Pueblo chieftain., 1921-01-29
SPECIAL SCHOOLS FOR GIFTED CHILDREN

/, their line of interest 10y a board ut
school officials aud specialists la ar.
electricity. or whatever the suhlc.r
may be. II the result warrants trniu-
ing. they are scpt TO school rOs siftcd
pupils and given every opportunity To-
blossom out.
This certainly looks Ike conservation
Of brains but II b. too soon to tel
whether Il win prove . good tnNcj-
mcnt Tor The stHtr. Tint wiz depend
partly on the method Of conducting 10.
schools and partly ON tho pupils thcni-
selves. n tho candidates ere selected
fairly aud by sensible tests II shuuiI
bc possible td sort out Tic best pupils
And N the schools do ne the rUl-Sr 20
the Individual Instead of follow u-
the accepted rule % shaping; tho chi,ds
mind u m uic ryur-'. The Ersduntof
turned ont should b' superior 10 th1
usual standard Product ul a m1d1rn
schuo system.
, II Is we'll known however. thai not
all promising children develop into
brilliant men and vomou. even when
advantages arc given thcm. What ~
taken FOR unusuHl Intelligence In d,
child OF u may tc an cNtra good
u,cmory with little FouFc OF reasoning
or judgment back OF IL. This hus boon
shown again s,nd ug.iln in tho chill
prodlEics who arc always being cN-
Z plotted. Al six wears they rccitc Latin
odcs and talk half o. doZ"p lVEuascs.
I At .. they arr ready FOR College mud
confuund gray haired professors with
/ their crudition. Bot AZ - you do not
hear OF their being elected TO Con-
Z grc's or startling the world with new
theories, or writing Tho great Amerl-
Can novel. This difficulty should hs
overcome 10y the usc or an around in
tciligoncc tests instead Of EXAMINATIONS
] ihiuh test little beside, memory.
Small Percentage Gifted
judging 10y the results to date, tho
German school oincilis Hrurc tia.
aboLt - pcr cent Of the school popu-
latiou u.ln lie counted on to provo
themselves worth the extra trouble Ok
special training. This percentage o.
our public school population would tu
about 100000 children. while the ed-
Visibility OF special schools for thc-p
Pupils IN uur country has not been
considered, scattered attempts are To-
ins made IN 90 few OF our citlc7 10 rec
/ oguizc the rights OF the bright pupii
Minneapolis has adopted "a system ~
promotion by subjects. SO that tho
child who rs slow at iIrurcs but can
read anything docs rot have 90 spend
months ON rCIdl.g books that cor.
hin by tha.r simple lancuagc. In
stead. lac may bc In the fourth grade
in reading. and only In tho third or
second IN arithmetic. With this plan.
tho child who has difficulty with one or
two subjects is less apt to become dis
couragcd. because he does not have to
repeat all tho wori, OF e gistdc in order
10 get fun got OF passing marks.
And. or course. tho pupil who h. bright
can he promoted as rapidly az his wor.
warrants. Tho objection to this ar
rhnEcmeut. sometime hoard is that tho
pupil ~ apt To- neglect the studies In
which ne is SLOW and Ert u onc-sldcd
education.
Detroit and some uttrr cities arc try
fng u different solution. They have
each class divided into three sections
the brightest pupils in one. those Of
ordinary mentality in another. and
those who arc slow in the third. This
I is snid to work very wClL
some such system MS this is about
all tho public schools can do FOR tho
gifted child so long as he is kept with
the others lie canro: bc given much
individual inatruction The teacher.
who has = pupils has an ideal class.
and very frr have 70 small Il number
OF children as that. Forty members in
a class Is not uuusual aud there are
often moro.
Tho bright child viii eventually bc
given a chance. Commissioner Clax-
ton OF the Bureau OF Education Is in
favor OF branch of his bureau to
study the needs OF exceptional chill
drcn. both those who are gifted aud
those who arc deficient Not very
much 4, being done by the state for
either type. but it viii take longer for
the gifted child to- gain recognition as
II being with rights He does not pre-
sent the same appeal to sentiment as
the pitifu'ly stupid child struggling
to keep up with work that he cannot
s0tsp. But he Is worth Infinitely more.