Practical Suggestions in the Training of Backward Children
- Author:
Barrons,
Headmaster, Woodlands Park Junior Boys’ School, Tottenham. Charles & Son Ltd. 2/6.
For the teacher who laments that when he wants “brass tacks” he is given so often only theories, Mr. Barrons’ book, ” Practical Suggestion for Training the Backward Child” will come as an agreeable surprise. The book is short (77 pages only) but we have no hesitation in saying that it contains more in the way of practical material and suggestions than the majority of very much larger volumes on this subject.
Mr. Barrons’ own theoretical appreciation of the difficulties encountered in training backward and dull children is remarkably sound, but where he finds it necessary to state theories, he does so briefly and lucidly and follows up his statements with ample illustration and suggestions for practical work.
His essentially practical attitude is demonstrated further in his economy of words, absence of involved description, and wealth of diagram and illustration. All his material is simple; most of it indeed can be made, if necessary, by the children themselves, and almost all of it is adaptable to a variety of purposes, a great many of which are indicated, though undoubtedly others will arise to meet further needs.
No attempt is made to lay down hard and fast rules, or a ” syllabus”; obviously nothing would be farther from the author’s intention, but the work recommended is graded so as to cover a sound grasp of the ” mechanics of learning” and, at the same time, to stimulate the interest of children who are likely to fail with a more formal approach. Incidentally, and this is one of the most commendable features of the book, many of the suggestions will provide a welcome change for average children in ordinary infant and junior classes. This is not merely a book to be ” added to the teacher’s bookshelf “, its place is somewhere nearer at hand where it may be referred to frequently. M.D.
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