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Friday, February 4, 2011

Reader

  Yesterday I posted the first lesson and today, some 200 pages later, the last.  I didn't include the word list for either lesson.  The focus is on reading properly, speaking correctly and articulation.  Each lesson provides a moral as well, concluding with the following lesson, to inspire a young boy to reflect, improve and develop his charactor

Strive to Excel  (Sander's 1853)

All the great and good men in the world have once been boys, and why may not all boys become great and good men?

If you seek for honor and renown, rise from the dust, from which thou wast made, and aim at great and worthy deeds.

The tall oak, that now spreads its branches broad and high, was once a small acorn, hid in the bosom of the earth.

Strive to be the first in thy calling, be it what it may.  Be the nimblest at play and the best at study; yet envy not the merit of others; but seek to improve your own talents.

In striving to excel by just conduct, the spirit of a man is roused within him; he pants after fame, and is eager to gain the object of his pursuit.

He rises like a palm tree, in spite of those burdens that tend to keep him down; and an eagle in the sky, he soars aloft, and fixes his eye on the glories of the sun.

The deeds of great men are in his dreams by night, and it is his chief delight to follow them all the day.

He forms great and good designs, and pursues them with ardor, until success crowns his efforts.  If you aim be good, despair not of success.

No one knows what he can do until he tries, and he who faithfully exerts himself to a noble and worthy object, can hardly fail to accomplish it, although, at first, it might appear entirely beyond his power.

Be not content with present attainments; but, while you are digging your little garden and sowing seeds there, cultivate your heart and your head at the same time; for the seeds which you sow there, shall spring up, blossom, and yield rich fruit when you are a man.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Reader

The First Lesson from Sanders Second Reader June 1853.

I know a great man who is as kind and gentle as a child, and yet he is full of courage.

He never speaks a cross word; he is always happy, and thinking what he can do to make others happy.

To him the world is full of beauty.  He knows the name of every little flower, and can tell you all about the birds, beasts, fishes and insects.

When he walks out, he looks  upon the earth as a lovely garden, which God himself has planted, and in which He has placed man, that he may enjoy its beauty.

He loves to listen to the wind, to hear the birds sing, and to watch the moving clouds.  He feels happy to know that he, and all things, were made by the hand of God.

But this great man was once a little boy.  He had his hours for study, and his hours for play.

One day, while this little boy was walking by himself in the garden, he saw a toad hopping along his path.

He took up a stone to throw at it; but, just as he was raising his arm, something seemed to warn him not to do it.

No one was with him, and no one spoke to him; yet he felt that he must not throw the stone.  He dropped it, ran home, and told his mother.

"What was it, mother," said he, "that made me drop the stone?"

"It was conscience," said his mother; "and my dear boy, if you would be wise and happy, be sure that you always listen to this voice."

The boy was careful to follow his mother's advice.  He strove to obey the teachings of conscience, and he became a great and good man.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Love Birds

I am so glad that some of you have a use for those photographs of the Presidents.  Thank you all for the nice notes that you've left.

I just love those old school books and over the years have collected quite a few of them.  While going through some of the pages it occurred to me, that sharing some of the information in them would be fun.  If you have a minute or two, read on.

From Sander's New Second Reader June 1853.

Marks and Pauses used in Reading.

If with correctness you would read,
You must with care the pauses heed.

                       Comma,
As oft as you the Comma meet,
You pause while one you can repeat.

                        Semicolon;
At Semicolons thus you do:
You pause the time of counting two.
                       
                        Colon:
At Colons then, the pause is more:
For there you rest the the time of four.

                        Period.
For Periods thus the rule we fix;
You rest the time of counting six.

                        "Quotation"
Quotations show the words of others;
As "Brothers should not war with brothers."

                         Exclamation!
Now Exclamations next appear;
These mark delight, surprise, or fear;
And here the time to rest we state,
The same as we for colons rate.

                          Interrogation?
Interrogations serve to show
Some question asked; as, Will you go?
At which you rest but little more
Than time to count the number four,

Thus, if correctly you would read,
With care the marks and pauses heed.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

US Presidents

Since I had these photographs of the U.S. Presidents, I thought they may be of some use for the students who may have to write reports this month.  Each picture is cropped to about 5x7, reports not included! 
George Washington
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
James Knox Polk
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt