Today was an exciting day. My recently published 2011 edition of Webster’s Spelling Book Method for Teaching Reading and Spelling for the Twenty-First Century arrived from Cafe Press.
It is a serviceable coil bound 166 page book. The print is very clear. The coil binding allows the book to be laid flat, with half the book folded back. The two pictures will give you some idea of the book. The contents are essentially the same as Webster’s 1908 Elementary Spelling Book. I switched from columns to rows to encourage the development of good left to right scanning of text when reading. Practically all of Webster’s diacritical marks have been retained. I typed the entire book over a three year period. I have used it with several students, with excellent results.
You can see my KJV Bible and fountain pen in the background. Webster built upon the solid foundation of the Bible. My Nationwide Blend Phonics Campaign has purposefully avoided any reference to the Bible so that it would have a fighting chance to become the dominant method for teaching phonics in publics schools in America. Next to Webster, Blend Phonics is – I believe – the best phonics method available for public schools. On the other hand, my Webster, like the original, is unashamedly Christian. All of the original Christian content is intact.
My coworker, Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, has been using my editions of Webster ever since I started typing them. She believes that her students have made more progress learning to read on higher levels by the use of Webster than any of the other excellent phonics programs she has used over the years. My experience has been the same.
I encourage Christian Schools and Home School parents to teach their students and children with this freshly typed edition of Webster’s Spelling Book and send comments to this Blog. The only way we will ever prove that Webster’s Way was the Right Way to teach reading is to give it a try. I am convinced that modern criticism of Webster’s method will evaporate in the bright light of the success that children experience.
It is important to realize that no reading method today can even come close to Webster when it comes to to teaching millions of children to read for a period of over 200 years.
It is, indeed, an exciting day! If your new edition is widely used, it will be the most important book published in 2012.
Your comments on the syllabary, in your posting which follows, explains why the book is so important. It is no accident that America had virtually universal literacy back when Noah Webster’s book was the beginning book used by most American children.
Thanks very much for the comment. It was your essay, “Why Noah Webster’s Way Was the Right Way” that motivated me do the necessary research to understand and learn to teach Webster’s Spelling Book Method for Teaching Reading and Spelling.