(2) Efficiency in expressing themselves orally and in writing without making any serious errors in the common usage of language or the rules of composition.
(3) Efficiency in the use of the grammar of the mother-tongue which is necessary for the above measure of attainments.
_Class I._ (Boys twelve hours, girls eleven hours, weekly.) A suitable number (twelve or fifteen) of interesting children's stories are told and utilized for the special purposes of widening the circle of the children's imagination and developing in them ability in observation, conception, and expression. An effort is made to render the general contents of the stories lucid through explanations, while the features arousing special interest in the minds of the pupils are made the objects of more detailed conversation. An effort is made to train the children in correct, free, and easy expression in connected sentences, and to develop in them the ability to rehearse their stories freely and connectedly.
_Reading._ The aim is ability to read the primer (_ABC-en_) with assurance and in a clear tone, properly articulating and accenting each word and syllable.
_Written exercises._ The object of the written work is to teach the children to write words and simple sentences which have just been read orally or have been seen in the primer or on the blackboard.
_Class II._ (Boys ten hours, girls eight hours, weekly.) Twenty or thirty of the most interesting and valuable selections (prose and poetry) contained in the reader are made the objects of special and thorough treatment. Comments, questions, elucidating explanations, and conversations are means employed in securing a vivid appreciation of the contents and in developing ability in their easy rehearsal. The other pieces are treated in a more cursory manner, only the larger views and the more general understanding of them being attempted.
Special attention is given to having all readings slow with loud, plain, and correct articulation and proper accentuation. Habitual mistakes are carefully eliminated. Story telling is also a feature of the year's work.
_Written exercises_, made up of sentences and short parts of readings, conversations, or stories are given frequently and for short periods. Here the names of letters and spelling are attended to with great care.