STATE SERIES SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS FIRST BOOK IN ARITHMETIC STALFORD COMPILED BY THE STATE TEXT-BOOK COMMITTEE AND APPROVED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION SACRAMENTO: W. W. SHANNON, SUPERINTENDENT STATE PRINTING Pr 143947 C COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY J. W. McCLYMONDS AND D. R. JONES. In the compilation of this work certain matter from McCly- 6E-50M-2, '10 PREFACE It is quite generally admitted that the results obtained in the field of primary arithmetic are by no means commensurate with the attention which the subject receives in our schools. After several years of earnest effort, the pupils too often show little or no insight into number relations. Furthermore, the ability to handle numbers with accuracy and a fair degree of facility is also wanting. This lack of results, we believe, is due chiefly to the inadequacy of the methods commonly pursued in the teaching of this subject. It too frequently occurs that beginners are introduced to meaningless abstractions (which are retained only with difficulty, notwithstanding their frequent repetition), and are hurried on to the fundamental operations, which are rarely well mastered. The work outlined in Chapter I of this book is designed to prepare the pupils for the intelligent mastery of the fundamental operations as presented in the succeeding chapters. Through the application of number to objects, an insight into number relations and the common operations is gained. Throughout this chapter the memorizing of facts is subordinate to the getting of ideas. The mastery of the fundamental operations is taken up in the succeeding chapters, and a well-developed method is provided for each operation. The general plan of work is a simple one. The pupils are required to memorize a few number facts and to apply these until they have become perfect reflexes, before new facts are introduced. A constant review is provided, as the facts of previous lessons are involved in the drill exercises which follow the several lessons. Simple work in fractions and denominate numbers is introduced in the first lessons, and continued throughout the book. A balance is maintained between the mechanical work on the one hand and the solution of problems on the other. The problems are of a practical character, and are drawn largely from the field of everyday experience. Whenever a problem of a given type seems to offer a language difficulty, several such problems are given in succession. Such repetition frequently occurs in the earlier pages of the text. Frequent requests for detailed information with reference to the methods herein contained, and favorable reports from teachers and superintendents who have found these methods helpful in their work, have led to the preparation of this text, which, we trust, will be found of service in its field of intended usefulness. CONTENTS Simple Directions - Magnitude - Counting - Comparison of Quantities-Grouping - Writing Numbers - Division by Measurement and Partition Measurements - Forms Steps in Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division 43-114 COMMON AND DECIMAL FRACTIONS |