A routine." Books but helps."-Utility.

aroused, the impression made is enduring; and one idea then communicated is worth a hundred at any other time.

6. Avoid a formal routine in teaching. Children are very apt to imbibe the notion that they study in order to recite. They have but little idea of any purpose of acquirement beyond recitation; hence they study their text book as mere words. The teacher should, as soon as possible, lead them to study the subject, using the book simply as an instrument. "Books In order are but helps"-should become their motto. to bring this about, the instructor would do well occa sionally to leave entirely the order of the book, and question them on the topic they have studied. If they are pursuing arithmetic, for instance, and they have carefully prepared a definite number of problems, it might be well to test their ability by giving them at the recitation others of the teachers' own preparing, involving an application of what they have learned to the business of life. This will lead them to study intelligently. Besides, as soon as they begin to see how their knowledge is to be useful to them, they have a new motive to exertion. They should be so taught as to discover that grammar will improve their understanding and use of language; that writing will prepare them for business, and by enabling them to communicate with their friends, will add to their enjoyment; and so of reading and the other branches.

7. Be careful to use language which is intelligible to children, whenever an explanation is given. The

Intelligible language.-An example quoted.

object of an explanation is to elucidate, to make clearer. How is this object accomplished when the explanation is less intelligible than the thing explained? Suppose a child should ask her teacher to explain the cause of cold in winter and heat in summer; in other words, the

cause of the change of seasons. "Oh, yes," says he, pleasantly. "The annual revolution of the earth round the sun in connection with the obliquity of the ecliptic, occasions the succession of the four seasons.' The child listens to these "words of learned length," and is astonished at the learning of her teacher, but she has no clearer idea than before of the point she inquired about.

Mr. S. R. Hall in his lectures gives the following forcible illustration of the same point. "Will you please to tell me why I carry one for every ten ?" said little Laura to her instructor. "Yes, my dear," said he, kindly. "It is because numbers increase from right to left in a decimal ratio." Laura sat and repeated it to herself two or three times, and then looked very sad. The master, as soon as he had answered, pursued his other business and did not notice her. But she was disappointed. She understood him no better than if he had used words of another language. "Decimal" and "ratio" were words that might have fallen on her ear before, but if so, she understood them none the better for it. She looked in the dictionary and was disappointed again, and after some time, put away her

* Worcester's Geography.

Honest confession,-not mystification.-Example.

arithmetic. When asked by her teacher why she did so, she replied, 'I don't like to study it; I can't understand it'"

"Now the injury to little Laura was very great. She had commenced the study with interest; she had learned to answer a great many questions in arithmetic and had been pleased. She was now using a slate and writing her figures on it, and had found the direction to carry one for every ten. This she might have been made to understand. The master loved his scholars and wished to benefit them, but forgot that terms perfectly plain to him would be unintelligible to the child. From that moment Laura disliked arithmetic, and every effort that could be used with her could not efface the im pression that it was a hard study, and she could not understand it."

While upon this subject, I might urge that teachers should not resort to evasion when they are not able to explain. It is a much more honorable, and far more satisfactory course, for the teacher frankly to confess his inability to explain, than to indulge in some ridiculous mysticism to keep up the show of knowledge. I may never forget the passage I first made through the Rule of Three, and the manner in which my manifold perplexities respecting "direct and inverse" proportion were solved. "Sir," said I, after puzzling a long time over 'more requiring more and less requiring less'— "will you tell me why I sometimes multiply the second and third terms together and divide by the first-and at other times multiply the first and second and divide by

More requires more!-Accurate and prompt recitation.

6

the third ?" "Why, because more requires more sometimes, and sometimes it requires less-to be sure. Haven't you read the rule, my boy?" "Yes, sir, I can repeat the rule, but I don't understand it." "Why it is because 'more requires more and less requires less!'" "But why, sir, do I multiply as the rule says?" "Why, because more requires more and less requires less'— see, the rule says so." "I know the rule says so, but I wished to understand why."-"Why? why?" looking at me as if idiocy itself trembled before him— why?—why because the rule says so; don't you see it?-More requires more and less requires less!" -and in the midst of this inexplicable combination of more and less, I shrunk away to my seat blindly to follow the rule because it said so. Such teaching as this is enough to stultify the most inquiring mind; and it is to secure the blessing of relief from such influence to the children of any particular district, that we come to consider an occasional change of teachers a mitigated evil.

8. Require prompt and accurate recitation. I know of nothing that will abate the interest of a class sooner than dull and dragging recitations. The temptation in such cases is very strong for the teacher to help the class by the "drawing-out process" before described. This, however, only makes the matter worse. The dull recitation calls for the teacher's aid; and his aid reproduces the dull recitation. The only way is to stop at once, and refuse to proceed till the recitation can go alone It is just as easy to have good lessons as poor;

It saves time.--Simultaneous recitation.--Its evils.

and the teacher should have the energy to insist upon them. Mark the countenances of a class as they go to their seats after a good recitation. They feel that they have done something, and they look as if they valued the teacher's approbation and their own so highly, that they will learn the next lesson still better.

It is moreover a great saving of time, to have the lessons promptly recited. This saving will afford the opportunity to introduce those additional illustrations I have before suggested, in order to excite a still deeper interest. It may sometimes, though not always, be well to make a prompt and perfect recitation the condition of introducing the additional matter.

9. Rely not too much upon simultaneous recitation. This has become quite too fashionable of late. It had its origin in the large schools established some years since, known as Lancasterian schools, and perhaps was well enough adapted to schools kept upon that plan in large cities. But when this mode of reciting is adopted in our district and country schools, where the circumstances of large numbers and extreme backwardness are wanting, it is entirely uncalled for, and like other city fashions transferred to the country, is really out of place.

Seriously, I look upon this as one of the prominent faults in many of our schools. It destroys all independence in the pupil by taking away his individuality, He moves with the phalanx. Learning to rely on others, he becomes superficial in his lessons. He is tempted to indolence by a knowledge that his deficiencies will