Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Elson Basic Readers: Primer The second aim in this revision was to incorporate new features demanded by experience and the results of recent experiments in reading. Four such features merit Special emphasis: (a) organization of the material to promote sequential habits of thinking; (b) simplicity in content, sentence structure, and vocabulary to insure rapid progress, confidence, and keen interest; (0) balanced variety to cause a steady growth in diversified reading interests; and (d) a practical method, based on the results of scientific studies, to build an early foundation for the various reading attitudes, habits, and skills that are essential in modern life. An additional distinctive feature of the Primer relates to the extreme care exercised in every stage of its construction. In addition to continuous and painstaking effort by the authors, the materials included were subjected to the constant criticism of experts in primary instruction. Furthermore, studies were continually in progress with respect to various problems which were subject to quantitative determination. These are listed in the manual which accompanies the Primer. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.