The city of Los Angeles, California, uses a plan of marking home work on the report card and giving no other incentive. Notice that a certain number of minutes daily for ten weeks is the unit, and that the number of minutes varies according to the age of the child. Observe the emphasis on care of yards and streets, also on care of little brothers and sisters.
Report of Committee on Home Credits,
Los Angeles Schools
The Committee on Home Credits makes these recommendations:—
1. That the "Home Credits" be not used as a substitute for other work, and also that they be not applied to increase the grade of other subjects except as any work well done necessarily improves all work of the child.
2. That the words "Home Credit" be written on the new cards just published, and that in the future these words be printed as a regular part of the card, with space for inserting the number of credits.
3. That in the several grades the following constitute one credit:—
(a) First and second grades, 10 minutes of daily work for 10 weeks.
(b) Third and fourth grades, 15 minutes of daily work for 10 weeks.
(c) Fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, 20 minutes of daily work for 10 weeks, and that multiples of such work in 10, 15, 20 minutes be allowed so that a child may earn several credits each ten weeks.
4. That the following subjects be selected for the initial trial of the plan:—
WEEKLY RECORDS, THREE OR MORE MONTHS' REPORTS
Mr. F. W. Simmonds, superintendent of city schools, Lewiston, Idaho, has instituted a plan for daily and weekly records with a report for three months, which he writes is "working out most successfully." The statement of his particular scheme which he gives in his home credit record folder is accompanied by an excellent presentation of the nature and scope of the home credit plan in general:—
A Plan for School and Home Coöperation
One of the vital problems of school administration to-day is that of securing closer coöperation between school and home life. When the child learns that education is living and working the best way he has made considerable progress on the educational road. Our school curriculum should encourage this wholesome attitude toward the everyday tasks.
Children must have time for real play and plenty of it, but let us not forget that real work is also a part of the child's rightful heritage, and that when rightly directed, children like to work—they are eager to take part in some of the real activities of life. However, they must not be permitted to attempt too much—a reasonable amount of work well done regularly and suited to the child's age and ability is what is desired.
Filling out this card is optional with the parent, no grade on the quality of the work done by the child is asked for, merely the approximate time regularly devoted to that task. Note the time; one half-hour, one hour, two hours, etc., in the proper column on this card. Your filling out and signing this card will assure us that the work was well done, regularly and satisfactorily.
The work may include any one or more of the multitude of home tasks, or any work done regularly, as sewing, ironing, washing dishes, preparing meals, baking, cutting kindling, gardening, milking, caring for poultry, feeding stock, making beds, music lessons, tending furnace, etc.
Some tasks occur daily (others weekly, as regular Saturday chores, music lessons and the like). Nothing less than a half-hour is to be recognized, though two or more tasks may be grouped to make a half-hour daily or weekly. The average child will be anxious to figure his home service in the large; but a reasonably conservative "statement of account" will have a greater disciplinary value, and will make for efficiency.
The unit of home credit will be one half-hour's daily work throughout the month. Time spent on regular weekly tasks will be adjusted by the teacher to this basis. If the work in quantity, quality and regularity is deemed worthy, the teacher will credit the pupil with the number of home credits earned, which will be added to the pupil's standing at the end of the semester in determining promotion. Each unit of credit in home work will have the effect of raising a monthly grade in some subject one step as from poor to fair, or fair to good, etc. By means of home credits, a pupil has an opportunity to raise his promotion standing to "Promoted with Honor," or "Promoted with Highest Honors" as the case may be, if he should lack a point or two, and have earned enough home credits to offset this.
In the Borough of the Bronx in New York City, Mr. Frederick J. Reilly began to give school credit for home work in the fall of 1914. He issues two cards of different colors, one for the girls and one for the boys. The cards are alike except for the words "he" and "she." Notice that the cards are well planned for use in city homes. At present they are used by the children of seventh and eighth grades. Mr. Reilly says, "The important thing is not the amount of credit the child receives in school, but rather the amount of influence this may have upon the training of the child at home."