What are the McGuffey Readers?
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Guide to the McGuffey Readers, written by Sherry Hayes: This valuable guide to the McGuffey Readers was written by a home school mom of 15 children and includes the history and philosophy of the McGuffey Readers along with some practical helps and charts. Click on link for a pdf copy of the guide.
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A series of books prepared principally by William H. McGuffey, a midwestern teacher, and designed to teach reading to schoolchildren. The series began to appear in the 1830s. It was widely used in the nineteenth century and is still used by some schools today. MCGuffey's Reader
This series of schoolbooks teaching reading and moral precepts, originally prepared by William Holmes McGuffey in 1836, had a profound influence on public education in the United States. McGuffey was a professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a Presbyterian minister. A Cincinnati publishing firm asked him to compile a series of graded readers adapted to the values, beliefs, and way of life of "Western people." As a young schoolmaster, McGuffey had used the eighteenth-century Puritans' New England Primer, Noah Webster's American Spelling Book, and the Bible. His Eclectic First Reader and Eclectic Second Reader were published in 1836, the Third and Fourth in 1837. They contained stories of widely varied subject matter appealing to youngsters and taught religious, moral, and ethical principles that reflected both McGuffey's personality and society at the time. McGuffey's brother Alexander produced the Fifth Reader in 1844, a spelling book in 1846, and a Sixth Reader in 1857. The McGuffey Readers reflect their author's personal philosophies, as well as his rough and tumble early years as a frontier schoolteacher. The finished works represented far more than a group of textbooks; they helped frame the country's morals and tastes, and shaped the American character. The lessons in the Readers encouraged standards of morality and society throughout the United States for more than a century. They dealt with the natural curiosity of children; emphasized work and an independent spirit; encouraged an allegiance to country, and an understanding of the importance of religious values. The Readers were filled with stories of strength, character, goodness and truth. The books presented a variety of contrasting viewpoints on many issues and topics, and drew moral conclusions about lying, stealing, cheating, poverty, teasing, alcohol, overeating, skipping school and foul language. The books taught children to seek an education and continue to learn throughout their lives. Even though there were originally four Readers, most schools of the 19th century used only the first two. The first Reader taught reading by using the phonics method, the identification of letters and their arrangement into words, and aided with slate work. The second Reader came into play once the student could read, and helped them to understand the meaning of sentences while providing vivid stories which children could remember. The third Reader taught the definitions of words, and was written at a level equivalent to the modern 5th or 6th grade. The fourth Reader was written for the highest levels of ability on the grammar school level, which students completed with this book. McGuffey's Readers were among the first textbooks in America that were designed to become progressively more challenging with each volume. They used word repetition in the text as a learning tool, which built strong reading skills through challenging reading. Sounding-out, enunciation and accents were emphasized. Colonial-era texts had offered dull lists of 20 to 100 new words per page for memorization. In contrast, McGuffey used new vocabulary words in the context of real literature, gradually introducing new words and carefully repeating the old. McGuffey believed that teachers should study the lessons as well as their students, and suggested they read aloud to their classes. He also listed questions after each story, for he believed in order for a teacher to give instruction they must ask questions. McGuffey desired to improve students' spelling, sharpen their vocabulary and redevelop the lost art of public speaking. In the 19th century, elocution was a part of every public occasion, and McGuffey was responsible for creating a generation of gifted orators and readers. Although famous as the author of the Readers, McGuffey wrote very few other works. He was athletic, loved children, had a sparkling sense of humor, and enjoyed a good joke. McGuffey left Miami University for positions of successively greater responsibility at Cincinnati College, Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and Woodward College in Cincinnati (where he served as president). He ended his career as a Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Virginia. Through the hard times of the Civil War and following, McGuffey was known for his philanthropy and generosity among the poor and African-Americans. William McGuffey died in 1873, a success as an educator, lecturer and author. *The above summary was retrieved from Answers.com on August 22, 2015. http://www.answers.com/topic/mcguffey-readers |
The following post from the Robinson Self-Teaching Curriculum provides an explanation of the Revised vs Original McGuffey Readers. It also includes some excellent suggestions for using the Readers in a Home School environment.
"I just happened to have been composing a 'blurb' about that very thing to go on this web site. I took a special interest in them this year after purchasing a little paperback book entitled McGuffey and His Readers, Piety, Morality, and Education in 19th-Century America by John H. Westerhoff III. As a result, we invested in the purchase of the original (1836-37) hard-cover version from Motts Media last month. All the versions of the McGuffey readers are great reading (the curriculum has the 1879 revision) so, be sure to use the set you already own if want to save the expense of printing. If you are like me, you will make your own comparisons but, I would encourage anyone to read Westerhoffs's book to get a well studied comparison of all the versions as well as an eye-opening to the changing of the American peoples beliefs and values as it is reflected in the revisions. The originals are filled with Scripture excerpts, the Soverignty of God, salvation etc.. The revisionists thought it best to take this out to fit a changing, pluralistic nation! Yet, even the revisions, in light of our 20th century, have refreshing moral content, a rich assortment of literature and the occasional acknowledgement of God. Suggestions For Using the McGuffey Readers: In our use of these readers the children have been simply READING THEM INDEPENDENTLY. Of late, as I am incorporating some ORAL READING into our weekly routine, especially with the older children, I find these books to be ideal...for many reasons.
As we now own a reprint of the original readers, I am reading these lessons to the children 'over' the occasional lunch . The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th readers in the original version include questions after each lesson. I am presently evaluating the parent-teacher guide by Ruth Beechick (wrote specifically to complement the original readers) as to its compatibility with the 1879 version. So far it looks very probable. Although lesson examples/stories differ, the teaching suggestions are wonderful. not only for the 'teaching reading stage' but also for grammar and spelling instruction. The purchase of this guide could give the Robinson curriculum users even more 'mileage' from their McGuffey readers. Look into it if you will and I will likely give you further updates on the matter myself." The Robinson Self-Teaching curriculum (http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/view/rc/s31p430.htm) |
