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are its uses, in the presentation and so- board for receiving such hooks or nails lution of mathematical problems and as may be needed for the suspension of truths, in the drawing of maps and of maps, charts, cards and pictures. Such different objects in nature and art, in provision should be made, that there grammatical analysis, in the clementary should never be any temptation to drive teaching of reading, writing, and spelling nails into the wall.

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-in the illustration of every science with- 4. There should be an aisle around out exception, and in the giving of relief, the room wide enough for the scholars to young pupils weary of sitting, will not to work at the blackboard, without aneven then find, that he has as muchnoyance from others passing them, for blackboard as he would desire. He recitation seats, and for settees and chairs wishes often to send each member of his on occasions of public examination and largest classes to the board at the same of educational or other meetings. time. He thus obtains an insight into width of about three feet and a half will their mental processes and difficulties, be required for this purpose. Mr. Leach just as if he were bending over the shoul- says (17th Report, p. 85), that the outer der of each one, while at work with slate aisles of the school-room should be from and pencil at his desk. The blackboard "thirty-six to forty eight inches." There has been well said to be a window by are additional reasons why desks should which the teacher can look into the pu- never be arranged, as in many schools, pil's brain. Room is also wanted, to al- against the walls; as, that the building low some things to remain upon the may be better kept from defacement, that board from day to day. Mr. Burrows at the pupils may suffer less from draughts ter insisting on a certain amount of black-of cold air, and that the teacher may be board, adds, "If extended all around the able to pass around the room, and yet room, so much the better. It will add keep the whole school before him. very little to the cost of the building, if 5. The arrangements for lighting, provided for in the original contract, and warming, and ventilation ought to be of it will vastly facilitate the competent the most perfect kind; because children teacher's instructions." cannot at school as at home, take their

It is a common fault to make the black-places nearer or farther from the window board too high, from cor,forming it to the or fire at pleasure, and go, whenever height of the windows. It is recommend- they wish, to an open door or window ed that the latter should not be lower than for fresh air. It is desirable that the four feet from the floor, in order that desks should face a side of the room where the pupils may have more light, that they there are no windows; that the room may be less exposed to cross draughts of should have a generous height; and that air, and that they may not be diverted the windows, the better to subserve both from their studies by objects without.-light, warmth, and ventilation, should But in a school where the different ages be placed higher than is usual in dwelare united, the bottom of the black board ling houses. "The windows," says Mr. should not be higher than two icet and a Burrowes, "should not be less than six half from the floor, while the top should feet in height (while those of seven or be about seven feet. Even then some of eight feet would be better,) and placed at the younger ones, will work better by least seven or eight fect from the floor." standing on a platform. It may be added They should have blinds, both for their that a uniform stripe of this kind around own protection, and for the better reguthe room will have a better architectural lation of light and heat; and the sashes effect than patches of blackboard here should always be balanced with weights. and there. There should be a trough or It is astonishing that in so many rural deeply grooved ledge at the bottom of the school houses, no provision is even made blackboard, wide enough to hold the for letting down the upper sashes at all, crayons and rubbers, and also to keep the and thus changing the air of the room. backs of chairs and settees from marring Two or three hours work of the carpenthe board. At the top of the blackboard, ter would make these houses worth twice and also near the top of the room, there as much, during the ensuing summer, should be mouldings or narrow strips of, for study, comfort and health. Will not

our new Prudential Committees see that same sex should be connected under covthis great evil, which may be so easily er, so that they may be accessible to both and cheaply remedied, shall not exist any teacher and scholars, without exposure longer? to storms or observation, and without 6. To avoid crowding and consequent ploughing through snow drifts.disorder, an ample breadth shold be given There should be no free access to any of to doors, passages and entries. these from the street or an open yard.—

7. The teacher's platform should be at They should be studiously complete in the end of the room where the pupils en- their provisions, and carefully arranged, ter. This arrangement is required for so that they shall not be liable to become convenience in receiving visitors and offensive, and that there shall be no speaking with callers, in communicating temptation, on the one hand, to commit with the pupils as they pass in and out improprieties, or on the other, to violate and in preventing disorder in the entries. the laws of health. Physicians inform A small room should adjoin, for the safe us that the last consideration has a sekeeping of books and apparatus, for the riousness and an extent of which few teacher's outer clothing, for withdrawing, persons, out of the profession, are aware. if need be, with a visitor or refractory Except as these rules are observed, it will scholar, and for occasional use in an ex-be very difficult, if not impossible, for the tra recitation. There are advantages in teacher to maintain entire control over all giving to this room a glazed door, and the school premises and preserve them also placing, for the teacher's use, a small from abuse, to break up bad habits which window between the main room and each now extensively prevail, to give consisentry. The Teacher's eye is a great pre-tency to school influences, and to secure ventive of misconduct, and if it can rea- that absolute neatness, comfort, propriety dily command all the school premises, and delicacy, which should characterize will do much to obviate the necessity of the school no less than the home. It harsh command, of undesirable question-must never be forgotten that scenes and ing of pupils in respect to their own or surroundings, especially those of daily reeach other's behavior, and of severe pun- sort, have to all, and most of all, to the ishment.

young, a voiceless language, by which 8. In rural districts, where clocks do they convey lessons of wisdom or folly, not agree, and some of the scholars spend of virtue or vice, no less than books or their nooning at the school house, it is living teachers. What, we are constrainbetter that ante-rooms, or rooms in the ed to ask, are the silent but deeply imbasement, should be made comfortable printed lessons, that many of our schoolfor those who arrive early or remain at houses have been teaching, generation noon, than that the school room should after generation?

be exposed to injury from those active Such, without going into minute detail, sports which are so natural to childhood, are some of the most important principles and which it would be so difficult, even and rules of School Architecture. And if desirable, for the absent teacher en- now, we beg the privilege of appealing to tirely to repress or control. The mis- School Committees, Building Committees, chief that so extensively befalls our Teachers, Parents and Citizens generally. school rooms occurs chiefly during the Will you not give to these matters that periods of license before school com- candid and careful consideration which mences, and between the sessions. their far-reaching influence demands?--

9. In schools designed for both boys" When it is considered," says Mr. Mann, and girls-and we earnestly advocate in his first report as Secretary of the their joint education-it is of essential Board of Education, "that more than importance that all the personal accom- five-sixths of all the children in the State modations for the sexes, as ante-rooms, spend a considerable portion of the most clothes'-rooms, and retiring rooms should impressible period of their lives in our be entirely separate. There are reasons school-houses, the general condition of for this stronger than are presented in those buildings. and their influences upon the extract from Mr. Leach's Report, on the young stand forth, at once, as topics page 164. The various rooms for the of prominence and magnitude. The con

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struction of school-houses connects itself (3.) The word or analytic method, acclosely with the love of study, with pro-cording to which the child commences ficiency, health, anotomical formation, with words instead of letters. Words and length of life. These are great inter- are learned as wholes at first, and reading ests, and therefore suggest great duties. is entered upon at once.

It is believed that in some important The first two are, at least in appearparticulars, their structure can be im-ance, scientific; they begin with the eleproved without the slightest additional ments of a word and construct it. They expense; and that, in other respects, a are synthetic, as the third is analytic. small advance in cost would be returned At a later period in the child's education, a thousand fold in the improvement of the science of language, both spoken and those habits, tastes, and sentiments of our written, should be learned; but at the bechildren, which are so soon to be devel- ginning, the analytic is nature's method. oped into public manners, institutions, The child learns every thing in the conand laws, and to become unchangeable crete. He begins with the whole, and history.-Mass. Teach.

Superintendent's Department.

LETTER OF I. W. ANDREWS.

MARRIETTA COLLEGE, O. Sept. 25, 55, My Dear Sir:-I take great pleasure in acceding to your request, to state my views as to best method of teaching chil dren to read. The subject I regard as the most important one in primary education, and I have devoted to it considerable study and reflection. The views which I entertain, in common with most of the best writers on elementary education, (though some of them seem timid as to carrying them out to their legitimate results,) are based on a careful examination of the requisites for good reading, and of the character and capacities of those who are to be instructed in the art. I have

not the slightest doubt that they will be fully confirmed by experience, and become universally prevalent.

proceeds thence to the parts. In this way the child learns to talk. He commences not with separate sounds, but with words. He says baby long before he can give by itself the sound of b.

What does a child need, to be able to read a short easy sentence? He needs to know, at sight, the words in the sentence, and to be able to give their names-that dren are supposed able to perform when is, to speak them. This latter part chilthey enter upon the work of learning to read; they can speak any word which child is to learn of the teacher; to know they hear. The first part is what the the words at sight. And the child can never read a sentence well, till the sight of each word suggests its name. question then is, how can he best gain words? I answer, by the third of these this knowledge, this sight knowledge of

methods.

The

I shall not discuss these methods separately, but in endeavoring to show the superiority of the third, shall necessarily refer to the others. Let us suppose the process about to commence. On a card, or the blackboard, the teacher points to There are three methods of teaching a word,-man, for instance, and tells children to read. (1.) The common meth- the child its name. It is dwelt upon unod, according to which the letters of the til it can be recognized as readily by the alphabet are taught, then syllables, and child as a picture of a man; till it can be lastly words. In this method spelling is distinguished from other words as readimade to precede reading. The variously as the picture of a man from that of a combinations of vowels and consonants, horse. This is the first lesson, and a great constituting words or mere syllables are work is done when one word has been spelled orally before reading commences. thoroughly learned. A second word is (2.) The phonetic methed, by which the sounds, not the names of the letters, are first taught, which sounds are combined by rapid utterance, into syllables and words..

learned in the same way, and the two are read together. A third is learned, and the three are combined into a sentence. At each lesson, one or more new words are learned, and with the others, are read

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in various combinations. There is con- (if I mistake not) some years after he tinual practice, that all the words may be began to read, the child, instructed accormade perfectly familiar. But if a word ding to this method, makes in a few is forgotten, the child is never required days, viz: that reading is the art of getor permitted to spell it, but the teacher ting knowledge from books. He is able gives the word. Mere spelling-that is, to read understandingly in his easy primpronouncing the names of the letters in mer, and he enjoys it as much as his their order-could never give any clue to father does his newspaper. According the word itself, unless the word had been to the usual method, reading is calling associated with the spoken names of the words from books, and there is nothing letters; and this association, being indirect in the method calculated to beget a taste is the bane of good reading, and should for reading for knowledge, but such taste always be prevented. Before the child if formed at all, is formed in spite of the can read, he must associate the word tendencies of the method. with the letters, as visible things, and not (D) Monotonous drawling habits are with their names as given to the ear. avoided. All bad habits in reading are It is said that eleren small words con- formed; they come not by nature. They stitute one-fourth of all the words found are always to be charged either upon the on an ordinary page. Where the child system or the teacher. With the usual

hearers!

has mastered a few words, he can read system they are almost unavoidable; for, easy reading, and new words are learned as ab, eb, ib, etc., are utterly unmeaningwith great facility. And with a skilful less, the child draws the not irrational teacher, fifty words would be learned, I conclusion that all which he finds in his think, quite as soon as the alphabet alone, books is unmeaning also. Then the taught as it usually is. stopping to spell half his words must This is the method I would recommend. prevent reading in any true sense of the In its favor the following reasons may be word. Suppose one should do the same adduced : thing in talking-spell every other word (A.) It is the method dictated by na--how interesting both to speaker and ture. How any one could continue the common method, after observing how chil- Some people cannot get over the notion dren actually gain a knowledge of spoken that spelling must precede reading; that language, and of the various material ob- letters must be taught first, then syllables jects about them, I cannot conceive. The then words. This would be the order if first method is wholly unnatural, and has the science of language were to be taught; hardly a reason in its favor. And the but the child is not ready for that. How second is altogether too artificial to meet do we teach a child other things? If we the wants of children. wish him to become acquainted with a (B.) The word method is much more tree, do we uncover the roots to his view, rapid than the others. I am an advocate then show him the trunk, and the branchfor commencing the education at no early es and the leaves, and explain that all age. But there is no necessity in wasting these combined in one object make a tree? so much time in the elementary work of Or to give him an idea of a house, should learning to read. I do not deem it ex- we show him a pile of brick, some floor travagant to say that three-fourths of the boards, beams, doors, windows and chimtime would be saved by the method here neys, and tell him that all these constiadvocated. tute a house? It would be just as rea(C.) Children are interested in it.—sonable as to teach him to read in the Learning a, b, c, and ab, eb, bi, bo, etc, is usual way. In teaching children every necessarily to the child utterly unmeaning thing except written language, we comand therefore distasteful. But in this mence with the concerte; they learn the method he begins with real words; he is house and the tree as wholes and from learning the names of real objects; and these proceed to the parts.

he is conscious of doing something. He In is objected to the word method, knows that he is making progress. The that each word must be learned separatediscovery which Hugh Miller says he ly. That as a word is learned not by its made when reading the history of Joseph, letters, but as a whole, the child must

[For the Journal of Education.]

PALMYRA SCHOOLS.

Palmyra, June 1, 1856.

depend on the teacher for the name of eve ry new word. How is a new word learned by the old system, after a large number) are already familiar? Either the child) is told its name, or he calls it from its resemblance to words already known.That is, he generalizes. And cannot there be generalization by the eye as well posing that one object of your publicaas by the car? Suppose man, pan, ran, tion is to furnish your readers with inforare known, as also cat, car, cup. The mation concerning the actual condition word can, occurs for the first time. The

EDITOR JOURNAL OF EDUCATION:-Sup

force of e, known from the words cat, &c., of the schools of the state-what is dowill be united to the force of an, as ing and proposed to be done to improve known from man, &c.. and the child will, them, I propose, from time to time, (as of himself, call the new word. There is I travel through the state) to address no reason why the eye should not gener

had never before seen.

alize as readily and as rapidly as the ear; you, giving the results of my observaand experience shows the objection to be tion. The first settlers of this village groundless. I have seen children call ac- were from New York and New England, curately columns of words which they and as soon as they had provided shelter By this method the child actually acfor themselves and families, they erected quires a knowledge of the letters of the a school house in which to instruct their alphabet, in less time than if the effort children, and have maintained school, on were made to teach them alone; that is, an average, nine months of each year all the knowledge that is necessary for reading. If the child knows man from from that time (1843) till the present.— ran, does he not know m from r? He Eight years since they erected a two stoknows everything but the names, and ry brick building, which was then these are not of the slightest use in read-thought to be as good as any in the state; ing. And the names themselves will be. taught in a very short time without any finishing the lower part for a schooleffort on the part of the teacher. I have room, and the upper part for public meetnot said much respecting the phonetic ings, lectures, &c. method. Its advocates have done good service in pointing out the absurdities of the old system. And as to the assertion been divided into two departments, and that children may be taught to read the both the upper and lower rooms have parent language through the medium of been occupied, employing six male teachphonetics, sooner than without it, I do ers and a female teacher in the winter not doubt it, if the comparison is with the old system. But that this can be and two females in the summer. done by phonetics sooner than by the is now, for the first time in the summer, word method, I do not believe at all. a male teacher, (Mr. Jones) in the upper Indeed, a child can be taught to read phonetic books themselves, by the word department. method sooner than in any other way; The building is now somewhat dilapiand this I understand, the advocates of dated and is too small to accommodate all the old system themselves admit. The who need instruction. word method is, in truth, nature's method and therefore the one to be adopted. I. W. ANDREWS.

Hon. A. C. BARRY.
Superintendent, &c., Wisconsin.

For the last six years the school has

There

An attempt has

been made during the past year to commence the erection of a building suitable for a Union Graded School, but did not succeed. It is expected that better re

EARLY impressions are the most last-sults will be attained in the future and ing, and give color to all our after life.

that a substantial, commodious structure

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