A survey of the educational system of the Philippine islands by the Board of educational survey, created under acts 3162 and 3196 of the Philippine Legislature.

268 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINES

teachers' attention will produce even better results. Many of the suggestions given here are found in the course of study and are repeated
here merely for emphasis.
Many times the words for the day were chosen alphabetically and
not because the children needed to use them for a piece of written
work. The only reason for including spelling as one of the subjects of
the course of study is that spelling is made necessary by the demands
of written language. Children should feel the relationship these two
subjects bear to each other and the relationship both have to their own
lives. Many times the words were not taught, but tested. Children
need to form correct habits of studying words that are to be spelled.
Often in the teaching of spelling little if any written work was required.
As spelling is made necessary by the demands of written language the
writing of words is as important, if not more important, than the oral
spelling of them. Care should also be taken to prevent the children's
seeing the incorrect form of a word. The Primary Course of Study
contains suggestions for the teaching of spelling which should be very
helpful to the teacher.
The omission of a formal spelling period in the first grade is commended. Many words regularly spelled will be cared for in the phonic
period. Little written language work requiring the knowledge of spelling should be done in the first grade. This again is in accord with the
recommendations found in the course of study.
WRITING
The good writing universally seen on the blackboards and the observed accomplishments of children in writing seem to justify the Commission in making no recommendation in this subject for the primary
grades. It is believed, however, that the results obtained could be
secured with less of child effort and with less time devoted to penmanship.
ARITHMETIC
In observing the work of the teachers of the first four grades, it was
noted that they seemed much surer of themselves in arithmetic than in
any other subject. This feeling of confidence is probably due to the
fact that less English was required on the part of teachers and children
than in most subjects. Mistakes also can be checked much more
easily than can those in English. It was believed that the results of
the arithmetic work would prove to be much more satisfactory than the
results of many of the other subjects.
The arithmetic tests showed that this belief was well founded. The
children of the Philippines have as much skill in computation as do
American children. A comparison of Charts VII and VIII will show