John Milton Gregory's Seven Laws of Teaching adaptation

1. The Seven Laws
of Teaching
How to Become a Better Teacher

2. Adapted from the original work of John Milton Gregory.
All quotations are Mr. Gregory’s words.
© 2011 The Classical Scholar

3. “Teaching is the communication of
experience…painting in the mind of another
the picture in one’s own mind...
thus making it common to both.”

4. Know the
material

5. • Prepare each lesson with fresh study.
• Find analogies to more familiar facts and principles.
• Study the lesson until it is shaped into clear speech.
• Find the natural order of the lesson.
• Find the relations of the lesson to your child.
• Ask questions.
• Summarize your thoughts or teach your spouse.

6. Gain her
attention

7. • Never begin until she’s listening.
• Stop when she’s losing interest.
• Give her a quest before the lesson.
• Don’t tell her what to think.
• Vary the senses.
• Relate the lesson to her needs.
• Appeal to her self-interest.
• Eliminate distractions.

8. Use familiar
words

9. • Start with words she understands.
• Don’t talk too much.
• Choose words carefully.
• Ask questions.
• Encourage her to talk.
• Listen to her answers.

10. Start with
what she
knows

11. • Use what she knows to explain what she doesn’t know
• Use the old to teach the new
• Break the lesson into steps
• Use common illustrations
• Lead her to find her own illustrations from her life
• Use real problems

12. Let her
discover

13. • Tell her nothing that she can learn herself
• Find the relationship of the material to your child
• Excite interest by hinting that something worth
knowing is in the material
• Write a fresh question and hide it in the book
• Ask her to share her discovery with you
• Do your own searching at the table with her
• Don’t be impatient…give her time to explore and think

14. Have her put it
in her own
words

15. • Let her explain what she’s learned
• Give comments or feedback that raise fresh questions
• Don’t answer questions too quickly…teach her to ask:
– Why (cause)
– How (method)
– Where (place)
– When (time)
– By whom (actors)
– So what (consequences)

16. Review…
Review…
Review!

17. • Before you start a new lesson, briefly review the old
• At the end of the lesson, have her do a quick summary
• Have her teach what she learned that night at dinner
• Have a meeting at the end of the week to review and
ask fresh questions
• Help her organize her notes at the end of a major
section

18. “That which is thoroughly
and repeatedly reviewed is
woven into the very fabric
of our thoughts and
becomes a part of our
equipment of knowledge.”

20. Progression of Knowledge
Changed
conduct
Immediate explanations
Limited recall
Faint recognition
No knowledge

21. “The difference between a child
who works for herself and the
who only works when she
is driven is too obvious
to need explanation.

22. The one is a free agent,
the other a machine.

23. The former is attracted by her work,
and prompted by her interest,
she works on until she meets
some overwhelming difficulty or
reaches the end of her task .

24. The latter moves only when she is urged.
She sees what is shown her,
hears what she is told,
advances when her teacher leads,
and stops just where and when the teacher
stops.

25. The one moves by her own activities,
and the other by borrowed impulse.

26. The former is a mountain stream
fed by living springs,
the latter a ditch filled from a pump
worked by another’s hand.”

27. Adapted from the original work of John Milton Gregory.
All quotations are Mr. Gregory’s words.
© 2011 The Classical Scholar