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Show Fl OUR GRADING SYSTEM 3 ..' IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 1 j ' At a casual glance tho matter of j grading in public schools may seem P , a rather simple affair. Tho children it;, . wno do the same class of work should I H'' j bo placed in the samo grade, of course. "JpF Then thero is the age, which one J fa- may think would be about all that is i w ' necessary: just placo all of tho same 4 k age in the same grade, and so on. I wi But that doesn't even approach the J I' ' settlement of this important matter jj I' of grading a public school the size of 1 K, ours hero in Cedar City. I y ,' Children who do tho samo class of 1 Lf' work should go in tho samo grade, ,3 K '' but that is the "rub." Tho ago of a r W pupil is a help, but cannot bo depended p g ' upon. Some children are precocious; 3 fe. they develop early and fast This is H f? not necessarily to their advantage. 3 l v, But it would be very unsafe to try to ' ' - impede that development, as it seems jj F to be one of nature's ways of doing Jj ., things. The precocious child is by J. St' ar tt more serious problem for the , 1 ? teacher than the one who is slow in 1 I5 v development. Ho is more easily brok- r en down and transformed into a nerv- I ' ous wreck than the slow child. He I should bo allowed to develop and un- I fold as nature intended, but this we li . do not always allow. Wo too often m ' Wk parents and teachers begin crowd- -- Ctvj inK ad forcing him and finally turn iB " him over to the doctor for his "finish- 41 Jng." m Then with tho slow child, wo of- M times become impatient and discour- ' aged and put him down as a numb- .jl skull and yet in spito of us ha often B becomes our intellectual leader. Wo Jt cannot worry him or make Mm nerv- ous. But we do often drop him back H to be brought up by another grado, H and not because wo realize that ho H is one of tho slow developers but bo- " causo wo think he is a know-nothing H for .which we blame the child himself. ,H These two types furnish ninety per cent, of our trembles in ,tha proper grading of oatscTrtfolB. The tasTc A would not be satfdflflfeult if it were al-'! al-'! lowed to be dealt-with In a prefes-ll prefes-ll elenal way. But hire is ir difficulty. MM In .every family we may likely find flH r the three types the precocious, thf medium and the slow child. But it i' queer fact that the stamp of approval, approv-al, both public and private, is placed upon tho precocious child. Every father and mother puffs up in the pride of their hearts when tho child is of bucIi a type. And even parents who nrc fortunute enough not to have such a child seem to like to treat their children and have them looked upon as such by their teachers and friends. How often wo hear and use the expression, "My child is just as smart as any in this or that family or class, and I don't see why ho should bo kept back." Not for one second do we question the brightness of any child. That is not the issue. It's simply in most cases a difference !n the rate of development and the stage of maturity. Animals mature at greatly different differ-ent rates. Some horses set their "rowth at 5 whilo others grow until 7 or 8. Thia you do not question Why not allow our children the same nrivilege? So that if a. child finds is work so difficult that he cannot omprehend it, don't you think it vould be folly to keep him in that 'rade? Even though his chum were ible to carry the work, that is no positive proof that your boy can do the same. Parents and teachers too often judge such matters from a superficial standpoint and inflict lasting injury tpon the innocent children of both 'ypes. The greatest task that the irincipal has in this connection is to ersuade the children and their par -nts that they (tho children) coutf 'o so much better in tho grade that is not beyond their present stage of development. de-velopment. He sees a child strug-ling strug-ling in the, darkness and upon in-luiry in-luiry .secures "the information from ihe teacher that "he is a very dull pupil," and upon further investigation investiga-tion finds that the child is not dull at ill, but simply trying to do work be-ypj!KWBjprentcapacity; be-ypj!KWBjprentcapacity; Then,-vhen Then,-vhen the question of adjuslmcnt cosies ip to the parent and child, it is, nine ases out of ten, their common dc-lire dc-lire that the child remain in the darkness dark-ness rather than suffer the humiliation humilia-tion of being dropped back to where he properly belongs. This interest is genuine, of course, on tho part of tho parent, but it is based upon a false conception of true advancement and development. The competition between neighbors, chums and friends is only temporary at best ind no child should be sacrificed to tho false pride which we all possess to a greater or less degree. E. B. DALLEY, Principal. |