The Washington herald., 1913-09-21
Injustice to Force Children
Into Grades Beyond Them
Norv Comes the Time When the Harvest of
Mothers Pride and ambition Will Be
Reaped by Their Children.

| ing to see their pupils pass on since in
| the mind OF many their failure to do
so reflects upon the teachers ability to
properly impart knowledge to the young
mind.
Harvest Time Here.
And now comes the time when the har-
| vest shall be reaped. Tomorrow school
begins. The buildings throughout the city
will be alive with the chatter of eager
children, some of whom go into new
| grades without fear, and others who
instinctively know that they are not
ready for the work, and dread the
crOwding through which they must
surely pass IL they are to make good
and save the home pride.
| / pity the children who live in homes
where the parents feel that Ito pass is
the thing" not only because OF the nerV-
GUS strain under which such children are
sure 10 work, but because they are ham
pered all through their school life. They
are urged on by the incentive to make
a brilliant showing, and the knowledge
they actually gain is of small cOnse-
quence in the parent mind.
| Years of close association with Chi
cago magazine. published solely in the
interest of mothers and children. opened
my eyes years ago to the extent to which
women will sacrifice their children's well
|
pride.
And any pride is both foolish and
criminal which is based on what others
think-which must be upheld by the sac
rifcC of a Child's real development and
growth.
Not the Vital Thing.
Passing or not passing is not the vital
question in the school life Of our boys
and girls. What is the good of forcing
them into a grade for which they are
uneqUipped? II they have not under
stood the work of the lower class, how
can they grasp that of the higher grade?
Is il not infinitely better for the child
to go once more over the work done the
last semester if he has not understood
| il. so that he may be well grounded and
ready to receive that of the higher class
than that he should be crowded into a
grade for which he is not grounded and
founder through the work in such con-
fusion and unhappiness, as is likely. not
only to entail a great loss of his time,
but also to impair his health?
I need not cite instances OF which
personally know where parents have
forced children into work for which they
were not ready, with just such results.
| for l am sure you can find them among
your own acQuaintances, or PERHAPS
! IN YOUR OWN HOME.
| There is time enough to do all the work
| we were intended to do without crowding
and pushing. Gods purpose Of the
| ages is our gradual growth. The his
, tory of the world since the creation
proves that He does not do things by
| leaps and bounds. Driving and pushing
and crowding is all error. whether we do
| il ourselves or force our children to do 1t:
! but more of error where We force our
children to do it because they are so
utterly under our control as to be unable
to help themselves. We have 1t in our
power. as their mothers, to give them
the conception that ito pass is the thing"
| at any cost, to pass! But the woman
who does it is thinking only of her pride
and not of the real mental growth OF her
child.
such n Foolish Thing.
Not only this, but the pride which die
| tates forcing a child beyond its real un-
| derstanding in school is a foolish thing.
| born of the imagination of what friends
and neighbors will say IL John or Mary
| has to 90 over the work of a semester
the second time. 1t is no disgrace if a
child must do this. There may be many
| reasons for a failure to pass which re-
I feet in no way upon ones mentality.
Sickness may have retarded a boy or A
| girl. Forced absences from school for
| unavoidable reasons may have prevented
| the normal progress. An unfortunate
| teacher who has not had the ability TO
make things clear to her pupils may be
| the cause and you know there are plenty
i of men and women who are themselves
well equipped, who have the knowledge,
| but who have not the gift of imparting it
| to others. To these may be added a
| score of other reasons which do not dis
| credit the child at all, ana so it is
doubtly silly thing for any mother TO
| feel that she is disgraced if John or Mary
are this year going over the same ground
they covered last semester.
| Much more would be accomplished in
satisfactory development of our boys
and girls in school if every mother and
father would make them understand that
" hat they actually learn is the thing;
| that they are much more concerned with
| their being thorough in each grade as
| they go along than they are with their
making a brilliant showing for public
| benefit.
There are plenty of children who have
a perfect genius for cramming-children
who can neglect their studies continuous
| ly, and at the last moment get some one
| to help them, and actually pass eXami-
nations with high marks. Unfortunately
a mind so crammed does not hold
knowledge for long. The benefit to the
child is not lasting, but the parents are
satisfied because the report card is one
that can be shown with pride to neigh
| bors, and friends.
| Our vanities become grave where they
affect the real character development Of
our own children, where they retard their
mental and moral growth as they most
assuredly do when we insist upon forcing
them into work for which they are not
ready just because of our foolish-worse
than foolish-pride.
How to Cook Endiyes.
| The following is an excellent French
way of cooking the endives. Boil the