PREFACE

THE study of English has become the basis of our educational system. From the Kindergarten, through the University, the study of our language and literature is the main element of unity and continuity that binds together the varied discipline of our schools. This has been brought about by changes so rapid that few have fully realized their importance; but every teacher of English has felt both the burden and the opportunity which its preeminence imposes.

The teaching of English must give training in the knowledge and use of the language, and of all parts of education surely none can be more fundamental, or practical, or effective in exercising the power to think. It must also open the door not only to English literature, but to the great world of books, to the accumulated culture of the race. While it trains the pupil in efficient use of the mother tongue, it must widen his horizon and render him susceptible to those refinements of feeling and enlargements of sympathy essential to true culture.

Nowhere is this double service more important than in the elementary schools. To the union and promotion of both services, EVERYDAY ENGLISH is dedicated.

BOOK ONE is built up on a few general principles:

1. Language is primarily oral.

2. Constant practice and review are necessary for skill in language, as in any art.

3. Attention to the forms and principles of language may make for efficiency in its use.

4. The study of English should lead to an interest in good reading in prose and poetry.

5. This interest should be stimulated in many directions and made the basis of the child's practice in expression.

6. Training in art and good taste should begin with simplicity and attractiveness in the textbook.

We all know that the spoken words are the living language, of which the written is only a symbol. The spoken word precedes the written in the history of the race and in the development of the child, and, in the child's life, occupies a much larger place than in that of the educated adult.

A full third of the lessons in this book are oral, and much of the work in the other lessons involves oral expression. Grammar is connected with actual speech; special care is given to drill in clear enunciation in speaking; and oral expression is integrated with the child's natural interest in games, dialogs, and dramas. Oral expression receives first attention not merely for its own value, but because written expression is freer and better if prepared for by full oral discussion. The difficulties of written composition are thus divided, taken one step at a time, and in the normal order. The reluctance to write will be lessened, if the writing has been prepared for by spontaneous and intelligent talk in the class.

In the selection of material for oral and written lessons, the choice has been determined partly by the cultural value of the ideas introduced, and partly by the suitability of the material as a basis for practice in composition. In all selections the interests of the children, as known to experienced teachers, have been kept in view. Expression is impossible unless the pupils have ideas to convey, and it is meager and artificial

unless it is interesting to the children themselves. But their interest is directed to many subjects. There seems no reason why English should be kept as a handmaid to any single subject: nature study, myths, moral lessons, or practical information. These are all useful, but there is no gain in confining the child to any one of them. A first book in English is the place to engage the child's interest in many subjects, and to stimulate by poetry and pictures, by fable, story and biography, and by many other means, his intelligence and imagination.

The plan of BooK ONE offers an integration of its practical and cultural aims through a method approved by the experience of many teachers: First, Oral Expression; Second, Written Expression based on the oral discussion; Third, Language Drill and Study connected closely with the oral and written composition, and supplied with many reviews. This arrangement will, of course, often be varied by teachers, who will supplement, or omit, or rearrange, to suit the needs and attainments of their classes. It is not stiff and mechanical, but normal and flexible. It should cultivate the lively interchange of ideas between teacher and pupils and among the pupils themselves. It should make corrections of mistakes the work of the class, rather than that of the teacher. It should hold theory and practice harnessed together. It should keep grammar from being considered a formal affair unfit for pleasant intercourse; it should make grammar the natural accompaniment and aid of good expression. Teachers will note that the matter of the Oral Lessons is intended to be merely suggestive, and that the grammar is limited to the simple sentence.

Every effort has been made to secure a book attractive to the eye, a particular in which language books have been far behind readers and geographies. The clear, open page, with its simple typography will, it is believed, win attention with

out straining the eyes; and the illustrations should further the purpose of the book by their fitness to the subject matter, and by their own attractiveness. The authors desire to express their debt to Miss Clements for the charm with which her pictures present children's life to children.

The authors desire to acknowledge their great indebtedness to the many teachers in both public and private schools from whom they have learned more than they can specify; and, especially, to Miss Lillian Rogers, of the Horace Mann School, and Miss Grace Day, of the educational department of the University of Nevada, who have given valuable criticism on the manuscript of this book.

The authors express their thanks to the following publishers for their courtesy in allowing the use of copyright material : to Frederick Warne and Company for the use of the picture by Kate Greenaway; to Ginn and Company for the picture from Kern's Among Country Schools; to Little, Brown, and Company for the extract from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, and for Helen Hunt Jackson's "October's Bright Blue Weather "; to the Century Company for the extract from Mary Mapes Dodge's The Land of Pluck; to Harper Brothers for the selection from Hamlin Garland's Main Travelled Roads; to the Bobbs-Merrill Company for the selection from Armazindy, by James Whitcomb Riley, copyright 1894; to Houghton Mifflin Company for E. C. Stedman's "What the Winds Bring," and the selection from John Burroughs' Pepacton; and to Charles Scribner's Sons for the lines from Sidney Lanier's "Tampa Robins."