In teaching infants to sing, I have found it the best way to sing the psalm or hymn several times in the hearing of the children, without their attempting to do so until they have some idea of the tune; because, if all the children are allowed to attempt, and none of them know it, it prevents those who really wish to learn from catching the sounds.  Nothing, however, can be more ridiculous or absurd than the attempts at singing I have heard in some schools.  And here, I would caution teachers against too much singing; and also against introducing it at improper times.  Singing takes much out of the teacher, which will soon be felt in the chest, and cause pain and weakness there; and, if persevered in, premature death; and with women much sooner than men.  This is another reason why one of each sex should be employed in the work.  Singing is an exhilarating and exciting lesson; the children always like it:  but even they are injured by the injudicious management of it, and by having too much of it each day; or the having two or even three exciting lessons at the same time.  For example:  I have seen children singing, marching, and clapping hands at the same time; and they are prompted and led by the teachers to do so.  Here are three exciting lessons together, which ought to be separate:  the result is, a waste of energy and strength, on the part of teacher and children, which is sometimes fatal to both.  The exciting lessons were intended to be judiciously blended with the drier, yet necessary, studies.  If the latter are neglected, and the former only retained, no greater perversion of the plans could occur, and a more fatal error could not be committed.

You must not expect order until your little officers are well drilled, which may be done by collecting them together after the other children are gone, and instructing them in what they are to do.  Every monitor should know his work, and when you have taught him this, you must require it to be done.  To get good order, you must make every monitor answerable for the conduct of his class.  It is astonishing how some of the little fellows will strut about, big with the importance of office.  And here I must remark, it will require some caution to prevent them from taking too much upon themselves; so prone are we, even in our earliest years, to abuse the possession of power.

The way by which we teach the children hymns, is to let one child stand in a place where he may be seen by the rest, with the book in his hand; he then reads one line, and stops until all the children in the school have repeated it, which they do simultaneously; he then repeats another, and so on, successively, until the hymn is finished.  This method is adopted with every thing that is to be committed to memory, so that every child in the school has an equal chance of learning.