McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LII · Part 5: Courage, kindness and the village smithy

58. My Mother

Goal: Your child reads a short poem of love and regret with feeling and talks about what the speaker promises.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 5 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook and pencil

What's in the book

A poem, with no author named, in which the speaker remembers grieving his mother by straying into folly, and promises to share her troubles as she grows weak.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Read aloud

    Read it gently, then let your child read it.

    Often into folly straying,

    O, my mother! how I've grieved her!

    Oft I've heard her for me praying,

    Till the gushing tears relieved her;

  2. Talk about it

    SayWhat did the speaker do that grieved his mother?

    SayWhat did she whisper when she prayed?

    Whispering, "God will keep my child."

    SayHow has the mother changed? What does the speaker promise?

    SayWhy do you think the speaker wrote this poem?

  3. Tell it back

    Your child explains the poem in their own words, stanza by stanza.

  4. Memorize

    Learn the first stanza, which begins:

    Often into folly straying,

  5. Write (optional)

    Write a short thank-you note to your mother or another person who cares for you.

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