good means for
obtaining exact pronunciation. The teacher, when she teaches them,
pronounces slowly, separating the component sounds of the word
pronounced.

But a special opportunity for training in clear and exact speech
occurs when the lessons are given in the nomenclature relating to the
sensory exercises. In every exercise, when the child has _recognized_
the differences between the qualities of the objects, the teacher
fixes the idea of this quality with a word. Thus, when the child has
many times built and rebuilt the tower of the pink cubes, at an
opportune moment the teacher draws near him, and taking the two
extreme cubes, the largest and the smallest, and showing them to him,
says, "This is large"; "This is small." The two words only, _large_
and _small_, are pronounced several times in succession with strong
emphasis and with a very clear pronunciation, "This is _large_, large,
large"; after which there is a moment's pause. Then the teacher, to
see if the child has understood, verifies with the following tests:
"Give me the large one. Give me the _small_ one." Again, "The large
one." "Now the small one." "Give me the large one." Then there is
another pause. Finally, the teacher, pointing to the objects in turn
asks, "What is this?" The child, if he has learned, replies rightly,
"Large," "Small." The teacher then urges the child to repeat the words
always more clearly and as accurately as possible. "What is it?"
"Large." "What?" "Large." "Tell me nicely, what is it?" "Large."

_Large_ and _small_ objects are those which differ only in size and
not in form; that is, all three dimensions change more or less
proportionally. We should say that a house is "large" and a hut is
"small." When two pictures represent the same objects in different
dimensions one can be said to be an enlargement of the other.

When, however, only the dimensions referring to the section of the
object change, while the length remains the same, the objects are
respectively "thick" and "thin." We should say of two posts of equal
height, but different cross-section, that one is "thick" and the other
is "thin." The teacher, therefore, gives a lesson on the brown prisms
similar to that with the cubes in the three "periods" which I have
described:

_Period 1. Naming._ "This is thick. This is thin."

_Period 2. Recognition._ "Give me the _thick_. Give me the _thin_."

_Period 3. The Pronunciation of the Word._ "What is this?"

There is a