The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-09-02

| Miss Sophronia p. Breckenridge, dean
of women of the Chicago University, has
| Just made her report Of an exhaustive
| investigation of the delinquent child
problem in Chicago. Miss Breckenridge
cites many cases of boys and girls gone
| wrong from her own personal investiga-
| ton. She finds that a great problem Is
| what to do when il is discovered that
encouragement to crime is actually given
\ by the parents at home. She finds that
families of delinquent girls are, as a rule.
J Of a lower grade than those in delinquent
| boys. Necessity for work. or dread of II.
makes many very young children delin-
Equents. In many cases she found that
the employment of girls had been the
direct cause of their wrong doing.
Girls investigated by Miss Breckenridge
had in many instances tried as many as
| four different kinds of work. no one OF
which required skill or offered opportu-
| nifty for training.
1T is, of course, quite possible to avoid
the wastage that comes from the child
hunting a Job" Miss Breckenridge de-
, clares. "and still more from the hazard
choice Of work.
She calls attention to the important
| work in this direction being done by the
school authorities in Germany and Eng
land. In London the Juvenile advisory
committee is appointed by the County
Council and the Board of Trade. and work
hand in hand with the juvenile depart
ment of the labor exchange, so that chill
dren on leaving school go into suitable
trades.
An Original idea.
Miss Haynes. a Boston school-teacher,
has hit on plan whereby children are
| taught to read and spell with the small
est amount Of drudgery. Her pupils are
children of five or six, and instead OF
learning the alphabet each one becomes
living letter. Instead of studying these
children spend their time playing the
game of Putting the Letters Together"
All children, according to Miss Haynes,
like to give each individual sound liv-
ing personality.
In her school they call the consonants
cousins" and the more difficult novels
the Five Little Short Brothers" The
Five Long Brothers represent the va
| rious other pronunciations of the vowels.
For these various long brothers, because
the children find them harder to under
stand, Miss Haynes has arranged a color
scheme. the children representing them
wearing different colored coats. The
child who represents 90 wears a green
coats because the pigeons that coo live
in green trees
WIN tntst uNlne ittltIs the CfiiuTen
work out whole stories, each child step
ping into place as the word is given. The
result is said to be most satisfactory.
not only in teaching the child In a re-
markably Nhort time. but in making it
eager to attend school.
Much Needed Work.
Mrs. Helen W. Rogers is the secretary
of the placement bureau of the wom-
ans Municipal League Of Roxbury.
Mass. Since the opening of the bureau
on June "a more than fifty boys and
girls have been supplied with permanent
congenial employment.
Our efforts are directed to finding en-
ployment for boys and girls between
fourteen and sixteen years of age,
where they will prove satisfactory and
where the employment will be agree
able" Mrs. Rogers said in telling about