পাতা:Reminiscences Speeches And Writings Of Sir Gooroo Dass Banerjee Reminiscences pt. 1.pdf/১৭১

154 Evr:NTS OF HIS LIFE. It is sometimes said that a long book of reading lessons is better than a short one, as it leaves room for selection of lossons by the teacher. I do not think that this is a sound view. While on the one hand the author's selection, if good, need not be supplemented by the teacher's selection, on the other hand, not only does a long book consisting of lessons one-half of which could not have been intended to be read, involve waste of time and energy to the author and waste of money to the readers, but the reading of a lesson here and a lesson there out of a book instead of reading it through is injurious to the formation of that habit of steady thoroughness, so essential in a student and of such groat value in after-life. (c) If it is a book on Grammar or Geograghy or History or Arithmetic, and is intended for students who are reading the subject for the first time, it should treat the subject in an elementary way so as not to require more than two or three years to finish it, care being taken, where the book is not likely to be finished in one year, to prescribe it as the text-book for two or three consecutive classes. It sometimes happens that different books on Grammar or on Geography are prescribed for two consecutive classes, and students go on reading the same portion of the subject from two different books in two successive years, when they might have finished the subject if they had the samme book prescribed for the two classes.