Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Report of the Annual Examination of the Public Schools of the City of Boston: 1854
In regard to the text-books at present in use in the schools, your Committee believe that some improve ments might be made, and they would recommend the subject to the particular attention of the Board.
We have some books in daily use which, if they had been more carefully examined, would never have been introduced into the schools, and others which ought to be superceded by better books on the same subject, which have been since published. We would not, however, recommend any extensive and sudden changes without due deliberation, and the certainty that the change proposed would be an improvement.' Without dwelling too much on the details of this subject, we may refer to the text-books in reading and arithmetic as particularly requiring notice.
The reading books for the higher classes have the merits of good judgment and taste in the selections, and they are perhaps equal to any that have been pre pared for the purpose. All of those used by the younger classes, however, cannot be spoken of in the same terms of praise, and some of them are quite unworthy of a place in our schools. Some of these contain pieces which are beyond the reach of the understanding of the pupils by whom they are intended to be read, with others which are trivial both in style and matter, and in some instances, not written with due regard to the rules of grammatical construction.
A good reading book for any class should contain selections from the best writers in the language, pre pared with a reference to the cultivation of the taste, and the education of the intellect, at the same time that they serve as exercises in reading. It requires the same judgment and discrimination to compile books for the younger pupils as for those of a more advanced age. Our language has many classical authors, of cor rect taste, and pure and simple style, selections from whose writings would be quite appropriate for the youngest classes, as well as for older pupils.
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