Number 23
A reader review on Amazon.com had this to say about an early speller and primer:
"Students a century or two ago were just as likely to leave school barely able to read or write. The only difference was that, at that time, it was possible to get through life fairly easily with minimal or no literacy. Children who really struggled in school during the 19th century simply LEFT. With no compulsory attendance laws, the poor student would leave school after a couple of years and go to work on the parents' farm, or in the factory, or be apprenticed out to learn a trade.
"...There are far better books available ... that take into account modern knowledge about how children learn. (Webster believed that it was not necessary for children to know the meaning of the words they learned to spell. He believed that rote memorization was the best way for children to learn.)"
The writer also said that these old books, now used by parents who tutor their children at home instead of sending them to school, only appear to be more effective tools because those parents spend more time with the students. How much individual attention did a student get who was in a one-room schoolhouse with children of other grades? A Parvum Opus reader said that his mother taught in a one-room school, and remarked that the younger students would listen in on the older students' lessons, and learn from that.
I still think that most students who did manage to get through school a hundred years ago were more literate ~ must have had better reading comprehension ~ than the average high school graduate today. I've read the writing of many college freshmen, and while more students go to college today, as a minimum job requirement, I believe that nineteenth century undergrads must have been better educated to start with, and probably to end with. The modern textbooks based on modern theory are easier to read and much duller than McGuffey's; how could the outcome be in doubt? One outcome is that many students graduate reading little and disliking books, which is tragic.
I ordered the complete set of McGuffey's (Amazon.com has a free-shipping deal). It struck me that they would be a great subject for a Broadway-type musical. Anyone want to collaborate? Anyone musical, I mean. I see fame and fortune.
"Many people use, after their names, an additional descriptive such as Junior or III or the Third. Is there a name for that appendage? We have surname, initial, etc., but what is that 'Junior' called?" Does anyone know?
esprit d'escalier (\es-PREE des-cah-lee-É\, n. French) ~ literally, spirit of the staircase, meaning the witty remark you think of only after you leave the room and are already on the stairs and it's too late to go back and say it. You could live a whole lifetime like that ~ paused on the landing, perhaps, one hand on the banister; then a sigh, and you move on ... It would only be fair to be given another lifetime in which you get to say the perfect thing at the right moment.
Copyright Rhonda Keith 2003. Parvum Opus or part of it may be reproduced only with permission, but it is permissible to forward the entire newsletter as long as the copyright remains.
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