As some of you may already know, I have been working on a project for some months now that has to do with 19th century textbooks. To date, I now have 5 books scanned and on CDs and the worksheets for 2 of them complete or almost complete. I am going to go live with some of them on eBay in the next few days.
So, why 19th century textbooks, of all things? Well, I posted a few things from one book HERE and HERE, so you can get an idea of what prompted this. However, I think what is really motivating me is the fact that today's textbooks have had all of the vitality, morality and intellectual rigor sucked right out of them. They are pure pablum, not fit for any thinking person. When my son was in 5th grade, he had a version of The Wizard of Oz in which many of the vocabulary words had been changed to "easier" ones. Please! The Wizard of Oz is not a difficult book to read. I could see doing it with Ulysses or even Jane Eyre, but not The Wizard of Oz. But this is just one of the many atrocities that are committed on literature nowadays in the name of education. If you want to read more, read The Language Police by Diane Ravitch. That was a real eye-opener for me.
After reading The Language Police, I found myself looking at old textbooks. The ones I remember as a kid do, indeed, have more interesting content, but even then textbooks were being bled dry. They still had some soul, but not as much as they started with. Going back further, to the 1870's, I found the first real textbooks, readers produced for schools which were just beginning to spring up around our growing nation. These are the books that shaped our great-great grandparents view of America, and from them, our own views. These books are often very religious, mentioning God and admonishing children to thank Him for all His works. These books are also very moralistic, teaching lessons about right and wrong in a very straightforward manner. And, of course, they have stories about the founding of the United States, with moralistic lessons about its founding fathers. Many people will find the above subjects objectionable in one way or another. 19th century readers are not for them. However, I have weeded out a selection of secular stories and poems that some people may be interested in: teaching morals is important, and should not be limited to those teaching Christian values.
I also have a selection of short stories by Saki that I had my son reading, along with the worksheets I created for him. Saki (aka H.H.Munro) is hilarious, and really likes to zing the Edwardian values of his time. Well worth reading, even if you don't want any worksheets (Saki is free at Project Gutenberg.)
So, if this sounds at all interesting to you, take a look at what I have on eBay by using the button on my sidebar. And I welcome comments and suggestions.
Posted by Alexandra at January 28, 2006 02:31 PM