Excerpt from The Easy Primer No one but a teacher of little children can possibly be aware of the number of times they must see words, and read and write and spell them, before they are able to recognize them at a glance, before they can read them, especially in new connections. Learning to read is a complex process, and the complexity has given rise to many so-called Methods. To teach reading well the skillful teacher will use the best parts of all good methods, and will blindly follow none. Walking and talking are also complex pro cesses, and yet babies learn to walk and to talk with very little or no help. Under right conditions the child should begin to read almost as naturally and unconsciously as it begins to talk. Under favorable conditions some children learn to read without any teaching. At the start the mechanics of reading, although important, should not be so obtruded upon the beginner as to hide from him the purpose of learning to read. Ideally, the education of the child is natural, unforced, and unhindered development. We should in cite, indirectly, and maintain his interest; we should, without attempting many things at a time, carry the child along as fast as he should go, but no faster. And we should keep in mind that the great factor in the child's education is not method, nor teaching, nor environment, but an innate faculty that makes for develop ment. 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.