Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1904-12-08
WHAT TO DO
WITH THE OUNCES.
a WAY FOUND FOR MAKING EVEN
DULL CHILDREN BRIGHT.
How the Schools Tackle the Problem of
Dealing With Mental Detectives -
Success They Are Having. Manual
Training Where Other Methods Fail.


1T is far more interesting work than
ordinary teaching said Miss Elizabeth
Farrell to n. Y. Sun reporter. Her
eyes wandered over the members of her
little class with an expression which
showed how truly fond of them she was
Cone feels that one is accomplishing re-
suits worth while in making life for
these boys"
1t was down in Public School / at
Henry and Oliver streets, y. y. The class
room was one in which carpenters
benches mingled with the desks, where
pictures and growing plants took the
place of maps and globes. and cases of
tools and kindergarten materials stood
about the walls. The pupils were typ
zeal youngsters of the East Side, ranging
from to II years old.
Scarcely four years ago when this class
was established under the direction of
Miss Farrell, it was looked upon as an
experiment. Now it is considered the
finest of a system of ungraded classes
which is attracting teachers from other
cities all over the country to New York
for study and observation.
Entering upon a field entirely uneX-
plored here, Miss Farrell has worked out
methods which are now looked upon as
models for all such classes In summer
she has travelled through Great Britain,
under the direction of the Board of Kdu-
cation, to study and report upon the
methods of training mental detectives in
use there, where such work has been car
ried on in the public schools for more
than ten years.
With all her advance in educational
matters, America has been singularly
slow TO acknowledge that she has other
Cnan bright young people under her wing.
Many countries abroad have long since
discovered that from | to 10 per cent. of
all school children were unable to bcne-
fit by ordinary instruction, and have set
aside schools fer their special education.
But only recently has it dawned upon
our educators that the percentage of such
children here was fully as large as that
of other lands. Investigation proved
that in New York city alone there were
some 5000 little ones belonging TO this
class, whose parents could not, or would
not place them in institutions, and who
therefore fell under the care OF the pub
lie school system
Under ordinary conditions these
children were called stupid or feeble
minded, and to teach them was looked
upon as a hopeless task. After being all
lowed to repeat their classes for a term
or two they were advanced, regardless of
their merits, until they became so dis
couraged that they dropped out of school
altogether, to the joy, and often with the
consent, of the teacher whose class they
encountered
Boys and girls only slightly defective
were thus allowed to degenerate. becom-
ing in the end weak minded and vicious
1t was found, however. that fully 30 per
cent. Of these little Ounces were suffering
from no mental defect whatever, but
from physical ailments which their par
ents and teachers failed to recognize:
that with their bodies properly nourish-
ed and strengthened they could return
to regular class work and excel in it.
Hence the establishment OF the first
unoraded class the success of ,.hicb
speediIv led TO the hogipnino Of others
in different school districts, until we have
to-day the system which is attracting
widespread attention by its interesting
work. In these classes ordinary routine
is set aside, the pupils receiving individ-
ual treatment, mental physical and NOR