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OF

STANDARD READING BOOKS

FOR BOYS.

COMPILED BY

EVAN DANIEL, M.A.,

PRINCIPAL OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, BATTERSEA; MEMBER OF THE
LONDON SCHOOL BOARD.

BOOK V.

FOR

STANDARD V.

LONDON:

EDWARD STANFORD, 55, CHARING CROSS, S.W.

1879.

OTH

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PREFACE.

THIS series of Readers is intended to follow "The Battersea Primers," but, being graduated in accordance with the requirements of the New Code, may be used with any Primer.

The aim of the Editor in the earlier books has been to give children, at as early a stage as possible, a taste for reading. Once a child has been got to love reading, his progress is sure and rapid. Mechanical difficulties soon disappear, or are patiently borne with, for the sake of the matter of the lessons.

The later books contain much interesting and useful information, but all through the series the Editor has subordinated the communication of knowledge to the primary object of a Reader, viz. the teaching a child to read, and the kindling of a desire to use this new acquisition. When the difficulties of scientific lessons are superadded to the difficulties that belong to reading proper, it is not surprising that both science and reading suffer. When, on the other hand, children can read with ease, there are few subjects which they cannot master for themselves.

The plan of Books I. and II. has been to place at the

head of each lesson the chief words occurring in it, and at the end a few sentences in which the words are used in fresh combinations. These combinations, which may be used as dictation exercises, the teacher is recommended to multiply for himself. Young children do not derive much benefit from bare verbal explanation of words, but they readily pick up the meaning of a word, by induction, from examples. This is, of course, the way in which they make their first acquisitions in language,—a fact which the teacher will do well not to lose sight of. We can rarely improve on the methods of Nature.

In Books III. to VI. words are explained, but here also examples are given to illustrate the use of the words glossed. These illustrations are, so far as the Editor has observed, a somewhat novel feature in reading books, and he attaches considerable importance to their employment. A sentence exhibits a word in its organic relation to other words. The difference between an isolated word and the same word in a sentence is the difference between death and life.

The common defect in the reading of our elementary schools is its lack of intelligence. This is partly owing to ignorance of the matter read, a cause which can only be assailed through the general culture of the whole school; but it is very largely owing to the limited vocabulary of the children. They have frequently to read of things unknown in a language unknown. Hence no opportunity should be thrown away of familiarizing them with the meaning of such words as they are likely to encounter in their reading.

The Editor would strongly urge upon teachers the importance of getting their pupils to prepare the reading lessons. Five minutes spent in learning the hard words, by way of preparation, would save much loss of time in the subsequent course of the lesson, and would render needless those constant interruptions, by which, to the hindrance of an intelligent comprehension of the passage read, and to the great discouragement of the learner, the continuity of the reading is otherwise so frequently broken.

The historical episodes in Books IV. to VI. follow the divisions of English History prescribed for the three upper standards in the New Code, and will, it is hoped, be of service in inspiring and fostering a taste for history. It is impossible for children to take a real interest in History so long as their acquaintance with it is limited to the meagre skeleton of facts contained in our ordinary school compendiums. The Editor has endeavoured to set forth the leading events of English History at such length as to whet the curiosity to know more. Once the leading events are mastered, it will be an easy matter to fill up the interstices.

The extracts from books of travel have been inserted with the similar intention of awakening an interest in foreign lands, and will be found useful in connection with the study of Geography.

The poetry has been carefully selected with an eye to the tastes of children, and more especially of boys. We too frequently forget that what is absolutely best in literature is not always suitable for the perusal of children, and that the tastes of boys and girls are not

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