Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-12-07

EMMY LOUIS


Have you a little Emmy Lou in your home9 and does she
bring home a report card each month? and is there always a
red ink 5S or 60 after the word arithmetic? Because if you do
have an Emmy Lou and she does always fail in arithmetic, you
will want to read my story.
This is what happens each month: Emmy Lou drifts in
from school and giving her customary shout Tor Mother!
while she is opening the front door, she losses down her report
card, along with her coat and cap ON the first convenient chair,
and runs off to find an apple. Mother appears and awaiting
Emmy Louis return SO that she can be reminded for the mil
lionth time to hang up her coat and hat, discovers the abandon
ed report card. There it is, the same old red ink-marked failure
In arithmetic.
At dinner, Mother says to Father, ttWhat do you sup
pose is the trouble with Emmy Louis arithmeticG ~ And Father
replies, "What? again this month"; and he frowns a puzzled
frown, unable to understand at all why a daughter of HIS
can't get her arithmetic. "Better see her teacher, about having
her tutored, . he says, and closes the incident.
But Mother has another idea. After Father is installed
in his favorte chair, under his favorite reading lamp, Mother
takes Emmy Lou back to the quiet dining room and gives her
a paper and a pencil.
s'Lets see where the trouble is, Emmy Lou,'' and Mother
puts down an example, like this: 435 plus 24. Emmy Lou
begins laboriously to @'do'' the example. After a long, long,
time, she hands over the result to Mother. 1t is 6129. Mother
is %astounded, and asks Emmy Lou to show her just how she
got the answer. Emmy Lou goes through the process again,
beginning with the LEFT hand column, and then writing down
IL, when adding 3 and 8, instead of carrying over the one to
the next column. So Mother carefully and patiently shows her
how to begin with the right hand column and how to carry
the one, finally Emmy Lou says in a delighted tone, oh! L
see!' and she really does.
Now a very great many mothers and fathers would say
at once, "Good Heavens! Here we are paying out these ter
rife sums of money for taxes, most of it for schools, and here
is Emmy Lou, unable to ADD What kind OF teaching are
those children getting anyway"
But this particular I0tner KNOWS, because n a visited
Emmy LOUIS room at school, that her teacher has thirty-eight
or forty or more little beginners at arithmetic, and that the
time allotted to arithmetic each day is exactly thirty minutes.
Thirty minutes divided among forty children doesn't get them
very far, since each day there has to be new work SO that
troom' doesn't get behind the other Srooms."
Emmy Louis teacher has more than she can do, even with
all her patience and all her willingness to give al her mind
and heart to the teaching of her little folks. 1t is quite lnev-
liable, therefore, that some of them must have to do without
the extra personal help that so many OF them need.
Emmy LOUIS mother has found the answer and she is sur
prised at it's simplicity. Each evening, directly after dinner,
while Father is looking at the sporting page, Emmy Lou and
her Mother spend a few minutes in the dining room where
Mother always seems to find a nice little row of examples in
addition, and then subtraction; and Emmy Louis eyes are
shining when she shows Mother her paper with every ex-
ample right.
That magic ''ten minutes a day. that advertisers shout
at you, for doing daily dozens, or acquiring Culture by
reading portions of the worlds best literature, or building up
your success in whatever line they have, for sale, pays bigger
dividends when you spend it systematically in helping your
child get on his feet in something fundamental, in which he is
hopelessly laundering, than it does when spent in any other
pursuit that | know of.
And if your little Emmy LOUIS story ends as this Emmy
LOUIS story ended, she will bring home her report card next
month without any humiliation in red ink.