William Emer Miller

“ A Word to the Student
The greatest lesson of education is thought. The thing you should be striving for and working toward is the ability to think clearly, logically and deeply. One of the greatest aids is the knowledge which is stored in your brain and which you are all able to recall at will.
Your brain is not like sticking plaster, it is like putty; you must make an impression of the things you wish to retain. To make these impressions will always require an effort, no help will ever be devised which will enable you to remember without effort. ”

“ He also is an artist, his canvas is your brain, and if he succeeds it is there he must impress a picture. The words on the printed page and the function of your eye are simply agencies through which he must work.
Words are vehicles of thought and they are the author's colors; their function is to reproduce objects and conditions; by their use the author conveys to your brain the impressions of size, color, form, arrangement and every detail of his thought. A very few words will create a wonderful picture, which would require hours for the artist to paint. ”

“ When you have trained your child's memory and created in his mind a feeling of confidence that he can remember what he wishes to say, there will be very little embarrassment connected with speaking in public. ”

“ Two of the objects to be gained by time spent in study are a thorough understanding of the subject matter and to so fix the thought in mind that it will be available for future use. It is well to realize that the scanning of the modern newspaper and careless or rapid reading causes many adults to forget what they read. We can so educate the physical eye that it can read an entire paragraph, or page while the brain is dormant and does not accept the impressions intended by the author. ”

“ Use Visualization
Teach the child to visualize the words which he studies each day in his spelling lesson. You may not be able to visualize them yourself, but if you have started early in training him, he will have little difficulty in doing so. Exaggeration should be used as an aid in spelling. It will be easier to see the words printed in letters from three to six feet high on the wall of the room, than to see them in pica type on the paper. If your child has difficulty in visualizing the words in the spelling lesson have him exaggerate and color them in his mind's eye picture. ”

“ Eye and Brain Must Work Together
This habit of careless reading must be avoided and for successful study the child should be aided in forming the visualizing habit.
"Thought Leads to Knowledge"
We cannot gain knowledge merely by reading. The value of reading is in the thought that it stimulates in the mind. We exercise muscles to get strength. You must aid the child in exercising his mental muscles by thinking in order to get mental strength. It is not what he reads, but what he thinks concerning what he reads that becomes his, and contributes to his education. ”

“ When listening to instructions, or a lecture, in which there are different points which you wish to carry away and later recall accurately, use the Hitching Post idea. Run over a series of words so as to be sure that they will come readily when wanted. When a point is made which you wish to remember, transfer the thought into a quick visual impression, and Hitch it to the first object of your list. When a second important point is made, make a visual impression with the next object. Make your picture strong by exaggeration and motion, and be sure that you photograph each one. ”

“ The principles of memory are scientifically accurate and you need to become familiar with them and to use them to add to your success in study and progress.
Do not be like the carpenter who "is too busy to sharpen his tools," or like the drowning man who refused [Pg 85] to grasp the rope because he feared it was not strong enough.
Use every idea that proves helpful and apply it in every possible way. There is no intent to give here all of the applications, but merely to give principles and to suggest one or two ways in which they have been used. ”

“ Poor spelling is largely a matter of inattention. Continual inattention becomes a habit and the child soon finds himself decidedly handicapped by his inability to spell correctly. This is largely caused by uncertainty. He has no definite knowledge to resort to, the result being doubt as to whether the word is properly spelled, and therefore uncertainty as to what change to make. To read a word carefully and to study the letters as they appear in the proper sequence will usually be sufficient to fix the word in mind. ”

“ In your walks with the children through the country take every opportunity to explain the different geographical formations. Find an illustration for an isthmus even if it is only a small puddle, or if you have to make one in the back yard with a shovel and a pail of water. The sand-box method, because it is visual, has always been a successful one for teaching geography.
Visualize the Map
See clearly the outline of the country being studied, and note its peculiarities. Put the map at arm's length and let your imagination transform the contour of the country into the picture of some object. ”

“ The one to the left of the dealer draws and plays a picture into the middle of the table, and then any cards which he holds which belong with it. The next player has the next opportunity to play, and so on around the group. The player who places the fourth card takes the book and is entitled to draw and play a picture into the center of the table.
Any card which is played in error that does not belong with the event in the picture shall be forfeited to the one who started the play with the picture card. The one getting the most books wins. ”

“ Sometimes it is of as great value to be able to forget as it is to be able to remember. You have seen that each time you review a mental impression it becomes stronger and more deeply implanted in the brain. When using your Hitching Post for temporary purposes refuse to see the pictures after having used them, and your Hitching Posts will be free for filling any other information.
The unfortunate or embarrassing situations of life which you wish to eliminate from your mind can be forgotten by the same process. ”

“ Reading which stimulates no thought is a waste of time.
The disappointment felt in the lack of progress after time spent in study is not that we forget, but that we do not really "GET." This lack can be largely avoided in the child's training if you are willing to help in forming right habits. ”

“ Visualize each thought, and watch for alliteration and alphabetical repetition.
Remembering What You Hear
It is also important that the child be trained to remember what he hears. Ear impressions are comparatively light and easily lost. If these ear impressions are quickly transferred into mind's eye pictures they will be far more lasting.
Instructions, lectures, sermons, talks, can all be pictures in the mind, just as you picture what you read. The act of visualization will concentrate the attention and prolong it, so that the memory of what is said will be greatly increased. ”

“ Practice is the only possible method for developing speed.
The Knight's Tour
Chess players find a great deal of interest and amusement in being able to remember the moves [Pg 106] necessarily made by the Knight in touring the board, stopping once on each square, and never more than once on any square.
One of our great mathematicians put in a great deal of time working out the proper moves of the Knight in touring the board in this manner. It is a simple matter for the memory student to keep in mind the necessary moves in their proper order. ”

“ In some fishes, such as the carp, when the ganglia, which corresponds to the cerebral hemispheres (brain) are experimentally removed, they do not seem to mind it at all, for even then there is little, if anything, to distinguish them from perfectly normal animals. They maintain their natural attitude and use their tails and fins in swimming with the same vigor and precision as before. They not only see, but are able to find their food. If worms are thrown into the water where they are swimming they immediately pounce upon them. ”

“ It is best for the child to make his own applications. You can, of course, suggest and aid, but he should make his own picture wherever possible. The one making the effort receives the reward—which is development. The child will recall the idea which he works out for himself more easily than those worked out for him, even though the latter may seem better.
The following pages will be given over to suggestive ideas as to how the principles may be applied to different lessons. ”

“ The first player draws a state card and lays it on the table and has the first opportunity to play with it any city card he holds. The player to the left has the next turn, and so on, until someone has laid down the last of the three city cards belonging to this state card and takes the book. The one playing the last city card is entitled to the book and has the privilege of drawing the next state card. The one securing the largest number of books wins. ”

“ The applications that are of most value to you are those you make for yourself. The principles will cover every need, if you will be resourceful in their use.
Get Out of the Rut
Make an effort. Insist upon your brain waking up and "getting on the job" and doing its share. The old method of "learning by heart" requires a maximum of time and mental effort.
This visual method requires only a minimum of time and mental effort.
Time is of the utmost value to you. Dr. James tells us that over seventy-five per cent of our Mental power is dormant, asleep. Stir yourself. ”

“ The necessity of repetition will never be eliminated; it may by better methods be reduced to a minimum, but cannot disappear entirely. Some knowledge must be so familiar that it can be used habitually (by the subconscious mind) without the necessity of conscious effort, and this cannot become true without repetition. ”

“ Put a Maximum of Mental Effort into a Minimum of Time; develop an accurate and retentive memory—a worthy servant to be at all times relied upon—the very foundation of your success. You can work wonders with yourself by intelligent and persistent effort. ”

“ This card with the black 4×5= and the bright red answer 20 will make a strong impression upon the brain of the child, and by use of the strongest sense, that of sight. At the same time he can repeat the table audibly and gain the added advantage of the ear impression.
Give the child only one set at a time so that he learns one table thoroughly. When he has learned it, mix the cards and place them one at a time in front of the child and see how many correct answers he can give without fitting the cards. In cases where there is hesitation have him fit the digit cards and make sure. ”

“ Most children will like the study of geography if it is given to them in stories and pictures as much as possible. Note how the more modern geographies are literally picture-books compared with those of several years ago. ”

“ To look up the information for the cards is a good history lesson in itself. Take the ideas of all these games and by using your Productive Imagination make them fit the needs of your study, or the things which you wish most to master. ”

“ It is "lots of fun" at parties and helpful in vocabulary building, because it requires an effort, and every time you induce yourself, or your child, to make an effort good is accomplished.
Have the group sit around the room and then begin by selecting a letter and a suffix, as B-ing. The one starting says to the one on his left "The camels are coming." He replies "How are they coming?" The beginner must then reply using one word beginning with B and ending with "ing". For example: Buzzing—Bleating—Braying—Blushing—. Each player must think of a word to give as his answer. ”

“ Only a certain few concrete illustrations will be given, as the working out of the details would rob the child of the opportunity and development to be gained by doing the work himself.
Children always learn the alphabet by pictures. ”

“ To learn prose or poetry should not be difficult for children who have been trained in visualization. In some schools they will be urged to use the fallacious method of repetition, some of it is always necessary, of course, but most of it can be eliminated by the use of visualization and the additional helps following. ”

“ The Spelling Cards
For younger children the brightly colored A, B, C, blocks and picture books have always been helpful in [Pg 36] teaching the alphabet and simple words. These spelling cards have the advantage of self-instruction with no possibility of mistake, so that the child teaches himself accurately and uses the visual sense in doing so. ”

“ Do not neglect the development of your memory, but do not go to the extreme, so that you neglect other factors of mentality and character. Strive always to gain a fully rounded education and development. ”

“ Children learn to count by using objects, in the school room they count the desks, the children, the number of cards, or blocks. The first lessons are object-lessons dealing with objects which can be handled and formed into groups. Digits are symbols which represent objects, 7+3=10, is an abbreviated form for 7 (Apples) and 3 (Apples) are 10 (Apples) .
It is easier to teach addition and subtraction by the use of the objects to add and to take away from. The realization of the process comes by seeing the objects and the result of the change. ”

“ When a person is giving you instructions about the things which he would like to have you do, follow the same plan. Simply transfer the words of the speaker into an exaggerated moving picture and the impression will stay with you. ”

“ The digits become symbols for the objects that the child has been working with. Counting boards are helpful in teaching children, for they enable you to continue the visual process. All methods of teaching through the visual processes should be continued as long as possible.
The child's interest in the problem will be stimulated if he deals with objects, or things, and not with meaningless groups of figures. ”