A Portland woman, who is much interested in the schools, says:—
In looking over some of the cards I find that the child soon learns to do his "chores" in less time each week, that he may have more time for other work or play, and yet fill out his record card. This is a great help to the parents.
I know one boy who cannot be induced to go out to an evening affair because he wants to get to bed before nine o'clock so that his record card will be perfect. How soon could we dismiss the Juvenile Court if we could get all children to feel like that! It is worth while to try.
In Polk County, Oregon, the system has been introduced into rural schools with marked success. The plan here comprises a daily record, and monthly reports. Below are excerpts from an article written for the Oregon Teachers' Monthly, by Mr. R. G. Dykstra, who used home credits in his rural school at Suver, Polk County, in 1912-13. I should like to direct especial attention to his testimony on the tardiness record of the district; also to his plan of allowing credit for a long walk to school.
With the following exceptions I carried out the work as started in the Spring Valley School last year: I required the pupils to get eight hundred minutes' credit before taking the holiday instead of six hundred; the number of minutes' credit for milking cows was increased from five to fifteen for each cow and a reasonable amount of credit was allowed for all work not named in the list of chores; children living over a mile and a half from school were allowed credit for the distance they had to walk in proportion to the others, and 5 per cent instead of 10 was added to the end of the year on their final school averages for the carrying on of the work. Only two prizes were offered by the District, three dollars and two dollars respectively. Children seldom took advantage of the holiday given for eight hundred minutes' credit unless it was used for sickness or unavoidable absence, as they were encouraged in the knowledge that a day lost was a day's work lost as well. Tardiness on the part of any pupil doing the work meant a loss of so many credits already accumulated.
It would be impossible to enumerate the many things this work has done for this community, but the following facts may prove interesting to the reader. During the year of 1911-12, without home credit work, this school had a record of 95 per cent in attendance and 59 tardies. For the year 1912-13 just closed, the record is 98 per cent in attendance and 8 tardies. Part of the home credits given have been for proper care of body, sleeping with windows open, care of teeth, hair, etc., and the result of these requirements has been the showing of a healthier appearance on the part of nearly all the pupils. The parents of the district claim that the children are doing more work at home than they ever did before, and the people feel that their children are getting an education that will be of value to them and that the money is being well spent in this kind of work.
The card issued by County Superintendent Seymour is here reproduced filled out by a pupil. It shows daily records for two weeks on each side of the card. The five school days only are counted.
Home Credit Card
North Dallas School, Polk County, Oregon.
Blanks to be filled in each day. Parents sign before returning
it to teacher. Blanks to be returned each month and a
new one secured.
Edwin B——. February, 1, 1914.
Pupil's name. Month.