The Washington herald., 1916-03-31

Some writer has asked What becomes
of all the preCOciOus children we hear
so much about from proud papas and
mammals We never sec them out in the
world anywhere"
No, we don't and a good thing II is.
Precocious children are problem enough
precocious grown-ups would be unoear-
able. What to do with the precocious
child Is a question that has made many
a mother keenly feel her helplessness
and ignorance. One of our mothers with
whom I am in constant correspondence
often discusses with me the problem OF
her small sons education.
Milton is unusually advanced for his
age" she tells me. AT three years he
knew his letters. He picked them out
for himself from newspaper headlines
and signs on the shops that We passed
in our walks. One Christmas somebody
gave him a set OF mind-builder blocks
and in less than a weeks time he could
set up the blocks that spelled his whole
name.
Then he took a pencil and without
helm or even suggestion from his father
and myself he copied the letters, ana
before he was four had written-wth the
letters OF print-quite a long letter to
his grandmother. 1t was the same way
with numbers. He followed me around
about my work asking what two and
two made, then two and three, and
though I tried to interest him in other
things he as so persistent that had to
keep on answering until he could DO
really remarkable sums in mental arith-
metic for so young child.
The school problem that confronted
us was a puzzling one. Neither his
father nor l believe a child should be
sent to school before : or years Of age.
A child has enough to learn of the Ian
guage it speaks. of the great world of
nature about it, OF the use and abuse Of
its own body. 1t should not be both
cred with books until it is tolerably
familiar with these essential truths. But
Milton had to go to school. At he was
farther advanced than many children
of s. He was restless and often bad
at home, because of lack OF definite oc-
oupation, and so I took him to the prin-
cipal of the public school and asked
him to examine him and tell me where
he should be entered.
'In everything but in writing the
child was even ahead of the second
grade. He could not write at all. but
the principal said he thought 1t was
a special case and he would enter
Milton in the second grade and let
him make up his writing. Even there
he did not have enough to do, every
InlnS comes SO easy 10 nun. ne mas
read ahead in his reader until he
knows the whole book by heart. and
he seems to be one of those visual
spellers-once he has seen a word he
never misspells it
ut is now near the end of his first
school year and We are just about as
much perplexed about next year as
we were about entering him last fall.
He is really ready for the fourth
grade, you see, for he has practically
done the work of the third grade this
year in working ahead in his books.
Would you advise US to let him skip
another grade and ask the principal
to enter him in the fourth next fall?'
While ! think that in this case II
was the proper course to pursue to
enter Milton in the second grade at
the beginning. it would, in my opin-
ion, be grave mistake to let him
skip the third grade next year. and
so I wrote his mother. He has come
to know the boys and girls now in
the room with him, but IL he skipped
ahead and left them behind. he would
get among a set of children of a diff
ferent degree of mental and physical
development from himself. He would
inevitably be given the feeling that
he was a smarter boy than they IL he
could catch up with them in his les