591269 COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY. TYPOGRAPHY BY C. J. PETERS & SON. PRESSWORK BY C. H. HEINTZEMANN, BOSTON. PREFACE. "THROUGH the Year" has been written to meet the desire of many teachers to secure, in one series of books, reading matter which will correlate with the lessons in science, nature work, history, and literature, taught in elementary schools under the general head of "language lessons." The subject matter follows the months of the year, and is arranged in the order which obtains in the best elementary schools throughout the country. It becomes natural in these schools to divide the work of the year into month periods, taking for each month the topic which is most seasonable, and for which material can be most easily obtained. Thus we follow, through the procession of the months, the life of the plant from germination to seed-making; the life history of the moth and butterfly; the history of a "little drop of water" that "within the ocean lay," through all its varied changes into vapor, rain, hail, snow, ice, etc.; the winds and their work; also the work of the sun and rain ; the appropriate history lessons clustering around the lives of the great men whose birthdays we celebrate; and the important national holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Decoration Day, Flag Day, etc. The history lessons, with various others, have been written expressly for children from eight to ten years of age. These, with all the other lessons in "Through the Year," have already been used with great interest and profit in regular class work. They have, therefore, passed the experimental stage. 5 Other important features which an examination of the volume will show are the following: the narrative style of the prose selections; the literary quality of the selections - many of them being chosen from standard writers; the adaptations from the myths, fables, and fairy stories; the free use of poems and stories which serve to stimulate patriotism. The culture side is emphasized, and through the work it has been the aim to build up in the imagination beautiful pictures based upon the observation of facts, and to train the æsthetic and emotional nature of the child, thus lifting him to nobler aspirations and truer ideals. It is unnecessary to add, to the experienced teacher, that the pupil should not be asked to read these lessons before having learned something of the subject matter which they contain. The topics should be studied and discussed first as language lessons; after which the corresponding reading lesson may be used. In this way impressions gained through the language lessons will be deepened, the imagination will be stimulated, and the reading be more intelligent because the thought is better understood. The copyrighted material in this book is used by permission of, and special arrangement with, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Company, Roberts Brothers, Henry T. Coates & Company, Ford, Howard, Hubbard & Company, G. P. Putnam's Sons, D. Appleton & Company, Estes & Lauriat, E. P. Dutton & Company, The Century Company, University Publishing Company, Educational Publishing Company, School Educational Company, Penn Publishing Company, New England Publishing Company, Silver, Burdett & Company, and the publishers of the Youth's Companion, Good Housekeeping, The Kindergarten Review, The Outlook, and Primary School; to all of whom the compilers desire to express their most grateful acknowledgment for the courtesy and good will extended. The compilers also cordially thank the authors who so graciously granted permission for the use of their stories and poems. |