We will print you a perfectly bound paperback of your selected title and send it to you at your nominated address

NEW NATIONAL FIRST READER

BY

CHARLES J. BARNES

HARLAN H. BALLARD

S. PROCTOR THAYER

NEW YORK--CINCINNATI--CHICAGOAMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

1888, by A.S. BARNES & CO.

The authors of this book believe,--

1st.--That the Word Method is the most natural and practicable,because words are representatives of objects, actions, etc., whileletters, or sounds, in the abstract, convey no meaning to the pupil, andare devoid of interest.

2d.--That words of ordinary length are as easily learned as short ones,provided they are familiar to the pupil. No teacher will doubt thestatement that a pupil will learn the word "mamma'" as easily as "says"or "eyes."

3d.--That frequent "Reviews" are essential to the rapid and thoroughadvancement of pupils. By this means the words imperfectly learnedare again brought to their attention and thoroughly memorized. Thatthese "Reviews" ought to take up the new words in a different order andarrangement, in order to test the ability of the pupil to recognize themin any situation. That as soon as the vocabulary is large enough theyshould be written in the form of a new exercise, as on pp. 36, 44, 52,60, and 68 of this book.

4th.--That thorough and systematic drill in Spelling is absolutelynecessary. That the "Reading Reviews" should be so constructed as tocontain all the new words used in the lessons they were intended toreview, and no others, so that they can be used for "Written orDictation Spelling." That the pronunciation of the words in the"Spelling Reviews" should be indicated by the diacritical marks ofWebster, so that they can be used for either "Oral Spelling" or "PhonicDrill."

5th.--That the "Script" from which the pupil gets his first and mostlasting impressions should be of large size and accurate form, andnot of the nondescript character usually found in books of this class.That it should be free from superfluous line and flourish, and yet havegrace and beauty. That it should be adapted for both copying andreading.

6th.--That the lessons should be largely "conversational in style,"to cultivate flexibility of voice and to break up the dreary monotone sofrequently heard among children.

7th.--That the lessons of a book of this grade should not average morethan seven "new words." That all such words should appear at thecommencement of lessons, and be familiar to the pupil. That this methodsecures careful gradation, and is in marked contrast with the old customof having from fifteen to twenty-five.

8th.--That "Outline Drawings" of the objects first presented to pupilsshould be made in the presence of the class, as it stimulates them todraw, and thus makes easy and profitable the copying of the "ScriptExercises."

9th.--That the schoolbook of to-day must be beautifully and copiouslyillustrated. That there must be variety as well as excellence, both indrawing and engraving. That well-known and famous artists must besecured, such as Harper, Fredericks, Church, Lippincott, Eytinge, White,Beard, Weldon, Thulstrup, Cary, Moser, Weaver, and Share; and suchengravers as Karst, Wigand, French, Held, Davis, Hellawell, etc.

10th.--That the exercises must be instructive as well as interesting,and that no artificial system of vowel classification ought to interferewith the free and natural use of words.

11th.--That a book of this kind should be suited to the wants of gradedand ungraded schools, there evidently being nothing in the one notreadily adaptable to the other.

12th.--That every book of this class should contain a collection ofbrief extracts from standard literature to be committed to memory.