First, she made letters out of bits of wood with her knife. She worked
and worked until there were ten sets of the small letters:
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
and six sets of the large letters:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
She then made the little tots spell words with her wooden letters. Take
the word "plum-pudding" (and who can think of a better one!); the first
little child picked up the letter p, the next l, the next u, the next m,
and so on, until the whole word was spelled.
If a child took up a wrong letter, he was to pay a fine or play no more.
Each morning, with her basket full of wooden letters, Margery went
around from house to house. The little children learned to read very
fast.
Can you see Margery with her basket of letters in this picture?
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The first house she came to was Farmer Wilson's. See, here it is.
Margery stopped and ran up to the door. Tap, tap, tap.
"Who is there?"
"Only little Goody Two Shoes," said Margery, "come to teach Billy."
"Is that you, little Goody?" said Mrs. Wilson. "I am glad to see you."
Then out came the little boy.
"How do, Doody Two Shoes," said he, not being able to speak plainly.
Margery took little Billy by the hand and led him to a quiet spot under
a tree.
Pages:
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79