When the pupil enters the fourth grade he begins to learn to depend more
and more upon himself. He does more of his work by himself. This is as
it should be, but there is still need of a guiding hand. If the pupil is
to acquire a real _spelling consciousness_, and form a good habit which
is real and lasting, these helps must be plentiful, but at the same time
arise in such a way that they will be helpful in forming and
strengthening the good habits, and tend to break any bad habits which
may have been started.
The suggestions accompanying the lessons in the first three grades are
continued in the fourth, in such a way that, with the preparation which
the pupil has had in the early grades, he can apply the helps himself
with the minimum amount of care and watchfulness on the part of the
teacher.
As pointed out in Part I of the manual, page 18, the derived form in
most cases presents a new spelling problem even though the root word has
been taught. By focusing the attention on the part common to both the
root word and the derivative, and fixing the change by numerous
examples, the change from root to derivative is made with less trouble.
Lessons 4, 5, 15, 16, and 74 illustrate this point.