New Britain herald., 1929-09-13

Individual Child - opportunity for the gifted, and educational nurture for the average and slow.
 "The New Britain school system, and especially the department of elementary schools, in line with pro- gressive thinking, have already rec ognized these objectives, and all pro grams provide for the teaching of health habits; for movement, ex- pression, activity; and for individ- ual and group instruction for every child. The special undertakings of the year, with which the report par ticularly deals, were organized around these objectives and ideals.
 Elementary School Conference
 "A conference of the elementary school principals and teachers was held in January, at which particular lines of thought that seemed of major importance to the group were presented for consideration. In plan ming the work, the different commit tees aimed to evaluate the subjects for group discussion in terIAs of fundamental principles rather than in terms of methods or devices.
 "The subjects discussed follow:
 I. The Unifcation of the Kinder garten and the Primary School - a movement that aims to harmonize both departments, and to offset some of the formalisms of the primary school. This routine work of many primary schools tends to nullify the important lines of influence begun in the kindergarten.
 "2. The Auditorium and the Lib rary-the social integrating centers in the life of the school.
 "3. The Individual Child's Impor- tance in Group Classification, and in Group Instruction-'There IS denial of justice in a school process under which one child fourishes and another languishes.
 A. Child Health-a fundamental consideration in education.
 "5. Articulation Between the Ele- mentary and the Junior High Schools.
 "6. The Creative Activities of Childhood-their opportunity for eX- pression in the programs of the So- cial Studies and of the Creative Arts.
 "Such a conference had a stimu- lating effect upon the whole teaching force, and tended, in many respects, to clarify the thinking and broaden the vision of all contributing.
 Activity Program in Grade l
 Realizing the effect that the routine program of the first grade has in formalizing too early the thinking and the activities of young children, and approaching the need of preserving that physical fresh ness, that spontaneous spirit, that happiness of childhood, an activity program for Grade l was organized in February and two schools were selected and equipped for its try-out. The Lincoln and the Elihu Burritt Schools presented different types of school facilities for working out the problems of such a program, and the enthusiams and study of the prin- cipals and teachers of these schools were important elements in the sue cess of the undertaking.
 According to the plan, the morn ing program is given to the usual training in reading and the formal work of Grade l, and the afternoon is devoted to hcNlth work expressed in games, rhy c exercises, and out-of-door ,ias; to self-ini- tiated, free wo., ,tojects (the teach CT responsible fo, the plan, and its educational valpe) and to chil- dren's interests in literature and language.
 "This type of primary program is not an innovation, but is an eXpres- sion of that fundamental principle