tarianism on the one hand, and no religion on the other. And yet we are told by profound theorizers that this mean is impossible; that religious light must enter our schools through the stained glass of sectarian creeds and dogmas, or the blinds must be closed and religion wholly excluded. We point to the school system as it is,—with its religious influence as colorless as the sunlight; and we propose to stand by it. We do not ask the common school to undertake the work of technical religious instruction, but, for the right moral training of its pupils, it must be permeated and vitalized by the sanctions and motives of religion. These are the police forces of the world. They are stronger than civil government or law, and without them the natural virtues are powerless.

THE British Government has, for several years past, been making a thorough and comprehensive inquiry into the condition of education in the kingdom. Commissions for the several grades of schools have been appointed, and their investigations have been extended to the school systems of other countries. Several very able and exhaustive reports have been published. This inquiry has shown that, in popular education, Great Britain is behind most civilized countries—a fact not a little prejudicial to the highest interests of the nation. The result is the inauguration of a new educational policy, the main features of which are given in the article copied in another place from the Lordon News. The bill has passed the House of Commons and will probably pass the House of Lords. To an American, the scheme has, indeed, “a complicated appearance." It attempts to engraft upon the present voluntary system, largely under denominational control, certain compulsory features. The system would utterly fail in this country, and we doubt its complete success in England.

-THE school committee of the Senate has recommended the indefinite postponement of the bill creating the office of county school superintendent. This recommendation makes the defeat of the measure certain. The same committee also reported in favor of the indefinite postponement of the House bill giving county commissioners authority to appropriate annually not exceeding $100 for the support of a county teachers' institute—an assistance greatly needed in many counties. The bill was introduced into the House by Mr. Sterling, of Union county, and was passed by a large majority. There has been no Senate for years more illiberal in its school policy than the present one-a fact due to the blind party issue of retrenchment.

We are happy to be able to record the fact that the long-protracted fight over the agricultural college question has resulted in the passage of a law establishing a central institution. The land scrip was almost given away, and now comes the struggle of a half-endowed university, if the folly of uniting general and special education is attempted. The fund is only sufficient to sustain a good school of science, with special attention to agriculture, mining, and the mechanic arts. The work of general education must be reduced to a minimum. Every thing depends on the wisdom of the trustees, and this depends on the wisdom of the Governor.

FIRST STEPS IN TEACHING READING.

We commend Supt. Calkins's article on "Primary Reading" to all our readers who are interested in elementary instruction. The method of teaching reading which it presents, may be received as the best result of the experience of over twelve hundred primary teachers in New York City; and, we are pleased to add, that it is essentially the method which we have often presented at teachers' institutes, as many of our readers will recognize. We are very glad that its merits have been so thoroughly tested, and that its philosophy is so ably and satisfactorily presented.

We have long been satisfied that neither the A B C method, nor the phonic method, nor the word method, is the true method of teaching primary reading. Each is partial, being but a step in that complete system, which, for the want of a better term, we have called the Union method. We have also taught that the instruction should begin back of words-with the ideas which they represent. The three steps in word teaching relate first to the idea which the word represents; secondly, to the word as a sound; and, thirdly, to the word as a form. When the word as a whole is thus taught, it should next be composed and analyzed, first as a sound and then as a form; that is, the child should then be taught to spell words, first by the elementary sounds which compose them when spoken, and then by the letters which form them when written or printed.

These steps in word teaching may be thus represented:

It should be remarked that the above order is to be followed in the first lessons in reading. It is the initiatory method. Soon the child will be able to learn new words from the letters which compose them, and the earlier this ability is imparted the better, provided the natural order is not violated. The second step-the analysis of words-should not be long postponed. Indeed, the skillful teacher will find little difficulty in combining all these steps in the same lesson, and from the first. Most teachers, however, succeed better by using the word method exclusively until the pupil can read a few little sentences with fluency and natural expression. This can be done usually in from three to four weeks. The exclusive use of the word method for several months is a great mistake.

We would emphasize the importance of introducing the child to new words through the ideas which they express. This can not always be done, since the meaning of some words, as Mr. Calkins shows, can only be learned through their use. In the child's first lessons, this order may be generally observed. But whether the idea or the word is first taught, the idea should not be ignored. Few habits are more fatal to scholarship than the practice of handling words as forms and sounds, without reference to the ideas which they symbolize, and

especially is this true, when the parrot habit is formed in the mastery of the primer. It is well nigh a crime for a primary teacher to divorce words from their ideas. When the tongue utters a word, the idea should flash into the mind. The symbol should be filled with the thing symbolized.

PROGRAMME OF THE OHIO TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION,
COLUMBUS, OHIO, JULY 5, 6, and 7, 1870.

Tuesday, July 5.

7 P. M. Opening Exercises.

8 o'clock. Inaugural Address by the President, R. W. Stevenson, Superintendent of the Public Schools of Norwalk, Ohio.

Wednesday, July 6.-Forenoon.

9 o'clock. Opening Exercise.

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9

Business.

Report on Primary Instruction. Committee: J. F. Reinmund, M. F. Cowdery, and A. J. Rickoff.

Discussion to be opened by Wm. Mitchell.

Afternoon.

2 o'clock. A Paper on Teaching Morals, by E. T. Tappan, President of Kenyon College, Gambier, O.

Discussion to be opened by S. G. Williams, Principal of Cleveland High School.

Evening.

8 o'clock. Annual Address by W. H. Venable, of Cincinnati.

Thursday, July 7.-- Forenoon.

9 o'clock. Report on Best Method of Conducting County Examinations of Teachers, by J. C. Hartzler, Superintendent of the Public Schools of Galion, O. Discussion to be opened by A. B. Johnson, of Avondale.

Afternoon.

2 o'clock. Discussion of the Report of T. W. Harvey on the Best Method of Conducting Teachers' Institutes, read last year at Cleveland. Discussion to be opened by M. F. Cowdery.

Opening speeches in each discussion are limited to ten minutes each, and the subsequent speeches to five minutes each.

If any person to whom the Executive Committee have assigned a part in this programme, shall find it inconvenient to perform such duty, he is requested to inform the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the fact immediately.

It will be observed that the Executive Committee have made a shorter programme this year than ever before. This is to allow ample time for the

discussion of the different subjects. The Committee, in accordance with a generally-expressed wish, have thought best not to advertise free entertainment. The free entertainment-system is a great tax upon the teachers in the towns in which the Association is held. Last year it cost the teachers and friends of education in Cleveland nearly six hundred dollars for the boat ride, festival, and hotel bills for ladies. The Association has met more frequently in the city of Columbus than in any other place in the State, and the ladies have always been entertained free. The same hospitality would no doubt be tendered again, if the Committee should ask for it.

Ladies who come and pay their own bills will feel more independent, and will have a stronger claim on Boards of Educations for increased salaries. Every effort will be made to secure reduced fare on railroads, and at hotels and boarding-houses.

It is believed that the next Association may be made the most profitable, if not the largest, yet held in the State. Let every energetic teacher be present that can possibly come. W. D. HENKLE,

Chairman Ex. Com. O. T. Association.

MISCELLANY.

WHEN notified that a subscriber has failed to receive the MONTHLY, we remail the missing numbers.

THE many friends of the MONTHLY will be glad to learn that the year has opened very encouragingly. The number of new subscriptions received promises a circulation larger than that of any preceding year. April will tell the story. How many of our readers will try to send at least one subscription before the month closes? Teachers, have you asked the members of your school board to take the MONTHLY? Would not its perusal make them more intelligent and earnest school officers? A word to the wise is sufficient.

THE school board of Cambridge, Mass., having tried the experiment of running its schools under a rule forbidding the use of corporal punishment, has called upon the teachers for a report of their experience. Eight say the new system works well; three favor it with some qualifications; and forty-six vote for going back to the use of the rod. This shows that but a small minority of our teachers are qualified to maintain proper discipline without any dependence upon physical force.

THE meeting of the National Teachers' Association to be held at Cleveland, August 17, 18, and 19, affords committees arranging for August institutes, an opportunity to secure the services of experienced instructors from other States. They will bring new methods of instruction and management, and the result can not be otherwise than beneficial to the institute work of the State. We shall be very glad to assist committees in making the necessary arrangements. The teachers of Summit county have already engaged Mr. Northrop, of Connecticut, and Mrs. Smith, of Oswego, N. Y., for the two weeks succeeding the Cleveland meeting.

CANTON. The school population of this growing manufacturing town has more than doubled within the last ten years-the present enumeration being over 3,000.

The public schools now enroll 1,230 pupils, and this number would be considerably increased by more adequate accommodations. All the school rooms are crowded, and the primary rooms are "jammed." The board is taking steps to erect a large school building this year, and another each succeeding year, until the demand for room is met. The schools consist of one high school, enrolling 75 pupils, two grammar schools, three secondary schools, eight primary schools, two mixed schools, and one German school, and, considering their crowded condition, they are making commendable progress. The discipline is so evenly sustained, that the rod is seldom used, and only, in a few instances, have pupils been expelled. The teachers act on the maxim that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." The rule of the board now leaves it optional with teachers to open their schools by the reading of the Bible and the repetition of the Lord's Prayer, or to dispense with these exercises. This arrangement gives general satisfaction, and the excitement, caused by the exclusion of the Bible from the schools, has wholly subsided. The Canton schools have been for several years under the supervision of Prof. Daniel Worley, an excellent scholar and a teacher of large experience.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE.-The public schools, which include five departments, are occupying the new school building, a fine structure erected at a cost of near $30,000, and furnished with a bell weighing 800 pounds. The high school enrolls 48 pupils, all but two of whom are studying Latin. The classes in algebra, natural philosophy, astronomy, and other higher branches, are making good progress. New apparatus has been purchased. The schools are under the supervision of Mr. J. J. Burns, formerly in charge of the schools of Washington, Guernsey county. A recent number of the Wheeling Intelligencer contains an address delivered by Mr. Burns before the teachers' institute of Wheeling. It is full of good thoughts, well expressed.

AKRON.-The annual report of the board of education pays a very high compliment to Supt. Findley, and also to Mrs. Stone, Miss Herdman, and several other teachers. Their labors are pronounced highly satisfactory to all interested in the prosperity of the schools. The experiment has fully demonstrated that the paying of good salaries to well qualified teachers, is the best of economy. Mr. Findley's report is one of the best documents of the kind that has come to our table. It is pointed, practical, and sensible. We have marked a few passages for future use.

MADISON COUNTY.-The county teachers' association, recently organized, is holding monthly meetings at London, and gives promise of great usefulness. School Commissioner Henkle was present at the meeting held Feb. 12th. The Union says his address was "full of practical ideas and sound advice." M. H. Wood opened a discussion on the best means for awakening a greater interest in common schools; Mr. Reeder read an essay on manners and morals in school; and J. D. Stine made a strong appeal to teachers and school officers to sustain the association. At the meeting held March 12th, it was voted to hold a teachers' institute the week beginning April 4th, with a monthly meeting on Saturday.

CLARKE COUNTY.-Some sixty persons were present at the meeting of the county teachers' association, held at Springfield, March 12th. School Commissioner Henkle gave two addresses-one on "Self-Culture" and the other on "School Statistics." Mr. J. E. Gilbert, of Dayton, gave a lecture on "Reading and Elocution." He also conducted an exercise in arithmetic, which was followed by an object lesson, the class being composed of pupils from the public schools. The association is accomplishing a good work.