympathetic, are imitative, and any disturbing element
hinders progress in their school- work. Lively, pleasant
manners in the teacher are indispensable to success.

How to deal with those who are unprepared for
recitation is a most perplexing question. What should
be done with a boy who will not prepare the lessons ?
It should be so managed that he will feel the loss. He
may be sent home ; it is his loss. But there may be
reasons to justify his failure ; there may be sickness at
home, or misfortune of some kind. It is still his loss,
for a class can not be kept back for the sake of one
pupil. The only thing at present recommended is
that he be held responsible for the discovery of the

CRITICISM. 69

lost points in the subject ; lie must find the means for
his own relief. A wide-awake, industrious teacher can
make such use of the time spent in the discussion of the
general information topics, and their relation to the sub-
ject of the lesson, as to compel the pupils to feel that
they can not afford to lose a single recitation or any
part of it.

Criticism

is not simply fault-finding, pointing out errors; it is
judging, and applies to the separation of errors from
truths. Wholesome criticism is necessary, but commen-
dation should be given when deserved. Now comes
the question, "Who should criticise?" I think that,
in advanced classes particularly, the pupils should be
the first to do this. If their criticisms are correct
and exhaust the subject, the teacher has little to do be-
yond presiding and supervising. If any important
points have been omitted, the teacher should call atten-
tion to them.

How to criticise is more important than who should
do it. ^The object of criticism must be kept in view,
and the criticisms, though just in pointing out errors,
may be so made as to defeat the object. To illustrate :
Superintendents sometimes criticise teachers. This is
the way in which it was done on one occasion : The
superintendent was a man of very determined will. He
went into the room of a teacher whom he did not ad-
mire very much, although he found her doing as well
as she could. He was not pleased with the exercises,
and said to her, " That is wrong ; do it this way ; do
it that way," in a sharp, angry tone of voice. This con-
fused her so that she began to weep. His manner

70 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

shocked the pupils. They sympathized with their
teacher. The criticism was unjust, because of its man-
ner and the place in which it was made. He should
have spoken to the teacher privately, or have written
memoranda and made suggestions for her guidance.
He should have spoken in the proper spirit and in a
kindly manner. Instead of bluntly saying " That is
wrong," it is better to say, " I think that, perhaps, you
would tind some other way preferable to that," and ex-
plain that other way.

There is much in knowing how to present a subject,
how to criticise without giving offense. One of the
most learned men of the times softens his criticism by
giving it as his mere opinion. He says " I think it is
this way." Every one who hears him knows that he
is correct in the statement that he makes, and that he
knows that he is correct; and yet he speaks as if he
might possibly be in error, to avoid giving offense. Re-
member— criticise so as not to offend.

As a summary of thoughts on criticism we give :

First. Let pupils criticise.

Secondly. The teacher should notice omissions in
criticisms made by pupils.

Thirdly. The teacher should commend pupils for
whatever is well done. This stimulates to renewed ex-
ertions.

Fourthly. Criticisms properly made are remembered
and suggestions acted upon. There is no need of re-
peating them.

CHAPTER VI

ART OF QUESTIONING.

1. General methods of questioning.

2. Personal questioning.

3. Questioning pupils.

4. Pupils questioning one another.

5. Book questioning.

The great questioner of all ages was Socrates, the
Grecian philosopher. Socrates, as a philosopher, sought
not so much to establish the truth of a statement of
philosophy dogmatically, as to involve persons by apt
questioning, make them entrap themselves, and thus
lead them to see the defects of their definitions.

For instance, if a definition was asserted to be true,
Socrates questioned in his own mind whether the as-
sertion was correct, and then, in conversation with
the person who made the statement, he would seek,
by a series of questions, to involve him in contradic-
tion, perhaps in several contradictions, and show, by
his methods of questioning, that the statement was
not true, but false. Hence originated that method
which has been handed down to us from ancient times,
and which we call the Socratic method. I would recom-
mend to those interested in the art of questioning the

72 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

study of some of the dialogues in which Socrates was
the questioner. Not that those examples pertain par-
ticularly to school work, but to show the skill with
which he put his questions. At the present time, those
persons who question most adroitly, and whose busi-
ness it is to test the truthfulness of certain propositions,
are found in the legal profession. Lawyers, especially
those noted for their skill in the cross-examination of
witnesses, adopt the methods of Socrates. Not alone
in the legal profession, however, but in that of teach-
ing, is there afforded a tine field for the display of ability
in the art of questioning.

It has been already stated that the pupil must learn
for himself ; that the teacher can only guide him in cer-
tain lines of thought. The art of questioning correctly
is in strict harmony with this proposition. Pupils are
not always so questioned as to develop their mental
faculties. Hence, for a full discussion of the subject,
I have suggested the above outline : First, the general
methods of questioning; secondly, personal questioning
— that is, questions that the pupils should ask them-
selves, or that the teacher should ask himself ; thirdly,
questioning pupils, in which the teacher displays what-
ever ability he may possess ; fourthly, pupils question-
ing either the teacher or one another; fifthly, book
questioning.

GENERAL QUESTIONING.

Much of the work in the school-room is carried on
by questions and answers. The methods are either oral
or written, or a combination of them. With beginners
the exerciszs are almost exclusively oral. A written

ART OF QUESTIONING. 73

question should have but one meaning, and that so
clearly stated that no mistake could possibly occur. In
preparing questions of either kind, the teacher ought
to keep the objective point prominently in view. By
gradual steps the pupil is conducted to a certain height,
as it were, whence he is enabled to recall the successive
efforts put forth to reach it. A series of questions, be-
ginning with what a pupil knows, and so fitted together
that each question depends upon all that precedes it and
builds upon that, is an educational appliance which any
teacher may be proud to invent, but which can not be
secured without close and careful application and a quick
insight into the varying moods of the human mind.
Whether a teacher should ask oral or written questions,
depends upon circumstances.

It is conceded that oral questions enable a teacher to
make his work tell, and to inspire his pupils with genu-
ine enthusiasm. There is an electric shock from the
eye and an inspiration from the voice which stimulate
pupils to do their best. But a languid and sleepy eye,
a weak, undecided, and faltering voice, no matter how
excellent the teacher's other qualifications may be, will
disorganize any school and spoil the pupils.

Let the questions be so put that they will bring out,
or suggest, ideas to the pupils, and that they enable
them to arrange what knowledge they possess in a sys-
tematic manner. Random, incoherent questions are to
be avoided while trying to fix an idea in a pupil's mind.
One thought well grounded is of more value than a
dozen others only partially understood.

74 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.
PEESONAL QUESTIONS.

The following questions are suggestive to the teacher
preparing for a recitation :

1. What does this lesson contain?

2. Is it adapted to the pupils studying it ?

3. How much time will be required by the pupils
in its preparation ?

4. Am I thoroughly prepared to conduct this exer-
cise?

5. How is it related to what precedes it ?

6. How is it related to what follows it ?

7. What new material is needed with which to illus-
trate it ?

8. Shall the children furnish the illustrations, or
shall I furnish them ?

9. How is this subject related to other subjects in
this book ?

10. How shall I show theae relations ?

11. What are the natural divisions of this sub-
ject?

12. Can I induce the pupils to find out the divisions
for themselves?

13. Shall I use the analytic or the synthetic method,
or shall I use both methods in presenting this subject
to the pupils ?

14. What difficulties are the pupils most apt to have
in mastering it ?

15. What faculties of the mind are exercised in
learning this lesson ?

16. Are any members of my class deficient in these
faculties ? How can they be developed ?

ART OF QUESTIONING. 75

17. How can the knowledge gained from this lesson
be utilized in after life ?

18. In what respects are my methods defective?

19. How can I improve ?

20. Is my language such that my pupils can under*
stand J

21. Do I speak in a loud, harsh, grating voice ?

22. If so, what effect does my talking have upon my
pupils I

23. Do I pronounce correctly all the words that I use ?

PERSONAL QUESTIONS FOE EACH PUPIL.

1. Do I comply with all just requirements in school ?

2. Do I give entire attention to my work ?

3. Am I always honest ?

4. Am I always polite \

5. Do I connect what I learn each day with what I
had previously known 1

6. Can I apply the knowledge I have gained to the
every- day affairs of life ?

PUPILS QUESTIONING.

Pupils should be encouraged to ask questions — that
is, proper questions. When Des Cartes, the celebrated
philosopher, was a boy and went to school, he con-
tinually tormented his teachers with questions, and was
called the " boy philosopher." He has since then tor-
mented the world with questions. It is often said that
little children will ask questions that the wisest can
not answer. This spirit (or faculty) of asking questions
needs to be cultivated in the right direction, otherwise
it becomes offensive.

76 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

In intermediate and higher grades, when a pupil
makes a statement or explains a problem, if he be forced
to defend his assertions and demonstrations against the
adverse criticisms of his classmates, he is taught a prac-
tical lesson in cautiousness which will save him many-
mistakes in after life, and create in him that habit of
mind which is called by some writers, judicial. Such
criticism, properly conducted, has a strong tendency to
keep this point clearly before the mind of the pupil,
namely, to give a good reason for what he believes.
This is the everlasting "why" which presses upon
every rational being.

If you wish to know the difficulties pupils have
with a lesson they are trying to master, you must know
how the subject appears to them ; you must understand
them ; put yourself in their places ; see from their
standpoint. Yery well did that novelist express it
when he said " Put yourself in his place." If he had
never written anything else but that title to his book,
he would have suggested a volume in that one short
sentence. Teachers must learn to see a subject as their
pupils see it, and keep in mind that children are not
empty vessels to have knowledge poured into them.

BOOK QUESTIONS.

Book questions are good for that class of teachers
called out in the West " reciting-posts." On the banks
of the Mississippi River there are posts to which
rafts are hitched by ropes, and then pulled slowly to
shore. Some teachers use the "book questions" ex-
clusively. These questions serve but as the ropes,
and children, like the rafts, are held, simply drifting

ART OF QUESTIONING. ?f

till they get through the book from the first page to
the last.

The time has come when the best teachers are those
who ask four or five questions not on the page for
every question there. The tendency of recent years is
toward cultivating independence of thought on the part
of pupils, and to give them power to question for
themselves, and to see what questions should be asked
and answered.

APPLICATION.

Success in the art of questioning pupils consists in
asking such questions that they must answer freely and
independently without prompting or assisting. The
questions should in no way suggest the answers. I know
that many teachers are strongly tempted to " prompt "
pupils who are anxious to answer the questions cor-
rectly. But it is far better for the pupil that he be
not " prompted," but rely entirely upon himself. The
art of questioning a pupil properly consists in asking
such questions as will test his knowledge of the sub-
ject, and not in making a display of the teacher's
knowledge.

Suppose you ask a pupil to tell you the differences
between a noun and a pronoun, and he tells you as
many of the differences as he can think of. You then
ask another pupil to tell you in what respects they are
alike, and he tells you all the agreements he can think
of between them. Each answers in his own language,
and in complete sentences. Then, after all have an-
swered, if there is anything additional that you can
think of, you try to bring it out by asking questions —

78 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

such questions as make the pupils think out what is de-
sired.

Ask questions like these : " In what respects are
decimal and common fractions alike '? In what respects
do they differ?" Do not " prompt them." Let them
tell you all they know about it. When one gets through
reciting, correct his language or make suggestions if
necessary. Do not allow pupils to throw up their hands
as soon as a question is asked, or when a mistake is made.
This is one of the ways of " prompting" practiced in
schools. Let the pupils wait, as has been suggested
before, till the person reciting gets through or is ex-
cused. Then, if they have corrections to make, let them
raise their hands. It is said that in some of the Scotch
schools, when a question is asked, all the pupils of the
class rush toward the teacher with hands up, all wanting
to speak at once.

In questioning children, the skillful teacher asks
questions adapted to them, comes down to the plane
they occupy, gets them to tell what they know, sets
them to thinking, and leads them to see the relation
between the starting-point and that which he wishes
them to reach in the circumference of their knowledge.
It is in the questioning of pupils that the teacher needs
most to be an artist

The first educational work I ever read was that
grand book on the " Theory and Practice of Teaching,"
by David Page. It is a book that every teacher should
read. It was that book which first opened up to my
mind the fact that there was anything in the work of
education above the mere hearing of classes. It was
the inspiration of that book while I taught my second

ART OF QUESTIONING. 79

country school that gave an impetus to my whole life.
I read of the two trees — the straight tree and the
crooked tree ; and, when I had learned how difficult it
is to straighten a. crooked tree, I felt that, as a teacher,
I had a higher, more important work to do than simply
to ask set questions and listen to the answers given by
pupils in the words of the book. When I read that
chapter in which is discussed the subject of asking
questions, and in which he tells about visiting a school
and hearing a recitation in mental arithmetic, I looked
about among my acquaintances, and found that nearly
all the teachers I knew were following the same method
that was there portrayed in such glowing language.

TOO MUCH HELP- — ANECDOTES.

Visiting a school not long since, I found a class of
children that were reading about "a child P They
were bright but noisy children. Having heard the
subject announced, I was curious to know just what
line the teacher would pursue, since it did not exactly
state whether the child was " a boy or a girl." How-
ever, the teacher struck out as follows :

" How many think the child was a girl \ " No time
was given for an answer. " How many think it was a
boy?" No time for answer. "How many think it
might be either a boy or a girl ? " No time for answer.
" How many think it was either a boy or a girl ? " No
answer, but a few raised their hands. " How many are
positive one way or the other?" A few hands raised,
but still no answer. " How many believe it might have
been ? " Then a pause, but the hands did not go up.
" Now, what shall we say about it ? " There were no

80 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

hands raised, but they were getting ready. Then John
said, " I don't know." That was the first answer. " Yes,
that's all right. We will now go on," said the teacher.

At another time a friend invited me to visit a school
in the country. The teacher had told me that the pu-
pils in his school understood mental arithmetic better
than the pupils in city schools. I was quite willing to
go and ascertain the truthfulness of his statement for
myself. One of the school directors of that district
went with me. We had been in the room but a few
moments before I came to the conclusion that it must
be the same school that David Page had visited forty
years before. In order to show off the class, three girls
were called out to recite in mental arithmetic. They
were using a book which is used in many schools. One
of the problems given was this : " If £ of a certain
number is 12, what is that number?" They were
ready for recitation. The teacher gave the question
slowly and distinctly, and then said, " Mary will an-
swer." Mary said, " Well, if J of a certain number is
12, what is that number?" "Now, Mary, you have
first to find £?" "Yes." "Well, £ of 12 is 4?"
" Yes." " No, no, no, no ; now watch again. If £ of
a certain number is 12, what are you to find ? " " Well,
I am to find the number." After he got through, he
looked around with a triumphant air. " Well," I said
to him, " will you please let me ask the girls a ques-
tion ? " " Certainly." I said, " If 15 is £ of a certain
number, what is that number?" He answered three
questions before I could get the attention of the girls
to one, and would persist in helping them. I asked the
teacher to let the girls answer, but he would interrupt,

ART OF QUESTIONING. 81

and commenced : " Now, you want ^ of 15 ? " " Yes/'
"Now what is 4 times 5 I "

A CONTRAST.

I visited another school, the teacher of which is one
of the most successful in the art of questioning I ever
knew. When I entered his room but one pupil was
out of order, judging by the most fastidious standard
adopted in schools. That one boy was not sitting just
in line. The teacher was conducting a language exer-
cise, and asked the pupils to write sentences using the
words meet and ineat. Two points were to be ob-
served : both the words must be used in one sentence,
and the sentence must be written in good English. One
boy wrote, " I will meet my father after I buy the
meat." The class agreed that the sentence fulfilled the
conditions. The decision of the teacher was not re-
quired.

CHAPTER VIL

TEACHING READING.

There are a few important preliminaries which can
not be omitted without detriment to the pupil who
h learning how to read. The pupil should be taught
how to sit and how to stand so as to give his vocal
organs and his respiratory organs free, easy, and natural
action. He should sit or stand erect, hold his chin
down near his throat, breathe through his nose, keep
the muscles of the neck and face relaxed, shoulders
thrown backward and slightly downward, stand firmly
on one or both of his feet, hold the book at a convenient
distance from the eyes, so that both eyes see the words
under the same visual angle. He must also be taught
how to inhale and how to exhale air, as well as how to
economize his breath in reading and convert it into
sound. So far this work is mechanical, and it has
reference to the pupil as a machine capable of run-
ning without friction or danger of breakage, but with-
out such attention liable to accidents of the gravest
character. Just as the human voice is an instrument
of the most wonderful powers, and susceptible of the
highest degree of improvement and perfection, so is it
important that it, with the breathing apparatus, should
be developed in a rational and harmonious manner.

TEACHING READING. §3

In order to teach reading well, the teacher must
know what are natural, pure tones of voice, and how to
develop such qualities of voice in the pupils, provided
their tones are defective in any manner. The human
voice, in one sense, is an instrument possessing the most
delicate and wonderful properties in regard to quality,
form, pitch, force, rate, and stress. A teacher whose
ear is not trained to detect the harsh and discordant
tones that children sometimes employ, and, even after
detecting them, does not know how to remedy them,
is unfit for teaching reading. We might as well com-
mit the care of the sick to that pretended physician
whose recommendation to practice medicine is a stolen
diploma from some printing-office, and who does not
know disease from health.

An experienced reader will at once detect any im-
purity in the quality of the voice, and in drilling he
knows just how to correct it. If a child does not know
the multiplication-table, his progress in arithmetic is
slow indeed, and if he is allowed to continue his faulty
methods in reading, and the teacher does not see them,
or is ignorant of the treatment the case requires, the
result will be worse than zero.

Reading is the most important, as well as the most
difficult, branch to teach in the entire course of in-
struction— the most important, because the most used
and the most necessary ; and the most difficult, because
the least understood and appreciated. It is the first
study of the child at school, and the one that he uses
daily ever after. It is very properly denominated "the
key to all knowledge," hence the reason it should be
correctly taught in all grades, but more particularly in

84 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

the primary. If neglected here, the probabilities are
that the pupil will never become a good reader.

To show that it is not appreciated, we have but to
refer to those occupying public places whose vocal deliv-
ery is anything but pleasing, and wThose reading is simply
outrageous. Even many who have graduated from the
best institutions in the land have entirely neglected
that culture which would enable them to read appro-
priately a section from a statute, an extract from the
Bible, or a hymn for a congregation. These persons
are careful in the use of language, written and spoken,
frequently refer to the dictionary for correct pronun-
ciation, and would be only too willing to acquire a full,
round, musical tone of voice, so as to read and speak
with grace, propriety, and ease. But too late in life
they discover that one essential part of their education
has been sadly neglected.

It is not in public only that good reading exerts
an influence ; it may be in the highest degree a source
of pleasure and instruction in the home circle. A
good book, read aloud at home, not only disseminates
useful knowledge, but is a power in the formation
of character. How important, then, that our school-
children should be taught correctly in this branch,
which, above all others, is the universal branch of edu-
cation !

We will endeavor to test every step in the discussion
of the subject before us — teaching reading by the edu-
cational principles which have been already presented.
At this time there is a general awakening in reference
to teaching reading to all grades of pupils. A promi-
nent educator has made this definition: "Keading is

TEACHING READING. 85

getting and giving thought by means of written or
printed words arranged in sentences."

An excellent teacher, who had given much thought
to the subject, denned it as follows : " Heading is the
process of conveying ideas from a manuscript or book
to our own minds or to the minds of others."

"Elocution," according to Mr. Hamill, "is the
science of expressing thought and feeling by utterance
and action." These definitions are worthy to be re-
membered, compared, analyzed. Do this, and then
make definitions of your own if they are not satisfac-
tory.

Since a large majority of children attend school
only a few years at most, there is an urgent necessity
for correct instruction early in life, and especially so in
teaching reading to primary classes.

In all instruction the teacher should keep in view the
fact that the pupil is soon to help himself, and in im-
parting instruction in reading — the foundation-study —
this principle should not for a moment be lost sight
of. The child must become a self-reliant worker, not
a mere imitator. With this in view, each lesson should
exercise the perceptive faculties, tne imagination, the
taste, and the judgment.

The sum of all reasons why reading should be
correctly taught is this : Upon correct reading — namely,
getting the sense out of what is printed or written —
depends every other acquisition.

Reading resolves itself into certain distinct elements
which the teacher must observe: 1. Foremost is the
object. 2. The processes. 3. The principles. 4. Ap-
plication of the principles. 5. The child and the kind

86 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

of culture that his nature requires. 6. The literary
selections adapted to each class.

In what precedes, the object of reading has been
pointed out, and it need not be repeated.

As to processes, there are many, and they go by dif-
ferent names. The teacher is stumbling over them
almost every day. Perhaps the most ancient and ven-
erable method is that known as the u A B C method,''
once in vogue, but now retired from active service. A
few strong authorities still indorse it. They advocate
it because it goes away back to tirst principles — straight
and curved lines. It has age in its favor, but, in my
opinion, no other recommendation.

Ideas are first awakened in the mind by impressions
made on some one or more of the senses. We do
not know how these impressions are transformed into
ideas, but the transformation does occur, nevertheless.
The second step is this : The idea in the mind must be
expressed through the medium called language. Head-
ing, therefore, consists in giving expression to the ideas
the mind has formed.

If the ideas be false or inadequate, the expression
of them will be correspondingly false.

The methods yet to be discussed proceed upon the
hypothesis that the child has something in his mind
which he wants to express, and that the teacher stands
by to help him to tell it properly. The second method
is the "word method." This method consists in taking
some familiar object, as a "hat," and then letting the
children talk about it to the teacher. In due time the
teacher calls attention to the spoken word, " hat," and
finally to the printed or written word, "hat." The

TEACHING READING. 87

children soon learn the connection between the spoken
word and the printed or written word, and they may
also know how to spell the word by letter and also by
sound as well as how to write it. The essential point
in this method is that the pupil learns to know a word
by its looks, and upon the same principle that he learns
to know a cat from a cap. It is even claimed that a
child may learn two or three hundred words in this
way, before he knows a single letter of the alphabet.
Heading under such conditions is naming the words
with correct expression.

Observe, first, the idea ; secondly, the expression of
the idea. The manner of expressing the idea is read-
ing. It is impossible for a pupil to express his ideas
clearly and intelligibly unless he first feels that he has
something to say, and knows how to say it.

As will be observed, the unit is the word, and there
must be as many elements or different words to learn
by sight, if the vocabulary be an exhaustive one, as
there are words in the reading-book the pupil uses.

Another method is that known as the "sentence
method.'- The sentence is the unit. The pupil learns
a sentence by its looks. A string of words to him is a
sentence, and, hearing the sentence read, he attaches a
meaning to the sentence as he understands it, and then he
tries to connect the spoken with the written or printed
sentence. Repeating the sentence with different modu-
lations of the voice will enable the pupil to observe and
practice those turns or slides of the voice which add so
much to the beauty of vocal delivery. It is also claimed
that pupils may learn a large number of sentences with-
out even finding out the separate words composing

88 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

them, yet it hardly appears credible, owing to the well-
known disposition of children to tear things to pieces.
Of course the advocates of this method claim superior
advantages in its favor.

If we consider the sentence as the unit of thought,
then, naturally, the word is the unit of language, and
the letter is the unit of words. Whether the teacher
employs the " word method" or the u sentence method,"
the idea precedes the word or the sentence. The tiling
itself goes before the sign. Words and sentences are
visible or oral expressions for ideas already in the
mind.

Again, the clearer the concept is in the pupil's mind,
the better will he express himself. If the reading be
of such a nature as not to add any new thought to the
thoughts the pupil already has, then his work is value-
less. To add to the intellectual acquisitions of the
mind is to combine simple concepts into more com-
plex ones, and that study which does not furnish such
material as is readily assimilated by combination must
be classed low in the scale of mental culture.

Now, the starting-point in any system of reading
must depend, first, upon the idea in the mind, and, sec-
ondly, upon how to express that idea in such tones
of voice as the sense indicates. Reading viewed from
this elevated standpoint offers the very best field for
the exercise of all the higher faculties of the mind,
as well as for arousing into vigorous activity the entire
emotional nature. Indeed, I do not know of any other
branch in the entire curriculum of studies that appeals
so powerfully to every faculty of the human soul, nor
do I know of any other subject that in general is so

TEACHING READING. 89

poorly taught. The voice is something that needs cult-
ure, and, if impure tones have been acquired, the teacher
ought to know how to correct them at once. If no bad
habits of voice have been contracted, the voice needs
cultivation to give it smoothness, volume, intensity, and
compass. Naturally, the child-voice is pure, and it is by
gross negligence or mismanagement that impure quali-
ties of voice are fostered.

An experienced musician detects instantly the slight-
est discord — :even the country singing-school master can
tell whether all his pupils sing the same note; but,
positively, there are thousands of " school-keepers "
who are unable to point out as glaring mistakes in read-
ing as a failure to sing the scale correctly would be in
vocal music.

PHONIC METHOD.

This method as such differs from the others. The
names of the letters are not spoken, the sounds only
being taught. Take the word " hat." A is simply
sounded as a. The whole word may be analyzed by
giving the sound of each letter. The teacher should
give each sound first, letting the child repeat it. To
get the sound of a, let the child speak the word "at"
after the teacher, slowly, and then begin to say the
word and leave it unfinished, not giving the sound of
" t." By such practice as this phonic analysis is easily
learned, and the relation between the sound and the
name of a letter is soon established.

A teacher who will show to her class the exact po-
sition and movements of the vocal organs, with a little
special explanation^ST^feidual cases, will be aston-

90 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

ished to discover that very little time will be required
to teach a class to give all the sounds accurately. Those
teachers who have difficulty in distinguishing or giving
the sounds can, by studying the positions of the vocal
organs, conquer the most difficult sounds or combination
of sounds. To illustrate : take the long sound of " a,"
which any one can give, and notice the position of the
lips, tongue, and the mouth. From that sound of a go
at once to the short sound a, watching in a looking-
glass, if necessary, the change in position of the mouth,
until you are familiar with the process, and can explain
in words those elements of the change which the chil-
dren can not see. Some positions of the vocal organs
close the mouth, so thai the children can learn to make
the correct sounds only by imitation and practice.

Whether children learn to read at first by the
word, sentence, or phonic method, they soon learn the
names of the letters. At least this has been my expe-
rience, and it is a fruitless waste of time to adopt sub-
terfuges in order to avoid teaching the names of the
letters. Only a few persons ever had any trouble in
learning the names of the letters, and most of them
learned their letters so easily that they have forgotten
when and how they did learn them.

As I understand the method of Colonel Parker,
formerly of Quincy, he uses no book at first, but, with
the children before him, takes a familiar object and
talks with the children about it till they become inter-
ested in it. He then draws a picture of the object on
the board, and from this picture the children draw one
on their slates. The name of the object is written
beneath it in a large, bold hand. All the letters are

TEACHING READING. 91

written unusually large. When the word is written
underneath the picture, the children have made the
distinction between the object and the picture, and also
between the spoken word and the written word, and,
since all progress in the acquisition of knowledge de-
pends upon the ability of the pupil to point out agree-
ments and differences, it is readily perceived that this
method has many excellent features to commend it.
But Mr. Parker has the children learn to read script
first. The philosophy for this I can not discover. The
teacher writes the reading-lessons for beginners on the
board. They see it produced by her own hand, and it
is claimed that this gives it a freshness and a personal
inspiration that are wanting in the printed form. It
is also a fact that children will readily change from the
written to the printed form without loss of time. The
transition either way is easy.

The skillful teacher is not a person of any one
method, but a person of methods ; able, as it were, to
take the good out of all, and combine it into a working
system of her own.

There is no valid reason, so far as I can discover,
why the child from the first should not spell all the
words in his lessons by letter and by sound. He must
learn the names of the letters as well as the sounds, and
it will require only a few days for the child of ordinary
intelligence to learn both.

While this method is particularly adapted to acquir-
ing a knowledge of a language unknown to the learner,

it is so suggestive in other respects that I refer to it in

92 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

order to show the resources of a teacher who stands in
the foremost rank of the great educators. M. Jacotot,
a Frenchman, in 1818, was called to teach pupils who
were Hollanders. He did not know one word of the
Dutch language, and they did not know one word of
the French language. Here was a problem. I met a
similar case in a northern city while visiting schools
there a few years since. A young lady who had been
reared in the South had secured a position in a part of
the city settled by Germans, whose children could not
speak a word of English. She could not speak a word
of German, and so she sang to them at first.

But mark what M. Jacotot did. He took as the
text-book the French classic, " Telemaque." It was in
French, but with an interlinear translation in Dutch writ-
ten under the French. He had to give his instruction
to the children through an interpreter — a curious way
to teach a language — beginning, not with a reading-
book, not with a grammar, but with one of the very
best specimens of French literature. His plan was to
have them commit every word to memory. There it is
— the first word " Calypso." He had them repeat it
again and again after him until they knew it. He gave
them a word at a time till they knew the whole sentence.
Then he questioned them. The principle upon which he
worked was that of learning one thing well, and compar-
ing everything else with it. When he had taken up all
of the first sentence — " Calypso could not console herself
for the departure of Ulysses" — he asked questions. He
had t6ld them nothing about Calypso or Ulysses, except
just what they could gain from that sentence. He
asked them such questions as these : " Who was she ?

TEACHING READING 93

What did she do ? " He then took up the second sen-
tence, and the third sentence, and, when they had
learned all in this book, he turned them back and had
them repeat it. After this we are told by M. Jacotot
that those Dutch children used better French than he
himself or any of the professors in the institution.

Mr. Joseph Payne, an eminent English teacher, took
a boy eleven years old to teach him Greek. He wished
to try experiments. The boy had been hammering
away at the Greek grammar. Mr. Payne heard of Ja-
cotot's method, and said he would try it with this boy.
He did not use an elementary book, but began with the
" Iliad," following the Frenchman's method, and when
the boy had learned a few pages in this way he could
read the whole. His testimony is that one can learn a
language by this method in one tenth the time required
by any other process.

With the word, the child learns to read. He re-
peats the word, giving all the different inflections.
There is wonderful power in the human voice ; it can
express every emotion by means of the different inflec-
tions, rising or falling in pitch, and changing the tones,
uttering words rapidly or slowly, with more or less
force. This power can be shown by taking the letter
" O " and giving in its utterance the various inflections
of which the voice is capable. After the children get
a few words, their vocabulary is rapidly enlarged.

CAUTIONS.

Primary reading is the important work. Everything
depends upon a right start. There is too great a dispo-
sition on the part of inexperienced teachers to give

94 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

long lessons at first, especially to small children. There
is sometimes danger of giving to larger children lessons
which are too simple. Here is an illustration of this :
A gentleman teacher was exceedingly partial to some of
Whittier's poems, and he had his class read "Maud
Muller" day after day, week after week, and almost
month after month. They would read it over and over
again every day, and finally he asked if any one had a
question to propound. One boy, who had been very
patient, arose and said : " Professor, we have been talk-
ing about this fellow 'Maud Muller' for a long time.
Now, I want to know who he was, where he came from,
and what he was about."

There must be variety. A one-string violin makes
poor music. The first words given to children should
be short ones, and when a word is once learned well,
there is no need of constantly repeating it.

For children of the first or lowest grade, three new
words are enough to introduce at one lesson.

It is asserted by a good authority that, out of every
ten hours devoted to reading in school, nine hours must
be given by the pupil in trying to find out the author's
meaning.

To read well, thoughtful study of the words, their
meaning in combination or when standing alone, is an
essential condition.

To enlist the pupil's attention, the lessons should be
simple in character, interesting in matter, suited to the
understanding, and elevating in their influence; and
in every reader there should be some beautiful gems
of literature, and these the children should commit to
memory.

TEACHING READING. 95

ADVANCED READING.

Instruction in the more advanced classes is some-
what different from that of the primary grades.

Not only must the pupil be able to pronounce the
words correctly, but there is a wider scope for the ex-
ercise of all his mental powers.

In reading a paragraph, he must decide upon a com-
bination of elements, and how each element is to be
represented. The prominent ones are to be brought
out in strong contrast with the weaker ones, the group-
ing preserved so as to bring into the mind of the hearer
the harmonious blending which pleases the ear and sat-
isfies the taste.

To read thus intelligently implies a critical and cul-
tivated taste, and an ear and eye capable of appreciating
the beautiful in thought and expression.

And while the voice may not be trained well
enough to produce a pleasing effect upon the listener,
yet the taste sets a higher standard than is reached, and
the result is constant improvement in the delivery.
The aim then of higher grade work in reading is to
cultivate properly this critical faculty, and to set before
the pupils each day higher conceptions of expression in
utterance and action.

Since there is an intimate relation between the
mind and the body, between thought and the thinker,
between the thing as it is thought and the expression
of the thought, the teacher never once loses sight of the
fact that the body is the channel of communication
between the two.

While the mind forms its conceptions, the body, as

96 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED

the instrument of the mind, expresses to others the ideas
thus formed. To give expression in a perfectly natural
manner is what is meant " by studying nature."

As there is a language of the body, unwritten in the
books, but known and understood by all men, the child
should be trained that every movement of his body
is the expression of a thought, and furthermore, that
his work as a learner consists in perfecting himself so
as to bring his bodily organism into complete subjection
to his will. By utterance and action every style of
thought — from the most tranquil to the most impas-
sioned—can be expressed. When the pupil sits or stands
erect ; breathes naturally and can economize his breath ;
holds his book in the proper position ; speaks the words
with accuracy and precision, and in a pleasant and pure
tone of voice, and is easily understood, his reading is
such as any ordinary teacher may well be proud of;
but to secure depth, volume, and elasticity of voice,
daily practice upon the elementary sounds is absolutely
necessary.

In summarizing the results to be accomplished by
the pupil in reading, the following points are to be kept
constantly in mind :

1. To pronounce distinctly all the words so as to he
heard.

2. To emphasize all the words so as to be understood.

3. To express the thought so as to be felt.

4. To attain clearness in expressing thought — sepa-
rate and contrast ideas.

TEACHING READING. 97

Teaching Eeading.
I. Object.

1. Definition.

2. To gain knowledge and pleasure.

3. To give knowledge and pleasure.

II. Process.

1. Talking.

2. Seeing.

3. Hearing.

III. Methods.

1. Alphabet.

2. Word.

3. Sentence.

4. Phonic.

5. Parker's.

6. Jacotot's.

IV. Elements.

1. The intellectual element.

2. The mental element.

3. Vocal.

4. Physical.

V. Talking.

1. Object.

2. Idea.

3. Words.

4. Association and reproduction*

VI. Seeing and Hearing.

1. Object.

2. Idea and word.

3. Picture.

4. Expression.

CHAPTER VIII.

TEACHING COMPOSITION AND LANGUAGE.

Composition is the art of expressing ideas and
thoughts in words. It is of two kinds : oral composi-
tion and written composition. Written composition is
divided into two kinds, also : ordinary school composi-
tion and higher composition. Of the latter there are
many forms, the most common of which is that written
for the press. This is seen in the newspapers and maga-
zines, and presents every variety of subject of general,
local, or temporary interest to the public. There are,
besides this, historical, biographical, scientific, literary,
and all the various forms which appear in books, and
are of more general and permanent interest. I mention
these departments because the work of the lower pre-
pares for the higher.

I shall now speak particularly of that form of com-
position which pertains to common-school work.

Under the mental process, we have, first, to acquire
knowledge ; secondly, to elaborate or classify that knowl-
edge ; and, thirdly, to express it in language, either
spoken or written. This is oral or spoken composition
for which the children have made some preparation by
talking, hearing, seeing, tasting, feeling, and smelling.
They have made some acquisitions that we will call

TEACHING COMPOSITION AND LANGUAGE. 99

their own. In the school work the first object is to get
the children to express their thoughts in language
which is intelligible to other persons.

In the beginning the child learns how to talk from
imitation, and from imitation alone. Observe the lit-
tle child in his efforts to talk; he watches the move-
ments of the lips, and imitates the sounds he hears. A
person in learning a foreign language gets the peculiari-
ties of pronunciation by imitating the teacher's voice.
No book description can teach an American to pro-
nounce the French language correctly. It is learned
from the voice only. It has been said that few per-
sons over thirteen can ever learn foreign languages so
as to speak them without what is called an accent, so
difficult is it to get the vocal organs into proper position
to make new sounds after they have been employed for
years in making certain familiar sounds.

It has even been asserted by some that a child learns
to use a language almost exclusively by imitation, and
should never study a grammar for that purpose ; but
that he should use it afterward for the purpose of de-
termining whether a sentence is correctly or incorrectly
expressed, and that this is the function of grammar.
This opinion is worthy of serious consideration.

After the child has acquired the ability to talk, to
express his thoughts in spoken words, comes this new ac-
quisition, that of writing. It puts a new and greater
power into a person's hands when he can, wTith the
pen, write down his thoughts and send those written
thoughts to others. It puts the thoughts into perma-
nent form, preserving them for future or for distant
use. In ordinary conversation we meet face to face to

100 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

talk. Conversation is oral composition ; but, having the
ability to write, we can talk with persons on any other
part of the globe.

Hence, one of the greatest discoveries made by man
was that of the alphabet, giving him an easy means of
communicating his thoughts to others. He puts letters
together to form words, signs of ideas ; and then these
words together to form sentences, expressions of
thought.

There are many methods of teaching the art of com-
position; attention is invited to a few of them.

Suppose we have a class of children, say six years
of age, such as are found in the first or lowest grade.
The teacher takes up some object, it may be a book ; the
children look at it ; they talk about it. The teacher
asks a few simple questions. It is not meant that a
teacher is, or should be, an interrogation-point only,
doing nothing but asking questions ; but the teacher
who can question skillfully, who knows how to draw
out wThat there is in the mind of the child — a teacher
who can use this, the Socratic, method properly— is al-
ways successful in his or her work.

As the children talk about the book, they become
interested in it, and the teacher can wTrite before the
class on the board the word "book." Then ask the
question, " Who can tell me something about the
book ? " Many hands go up, and some one, a little
boy or a little girl, says, "It is a brown book," or
u It is a large book." Let the children express them-
selves in short words, the teacher being careful to
use words that the children understand. The teacher
should then write the sentence on the board. If it is

TEACHING COMPOSITION AND LANGUAGE. 101

not expressed very well, have some one express it bet-
ter, giving sentence number two. The question " Who
will tell me something else about the book ? " will bring
up the little hands again, and some one is called upon
to answer, and sentence number three is placed upon
the board. Keeping on in this way, sentence follows
sentence until there is a reading lesson. This method
of teaching oral composition may be continued for a
year or two, using familiar subjects.

After the children are sufficiently advanced, they
may be questioned in regard to the object, and then,
when they are able to do so, they should write on their
slates, on the blackboard, or on paper, what they know
of the subject presented, after proper directions have
been given.

Another method sometimes pursued with fourth-
and fifth grade pupils may be of interest. The teach-
er selects a list of words, say ten, and pronounces them
to the school without telling the pupils how to spell
them. They write the words as they think they should
be spelled, and then look in their dictionaries for these
words. This is a more advanced form of composition,
and the children bring in the next day, or within the
next two or three days, the ten words correctly spellel
and defined. They don't know why these words were
given, but on the second day the ten words are pro-
nounced to the class as a spelling-lesson, and are spelled
correctly. Then the teacher reads a short story in which
these very words are used, and from which they had been
selected without the name of the story being told to the
children. The next day they reproduce the story as near-
ly as they can, putting into the sentences the ten words.

102 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

Another very good method of teaching composition
writing in the intermediate grades is the selection of
pictures by the teacher. The pictures are fastened on
the wall of the school-room, and the pupils are asked to
write descriptions of what they see in the pictures.
The work is tested by comparing the composition witli
the picture.

Frequently very abstract as well as very dull sub-
jects are assigned as suitable topics for school essays.
A child can not call up much original knowledge " from
the depths of his inner consciousness." The waters in
that pool are usually turbid. The skillful teacher will
avoid such topics.

Let the children write about things that they know,
or something that they have done. Their own experi-
ence and observation should be woven into composi-
tions. They may describe bits of travel, a visit, the
school-room, and the articles it contains ; a flower, an
apple, etc. But the teacher should note how carefully
and accurately the descriptions agree with the objects
represented. For a child to describe well, he must ob-
serve carefully. A class of children had written very
learnedly on u the cat " ; but, when asked how many
toes the cat has on its forefoot, silence reigned in that
room. Yet these children had written on " hope," " re-
wards," "punishments," and "the elephant," prior to
the exciting theme of " cat."

It is not intended to go into any elaborate account
of methods of correcting compositions. Enough to say
that, as penmanship is systematically taught in all grades
of schools, there is no valid excuse for poor penmanship
now unless some physical disability exists. Minute

TEACHING COMPOSITION AND LANGUAGE. 103

directions for marking all errors are given in most
treatises on compositions, so that I have but few sug-
gestions to offer.

1. The pupil should write a bold, legible hand.

2. He should display taste and judgment in the
matter and form of his composition ; that is, the manu-
script should look as neat as possible in its general ap-
pearance, and impress the eye favorably.

3. Spacing, capitals, spelling, and punctuation must
be rigorously attended to.

4. Small words are apt to be preferable to large ones.

5. Short, pointed sentences are better than long ones.

6. Write on one side of the paper.

7. In all cases of doubt, the pupil, if somewhat
advanced, should consult the dictionary and English
grammar.

The following expresses my views so fully that it is
inserted at length :

" Not enough composition is taught in our common
schools. To write a good composition requires time
and hard work. Schiller, when he composed his poems,
walked up and down the room repeating the verses to
himself to see if they struck his ear well. The sub-
ject must not be too general ; the subject must not be
too difficult. The teacher should lend his assistance
and instruct his pupils in the construction of correct
sentences." #

"It is true that there is not enough composition
taught in the common schools ; it is equally true that
there is not enough taught in the high-schools ; in fact,
there is very little teaching of the subject done any-
where. The work is required of the pupil, usually, and
he is to ' make bricks without straw ' ; draw thoughts

* Professor Kemp.

104 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

from a brain that has no thought on the subject ; ex-
press these thoughts in good language, when he has no
command of language ; arrange his topics in logical
order, when he has no idea of either logic or order ; and
punctuate properly, when he has no knowledge of
the utility of any mark save the interrogation-point.
Composition, as it is usually taught (?) in the schools,
is the bugbear of not only the pupil but the teacher.
Instead of being daily work, like other studies, oc-
cupying the time which its great importance de-
mands, it is a weekly work, usually, occupying perhaps
an hour ; instead of the subject being one that is within
range of the grasp of the child's comprehension, it is
one so far above his comprehension that he gropes in
the dark hunting for some thoughts until the hour for
writing is nearly closed, when he by accident stumbles
upon something he thinks must be an idea, and, hastily
grasping it, jots it down ; instead of building up the
work, from the single word to the simple sentence,
from the simple sentence to the compound sentence,
from the compound to the complex sentence, from the
sentence to the paragraph, from the paragraph to the
essay, they build downward, or try to, beginning with
the essay, and, by the time the teacher has finished the
corrections, ending with the word ; instead of develop-
ing ideas of form, color, size, place, utility, difference,
and agreement in their pupils, before they require them
to write about objects that possess these qualities, these
ideas are presupposed by the teacher to be already pos-
sessed by the pupil, with the power of arranging them
in logical order. Imagination, observation, and concen-
tration of thought are mental powers easily developed in
the average child, and are inseparable requisites of good
composition ; yet it is true that, while they are easily
developed in the average child, it is equally true that
these powers exist as possibilities only in the young
mind, awaiting either development or destruction. The
average teacher requires a boy whose power of imagina-

TEACHING COMPOSITION AND LANGUAGE. 105

tion has been all crushed out of him by the peculiar
circumstances of his life to write a composition on a
subject which requires the highest order of imagina-
tion ; and thus with observation. Concentration of
thought is required in all composition, yet pupils are
required to write lengthy essays when this power has
been so little cultivated that it might well be indicated
by a term denoting less than zero. It is time that com-
position received the amount of consideration in all
schools which its importance demands, and it is also
time to revolutionize the work of teaching the subject,
beginning at the bottom and teaching upward, instead
of at the top and teaching downward." *

If the child is properly instructed, there is no reason
why he should not write his thoughts with the same
ease as he speaks them, and with more accuracy. This
is possible only when writing his thoughts is a part of
his daily school work. Constant and persistent practice
of the right sort will enable the child to use the language
as an instrument of thought. The habit of requiring
pupils to copy their reading-lessons on their slates may
become a positive hindrance rather than a help or aid to
composition work. Pupils required to do a great deal
of copying grow careless and work mechanically, and,
in time, lose interest and put no thought-work into what
they are doing. This may be tested in the following
easy manner : Tell the pupils to close their readers, and
then let the teacher read — only a few words at once —
and ask the pupils to write what the teacher reads ; to
capitalize and punctuate the extract read. When the
work is completed, ask the pupils to compare their work
with the paragraph or paragraphs read by the teacher,

* Gertrude T. Johnson.

106 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

and which they copied. Note the variations from the
text.

If it is a " new piece," the teacher should read it
over once, slowly and distinctly ; and then read it again
a little at a time, for the pupils to copy. Compare
results again.

The following directions should be kept in mind :

1. Let the little children write about things they
have seen, things they have heard, or things they have
done.

2. Let older pupils read over a lesson, close the
book, and then reproduce it ; lastly, compare their work
with the original.

3. At dictation, require advanced pupils to write
sentences of certain prescribed forms.

Illustration : To write a sentence having a subject,
transitive verb, and an object, each of these elements
modified by a transitive clause.

4. Give particular attention to the expresrion of the
thought as well as to the thought itself.

5. Encourage the more advanced pupils to enlarge
their vocabulary of words, and to discriminate sharply
in the use of words.

6. In original composition : seek (1) a definite idea
of what is to be said ; (2) the choice of the right words
to express it.

7. Aim at clearness in the expression of thought.

8. To acquire a graceful style, study the best writers.

Grammar.

Already the composition work involves a great deal
of practical grammar. Grammar as an independent

TEACHING COMPOSITION AND LANGUAGE. 107

branch of study naturally divides itself into three de-
partments, namely, the use of words, the relation of
words, and the philosophy of words ; and, if, instead of
" words," we substitute " grammar " or %i language," the
analogy holds true also. Words are shadows of things,
and all language instruction at first is to teach beginners
how to use these shadows for the things themselves.
Hence, practical grammar is that branch of the subject
which enables the learner to use words correctly, and
to judge somewhat of the thought expressed by the
words employed.

As he advances in his school work, the parent or
teacher begins to give him more positive directions in
regard to the use of certain words — " articles," for in-
stance— coupled with an injunction that " you must" or
" you must not." This is only preparing the way for
the higher form of work in the second division, when
rules and positive reasons will be required and ex-
plained.

It is entirely proper and in accordance with actual
experience that certain definitions should be taught to
children as they progress in their studies. A child
should know how to define a "letter, syllable, word,
spelling, sentence" etc., by the time he is through the
Third or Fourth Reader.

Good definitions, known and understood, enable
pupil or teacher to stand alone and battle for himself.

Along with the kinds of sentences which the chil-
dren early in school-life learn, the essential elements
may be picked out, and even the parts of speech may
be taught with some of their properties. Definitions
should be generalized from examples.

108 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

In this connection, it is better to drop a suggestion
in regard to " half-way definitions." Some years ago it
was quite common to hear children speak of " telling
sentences, asking sentences," etc. Of course, these de-
scriptive terms are harmless, but sooner or later they
have to be dropped by the pupils. In place of wasting
time in learning or using them, teach definitions that
need not be changed.

The sentence is the unit of thought, and it is with
it that the philosophy of language begins. From the
sentence the mind naturally passes to those elements
or constituents composing the sentence, and then to the
properties of these elements themselves.

Whatever classification is adopted by the teacher as
to the form and the use of the sentence, it is also de-
sirable that the "parts of speech," including their prop-
erties, relations, and uses, should be taught at the same
time.

Technical grammar is studied for the express pur-
pose of helping the pupil to use the language correctly,
and to know why he uses one form of expression rather
than another. This study enables the pupil to tell what
the law of the language is, and, in its higher forms, why
it is.

" Diagramming " a sentence is a method of symbol-
izing the logical structure of the sentence, and helps to
bring out in a forcible manner its meaning. A particu-
lar diagram shows the meaning as interpreted by him
who makes the diagram.

In the work of analysis, the following points should
receive attention :

1. The sentence as to its use.

TEACHING COMPOSITION AND LANGUAGE. 1Q9

2. The sentence as to its form.

3. The essential elements.

4. The modifying elements.

5. The connecting and independent elements, if an y.

6. The parts of speech, their properties, relations,
and uses.

7. The reasons for the same.

8. Combine analysis, diagramming, and parsing.

Correcting exercises in " false syntax "is an excel-
lent drill. For advanced classes, a thorough drill in
some good text-book on grammar is absolutely neces-
sary to sound scholarship and a critical knowledge of
the laws and usages of our language. The agreements
and differences of all the parts of speech should be
thoroughly discussed.

THE THOUGHT ELEMENT.

Dr. Gregory found that a farmer's little son, aged
six years, in one week used more than six hundred dif-
ferent words.

In the acquisition of our native tongue four differ-
ent ends are to be attained, hence there are four differ-
ent arts :

1. To hear and understand the spoken language.

2. To speak it.

3. To read and understand written or printed lan-
guage.

4. To write it so that others may understand what
is written.

The first two constitute spoken language ; the other
two, written language. The first two are acquired nat-
urally, but the latter must be learned.

HO PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

By a wise provision of nature the infant is an atten-
tive listener, and becomes an interpreter of gestures and
sounds before it can exercise its power of speech, being
prompted through curiosity to observe all around it.
As it grows older, all progress in spoken language is
due to practice and imitation.

In the acquisition of a foreign language the pro-
cess is somewhat different.

The order is the following :

1. The art of reading the language.

2. The art of hearing it.

3. The art of speaking it.

4. The art of writing it.

By the first two the words recall the ideas, and, in
the second, the ideas recall the words. Lying at the
foundation of all language culture are the trained eye,
ear, lips, and hand : the eye to see, the ear to hear, the
lips to speak, and the hand to write.

Intellectual progress is possible by noting agreements
and differences. All knowledge may be arranged, ac*
cording to Bain, under the following heads : persons,
places, things, actions, results of actions, states or situa-
tions, and feelings.

Ideas first, the words that represent the ideas afterr
ward, is Nature's method of teaching our mother-tongue.
The sentence, which is a collection of words making a
complete thought, is the unit of language.

How to express thoughts by words, either spoken or
written, is the problem that the teacher is called upon
to face in the school-room.

Every language-lesson should develop the thought-
element by resolving the topic into its component parts,

TEACHING COMPOSITION AND LANGUAGE. m

beginning at the first and presenting only one topic at
a time, noting all its conditions and relations, and thor-
oughly mastering them before proceeding to the next
difficulty. Strike in one place to make a "welding
heat," is a safe adage in teaching.

The art of using language is acquired only by fre-
quent and careful exercise. Attention to details is the
condition to success. In every written exercise, on
slate, blackboard, or paper, the following points are to
be carefully noted by teacher and pupil :

1. The subject matter. 2. Neatness and the orderly
arrangement of the parts. 3. Language and grammati-
cal construction of the sentences. 4. Punctuation, spell-
ing, and capital letters. 5. Penmanship.

To write or talk upon any given topic the writer
must have some ideas in his mind that he can express in
words, and consequently he must be familiar with some
of the qualities or properties of what he proposes to de-
scribe. Its agreements and differences he has already
observed. These acts, as simple as they may appear, in-
volve all the elements of thought.

To set this in a still stronger light, suppose that a
sentence is placed before the pupils for consideration.
The sentence is a simple one : " The waves dashed
high." What is in it ? Evidently two ideas, " waves "
and " dashed." If we stop at " waves," how suggestive
the word ! " Waves " — a thing classed under a form of
knowledge ; a part of a body of water ; which is also a
part of a larger body; which is a part of the great
body, the ocean. Again, we may take another view of
it and show its differences, which readily suggest them-
selves. But, next, the pupil's attention is called to the

112 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

word " dashed," and he sets out finding agreements
and differences, and how rich the results. Not content
with the mere statement as a grammatical collection of
words to be analyzed and then passed by, he goes fur-
ther, and connects the ideas in this sentence with other
knowledge that he already possesses. As to the me-
chanical execution, he looks out for capitals, punctua-
tion, and penmanship. Further, he sees that the naked
sentence contains two essential elements and two help-
ing elements, and, by observation and induction, in due
time he can formulate rules in regard to all the essential
and helping elements in the English language.

To stimulate and direct the will-power of the pupil,
and excite him to do the most for himself, is the best
kind of instruction. To make him conscious of his
own ability, and capable of using it successfully, is the
primary work of the teacher. The pupil works, puts
forth the elfort spontaneously ; the teacher seconds and
directs his efforts. By degrees the learner, having confi-
dence in himself, is prepared to study the language, not
only in its relation to facts, but in its philosophy of
facts. Thus, what is begun as an unconscious effort
with the child, and acquired as a habit, may be devel-
oped into one of the grandest arts — the art of beautiful
and elegant speech. For nice discrimination and the
finer shades of meaning — the adjusting of words to the
sense — certainly the structure of ourlanguage admits no
superior.

To find the word implies the highest exercise of all
the intellectual faculties, and in this respect language
offers the whole range of science, art, and literature to
select from. All languages then, for literary purposes,

TEACHING COMPOSITION AND LANGUAGE. 113

are living languages, and the only " dead language " is
that " lifeless form " doled out to so many children in a
parrot manner and labeled u grammar."

Composition.

1. Definition.

2. Mental processes.

1. Acquiring knowledge.

2. Elaboration.

3. Expression.

3. Kinds.

1. Oral.

2. Written.

1. Ordinary school.

2. Higher forms.

Language.

1. Use of words.

2. Relations of words.

3. Philosophy of words.

4. Suggestions.

CHAPTEE IX.

TEACHING PENMANSHIP.

" When he did sit down, he tucked up his sleeves, squared his
elbows, and put his face close to the copy-book, and squinted horri-
bly at the lines." — Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop.

It is not necessary to define writing ; all know what
it is ; but, under this head of teaching penmanship, we
must consider three things : First, what it includes ;
secondly, when to begin ; thirdly, how to teach it.
We have been accustomed to consider writing only
in its mechanical aspects : skill in imitation and per-
sistent practice were the only factors in producing a
good penman. But the hand that does the work must
be guided by the will, and before the will can exercise
its function there must be in the mind a clear concep-
tion, a distinct picture of that which is to be repro-
duced.

Writing, as to its mechanical aspects, requires some
preliminary conditions: First, position of the body,
which should always be that least fatiguing to the per-
son, and which gives perfect freedom to all the muscles
of the arm and hand, and no part of its weight being
permitted to rest upon the arm or table. The body
should, therefore, be perfectly erect, whether sitting or

TEACHING PENMANSHIP. 115

standing at the desk, and the feet should rest squarely
on the floor, particularly if sitting. Should you, reader,
sit down to write, without placing your feet and limbs
properly, you will discover that the body is at once
thrown out of the erect position, and tends to follow
feet and limbs into paths of crookedness. The head
should be kept well up, not bowed as if in shame or
grief, or seeking repose upon either shoulder. Kesting
securely upon its slender support — the neck — it can, by
easy movements from side to side, save the eyes from
strain as they follow the work in its progress on the
page, always seeing every part of the line at the same
angle, thus giving surer guidance to the hand, and se-
curing a uniform slant to the letters. The arm should
be at right angles to the lines across the page, and
resting so lightly on the desk that it can move easily
from side to side, carrying with it the hand that wields
the pen. It is a notorious fact that very few pupils are
found in any of the schools who take the proper posi-
tion when they write. They seem so in love with the
subject that taey bend over to their work. It must be
attractive, indeed, if the whole body must be distorted
in the eagerness to " get down " to writing. Teachers
should not fail to secure a strict observance of the re-
quirements as to position, for upon this depends much of
the success or failure in further instruction in penmanship.
In most city schools it has been for years the custom
for pupils up to the middle of the third year to write
on paper with lead-pencils. Having given much thought
to the subject, I am now firmly of the opinion that pu-
pils should begin writing with pen and ink in the lowest
grade. Better results are secured, and pupils are pleased

116 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

with it. The custom of doing so much writing with a
lead-pencil is productive of careless habits, and conse-
quently destructive of accurate and beautiful work with
the pen in the hands of pupils, as the nice distinctions
of curves and shading of which the pen is capable can
not be made with a pencil. And then, again, pencil
work is so easily soiled by handling as to make its use
very objectionable in anything we may desire to pre-
serve. Teachers object to the use of ink in the lowest
grades because of inky fingers and spattered paper and
desks. As this objection may be made to the first use
of ink by pupils, let the grade be what it may, it strikes
me that the neat habits necessary to its successful use
would better be taught at the beginning of the course
of study, and perpetuated by careful attention till per-
manently fixed, thus giving the teacher in the middle
or upper grades less to do in habit forming, while the
time can be more profitably spent in developing the
thinking faculties.

Having insisted upon an easy position of the body,
we come now to consider that of the hand which holds
the pen, and how it holds it. But position is now to be
combined with movement, and, as the conditions are
more complex, more time and greater patience may be
needed. Little feet totter when first they start out to
tread life's pathway, and so little hands may not all at
once come into or remain in a required position when
in use. Do not discourage children by too rigid re-
quirements at first. The pen-holding hobby is some-
times ridden to death. If teachers would talk less about
holding the pen, and confine the attention of pupils
more closely to the forms of the letters and movements

TEACHING PENMANSHIP. H7

necessary in making them, they would succeed better and
with less labor, while nerves of both teachers and pu-
pils would be spared much useless tension. As chil-
dren's feet step more firmly after the practice which
gives confidence to the mind, so will little hands gain
skill and strength in time, and as the mind of the child
under instruction becomes familiar with the forms of
the letters, and eager to imitate a perfect copy, his
hands adapt themselves to the requirements, and the
pen-holding comes to take care of itself. This does
not mean that the teacher should neglect this, but that
he should not be impatient, and should take the child's
hand gently in his own, quietly and tenderly guid-
ing till it knows the way. Suppose they do fail at
first; they try; encourage them. Yery few teachers
realize how weary grow the pupils' ears with the pen-
holding din. A ball of yarn placed in the hand of a
child with a challenge to see how long he can keep it
there and yet scarcely touch it, has been found to aid
materially in training the child's hand to take and re-
tain the correct position. When a boy begins to use a
knife — the joy of his early life, the companion of his
riper years, and a precious memory when time has sil-
vered his once dark locks and dimmed the lustrous eye
— would you keep harping at him about holding it in a
certain position ? Boys and girls like to find out some
things for themselves, and, in the matter of holding the
pen, with very little guidance they will find out the
best way. Persons who write a great deal tell us that
they must frequently change the position of their
hands, pens, and fingers, and that the position required
by teachers is not always the best.

118 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

Here is a description of the method used by the
Germans in teaching the position and movements of the
hand and pen in forming the letters. When they be-
gin lessons in writing, the letter to be imitated is first
v/ritten so that the children can see it. Then the chil-
dren describe the character, and imitate in air the move-
ments used in making it. In this way they get a clear
conception of its form and the necessary movements.
Looking at it again, teacher and children together, at a
given signal, describe it by movements in the air. This
brings the muscles under control, so that the fingers are
guided by the will. It is by working from that which
is known and seen, connecting the movements with the
mental picture, that the letter is easily and well made.
This method gives practice in the full arm-movement,
and control of all the muscles at the beginning, and
the children soon learn to execute in a most rapid and
beautiful manner.

After the preliminary instruction as to position
and movements are understood by a child, he is to
begin the work on paper, and it is very important that
this introduction should be presented to him in a ra-
tional manner. I hold it to be true that writing is an
intellectual rather than an imitative art, and that, as the
sculptor has in his mind a definite conception of the
form he expects to make from the block of marble, so
must there be iti the mind of the child a distinct picture
of that which he is to produce on paper. Once made,
he compares the production, the writing, with his men-
tal picture, and criticises his own work. It is important
that when a pupil looks at a letter he can tell whether
it conforms to the model. Writing from this concep-

TEACHING PENMANSHIP. 119

tion is not acquired by " writing," but from intelligent,
critical practice. It is indeed possible for a child to
practice so much that his writing shall grow worse and
worse.

The steps in forming a letter are as follows : First,
the pupil looks at a letter till he gets, a clear conception
of it ; secondly, he tries to form the letter like the model
placed before him ; thirdly, he compares his work with
the model, and notes the agreements and differences.

At first, the pupil should form the letters slowly,
and always with care, writing more rapidly as he ac-
quires skill in the use of the pen. The teacher should
never allow him to acquire slovenly habits, but remem-
ber that eternal vigilance is the price of final success.
In this branch of school work the result of poor teach-
ing is seen more quickly than in almost any other.

The old plan of teaching writing was a very simple
one, presenting the whole subject at once. The first
lessons were in making straight lines and pot-hooks, and
the only instruction regarding position was " Don't get
your head too low " ; and pupils were expected to
write all the letters from the first. Now, the difficul-
ties are mastered in detail. Requiring a pupil to write
all the letters as his first exercise is like giving him the
fifth reader on his first day at school. It is the foolish-
ness of teaching !

The safer way is for the teacher to take one thing
at a time. If there is no writing chart, the teacher,
who should be able to write a good model, should place
upon the board, before the class, a copy of the letter
which is to be the lesson for the day. It is not neces-
sary that the copy should be beautiful, but it should

120 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

be perfect in form, and large in size. However, the
teacher who can write beautifully can more easily
interest children in the work, and get better results.
Little folks have an eye for the beaiitiful, and will
watch with eager interest while a teacher, skilled in the
use of chalk or pen, leaves behind her moving hand
well-formed and beautiful letters. They will improve
even leisure moments in trying to " do likewise." While
the above is true, it is quite possible for a teacher who
can not write beautifully to teach well. I know one
teacher who is a poor penman, but whose teaching
power is so great that, without exception, her pupils
write very beautifully. Her skill in getting pupils to
do their own work so well is exceptional, but it shows
that writing is not simply an imitative art, and that a
teacher can, if she will, teach her pupils to do better
work than she herself can do.

To those who maintain that writing is simply an
imitative art, it may be asked, In wThat sense is it imi-
tative ? Can a human being imitate with his hand that
which he can not perceive with some one of the senses,
or of which he can not get a conception and form a
mental picture ? Does not the will, with action based
upon this knowledge, direct the muscles ? Does the
hand act involuntarily when it imitates a form, a letter,
a motion ?

Again, if the attention of a writer is diverted for a
moment, the hand goes astray, and the letter is a fail-
ure. Let any one try the experiment of giving atten-
tion to something else for a moment or two, and note
the effect upon his writing. He could not claim that
writing is not an expression of thought, or that it is pos-

TEACHING PENMANSHIP. 121

sible to do two things well at the same time. As a fur-
ther illustration of the importance of thinking about or
teaching one thing at a time, let a beginner make the

letter j£ y and examine it. Can anything about it be
pronounced perfect ? No. What is the trouble ? Too
much has been undertaken at one time. He has not
thought how each part should be made so that the whole
letter may be correct. The first or upward stroke is
not on the right slant ; the second or downward stroke
is a curved instead of a straight line, resulting in a
poor, "bow-backed" affair. He had two ideas in his
mind — one to reach the base line and the other to make
the turn — when he made that downward stroke. The
upward stroke was very nearly on the right slant, and
he was all right on the downward stroke till a certain
point was reached, and then all was wrong. The diffi-
culty was mental. He thought of coming down and
making the turn at the same time, and expressed the
double idea that was in his mind ; the idea not being
clearly a unit, the expression was not clear, and there-
fore the letter is a failure, thus giving proof that it is
very important to undertake but one thing at a time.

Suppose that a teacher gives to the child a whole
letter. It is too much. Keep in mind the fact that a
letter is made up of parts. The child can not make
the whole letter correctly before he knows how to make
each part composing it, or has at least in his mind a dis-
tinct picture of each part, and knows the order in which
the parts occur. He must practice on that upward
stroke till he knows it perfectly, then on the downward
stroke, and finally on the finishing stroke. "With a per-
fect conception of each part, and a knowledge of the

122 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

movements by which they are made and united, he can,
at will, make the whole letter. In this way the entire
alphabet can soon be taught, taking one letter at a time.
When a child is once thoroughly familiar with every
letter in the alphabet, in its simple and its capital form,
he can write words and sentences. Then, by practice,
he becomes more and more perfect m the execution
till he can write legibly, and perhaps beautifully.

It has long been a current theory that the best way
to learn writing is to use a book with a printed copy,
and keep the pupil imitating that copy. That is the
way to learn not to write. The correct way to learn to
write is to get a mental picture of each letter, a picture
so perfect that it can be reproduced in the mind at any
time. This form in the mind is an idea, and the writ-
ten letter is the expression of this idea.

To recapitulate. The steps in making a letter are
these : First, get a perfect mental picture ; secondly, re-
produce this mental picture ; thirdly, execute, or make
the letter. It is just as it is with an inventor : he has
first in his mind the invention which he expects to
give to the world ; he invents it first, then expresses it
in material form, visible to the eye.

The letter having been made, it is criticised by com-
parison with the model which is in the mind — the men-
tal picture ; or it may be criticised by comparison with
a visible, material standard.

Penmanship is a science based on educational prin-
ciples— principles just as fixed as are those of arith-
metic— and the person who will study systematically till
he forms in his mind a correct picture of every letter,
and work to reproduce it, will learn to write well.

TEACHING PENMANSHIP. 123

There is a method of tracing which is a process of
mechanical imitation. There are copy-books that have
thin leaves in them, and the child follows the form of
the letter with the tissue-paper between the letter and
the pencil. One objection, at least, may be made to this
method. It takes up too much at once, and is not in
accordance with the best of all educational maxims :
" One thing at a time, and that done well,
Is a very good rule, as many can tell."

There is one advantage in this method : the atten-
tion is easily concentrated by the device, and the hand
becomes skillful in following the shading of the letters ;
but it seems to me that the same result can be best
secured by training the pupil in the way already indi-
cated, so that by a mental process he becomes capable,
not only of doing good work, but of intelligently criti-
cising his own work and the work of others.

Suppose, now, that a teacher wishes to train a class
in penmanship — first, as a science, then in securing me-
chanical execution. The teacher takes a writing-book,
and each pupil one similar to it. There is a perfect
printed copy, and this copy a new letter — a letter they
have not studied. At this new letter each one looks
very carefully. The teacher questions in regard to the
form of that letter, the parts composing it, the different
proportions. They learn how to measure the letter,
how to analyze it, how to compare their own efforts
with the copy, and how to test the accuracy of their
work. They can see their own mistakes, and describe
in language the proper form of the letter. The whole
class is sent to the board to write the letter " a," and
Then they criticise, each his own

124 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

work, and afterward each criticises the work of his
classmates, telling in what the failures consist. In this
way they are taught to criticise, and to express their
criticisms in words. I am aware of the fact that in
this detail work we must pass over many things. But
it is systematic work. In writing, let each one do his
best; let there be no careless work. Carelessness in
writing must not be tolerated by the teacher, and all
the written work connected with other lessons should be
as carefully done as that of the special writing-lessons.

The objection with which we are met that system
in writing destroys individuality is not valid. As well
might we say that system in spelling, or in any other
subject requiring the exercise of the thinking faculties,
destroys individuality ; and, since correct writing is the
expression of distinct thought, and systematic thinking
develops the individual mentally, we can not admit that
a system of penmanship closely followed destroys indi-
viduality.

TnE THOUGHT ELEMENT.

Penmanship is regarded by most persons as a kind
of imitative art, consisting of ninety-nine per cent of
practice, and perhaps one per cent of theory. The
prevalence of this idea is the chief cause of so much
illegible hand-writing among the educated classes, and
in all seriousness some very intelligent instructors do
not pretend that it should be taught in a systematic and
logical manner.

Through the aid of writing-charts and copy-books
the pupils of all schools may have excellent models for
their guidance, provided the teacher has skill and tact
in teaching the subject.

TEACHING PENMANSHIP. 125

The best results I have ever seen in penmanship
were achieved by two teachers whose hand-writing was
very poor indeed ; yet they taughl all their pupils, with-
out exception, to write legibly and beautifully. Their
success depended upon their thorough knowledge of
methods.

The true method of teaching penmanship is, that
the correct form of the letter shall be studied till it is
fixed as a reality in the mind, and then analyzed into its
constituent elements, and each element practiced sepa-
rately ; and finally, by an act of synthesis, these parts
united into one whole, or the letter. By this process a
correct idea of the letter as a whole is obtained.

Following this is the next step, which is both men-
tal and mechanical — mechanical in that the pupil at-
tempts to put on the paper a faithful transcript of the
form in the mind, or that he gives objective expression
to his mental conception. But, should the intellectual
act of the mind stop here, little progress is made, and
penmanship degenerates into a dull, insipid drill. After
the pupil makes an attempt to form a letter, he should
know how to criticise his own work correctly. Hence,
ability to criticise his own productions, using a cor
rect ideal for a test, is the key to success in penman
ship.

The following illustration will enforce this idea :

An ingenious writing-teacher has shown that, in

the formation of the capital [Qj\ twenty-four different
things are to be observed :

First, left curve ; secondly, straight line ; thirdly,
right curve ; fourthly, oval turn ; fifthly, left curve ;
sixthly, oval turn ; seventhly, right curve ; eighthly,

126 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

loop ; ninthly, right curve ; tenthly, oval turn ; elev-
enthly, left curve.

Measurement.

First, height of first stroke ; secondly, width from
same to left side ; thirdly, full height ; fourthly, top to
junction with the first ; fifthly, top to loop ; sixthly,
from first to second down strokes ; seventhly, base line
to last oval turn ; eighthly, width of last oval turn ;
ninthly, from last stroke to loop.

Criticism of this Letter.

First, slant ; secondly, angle of loop ; thirdly, shad-
ing ; fourthly, criticise the twenty points mentioned in
the formation and measurements.

The same method of analysis holds of all the other
letters — small and capitals.

The details of position — pen-holding, movement of
the muscles — are a matter of practice ; but the thought-
element comes from first getting a correct picture or
photograph of the letter in the mind long enough to
put it down on paper. By means of this mental picture
the pupil is his own critic, and in case of doubt he can ap-
peal to the standard on the chart or to the writing-book.

Hence, penmanship as a science first appeals to
thought, and secondly to the expression of thought, and
in all cases the principles of this science should be
taught from the very first day that the child enters
school till he quits.

The following directions will assist the earnest
teacher in doing this work well :

1. That both feet rest firmly on the floor.

2. That the left hand rest firmly on the paper.

TEACHING PENMANSHIP. 127

3. That the pen ~be held loosely in the right hand,

4. That the right arm and right hand he perfectly
free in their movements.

5. That the nose, top of the pen-holder, and pen-
foint are in the same straight line with the main slant
in the copy-book*

6. That the pupils he taught to criticise the size,
slant, and space of each letter.

The foregoing reflections and suggestions indicate
in general the central thought that the branches should
be taught so as to cultivate the " thinking faculties."
Every branch may be so taught, but the branch is noth-
ing in itself, the teacher is everything. " Who is the
teacher ? " is the important question.

Writing.

1. What it includes.

1. Mechanical execution.

(a) Position, and (&) Movements.

Body. Head. Hand.

Feet, Arm. Pen.

2. Intellectual.

a. Mental pictures. e. Synthesis.

b. Reproduction. /. Criticism.

c. Expression. g. Comparison.

d. Analysis.

II. When to begin.

a. With pen.

b. With ink.

In lowest grades.

III. How to teach.

a. Show perfect model. c. Criticism,

b. Get mental picture. /. One thing at a time.

c. Reproduction. g. Thoroughly.

d. Execution. h. Summary.

CHAPTEE X.

TEACHING GEOGRAPHY.

Simon Tappektit, one of Mr. Dickens's characters,
prided himself upon his ability " to eye things over."
Primary geography is, pre-eminently, a study to be
"eyed over," whether in nature or in a book. The
words in the book tell about geography, while the real
objects show what geography is.

Before the child is old enough to attend school, he
has picked up considerable information on geography,
but it is not assorted. By all means he should get his
knowledge at first hand and from the best sources.
The flowing river, the babbling brook, the pond in the
meadow, the miniature island in the lake, the names of
trees, birds, and flowers, are seen and learned by taking
an afternoon stroll. What can be more enjoyable to
little hearts than such a ramble ? Pleasure and science
both combined ! How often such a lesson will reveal
to the teacher dormant tendencies in children's char-
acters that she never suspected of existing ! Wherever
there is a school-honse, some objects of interest can al-
ways be found to illustrate many technical definitions in
geography, if the teacher knows how to look for them

TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 129

and how to use them. As all knowledge is related to
something that precedes it, and also to something that
follows it, to carry ont the law of harmony that subsists
between what the child knows and what he does not
know, he must begin with what he knows as so much
capital stock and add each new acquisition to it. Should
he commence with the unknown, the very remote, or
obscure, and go to that which is still more obscure, bank-
ruptcy is the inevitable result.

As soon as the child has become familiar with the
real objects at home, those on the way to school,
and those at the school-house, he is prepared to begin
the process of representation, by making drawings or
pictures, of the objects he has seen. This step is also
accompanied with either an oral or written description
of the object, thus uniting language instruction with
geographical information. The latter process helps to
fix the information in the mind.

At this stage in the learner's progress, many of his
ideas are immature and need to be corrected by experi-
ence. Only in rare instances has he clear notions of
distance, height, weight, size, and measure. Experience
only can give this knowledge. Eventually, after re-
peated failures and mistakes, he is enabled to judge
with a tolerable degree of accuracy. All progress
comes through mistakes and corrections.

To draw a rude map of the school-house and sur-
rounding objects is the first step on the way toward
a definite conception of latitude and longitude, and
the determination of a point on the earth's surface.
The pupil must learn that location on a surface can not
be fixed exactly except by the intersection of two lines

130 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

crossing at right angles. It is not sufficient to fix the
latitude — the longitude also must be ascertained.

When the child is sufficiently advanced to begin the
primary geography as a text-book, the lessons should be
read first in the class, the teacher questioning every pupil
as to the meaning of each topic. Judicious questioning
should bring to the surface what the pupils think the
meaning is, rather than the teacher's views. The skillful
teacher draws out adroitly the pupils' information, and
corrects mistakes afterward. By the time the pupil
begins the primary text-book, he ought to be able to
multiply and divide numbers, and consequently to esti-
mate distances on the maps, and to convert by the
" scale of miles " map-measurements into statute miles.

The sand and molding-board hobbies are base de-
ceptions that can not be employed by persons '* who
have a very sacred regard for truth." Any ordinary
molding-board product must of necessity be so over-
done as to convey the grossest exaggeration, a thing
certainly to be avoided in teaching children conceptions of
real things. Not long since the writer had occasion to
examine one of the molded maps of the United States.

Comparing the depression of the Mississippi Kiver
with the elevation of the Appalachian Mountains on
the east and the Eocky Mountains on the west, the
channel of the river was about five hundred miles below
the two mountain systems. Certainly the teacher is
intrepid who would teach children relations between
natural objects so far from the truth.

In primary geography, the book should be used
chiefly as a reader, and not as a work to be committed
to memory and to be recited verbatim.

TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 131

As far as possible the pupils should illustrate the
meaning of each paragraph from their own experience.
After the lesson is read and understood, the pupils may
close their books and answer the questions connected
directly or remotely with the subjects mentioned in the
lesson.

The intelligent teacher will not take the words that
the pupil uses for a complete expression of the thought
he has in his mind. At this stage of the learner's
progress, he is busy in trying to get ideas out of the
books he reads, and particularly so when the book he
reads is geography. In this study, as in most others,
the pupil must depend largely upon faith. He is
obliged to take for granted what others say. His eyes
can take in only a very limited portion of the earth's
surface. Hence a few definitions, a little observation
of his own, and a large mass of information gained from
the records and observations of others, will constitute
his geographical information, even should he make great
progress in this interesting branch of science.

Advanced Geography.
Leaving what is called primary geography, the
pupil is prepared to take up, under the title of " Ad-
vanced Geography," some of the most interesting topics
of study connected with our earth, such as its position,
shape, size, density, physical features, etc., as compared
with other bodies in the same system. Kitter tells us
how the three great natural kingdoms, mineral, vegeta-
ble, and animal, though each having an independent
form, are related in a three-fold way to the earth's sur-
face and to human history.

132 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

Viewed in this light, geography becomes an intensely
interesting study, as leading all the way from nature's
lowest forms to God, whose breath gave spirit to his
image — man.

The whole surface of the globe is condensed into
an epitome on a mountain side ; yet we hardly realize
it. All the changes that a few miles of travel from the
level of the ocean to the top of the mountain can give
are such as a person would experience in traveling for
weeks or months from the burning regions of the tor-
rid zone to the perpetual cold of the frigid.

In the study of geography we are brought face to
face with those grand manifestations of physical nature
which fill our hearts with awe and reverence. Here it
is that the thoughtful student catches glimpses of those
mysterious currents of air that circle the earth from
pole to pole, and those still more majestic rivers in the
ocean, whose banks never overflow ; and yet. these
themes, so captivating, receive little or no attention in
most schools, while memorizing names of unimportant
objects occupies nearly all the learner's time. It is true
that local geography, or geography of place, may be
learned by committing detached names, provided the
learner is favored with a retentive memory ; but it is a
more rational method for the learner, when reading his-
tory or the newspaper, and finding references to locali-
ties on the earth's surface, to provide himself with a
map for reference, so that he can locate those places
about which he reads. Suppose it be the " Ketreat of
the Ten Thousand " : with the map spread open before
him, the reader traces out the marches and counter-
marches of Xenophon and his heroes. He learns to

TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 133

know the people and the general characteristics of the
country which they traversed.

To understand Napoleon's campaigns, his retreat
from Moscow for instance, what can make a more vivid
impression npon the mind of the reader than to follow
d iy by day that famishing army through the snows of
a Russian winter ? To appreciate the perils experienced
in the Arctic regions, take the map, and as you read
follow the weary footsteps of the explorers. To know
even the history of our own country during the dark
and gloomy period of the Revolution, the paths of the
contending forces must be followed from day to day.

Let the learner begin with a blank map, which con-
tains the parallels and meridians and the coast-lines. As
he reads, he locates places, rivers, mountains, etc., and,
by the time he is through the book or subject, he will
have acquired a good geographical knowledge of the
country. The map grows daily under his own eye and
hand. He literally knows it, for he has made it.

Thus time and place are both associated, and Geog-
raphy and History join hands not to be divorced. They
are dependent upon each other. In their union the
seeker after truth is led out of the mechanical details of
the subject and endows it with a higher life. The dry
bones rattle no more, and, instead of a task for dull
minds, there is a theme of fascinating interest and sur-
prising beauties.

Geography is the science that opens the gateway to
the other great departments of organic and inorganic
nature. On the one hand is spread out in the grandest
profusion the whole vegetable kingdom, with its myriad
forms, whether growing on the earth or in the sea ; one

134 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

step more, and the rocky leaves of the book of nature
are turned, and the history of the animal kingdom is
read in the silent bnt emphatic language of the past,
telling of the eras before man, the highest type. The
earth was made for man, and geography tells us the story
of its preparation. Shall we not cease to teach geogra-
phy, then, as a collection of isolated facts ? Let us unite
these facts into one grand truth. Then we shall rise
above the level of lifeless form into the region of the
spiritual — from the created to the Creator.

It is interesting to study about the plants and ani-
mals which vary with the altitude as with the latitude.
Geography leads us into the great field of botany, and
from that to the animal kingdom, with its extinct species
imbedded in the bosom of the earth, telling us of its
changes before even man, who came last and highest,
began his dominion over all the earth.

More important still are the social and intellectual
conditions of men, and those peculiarities which distin-
guish one nationality from another. Historians for a
long time wrote of the rulers, and but little was said
about the people. Now, men are studying into the
social and intellectual conditions of the people them-
selves ; they wish to know why some nations have risen
to the plane they now occupy; why all this culture;
why the schools, the press, the railroad, the steam-engine,
and everything that tends to make man better, happier,
wiser. These questions are springing up in the minds
of thinking men and women everywhere ; and I know
of no class of persons more capable of investigating
these subjects than teachers. They should be well
versed in social science, in political economy, and in

TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 135

all kindred topics. Not only should they be able to
answer the questions children ask, but they should be
able to answer the questions of the age.

Mighty issues are coming forward for solution in all
civilized countries. The intelligent teachers will help
in the work of conducting the nations safely through
these stormy periods. Knowing clearly the natural and
acquired rights of the citizen as a member of the state,
they will prepare the school children to assert their
personal rights and to perform their duty to the state.
A clear understanding of social and political duties, and
of the complex relations between the various industries
and occupations, all teachers should possess. No longer
can the teacher be a mere " school-master." He must
be a citizen of the world, and he must stand and feel
where its great heart beats the strongest.

Religions, beliefs that men have, have always at-
tracted more attention than anything else. They are
beliefs in the unseen, and all have them. Comparing
these beliefs, we learn to be tolerant. All truth is not
with us. Truth is many sided, and different persons
look at it from different points, no two seeing it alike,
though one person may be just as conscientious as
another person.

Hence it is that the geography of nature leads us to
the geography of man, and opens up to us the grandest
themes which can be presented to the human mind for
contemplation. All the earth was made for man, and
there is not one interest of his, from the lowest animal
want to the highest spiritual longing, that is not pro-
vided for; and geography tells us the story of that pro-
vision.

136 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

NATURAL SCIENCE.

Reaction is strong against the usual methods of
teaching natural science in all grades of schools and col-
leges, and to-day the question is, Shall we use the syn-
thetic or the analytic method, or combine them, in
teaching science ?

Common sense answers by saying, " Use both." The
beginnings of the natural sciences are founded upon the
observation of facts which, with their phenomena, are
arranged, classified, reduced to systems according to the
laws which produced them. To account for the present
existence of things and phenomena is the province of
the natural sciences.

God's will is the natural law, and man is the inter-
preter, and the correct interpretation depends upon
man's ability to lead the volume of nature as it is writ-
ten. This brings us to the question of how to study
and how to interpret nature.

Formerly, nature was studied too much in the closet ;
the whole system of the universe was elaborated from
lamp-smoke and bad air. But it is the present convic-
tion that, to get definite knowledge, objects themselves
must be examined, and the knowledge had at first hand'.

Before the child goes to school, considerable scien-
tific knowledge has been acquired, not only of the land
and water, but of animals, vegetables, and in some in-
stances of minerals. This knowledge, it is true, is in
fragments, but the teacher can assist the child in group-
ing it into classes.

Undoubtedly the child should begin the study of all
the natural sciences in the objective form first ; and

TEACHING GEOGRAPIIY. 137

not from definitions in books, or from pictures, or
maps. The true order is the object, the word next, or
the expression of the idea represented or aroused by the
object ; and lastly, the picture or representation of the
object. To begin with definitions is to put the general
notion before the individual idea — a reversal of nature's
method and of the experience of the race.

To illustrate the above : Geography, a subject stud-
ied in all our common schools, is most frequently taught
from verbal definitions and map-drawing. But before
the pupil goes to school he possesses quite a fund of
detached information on this subject, and he should
begin with what he knows, and proceed from the
known to the unknown.

Again, the true idea of the map having been taught,
the pupil should find out how to measure distances,
using the " scale of miles " and ruler for this purpose.
Other relations will also be ascertained which will greatly
aid the pupil in getting a proper estimate of distance
and direction. Immediately following this is attention
to parallels and meridians. To appreciate this means
of fixing location, it should be borne in mind that all
points on planes are located by the intersection of two
lines, and that distances are measured from their inter-
section. This simple idea is the central thought in all
astronomical and terrestrial computations pertaining to
distances and areas, and is the natural key to map-
drawing.

Early in the study of geography the pupil should be
encouraged to classify his knowledge and to systematize
it. Too often it is learned and recited in "broken
doses." For instance, any particular country when

138 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

studied by advanced pupils may be outlined under the
following divisions : 1. Position. 2. Physical features.
3. Natural productions. 4. The inhabitants. 5. Their
improvements. 6. Their institutions. 7. Differences
from other countries as well as similarities. These topics
should be expanded by the pupil and the subdivisions
filled

Rising still higher is the department of physical
geography, which is the philosophy of our earth and all
that pertains to it.

In its relations to other bodies it is a planet, com-
posed of land and water, surrounded by an atmosphere.
In its history it reveals the past through its dead forms,
and its present life by its living ones. Not only facts,
but the philosophy of facts, tempt us into one of the
most inviting fields of nature.

Pouring knowledge into passive minds is erroneous
teaching. Gathering knowledge by the mind itself is
true instruction. Teachers should only stimulate the
pupil to independent work. Let it be remembered that
none of the natural sciences are to be studied from
books alone. Books are only helps — not masters — and
teachers and pupils should not be slaves to them. From
direct contact with facts, the pupil must draw his con-
clusions by memorizing less and thinking more. "With
9 each pupil two objects are sought to be accomplished,
namely, habits of mind, and methods of thinking.

TEACHING GEOGRAPHY.

139

Geography.
Primary.

1. Home.

2. School -house.

3. Village, town, etc.

4. County.

5. State.

6. Nation.

7. Continent.
Advanced.

Nature—Earth.

1. Position.

2. Shape.

3. Size.

4. Relief.
Man.

1. Races.

Primary.

2. Organizations.

Social.

3. Governments.

4. Industries.

1. Situation.

2. Boundary.

3. Sketch; Map.

4. Surface.

5. Climate.

6. Waters.

7. People.

5. Climate.

6. Vegetation.

7. Animals.

Secondary.

Civil.

Religious.

CHAPTER XL

TEACHING HISTORY.

Four questions present themselves upon the thresh-
old of this subject :

I. Why Teach History f
II. When Teach It?

III. How Teach It?

IV. What Effect should he Produced f

These topics will be discussed in the order they are

numbered.

I. Why Teach History?

As soon as the child begins to reflect upon his own
existence and surroundings, he connects himself in
6ome way with those about him. He hears his parents
speak of relatives and friends, and he is aroused to the
fact that he is related to his parents' relatives. Their
friends and acquaintances also are not so far removed
from him as entire strangers. Gradually his field of
experience enlarges, and he begins to trace backward, by
questioning, the history of individuals and other ob-
jects. This desire to find out the origin of things is
instinctive with the race, and is, when exercised in the
direction of history, only one of the many indications of
the normal action of the mind.

TEACHING HISTORY. 141

All knowledge is first individual experience. Each
individual is therefore constantly enlarging his circle of
knowledge by his own observation and the testimony of
others. It is certainly natural for the child to be in-
quisitive in regard to those things that concern himself
and those with whom he is acquainted.

In this sense, then, the child commences the study
of history — that is, personal history — long before he en-
ters the school-room. Even here he still continues the
process of gathering facts and arranging them, often-
times crudely enough, into a dim historical whole.
With this indistinct outline, the child enters school.
His surroundings are different from those of home. He
is thrown into a busy, organized community of which
he is a member. Right and justice stand side by side
with him now. Certain things he must do and others
he must avoid. Adjusting himself to his new surround-
ings, the idea of obedience to authority, because it is
commanded, is forcibly inculcated. Back of the school
authority he learns soon to discern other powers mani-
fested in the presence of civil officers. Thus is he in-
troduced to the state, and made to feel that he, too, is in
some sense an object of interest to this higher power.

But in this country, where the ballot of one individ-
ual may elect the chief magistrate to the highest office
known to our laws, the history of the country is an es-
sential branch of a common-school education. Intelli-
gent citizenship is the primary object of studying his-
tory in the common schools. This demand is a require-
ment of the age. It is imperative and must be obeyed.
Our civil, political, military, religious, and social institu-
tions are different from those of all other civilized na-

142 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

tions of the globe. The idea that our career has thus
far reached in history is : that of universal education
and absolute equality of all citizens before the law.

The plea that I now make is : that all our children
should become more thoroughly imbued with the spirit
and genius of our institutions ; that our national history,
with all its struggles for freedom, is as much of an in-
heritance for the child whose eyes first opened on the
other side of the Atlantic as it is for the one born in
our own native land. In no other way can we counter-
act those wild and vague notions so foreign to our insti-
tutions and so detrimental to our peace and prosperity.

It has been truthfully said that the permanency of
our government depends upon the intelligence, the vir-
tue, the wisdom, and the patriotism of our citizens.
Patriotism is innate in the human breast, but parents
and teachers should direct it aright.

The little boy of to-day is the voter of to-morrow.
With these obligations resting upon him, he should come
to the ballot with a clear understanding of what it means
and what it represents. Back of the ballot should be
seen freedom, purity, and patriotism ; one country, one
hope, one destiny — and that universal progress. Bum
it into the hearts of our children that the destiny of
America is the destiny of humanity !

II. When Teach It?

Under this division, the following subdivisions nat-
urally arise :

1. Facts. 2. The relation of facts. 3. The phi-
losophy of facts.

These subdivisions correspond somewhat to the

TEACHING HISTORY. 143

order in which the human mind is developed. If this
classification is founded upon a correct interpretation of
mental development, then the teachers work is greatly
simplified, and the question relates to the predominating
stage of mental activity, and the kind of knowledge
appropriate to that stage. At this point no mistake
should be made. Two topics here must be considered,
the order of development, and what kind of knowledge
is required to produce the necessary result; or, more
specifically, what kind of history is appropriate at any
stage of the learner's progress ?

1. The history of our own country is of first impor-
tance to the American boy or girl. Let us suppose a
class of pupils able to read fairly well in the Third
Keader. . What should such a class read ? I reply :
Some good work containing stories of American history.
No school-boy can read such a work without kindling
his patriotism over the story of the trials, the struggles,
and the self-sacrificing devotion of our forefathers to
those principles of freedom for which they risked their
lives and fortunes. Such stories, if told in simple yet
touching language, go home to the heart. The child
can not read them unmoved.

2. Coming one step higher, we meet the admirable
primary histories issued by our enterprising publishers.
While they treat chiefly of facts, yet the relation of
facts is brought somewhat into view.

These books are intended for Third and Fourth
Reader pupils, and should be used as supplementary
readers. It should be remembered that a majority of
school-children never go beyond the Fourth Reader, and
they ought to get some knowledge at least of our na-

144 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

tional history before leaving school. A taste formed for
historical reading thus early in life will grow and
strengthen with the years as they glide by.

Perhaps the most important event in the little child's
life is the reading of his first book, not his school-reader,
but some volume that he takes up and reads through
and through. How he goes back and pores over again
and again the most interesting pages and makes them
his own, how he returns to them in after years, and
how unaccountably he lingers there and drinks from
the fountain that quickened and slaked his thirst in the
bright sunshine of his youth ! It is true that the first
book may not have been one of great merit, yet on the
clean, unscratched tablet of the memory it stamped im-
pressions deep and lasting. They were the first, and
they are always fresh and living. Where is the Ameri-
can boy that read in early life Weems's " Life of Mari-
on " without receiving such an impression ? It paints a
character pure and lofty, and moved always by the
noblest impulses of a dignified and generous nature.

The life lessons there so strikingly portrayed are
such as every boy should learn. But this is only one
book among many that may be placed in the hauds of
children helpful in the formation of character.

3. At this stage the pupil is able to take a higher view
of men in action. Time and place are accidents in the
unfolding of irresistible forces, which man may partially
direct, but is unable to control. Before his mind a
moving panorama is placed, and nations come and go on
the waves of time. The birth, the growth, maturity,
decline, and decay, are written of those that once were,
but now are not. He studies each for a predominating

TEACHING HISTORY. 145

idea — the national characteristic. This central thought
embodies the philosophy of the nation's existence. It is
compared with the central ideas of other nations, and
the agreements and differences are noted.

To the student of history, be he statesman, philoso-
pher, or teacher, the philosophy of history is one of the
grandest themes. It goes to the most exalted heights
and descends to the lowest depths. In verity it is the
bond that unites many factors into one complex whole.

III. How Teach It?

The fact that history is so unpopular is owing to
the manner in which it is taught. All the soul is taken
out of it. A few disjointed, ill-shapen facts are strung
together and called " history," and repeating these ver-
batim is called a " history recitation."

There are two principal avenues to the mind — the
eye and the ear ; and, in teaching, both are to be em-
ployed. History, then, must be presented objectively
to the eye : its leading facts grouped and spread before
the eye of the pupil, on chart, paper, or blackboard,
and dwelt upon till they become a part of the mind's
furniture. Through the eye the understanding is
reached most effectively, and, besides, the habit of
classification, one of the chief benefits derived from the
pursuit of any branch, is stimulated to a healthy activity
in the arrangement of facts, their causes and sequences.
To facilitate the teaching of history, charts have been
prepared, showing at a glance the leading events of any
period and their locality. The nations are represented
by different colors, so as to trace their history with less
difficulty. By referring to the chart, a moment only is

146 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

necessary to determine whether at a certain date a na*
tion was progressing or receding in political importance.

The lesson assigned must be definite in extent, com-
mencing at a certain paragraph and closing with as much
precision, and with additional instruction to aid the class
to find out whatever is available from other sources on
the subject. This is beneficial in stimulating to new
fields of thought. The lesson being prepared, the class
is called by signals to the board. For convenience, the
class may be divided into three or more sections, and
numbered as sections 1, 2, 3, etc. Section 1 may draw
a map of the country and indicate the localities men-
tioned in the lesson ; section 2 may write exhaustive
analyses of the lesson on the board ; members of section
3 may prepare condensed reviews of previous lessons.
Besides the work mentioned, a large blank map can be
used to great advantage in this manner : Draw a simple
outline map of the country, and, as the class advances,
one or two members can fill in the details day by day.
The map grows with the progress of the class. Colored
crayon is recommended in drawing this map. Two fifths
of the recitation can be devoted profitably to this written
work, and the work should so alternate that no pupil docs
the same kind of written work during two successive
recitations. Every member of the class must work, and
it is the teacher's duty to see that this requirement is
strictly complied with.

During the remaining portion of the recitation, the
work should be oral. Undivided attention is the firct
condition of a good recitation. Each member of the
class should be held personally responsible to commence
or to continue a topic whenever called upon by the

TEACHING HISTORY. 147

teacher. Pupils are to use their own language, express
their thoughts in pleasant and agreeable tones of voice,
and speak the language correctly. Boys frequently say
what they do not intend, and stammer and hesitate for
words. To remedy this defect, they should be per-
mitted to try till they tell all there is to be said. The
jconamon„practice of excusing from further recitation as
soon as a mistake is made can not be too severely cen-
sured. Here, two extremes are to be avoided : the first,
too much talk on the part of the teacher; the second,
permitting a few good pupils to do the reciting for the
class. A proper distribution of work is indispensable
in the school-room. Corrections in spelling, capitals,
punctuation, pronunciation, language, and the material
facts of the lesson, ought to be made by the class. A
healthy spirit of criticism is a powerful incentive to
correct scholarship and accuracy in every respect.

With respect to grouping important events in gen-
eral history, a few words may not be devoid of interest.

As an example, the sixteenth century is chosen. It
is pre-eminently a century of storms — political, ecclesi-
astical, and intellectual." They burst in tornado violence
on the nations of Europe, uprooting and overturning
old institutions.

France, England, Spain and Germany stood con-
fronting one another. Early in the century, three young
monarchs had ascended the thrones : Francis I, of
France, Henry VIII, of England, and Charles V, King
of Spain and Emperor of Germany. Each was bold,
daring, unscrupulous, and ambitious. The discoveries
made in the new world had aroused the minds of the
people to independent inquiry and bold investigation.

148 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

During this period, Luther's pen and voice shocked,
then stirred to action, the religious world. The contest
was soon transferred to the battle-field. Never before
in the world's history had the human mind asserted its
spiritual freedom.

From this starting-point, the student may trace the
current of history backward into the ignorance and
gloom of the dark ages, or go forward, keeping pace
with the tide of civilization. It is unnecessary to mul-
tiply illustrations ; the teacher can select them.

IV. What Effect should be Produced?

Hitherto the pupil is supposed to follow the current
of history without entering fully into the spirit of it,
only in so far as he comprehends the motives of the
actors themselves. He has arrived at that critical stage
in his mental development when he is partially pre-
pared, at least, to enter wider spheres of human activity,
and to contemplate the actions of men as the resultant
of forces designed to accomplish specific purposes. He
so far forgets himself for the time being as to become
Greek, Roman, Crusader ; in short, he thinks, lives, and
feels what he reads. As the nations come and go upon
the ever-changing scenes of time, he follows their en-
trances and exits, and learns from their birth, progress,
maturity, and decay, that they, too, are governed by
universal laws. From all these lessons of the past he
accumulates knowledge which enables him to compare
the civil, political, military, and religious institutions
of the ancients and moderns with those of his own
country. Having his mind well stored with such in-
formation, he is better qualified to discuss all public

TEACHING HISTORY. 149

questions, of whatever nature, than the one who is un-
able to draw practical lessons from the experiences of
other nations.

Should the student take our country as his model,
he most know its history in all its minutiae as well as
in its boldest outlines, and then compare the history of
other countries with it, and note the differences and
agreements as he prosecutes his inquiries. Material
gathered, classified — conclusions deduced — are the steps
in the mental process. There was a Greek civilization
different from ours, yet ours is flavored with Athenian
thought ; a Kornan civilization certainly not ours, but
we have borrowed much from it ; from the forests of
Germany, the sunny plains of Italy, the valleys of
France, the lowlands of Holland, the hills of Scotland,
and the downs of England — each and all have con-
tributed elements to our civilization. To pick them
out and assort them is the task of the special historian ;
yet, after this refining process is carried out to the last
analysis, there will be found much that is distinctively
American. Climate, circumstances, laws, manners, cus-
toms, distinctive traits of character, even wit and humor,
cause one nation to differ from others.

In our country man is the unit, and his individuality
is offered the fullest and freest scope. No barriers are
imposed to arrest his highest forms of mental, moral,
and social development. Authority and liberty join
hands, and the freedom of the individual is limited only
by the welfare of the whole.

As a mere matter of fact, it is not very important
to know that Columbus sailed from a port in Spain on
the 3d day of August ; but it is important that he

150 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

sailed, discovered an unknown world, and that it was
colonized by the best blood of Spain, and that, while
Spaniards settled the new world, Spain lost her su-
premacy in the old world.

To comprehend the differences existing between
our laws, manners, customs, modes of education, com-
mercial, manufacturing, and agricultural pursuits, and
those of other nations, the pupil is obliged to familiarize
himself with the fundamental principles upon which
governments are instituted, laws are enacted and car-
ried into effect, and the rights of individuals and the
liberties of the people are secured. Society, under
whatever aspect it is viewed, is a complex organism,
and governmental authority in different countries is
maintained and exercised under widely different forms.
To compare these forms and to study them ; to ascertain
how the civil, municipal, and other authorities settle
disputes and administer justice among men, are sub-
jects of the greatest importance in the education of the
citizen who is to prize the form of government under
which he lives.

Not only should the intelligent citizen clearly under-
stand the origin, development, and nature of our gov-
ernment, with its marked outlines and co-ordinate de-
partments nicely and wisely adapted to one another,
constituting a compact system that rests for its support
upon the affections and reverence of the people, but he
must also understand how it is, as an expression of the
popular will expressed by representatives on the one
side and the consent of the people on the other, opposed
to those forms of government whose citizens have had
no hand in forming and no voice in approving.

TEACHING HISTORY. 151

That a citizen in some sense has had a hand in shap-
ing the form of government under which he lives, and
that he has compared his own workmanship with that
of other people, and that it does not suffer in the com-
parison, tend to beget a contentment with the present
condition of affairs, and a disposition to prevent radical
changes in politics without due deliberation. If evils
exist, he prefers peaceable means at the ballot-box as a
corrective. Confidence in the people exists, and he
knows that the people get close enough to the fountain-
head to make and to unmake congressmen, senators, and
presidents. This is the ever-present remedy he relies
upon for changing the existing order of things. Upon
every hand is felt the strong power of the government,
manifested more in its moral influence than in its official
capacity. Everywhere civil officers abound, but, except-
ing policemen, without the insignia of office. Should
his knowledge by travel be enlarged, he is impressed
upon every hand by the continual presence of national
officials, tax-gatherers, civil magistrates, and other public
functionaries.

Experience has taught the pupil somewhat of the
duties of the various township, county, town, city, state,
and national officers, how they are elected or appointed,
and he naturally inquires what duties corresponding
officers in other countries perform, how they are ap-
pointed, and the limits of their functions. Such in-
quiries open up a boundless, though not a useless, field
for investigation. It will show that the roots of our
civil system lie deep in the nations that preceded ours,
and that, in a large degree, our form of government is
eclectic TJnder all climes human nature is pretty much

152 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

the same, and man is never degraded in using power
except when he consciously and willfully abuses the
authority entrusted to his keeping.

History as such must always be read in the light of
motives. If the student of history interprets it by any
other light, he is journeying across an unknown sea
without chart and compass.

To teachers of history I can not conclude this topic
in a more becoming manner than by quoting the follow-
ing extract :

" We educate the future citizens of the United
States, not the future citizens of Prussia, of France, of
England, of China, or of Japan. This must dictate
our methods. Nor shall we forget that, although citizens
of the United States, they are to be men and women.
The particular shall not swallow up the general: "We
will not educate Spartans. Nor shall the general ob-
literate the particular : We will not educate blank ab-
stract humanitarians."

CHAPTER XII.

TEACHING ARITHMETIC.

Me. Darwin tells us that, when three persons went
into a thicket in which a magpie had its nest, it would
fly away, and wait for the three to go out before it
came back ; but that, when more thau three went into
the thicket together, and then went out one at a time,
it became confused ; clearly indicating, as he thought,
and as many believe, that the bird could count up to
that number, three, and retain it in its mind ; but that
above three it was unable to keep a correct record.
There are some persons, and it may be said some tribes
of people, who appear to be unable to count to any ex-
tended degree. Beyond five, ten, or twenty, they can
only represent the numbers which they can not com-
prehend. The idea of number is evidently intuitive,
and the disposition to count seems to have its origin in
the distribution and collection, the separating and the
bringing together, of things used in the common trans-
actions of life. This gives us the basis of all mathe-
matical reasoning. Arithmetic has, from the time of
the ancient Greeks, been regarded as one of the essen-
tial branches of study in school. Should you ask to-
day what two studies are most important in our school-

154 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

work, the reply would be, without hesitation, " reading
and arithmetic," because upon these two depend all
classification in the lower grades of schools. Reading
is the hey that unlocks the door of the temple of knowl-
edge ; and, if we consider it in the sense in which the
( Germans use it in their schools, it includes grammar,
literature — everything that we bring under the term
" language." It is by means of language that we com-
municate and receive knowledge on all subjects, and
hence it is the " key."

Arithmetic is the basis of all classification of pupils.
In putting this subject prominently forward, I would
not be understood as underestimating in any degree the
importance of other branches. »

Two objects must be kept in view in teaching arith-
metic : first, accuracy ; secondly, rapidity ; but these are
the results of attentive practice. Above these, how-
ever, is the development of the faculty of consecutive
thought. Arithmetic is to most children a pleasing
study. They love certainty in their work; and this
study, properly taught, carries with it that degree of
freedom from error which places it upon a higher vant-
age-ground than can be accorded to the other common
branches. Yet, as it is usually presented in the text-
books, it is dry, and requires the greatest tact and skill
upon the part of teachers to make it attractive and in-
teresting.

Many methods have been proposed for teaching
arithmetic to small children. It is not our purpose,
nor would it be appropriate, to pass judgment upon
them now. There is something good in every method.
But the average child knows more than the teacher

TEACHING ARITHMETIC. 155

gives him credit for, and the routine drill which is too
commonly practiced, and which ignores what the child
already knows, stupefies instead of stimulates the intel-
lectual faculties.

The human mind delights to see truths under a
variety of forms, and to reduce new and complete
forms back to original and known elements. This is
why a devotee of mathematics finds such exquisite de-
light in unraveling intricate relations and expressing
them in known symbols.

The trouble which so many teachers experience in
getting pupils to understand arithmetic is not inher-
ent in the subject itself, nor in the mental inabiL
ity of pupils to comprehend it, except in rare in'
stances, but is owing entirely to defective methods of
instruction.

Not many years since an assistant superintendent of
schools in a Western city concluded that the pupils there
could not learn arithmetic because of certain atmospheric
conditions which, in some mysterious manner, obscured
the mathematical faculty. The reason for this defect
was not in the atmosphere, unless in that of the school-
room. Haziness probably existed in the mental atmos-
phere of the teacher.

When a mother says to me that her daughter can
not learn arithmetic, I feel sorry for both mother and
daughter, though not satisfied that her statement is cor-
rect. There may be imbeciles, unable to learn arith-
metic or any other subject, and there may be those who
make slow progress, but the difficulty is usually owing
to the fact that the subject has not been properly pre-
sented. Some pupils learn more easily than others, but
Jl

156 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

it is quite certain that the ordinary rules of arithmetic
can be learned by any person not an imbecile.

The most difficult part of this problem is in teaching
arithmetic to beginners. The mind of the child ought
to expand gradually in all directions, and should not be
confined in its actions to mere mechanical drill, lest it
lose its elasticity and buoyancy. Pnpils commence
arithmetic as soon as they enter school, and it is at the
beginning that most care is to be exercised in avoiding
that air of abstractness which is made to surround
and mystify a subject that would otherwise be easily
understood. No number should be given them with-
out its application to objects which they can see. Let
it be to them clearly a concrete number.

Suppose we visit a school-room together m which
there are seventy pupils about six years of age. There
is a nicely carpeted platform for the teacher, and on this
platform a table with a beautiful cover on it. In the
room is a large number of pictures — some hanging on
the walls, others resting against them. On the table
are more than fifty different kinds of objects that the
eye can see : rubber dolls, several of one kind ; little
pewter pans ; little shells, that have been picked up by
the children ; and many other little objects. Note the
character of the exercises. The children have been in
school but a short time. At first, they were liable to
forget where their seats were, and lose themselves; but
now they will, at a given signal, advance with the pre-
cision of soldiers, coming out into the aisles to go
through their calisthenic exercises, and then return to
their seats. They know exactly where they belong, and
can solve problems.

TEACHING ARITHMETIC. 157

What do they do ? One little fellow rises and says :
<c John gave Mary two dolls, and had two dolls left ;
how many dolls had he at first?" He then goes to
the table, picks up two dolls, and says : " There are two
dolls left." Then he picks up two more dolls, puts
them with the first two, and shows that there are four
dolls. Now, he wishes to express this on the board.
He might first try to make a picture of the object, but
he has already begun to use the symbols, and writes
2 + 2 = 4. In fifteen minutes these children make
more than fifteen problems, each child who makes one
explaining it to the other children, showing the objects
he has used. This is rational teaching, not parrot-like
teaching, but genuine, beginning with what the child
knows and understands, and teaching him to reason
from this to the unknown. It is readily seen that there
is no difficulty in the method. No person can come
out of a school in which such a system is pursued and
say that the children do not understand what they are
doing. They learn by doing with material things, and
can understand the process and the result. There is
but a step from the "doing," as just illustrated, to the
introduction of symbols — the figures which express
things to us. One can see a boy; then, without the
presence of the boy, he can speak of a boy ; then of a
picture of a boy. He can hear the spoken word " boy " ;
he can see the written or printed word " boy " ; but
when it comes to symbols, the boy may be represented
by the figure u 1," and the child soon learns to deal with
figures as symbols of objects.

There is no teaching, no culture of the intellectual
faculties, in requiring a pupil to stand and count to a

158 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

hundred, a thousand, or any other number, unless illus-
trations should be made with objects collected by the
children from all sources at their command. This keeps
up a deep interest in the subject, and it helps to fix
the principles in the mind. There is no reason why
little children should not be taught to work with the
simpler fractions just as they do with whole numbers.
They enjoy the work, and take as great interest in illus-
trating it.

Not long since, in visiting a second-grade (second
year in the primary school) room, I gave the following
problem to the pupils: "If a load of wood costs three
dollars and a half, what would four loads cost ? "

The teacher spoke up at once, u These children have
not had fractions " ; but, before she had finished the
sentence, nearly all hands were up, and the answer came
promptly, "$14." Here is the solution they gave me:
" At $3 a cord, it would cost $12, and at half a dollar a
cord, four cords would cost $2 ; and $12 and $2 are
$14." Yet these Second Header children had never
studied fractions, and the teacher was surprisingly ig-
norant of the information they had on the subject of
fractions.

The teacher ought to fond out how much the children
know, instead of assuming that she knows it without
inquiry.

CULTURE OF THE THINKING FACULTIES.

A question among educators is how to teach each
branch so as to develop the thinking faculties. The
following suggestions are submitted as having a direct
bearing on this subject :

TEACHING ARITHMETIC. 159

1. For every problem selected from the text-book,
select three problems from outside sources.

2. Let the pupils make new or original problems,
or else vary the conditions of those already given, and
then solve them. The sooner pupils are put to making
problems, or changing the conditions of those already
given, the better they will understand the subject, aud
the more substantial will be their progress.

3. When the pupil comes to a new problem he tries
to bring it under a form that he already knows — that
is, he seeks a relationship, and, when .this is once found,
he proceeds to reduce it by an already familiar process.

4. Trace all problems back to primary principles.
Since the idea of number is intuitive with the race,

the object of the educator should be to develop this
faculty in a natural manner as the intellectual powers
of the pupil are unfolded. The order of developing
this subject is not different from that in teaching other
branches. Evidently the very lirst process is that of
putting together, followed immediately by separation.

Objects first attract the child's attention, and then
he endeavors to put them together and to remember
them, or to tell how many there are. From this it is
inferred that all arithmetical teaching at first should be
real or objective. Close study of child-mind points
unmistakably to the following order :

1. Objects.

2. Numbering, or naming objects.

3. Names of objects as numbers.

4. Symbols of numbers.

5. Working with symbols.

6. Practical applications.

160 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

As is well known, the subject of arithmetic is fre-
quently taught in such a manner as to stifle all efforts
on the part of the pupils, and from the fact that they
do not understand the processes that they mechanically
perform. Instead of approaching the subject through
the natural channel of objects, they are introduced at
the outset to the symbolic processes, which lie beyond
their reach.

All rational methods begin with objects first, then
followed by the word that groups the objects into one
whole, and, lastly, .the symbolic number which is more
general than the name of the object. Again, it should
be remembered that in mental processes the mind puts
together and separates, and this constitutes analysis and
synthesis ; and, further, after the pupil has acquired
the art of reading and writing numbers, that all the
operations which can be performed on numbers may
be reduced to the following: Increasing, decreasing,
raising to powers, and extracting roots. Furthermore,
that the whole chain of mathematical reasoning is a
series of comparisons, or a discovering of relations that
subsist between the known factors in a given question
and those that are implied. The idea of comparison
lies at the foundation of Pestalozzi's system of teaching.
It gives his philosophy of education its intellectual
value. And upon this principle is also based the
" Grube Method," which is measuring numbers in and
under all possible combinations. Perhaps the author
carries it too far, but it contains many valuable features,
and should be thoroughly understood by every primary
teacher in our country. But there are other features
connected with arithmetical teaching which demand

TEACHING ARITHMETIC. 161

careful consideration, and first and foremost is this prin-
ciple : To understand arithmetic the child must at first
do the work objectively, and then put it into the sym-
bolic form.

This meaning can best be understood by a few appro-
priate illustrations. The ordinary method of teach-
ing this subject is to make the learners proficient in
handling abstract numbers before introducing concrete
examples ; processes are accounted of more permanent
value than the reasons upon which processes are based.
While not undervaluing this feature of arithmetical
operations, it is a violation of the natural order in which
knowledge is acquired to put it first. Nature's method
is that of intelligent work before generalizations can be
deduced.

Suppose the pupil in his progress in arithmetic is
set to learning the table for "Wine Measure." He
may have studied it over till he can repeat it glibly
from memory, and even give the equivalents of the
different denominations in terms of the others, but the
essential question of whether, in all this memorizing,
the pupil's understanding is thoroughly reached, can
be determined only by testing his knowledge of what
he knows of the subject.

Upon the other hand, if we approach this " table "
from the objective standpoint, we are struck with the
simplicity as well as with the superiority of the method.
Before the pupil studies the " table," let him be fur-
nished with a gill, pint, quart, half -gallon, and a gallon
measure, and a bushel of sand or a bucket of water,
and then put to filling these different measures, first
filling the pint cup by using the gill measure, emptying

1G2 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

the pint into the quart measure, the quart measure into
the half -gallon measure, and so on. After the gallon
measure is filled it may be measured by each of the other
measures, and thus, following out the philosophy in
knowing one thing and comparing others with it, definite
knowledge is obtained. The pupils literally do the table.

There is no question as to the superiority of this
method over the memorizing one.

To learn the " Table of Long or Linear Measure,"
the pupil, with " foot-rule, yard-stick, or tape-line," is
put to measuring and reporting results, and I do not
hesitate to say that this is the only sensible way to learn
this or any other table to be used in measuring any
substance whatever.

From the first lessons in numbers the little child
should be trained to deal with fractional numbers in
their simple forms just as he is with integral numbers,
the idea of fractions having been first obtained by an ex-
amination of divided objects, following the same method
as the one indicated in doing the " tables." Apples di-
vided into halves, thirds, fourths, etc., furnish excellent
illustrations. It is better for the children to make the
divisions. The order is : the object as a whole ; sec-
ondly, the divided object ; thirdly, the names of the
parts ; fourthly, the symbol placed on the board or slate
that represents the parts; fifthly, uniting the parts
again into one wThole ; lastly, applications.

All arithmetical problems in the elementary and
advanced grades should partake largely of a business
character ; but vigorous drills on the fundamental rules
must never be relaxed.

Many abstract exercises may give celerity in ma-

TEACHING ARITHMETIC. 163

nipulating figures, but the thinking faculties are not
developed. Processes without thought have but slight
educational value. Repeating abstract operations in a
dull lifeless manner, day after day, in the rules of arith-
metic is a stultifying process, for, when the pupil once
learns that 7 X 9 = 63, or 9 X 7 = 63, repeating these
operations ten thousand times will give no additional
information. All work should be promptly done.

MENTAL OB INTELLECTUAL ARITHMETIC

deserves more than a passing notice. It is pre-emi-
nently the logic of the common branches, and if taught
at the proper time is productive of great good. Now,
all arithmetic is mental in this, that it requires, or should
require, some effort of the mind to think out the method
of the solution ; and, furthermore, so-called practical
arithmetic should always precede the mental arithmetic
in a course of instruction. Mental arithmetic is more
abstract than practical arithmetic ; hence it should fol-
low the latter in the earlier years of instruction, and,
later on, both may be pursued simultaneously.

When mental. arithmetic is pursued as a separate
and an independent study, the following order of pre-
senting and teaching the subject is recommended as
one that calls into exercise the greatest number of the
intellectual faculties, to wit :

The teacher will read or state the problem once,
distinctly; the pupils will give the answer, indicated
by raising hands; the next step, a pupil, or pupils, re-
produce the question ; then the analysis ; and, lastly, the
conclusion. Long, tedious analyses are to be avoided
as a noxious pestilence.

164: PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

Teaching Arithmetic.

I. Teacher.

1. Knowledge of the subject.

2. Love of the work.

3. Aptitude to teach.

4. Teach one thing at a time.

II. Beginners.

1. Need slates, pencils, etc.

2. Should be taught to observe and to think.

3. To express thoughts by symbols.

III. Primary Methods.

1. Principles and fundamental processes.

2. Fractions.

3. Denominate numbers, etc.

IV. Oral and Written.

1. Tables, etc.

2. Business forms.

3. Applications.

V. Mental Arithmetic— Steps.

CHAPTER XIII.

HEALTH AND HYGIENE.

The farmer plants corn in May or June, when the
ground is warm. Should he do so in December or Jan-
uary, the corn would not grow. Should he leave the
old stalks standing in the field, and begin to cultivate
them in the warm days of spring, no life would return
to them ; they are dead. The stalk of corn was devel-
oped from a germ once imbedded in the kernel of the
grain. With moisture from the earth, and heat from
the sun, the life within the kernel manifested itself in
what we call the shoot, which came to the top of the
ground, grew upward, forming the stalk, and sent roots
downward into the earth. During the period of its
growth the farmer cultivated it, and in the fall there
came a full ear, perfect, mature, ready for use.

The growth of corn is symbolical of the growth of
the child from infancy to old age. If the corn is not
properly cultivated, no ear is formed, and there is no
kernel for use as food, or for the next year's planting.
So it is with the child if he grows up w-ithout the in-
fluences and training which gradually build up charac-
ter and perfect the individual.

Every human being has two lives — the mental life

166 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

and the physical life. It is of the latter I shall speak
at present ; not, however, to discuss at length the anato-
my and physiology of the parts of the body, or to enter
upon the subject of comparative physiology. Accord-
ing to the principles of education, we should begin
with that which the child can see, can handle — that
which he knows.

It is a mistake to put a text-book into the hands of
school-children when it bristles with long, technical
terms, hard to learn and easy to forget. Few physicians
can tell the names of all the muscles of the body. Even
if these names were all committed to memory, they are
worth little in giving any knowledge of the subject.
In talking about these things, especially to children, it
seems better to describe them by pointing out their
uses.

For the purpose of classifying the subject under
discussion, we shall consider the body as composed of
three great systems: the blood-producing, the blood-
circulating, and the nervous systems. The first pre-
pares the food for use by converting the nutritive por-
tions into such forms as can enter the blood. Then the
circulatory system carries the blood containing these
nutritive particles to all parts of the body, gathers Tip
waste matter on the way, and takes it to the lungs. In
the lungs it meets the inspired air, from which it takes
the purifying oxygen, giving in return the impurities
which pass off with the expired air in the form of car-
bonic acid.

Growth is a law of our being. "We grow mentally
and we grow physically.

To grow, the body must have food, which includes

HEALTH AND HYGIENE. 167

what we eat and what we drink. The body is sustained
by proper food, pure air, exercise, rest, and sleep. But
the quantity and quality must be taken into account and
adapted to the conditions of the system. If you take
a young colt and ride it too much, it will become
" sway-backed " ; if a little child is induced to walk be-
fore its bones are strong enough to support its weight,
it will grow " bow-legged." It is a great mistake to
overload children in any way. If they have too many
studies or too long lessons in school, their minds suffer ;
if their bodies are overburdened, they become de-
formed.

So of the stomach, which is the principal digestive
organ ; if it is overloaded with food, it can not proper-
ly prepare it for the nourishment of the body.

Pressure upon any of the vital organs, or upon the
nerves, is injurious to health.

The amount of air required by each child or older
person varies from 1,000 to 2,000 cubic feet every hour,
the first amount named being perhaps sufficient for
small children. Suppose you are in a room 60 feet
long, 25 feet wide, and 15 feet high, containing just
22,500 cubic feet of space, occupied by 80 persons,
each requiring 2,000 cubic feet of air every hour.
Making no allowance for the space occupied by these
eighty persons and the furniture of the room, all the air
in the room would be spoiled in about eight minutes —
that is, the carbonic-acid gas passing off from the lungs
would in that time render all the air in the room im-
pure, unfit to breathe again. Besides, there is an in-
sensible perspiration passing off from the body in all
directions, adding to the impurity in the air. It is by

168 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

such means that persons who are sick communicate
contagion. There seems to be a kind of germ, which
goes floating off into the air and communicating disease.

Since the air becomes so rapidly vitiated, the venti-
lation of school-rooms is a question of grave importance,
but one which teachers too often negJect, even after they
have been talked to about it day after day, week after
week, month after month, and almost year after year.
Even with so-called self-registers, the air is frequently
allowed to become impure. The necessity of attention
becomes even more apparent when we consider the de-
pendence of the health of the entire body upon the
perfect mutual relations between circulation and respi-
ration, and the quality of the supplies furnished; of
nutriment for distribution to all parts of the body by
means of the circulation of the blood, and of air to the
lungs for the purification of the blood as it passes
through them on its way to the heart, there to gather
fresh impetus for another journey as distributor of life-
giving, and collector of dead, particles. The blood dis-
tributes its supplies for assimilation to the needs of the
body, and acts as scavenger ; but all this were vain did
not the respiratory organs bring the oxygen in to drive
out the carbonic acid, the poisonous product of decay.
If ventilation is neglected, this poison remains in the
blood to unite with freshly collected poison, and disease
is the result, then suffering — death.

Teachers have no right to-be careless in regard to
this matter. Carelessness is criminality, and criminality
means death. In almost every school-room there is
some way to get the bad air out. Open door and win-
dows, if no other way, and let the children run out and

HEALTH AND HYGIEXE. 169

play, and let in pure air. If in doubt about the purity
of the air in the room, step outside, inhale a few whiffs,
then go into the school-room, and the contrast will tell
the tale. Try it often. Result — astonishing!

EXEECISE.

We are told by those men who go away into the
arctic regions that young seals are seen playing on the
cakes of ice during the coldest days. It is natural for
the young of all animals to play, and it is just as nat-
ural for a young child to play if it is in good health.
It needs exercise, and needs it often. Children of
larger growth need it too ; it is one of the elements of
life. If there are any persons so unfortunate as to be
born rich enough to live without work, they are the
ones who ought to practice in a gymnasium, so as to
get the needed amount of physical exercise. It is an
old saying that u all work and no play makes Jack a
dull boy." The Greeks said that "a bow kept always
strung would not shoot." Hence the bow at times
must be relaxed, and the human body must have relaxa-
tion after labor. If the labor is mental, the mind must
rest and the body have exercise. During study there is
a greater flow of blood to the brain, and a correspond-
ing decrease to other parts of the body. Exercise prop-
erly taken restores the equilibrium by bringing action
to those parts of the body which have been at rest.

TEMPEEAMENTS.

There are different physiological conditions and dif-
ferent mental characteristics. Suppose, for illustration,
we compare two men whom we know. One of them is

170 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

a perfect specimen of manhood, well rounded, tall and
healthy ; there is another, sharp, angular. The contrast
between them is very striking. The first shows a com-
bination of the bilious, nervous, and vital temperaments.
How do we know it ? The second is of a nervous-
bilious temperament. The first has smootli hands, with
round, tapering fingers ; the other has angular hands,
with knotted, bony fingers. The muscles of the first are
well developed; the other is far inferior in muscular
development, and needs an active out-door life to give
him strength of body. Evidently they should follow
different occupations. Different temperaments need
different treatment ; hence, teachers should 6tudy the
temperaments of children. There may be one little
boy who can lift fifty pounds, but should we argue from
that that another who weighs as much can lift the same
weight ? Suppose we say to all the children in a school-
room, regardless of their temperaments and different
degrees of strength, " You must lift that fifty-pound
weight." All are absurdly put to lifting the same thing
in the same way, without regard to their ability.

There is a difference between trees. Compare the
basswood-tree with the hickory : one is easily broken, and
the other can be bent down without breaking, spring-
ing back again of itself. It is just so with children.
A child who has a nervous temperament does not need
to be goaded to work, but a boy of a bilious tempera-
ment may be so insensible that even a whip would not
bring him into the line of march. A teacher who can
understand the temperament of a child as soon as she
sees it will be the successful teacher. A child who has
a nervous temperament will learn rapidly, and may

HEALTH AND HYGIENE. 171

soon distance the others. Such as these should usually
be restrained, and never driven. Here is a case in point :
A little girl attending a school had a precocious mind,
but a slight, frail body. Her mother was proud of her
— anxious to display her ability. To the mother the
superintendent said: "You are killing that child by
pushing her too rapidly forward ; let her play out-of-
doors." The mother did not believe him, but urged the
child onward in her studies, and with the predicted re-
sult of death.

Every teacher should read what has been written
by the best authors on temperaments, and study human
nature as it is, mind and body together. We have
studied the mind without the body, and the body with
the elements composing it, but there is a mutual de-
pendence enabling us to judge each in some measure
by the manifestation of the other. In a person having
sharp, angular features, and a large, broad forehead, the
nervous temperament predominates ; while another with
a full, plump body, a round figure, and agreeable feat-
ures, is the possessor of the vital temperament. He has
a large, full chest, breathing-room for his lungs, and his
other vital organs are well developed. There is another,
perhaps, with a gaunt, angular physiognomy, sharp feat-
ures, large bones and joints, and a yellowish color of
the skin, with distant, hollow-looking eyes : he is of the
" bilious " or " frame-work " temperament.

Teachers, working among children, ought to manage
each child according to his temperament. Not forget-
ting, however, that pure air, good food, and cleanliness
are needed by all. 'Tis true, the bath is not a feature

of school-room work, but the teacher must impress its
12

172 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

importance upon the minds of all pupils. This applies
to day-schools. In boarding-schools the teachers have
the entire charge, and are in duty bound to attend to
this matter.

Physiology teaches that, in the form of insensible
perspiration, about five eighths of everything we take
into the body passes off through the pores of the skin.
For this reason clothing which is worn next to the body
during the day should not be worn at night, and that
worn at night should be well aired during the day.
Our beds, too, should be thoroughly aired during the
day, and the sleeping-rooms carefully ventilated.

Health and Hygiene — Body.

Parts.

Bones and joints.
Digestive organs.
Nervous system.

Muscles.

Circulative system,
Skin.

Support.

Food.
Exercise.

Air.

Rest and sleep.

Care.

Clothing.

Amount of air.

Hygiene of the school-house.

Kinds of food.

Ventilation.

Bathing.

CHAPTER XIY.

ONLY A BOY.

aA very peculiar boy, and the teacher does not un-
derstand him," is the confiding mother's verdict nine
times out of ten. Teachers, have you not already formed
ihe acquaintance of the " peculiar boy " as interpreted
by his affectionate but misguided mother ? Have you
not analyzed the ingredients of this "peculiar boy's
mind," and tested them in the educational balance?
Have you not studied his mental characteristics and
traced each one to its most secret hiding-place i Have
you not mapped every emotion, affection, and desire,
then divided and subdivided, and separated the true
from the false, and ascertained by so doing that " this
peculiar boy " had much in common with other boys ?
Did you take " this peculiar boy " mentally to pieces, and
find out by an examination of his intellectual and moral
mechanism that he was a well-contrived and well-made
human machine, capable of doing good work if only
properly regulated and directed ?

But here comes the boy himself. He stands before
us. He knows that he is " a peculiar boy." His mother
has said so a thousand times, and he has heard her
every time. She ascribes his singular disposition to

174 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

changes in the weather and other like occult influences,
all of which speculations assist the boy in playing a
dual existence, and changing from one to the other so
readily that his mother is unable to detect the decep-
tion.

I have yet to see the " peculiar boy " free from de-
ception. Peculiarity — or his peculiarity — may assume
a thousand different forms of mind and body. Not
long since I had the satisfaction of watching a "pecul-
iar boy " for fifteen minutes while his grown sister ex-
plained to the teacher some of the peculiarities of this
"peculiar boy," the chief of which was that he was
"unmanageable at home, and they could do nothing
with him " ; but she insisted that the teacher should
control him without punishing him for offenses he
might commit during school hours. This boy had seen
the snows of ten winters, and, while his sister proceeded
to enlighten the meek and patient teacher, the " pecul-
iar boy " indulged in the following innocent sports : 1.
He struck a boy near him in the side with a slate. 2.
He crawled around on the floor under his desk hunting
for a pin that he had dropped the day before. 3.
While on the floor he put his left foot above his desk
and executed a half-dozen kicking motions with that
same foot, pretending, as he said, that " his foot was
asleep, and he wanted to wake it." 4. Next he reached
across the aisle and jerked a boy's boot-strap. He had
not yet found the pin. 5. He lay flat under his desk
and inspected in a very deliberate manner a joint in the
floor. Well satisfied with the result of his floor observa-
tions, he crawled into the aisle, took a general survey
of the surroundings, and then arose, half -bent, and tick-

ONLY A BOY. 175

led a boy's neck with a scrap of paper. 6. A little girl
looked at him, and he pulled her hair to teach her a
practical lesson. 7. He now took his seat, and, in doing
so, cast furtive glances and winked at the pupils whose
eyes turned toward him. 8. In less than a minute he
was kicking a boy who sat directly in front of him, and,
when the boy complained, he declared that he " hadn't
touched the boy."

Treatment. — The above is only one instance of
many that have fallen under my observation. Yet the
question for the teacher to decide is what to do with
such cases ? Shall the boy be turned out of school be-
cause his influence contaminates others and he is far be-
yond the limit of parental control ? Before the teacher
arrives at a conclusion, all the circumstances connected
with the boy's history should be carefully and conscien-
tiously weighed.

If the teacher sees a chance to turn " his peculiari-
ties " to a good account, he will not be slow to do so ;
but, if no favorable conditions are present, there is only
one course for the teacher to pursue, and that is to send
the intractable child to his parents.

It is a mistaken policy for school authorities to per-
mit pupils to remain in school when they forfeit every
right that is guaranteed by the laws of the State. Any
citizen who behaves himself is entitled to the full en-
joyment of all those absolute and acquired rights given
by the Creator and by statutory enactments for his hap-
piness and general prosperity, but with this proviso,
that he will not abuse the great boon conferred, other-
wise he loses all.

The "peculiar boy's disposition" is a home-made

176 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

article, and badly spoiled in the manufacture. Sur-
rounded by an atmosphere of disorder, fitfulness, and
fickleness, perhaps tainted with deception and other
vices, he comes to school not to learn obedience, but to
do as he pleases without restraint. When the teacher
has exhausted all available resources, it is time to notify
parents and school authorities that the boy's presence
can not be tolerated longer in the school-room unless
there is a very sudden conversion.

Remark. — I am not now speaking of those defects
of the mind or of the body which render the child unfit
to be in school.

THE PETTED AND SPOILED BOY.

This specimen of the human species has not so
many ailments as the " peculiar boy." His case is dif-
ferent, symptoms are not the same, and the treatment
is also dissimilar. Unless everything goes to suit his
fancy, he is seen with a budding cry or a sprouting
whimper on his face. Crying for things or crying
because he can not have his own way, the acquired
condition of his earthly existence.

The little story of " Mother, I want a piece of cake,"
well expresses the visible co-efficient of this boy's face.
Right back of him at home is a weak-minded father or
mother ; probably both are afflicted with this complaint.
The boy being shrewd enough to understand their weak-
ness, and having found out that crying is the most ef-
fective plea to secure any object or the gratification of
any whim which he fancies, does not hesitate to employ
his skill to aid him in the furtherance of his wishes.
Having managed his parents, his next effort is to cap*

ONLY A BOY, 177

ture the teacher by the same means. Of course, an
experienced teacher will see through the situation at a
glance, and will not be imposed upon, although the boy
may be somewhat re-enforced by one or both his par-
ents, who, by misguided zeal and moral weakness, do
not clearly understand the nature of their own child
and just how to treat him. A vacillating will-power
and a perverse blindness to childish willfulness and de-
ception are serious obstacles to the teacher's progress
in correcting the faults of the "petted and spoiled
child." But the child is in school. He is spoiled.
The teacher knows it, and the pupils are not ignorant
of it either. How can he be most successfully treated ?
Here, indeed, is a school problem ! To give an answer,
let us suppose a hypothetical case. The boy is a deli-
cate little fellow physically ; large blue eyes, a high,
full forehead, flaxen hair, a slender frame, a milky com-
plexion produced from eating rich and highly seasoned
indigestible food, a nervous temperament, with only a
slight admixture with the motive and vital tempera-
ments. Picture him before you as the "petted and
spoiled boy " !

As I take it, the first step is to gain this child's con-
fidence. A dog knows how to approach a stranger and
win his kindness. There is some avenue open to this
child's better nature. A little judicious digging and
spading around will enable the teacher to find it. Make
no mistakes, but strike the right lead at first. Teacher,
don't dig till you are sure, and you will capture him.
He is taken as the farmer's wife catches a mole in the
garden. She waits and watches till the mole begins to
dig near the top of the ground ; then she digs with

178 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

the spade just ahead of the mole, and instantly just be-
hind him, tossing him out on top of the ground. She
never mistakes the hour, the place, or the means to cap-
ture the mole. By a little judicious and faithful work
the teacher can capture the " petted and spoiled boy,"
and have him completely under her control.

The child I have presented is of such peculiar men-
tal and physical organization as to be very susceptible
to appeals made to his higher emotional nature through
his intellectual faculties. Naturally, the child of the
delicately-wrought nervous temperament is not cruel
and brutal, yet he may be sly and crafty. Subdue or
lull into repose the vicious tendencies and stimulate the
nobler ones to increased activity. It may be necessary
to excite his self-approbation or his desire to have
others — and especially his teacher and schoolmates —
think well of him. Whatever influence is proper should
be brought to bear upon him to move him in the line
of right conduct.

Above all, the teacher must be honest with the
child. No deception will answer the purpose. Chil-
dren read motives, actions, and words intuitively.

Since the u petted and spoiled child " may be of any
temperament, let us extend our inquiries.

For present purposes children may be classified into
three groups, namely, the good, the medium, and the
bad.

The first group will give but little or no trouble at
home or in school. They behave properly, and only in
rare instances is one of this class to be reproved.

But the middle group, composing the vast concourse
of children, is highly susceptible to good and bad influ-

ONLY A BOY. 179

ences. These are the children standing " on slippery
places." Environments make or unmake them. If
started in the right direction, and carefully watched till
habits are formed and fixed, they will move onward
through life as honorable and useful members of society.
When passion is strong, the will-power weak, reason
only partially developed, and the habits in process of
formation, then it is that the child needs the steady
hand of the teacher to lead him along the dangerous
pathway.

Through affection for the teacher the wayward boy
becomes obedient, and most cheerfully submits to those
rules and regulations of school which are established for
his well-being. Without this spirit of love he submits
only from sheer necessity.

The incorrigible or untamed child is hard to control ;
but even the most vicious always have some good traitSo
These traits should be found out and then developed.
The human face is always a true index of the character.
Profoundly versed in faces, and knowing how to turn
everything to the best account, the teacher is skillful
only in proportion as he can change the natural tenden-
cies from viciousness to uprightness. Education does
not change the character; it changes the direction — the
life. It causes the individual to change his powers from
one mode of thinking, feeling, and acting to another.
The motives are different. Placing before the pupil a
better set of motives, and letting these impel him to
action in a newer and higher direction, is the chief value
of a right education.

To pluck out or displace a bad motive, and to put a
better one in its place, is the highest duty a teacher is

180 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

ever called upon to perform. Hunt, therefore, for the
good qualities in the child's nature. Develop these,
and the worst case of " petted and spoiled " may be
cured.

FIDGETY BOY.

No description of this irritation of the school-room
is needed. He is too well known.

The first step is to ascertain the cause of this state
of uncontrollableness. It may depend originally upon
two conditions of the body, namely, an inherited nerv-
ousness, or from a large preponderance of life and ani-
mal spirits in the system, such as usually accompany a
full development of the sanguine- vital temperaments;
or it may not be dependent upon either of these, but
merely capricious willfulness. In any event, probe the
case to the bottom, and then base your action upon the
result of your examination.

I will briefly indicate the remedies for these three
distinct types of " fidgets."

1. Keep cool, and never become flurried or excited.
Speak quietly, gently, in the school-room. Thus you
insensibly tone down the highly wrought nervous chil-
dren under your tuition. Your influence should soothe,
not irritate, the delicate children who are so susceptible
that every sound strikes a thousand tense nerves in their
bodies.

Here, also, is an excellent opportunity for the teacher
to study himself, and to note particularly what effect he
produces upon the minds of his pupils.

2. A pupil having a large supply of blood in his
body needs pure air and out-door exercise. Confined
in a school-room, he longs to get out and to get away.

ONLY A BOY. Igl

Nature indicates that he should run around. Let him do
something for you. Send him on errands. Such exercise
will purify his blood, and will keep him out of mischief.
Such pupils need work-shops as well as study-rooms.
3. The last case is managed easily. Don't permit it !

THE SULLEN BOY.

The infant is born into the world with capabilities
that may be developed. Everything he will ever know
must be learned. His tendencies, or the " bent of his
mind," are to be guided and directed. Early in life the
child is not supposed to know in all cases what is best
for him to do or not to do. Experience teaches lessons
after many failures. Proper education is just as need-
ful for the mind as food, air, clothing, and exercise are
for the body. To educate is, in one sense, to put the
mind in that condition so that it may gather knowledge,
arrange it, classify it, and have it ready for use ; and the
effort put forth in getting knowledge gives additional
power and skill to overcome other difficulties.

The sullen or stubborn boy is sometimes met with
in the school-room.

Symptoms. — For some reason the pupil takes it
into his head that he will not do anything the teacher
requests him to do. When spoken to, he replies fre-
quently by rolling his eyes in an indifferent sort of a
way about the school-room. When requested to move,
he sits still in dogged silence. If threatened, he is
equally indifferent. Threats and coaxing have precisely
the same effect — sublime and haughty contempt ! It is
no more nor less than his will-power acting through
stubbornness in opposition to the teacher's will.

182 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

Remedial Agents. — There are some old-fashioned
teachers who claim that a keen, tough switch possesses
excellent virtues in the hands of an able-bodied teacher
on such occasions. In a very few cases it may do good,
but let the switch be used very sparingly.

An Anecdote. — On one occasion a miss of fifteen
flatly refused to recite her lesson or answer any question
which her teacher asked her.

She was excused and took her seat. At the next
recitation she sat quietly, the teacher paying no atten-
tion to her whatever. Thus the day wore away. Next
morning she came to school in due time, meanwhile
chatting lively with her classmates. School was called.
At the proper time she took her place with her class,
ready for recitation. The teacher kindly and pleasantly
informed her that, till she could act in a becoming man-
ner, she would not recite to him, and, since she had
voluntarily chosen to deprive herself of the privileges of
school, the proper place for her would be at home ; she
was therefore excused. But he added that, if at any
time she concluded to comply with the rules and regu-
lations of the school, she might return. Three hours
later she came back. The teacher had conquered.

Time I regard as the essential element in outgener-
aling the " sullen boy." When the question of suprem-
acy of will-power is once decided, the question is settled.

THE FIGHTING AND SWEARING BOY.

Nearly all boys will fight and swear. There are few
exceptions. Of course, a boy may fight in self-defense,
or to protect another person ; or, under intense excite-
ment, he may use language more emphatic than refined :

ONLY A BOY. 183

it is not my purpose to discuss rare and exceptional
cases.

The right to protect one's self in his person, reputa-
tion, and property, is recognized as an instinct of our
nature, and all persons act upon this right, with the
exception of those who advocate the non-resistance
doctrine.

But the " fighting and swearing boy " is an intol-
erable nuisance in the school. As a disturber of the
peace he has few equals and no superiors. He takes
special delight in creating disturbances, and in getting
others into fights and broils, and then in glorying in
their discomfiture. One noisy, fighting, swearing boy
will contaminate an entire school, and nullify the teach-
er's efforts, unless some plan is adopted whereby his
course of conduct is turned into better channels.

Whenever the teacher finds such a case in school,
there should be no waste of time in setting about a
method of correcting him. If his instincts are low and
brutal, and through force of habit at home he has ac-
quired a quarrelsome and fighting disposition, there is
no higher element in his nature to appeal to than that
of overcoming physical force with physical force. It is
the same principle that enables Conklin to tame and
subdue the lion. A combination of mind and muscle
exercising sway over a lower order of mind may be the
means of elevating the latter ; yet the motives are cer-
tainly not those of the nobler kind.

Frequently it happens that the " fighting boy " has
a high sense of honor, and, having established his repu-
tation as a pugilist, he is exceedingly desirous of main-
taining the title, at no little personal sacrifice. If the

184 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

boy be of such a character, an appeal to his manhood is
perhaps the most effectual way of reaching him, and
thereby reforming his habits. Wrong notions of true
bravery have done much to foster fighting, and to give
it au air of respectability in many sections of our
country.

The toleration of prize-fighting and pugilistic exhibi-
tions generally, and the greediness with which accounts
of such matters are devoured by no small portion of the
public, help to foster the fighting spirit among school-
boys. Doubtless the statement is measurably true that
even the most highly enlightened and civilized com-
munities still retain many traces of barbarism. The
English, Irish, and a very large portion of the Ameri-
cans, have combativeness and destructiveness largely
developed, and they are too frequently impelled to work
off this superfluous energy through their fists and feet.

By his influence, inculcating higher notions of life
and the dignity of true manhood, and the brutal and
disgraceful features connected with fighting, the teacher
can do much toward creating a public sentiment in a
community against fighting.

" That man only is truly brave who fears nothing
so much as doing a shameful action, and that dares
resolutely and undauntedly go where his duty, how
dangerous soever it is, may call him."

By reference to noble deeds and virtuous actions,
placing higher incentives before the minds of children,
they may be taught to emulate the true, the good, and
the honorable of earth. Hence, by strong, earnest, hon-
est, continuous effort, the teacher may change, in almost
every instance, " the fighting and swearing boy " into

ONLY A BOY. 185

a quiet, orderly, and industrious pupil. Precept, prac-
tice, correct judgment properly applied, will effect more
toward turning the baser metal into gold than the
brightest visions of the alchemist's dreams.

THE LAZY BOY.

There is a prevailing opinion that no little child is
lazy, and, as an evidence of this fact, the activity and
sportiveness of all young animals are referred to as con-
firmatory of this belief. While it is admitted, and with
a considerable degree of plausibility likewise, that
healthy young animals really enjoy themselves in vari-
ous ways, yet I am not fully convinced, from all the
evidence now before me, that the analogy between ani-
mals and children will bear close and impartial investi-
gation. Be that matter as it may, if all young children
are not lazy, a considerable number " are born into the
world with an astonishing amount of tiredness fastened
upon them."

Laziness is a disinclination to work, either with the
mind or body, and some cases of it — whether hereditary
or acquired, it matters not — are actually found in school.
Upon physiological conditions, it is readily understood
how and why a rapidly growing child may be lazy.
Perhaps it requires all the vitality which he possesses
to satisfy the physical demands of his system. Lazi-
ness, unless it be a newly manufactured article, depends
largely upon temperamental conditions. These condi-
tions can, through a series of years, be modified, but not
entirely obliterated. An inquiry should be made here
as to whether the laziness is primary or secondary :
primary when it is inbred and inborn, and secondary

186 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

when it accompanies rapidly growing childhood. The
second phase passes away usually in the course of a few
years. The teacher can do little with laziness unless he
goes at once to the roots of the disease. To tell a child
that he is lazy oftentimes does more harm than good.

1. Occasionally the school-room feature of the case
is relieved by inducing the child " to go to bed early
and to sleep nine or ten hours out of the twenty-four."

2. A pupil may appear dull, stupid, and lazy, when
in reality he is slow to apprehend new things, or it is
with difficulty that he can turn from one subject to
another. In this instance he is usually classed as a
" lazy, slow boy."

3. Plenty of exercise in the open air is a wonderful
invigorator.

4. Light, easily digested, nutritious food aids mental
activity.

5. Laziness, or dullness, or fatness, can not be
whipped out of a child any more than learning can be
whipped into him.

THE LYING BOY.

All persons having a high regard for truthfulness
agree that it is better to speak the truth, though the
penalty of death be incurred, than to prevaricate. The
conflicting motives are present and future happiness.

Lying is so detestable that ancients and moderns are
unanimous in condemning it.

" Liars are the cause of all the sins and crimes in
the world." — Epictetus.

" A lie has no legs, and can not stand ; but it has
wings, and can fly far and wide." — Warburton.

ONLY A BOY. 187

u Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which
fits them all." — Holmes.

u Every brave man shuns more than death the shame
of lying." — Corneille.

u None but cowards lie." — Murphy.

" When first found in a lie, talk to him of it as a
strange, monstrous matter, and so shame him out of it."
— Locke.

The educator deals with human nature just as he
finds it in every-day life. While he may create lofty
ideals, and strive to reach them himself and to induce
his pupils to go as far or farther, yet it is mostly with
commonplace persons that his life is spent.

In a school, as in a community, a public sentiment
can be created, and that sentiment shapes, in a very
considerable degree, popular opinion.

In a community known for fair dealing in business
transactions, and whose people are truthful, and their
words fitly chosen and properly spoken, a liar stands a
poor chance, because he is readily known in his true
character as a dishonest man. Not unfrequently a liar
has found himself so out of place among honest and
veracious people that he has been known " to turn over
a new leaf and commence telling the truth," and in due
time to establish a fair reputation as a good citizen.
This may be ascribed mostly to the moral standard of
the community in which the prevaricator lived.

What is true of a community or neighborhood is
likewise true of a school. In effecting a general refor-
mation, the teacher is advised first to create a moral
sentiment, and, in an effective way, bring the public

opinion of the school up to that standard.
13

188 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

It is a well-known fact that children generally pre-
fer to have the good-will of their schoolmates rather
than their ill-will. Thus the many are united as a band
to uphold the unsteady one. One little kernel of conii-
dence planted in a boy's soul oftentimes works wonders
in his whole life. To know that he is trusted, and that
there are those who grieve and are sad at thought of his
bad actions, has been the means of lifting many a pupil
to a higher and purer life.

Here, again, the teacher's daily life, as he lives it, is
the most potent factor. It was the respect that the
" boys of Rugby " had for the open, manly character
of Dr. Arnold that kept them from lying to him. I
believe that nearly all children may be influenced simi-
larly.

ILLUSTRATION.

Twenty-five years ago there lived in a Western town
a boy ten years old. His father worked but little, and
the mother " took in washing " to get food for her chil-
dren. The boy — the eldest child — was called a " thief
and a liar " by everybody. Good people would not let
their children play with this " vagabond," as he was fre-
quently called.

A stranger was induced by a few prominent citizens
to open a select school in this town, but he was cau-
tioned by several responsible persons not to admit this
notorious boy to school: First, he would spoil better
children ; and, secondly, his parents were unable to pay
his tuition. Strange as it may appear, the stranger de-
cided that, if this boy should come to school, he would
admit him, for a while at least.

The first week of school came and went, and the

ONLY A BOY. 189

" notorious boy " was still running the streets ; but the
second Monday morning there he was, sure enough,
ragged, dirty, bright, and noisy — a regular " Ishmaelite,"
so to speak, among the other boys. School being called,
he came in and took a front seat. Presently the teacher
went to him and asked him very quietly and very
pleasantly " if he wanted to come to school." " You
bet," was the emphatic reply. The boy, apparently, re-
ceived little attention that day, yet the teacher had
taken a pretty correct measure of him before school
closed in the afternoon. Enough to say that on Wed-
nesday this boy was sent on an errand to purchase " chalk
for the blackboard," a little service that he performed
faithfully, and, by Friday night, he was behaving him-
self as well as any other pupil in school.

Next Monday morning he was at school early, and
helped the teacher make the fire in the stove. It was
then and there that that boy made the following manly
confession :

" Teacher," he said, " everybody says that I he and
steal, and that I am a mean boy ; nobody trusts me but
you. I want to be good, and won't you like me if I am
a good boy?" With tears glistening in his eyes, the
teacher took the child by the hand, and then said " Yes."

Years passed by. This boy learned a good trade,
became an industrious citizen, and, at last accounts, was
the possessor of a pleasant home, surrounded by an in-
teresting family.

The reader must not infer that all similar cases can
be cured in this way, but I am firmly of the opinion
that a very large percentage of cases may be reformed
under proper and judicious treatment.

190 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

The old adage, " Give a dog a bad name and hang
him," is just as true of people. W hen self-respect is
lost, all is lost, and there is nothing Jeft to build on, or
to build to.

One of the worst phases of lying is that in which
one pupil tells a deliberate falsehood in regard to an-
other pupil. When an offense of this character is com-
mitted, the offender should suffer for it ; and also when
a pupil lies and willfully persists in the lie afterward.
In such cases it is best to inform the parent or guardian
of the child's conduct. This delicate duty frequently
requires the rarest tact upon the part of the teacher to
avoid giving offense to the parent.

The precise nature of the punishment to be inflicted
must be determined mainly from the circumstances con-
nected with each case as it arises.

OTHER BOYS.

There are yet other peculiar boys that deserve a
passing notice.

Who has not seen the " sharp, sly, foxy boy " ? An
innocent look, yet beneath it all so many signs that told
the story of his character. And " the noisy boy," too !
Not mischievous, only noisy ! He, too, is to be tamed
down. A quiet, dignified teacher can calm him easily.

The real " saucy boy," who delights in worrying the
teacher, and whose memory is exceedingly treacherous,
is generally more than a match for a peevish, fretful
teacher. He is continually "forgetting," "speaking
without permission," or in some way or other troubling
the teacher. What he should not say, he says, and he
seldom does the right thing at the right time.

ONLY A BOY. 191

As such cases are not hard to manage if the teacher
keeps her temper, we dismiss them to introduce the
" scary boy " !

Some children are excessively timid ; so timid, in-
deed, that, if the teacher only look at them, they cry.
I was met on the street recently by a man who said
" that his little boy had been in school two weeks, and
yet the teacher would not let him recite a lesson. "
"• Strange," I replied, "but there is a mistake some-
where. Let us hunt it up." lie did not have time,
but I went at once to the room.

The child was there. He had not recited a lesson.
If the teacher but looked at him, he cried aloud ; if
she stepped in the direction of his seat, he would scream
with all his might. What could the teacher do ? She
was a lady of the kindest disposition ; her children loved
her, and by all of them she was called their " school-
mother." But this particular little fellow was " scary ";
it appeared to be born in him, and he could not help
it. Upon my advice he was taken away from school.

Usually, timid children soon get over their sensi-
tiveness, especially if the teacher treats them with kind-
ness and makes them feel that they have nothing to
fear.

In dealing with "hard or exceptional cases," there
are two ideas the teacher must ever keep in view : 1.
The good of the individual pupil. 2. The welfare of the
school. The welfare of the many must not be sacrificed
for the few or the one. Back of sympathy — back of all
devices — is the question of obedience. To this, as the
highest tribunal, all cases of disobedience, if they will
not yield to milder remedies, must be brought.

192 PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

The good teacher always keeps his reserve power
well in hand, and those who will not submit must suffer
the consequences of their own folly. One of the most
lasting lessons a system of education can inculcate is,
that transgression brings its own punishment.

The teacher, standing as it were at the threshold
of the child's life, sees two paths widely divergent, and
along which the child must choose one or the other and
travel. One leads out into the street — to vicious habits,
lying, theft, drunkenness, disgrace, poverty, and wretch-
edness ; a life without an aim, without a purpose ; a
wretched failure ! The other conducts to success in busi-
ness, secures the confidence and approbation of mankind,
elevates the race, dignifies humanity, and brings its pos-
sessor happiness and contentment in old age.

"With such conceptions of life the true teacher works
to realize his highest ideals, and, as his race is run and
he falls at last, he points out the path to a more glorious
reward for the " wayward boys."

Only a Boy.

1. A very peculiar boy. 5. The fighting and swearing boy.

2. The petted and spoiled boy. 6. The lazy boy.

3. The- fidgety boy. 7. The lying boy.

4. The sullen boy. 8. Other boys.

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1. The Philosophy of Education. By Johann K. F. Rosenkranz. Doc

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