Dorothy Crain

“ LESSON XV
The phrase “Biliteral Cipher” is made to contain the hidden word “key” by the use of a capital letter for the a form, and a small letter for the b form. The borders to the lines contain the cipher word “letter,” the blue sticks being the a form, the red ones the b form. The reading proceeds from left to right in each line, beginning with the line at the top. The children may be directed to cut out any set of letters of appropriate size to form any desired phrase, using capital and small letters on the same principle as in the example. ”

“ The adaptability of the Biliteral Cipher to the manifold uses to which it can be put makes its pedagogical possibilities far-reaching; and the field for the exercise of the faculties of both teacher and pupil, parent and child, is one of the broadest, most instructive and entertaining that has ever been opened to the little folks of primary age. ”

“ This lesson is extremely flexible in respect to the many combinations which it makes possible. The teacher or parent should bear in mind that the most effective use of the clock is to be attained by first choosing a phrase designating some time of the day which is significant in the daily experience of the child—such as the opening or closing hour of school, the play hour, the dinner hour, or “bed-time.” This phrase is converted into cipher by having the child place the dots representing the letters of the phrase, beginning at the figure twelve, around the clock face. ”

“ Words in a language being made up simply of combinations of letters, it is clear that as long as only two differences are available, words can be built up by making the proper combinations according to the code. ”

“ The reason that the different characteristics of tracks are not observed by the untrained eye is not because they are so very small as to be invisible, but because they are—to that eye—so inconspicuous as to escape notice. ”

“ LESSON VII—THE TIME-TEACHING CLOCK
In this clock the movable colored dots indicating the minutes are used to spell out the time in cipher. In the working cards to be provided for the child the colored dots are to be inserted in the holes made for the purpose around the face of the clock. There being sixty dots, any phrase expressive of time not exceeding twelve letters in length (that is, twelve times five dots for each letter equals 60) is available for indicating the time in cipher. ”

“ You never knew before that the Alphabet was such a wonderful thing, did you? Would you like now to hear the story about it?
[Pg 46] Long, long ago in a country called Egypt, which is far across the sea (you may find it on your map, and that will make it more interesting for you) they had a very curious way of writing. They had no letters like our A, B, C’s, but did what we call picture writing; that is, they drew pictures instead of writing letters and words as we do today. Their writing looked like this—
That does not look much like writing, does it? ”

“ It is in this phase of the work that accuracy and care in the formation of [Pg 5] letters may be taught, not only in script or handwriting, but also in printing, both of which are now fast becoming lost arts. Cipher writing, if properly taught, will give practice in penmanship that will be interesting and not onerous to children. ”

“ Here you see the pattern is a large square, and the letters are drawn very carefully in them. Did you know before there was as much figuring and measuring done in the making of the Alphabet as there is in building a house? Look at the letter E, for example, and all the circles and squares that have been measured and drawn to make it. You will find that every letter is made just as carefully. ”