How and Why to Use Mcguffey Readers

“The Christian religion, 
is the religion of our 
country. From it are 
derived our prevalent 

notions of the character 
of God, the great moral 
governor of the universe. 
On its doctrines are 
founded the peculiarities  
of our free institutions.”

W. H. McGuffey

       I am planning to use the McGruffey readers for my highschool students because it is Christ centered, character building , and quality literature. They were written during a time when America was proud to be a Christian nation, revivals were spreading across the country, and Christ was still in the school rooms.

       Yes, as much as the current culture is trying to deny we were once a Christian nation!! There is documentation everywhere from the McGuffey readers used in our past education system, 10 commandments etc. being removed from our government buildings, to historical documents. I loved the movie Monumental for this reason! I want my children to know and treasure this heritage. Which is just another reason we homeschool ! I want them to learn the true American history. So beside the Christ centered and character building literature this is a secondary reason I am praying and choosing to use the McGuffey readers.

    I have been collecting information on how to use these wonderful readers in my one room school house still making an effort to make Christ the center of our education in every way possible. I have owned these books for  a few years now but I really want to use them as I have been challenged by the Lord to seek literature that will be a tool used in raising  my children. Not just good literature but  great literature  the Lord can use to shape and mold them into Godly men and women. So I thought I would share the ways others are using them, websites, and blogs as I seek to find a way to use this tool in my home.

Here is a general guide I found but place the student at their level:

McGuffey Primer for Grades 1-2This book begins with the alphabet, moves to simple one-syllable words....

McGuffey 1st Reader (Grades 3-4)Most words in this reader are phonetically regular...

McGuffey 2nd Reader (Grades 4-5)This book begins with one- and two-syllable words and progresses to more difficult words covering....

McGuffey 3rd Reader (Grades 6-8)This book develops thinking skills and the richer vocabulary...

McGuffey 4th Reader (Grades 9-12)This book develops advanced vocabulary and thinking skills and introduces
some of the greatest English authors including Webster, Jefferson, Shakespeare,
Johnson, and Schiller....

Penmanship: here again a general guide but work at the students comfort zone and build from there...
Age 6: copy letters and very short words from Reader
Age 7: copy a sentence a day from Reader
Age 8: copy a paragraph from Reader once per week, from other sources on other days
Age 9: copy 2 paragraphs from Reader once per week, from other sources on other days
Age 10: copy 3 paragraphs from Reader once per week, from other sources on other days
Age 11-13 copy entire page
Age 14 and older entire lesson throughout the week

Free McGuffey Readers Guide click here   It is from: Large Family Mothering,  a great blog if you are interested in using the McGuffey Readers.

•  McGuffey readers part 1 of blog post series.
• McGuffey readers part 2
• McGuffey readers part 3
• MGuffey readers part 4
• McGuffey readers part 5

Website to purchase books on CD click here.   www.dollarhomeschool.com

Below I have listed links that I copied from forums from other homeschool moms who use McGuffey Readers .

from forums.welltrainedmind.com click here

Here is how I do it; it may not be the WTM way but my children are all very proficient readers and spellers! Works for me!

We learn to read with the primers and speller. One reading lesson at a time until that lesson is mastered, one spelling lesson per week. We don't move on until the child can both read and spell all the words. Once the child has learned the first few pages of the speller, he's reading! With a phonetic syllabary, reading happens quickly.

My children have all been able to read the books much sooner than the schedule I mentioned above. My eight year old could read out of the fourth reader if I wanted. But I don't. I want him in the first half of the second reader. My 10 year old is in the first half of the third reader. My newly-7th grader is beginning the fourth reader.

They each learn one lesson per week.

Day 1: Read the lesson. Copy according to ability (first reader students begin with a sentence and work up to a short paragraph; the writing increases each level until the fourth reader student is copying half the lesson).

On Day 1 we also begin the week's spelling lesson. If a student studies half a spelling page per week beginning in kindergarten, he'll complete the speller by 10th grade or so. I add the reader lesson's spelling words to the list. I write out the words and the child copies them one time each on days 1-3. Small children use a chalkboard or magnadoodle. We look up any unfamiliar words in the dictionary, but I don't make them copy these definitions.

Day 2: Answer the questions at the end of the lesson. The answers must be written in complete sentences, with good penmanship.

Day 3: Spell and define. They get the most out of defining if you let them use Webster's 1828 Dictionary. By the third reader they need to be copying the entire definition correctly. Test on this lesson's spelling words.

Day 4: Read the lesson aloud. I'm fussy about diction, expression, speed, and posture. We also do dictation on Day 4; I use the work that they copied on Day 1. Occasionally I have my older students do some research and write a short paper about their lesson. In that case they write the rough draft on Day 4 and the final copy on Day 5.

Day 5: Weekly spelling bee, all students together.

dulcimeramy said

Some of my children use the (older version) McGuffey readers, and some use the Elson Readers.

I never bought the teacher's guides for the Elson books. I just teach copywork, dictation, and narration. Whether McGuffey or Elson, I assign one story each week. I use this format for grades 1 to 6:

Day 1: Read, do copywork. (A sentence for a little one, paragraph for lower elementary, half a page for upper elementary)

Day 2: Spelling and definitions. McGuffey assigns words, but I have to look for the words in Elson.

Day 3: Write the answers to the comprehension questions. Narration: oral for little ones, written for older ones.

Day 4: Dictation, using the copywork from Day 1. Read aloud.

I think we've had good results with this system. My children use Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Language Lessons, too. Each week they also write one history outline, one history narration, one science summary,and one science lab report.

ETA: I learned something since I posted that. Elson Readers have excellent built-in glossary work starting in Book 5. Nowadays I prefer Elson to McGuffey for upper elementary.

http://homeschoolreviews.com/forums
 It’s my understanding that the way they were originally used, they were set up to do one lesson per week. I don’t have any guides, but here’s how we’re using them right now: 

We plan one lesson per week. The words at the beginning of the lesson become our spelling words. I go through the entire list (Monday) and the ones my dd gets incorrect go on a white board so she can see them any time. Then she reads the lesson out loud to me. Her goal is to make no mistakes in reading and to put “action” into her voice. Her mind seems to work faster than her mouth, though, and she gets ahead of what she’s saying when reading out loud. This has really helped her to slow down and be more consistent. Finally, I take the number of numbered paragraphs in each lesson and divide by either 4 or 5 (the number of days in that week we’ll be doing “school”). Those paragraphs become her copywork (Charlotte Mason style) each day. 

Each day, we go over the spelling words orally, then she reads the lesson out loud to me, and then does the next section of copywork. Fridays are spelling words written quiz day (at her request-believe it or not!). The spelling words and read aloud take about 5 minutes a day. It’s really quick, but my dd loves this time.
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Here are some samples of the 4th reader I plan on using for my highschool students. I will continue to post as I we work through finding out what formula works for our family. If you have found a formula that works for you I would be love to hear about it or if you have a recommendation for great literature that directs the heart to Christ or character please share!