y
re-writing unphonetic words in simple phonetic spelling.

During the first three years do not retard the child's progress, and
weaken his power to apply the knowledge which his previous experience
has given him, by marking words to aid him in pronunciation. At best,
the marks are artificial and questionable aids.

PHONIC PLAYS

Much necessary drill can be made interesting by infusing the _spirit_ of
play into an exercise that would otherwise be formal.

1. _"Hide and Seek"_

"Hide and Seek" at once suggests a game. The teacher introduces it
simply by saying: "We'll play these sounds are hiding from us. Who can
find them?"

Place the consonant cards on the blackboard ledge. The teacher writes
any consonant on the board and immediately erases it. A pupil finds the
card containing the same consonant, sounds it, and replaces the card.

Teacher writes several sounds on the board, then erases them. Pupil
finds corresponding sounds on cards, in the order written.

2. _"Fishing"_

(Fish in pond.) Cards placed in a row on black board ledge. (Catching
fish.) Pupil takes as many as he can sound correctly.

Single and blended consonants, and digraphs written on cardboard cut in
form of fish, and put into the mirror lake on the sand table. Children
"catch fish" in turn.

3. _"Guess."_

A pupil thinks of a word containing a known phonogram, which is
communicated to the teacher. The child standing before the class then
says, "I am thinking of a word belonging to the "an" family." The word,
we will say, is "fan." A child who is called on asks, "Is it c an?" The
first child replies, "It is not can." Another asks, "Is it m an?" etc.,
until the correct word is discovered.

4. _"Run Home."_

For reviewing phonograms and fixing the vowel sounds as well, the
following game is used.

Draw pictures of several houses on the board, writing a different
phonogram in each, explaining that these are the names of the families
living there, as, "ed," "eg," "est," "en," etc. Distribute to the class
cards containing a word with one of these endings, and let "the children
run home." Those holding the words ten, pen, men and hen, will run to
the house where "en" lives. The children holding rest, best, nest, etc.,
will group themselves at the house of "est."

Again let several children represent mothers and stand before the class
holding phonograms. As Mother "ed" calls her children, those holding
cards containing red, led, fed,