54 METHODS IN TEACHING 



the first year, are permitted more and more frequently as 

 the pupils grow older, until copying is used only for the 

 most technical drills. The two forms differ radically from 

 each other. Copying is mechanical, formal, requiring close 

 attention to accuracy in details; the original reproductions, 

 while based upon memory, permit some use 

 Writing ^ t ^ le creat i na ^ formative powers, demand- 



ing an absorption into the thoughts of the 

 subject that is often detrimental to the mechanics of compo- 

 sition. Manifestly, the methods of producing the two forms 

 of writing, and the purposes that they serve in the training 

 of the child must differ greatly. The copying is for mechan- 

 ical accuracy; the original writing is for thought develop- 

 ment and growth. 



In the original writing the interest must be preserved. 

 The flow of ideas in the story telling must not be checked 

 by reiterations about mechanical details; these will be at- 

 tended to at another time. When the child can write by 

 himself let him spend some unbroken time over his nar- 

 rative or description. Let him express his thoughts un- 

 checked, just as a mature person must do if he is not to lose 

 the inspiration. That is, give the inspiration opportunity 

 to develop, unhampered by the fear of mechanical errors. 

 Separate the formal from the formative. Since training 

 for habit must always be a part of our work with children, 

 this freedom from interruption during writing must not 

 mean careless work. The pupil should try to write as cor- 

 rectly as he can in this first draft. He will be assisted in 

 doing so if correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, are 

 referred to by the teacher before the writing is begun, and 

 the pupil is encouraged to make this first writing as free as 



