Parkers Second Reader

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Parker's Second Reader

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Parker's Second Reader, by Richard G. Parker This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Parker's Second Reader National Series of Selections for Reading, Designed For The Younger Classes In Schools, Academies, &C.
Author: Richard G. Parker
Release Date: October 25, 2005 [EBook #16936]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARKER'S SECOND READER ***

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[Illustration:
COVER
NATIONAL SERIES
PARKER'S SECOND READER
SOLD BY BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES.]
[Illustration]

PARKER'S SECOND READER.
NATIONAL SERIES OF SELECTIONS FOR READING;
ADAPTED TO THE STANDING OF THE PUPIL.
BY RICHARD G. PARKER, A.M.
PRINCIPAL OF THE NORTH JOHNSON SCHOOL, BOSTON; AUTHOR OF "AIDS TO ENGLISH COMPOSITION," "OUTLINES OF GENERAL HISTORY," "THE SCHOOL COMPEND OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY," ETC.
PART SECOND.
DESIGNED FOR THE YOUNGER CLASSES IN SCHOOLS, ACADEMIES, &c.
* * * * *
"Understandest thou what thou readest?"--ACTS 6:30.
* * * * *
NEW YORK: A.S. BARNES & BURR, 51 & 53 JOHN STREET. SOLD BY BOOKSELLERS, GENERALLY, THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-one,
BY A.S. BARNES & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.
STEREOTYPED BY HOBART & ROBBINS; NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, BOSTON

PREFACE.
In the preparation of this volume, I have kept fresh in my recollection the immature state of the minds which I have endeavored to enlighten; and while it has been my aim to present such a succession of reading lessons as are suitable for the younger classes in our common schools and academies, I have not forgotten that the first step to be taken, in making good readers, is to open the understanding wide enough to afford a sufficient entrance for the ideas which are to be communicated by reading. Words are but sounds, by which ideas should be conveyed; and written language is of little use, if it convey but sound alone. Great pains have therefore been taken to exclude from this volume what the young scholar cannot understand, while, at the same time, it has been the aim of the author to avoid a puerile style, by which the early intellect is kept down, and its exertions are repressed. In every step and stage of its progress, the maxim "_Excelsior_" should be the aim of the youthful mind; and the hand of the teacher should be extended, not to lift it up, but only to assist it in its endeavors to raise itself. All of the labor must not be done by the teacher, nor by books. They are of use only in exciting the mind to act for itself. They may, indeed, act as pioneers, but the pupil must not be carried in their arms; he must perform the march himself. And herein lies the great difficulty of the teacher's task: on the one hand, to avoid the evil of leaving too little to be done by the scholar; and, on the other, to be careful that he be not required to do too much. Real difficulties should be lightened, but some labor should be permitted to remain. To make such labor attractive, and easily endured without discouragement, is the task which best shows the tact and skill of the teacher. If this volume be found useful in aiding the teacher, by doing all that should be required from the book, the design of the author will be accomplished.
R.G.P.
Kneeland Place, } _May, 1851._ }

CONTENTS.
[_The Poetical Extracts are designated by Italic Letters_]
Lesson Page Preface v 1. The Author's Address to the Pupil 9 2. Same subject, continued 13 3. " " " 17 4. The Discontented Pendulum, Jane Taylor 19 5. Address of the Author to the Pupil, continued 23 6. " " " " " " " concluded 26 7. How to find out the Meaning of Words, Original 29 8. Same subject, continued " 31 9. " " concluded " 34 10. Words " 38 11. Definitions " 42 12. Reading and Spelling " 48 13. Importance of Learning to Spell, Original Version 51 14. Demosthenes, Original 53 15. Hard Words, " 57 16. Fire: a Conversation, " 63 17. Same subject, continued " 67 18. " " concluded " 73 19. The Lark and her Young Ones, _Altered from ?sop_ 79 20. Dogs, Original 82 21. Same subject, concluded " 85 22. Frogs and Toads, Bigland 87 23. Maida, the Scotch Greyhound, Altered from Bigland 90 24. Gelert, " 94 25. Knock again _Child's Companion_