[BamaGirl]

Hi Lainie,

Have you heard of something called the "McGuffey" set of readers? They were an alternate set of readers we used in conjunction with our usual reading book.

I remember how in third grade (1983) we thought they were REALLY ADVANCED readers, because they had fancy new words like "vivid" and "effloresce."

In retrospect I get the feeling that those books were the real deal, and everything we have now is an incredibly dumbed down version of the McGuffies.

BamaGirl

[MarMema]

We love McGuffy, both old and new versions.
I especially like the set with Open Roads, etc, and they are easy to find on ebay for inexpensive bids.

[lainie]

The McGuffey readers that I've found so far are public-domain texts from 1879. Is that what you're talking about?

[goodseedhomeschool]

We just loved McGuffy Readers. LOL, I too remember my son reading the fourth reader (thinking it was for grade 4), and saying, "Mom, these are some tough words". I am glad he used these now, because his vocabulary is outstanding for a 13 year old.