692 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the thoughtful mother will allow her time to entertain them. The majority 

 of young ladies in this age are so accomplished that they can sing, play 

 or recite and thus be of great help in entertaining company, whether it be 

 their own or their mother's. 



In closing, I will say, let us remember to give our guests the best of 

 ourselves and of our homes. No one can do more, no matter what their 

 facilities for entertaining are. 



READING AND ITS EFFECT UPON CHARACTER. 



Elmer E. Norris, before the Ringgold County Farmers' Institute. 



You will all agree with me that reading is a very important study 

 but as to the class of reading you will probably differ. Reading is the 

 basis of all educational advancement; yet it may be a deadly enemy to 

 intellectual progress. Don't think that because your boy or girl can call 

 words rapidly or that they have read many books that they are good 

 readers. They may not have read at all for reading includes more than 

 calling words or going through books. The definition that reading is pro- 

 nouncing or perusing written or printed words falls far short of my idea 

 of reading. Oral reading is sounding thought and mute reading is getting 

 thought and anything short of that does not come up to my idea. The 

 greatest enemy to intellectual development is too much (so-called) read- 

 ing and not enough thought or study. The causes are many. Among 

 them are daily papers; cheapness of papers and books of light character, 

 written to pass the time away, to entertain the reader and not for reflec- 

 tion; failure of teachers to give proper time and to bring out the thought 

 in every reading lesson. It is not the amount of words gone over but 

 the amount of thought developed in going over the words that count in 

 intellectual life. 



Good training in reading includes ideas, thoughts, as well as the 

 mechanical. Under language: words, sentences, general expression, read- 

 ing, writing, pronunciation; under principals, thought, action, manhood, 

 womanhood, citizenship, character. 



In teaching reading (and I take it that all parents are teachers of 

 reading) I want to make some observations: 



1. Observe grace and ease of position. 



2. Observe a natural and conversational tone. 



3. Observe the cultivation of a good voice. 



4'. Observe the sentiments of the selection read. 



5. Observe the meaning of words. 



6. Observe the greatest amount of information from the first read- 

 ing; then you should secure a ready recognition of words. 



Secure clear and distinct articulation, proper breathing, natural in- 

 flection and expression, a reproduction of the thought, quickness of eye 

 and ear, a desire for reading, good literature, proper picture reading. 



