Bright children well catered for in U.S. schools

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32635, 17 June 1971, Page 6

Bright children well catered for in U.S. schools

Bright children now are being catered for well in the American education system, according to Mrs Anne Garstang, wife of Dr R. H. Garstang, professor of astrophysics at the University of Colorado.

When she returns to school in Boulder, Jenny Garstang, aged seven, will go into an openspace classroom. She will attend a conventional state school which has adopted this new method of teaching.

“Two classes of 30 pupils work in one large room, which includes the school library,” said Mrs Garstang. “Two teachers work together, and this allows one to concentrate on a group needing special attention while the other supervises the rest of the class. “The teachers say they get to know the children better this way, and if the teachers are enthusiastic then I think the system must be good for the children.” HARMONIUS LIVING It could be helpful in teaching children the art of living harmoniously with others. "Some of the older children complain that the

classroom is too noisy. The children are allowed some freedom tc help each other and talk while they work,” said Mrs Garstang.

"Now there are more people in the - world we are ' going to have to get used to living with large numbers of people. With the open-space method, children will probably learn to be tolerant of each other, and to be quiet when others are working.” Jennas sister, Susie, aged four, is attending a preschool centre, and will go to kindegarten when she is five. The kindergarten is part of the school system in Colorado. “Very few children in Boulder go to private schools,” said Mrs Garstang. "Almost all parents send their children to the nearest state school, and are happy to do so.”» FULL-TIME MOTHER Mrs Garstang is a full-time, devoted, mother. She enjoys spending time with her children, and thinks it is the ideal path for mothers to follow. Women’s Lib. has its point,” she said. "If a woman is bringing up her children without a husband, or the family cannot manage with' out added income from her job, then day-care centres do a very good job. “But if you can afford to stay home, and are temperamentally suited to doing so, then I think it is best for the children. “Of course, some mothers are so unhappy just being about- the house their children would be better off if they were working." VOLUNTARY WORK One day a week, Mrs Garstang does voluntary work at a day-care nursery for children of low-income families. It is open from 7.30 a.m. until 5.30 p.m., so that working mothers can leave their children there on the way to work and pick them up when they come home. “The nursery is sponsored by the United Way. Once a year a great many charities combine on a joint fundraising, and this is one of the projects which receives the funds,” she said. Volunteer workers are drawn from the community, ’ and from the university. "The university has a student [ clearing house, which Pat ( Nixon visited recently,” said > Mrs Garstang. Student register to do voluntary ’ work, and are sent where they are needed.” Boulder had a similar adult centre. People wanting to do volunteer work, but uncertain of the evenues of need, inquired at the centre. “I just went along, said what I could do, and when, and the nursery was suggested,” she said. MATHS GRADUATE A graduate in mathematics from Cambridge (where she met her husband) Mrs Garstang did two years postgraduate work, and then went teaching. The couple emigrated to 1 Colorado about six years ago, and Mrs Garstang gave up teaching to care for her 1 family. She is thinking of taking up pre-school teaching i in a few years. She is a keen gardener '■ "though with our dry, hot ' summer and cold winter it’s twice the work for half the result I had in England” and is a member of the thriv- ' ing local Young Women’s ' Christian Association. Now, she is teaching her daughters 1 to weave the Navajo way, 1 with a waist loom. I TIE WITH N.Z. I While in New Zealand the I family plans to visit Dunedin, ; where. Mrs Garstang’s grand- . mother once lived.

"According to family history, my grandmother fell in love with my grandfather when she met him during a visit to England. He was then farming in New Zealand. She was only in her teens, but inherited some money when she turned 21. Secretly, she made arrangements for her passage out here. That was in the 1850 s, or early 1860 s, and she sprang it on the family at the last minute,” said Mrs Garstang. "My grandmother and grandfather were married in New Zealand. Later, he inherited a property in Scotland, and they returned there. My mother, who was bom in Scotland, is very envious of my trip because she has heard so much about New Zealand."

Dr Garstang, an Erskine Fellow, will be with the physics department of the University of Canterbury for six weeks. He is also one of the many eminent overseas scientists who will attend the Rutherford Symposium in July.