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as so much time wasted. And they are right. As they teach it, it is time wasted, and worse than wasted; for the child, whenever he is unfortunate enough to prepare the lesson assigned in such a manner as to make a creditable recitation, not only does not gain an intelligent idea of a single principle, but is forming a bad, a most pernicious habit of mind; a habit of taking on trust, of learning by rote, before grasping the ideas contained in the words he repeats.

As grammar lessons are generally, or, at least frequently, conducted, it seems to me, that the child who takes his seat in disgrace, with a reproof for idleness, carelessness, or whatever the teacher may consider the cause of his failure, is far better off than his neighbor, who has the whole lesson at his tongue's end, and can discharge his polysyllabic volleys without apparent effort. The former, in disgrace though he be, has lost nothing, even if he has gained nothing; but the latter has not only gained nothing, but has lost much: for the step which he has taken towards the formation of a bad habit of mind has retarded the free development of his mental powers more, much more, than any information he may have contrived to glean can atone for.

Better that a child should have a thorough understanding of some one thing, an understanding acquired by the exercise of his own reason, an understanding in which there is no weak joint, than that he should have a vague, general impression - it cannot be called an idea - of five hundred.

It is really surprising that, in the present advanced state of civilization, any children should be so imposed upon, as are our precious, much-talked-of Massachusetts children; more surprising still, that no teachers, or at least so few, have broken through the hedge of custom, and declared against this imposition upon the brain of childhood. All, or nearly all, content themselves with declaring against the introduction of the study into our public schools, I speak more particularly of Boston public schools, at the age at which it is now commenced. Look at one of the grammars whose use by children just entering on the new and untried fields of grammatical lore has been sanctioned by high authority: what is the first statement we find? "Language is the

medium by which we express our thoughts." The beauty of the adaptation of this information to the mind of a child will be at once perceived. Before the poor child has recovered from the effects of it, behold, another shock! "Language consists of a great variety of sounds which are used as the signs of our ideas, and are called words." After that, what child could have any difficulty in defining a word? Of course it is of immense importance that he should be able to do so, promptly and fluently. But now comes number three, capping the climax! "All these sounds may be reduced to a small number of simple sounds, which are made intelligible to the eye, as well as to the ear, by means of certain marks called letters!"

Now, how can a child ever feel any interest in, or attraction towards a study which is presented to him in this appalling, and awe-inspiring manner? What possible benefit can it be to him, to have these learned and incomprehensible definitions thus hurled at him, at the very outset of his long and toilsome journey? It may be said the teacher can make it intelligible; but I think not. If she puts the book into the child's hands, he will learn those definitions, without attaching the least idea to them, however much they may be explained. And yet each teacher in our city schools is required to carry her class to a certain limit in this book, and almost all teachers, understanding this regulation, literally do carry their classes to the required limit, at the same time feeling its uselessness, even if they do not feel its hurtfulness. All through the grammar from which I have already quoted, and the preface of which states that it it is designed for beginners, the same glaring defects present themselves; for instance: "A vowel denotes pure sound only; a consonant, a contact of the organs of speech." Or again: "Case is the sense or form in which nouns. and pronouns are construed with other words, to express thought.” Or still again: "A participle is a form of the verb, that merely assumes the act, or state, and is construed like an adjective."

Perhaps it may be urged: "But the author of this book explains all these difficult terms in notes at the bottom of the page." Very true; - take for example his term "reflexive": "Reflexive,- turning back upon itself, that the act or relation reverts to the subject."

What child could possibly have a false idea of the term "reflexive " after that!

I was present at a recitation not long since, in a school that shall be nameless, when the following incident occurred. A child was asked to give the definition of a primitive, a derivative, and a compound word. Without a moment's hesitation, he rattled it glibly off. "Very well," said the teacher with an approving smile, "now, will you give an example of a compound word?" That was something of a poser; he hesitated and began to look somewhat alarmed at the near prospect of a lost credit, when all at once his face brightened, he had it! "Well," said the teacher, encouragingly; "Breeze-build!" exclaimed the boy in a triumphant tone. Recovering from my first amused surprise, I glanced down the page to see if I could discover any clew to the idea in his mind, which might have led to such an absurd reply, and discovered that the examples of primitive, derivative, and compound words were contained in the same paragraph, and the poor child, probably thinking that any two words coming together, constituted a compound word, had given the two examples of a primitive word.

But I suppose readers will say by this time: "We know all this. If you have any suggestions to offer, as to how these difficulties may be obviated, let us have them." Here, then, are my suggestions. New ideas I will not call them, for I doubt not some dissatisfied and determined teacher may have devised something similar, before now. To go back, then, to my first statement, I hold that grammar, from being the special object of school-boy hatred, may be made his delight; that from being the drudgery of the teacher's life, it may be made a recreation. How? By taking a firm stand on these principles of Pestalozzi, the great educational law-giver: -1. "Develop the idea, then give the term. 2. "Proceed from the known to the unknown; from the particular to the general; from the concrete to the abstract; from the simple to the more difficult." 3. First synthesis, then analysis not the order of the subject, but the order of nature." The truth of these principles, I believe, will be admitted by every teacher; and no one can fail to see the glaring violations of them, furnished by all the examples I have quoted. But how, in

a first lesson, can these principles be carried out? I will try to exemplify.

Here are two teachers, we will suppose, one of the old school, and the other of the new. The first, standing before her class, book in hand, makes the following announcement with an inward groan at the drudgery in prospect: "The class may take the first four remarks," or, as it is probably stated, "the coarse print on such a page." These remarks we will assume, are the following: "A noun is a name. There are two kinds of nouns proper and common. A proper noun is the name of a particular object, which distinguishes it from other objects of the same kind. A common noun is a name that can be applied to all objects of the same kind."

The teacher reads these remarks to the class; then, thinking some explanation necessary, continues, "Perhaps you may not understand the difference between a proper and a common noun. I will try to make it clear. Suppose I say: "A boy in this room is out of order; do you know whom I mean?" "No." "Why not?"-" Because we are all boys."-" Or, in other words, the name 'boy' may be applied to each one of you. Now look at the definition, and see whether you would consider boy a proper or a common noun, if it can be applied to each of you." A correct answer being soon obtained, the teacher continues, "Suppose say, 'Smith is out of order,' do you know then whom I mean?" "Yes."-"Why?"-"Because there is only one Smith in the room." "Then we may say that his name 'Smith' distinguishes that particular boy, from all the other boys, may we not? What kind of a noun is 'Smith,' then?" After a few more illustrations of this sort, comes the inevitable finale: "Study the lesson, now; be able to recite each of these definitions, promptly." We will pass over the fact, that many and many a teacher, would content herself with the last remark, without any previous explanation.

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It may be said that this is a good method of teaching the subject; that the distinction is made clear to the children and illustratrated in such a manner, that the definitions are no longer meaningless to them. It may be so; these definitions are couched in more appropriate language than some that have been quoted. But

let us go back to our principle; "Develop the idea then give the term." Is it obeyed in requiring a child to commit to memory the first remark, "A noun is a name?" Does not the term come first, and is the idea developed at all? The weakness of this method is obvious, if we take a firm stand on our great, underlying principles.

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Let us now take a glance into the school-room of our second imaginary teacher. What do we see? She is standing before her class, no book in her hand, saying, in a cheery tone, totally free from that undertone of weariness so obvious to a quick perception in the voice of the first: "Tell me the names of some of the objects that you see in the room," writing them. on the board as they are given, "the names of some of the objects you can see from the window; of some of those in your own homes." Continuing in this way till she has made out a list of some fifteen or twenty words, she asks, at length: "What are all these words that I have written ?" "Names of objects." Now, it will be observed, the children have a clear idea of a noun; ask them for the name of an object, and they cannot be mistaken. The first requirement, then, of our principle is acted upon; an idea is developed. What remains? Give the term. This is done in a minute, and the whole thing is finished. How simple this operation is! Yet the children are kept interested throughout the lesson; even the dullest are familiar with it, and the knowledge is gained without the exercise of severity on the part of the teacher, or of conscious effort on that of the pupils. In fifteen minutes the idea has become a part of themselves, and they would no more think of calling a noun a conjunction-as I have heard boys fourteen, fifteen, sixteen years of age do, repeatedly. -than they would of calling white black. And this applies to the dullest children in the class as well as to the quickest.

At the end of the first lesson let us see how the two classes compare. Those of the first, who have worked hard, either from choice or under compulsion, have learned the words contained in the definitions of a noun, and the two great classes of nouns, with such idea as they may have been able to extract. Two-thirds

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