I’m wondering too… I thought they weren’t very CM (didn’t she say something against using readers… and these would have been the type of readers in her day…..)
yet a CM curriculum I think good of has it for up to about grade 5 or 6…..
We use them for a little extra practice with reading and whatnot. My younger daughters like the cute stories and poems, they usually just spend a little time with a selection a few times a week. It is not our main curriculum though, it’s just for fun.
This is an old post, but wondering if anyone can comment presently. I am thinking about looking into these for some reading for dd(10) who has dyslexia.
We use the McGuffey eclectic readers. You can find them on Gutenberg.org for free if you want to try them out first or find out which book would be a good fit for your DD. We mostly use them for reading aloud practice and copywork.
I am using them this year for my kids, including my probably dyslexic 10yo. With him, I started with the first reader even though he does read better than that – to allow for confidence and fluency. So far I’ve been pretty happy with it. I am using the “Slate Work” exercises for them to learn to read cursive. I haven’t yet, but I planned to take the Slate Work and put it into the italic font we are using – for a bit of their copywork….
We use them for reading instruction/practice, and have used the slate work for cursive practice. The lessons lend themselves well to copywork and dictation (if you aren’t using something like SW.)
SCM suggests Pathway Readers for practice. We chose to continue with McGuffey’s because we’ve always used them. Our older children even want to have their own sets for their families some day. Whether McG fits into CM, or not, I value our children’s fond memories and desire to pass them on as a more fitting recommendation. Last night, our youngest just reminded me that she hadn’t read from her reader this week. She’s been reading from Treadwell’s and Amelia Bedelia all week, but missed your McGuffey’s. Speaks volumes to me.
TailorMade – Thanks for sharing. My dd had read two of the Pathways a couple years ago. She did enjoy those. I am interested in looking closer at McGuffey’s. I’m not sure, but I think my dughter-in-law said she may use those when she starts homeschooling, which is this fall. I’m hoping she and my son will be here to go with me to our convention. They are currently on church-planting deputation and traveling through the US.
I’m using the Eclectic series right now with my 7yo, and I’m about to start with my 4yo (who has asked to learn to read just yesterday!). My 7yo enjoys it so much! I am using it like CM recommends. Word cards of the new words (and old) so she knows the words, and I’m teaching phonics as they come up, not separately from the word we’re learning. Haven’t thought about when I’ll switch her to Pathway Readers (or if?). I taught my older 2 to read somehow or other, but not the CM way, and we did start with the Pathway Readers. I thought they start too advanced for a just-beginning reader, which is why I switched first to Bob Books, and then to McGuffey’s. She enjoys McGuffey’s a whole lot more than Bob Books, which she never complained about, either. We watched the Mandie Christmas movie the other day, and they were all thrilled that they had the McGuffey Readers in the movie!
Tha reason I asked about these readers is because I saw that Landmark Freedom Baptist Curriculum uses McGuffey Readers for literature study in the lower grades. Would that take away the CM feel of the readers?
Our family doesn’t use them as literature; we use them more for learning/practicing reading and speaking skills. I use the Primer through Third Readers to teach my kids to read and to practice reading. Starting with the Fourth Reader, I use them to teach speech twice a week. My 6th grade son reads the lesson to himself, noting any words he doesn’t know how to pronounce and learning the correct pronounciation and then he reads it aloud to me as though reciting a speech. This has been helping him slow down in his reading as well as helping him pronounce and articulate words correctly.
I don’t know if we will use them all the way through the Sixth Reader or not, but for now we love them.