APPENDIX C 



EDUCATION AND AGRICULTURE 

 READING 



Reading stands first in the course of study because it fur- 

 nishes the key that unlocks the door to so many subjects. 

 Its work is interpretation, which may be merely mechanical or 

 deeply significant. The child comes to school with an ear 

 vocabulary, and reading must help him translate this into an 

 eye vocabulary. This is the mechanical side of the subject 

 and is merely the means to the real end. The printed words 

 that he learns must become the symbols of deeply significant 

 ideas. Indeed, reading pushes naturally over into the realm 

 of art, and interpretation includes an appreciation of the har- 

 mony existing between the truth expressed and the form of its 

 expression. The justification of the use of high-grade litera- 

 ture in our readers is found here. 



The teacher is reminded that here the every-day experi- 

 ences of the child with all his imagery must be employed in 

 the interpretation. The child's world must furnish the basis 

 of his choice in reading. The end is to train the child to read 

 understand ingly and, when he reads orally, in a way to be 

 understood. The ability to read is the most essential of all 

 the tools that the school furnishes. There are two phases 

 of reading which must be emphasized, each of which may 

 be closely related to the life of the child on the farm. In the 



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