LITERATURE IN GRAMMAR GRADES 41 



SEVENTH YEAR GRADE 



If, as the children mature, an appreciation of the reading 



selected for school courses is to be fostered, extremes must 



be avoided : there must be neither too much 



of Material nor to ^ ttle ' ^ must ^ e ne * tner to difficult 



nor too childish. Too much reading gives 

 no opportunity for thought; too little is mental starvation. 

 Thoughts that are too difficult discourage a child ; those that 

 are too childish disgust him with class discussions and drills. 

 Without the thoughtful consideration that can be given a 

 limited number of books, there can not exist that apprecia- 

 tion of the finer literary qualities which brings aesthetic rest 

 for the mind, and which helps clothe the ever pressing prac- 

 tical side of life with poetry and nobility. On the other 

 hand, if reading is scanty and lacking in the elements through 

 which intellects grow, the minds are left empty and barren 

 of all the great thoughts of the centuries. Sometimes, a 

 meager supply of reading in class comes from the desire of 

 the teacher to analyze exhaustively every sentence, thereby 

 limiting the amount that might otherwise be mastered. 

 Grammar grade pupils are not ready for this kind of study, 

 although it is true that they can be held to its performance. 

 Such a method is almost sure to deaden any love for the 

 great masters in literature. Children should not analyze 

 their writers, they should revel in their works. This must 

 not be considered as meaning that pleasure is the only profit 

 in reading ; but, with grammar grade pupils, a desire to read 

 and an enjoyment of the books read are the most important 

 aims to be attained. During every school year there should 

 be enough reading material handled to train the pupil's mind 



