It will be seen from this that the word _run_ is not to be analyzed
at this stage into the two parts _r_ and _un_. Only the sound of the
letter _r_ is to be taught. This is done by having the sound of _r_
associated with the letter. The printed symbol (given here in its two
forms, the capital and the small letter) is to be known to the child as
representative of the _sound_ of the letter, not of the _name_ of the
letter. It requires but little effort to teach the child how to sound
an initial letter. The teacher may request him to “start to say” some
familiar word, as _run_, but to utter only the first sound of the word.
To facilitate the process, she may do this herself and afterward have
the child do it. When he has learned to give the sound of _r_, she shows
him the letter, which from this time is known by its sound. In this way
the sound of each letter may be taught. The names of the letters will be
learned later in the year.
The next step toward making the child self-helpful is developed in the
primer by means of phonic jingles such as will be found on page 51. The
rime is to be read aloud by the teacher and repeated or sung by the
children. Many teachers will prefer to write the rime on the blackboard.
The simple, artistic melody given with each rime helps the child to
memorize it. The appropriate story which precedes the rime and upon
which it is based, together with the picture that illustrates it, invests
the rime with interest for the children.
As will be seen, these phonic jingles contain words that are alike in
symbol as well as in sound. It is confusing to the child at this early
stage of the work to have before his eyes different symbols for the same
sound, as is the case, for instance, when he has _high_ and _sky_ to rime
with _I_, or _see_ and _me_ to rime with _sea_. His riming words at this
time should aid the eye as well as the ear. For this reason the phonic
jingles have been given.
The words of the jingle that are arranged in a column at the right of the
page, are easily separated into two parts, showing that they all belong
to the same “phonic family,” thus, _c-at_, _m-at_, etc. Such separation
of words into parts is not shown in the primer for the reason that it is
not considered best to present to the child’s eye, at this early period,
printed words that are disfigured in any way. His first book should show
the words as wholes. This fact, however, need not prevent the teacher
from using the phonic jingles for word analysis. The words in the column
having been shown as wholes to the child, he sees that they not only
rime to his ear but resemble each other to the eye. Moreover, the words
in the column look exactly like the same words when he finds them in the
sentences he reads. Before he reaches the phonic jingle on any given
page, the child has learned to know by sight and sound the consonants
that are the initial letters of the words he is to sound in the jingle.
For instance, he has learned to know and to sound the consonants _c_,
_m_, _b_, _th_, _r_, _p_, _f_, and _s_ before the phonic jingle on page
51 is given to him. It is then an easy matter to lead up to a simple
analysis of the words. The rime has been read by the teacher and repeated
or sung by the child; the words in the body of the rime, which are
repeated in the column at the right of the page, have been seen by the
child in both places. He may now be taught to cover the unlike parts (the
initial consonants) of the words in the column and show the like parts
(the phonogram that indicates the “family” to which each of the words
belongs). He may then cover the like parts, showing, in turn, the unlike
parts.