PREFACE In preparing this book the author has endeavored to remember the many-sided interest of the child. He has now reached an age when there has come to him a wider field of imagination, a field also that is being rapidly impinged upon by the utilities of his daily life. Consequently as the scope of his thinking widens so must the character of his reading progress. In the preceding numbers of this series the lessons were largely drawn from the home and the simple activities of childhood; and the imagination was appealed to through fairy stories and the simple legends that children of all ages have loved. But now the child stands upon the threshold of another world—a world of greater activity—a world of activities outside of himself. He is beginning to get his first conscious impressions of the great work of the world-of its history and its geography. Even his imagination has broadened and strengthened, and in his day dreams the play element is becoming more and more subordinated, while in its place comes greater action, in the form of adventure, stirring conflicts and marvelous deeds of valor. Consequently the author has endeavored to present material that will appeal to these awakening instincts and at the same time to retain a degree of simplicity in keeping with the age of the child. The lessons may be made more than mere reading exercises. They may be made the fruitful sources of class conversations, written exercises, and outside reading and study. The skillful teacher will see the opportunity and know how to use it. By the Industrial lessons the child's interest in the world's work is quickened; by the Nature lessons he is made alive to and observant of his natural environment. The lessons with a geographical or historical bearing stimulate his awakening interest in the world at large. The fable and simple myth delight him, for a love for the marvelous is still strong within him; while the selections teaching patriotism arouse in him the love of country, that noblest of all emotions and the one which forms the very bulwark of our national existence. As in the preceding books of the series, the word lists are intended for drills in pronunciation and are placed at the close of the lesson. Grateful acknowledgment is hereby extended to Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. and Little, Brown & Co. for the use of selections from their publications. |