The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1908-03-19
PAPER Read Before Mothers Club.
Continued from Page one)

let fever. Her teachers have devoted
hours Of special time to her case, all
to the dissatisfaction OF the mother.
The knocks that poor course OF study
receives makes me smile
Out In the valley schools the teach
ers are expected to handle three
grades and promote their pupils just
the same as IL they had one grade az
here. And some Of their eighth grade
pupils really pass the same examina-
tions
I'd like to know what the parents
here who are complaining about the
heavy work would do II they lived 10
San Francisco, Los Angeles. Indiana
polls, Cleveland or even Portland. In
Portland the nine months of the state
course are stretched over ten months,
but they add few other things to
make 1t interesting. | know right
we'll what they would have to do II
they lived In Fort Wayne. There the
children who are bright are separated
from the dull ones and placed under
separate teachers entirely. And the
teachers OF the dull ones do not stay
till s o'clock coaching slow pupils who
do not carry their grade work.
When hear the complaints OF the
heavy, heavy work and late hours and
the poor children studying till eleven
O'Clock, il makes me wonder II these
"poor children" are studying till
eleven o'clock, II they know how, IL
their home life permitted them nnin-
terrupted study. They may think
they are, but conditions fail. ] don't
believe It is necessary Tor any child
below the high school to study late at
night. II he must there 10 something
radically wrong with the child or the
home that sends him to school. At
home the parents must economic.
They light the house with electricity
on the meter and heat it, the habited
part, with wood on the wood pile,
with the result that the whole family
congregate together. The school chill
dren study with continual distracting
elements. The telephone and door
bells, the affairs of elders and wran
gles Of youngers all combine to make
domesticity anything but studious.
Many child must play nurse girl and
get her lessons at the same time. The
mothers themselves could not master
a new subject under such conditions.
Last fall heard one woman ask the
mother of four school children II her
children had to bring work home.
She said, "Indeed, they do not.
There are still some things fol par
ents to decide. 1t is not all In the
hands Of the teachers. expect my
children to do their studying at
school and rest In the evenings. !"
Yesterday | went to the teachers OF
these four children to ask what kind
Of work they did. In every case the
report was Of the very best and, those
children are not phenomenal.
Tuesday night met high school
girl with a couple OF volumns. ] said !:
"Is 1t arithmetici"
"No, ma'am; history and English. :"
"Will your mother have to help you
till eleven o'clock at nisht?"
81 never studied later than eight
o'clock"
"Do you Tail every term and have
to be put backY"
~ haven't got below 80 per cent
this year."
And that girl is doing o lot of
things between 8 80 o. NJ. aud 9a. m.
to keep her from being "poor old
maid"
Some of these youngsters have
thought 1t an advantage to come to
me for help, In spite Of my statement
that "primary teachers are not ex
pected to count beyond eight. :"
When begin to help them they act
exactly as IL they had been helped be-
fore and had sat back and watched
the helper "push the pencil" I'm
not 30 popular as an aide since I've
done the watching. And such COM
plants for sixth and seventh grades
The problems we're drills In division,
80 divided by 8; 80 divided by 4 /!
One day l called on a lady who has
a nine year old In the third grade.
She said: "Miss Earl, it Is just terri
BILE the work you teachers are crowd
ing onto the children this year. My
little girl had to study till eleven
O'Clock last night to get her geogra
ply lesson. 1t Ia just awful that q
poor delicate child like my Nellie
should study so latel" was shocked
and inquired the nature of the work.
In their nature study the class had
been given list of twenty domestic
animals. They we're to locate their
homes and tell In general way the
commercial products they get from
each animal.
(If that class had lived In Chicago
it would have been given a pig In q
pen and told to .Grind 1t through the
stock yards and Slaughter house and
It's correlated branches OF commerce,
till they placed II In the consumer q
hands, not letting even the squeal es.
cape. Being in Oregon they got oil
easy.)
Nellie had to study till eleven
O'Clock and could not get the last
three, which some one else supplied.
After awhile l sent home some care
fully directed questions and got this
Nellie left school at $3.50, played on
the street till supper time, did her
few evening chores; there was com
pany to supper and 1t wac $3.50 when
the difficult lesson was attacked. She
had actually worked an hour and @
halt at an hour when physical fatigue
was all against mental concentration.
Nellie's is not the only case of itt
kind In this town. There are children
and children, and some Of them viii
never be able to under stand school
work nor be able to carry it. They
are fitted for something else, OF no.
thing. You can't harness up the
high bred trotter and heavy draft
horse and drive them 10 double har'
ness. The man who would do such
thing would Ee the laughing stock Of
the road, yet teachers are expected by