This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1867 edition. Excerpt: ... by simply teaching them to name the words at sight according as they are pointed out. This is what is commonly called the "look and say" method. Children may be taught to read in this way, but nevertheless we do not think it a good plan when used without spelling. Among other evil results, it begets a great amount of indecision and guessing; for if a child happen not to recognise a word, he must either guess at it or be silent; and in either case the teacher or some one else must set him right, for he has nothing to fall back on, that will enable him by his own exertions to discover the word. But if a child who is a good speller happen to miss a word in reading, very probably he will have the gratification of setting himself right without assistance, by spelling it. Besides this, spelling must be taught for its owu sake, independently of any assistance it affords in teaching to read. It is a subject that requires to be commenced at the very outset of the child's education, and continued without intermission to the last day he spends at school. On this, however, it is not necessary to enlarge at present, as, further on, we shall have more to say regarding it. 4. Subject Matter. The instructions now given relate to word teaching, but there are some other matters that ought to be attended to, about which it is right to make a few remarks. From the very commencement the children should be accustomed to pay attention to what they read. For this purpose they should be questioned on the meaning of every sentence of their lessons. For first class children it should be carried on in the following manner. One child reads as much of the lesson as relates to one subject, which in the First Book is usually only a single sentence. The teacher then...