II. WRITING COPY.-Let the copy be such a combination of letters that the children cannot carry the whole in the eye, and so copy their own writing; e.g. rmognp.

Write one letter at a time, calling attention to the elements (stroke, turn, loop, etc.), and to the junctions, height, depth, spacing, up and down strokes, etc. Split up into its component elements, and write these separately on a second blackboard, or beneath the copy. Let a child come out and write on the blackboard beneath the word a copy of it between horizontal lines. III. CORRECTION.-The teacher then goes in and among the class to make individual corrections, referring to the following heads :—

(1) Holding the pencil.
(2) Position of slate.
(3) Position of body.

(4) Too short pencils.

(5) No transgressing top and bottom lines except with certain letters:

(6) No thick upstrokes.

(7) No faulty shapes.
(8) No imperfect junctions.
(9) No irregular spacings.

(10) Proper height and depth.
(11) No flat-backed curves.

(12) No cramped writing.

(13) No copying the child's own writing.

The errors must not only be pointed out individually, but corrected by the teacher and pupil. It is a good plan to let the child stand as it finishes the word, holding up its slate; this limits the number claiming attention at one time.

SUMMARY OF TEACHING TO WRITE (STANDARD I.).

(1) Let the writing of the teacher be bold, round, and non-ornamental.

(2) Avoid angular writing.

(3) Let the writing be nearly upright, rather than too sloping.

(4) Aim at uniformity in height, width, thickness, depth, slope, and spacing.

(5) Take care of the junctions.

(6) Never let the class begin to write without Writing Drill.

If

(7) Let the children be occasionally practised in writing complete words, without taking the pencil off the slate. (8) Never let anything once written be erased. words are misspelt let the corrections be written over the mistakes.

(9) Let the copy on the board be written within lines. (10) Do not let the writing become smaller than halftext.

(11) Let all the slates be ruled to one pattern.

(12) Insist on neatness (absence of blots and "smudges'). (13) Let the children have sufficient room in the desks. (14) Insist on the pen or pencil being properly held, and prepare for the tendency of the child to point the pencil and pen to the left instead of to the right.

(15) Throw away all short pencils (or better still, put them into pencil-holders).

(16) Let the teacher write her very best on the board. (17) Do not allow much writing to be done at a time. (18) Turn the writing upside down; if it is well written it will appear symmetrical in this position.

(19) Let the teacher accustom herself to examine the slates from the front as well as from behind the childrenpractice will soon make one as easy as the other.

(20) Correct the errors on paper with black or blue pencil not with pen and ink.

(21) Never allow more than one line of transcription to be written without examining.

DIFFICULTIES TO BE ANTICIPATED AND MET.

(1) The crotchet on the right of the r, is generally illshaped, because it is not often taught from the blackboard as a separate element. It properly consists of a convex curve made with the up stroke, and a concave turn with the down stroke.

(2) The o, a, g, d, and other letters made up of o in combination with another element, are not begun with an up stroke in the middle of the right-hand curve of the letter, as they should be, but like u with a down stroke, while a kind of lid is stuck on afterwards.

(3) The stems of the d, h, etc., are not level with line above.

(4) The loops are not all of the same width, height, and depth.

(5) The writing is not all on, or within, the lines.

(6) The curves are apt to become too flat, and the writing in consequence too cramped.

(7) The down strokes are foggy, cloudy, not of uniform thickness, or gradually swelling.

PRACTICAL HINTS FROM REPORTS OF H.M.'S INSPECTORS ON WRITING (STANDARD I.).

"When children under seven have learnt to form their letters properly, there is little difficulty about the handwriting of Standard I. (and II.). False economy or inattention to the minutiae of school-keeping have much to do with

faulty handwriting. Slates badly ruled, or ruled without reference to the class which is to use them, pointless fragments of slate pencil might and should always be avoided."-MR. BALMER.

"The character of the child's writing depends on the teacher; where the teacher writes a good hand, so also does the child; and vice versâ." -MR. BOYLE.

"Good writers abound in schools where careful copies on the blackboard, or in well graduated copy-books, are regularly used, and where the teacher writes well himself, and gives careful instructions in the formation and proportions of the various letters, and attends to uniformity, legibility, and boldness of style."--MR. CROFTS.

"The writing classes are left too much to themselves, or to the crude instructions of a pupil teacher, and posture is not sufficiently insisted on."-MR. CODD.

66 · Children who have been allowed to write on slates alone can hardly be expected to take to writing on paper as readily as those who began at a much earlier period. When copybooks come into general use in Standard I. there will be much less room for complaint as regards the handwriting. A suitable course of oral teaching, combined with a judicious use of the blackboard, should always occupy a prominent place in the writing lesson, and a correct method of holding the pen should be more strongly insisted on."-MR. VERTUE.

"A good attitude, and a right method of holding the pen will always be indispensable: tidiness, symmetry, boldness and roundness of outline are equally important.”—MR. WARBURTON.

"The remedy for bad writing is to be found in the constant use of the blackboard in teaching writing, a thorough drill in the few elementary lines and loops and crooks that make up our written alphabet, in showing exactly where the turn begins, how far up or how far down the line must go, and where and how the joinings are to be made. In too many

instances the pupil is left to the freedom of his own will, and develops a style of his own, which is never a good one."MR. WALKER.

"Letters should be dissected, and their formation pointed out on the blackboard, as regularly and carefully as Arithmetic or any other subject is taught."-MR. JOLLY.

By far too much time is daily devoted in many schools to writing on slates, long after they ought to be writing on paper."-MR. WILLIAMS.