Books by William Holmes McGuffey

McGuffey's Eclectic Primer begins with the alphabet and moves quickly into short-vowel words such as cat and rat. By the second lesson, your child will be working with sentences such as "The cat has a rat" and "The rat ran at Ann." These evocative mini-stories build phonics and word-recognition skills, and encourage the child to want to learn. Most pages offer a vintage illustration that charmingly provides a clue as to the content of the lesson, and the original diacritical markings are included throughout.Cursive is introduced by the fifth lesson, though it's just eight words and two short sentences. The complete cursive alphabet is included in the back as "Slate Exercises," but you will most likely want to supplement this instruction with a complete course in cursive. By the last lesson in the book, students are reading short stories and poems, many containing a lesson in virtue. 64 pages

In the First Reader from this revised 1879 edition of McGuffey's Eclectic Readers, you will find dramatic stories, vintage illustrations, phonics-based reading instruction, and more, all designed to teach children language arts and communication skills. Whether you use them for instruction or simply as readers, these books offer an authentic glimpse of historic lives and values while expanding vocabulary and perspective. Across the series, you will find: Complete original text from McGuffey's 1879 edition; Phonics-based reading instruction; Vocabulary and spelling taught and reinforced in context; Penmanshiip instruction and practice; Age-appropriate instructions on elocution (art of speaking); Increasingly challenging literature selections for grades K-12; Original text presented as a facsimile edition (exact reproduction) with original diacritical markings in place; Interior text printed on high quality cream paper for exceptional readability.

McGuffey's "Readers" helped almost an entire country become literate over the course of an entire century. Its appeal spawned numerous editions and revisions, making it a popular choice for teaching reading, even today. Like John Cotton in his "New England Primer" (ISBN: 9781947844346), McGuffey incorporated the Bible and his faith into the content of "Readers." Unfortunately, by around 1879, almost all of the content about God and Christ was stripped out. Many of the versions available today are based on these later ones. This 'First Eclectic' edition, however, is a facsimile of the Wilson, Hinkle & CO 1863 edition, which while revised and updated, still makes reference to God. For those interested in teaching reading from time-tested methods and are not shy about their values, this edition will do. The 'First Eclectic' followed his 'Primer' (ISBN: 9781947844841) and was for children who had already established very basic reading skills.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again ¿ worldwide.