George Albert Wentworth

An Elementary Arithmetic George Albert Wentworth

Teachers vrho have the power of putting themselves in the mental attitude of their pupils possess a most important gift. In the first stages of mental growth, as the mind works unseen, it is hard to realize the difficulties encountered, and to decide what assistance can be judiciously given. There is no royal road to the knowledge of arithmetic, but the steps can be made short and easy. The little learner need not be wearied, if the exercise is not too long continued. He may also have the consciousness of effort, as in learning to walk, and above all, the pleasure of succeeding. This result can be secured only by observing the following fundamental principles :1. All elementary teaching of arithmetic must be begun by the pupils observing and handling objects. It is surprising that school authorities in many places decline to furnish the money, however small the amount is, to purchase the simple apparatus required for each Primary School. They assert that they got on well enough without such aids when they were children, and they seem to be quite unconscious of the weakness of such an argument. The question is not whether children can do well without the aid of objects, but whether they can do better with them. Our fathers did well enough in travelling on horseback and in coaches, but we do better with our express trains. Children may be able to grasp abstract ideas, after sufficient time, without the aid of concrete examples.
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