It may be asked, "Would you never use a book?" Yes; after six months more, or 30, on the different classes in which the parts of speech are divided, with the grammatical accidents, they will be ready for the book, and the thousand and one nice points and fine shades which our language furnishes.

I sincerely hope that a reformation of some sort may be effected in the teaching of this branch of knowledge, before long,-that grammar may be raised to its proper place in the list of school studies, and made as interesting to the child as is his history or geography. It can be done, if every teacher will take hold of the work with a right good will, keeping constantly in view the principles upon which all our teaching should be grounded: "Develop the idea, before giving the term." "Synthesis, before analysis,--not the order of the subject, but the order of nature." A BOSTON TEACHER.

TO THE TEACHERS AND FRIENDS OF EDUCATION OF OHIO.

The next annual session of the Ohio State Teachers' Association will be held in Zanesville, and will commence on the evening of the 3d of July (Tuesday). Among the topics of discussion, the following will come before the Association for its consideration:

1st. Graded Schools in Rural Districts: How far have they been tried, and how have they succeeded when the trial has been made? What prevents the further adoption of the plan.

2d. The feasibility of a General Plan for the Education and Training of Teachers, embracing a Normal School, Judicial-District and County Institutes. 3d. Whether it is advisable for Teachers to labor for the establishment of County Superintendencies.

4th. Whether English Grammar is now generally taught so as to be of any considerable advantage to the student.

5th. Whether the study of Higher Arithmetic ought not to give way to the study of Algebra and Geometry, and, as far as possible, of other branches of the Higher Mathematics.

6th. Whether the true theory of Object Teaching is the one which is now pressed upon the attention of American Teachers.

Teachers are earnestly requested to write out and present to the Association short papers on these topics, which shall not occupy more than ten or twelve minutes in the reading, and prepare themselves to present in the discussions which may arise, as succinctly as possible, their maturest thoughts in regard to the same.

It is confidently expected that there will be a large attendance, and the Committee are assured that the usual courtesies will be extended to ladies attending the convention, and that the railway companies will make the usual liberal reduction of fare on their respective roads.

The State of Massachusetts had a gathering, recently, of nearly two thousand teachers. That must have been a glorious assemblage. Let us have such a meeting that those who attend may go from it with more ardent feeling and higher hopes than those with which they came together.

ANDREW J. RICKOFF, Chairman of Ex. Committee,

Editorial Department.

DURING the months of April and May we added to our subscription books the names of over one thousand new subscribers. The loss during the same time by expiration of subscriptions was about seven hundred, which leaves a net gain of over three hundred. This increase of circulation indicates that our expectations at the beginning of the year will be realized, and that the continued support of the Monthly is a fixed fact. We trust that this announcement will stimulate all to renewed efforts to make the circulation of the Monthly equal to the new opportunities for usefulness now before it.

We would remind those whose subscription commenced in July, 1865, that this number closes their year. An early renewal of their subscription is solicited. We dislike to part company with any of our readers. Those who may wish to subscribe for only six months can do so by remitting seventy-five cents.

THE PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER OF THE MONTHLY. We do not expect to be able to make the Monthly interesting to those who feel no special interest in educational questions. Persons who care nothing about politics are not likely to be interested in a political paper; and an enthu siastic admirer of the New York Ledger would doubtless pronounce the best of our religious papers "dry" and "prosy." Millions leave the Bible unread because they have no inward thirst for its living waters. We are not, therefore, at all surprised to learn that a few of our readers (?) would like the Monthly much better if it contained a liberal supply of attractive and fascinating stories, and fewer articles having reference to those vital questions which underlie the teacher's duties. Such teachers have simply made a wrong investment of funds. Instead of subscribing for the Monthly they should have purchased the last novel.

There are other teachers who would like to see their professional organ a rival of Round Table or The Atlantic. They cull among its pages for literary spices, passing by everything that is designed to be nutritious to the growing teacher.

There are still other teachers who think they know all about teaching that is worth knowing; who stand, in their own estimation, upon the very summit of professional attainments. Self-sufficient, they do not seek the stimulus and assistance which may be derived from the ideas and methods of others. Indeed, they commisserate the condition of those who are inquiring for better methods of teaching. The teacher who finds anything of interest or profit in the plans

and suggestions of others, is put down as a novice in his business. Place upon their table an educational journal or treatise, and they will smile at your verdancy in supposing that they ever read such professional puerilities. They may, perchance, condescend to fumble the leaves delicately, while they enlighten you respecting their pre-eminent qualifications and success.

Now we frankly confess that we are not editing the Monthly with the ex- · pectation of interesting or directly benefiting either class of teachers above described. On the contrary, we have in view those earnest, progressive teachers who realize the responsibility of their high vocation, and who, unsatisfied with their present attainments, are earnestly seeking for higher qualifications and more satisfactory results. We seek to interest and benefit those who are willing to be interested and benefited; to assist those who are striving to lift themselves out of the deep ruts of the profession.

Nor are our purposes and efforts wholly vain. Hundreds of the best teachers in the State gratefully acknowledge their indebtedness to the Monthly, not only for needed stimulus and encouragement, but for valuable suggestions and ideas. We are constantly cheered by the reception of such acknowledgements. Nor are these assurances that the special mission of the Monthly is appreciated, confined to inexperienced teachers. The most eminent teachers of the country have heartily commended it for the directness and practicalness with which it bears upon the daily duties of the school-room as well as for its references to the higher problems of education And the more strictly and earnestly professional we have made the Monthly, the heartier have been these assurances of appreciation, and the more satisfactory its pecuniary support.

But though we aim to make the Monthly distinctively professional, we also strive to give to it a literary character worthy of the cause it advocates. While we have no special admiration for what is known as "fine writing," we like to see important educational truths clothed in attractive garments. We have been, for this reason, much pleased with the series of articles entitled "Talks after Working Hours," which closed in the May number, and we hope to receive other contributions of like character. The essentials of the literary aspirations of the Monthly are point, vigor, and freshness, good grammar and pure English.

THE TEACHER'S PREPARATION FOR CONDUCTING RECITATIONS.

Why should the teacher make special preparation for conducting each recitation? What should such special preparation include? Why should it include the method of conducting the recitation? Why should the teacher's knowledge go beyond the textbook used by his class? To what extent should the teacher use a text-book in hearing a lesson? What direction can you give respecting the assigning of lessons?— Questions on the Theory and Practice of Teaching.

Skill here in

The recitation is largely the measure of the teacher's success. sures success in every direction, while a failure here is a failure throughout. Prompt, thorough and inspiriting recitations create in the pupil a love for study, secure vigorous application, and promote good order. If, on the contrary, the

test to which the pupil is subjected in the recitation, be haphazard, superficial, and lifeless, his preparation will be quite sure to have the same characteristics. In other words, the study of the pupil, both in extent and thoroughness, will not rise, as a general rule, above the requirements of the recitation. It is, therefore, of the highest importance that the teacher come before his classes prepared to do his work skillfully; and this preparation must extend to every recitation and to every exercise. The teacher's preparation must be as wide as his duties. He can not afford to fail anywhere, and without careful preparation he is almost sure to fail somewhere.

The teacher's preparation for the duties of the recitation should include:

1. A familiar acquaintance with the subject matter of the lesson. He should have the whole subject in his mind, not in dim and shadowy outline, but in bold relief, with every essential fact and principle clear and distinct. His knowledge of the subject he teaches must be systematic, fresh, ready—at hand. In the presence of his class, he has no opportunity to recall the half-forgotten results of past study, or to pursue some new idea or casual inquiry to see whether it be substance or shadow. Every power and energy of his mind are required to search through the minds of his pupils; to test the results of their study; to arouse a dormant faculty here and to energize a feeble power there; and so to order the entire work of the recitation that the pupil's knowledge may be clarified, his impressions deepened, and his view of the subject as a whole made more distinct and permanent. All this requires special previous preparation--a preparation wider than the particular text-books used by the class; a mastery, indeed, of the subject in its entirety.

2. But the teacher must also be familiar with the particular text-book studied by his pupils, otherwise he will not be able to test thorough their study -a matter of vital importance. Few of the text-books used in our schools are designed to be exhaustive. They present only an outline of the several subjects of which they treat, with such details as, in the judgment of the author, are most important. This outline and these details, few or many, constitute the basis of the pupil's preparation. Clearly, before the teacher can test efficiently the pupil's mastery of the subject as thus unfolded, he must himself be as familiar with the author's treatment of it as he desires the pupil to be. He must not only know what facts are presented, but the order in which they are presented. Such an acquaintance with the text-book will enable the teacher to select and arrange his questions or topics so as to cover completely the lesson assigned, and to detect any remissness in study or failure of comprehension on the part of the pupil. All this should be done without a slavish use of the textbook. In conducting recitations in reading and spelling, the teacher may be obliged to use the book. The use of the book may also be justifiable in assigning problems in mental and written arithmetic. There are, however, few practices common among teachers more pernicious than the use of printed questions in catechising classes. It reduces the teacher to a sort of machine, places an obstruction at every outlet of the soul, represses all enthusiasm, and renders the recitation mechanical and lifeless. A reference to the text to determine the correctness of the answers given by pupils, is an evidence of incompetency too palpable to be justified. It may be accepted by the young teacher as a guiding

maxim, that the minimum of his dependence upon the text-book in conducting recitations will be the maximum of his success. He should aim to come before his classes with a free eye.

3. The teacher's preparation should also include the method of conducting the recitation. Other things being equal, the better the method, the better will be the results attained. "In what manner can I test the study of my pupils most thoroughly?" "How can I secure the highest possible amount of mental effort from each pupil, during the recitation?" "How can I best teach this principle?" "What new illustration can I use?" "In what respects should my general method be modified in hearing this particular lesson?" These are some of the inquiries which daily spring up in the mind of the earnest, progressive teacher. He is not satisfied to repeat the blunders and failures of yesterday without an effort to avoid them. Every day renews the struggle for the attainment of truer results. Under the inspiration of an unattained but not unattainable ideal, his entire work is subjected to close scrutiny. The educational principles which underlie his methods are searched out and examined into. One guiding maxim after another is accepted and acted upon. Nor does he overlook those details which make up what may be termed the mechanism of his school. The best mode of calling out and dismissing classes; the best mode of calling upon pupils to recite; the best position for them to assume when reciting; these and other inquiries receive careful attention, with a consequent increase of skill and success.

4. In order that the pupil's preparation may be thorough, each lesson should be properly assigned-a matter too often neglected. In the proper assignment of lessons there are three things to be considered: the capability of the class; the time available for study; and the nature of the lesson. To assign lessons frequently which are beyond the pupils' ability to master, is sure to break down the spirit of study in any school. Before assigning a lesson a teacher should make himself familiar with its difficulties, so that he may be able to estimate both the amount and degree of mental effort necessary for its preparation. The lesson should be assigned definitely, and the requirements of the recitation should be clearly stated. Whenever the lesson contains anything that is difficult or specially important, the attention of the class may be called to the same; but, as a general rule, no explanation of difficulties should be given until the pupils have attempted their mastery. Prior explanations take from the pupil the necessity of earnest study, and destroy that manly independence which is the very soul of study. It is the teacher's office to guide and stimulate, but the pupil must himself wrestle with the difficulties which confront him. The teacher may point out the best path, but the pupil must do the climbing. The practice, common in some of our schools, of explaining in advance every rule or process in arithmetic, is pernicious. It reduces the pupil to a mere figuring machine. We here refer more specially to the assignment of lessons to advanced classes. It may be added for the encouragement of young teachers, that the faithful preparation for the duties of the recitation, above indicated, will lighten the burden of school government, lessen the fret and wear of teaching, keep the mind fresh and vigorous, and promote good health. Try it.