CHILD'S ARITHMETICK, OR THE ELEMENTS OF CALCULATION, IN THE SPIRIT OF PESTALOZZI'S METHOD, FOR THE USE OF CHILDREN BETWEEN THE BY WILLIAM B. FOWLE, Boston: PUBLISHED BY THOMAS WELLS, Union Street and Hanover Street. 1826. Howe & Norton, Printers Ke 10133 HARVARD District of Massachusetts, To wit: District Clerk's Office. BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the twenty-sixth day of April, A. D. 1826, in the fiftieth year of the Independence of the United States of America, William B. Fowle, of the said District, has deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit: "The Child's Arithmetick, or the Elements of Calculation, in the spirit of Pestalozzi's Method, for the use of children between the ages of three and seven years. By William B. Fowle, Instructer of the Monitorial School, Boston." In Conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned;" and also to an act, entitled, "An act supplementary to an act, entitled, An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical, and other prints." JNO. W. DAVIS, Clerk of the District of Massachusetts. PREFACE. SOMETHING like this little work, had, for more than a year, been used in manuscript in the Monitorial School, when No. 3 of a useful English publication, ealled " Hints to Parents," was put into the author's hands. Believing that these "Hints," however valuable, would meet with little attention unless presented to the publick in a more practical form, the author was induced, at the request of a friend, to incorporate his own manuscript with what was valuable in the printed "Hints," and this Manual is the consequence. The author hopes that it is not necessary for him to defend the utility or propriety of teaching the elements of Arithmetick to very young children. It is generally conceded that no other exercise affords so much pleasure to them, or has so powerful a tendency to develope their intellectual powers. Children will learn something, whether taught or not, and every attempt to prepare suitable exercises for them must be gladly welcomed by every discerning parent and instructer. The author believes that children will never dislike study if they understand what they are required to learn, and have a proper variety of exercises; and he is convinced that ere long the elements of arithmetick will be taught in all our primary schools, as soon as, or even before, reading and spelling. The author's experience has satisfied him that this may and ought to be done, and the languor and inactivity which pervade most elementary schools, induce him to hope that it will be done. It is perhaps unnecessary to add, that this Manual is prepared in the spirit of PESTALOZZI's method, and is intended as an introduction to the more advanced work of COLBURN, which has wrought such a revolution in our schools. Parents who have a just regard for the happiness as well as improvement of their little ones, if they cannot find time to instruct them at home, will do well to see that they are instructed in these or similar elements at school. WM. B. FOWLE. Monitorial School, Boston, April, 1826. THE CHILD'S ARITHMETICK. VARIOUS articles may be used for counters, and perhaps the greater the variety, the more interest will be excited in the little pupils. But as it is desirable not to confuse their ideas, only one kind of counters should be used at first, and the best, on some accounts, are flat pieces of wood about an inch long and half as wide; and as only five will be necessary, they may be made exactly alike, for if the child can distinguish them, when told that the first is one, the second two, &c. he will think that no other can be called one, or two, and if you place what was called one in the fifth place, he will still call it one, as he did before. |
