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JUVENILE MENTOR,

OR

SELECT READINGS;

BEING

AMERICAN SCHOOL CLASS-BOOK,

No 3.

CONTAINING

PROGRESSIVE LESSONS

IN

ORTHOEPY, READING AND SPEAKING;

ADAPTED

TO THE COMPREHENSION OF YOUTH.

BY A. PICKET,

President of the Incorporated Society of Teachers, and Member
of the Historical Society, in New-York; Senior Principal of
Manhattan School,

AUTHOR OF THE AMERICAN SCHOOL CLASS-BOOKS, &c,

STEREOTYPED BY B. AND J. COLLINS.

NEW-YORK:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED AT THE

AMERICAN SCHOOL CLASS-BOOK WAREHOUSE,

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PUBLIC LIBRARY
151108

ASTOR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
1899.

TO THE CONDUCTORS OF SCHOOLS.

Reptér le 383

383/02

The present edition of this work is a fair specimen of its fuThe "Mentor" is now brought to a stand

ture appearance.

ard, which will prevent the discordancy in schools, occasioned by frequent alterations and emendations. This, as well as the Author's other Class-books, viz. the Juvenile Primer, Parent's Manual, Juvenile Spelling Book, Instructer, Expositor, and Walker's Dictionary are all stereotyped, and will be kept on paper of a superiour quality, and bound in the best manner for school use.

District of New-York, ss.

BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the twenty-fifth day of August, in the forty-fifth year of the Independence of the United States of America, ALBERT PICKET, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as author and proprietor, in the words following, to wit:

'The JUVENILE MENTOR, or Select Readings; being American School Class-Book, No. 3. Containing Progressive Lessons in Orthoepy, Reading and Speaking; adapted to the comprehension of Youth. By A. PICKET, President of the Incorporated Society of Teachers, and Member of the Historical Society, in New-York. Senior Principal of Manhattan School, Author of the American School Class-Books, &c."

66

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned." And also to an Act, entitled an Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled an act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints."

GILBERT LIVINGSTON THOMPSON,

Clerk of the Southern District of New-York.

PREFACE.

THAT so much labour should be bestowed upon the initials and terminations inserted in this volume, when most of them are to be found in the Author's other progressive books, may be a matter of wonder to many persons, who will very naturally inquire into the utility of them. To these it may be answered, that the words of our language seem more nearly related to each other by their initials and terminations than at first sight may appear, and that the classing of them according to their beginnings and endings seems to exhibit a new view of them which is both curious and useful: for as their accent and quantity depend so much on their terminations, such an arrangement appears to give a more definite and comprehensive idea of their pronunciation than it is possible to give by the common classification. This end was so desirable as to induce the Author to spare no pains to promote it; and to endeavour to show, at one view, nearly all the words of the same class differently accented, by which means the rule and exception may be found, and by seeing them contrasted, are imprinted more strongly on the memory, and are the more easily recollected. When words are sounded nearly alike, we can recollect them better than when they are promiscuously mingled with the rest of the words in the language. By frequently repeating them as they stand together, the ear will gain a habit of placing the accent properly without knowing why it is so. Children learn the pronunciation of words much easier, and with greater facility by the ear, and by correct oral instruction, than by any formal rules. Let instructers pronounce and read correctly, and their pupils will readily imitate them.

It is unnecessary to observe, that the first preparatory step to correct reading is a just and elegant pronunciation; but this cannot be obtained without care and attention. The practice of requiring children to read, before they can pronounce words correctly, is an errour which ought to be avoided. To this end, the Author has collected, arranged, and accented all the words which are liable to be mispronounced, and so simplified them by analogical classifications that their true pronunciation cannot well be mistaken.*

The variety of sounds, however, which the vowels and dipthongs make in dif ferent words, render it extremely difficult to acquire a correct pronunciation. It is indispensably requisite, therefore, for all persons who would become complete masters of orthoepy to make themselves acquainted with the sounds of the letters, especially the vowels and dipthongs; to exemplify them in a variety of ways, copious illustrations are inserted.

It is deemed unnecessary to make any further remarks on this subject, the reader on a perusal, will readily perceive the full scope and bearing of the work.

In teaching the art of reading, it should be the first object of every Preceptor to make his pupils talk correctly and naturally on book; and to sweeten their tone of voice by an elegant pronunciation and just inflection. A good reader (says a correct writer,) is one who can perfectly comprehend, and readily enter into the feelings of his author; consequently, he is one who has learned to THINK, a species of knowledge seldom thought of, in our schools, though it ought to be the first

In this, as in the Author's other progressive books, he has followed the judicious Walker.

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