spelling-lesson thus becomes a real obstacle to the development of the child's reasoning powers.
Atrofy of Logical Faculties
Unfortunately, the damage goes farther than this. Since spelling and reading form the gateway to most other forms of knowledge, and since the relationships between the facts he is taught in other branches ar not always immediately or clearly presented to him, the scool-child is led to put les and les trust in his logical faculties in all his studies, and to rely more and more on his memory. The child gifted with a naturally good eye-memory wil be especially likely to follow this course, since he wil soon perciev that an accurate recitation of the facts he has learnd is more likely to win the approval of the average teacher than ar any of his infantile attempts to draw conclusions from them.
False Value Placed on Spelling Ability
Because the absurdities and intricacies of our present spelling hav made a mastery of them the most difficult and long-continued task of the average student, a false value has been placed on spelling ability. "Correctness"—in reality, mere conformity—in spelling is too generally assumed to be an indication of superior education, whereas—as has been shown—it is only evidence of a natural or a specially traind eye-memory.
The failure in after life of many high-stand students may be attributable to the fact that, in spite of their scool and college pre-eminence, they wer not truly educated at all, but had cultivated their memories at the expense of their reasoning powers.
