Miss B says she hopes that A will have some real country and nature during the summer. He needs a chance to roam and think and observe for himself rather than to learn facts from books or other people.
In the French class his interest and attitude have improved. _From report of a classroom teacher, for February 1 to June 15, 1923, on the occasion of A's promotion to the sixth grade_.
These remarks from teachers bring clearly to notice some of the difficulties in adjustment to school procedure when a child has a 12-year-old capacity for thinking and the body of a 7- or 8-year-old, combined with the life of a 6-year-old. Motor control is, of course, far behind abstract thinking; writing is slow and feeble, while reading is rapid and fluent; shopwork is poor but arithmetic is excellent; he can surpass 8- and 9-year-olds--even those of superior intelligence--in the classroom, but in playing with them he cannot catch a ball and is always the last to be selected when sides "choose up," because he is a handicap in any playground competitions.
From these remarks and estimates it is also easy to see how such a child may provoke adverse comments from teachers, may be found unsuited to school organization, and eventually even be reputed stupid or "foolish." Fortunately for A, most of his teachers have had unusual training and have been rigidly selected, besides, for insight and personality. If you have read Edison's biography, you will recall that under teachers less highly selected young Thomas "did not get on in school," was regarded as "foolish," and eventually was removed from school by his mother, who educated him at home, she herself being a teacher.
These difficulties of discrepancy between mental development and physical development are seen to be greatest in the earliest years of childhood. The judgments show that as A grew from his sixth birthday to his ninth birthday, he became less and less conspicuous in his poor penmanship and in his inaptitude at games.
General intelligence tests of A have been made as follows:
DATE BIRTHDAY STANFORD-BINET ARMY ALPHA AGE OF A MA IQ POINTS A Norm A Norm A Norm Dec. 30, 1920 6-6 12-2 6-6 187 100 (Not given) Jan. 2, 1922 7-6 14-4 7-6 191 100 76 0 (Form 5) Apr. 22, 1922 [1] 7-10 14-8 7-10 187 100 (Not given) Feb. 22, 1923 8-8 (Not given) 95 0 (Form 7) [2]