As I have before said that it is our object to teach the
children from
objects in preference to books, I will mention a method we adopt for
the accomplishment of this purpose. It consists of a number of boards,
of which, and of their use, the following description will convey an
accurate idea.
The boards are about sixteen inches square, and a quarter of an inch
thick: wainscot is the best, as it does not warp. These will go into
the groove of the lesson post: there should be about twenty articles
on each board, or twenty-five, just as it suits the conductors of the
school; there should be the same quantity of things on each board, in
order that all the children may finish at one time; this will not be
the case, if there be more objects on one board than another. I will
give an account of a few of our boards, and that must suffice, or I
shall exceed the limits I have prescribed to myself.
The first board contains a small piece of gold in its rough state,
a
piece of gold in its manufactured state, a piece of silver in both
states, a piece of copper in both states, a piece of brass in both
states, a piece of iron in both states, a piece of steel in both
states, a piece of tinfoil, a piece of solder, a screw, a clasp nail,
a clout nail, a hob nail, a spike nail, a sparable, and a tack.
These articles are all on one board, and the monitor puts his pointer
to each article, and tells his little pupils their names, and
encourages them to repeat the names after him. When they finish at one
post they go to the next.
The next board may contain a piece of hemp, a piece of rope, a piece
of string, a piece of bagging, a piece of sacking, a piece of canvass,
a piece of hessian, a piece of Scotch sheeting, a piece of unbleached
linen, a piece of bleached linen, a piece of diaper linen, a piece of
dyed linen, a piece of flax, a piece of thread, a piece of yarn, a
piece of ticking, a piece of raw silk, a piece of twisted silk, a
piece of wove silk, figured, a piece of white plain sills, and a piece
of dyed silk, a piece of ribbon, a piece of silk cord, a piece of silk
velvet, &c.
The next may contain raw cotton, cotton yarn, sewing cotton,
unbleached calico, bleached calico, dimity, jean, fustian, velveteen,
gause, nankeen, gingham, bed furniture, printed calico, marseilles,
flannel, baise, stuff; woollen cloth and wool, worsted, white, black,
and mixed.
The next may contain milled board, paste board, Bristol card, brown
paper, white paper of various sorts, white sheep skin, yellow sheep,
tanned sheep, purple sheep, glazed sheep, red sheep, calf skin, cow
hide, goat skin, kid, seal, pig leather, seal skin, wash leather,
beaver, &c.
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