Writing · Composition · 1900

The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English

Sarah Louise Arnold and George Lyman Kittredge's 1900 book of 473 short numbered sections on speaking and writing English, for children about 9 to 12 who can already read: sentences, capitals and punctuation, letters, stories, pictures and poems, and then the work which words do. 132 guides cover the whole book, with the right page of the scan beside each one.

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Turn this on to see every lesson as a simple checklist: what to get out, what to do and what to say, one line at a time.

How to use it

Talk first, then write. The book always has children say their thoughts aloud before they write. Every guide starts with reading and talk; the writing comes after.
A little, often. 20 to 35 minutes, three or four times a week. At four a week the 132 guides take about a school year; spreading them over two years is fine too. Guides marked optional are extra practice the book itself says can be skipped.
Correct one or two things. Each guide names the one or two things to check that day. Point to the line, let your child find and fix the mistake, and always name something done well. The short examples in the guides were written for this site, not taken from the book.
One notebook, and poems by heart. Keep all the writing in one dated notebook so your child can see the progress. The book has many short poems to learn; a minute or two a day is enough.
An old book. A few customs have changed since 1900 (addresses, "Ms.", some spellings), and the guides point them out. Some models in the book are printed in handwriting; read those straight from the page.

Part 1 Part First

Sentences, capitals and punctuation, letters and envelopes, and stories, pictures and poems to talk about, retell and learn (Sections 1 to 253). Lessons 1–72.

Part 2 Part Second

The work which words do: subject and predicate, the eight parts of speech, modifiers and clauses, with more letters, pictures and poems (Sections 254 to 473 and the Appendix). Lessons 73–132.

The book itself

The Mother Tongue, Book One

1900 · About ages 9 to 12, over three years

Sarah Louise Arnold and George Lyman Kittredge's lessons in speaking, reading and writing English, in three parts for the fourth, fifth and sixth years of school. Good prose and poems to read, talk about and learn by heart, with models to copy and many subjects to write about, and a first introduction to grammar.

🧑‍🏫 Teaching guides ⬇ Download PDF (20.7 MB) Internet Archive ↗

Scanned from an original 1900 Ginn printing.

Each guide covers one or a few of the book's 473 numbered sections, shown beside the title. The guides are written for this site; the book is in the public domain.