An Old Textbook Has Some Things to Teach Us

When teaching your own children how to read and write, consider using some of the methods that raised the parents of 'the Greatest Generation'

Incremental learning utilizes lots of review and lays information out in a logical sequence that fosters independent learning. (Odua Images/Shutterstock)

Recently, a New York couple, readers of The Epoch Times, sent me a 1914 edition of “Essentials of English: First Book.” As stated in the book’s preface, the authors, Henry Carr Pearson and Mary Frederika Kirchwey, both associated with Horace Mann School of Columbia University, intended their textbook for “use in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades of the elementary school.”

“Essentials” is unremarkable in its physical appearance. It features a few paintings and photographs, and some drawings, but nothing comparable to the illustrations in our modern readers and grammars. Approximately 5 by 7 inches, its exterior is small, drab, and worn, so much so that it’s impossible to tell whether the original cover was green or blue.

Yet the old axiom—“Never judge a book by its cover”—holds true for this tarnished gem. If we spend some time with this little book, and, I suspect, other grade school texts from a century ago, we can take away some valuable lessons for teaching our own students and children.

Bricks Make Buildings

“Essentials of English” begins by introducing the student to the sentence, specifically to declarative and interrogative sentences. This is a logical first step, as the sentence is the marrow and bone of the English language. Throughout the rest of the book, Pearson and Kirchwey introduce students to other kinds of sentences along with plenty of practice in writing them.

Today, we call this technique incremental learning. Much as a mason builds a home brick by brick, incremental learning gives students small bits of information in a logical order, all with a final object in mind: mastery of the subject. In “Essentials of English,” students first learn the basic construction of the sentence, after which Pearson and Kirchwey in each new lesson add another piece to that puzzle—the use of capital letters for proper names, apostrophes, direct and indirect quotes, and so on.

The benefits of this method extend beyond the subject studied. Without being directly instructed, students absorb concepts about order and logical sequences, a habit of thinking for life.

Incremental learning can also lead to independent learning. For example, the great strength of the Saxon Math program, used today by many schools and home educators, is incremental learning accompanied by lots of review. By fourth grade or so, homeschooling students using Saxon Math, as mine did, can often go from lesson to lesson teaching themselves without explanations from the parent-teacher.

‘Repetitio Est Mater Studiorum’

That’s the old Latin tag for “Repetition is the mother of studies.”

Many modern educators frown on memorization, contending that rote learning may eliminate comprehension. Others argue there’s little reason to learn a poem by heart when students can bring up the verse in an instant on their phones.

But these critics miss the point. Poetry, the times tables, historical dates—it not only exercises the brain to memorize such things, but the acquired information becomes a part of the students’ intellectual luggage, carried with them wherever they go.

In “Essentials of English,” memorization, repetition, and review are the keys to learning and retention. On page 7, for instance, fourth graders are asked to read some proverbs, or “wise sayings that have come down to us from olden times.” These include such adages as “Many hands make light work,” “A penny saved is a penny earned,” and “It takes two to make a quarrel.” After discussing the meaning of each proverb, they are asked to memorize the three “they like best,” and then write them from memory.

So it goes throughout the rest of “Essentials of English,” with oral and written drills, poems and proverbs to be learned by heart, and stories read and then retold in the student’s own words.

The Good Stuff

The stories and verse used by Pearson and Kirchwey constantly deepen the student’s familiarity with their culture, traditions, and the past.

Here are poems by the likes of Lord Alfred Tennyson and Oliver Wendell Holmes, maxims by the dozens, incidents and biographical sketches from American and European history, and folk tales from other countries—all with sets of questions to spark discussion and thought, accompanied by oral and written exercises.

We can follow the example set by Pearson and Kirchwey by immersing our children in their culture while teaching them how to read and write. We do so when we share fairy tales and nursery rhymes with them. When they get older and are able to read on their own, we can introduce them to the good stories, biographies, and histories that abound in the literature for young people.

Lighting a Flame

“Essentials of English” exists “to promote growth in language power by giving constant practice in the use of language under stimulating conditions” and “to stimulate the pupils to speak and write the language with freedom, clearness, and correctness.”

Proof that these old methods and textbooks like “Essentials of English” worked can be found in their progeny. In 1920, the average educational level for those 25 years and older was eighth grade. Yet from those one-room schoolhouses and basic books came the men and women who contributed so mightily to America’s explosive development in the 20th century, who served in the First World War, and who were the parents of “the Greatest Generation.” Their education had outfitted these children for citizenship.

On the last page of “Essentials of English” is a list of sayings and sentences for practice in the parts of speech. Among these is “How great a fire a little spark kindleth!” Like those parents and teachers of a century ago, let’s make it our goal to strike a flame in the hearts and minds of our children.