Evening star., 1936-04-14
WhenChild'S
in
Glass Halts
Thorough Mental and
Physical Test
Advised.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

T REGRET to say that Simon has
made no progress this term. He
has made no effort whatever to keep up
his grades. He will have to be left
back unless he shows marked i'm
provement before the end of next
month"
Simon has a high I. O., but he is
at the bottom of the class. Nothing
his teacher has said. nothing his
parents have said or done, has
moved him. He never knows the
place in reading lesson. He never
finishes his work, if, indeed, he be-
gins it. He yawns frequently and
wiggles constantly. His eyes are on
the window or the door, as though
he longed for escape When school
is out he is active and happy.
why don't you study your leSSons?"
"I do"
Now what? He says he does and
you know that he does not. You
can't talk him into industry and in
telligence. He seems to have the
ability. Yet he does nothing with 1t.
He has 10 pride. no shame, as far
as school work goes. He simply does
not care. His not caring, however, Is
rot simple 1t is complex in the
extreme, and it is going to take all
there is in the teacher and the par
ents to solve the riddle of a boy who
can and who does not.
First, test the 1. @. again. Have
an expert do it. Many times l. Qs
are inaccurate because of the human
factors involved. They will always
bear retesting. Then have the eX-
pert physician examine the child to
make certain his body is functionlng
normally. Any lack of function Is
certain to make trouble. Attend to
these things first.
Now test his right to be in his
present grade. He may be a grade
too high, or too low. 1t is quite as
bad to have him graded too low as
100 high. No child will grow prop
erly unless he has to reach little,
to exert himself little, stretch his
body and mind little, to accomplish
his task. Growth depends on effort
always. No effort, no growth. If
the work is too easy. even if he does
not know it, he will have no inter-
est in it.
Would promote child who failed
in his grade? If examination re-
suits pointed that way. yes. Grad
ing is a means to accelerate teaching,
way of getting the best possible
instruction for the most children
There is nothing sacred about grades
except their service to the children
who comprise them. The service is
sacred because it means the growth
and development of power in the
children. and the grade itself is only
the means to that end. Certainly, II
an examination discloses that child
has more power than he is using. pro-
mote him and give him a chance TO
stretch himself. If regarding him by
a promotion was the right thing 70
do, he will not fail.
A childs state of mind, his mental
attitudes Coward his teacher, his
classmates, his routine), his original
endowment of intelligence, his home
background, his ambitions and dreams
should be searched to discover the
cause of halted progress. Usually there
is a removable cause. Sometimes
halt in progress means the limit of
mental growth has been reached. This
is never a sudden or surprising state
of affairs because such a child indl-
Gates his lack of mental power before
he reaches the dead wall of limlta-
ton. Better search for the other
causes first.
(Copyright. 1860