Excerpt from Methods in Elementary English: An Introduction to the Teaching of Good English in Speaking and Writing The book, however, is not intended for the beginner only. The experienced teacher will find in the General Suggestions, in the Language Games, and in the sections dealing specifically with the work of the first, second and third grades, material and suggestions appli cable to her own class, in whatever year it may be. By studying the provisions for the earlier grades and by visits to the classrooms of these grades, she will under stand clearly what her own pupils have already done and what the unified plan to which this book is an introduction requires that they shall do. All successful work in English composition, whether oral or written, is based on the formation of correct language habits by daily practice. Helping a child to understand that an expression is incorrect does little, if anything, towards overcoming his bad habit; a knowl edge of grammatical rules will not cause a child to em ploy accurate English. Only as he uses the proper expression often enough to make it his own - to make it habitual - will he use, in his unconscious choice of language, better English. In the upper grades the study of grammar will confirm and strengthen good habits already formed in the grades below, but grammar itself cannot be the basis of the children's correct choice of language. Good language habits should be formed long before the time arrives for studying technical grammar. In the choice of subject matter for the children's com positions, in the building of power in sentence and para graph structure, and in the games and other exercises suggested for use in corrective work, the aim of the authors has been to provide for the gradual and natural formation of habits of correct speech and writing. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.