Excerpt from New York Teachers' Monographs, Vol. 2: June, 1900 The method laid down by Mr. Prince is, as has been stated, the most usual method. It embraces three steps; the writing on a theme by the pupils; the marking, by the teacher, of errors in what the pupils have written the re-writing, by the pupils, of their compositions in such a way as to correct the errors marked by the teacher. In practice, I have found this method open to the most serious objections. The reading of compositions in order to correct errors lays an intolerable burden on the already overburdened grade teacher. In this monotonous grind she consumes the energy that should be devoted to the preparation and execution of class work. The drudgery for the teacher being so irksome and blighting, she is naturally led to diminish the number of compositions written so that the pupil does not receive sufficient practice in writing; one composition a week is probably the maximum under this plan, while one every fortnight is more nearly the rule. At this rate, only those endowed with unusual powers of language ever learn to write with facility. But when the work of the teacher degenerates into mere drudgery, it is apt to become the same for the pupils. So it certainly is in this case. As the children have no facility in com position, the first writing is drudgery; as they are required to copy, after a lapse of some time, what has been corrected by the teacher, the copying process becomes more irksome even than the first writ ing; it is always perfunctory and generally abhorred. Since this has been the method commonly pursued in the higher grammar grades and in high schools, it is little wonder that the colleges find their students at entrance miserably deficient in the writing of English. 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.