It gets the idea by association. It associates the spoken word cat, with the real object. After a few words have been learned the child begins to acquire thought. The mother says, "the cat is on the bed." The child sees the position of the cat and at once says, "cat on bed." Purely by hearing the words and seeing the relations it learns the sentence. No mother teaches a child such words as is, here, the. The child learns these in the sentence and by imitation.

Learning to Read.-After the child has learned to talk fluently and acquired a vocabulary of spoken words, it may take a second lesson in language, learning to read. This work should not begin too early in life. It is not wise to begin teaching a child to read until it has acquired much knowledge of objects and relations of objects. Children are greatly injured in being sent to school too early. The questions that now confront us are: How shall we begin? What method shall we adopt? Let me say right here, that the proper place to begin is where the mother left off. No new way is necessary. Let us here recapitulate:

In learning to talk the child acquires knowledge, as follows: 1. It learns ideas, the words as wholes. 2. Relations of words. 3. It associates the spoken word with the idea. 4. The child forms these words into sentences and has thoughts.

In talking, the child has learned words by hearing; now it is to learn by seeing. The child should not be permitted to read a sentence until it recognizes the written word by seeing it just as perfectly as it does the spoken word by hearing it. In one case the word is heard; in the other it is seen.

In teaching a child to read, there should be the slightest change possible from the general method of learning to talk. If we follow out this plan there will not be much dispute about methods.

Methods.-There are several methods of teaching a

child to read. Those most generally used are as follows: 1. Alphabetic. 2. Phonic. 3. Sentence. 4. Word Method.

1. ALPHABETIC.-The alphabetic method begins by teaching the child the letters. The child repeats the letters from A to Z, and from Z to A. This method is objectionable; it is in opposition to the plan used in learning to talk. Letters are fractions of words, and we should not begin with fractions. It would be just as sensible to begin the study of arithmetic at fractions. The word is the unit of language.

2. PHONIC METHOD.-The phonic method begins with the sound of the letters. This certainly is the correct way to learn pronunciation, but it is not the way to learn to read. The child learns to talk without thinking of the elements of the word. It should learn to read in the same way. It would be as reasonable for the mother to begin to teach the child to talk by first giving it a lesson in the elementary sounds of the language as to begin teaching reading in that manner.

3. SENTENCE METHOD.-The sentence method begins with the sentence as the unit of language. This is objectionable. It assumes that the sentence is the unit of language. Certainly the word is the unit, We should begin with units, and not with their combination.

4. WORD METHOD.-The word method is the true method, for the following reasons:

1. It coincides with the manner of learning to talk. The child first learns the word as a whole. You do not teach the child that this is a leg, this a head, this a foot, this a tail, and after learning all its parts say "these things make a cat." No! You teach the word cat as a whole.

2. Language begins with words, and not letters or

sentences.

3. This method proceeds from the known to the un

known. We begin with the spoken word and pass to the written.

4. It passes from the whole to the part analytically.

Learning a Vocabulary of Printed Words.-Learning to read is learning a vocabulary of words. The question is, what is the best way to learn a vocabulary of words? It is plain common sense to continue as in learning to talk, by presenting the object to the eye of the child. The word must be learned as a whole. What words should be taught first?

1. FAMILIAR SPOKEN WORDS.-The child has acquired a vocabulary of spoken words, and these words should be the first to be presented. Meaningless words, ba, be, bi, etc., should be discarded.

2. OBJECT WORDS.-The first words taught should be the names of objects.

Manner of Teaching a Vocabulary.—The teacher holds up a hat and says: "What is this?" The correct answer follows. Here a few words may be said to create an interest. The teacher now draws the picture of the hat on the board and continues: "What is this?" All will say, "That is a hat." Well enough. Do not worry the patience of pupils in making an elaborate explanation, showing the difference between a real hat and the picture of the hat. The child knows the difference. Ideas are what you are after now. Once telling a child is sufficient. With chalk in hand the teacher says: "Now, you watch me and I will make the word hat. This word here on the board is the word hat. When you see this (referring to the object hat) you think of what?" "We think of a hat." "When you see this picture, you think of what?" "We think of“ a hat also." "Yes, that is correct. Well, now, when you see this word you think of what?" "We think of a hat again." "Yes; now watch me make the word. Do you think you can make it? You may try it shortly. Will you know the word hat whenever you see it? Let

us see. I will write several words as follows: Cat, man, hat, cap, dog, fan, cap, hat, bat, hat. Who can show me the word hat?" Here let the children notice differences. Most of them will select the correct word. If some point out the wrong word, let the class get into debate about the matter. The teacher continues: "You may now go to your seats, take your slates and see if you can draw that word hat." In the same way teach other words. It is remarkable how rapidly children will learn these words. After ten or twelve words have been learned, the teacher may say: "Now let us have a chalk talk. You bring me what I write on the board." The teacher writes hat, cap, book, fan, and several objects accessible, and different members of the class bring him the objects. After fifteen or twenty words have been perfectly learned, words that are not names of objects may be presented. All words that are not names of objects should be learned in phrases and sentences. Never attempt to teach the article the, the adjectives, conjunctions or verbs by themselves, but always teach them in the sentence. The child, in learning to talk, was never taught the, is, run, etc. It simply learned these words by relations.

The teacher, holding up a fan, says: "What kind of a fan is this?" "A black fan," is the reply. "Now I will say, with the chalk, what you have said. What does the chalk say?" "A black fan.” "Yes, that is right. I will now change the word. What does the chalk say?" The teacher erases fan, and writes hat. The pupils will then say, a black hat. Several words may be substituted instead of fan, leaving A black the same all the time. I said before that after fifteen or twenty words are perfectly learned, the sentence might be introduced. I want to emphasize the word perfectly. The child must learn these object words so well that when it sees the word hat it knows it just as quickly as if you should have spoken the word. There is no reason why the child ought not to get the idea hat just

as quickly by seeing the word as by hearing the word. So see to it, that before the sentence is introduced, the child has learned perfectly fifteen or twenty names of objects. After a few words of quality, black, red, white, etc., have been taught in phrases, lead the child to say, "The hat is black." Here you have introduced one new word. When the child has said the hat is black, write the sentence on the board and continue: "What does the chalk say?" "The chalk said, 'The hat is black."" Very well. Tell me now what the chalk says: "The cat is black." "What does the chalk say?" "The cat is black." This exercise may be continued to suit the teacher. Change one word, then the other, leaving is the same all the time. When fifteen or twenty changes have been made, call the child's attention to the new word. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the child will tell you what the word is. It has learned is in the sentence just as it did in learning to talk. No one taught it. Never let the child stop to call a word. Let the words be thoroughly familiar. The child does not stop to think of the words in the sentence, "The man is in the house," when talking. It must see the sentence as clearly as it hears it. When from one hundred to one hundred and fifty words have been learned, let the teacher say to the children: "To-day we will have a chalk-talk. You may do just what the chalk says. Ready." The teacher, remaining perfectly silent, writes, and the children perform:

99 66

"Stand up," "Sit down," "Come here," "Go to your seat," "Lift your right hand," "Put your hand on your head," "On your nose,' Bring me a book." This exercise may be continued at the pleasure of the teacher. Never continue any exercise until it becomes irksome. When the child has learned its little vocabulary, write fifteen or twenty words on the board, and permit the child to make sentences. Here the child takes its first lesson in original composition. This is