Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-14
Aid for Slow Students

Aid for Slow Students
A letter written by Mr..
Franklin T. Miles criticizing
the Montgomery County
schools appeared in your pa
pei early in December. To
date. no letter has been pub
lished by you giving the tax
payers of this county a fair
explanation as to why Mrs.
Mothers Remedial Reading
Department is necessity and
should be expanded.
There are many things In a
child's life contributing to his
ability or inability to learn to
read at the age when 1t is
expected of him. Being flunked
once or twice is not always
the correct answer when a
child has been deeply hurt by
a death in the immediate fam
ily or a divorce: a serious ILL
ness which has forced him to
miss a large portion of the
years school work: a physical
or nervous disorder with which
he was born and which can
be corrected by properly
trained people.
Mr.. Miles is indeed a most
fortunate person. for obvious
~ he has never experienced
the heartbreak Of having a
child of his need special as
sistance in school. Assistance
which he could not afford to
pay for even if he could locate
it! Through the efforts of
this department, which Mr..
Miles describes as ordinarily
unnecessary and undesirable" "
my child's difficulties with
reading are almost a thing of
the past. Surgery and Their
apy corrected faulty vision,
only to have his eyes regress.
Yet 1t was through the CO.
ordinated efforts of qualified
people in Rockville that the
causes of his difficulties were
identified for the first time,
and he was shown how he
could help himself and over
come his difficulty. Now that
he has learned to read, he is
no longer different" from
other children. Not being "dif-
ferent," he is welcome in
classroom work, baseball, foot
ball. Cub Scouts and other
activities.
I agree with Mr.. Miles that
the Montgomery County school
system is not perfect. Yet I
know it is vastly better now
than 1t was a generation ago
at which time it acquired its
Nation wide reputation which
has attracted many of our
newer residents. Almost all of
our elementary students are
learning the three RS and more
in their classrooms today. The
few students who are slow
because of circumstances be-
yond their control are now
receiving some excellent as
sistance which the classroom
teachers can give only by de-
priving the majority Of the
class Of time to which they
are entitled. Until compare
lively recent years in this
county, regardless Of a stu
dents potential, If he was too
slow to keep up with the class,
he repeated the grade and sue
ceeding ones if he remained
slow. When a remedial read
ing teacher can and does give
each of her students enough
help to Keep up with the class.
she has saved the taxpayers
money. Multiply the cost of a
student in school for one year
by the $3.50 she helps. and
the saving is considerably
more than her salary.
At present I am not familiar
with the methods or results Of
instruction now being given in
our county secondary or high
schools. However. with the
start my two children are being
given in elementary school. I
feel confident they are well
along the road to becoming
sixth-generation taxpayers OF
Montgome cry County, Our
Rockville staff is endeavoring
to see that the individual
school needs of4each and every
students are met-whether the
student be exceptional, average
or below average
It might be a worthwhile
experience for Mr.. Miles and
others who feel as he does
about the teaching crutches"
to observe a child who is using
them. Life will hold no greater
thrill for me than the day in
the not-too-far future when
my child will cast aside "his
crutches" and walk right on
through school and college.