The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 13–17 · Part 1: Part First
5. Family names and initials
Goal: Your child knows where many family names came from and writes initials as capitals followed by periods.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and pencil (a notebook kept just for this book works well)
What's in the book
Section 13 explains how family names began (Thomas the Baker, John at the Wood, Peterson for the son of Peter) and lists names to puzzle out. Sections 14 and 15 ask for written names; Section 16 explains initials, with names to shorten; Section 17 gives more practice.
The lesson, step by step
Read about family names
Read Section 13 together.
Every family name once meant something.
Ask: What is our family name? Do we know what it once meant?
Puzzle out the list
Look at the list of names on page 16 (Smith, Baker, Fuller, Weaver, Thomson ...). Guess together what each one first meant. The Answers give help. Some names are jobs, some are places, some mean "son of".
Talk about initials
Read Section 16. G. A. Peabody is short for George Alfred Peabody.
When the initial stands alone, it is always a capital letter, and is always followed by a period.
Write
Your child:
- writes the eight names on page 18 with initials for all but the family name
- writes their own name with initials (Section 17)
- answers three of the Section 14 questions in whole sentences ("My father's name is ...")
Check it gently
Check just one thing: every initial is a capital with a period right after it. Your child finds and fixes any slip.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
J. J. Curtis
M. L. Smith
My name is Thomas Reed Hall. I can write it T. R. Hall.
Afterwards
Make a list of family names among friends and neighbors and guess what they once meant.
Answers to the book's problems
Initials (Section 16): J. J. Curtis; W. W. Noyes; C. S. Sprague; A. A. Abbott; M. L. Smith; J. E. Perry; E. E. Eaton; C. L. Burnham. Name meanings (likely first meanings): Smith, a metal worker; Baker, one who bakes bread; Fuller, one who cleaned and thickened cloth; Weaver, one who weaves cloth; Thomson, son of Thomas; Carpenter, a woodworker; Mason, one who builds with stone; Miller, one who runs a mill; Cook, a cook; Ferguson, son of Fergus; Brooks, one who lived by a brook; Wiseman, a wise man; Stevenson, son of Steven; Wilson, son of Will; Brown, probably for brown hair, skin or clothes.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.