JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
When the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades are set off by themselves and take the name of Junior High School, conditions are somewhat different than when they remain a part of the grade system.
The ideals of the schools differ, as they should, in some respects. A most striking difference is that a greater freedom in the choice of subjects is made possible in the junior high school.
The tool subjects are wisely still obligatory and penmanship should be pursued until mastered sufficiently well to be a resource and not a liability in carrying on other subjects.
Aim: To perfect penmanship as a tool for school work and to impress those who plan to enter upon business careers at the end of the ninth year with the fact that they should be especially serious in penmanship preparation.
Material: Similar to that suggested for preceding grades.
Required subject: Penmanship should be required through the seventh grade and of all eighth grade pupils who cannot meet a reasonably high standard previously agreed upon by the principal, supervisor, and teachers.
Administration of tests: These should be given several weeks before the end of each semester in order to permit pupils who have not reached the standard set to include penmanship in their programs.
Ninth grade pupils who are specializing in commercial subjects should have an opportunity for daily drill in penmanship in order to perfect their work to a higher degree. The materials, distribution of time to subject matter, form for headings, and samples may profitably be similar to that suggested for former grades.
The junior high teacher does not have the same opportunity that the grade teacher enjoys for the observation of results unless it is so arranged that the penmanship teacher handles spelling also. In such a case by using tact, firmness and some invention this period of application may prove almost or quite as valuable to the acquisition of the correct writing habit as the time devoted to the learning of the drills.