McCuffey Readers

I started J on McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader yesterday and it is working out nicely so far. Yesterday, she read it first, then I demonstrated how to read the passage then she read it again. After my demonstration, she made big improvement in her intonation and paused where she should. Ha! Maybe I didn't demonstrate properly before or maybe not a whole passages just few sentences here or there or something. Today, I demonstrated first, then she read the passage. Again, with surprisingly good results. If only there was an easy way for her to verbalize her summary clearly and with feeling. Maybe I need to demonstrate how to do it a couple of times then have her do it. Hmmm... think that will be a good idea to try. I should mention the passages are a delight to read and just the right length.

There are also spelling/vocabulary words listed in each of the passage which I test her just for fun. But so far, she gets most of them right so I think this will work well for spelling/vocabulary development as well. For the words she doesn't spell correctly, I asked her to copy the sentence which contain the word she misspelled but she said she would rather have me dictate so that is what I did. I think this would really give her a boost when it comes to Spelling Bee next year. W was trying to spell the same words as J and he was getting some of them correct as well.

One customer said the following in review (which I was delighted to read):
"...They can be used for reading comprehension or as copybooks for improving handwriting skills. The numerous poems can be used to improve memory skills. Furthermore, many of the lessons are focused on nature subjects such as birds, insects, farm animals, etc., and will supplement a natural history text for teaching early scientific observation. Most importantly, all the lessons are moral and help to preserve childhood innocence, something that is sorely needed in today's world. Filled with beautiful illustrations, these hardcover textbooks are an outstanding value."