and becomes a valuable aid in cultivating the sense of sight.

THE WORD-BUILDING METHOD

The plan here is to begin with words of one letter as A, I, O, and gradually form new words by prefixing or affixing single letters. The child is taught to pronounce first the word, then the letters that form it. Separate letters of the alphabet and spelling are taught by asking questions similar to the following:

"What letter is placed after a to form an?"

"What after an to form and?

"What before and to form land?"

THE PHONIC METHOD

Every intelligent mind will welcome any means by which loose and bad habits of enunciation may be cast off, and correct ones formed in their stead.

Children who have been taught and accustomed to say judgmunt for judgment, read'n for reading, an for and, muss for must, pārent for pârent, păss for päss, will not be likely, by a single effort, to set their speech right. By well directed and persevering effort they can do it; with proper guidance and encouragement they will do it. A thorough knowledge of the elementary sounds is essential to success in the Phonic Method. It must be made a careful study and the teacher should master it.

The Phonic method consists in making the learner acquainted with the powers of the letters, so that when words are before him, he may, by uttering the sound of each letter in succession, construct for himself the sound of the word. Such a method says John Gill, of

the Normal College, Cheltenham, it is impossible to have in a language like the English. A purely phonic method is possible only where the number of letters and elementary sounds corresponds, where the same letter always represents the same sound, and where, in the spelling of words, the numbers of letters and of sounds agree. But these conditions in English are impossible. The letters give but five-eighths of the elementary sounds; one letter often represents two or more sounds; some sounds are represented by more than one letter, and often letters are found not sounded at all.

The principal advantage of this method is, that it puts into the hands of the children a key by which they may be able to help themselves. The elementary sounds must be known before the children can take a single step in advance, except as he is assisted by the teacher.

Another advantage is that it teaches the children from the beginning to enunciate distinctly; many other advantages are gained by combining the Word and Phonic Methods.

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Letters are elements of the forms of words; simple sounds are the elements of the sounds of words; neither of these elements are units in language. The child must know the sounds and the names of the letters; through these aids he may be able to help himself. This process, however, is not adapted to the child, until it has learned some words as wholes, as units of language, as the representations of thoughts.

The best results have been gained by the primary teachers in using the Phonic Method as auxiliary to the Word Method, but not as a substitute for it. The word must be the unit of thought; it is the natural way to

begin with the units of language, which are words. Language deals with thoughts; words are symbols of thought.

With all plans that have been considered, let the teachers bear in mind that children can never learn to read with any degree of ease until they are able to call instantly the words in the sentence without stopping to analyze them.

By the method suggested, children are enabled to read with more interest and expression in a far shorter. time than by the plans heretofore generally pursued.

THE PHONETIC METHOD

The Phonic and Phonetic Methods are distinct; the phonetic method provides signs to represent all the sounds of the language, using the common letters each to denote but one sound of that letter, and providing slight modifications of these letters to denote other sounds. The method is used with success in those schools provided with Leigh's Phonetic Reader:

THE PHONOTYPIC METHOD

This is another form of the Phonic Method, providing a character or letter for each sound in the language. The pupil is required to learn forty or more letters in place of twenty-six.

There are those who claim that pupils will learn both methods, and become able to read better thereby in a given time, than they usually do when taught entirely from the common print.

This method may be used with success; but, as the schools are not provided with books on the Phonotypic plan, we will not enlarge upon it.

THE LOOK-AND-SAY METHOD

By this method after the children have mastered the alphabet, all words are read without spelling.

Attention is directed to each word as a whole, and its sound associated with it as a whole.

In no case is the learner allowed to spell a word that he may afterwards recognize and pronounce it.

The following advantages are claimed in favor of this method :

First.-For mastering the word by the eye.

Second. For recognizing the word in the sign, and for acquiring practical acquaintance with the number of letters and syllables.

Third. For suitability to the circumstances of common schools.

The above reasons must commend this method to many teachers who have not received special training. It best meets the requirements of class instruction. In the class, the aim is to bring out the energies of all. This is done through emulation and self-respect.

Now when spelling is permitted, a child has little inducement to exert himself to retain a word once seen; but let spelling be forbidden, let the remembrance of the word be thrown on the eye, and emulation will stimulate some to retain it, and to give it when called upon; and self-respect will be appealed to in the others, not to require always to be told by a sharper companion. It is a method which requires no special preparation like the phonic, and therefore may be entrusted to an inexperienced teacher.

THE OBJECT METHOD

The children's attention is first directed to some object with which they are familiar by sight, name and

use.

The teacher shows the object to the children, and the name is given by the children. If they cannot give the name, the teacher tells them. The teacher presents a picture of the object, or makes a drawing of it upon the board; then the name is plainly written under the drawing. The pupils are now taught to distinguish from one another the object, the picture of it, and the word representing it.

Steps in the Object

The following order should be observed in teaching beginners to read by the Object Method, as used by N. A. Calkins, Assistant Superin- Method. tendent of Schools in New York city.

First Step.-Teach whole words by sight that are already known by hearing, as signs of objects, qualities, and actions.

Second Step.-Teach the analysis of the word by its elementary sounds.

Third Step.-Teach the analysis of the word by the names of its letters, and their order in spelling it.

Fourth Step.-Require the pupils to pronounce the word; sound it; spell it.

Fifth Step.-Group words into phrases and sentences. The children will learn new words by comparing the known words with the unknown.