Grace
- Author:
Bernice Leland, B.S.,
Critic Teacher, Detroit Normal School.
Grace appeared in the principal’s office on the first day of school in September. She looked to be between five and six years old. She was round-faced, wide-eyed and solemn. No one knew whence she had come nor whither she was bound, for she had no record of any kind with her. When she was questioned her vocabulary seemed to consist solely of head shakings and a few utterly unintelligible syllables. It is not recorded how Grace happened to be thrust into a second grade that first day. But it was the second grade teacher who began to complain, a few days later, of “that little new girl.” Said she, “I could not find out anything from her if she did know it, for I can not understand one thing she says. I do not even know her name.” Very soon, Grace was demoted to the first grade where the teacher registered the same complaint. So it happened that she came to be examined.
The first part of the interview was not very reassuring to the examiner. If Grace had any opinion on the topic of conversation which was introduced, she did not voice it. She merely looked out of wide blue eyes with an expression which threatened tears. ” You seem to me like a pretty nice little girl, and I want to know what your name is. Can you tell me?” ventured the examiner in a manner meant to be very reassuring. The little girl deliberated carefully. Then she ran the risk of a single syllable. It was scarcely audible, but the long sound of “a” could be made out. The examiner made a guess. “Oh, yes,” said she, “your name is Kate, isn’t it?” The guess was wrong and Grace wagged her head. Other trials equally unsuccessful followed. Then she thought of “Grace.”
“Is your name Grace?” The child replied, “Eh.” The examiner explained that she liked that name, and would she be willing to try saying it plainly with help? Grace signified her willingness to try the somewhat doubtful experiment. And so her first lesson began.
At command, she opened her mouth, wider and wider, imitating the examiner. She thrust her tongue out, but found it quite impossible to place the tip on the roof of her mouth or to move it from side to side with any precision. The movements were all vague and uncertain. She smiled with lips tightly pursed as though smiling were not at all a habit with her. But when her attention was called to the wide, open-lipped smile of the examiner, she managed a very fair imitation. With help she voiced “e-e-e-e-e” quite plainly, also “ah,” and gave the sound of “s.” Within a few minutes she had said “Yes” and “Grace” well enough for any one to understand her. These results were encouraging, and that afternoon further exploration added to the morning’s information:
1. Both initial and final consonants were frequently omitted e. g., “tone” for “stone,” “ta” for “glass,” “poi” for “bird,” but “tat” for “cat,” “pabbit” for “rabbit.” 2. Substitutions were numerous and not always consistent, e. g., “put” or “boot” for “book,” “tawell” or “kawell” for “squirrel.” She said “chited” for “dish” and “pit” for “with.” “Boy” was “atoo.” 3. She either omitted “r” or used a substitute, e. g., “tee” for “tree,” “towah” for “girl,” “das” for “grass,” “fow” for “flower.” She avoided “1” too, e. g.} “pay” for “play,” “boks” for “blocks.” 4. She said “key” and “hat” correctly. 5. She said “yet” for “yes” instead of “eh” as in the morning.
She could not read at all, she knew the names of no letters, and some of her writing was reversed. She wrote with her left hand. Her minimum time on the Witmer formboard was 30 seconds made on the third trial. She removed the blocks without plan but did not use a trial and error method in replacing. She used either hand. Her maximum time was one minute ten seconds on the second trial when the distribution of attention was imperfect. Her first trial was completed in 40 seconds. The quality of the performance was adequate, and by the Young standardization falls at 6.5 years. She failed on the Witmer cylinders the first time, leaving six errors after one minute thirty seconds. The corrections were made and in one minute twenty seconds, she had replaced the blocks correctly.
She copied a red square on a white background with design cubes, also a single and a double chevron. Her persistent attention was noticeably adequate, analytic concentration less so. Her memory span visual- audito-motor, taken by tapping was 5; auditory alone, eyes closed, was also 5. As a result of these observations, the examiner concluded: 1. That Grace had an adequate equipment for learning school subjects.
2. That the kinaesthesia of correct speech had never been established, but that it could be now. 3. That the motor apparatus other than that concerned in speech was not working properly.
4. That her failure in school was due to the lack in speech development. An emotional reaction of fear added to the difficulty.
Accordingly it was recommended that Grace be transferred at once to a small group of children whose difficulties were being analyzed in the Restoration Room. This change was made on September 16th. When her school record was located, some days later, in a neighboring school, it was found that she was six years ten months old. She had been in the kindergarten, and had already spent a year in the first half of the first grade. She had experienced half-day sessions only and had not been promoted in June. Other children in the family, older than Grace, were doing satisfactory school work, but are merely “average,” not among the brightest of the pupils in the room.
Grace’s education began at once, with an aim to giving her what she needed, whenever she happened to be ready for it without regard for the fact that no one else in the room needed the instruction given her. In other words, this child, deviating from the line of so-called normal seven-year-old children, required specific individual care, the character of which should be determined by the test findings and the attempt to teach. Accordingly she was given Speech Exercises, emphasizing breath control, use of the correct organ of speech and the correct position of the organ. Having been known to sajr a word correctly once, she has not been allowed to say it in any other way in the teacher’s hearing. It has been interesting to notice the attitude of the other children in the room, which is so organized that informal activity on their part is regularly expected. They have taken it upon themselves to “teach” her and have emphasized very effectively what the teacher has tried to accomplish. She must not talk “baby talk,” and they tell her so. Grace may frequently be seen in a corner of the room repeating Mother Goose rhymes, sounding letters, or reading for an older child whose criticisms of careless, imperfect articulation are speedily forthcoming. Just now we are all engaged in getting her to talk louder. The results are encouraging. At odd moments, just before dismissal perhaps, some one asks her to say a little poem for the group or to read her work of the morning. She does so in a subdued voice and still somewhat timidly. Her articulation is infinitely improved. Her errors now are such as “tumling” for “tumbling” or “eveything” for “everything.” When she has finished some one is sure to say, “How well Grace speaks today, doesn’t she, Miss L.?” Or, “That was nice, Grace. We can tell what you say now.” Grace smiles, and another grain of self-respect is added to her once depleted supply. Her first effort last October ended in a flood of tears. All of this is incidental to the fifty minutes per week which we spend in speech instruction. Conversations, casual and otherwise, are a part of every day’s business. Very early in our observation of her we found that she tried to carry over into her reading and other speech what we were trying to make sure of in her individual lesson. We talk about any interesting thing, home and babies, food, flowers and pictures. Her statements must be truthful and her sentences completed. One day as she enumerated the dinner possibilities, she suddenly ventured, “I like raisin pie.” That initial “r” was quite a triumph. She had not been drilled on that word, and her independent effort indicates the attitude she has come to take toward the entire performance. Cooperation at home has helped. There is an older brother whose teasing about her speech has been quite unbearable to her. One glad day, she announced to him that she had a “teacher now who could teach her to talk,” and Wesley, whose name was once a hopeless jumble for her, but which she says perfectly now, has been persuaded to transfer his energy from making her miserable to giving her richly deserved commendation. Her mother could understand very little of what she said in September, but she has no trouble now. The entire family frown upon “baby talk,” but their criticisms are constructive and helpful now. A large part of each day has been devoted to school subjects. Reading in a class with three other little folks has been given 150 minutes per week. When the absence of other children or any unusual circumstance made it possible, an extra lesson was given her, sometimes alone, sometimes with others. It was felt that she needed the stimulation of competition, and that she especially needed to be conscious of her own success in the presence of the other children. She was accordingly placed in a group, all of whom were ready to start, as she was, at a given point. But, as was expected, she has become a leader, with one other child in the class a close second. It has become necessary now, of course, to remove these two from the group, but the end has been accomplished. The others in the room enjoy playing “school” with Grace, when the assignment of work for the morning has been completed. For a time the older children taught her. But now she is passing on to the next fellow “down and out,” what she has observed to be helpful in her case. A few weeks ago a new boy entered the room. Last week, Grace seated him in a chair before her and proceeded to hear him read. Such activity as this is entirely spontaneous with her. She has had only the encouragement of success and the informal atmosphere of the Restoration Room.
She began learning the Aldine Primer Rhymes on September 16th. It was found that she knew some of them, but imperfectly, and she had no reading vocabulary at all. At first the association between the written symbols and the process which she heard called “reading” was difficult to get. This seems hardly possible, for she had had considerable school experience. When it finally became clear to her that what was written on the board stood for what had been spoken to her a moment before, her bewildered state of mind began to clear, and she associated the printed or written symbol with a given rhyme correctly and readily enough. But the impression of the spoken symbol faded quickly, e. g., for weeks she could not remember “want” without first repeating the rhyme in which she had first heard and seen it. She always did this at once without waiting to be told. Other such words were “again,” “other,” “glad,” “no,” and “on.” More concrete words such as “boy,” “jump,” “nest,” gave her less trouble. Her improvement has kept pace noticeably with her improvement in speech. On December 18th she completed the Primer, reading several pages that day easily. Her favorite type of lesson requires that she find answers from the pages of her book to the questions written on the board, e. g., “When does Bluebird sing?” Grace searches diligently for a few minutes and then replies, “He sings in the morning” Also she is very fond of playing the lesson, taking easily the part of the boy, girl, tree, sheep or bird. She does not make mistakes, for she comprehends perfectly the meaning of the paragraph which is being interpreted. Grace is teaching herself arithmetic at present. Ten attractive white cards hang in the front of the room. On each one is a group of colored figures?flowers, circus riders, girls, or soldiers. The digit corresponding to the number of figures is conspicuous on the card. She is given a paper on which she finds such a lesson as this? 4+3+8+2+7+5. She discovers how many beads, sticks or whatever she may choose as material to count out, by matching the figure she does not know with the white cards. She has this stage of the work pretty well accomplished now, and is beginning to figure out combinations. She knows that 5 = 3+2 or 4+1, 4 = 2+2 or 3+1, also she knows 2 and 3. This is all desk work. She has had no class periods.
She has had no formal writing lessons, but she has practiced circles, scallops, loops, and lines. She has copied words from her reading vocabulary, written words and phrases from memory, and answers to questions, as seat work. The record for September 26th states that her arm movements were growing more free and the form of her letters quite perfect. She made use of either hand until October 13th, when she seems to have permanently shifted to the left hand. She had been told to use the hand that seemed “easiest” at first. On September 26th she wrote “me” and “em” in the same lesson. After October 17th there is no record of any reversed writing. Now her writing is even, legible and fairly large. Her spelling has been incidental to her reading and mostly oral. But she can write many words from dictation, and uses her knowledge in the question work referred to before.
Another very important type of work keeps her busy at intelligence exercises. Unfortunately the equipment of the room does not contain an adequate supply of material for this. Nevertheless, much has been accomplished. When Grace was first confronted with the problem of putting a simple puzzle together, she was most uneasy. She shifted about in her seat, looked appealingly at the teacher, fingered a few pieces, and began to do something else. She did not know that she was carefully watched. After a few minutes, she returned the puzzle to the folder and slid it into the drawer of her desk. But she found as the daj^s passed that she could not meet problems in that way?the puzzle kept reappearing. So she made an effort, but it was a failure so far as the puzzle was concerned. After several such trials, the teacher told her that the pieces fitted together smoothly and did not need to be pounded. This seemed to give her the proper clue, and she would work away at the thing quite patiently. She has mastered all of the dozen or so which we have, since then. They vary in difficulty from such as are supplied for kindergartens to finely cut jig-saw puzzles. Further problems with blocks, patterns for mat weaving, bead stringing, or design cubes have been put before her. As she becomes familiar with each new type of material, it is made a part of her play material, and she uses it as freely as she chooses. She is constantly making choices, meeting new situations as she moves about the room developing initiative, and taking great pride in her accomplishments. On October 17th she noticed that another child was being timed on the Witmer Cylinders. This apparatus has been in the room, but she had not used it since her first effort, the first week in September. She crossed the room and watched quietly while Robert finished, then glancing eagerly at the teacher, she began removing the cylinders. Her shortest time on three trials was 55 seconds, and the quality of the performance was excellent. On December 9th she replaced the cylinders in 42 seconds, and all but five were correctly placed in the recess the first time. During the second week of November, Grace was given the Binet test. Her basal age was five years. Her failures were on the Comprehensions, Fingers, Pictures and all of the eight-year tests. Her mental age was six years six months, and her I. Q., 95. We feel that the improvement which has taken place during her stay in the Restoration Room has justified all the effort made in her behalf. She is ready to begin the second half of the first grade now. At her present rate of progress, she should complete this by Easter. She can surely be given a start on the next grade before June. It seems best to keep her with the small group for a time and to accustom her gradually to a large class. She must be very sure of herself before the final transfer is made. We shall send her on errands to rooms where there are many children, and she shall read and recite for them.
Her history has purposely been left to be recorded last, because it could not be secured until much of the foregoing had been accomplished. She was born normally, of healthy parents. She was tongue-tied, but the ligament was cut within the first few weeks. When she was three years old her mother died suddenly, and she became the care of an elderly aunt. She had begun to talk when about fifteen months old, but as this woman could not understand her she was most impatient with her and is said to have punished her severely and, her stepmother feels, unjustly. When she was five years old, her father remarried and brought her home. She has never been ill, and nothing unusual can be discovered in the family history.
This record has been written in some detail, because there are so many children like Grace in our public schools. Surely more might have been accomplished with her in a regular grade than was, but she seems to have just drifted along, learning nothing that she was expected to learn and dropping farther and farther behind in the race. Such a case requires a great deal of patience on the part of the teacher, careful, accurate observation, the more of specialized knowledge the better, and last, but by no means least, a firm, optimistic belief in the worthwhileness of the task.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.