THE CONDUCT OF CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Saint Jean Baptist de La Salle

PART THREE: THE DUTIES OF
THE SCHOOL INSPECTOR

PART ONE: School Lessons and Conducting Them
PART TWO: Establising and Maintaining Order

TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE

Duties of the Inspector of Schools
Matters Concerning Teachers
Matters Concerning Students
Enrolling Students at the School
Seating the Students and Regulating the Lessons
Promoting Students from One Lesson to Another
Requirements for Promotion

Duties of the Inspector of Schools

In every Community House of the Institute, there shall be an Inspector of Schools who shall supervise all of the schools that depend on that particular Community House. The Director shall be the Inspector. If there are three or four schools depending on the Community House of which this person is the Director, another teacher may be assigned to assist the Director in supervising these schools. The Director, however, actually exercises overall supervision of the schools. The teacher assisting the Director shall not do anything without the Director’s order, and, furthermore, shall report to the Director everything that has been done or has taken place in the schools.

The Vigilance of the Inspector of Schools

Article 1:
Matters Concerning School

The Inspector of Schools shall watch to be sure that a holy water font is placed at the entry of each school and that it always contains sufficient holy water.

That there are enough rosaries in each school for the students who do not know how to read.

That there should be an aspergillum in each school so that the students may take holy water on entering and on leaving the church; that there is a basket in each classroom for the collection of the bread to be given to the poor during lunch and the afternoon snack.

That there are books for every lesson, with as many as necessary for the poor who have none of their own.

That between each pair of writers there is an inkwell set into the desk, and that these all have covers; that there is a piece of wood with a loop of string attached to it, big enough to fit over a child’s arm; that when going to the lavatory, each child takes this piece of wood, so that there is only one student at a time [out of the room].

That there are as many brooms as there are classrooms, and that these brooms are replaced when necessary; that in schools located away from the Community House, there is a bucket, a sprinkling can, a rake, and a wastebasket for removing trash; that there is a register for each bench; that there is only one bundle of rods or one cat-o’nine-tails for all the classes of a given school and that one teacher, appointed by the Director, is in charge of them; that everything is kept in its proper place, in good order, and very clean.

That all the benches are clean and safe, that is, in good condition and that minor repairs are taken care of promptly; that benches are carefully lined up, always in the same way; and that none is changed without the knowledge and permission of the Director.

That the classrooms are kept clean, and that there is on the floor no paper, no pieces of quill pens, no fruit pits, or anything else that might dirty or spoil the floor; that all the classrooms are swept daily and sprinkled with water during the sweeping.

That there is no dirt or caked mud on the floor of the classrooms, and floors are scrubbed from time to time; that the window panes are always kept clean.

Article 2:
Matters Concerning Teachers

The Inspector of Schools should pay attention to the following items concerning the teachers.

That those who teach in the school attached to the Community House go to their classrooms immediately after the rosary, and that on the way, they do not enter any other part of the residence without necessity and without permission.

That those who go to the schools apart from the Community House go directly to the door on leaving the chapel and do not stop anywhere; that they recite the rosary on their way and do not converse with each other.

That teachers ought to walk through the streets with great modesty, and by their external behavior edify everyone.

That they should approach no one in the streets nor enter any house under any pretext whatsoever; that if someone addresses them in the streets, the Head Teacher alone replies briefly to what has been suggested or requested, provided that a response is possible or necessary; if not, that the teacher gives a polite excuse.

That all begin the lesson and the exercises of the school day precisely at the appointed hour, without delaying a single instant; that in all classes the duration of each lesson is in proportion to the number of students.

That no teacher undertake anything in class contrary to the regulations without an order from the Director; that teachers are always either seated at their desks or standing in front of them; that they never leave their place without an obvious necessity; that they must always keep an eye on their students, never leaving them out of sight.

That during class time, they make sure that the students read slowly and distinctly, neither too loud nor too soft, without any defective accent, and following the method and rules for reading.

That teachers always use the signal, never speaking aloud to the students during the time of the lesson itself; that they always follow in their own book and unfailingly correct all mistakes made during the lesson; that when the lesson is being given, teachers do not read from any book that is not a school book; that they make all the students read, skipping no one; and that all students should read approximately the same amount of text.

That the writing teachers are very careful to have their students hold their pens correctly and assume a proper posture, and that the teachers correct any mistakes made in writing; in a word, that they see to it that the students observe all the rules laid down in the regulations for writing.

That, depending on their age, their ability, the calling they will follow, and the length of time they can spend in school, the students should be taught to write either round hand or slanted hand; that teachers apply themselves with as much, or even more, affection to teaching the poor as to teaching the rich; and that they neglect no one and show no preference for anyone.

That the teachers do not have a particular affection for any student, that they never speak to a student in private, except very briefly and only concerning a past or foreseen absence; that they must never have any student sit next to them; that they take care to make new students learn their prayers; and that they are careful to perform all their duties very exactly.

That no teacher other than a teacher of writing does any writing during class, except to correct a student’s work; that no teacher speak to another teacher in school, except to the one who holds the position of Inspector; that a teacher who has something to say or some question to make concerning the proper running of the school speak to the Director about it.

That teachers give the catechism lesson at the proper times, and on the topic set down for the week; that during catechism, teachers do not put forward anything which they have not found in duly approved and authorized books; and that they are never to judge whether something is a mortal or a venial sin.

That teachers never accept any gift from the students; and that if they take something away from a student because the student is playing with it or for some other reason, they give it back at the end of the school day; if they, however, judge that the object is useless or perhaps detrimental to the student, they give it to the Director; that they should never give anything to a student except as a reward and not out of special friendship or favor.

That the teachers do not become familiar or friendly with anyone, whatever the reason; that nobody is allowed to come to visit them at school; and that they speak only to the parents who bring their children back to school during the Director’s absence; and that when they do so, they should speak very courteously and briefly.

That teachers allow no one to enter the school except the priest of the parish in which they are conducting the schools or some other person who has obtained the Director’s permission to observe the school and its operations; that teachers leave their place only for the usual and ordinary necessities.

That they do not allow themselves to be carried away by impatience when reproving or correcting their students; that corrections with the rod are rare; that those with the ferule are not too frequent; and that nothing is done beyond the prescribed limits.

That teachers are serious when they impose penances and that they give only those prescribed; that they take care that their students attend daily Mass with piety and modesty; that during Mass, the teachers should not have a book in their hands, but devote all their attention to watching over the student.

That those who teach in outside schools return to the Community House as soon as school is over without delay at the school or anywhere else; that they should proceed directly to the room where the spiritual exercises take place.

The main things which the Inspector of Schools shall observe and take great care to prevent are: that the teachers never strike the students with their foot, hand, or a pointer; that the teachers never speak too loudly, except when very necessary and only outside the time for catechism, for the examination, and for the reflection; that teachers do not leave their places; that they follow in their own book what is being read by the students; and that they do nothing except their duties at all times; that they correct the students’ writing at the time and with the method indicated; that they not place any student next to them; that no teacher speaks to another teacher, except to the one in charge of admitting absentees when such a child is brought back to class, or to the one in charge of speaking, when necessary, to outsiders; and that on both occasions, they should speak only as is necessary.

Furthermore, that teachers allow no one to enter the door of the school to speak with or to visit anyone, or leave the school to speak with anyone; that they do not accept anything from students, from parents, or from any other person for any reason or in any manner whatever; that they must not keep anything belonging to a student, even if it were only a pin.

Violations such as these are very fundamental and have very serious consequences. Hence, they must never be tolerated in the teachers, not even once. Teachers must never commit them, whatever pretext they may allege to justify their behavior.

Matters Concerning Students

The Inspector of Schools shall make sure that the students arrive before school starts, and that they do not miss school without permission and without a real and recognized necessity.

The Inspector shall also see to the following: that all students read during each lesson, and that all write during the writing period, doing so neither too quickly nor too slowly, and forming the letters properly; that, except when necessary, they do not speak to the teachers, and then only in a low voice and in few words; that they neither whisper to their companions nor look around from side to side.

That the students know the prayers and the catechism by heart, and even the responses for holy Mass, if they are capable of learning them; that they pray to God every morning and evening and cultivate devotion to the most Blessed Virgin and Saint Joseph; that they are modest and pious, and pray to God in church.

That those who are old enough to receive Communion do so at least once a month; that they regularly attend their own parish church on Sundays and feasts, as well as the parish catechism lessons; that they behave very respectfully toward their parents, and they help them with great humility and concern.

That the students keep away from bad companions, and that they very carefully avoid the company of girls; that they go with virtuous, reserved, and polite companions who can benefit them by their example and conversation; that all the student officers in each school and class perform their duties faithfully.

Enrolling Students at the School

Article 1:
Who Shall Enroll Students and How to Do This

Only the Superior, or the Inspector of Schools in his absence and acting under his orders, shall enroll the students who present themselves for admission to the school.

The Director shall enroll students on the first school day in the week. If there are only two schools connected with a given Community House, the Director shall meet with the applicants for one school in the morning of the first school day and with those for the other school in the afternoon of that same day.

If there are three or four schools, the applicants for the third school shall be enrolled in the morning of the second school day. Those for the fourth school shall be enrolled in the afternoon of that same day.

Students shall be enrolled only on the day of the week and at the time appointed. Any who present themselves on other days or at other times shall be sent home and told to come back on the correct day and at the correct time, unless the Director happens to be present at the school when they arrive.

Those who are unable to come to the school on the day and at the time specified for registration, or those who find it very difficult to do so, may go to the Community House on Sunday. On that day, the Director shall enroll in the appropriate school all who present themselves.

When the Superior thus enrolls students at the Community House for schools other than the one attached to the Community residence, they shall be given a short note of admission to the school. On it shall be listed the name and surname of the student enrolled, the date of the enrollment, the classroom into which the student is assigned, the name of the father and mother, or the person with whom the student lives, their occupation, the street name and number and the room, as in the following examples:

Jean-Baptiste Gribouval: age 6; residing with his father, Pierre Gribouval, a serge weaver, in a shop on Rue de la Couture; registered on October 19, 1706 for the school in Rue de Tillois; to be placed at the first line of the first reading chart.

Article 2:
Information Required When Enrolling Students

The Director shall not enroll any child in the school who is not brought by father or mother, by the person with whom the child lives, by some relative, or by some person of suitable age who comes in the name of the parents.

The Director shall obtain from the person who brings the student the child’s name and surname; the names of the father and mother or of the person who is responsible for the child, and their occupation, address with the street name and number; the name of the parish to which the child belongs; the child’s age, and whether the child has made first Communion and been confirmed.

The Director shall also inquire whether the child has ever been in school before and, if so, where and under whom; why the child left this school; whether it was for some misbehavior or because of having been punished; whether the child has ever attended one of the Christian Schools and, if so, for how long; whether the child was sent home therefrom, something the Director can verify by consulting the register; and whether the child’s behavior is good.

If this is an older student, the Director shall ask what the parents expect the child to do later on; whether they hope to have the child learn a trade, and how soon; and the level of proficiency in reading and writing. The Director shall have the student read and spell something in French or in Latin, using a book which is not commonly known, in order to determine whether the student is not simply reciting something learned by heart. The Director should also ask about good and bad habits and whether there are any physical defects or illnesses, especially scrofula, skin itch, epilepsy,or some other infirmity which might be communicable. This is something that must be carefully investigated. If there is some bodily ailment, the Director shall find out whether this will cause frequent absence.

Information Required of Parents for Students to Be Enrolled

When a student is admitted to the school, the students and the parents must have all the necessary books, including a prayer book if the student knows how to read; and if not, a rosary, so that the student can pray during holy Mass.

Students and parents must be told the following: that students must be assiduous in coming to school, and must never miss class without permission, and must be present every morning at 7:30 and every afternoon at 1:00.

That they must never miss the catechism lesson and High Mass on Sundays and feasts, without some major necessity and without permission; and that if they do, they will be sent home; that they are not to eat breakfast or the afternoon snack outside school, in order that they can be taught how to eat in a Christian and polite manner.

That students must never talk to anyone about what happened in school, either about themselves or about another student; that severe punishment will follow, if a student does carry tales back home or to other people.

That parents are not to listen to the complaints their children might make either about the teacher or about the teacher’s way of acting; that when the students do complain, parents should take the trouble to come to talk to the teacher, in the absence of the children; and that the teacher will do all that is possible to satisfy them; that parents should send their little children to school in the winter as well as in the summer.

That students should wear clean clothes, and should not come to school if they are not suitably and cleanly dressed; that hair should be properly combed and free from vermin; that teachers insist on this of the students in their own class, especially those who are most lacking in cleanliness; that students never come to school barelegged or wearing only a shirt, and that if they do, they will be punished and sent back home.

That students are not to go swimming during summertime, this involving great risk to purity; that they are not to slide on the ice or throw snowballs in winter; that they not associate regularly with girls or with dissolute companions, even if merely to play with them.

That students are not sleep with their fathers or mothers or any of their sisters, or any person of the other sex; that, if the child does so, the parents should be urged to stop this; and that if necessary, the local parish priest should be advised, in order to take the necessary steps to set the matter right.

Article 4:
Four Types of Students Seeking Enrollment

There are four categories of children whom people may bring to us for admission in our schools: those who have been in other schools; those who have never been in any school; those who had been in this school previously but who left in order to go to work, to remain idle, or to go to another school; and those who were expelled from this school.

Section 1: Those Who Have Never Been to School

No child shall be admitted who is not fully six years old unless, in some individual case, size and intelligence makes up for the lack of age. Little children shall not be admitted if they can come only during summertime, in good weather, or at a later hour than the others.

No child shall be accepted if the child suffers from some communicable disease, such as scrofula, skin rash, or major epileptic seizures, no matter the reason. If it should happen that any student already in school contracts one of these infirmities, the Community House’s doctor shall be asked to examine the child. If the malady is of this type and is curable, the child shall be sent home until the child recovers.

No student with wealthy parents should be allowed to come to the school beyond the first day without having the books needed for the lessons, or if in the writing class, without paper and an inkstand to do the writing. Neither shall any student be accepted who cannot come to school regularly, either because of some illness or for any other reason. Regular attendance means that the student shallnot miss school more than twice a week, even for some good reason and with permission.

A particular student might be allowed to enroll and come to school only in the afternoon, but no student shall be admitted who will attend only in the morning. No student can be enrolled who is expected to miss school occasionally to stay at home and watch over the house or the younger children.

Students can be admitted to the school who work at a trade that does not hinder or prove awkward for others, such as knitting or something similar. No students shall be admitted, no matter how old they are, unless they follow the same routine as the other students.

Section 2: Those Who Have Attended Other Schools

Students who have attended other schools shall be admitted only when the reasons why they left those schools are made known.

If students left the schools they were attending through an exaggerated liking for change, their parents should be made to understand how harmful this is to their children. They should make up their minds not to let their children change schools any more. They should be warned that, if the children subsequently leave our school, they will not be readmitted. If the children have left the other school merely because they have been corrected justly, the parents must be told that they should not listen to the children’s complaints against the teacher.

If they had been wholly innocent, they would not have been corrected. Parents should be willing to have teachers correct their children when they are at fault; otherwise, they should not send them to school. Students who have left a school because of having been badly taught or because in some way teachers were in the wrong, should be careful not to blame but rather to try to excuse teachers as far as possible.

If a child had been badly taught, for instance, made to write before knowing how to read, or made to read before knowing how to spell or even before knowing all the letters, the Inspector of Schools shall call the parents’ attention to these deficiencies and indicate to them the remedies which must be applied. For instance, the child must first be taught the alphabet, to spell the syllables, and to read, before being made to write. What had been omitted in the previous instruction should be pointed out. Prudently, the Inspector of Schools should help the parents to understand the importance of this method, without which a student would never learn anything even if the child came to school for ten years.

A student of this kind, whose parents are unwilling to follow the system proposed to them, should not be accepted. If they cannot or will not listen to reason on this score, one might propose to them, as a last resort, a three-month trial period. They shall be shown that the foundation of reading depends on knowing the letters perfectly, knowing how to spell, and knowing how to read syllables distinctly. Without this, it is impossible for a child ever to read anything with understanding and not by rote.

Section 3: Those Who Have Left Our School by Choice

Students who have already attended our schools and who have left of their own volition or because of laxity and the over-credulity of their parents, and who try to come back, should be accepted only with great caution.

Students who leave our schools to go to another school should not be readmitted more than once. When readmitted, such students must be told that this is the last chance they will get; if they leave a second time, they will not be readmitted.

Section 4: Those Who Have Been Expelled

If a former student who had been expelled is brought in to be enrolled, the reason for the expulsion will be ascertained from the register. After reminding the parents of the serious reasons for the dismissal and after making them wait for some time, and if there is some hope of improvement, the Director may readmit the child with the warning, however, that if the behavior has not improved, expulsion will be final.

Seating the Students and Regulating the Lessons

Article 1: Seating and Placing the Students

After having admitted a student and ascertained the level of ability, in the manner explained in the previous chapter, the Inspector of Schools shall assign the student to the class, the lesson, and the seat in the room.

The Inspector shall carefully place a newly enrolled student beside someone who will help the student learn to follow easily and will not chatter with the newcomer. In all classrooms, there shall be definite places assigned to each student for all the different lessons, in such a way that all who are following a given lesson shall be grouped in the same area within the room. This seating area shall be permanent, unless the lesson has to be transferred to another classroom.

The Inspector of Schools shall see that the writing tables are placed in full, clear light. The students who are reading from charts shall be seated as indicated below, in the Article on the reading charts.

The Inspector shall take care to assign the places in an orderly and prudent manner. Those whose parents do not take good care of them and who have lice are to be kept apart from those who are clean. A giddy and light-headed student should be placed between two students who are well behaved and serious. Trouble-makers should sit alone, or they should sit between two children whose piety is well recognized. A student inclined to be talkative should be placed between two silent and very attentive scholars, and so on.

When the students return to school after their vacation, the Inspector of Schools shall be sure to assign them to the various classes, to indicate which places in the rooms they should occupy, and to settle questions of order in the school. An appropriate number of students shall be assigned to each classroom.

Students shall be distributed among the various classes, not in view of the particular lesson they are following with all the students in a given lesson in one class, but in view of the total number of students. Thus, there shall only be a certain maximum number of children in each class. When there are too many students in one class, compared with any other classes in a school, the Inspector shall transfer some of the students to a higher or a lower class. The Inspector must make sure, however, that students who follow the same lesson are not put into two different classrooms unless it is absolutely impossible to do otherwise.

Each class should contain between fifty and sixty students. In schools where there are more than two classrooms, the number of students in the middle class can be greater than the number of students in either the higher or the lower class. In classes of students learning only writing or only reading from charts or from a spelling book, the number should not exceed fifty.

Article 2
Levels of Students Learning to Read

The Inspector of Schools shall divide into three levels the students in all lessons, except those who are reading from charts. The first level is for beginners; the second level is for those who have made some progress; and the third level is for the advanced and those who have mastered the material.

Beginners are so called, not because they have just recently begun a given lesson, for some may remain at this level for a considerable time, but because they do not know enough to be promoted to a higher level. The Inspector, therefore, shall place in the beginners’ level of each lesson those who still make many mistakes.

The Inspector shall place in the middle level of each lesson only those who make one or two mistakes each time they read.

The Inspector shall, however, divide into only two levels the children who are reading Règles de la Bienséance et de la Civilité chrétienne. The first level shall be for those who sometimes make a mistake in reading; the second level, shall be for those who never make any mistakes.

The students who are reading the account books shall be divided into six levels, according to the gradation of account books. The account books of a superior level should be more difficult to read than those of the preceding lower level, as explained in Article 9 of Chapter [3], on Studies, of Part One.

The Inspector of Schools shall be sure to set aside a fixed and definitive place in the school for each level of a lesson, so that students in one level of a given lesson are not mixed up with those of another level in the same lesson; beginning readers, for example, with the more advanced level. All should be easily distinguished from one another by the places they occupy.

Nevertheless, those who are just learning to write shall be placed in the benches according to their height and not according to the level of writing they have attained. Students of about the same size should be in the same bench.

As far as possible, the Inspector shall try to place the writer so that a child who is just starting a particular level of writing is seated either beside one who has made some progress in that level or next to one who is in the immediately superior level. A student who finds it difficult to learn the proper strokes should be seated beside one who makes them easily. One who has trouble assuming the proper posture and holding the pen properly should be seated beside one who does both of these things well, and so forth. In this way, students may be of mutual assistance to one another.

Article 3
Levels of Students Learning to Write Round Hand

The Inspector of Schools shall divide the writing students into eight different levels, distinguished by the various things that will be taught in each level.

The first level is for those who are just beginning to learn to write. The Inspector shall take care that these children apply themselves to sitting up straight, holding their pens properly, and making the straight and the circular strokes correctly.

The Inspector shall not promote to the second level any but those who hold their body and their pen correctly and who have learned to perform the straight and the circular movements easily. Students in this second level must learn how to form the five letters c, o, i, f, and m. They must write an entire page of each of these five letters, linked with one another, until they can give these letters their proper form and until they can write these five letters in large commercial characters.

The Inspector shall place in the third level only those who have a proper posture, who hold their pens correctly, and who have mastered the letters c, o, i, f, and m. The Inspector shall take care that the students of this level apply themselves to forming these letters well and to linking these letters properly when they should be connected.

The Inspector should also note whether the students write an entire page of each letter of the alphabet without omitting any and that they link only those letters which should be connected and not those which should not be connected. The students are to write an entire page of each letter until they can form and link them properly, with the letters properly positioned. The students should then learn how to form the three letters o, i, and f and the others which are derived from them, not forgetting to write a page of each letter.

The Inspector shall place in the fourth level of writing only those who can form, without exception, all the letters properly; who can link the letters clearly and properly; and who know the letters which are derived from o, i, and f and how they are derived from these three. The Inspector shall make sure that the students in this level apply themselves to give the letters the required position and evenness on the same line, to raise the upper loops, or heads of the letters above the body of the writing, and to keep the lower loops, or tails well below the line. Students of this level should write a line of each letter of the alphabet, one after another and all linked together.

In the fifth level, the Inspector shall place only those who, besides being able to form all the letters and link them properly, can write in straight lines, keep the letters evenly spaced, give them the same body height, and form the upper and lower loops with their proper dimensions, according to rule.

The Inspector shall take care that the students in this level give the letters sufficient firmness and do not squeeze the letters too tightly together. The students should write boldly and with a certain lightness of touch, with letters properly spaced from each other, and the required distance between the lines. These students should always write the alphabet continuously and in its entirety on each line. If they experience some difficulty in forming certain letters, they should daily be made to write at the start of the lesson a few lines of these letters on the back of their paper, until they are able to form all letters perfectly.

The Inspector shall place in the sixth level only those who give all their letters the proper form, make the body of their letters equal in height, give the upper and lower loops the length proper to them according to the rule, and provide the required space between their lines. Finally, the writing of these students should be graceful and firm, showing some boldness and freedom of style.

The Inspector shall make sure that all students in the above-mentioned levels write the entire alphabet in sequence on the back of their paper at the beginning of each day’s lesson. The students shall also write one page each time of dictation in large commercial characters. They shall write one line from their model every day for two weeks, and they shall write the entire model during the two following weeks.

Only the students who know how to write a connected text as mentioned above in large commercial characters shall be placed in the seventh level of writing. The Inspector shall take care that these students write in commercial hand in the morning and financial characters in the afternoon. They should copy their model immediately and continue to write the alphabet on the back of their paper.

The Inspector shall place in the eighth level only those who know how to write a connected text made up of financial characters, as indicated above. These students shall write in financial characters in the mornings, and slowly and carefully in small hand writing in the afternoons. Instead of writing the alphabet at the beginning of the lesson, they should write quickly in small hand on half of the reverse side of the paper. In the morning, they should copy something out of some good book; in the afternoon, they should copy handwritten material. After three months at this level, they shall themselves on the two days each week when writing and spelling are taught, write in legible, correctly spelled hand writing letters of their own, promissory notes, receipts, leases, workers’ contracts, and other documents which might subsequently be useful. The Inspector shall also pay attention that the teachers carefully correct all the mistakes in pronunciation, writing, spelling, and punctuation.

Article 4:
Levels in Inclined Handwriting and in Arithmetic

Section 1: Inclined Handwriting

The Inspector of Schools shall take care that no student begins to learn inclined hand writing before completing the second and third levels of round hand writing and prior to promotion to the fourth level. Exceptions can be made for the reasons suggested in Article 1 of Chapter 4, on Writing, in Part One.

A student shall not ordinarily begin to write inclined hand until promoted to the fourth level of round hand writing. Nonetheless, if the teacher and the Inspector of Schools think it wise to have the student learn the inclined hand style of writing, they shall have the student stop writing in round hand. The Inspector will set up five levels of inclined hand writing for those who have already begun to write in round hand.

The Inspector of Schools shall not put any student in the first level of inclined hand writing except for the reasons indicated in Chapter 4 of Part One. The student should have finished the third level of round hand and should know this type of writing reasonably well; the parents might want the student to learn inclined hand, or the student might tend to slope the letters a great deal anyway and cannot be made to break this habit. Finally, it might be desirable that the student, having finished every level of round hand writing, should learn both kinds of writing.

The Inspector of Schools shall make sure that the students on this level are taught the difference between the characteristics of round and inclined letters, the way of shaping and sloping the latter, and also their proper position. The Inspector should see that each student writes a line of each letter linked to each other.

The Inspector shall make sure that these students pay attention to making all their letters the same height and that they space both the letters and the lines properly, in conformity with the rule for this. The students should be trained to give space to the letters, to move from one letter to the other with confidence, and to write the entire alphabet continuously as one line.

The Inspector shall promote to the third level only those who give their letters the proper form, position, slope, evenness, height, and space, including between the lines. Their writing should be open, graceful, and assured. The Inspector shall see to it that the students in this level write model texts in medium-sized characters. Those in the fifth level should do the same in the mornings, but they should write model texts in small hand in the afternoons.

In these first three levels of inclined hand writing, the Inspector shall observe and have others observe the same procedures as those mentioned regarding the sixth, seventh, and eighth levels of round hand writing.

If it happens that, for one of the reasons indicated in Article 1 of Chapter [4], on Writing, [in Part One], a student has to learn inclined hand writing without having begun to learn round hand writing, and if the student has only a year, that is eleven months, of schooling in which to do so, the Inspector of Schools shall determine the amount of time the student should spend in each level, as follows.

The student shall be kept in the first level for a month to learn the right body posture, the proper way to hold the pen, and the correct method of making the straight and the circular movements with ease. Secondly, the student shall be taught the alphabet for a six month period. During two months, the student shall write a page of each letter, with characters unlinked. During the next two months, the student shall write a line of each letter, linking the characters. During the last two months of the period, the entire alphabet will be written continuously in a line. Finally, in the last four months of the year, the student shall write model texts in medium-sized writing, in addition to the alphabet at the beginning of the writing lesson, as mentioned in a prior Article concerning those who write in the round hand style.

If a student has only six months to learn to write the inclined hand style, the Inspector shall schedule a program as follows. The student shall write the alphabet for three months, a single line of each letter linked, in the first two months, and the entire alphabet continuously on a line, in the third month. During the last three months, the Inspector shall have the student write model texts in medium-sized characters, and the alphabet at the beginning of each writing lesson.

The Inspector of Schools shall apportion the time, as indicated above, for the students who have only a short time in which to learn to write, in proportion to the amount of time available. The Inspector shall promote them if it is necessary at the end of the appointed time, whether or not they know all that they should in order to be promoted.

Section 2: Arithmetic

The Inspector of Schools shall divide the students who are learning arithmetic into five different levels. The first is for those who are capable of learning only addition. In the second, those who know addition well shall learn subtraction, how to prove their additions by subtraction, and how to prove their subtractions by addition. Only those who know addition and subtraction well, and how to prove both, should go on to the third level, where they will learn multiplication. The Inspector shall place in the fourth level only those students who are perfectly familiar with multiplication, and so are ready to learn division. The Inspector shall promote to the fifth level those who can perform all kinds of division easily and who will be able to learn the rule of three, the aliquot parts,and fractions.

Article 5:
Determining How Long Lessons Are to Last

Since the number of students is not always the same in every lesson but changes when students are promoted from one lesson to another, or when new ones come in or others leave, the time the teacher must spend in making the students read a given lesson cannot be regulated and uniform. It is the responsibility of the Director or of the Inspector of Schools to determine how long the children in each lesson and class should spend in reading.

The duration of each lesson should be determined in relation to the amount of time the instructor has for teaching reading, the number of students following each lesson, their ease or difficulty in reading each lesson, and the approximate number of lines each student should read.

The Director or the Inspector of Schools shall determine the duration of each lesson by adapting the timetable given below. This determination depends upon whether there are fewer, as many, or more students in each lesson than are indicated.

Because there is half an hour less of class time in the morning than in the afternoon, the teacher should have the students read for seven or eight minutes less in each lesson in the morning than is specified in the time allotted above.

It follows from what has been mentioned so far that, if instead of twelve students using the alphabet chart there are eighteen, they will have about three quarters of an hour to read from it. If they number fifteen, they will need about thirty-seven minutes. If there are only nine, they should be given about twenty-two minutes of reading time. The time for reading shall be increased or shortened in proportion to the number of students in the reading lesson. The same should be done in all the other lessons, whether in the same or different classrooms.

Twelve students using the third book can easily have sufficient time to read. The beginners can read eight lines each and the more proficient, twelve to fifteen lines each, in half an hour. The students who read from the book of Psalms can easily read six lines apiece if they are reading by syllables; those who read more fluently can each read ten lines in a [quarter of an hour].

Those students of the first and second levels who are reading Règles de la Bienséance et de la Civilité chrétienne can easily read eight lines each, and those from the other levels, ten lines from a pa per or document of ordinary size in a quarter of an hour.

Thus, if a writing class has fifty industrious students, twelve or thirteen who only use the third reader, twelve or thirteen who also read Latin, and twenty or twenty-five writers, of whom ten read from the documents, these last ten shall have a quarter of an hour after lunch to read documents and then an hour to read French. Those dozen or so who read Latin shall do so for a quarter of an hour. Those who read only from the third book shall read only Latin for three quarters of an hour; then, those who read Règles de la Bienséance et de la Civilité chrétienne shall do so for a quarter of an hour. The ones who read only French shall do so mornings from 8:45 until 9:00.

The teacher who has only half the number of writing students shall correct their work only during this time. If all the students take writing, they shall read Latin for three quarters of an hour and Règles de la Bienséance et de la Civilité chrétienne for a quarter of an hour in the morning. After lunch, they shall devote half an hour to reading contracts and the following hour to reading French.

The Director or the Inspector of Schools shall see to it that the teachers use all of the available time for reading and that on every occasion the teachers devote approximately the same length of time to reading. Thus, if there are fewer students in a class than are required to use the entire time devoted to reading, each student reading the required number of lines, the Inspector of Schools shall direct the teacher to make each student read approximately as many additional lines as needed to fill all of the time assigned to reading in that class. There should be no wasted time in any class, nor should time be used otherwise than as specified in the regulations.

If it should happen that a larger number of students must be placed in a class than can be given a turn in the allotted reading period, each student reading the required number of lines, the Director or the Inspector of Schools shall see to it that the students in each lesson read fewer lines than specified for that lesson. This adjustment shall be made in proportion to the number of students present, so that all the students can read something, without using in this classroom more time for reading than has been allocated for this particular subject.

Promoting Students from One Lesson to Another

What Is to Be Done Before Promoting Students

Toward the end of every month, the Inspector of Schools shall inform the teachers of the day on which they should examine the students who might be ready for promotion. The Inspector and the teachers shall then confer on those who should not be promoted because of inability, absenteeism, or lack of piety or modesty, because of laziness, negligence, or youthfulness, or, finally, because of the need to sustain the lesson and keep it in proper order.

The Inspector of Schools shall, however, take care not to let a student remain in the same lesson or in the same order of lesson, when the student is capable of doing more advanced work or is content to remain back. This case calls for diplomacy and concerted action among the teachers and may be accomplished either by use of rewards or by giving the student some class office. This does not apply, however, if the child is being held back because of absenteeism, negligence, laziness, or some other considerable fault.

The Inspector of Schools can use these reasons as justification for the decision, should the occasion warrant it.

The Inspector shall then inform the students in each school of the day on which the promotions will be made, so that all of them can be present, and shall warn them that any who are not present on the promotion day will not be promoted until the end of the following month.

The Inspector shall always follow the same procedure in making the promotions in all of the schools and classes, beginning every time with the same level and the same class, and always finishing with the same ones. In each school, the Inspector shall begin with the lowest class and end with the highest, and in each class, with the lowest lesson and at the level of the beginners in each lesson.

Requirements for Promotion

It is most important never to place any student in a lesson which the student is not yet capable of following; otherwise, the student will find it impossible to learn anything and will risk being kept in lifelong ignorance. Therefore, one should not take into consideration either age, size, or length of time a student has been in a lesson when promoting to a more advanced lesson, but only ability. Thus, for instance, a student must spell perfectly and read by syllables before learning to read fluently.

Smaller children, who are usually quick-witted and have good memories, do not always need to be promoted even when they could go on to more difficult work. It may not be good if they do not stay in school long enough. It is desirable, without displeasing the parents, to help extend their stay in school as much as possible. The two extremes must be avoided. It is not good to keep a student too long in the same lesson, for fear that the student and the parents may lose interest; however, for the reasons already given, it is not good either to advance too rapidly those who are very small, very young, or lack the necessary ability.

There are certain conditions and requirements for promoting or not promoting a student.

Those who have been absent without permission for two full days during the month shall neither be promoted from one lesson to another nor from one level to another. Those who have been tardy six times during the month shall not be promoted.

Students shall not be moved up from the alphabet chart unless they have been reading from it for at least two months. In other words, they should have read each line of it for at least a week, and the entire alphabet for the rest of the two months. They shall not be moved up from the syllable chart until they have read from it for at least a month.

Those who read from the spelling book shall not be promoted until they have spent at least five months on it, two months in each of the first two levels and one month in the third.

Those reading from the third book shall do so for at least six months, two months on each level, before they can be promoted to another lesson. Those who read Latin shall not read in phrases until they have read by syllables for at least two months. They shall not be promoted until they have been reading in phrases for at least four months, two months at the intermediate level and two months at the proficiency level.

Those who are reading from Règles de la Bienséance et de la Civilité chrétienne shall not be promoted from the first to the second level, unless they have been reading on the former level for at least two months. They shall then remain at the second level for as long as they continue coming to school. Those who read from the documents shall not be promoted from the first to the second level, unless they have spent at least three months reading on the former level. The same rule will also be followed in promoting students in the subsequent four levels. When they reach the last level, they shall remain there for as long as they continue coming to school.

Students shall not be promoted from the first level of writing, where they learn how to sit correctly, hold the pen properly, and make the straight and circular strokes, until they have spent at least a month in this level. Those in the second level of writing who write the five letters c, o, i, f, and m shall not be promoted until they have written these letters for at least three months.

Those who are in the third and fourth levels and who write the alphabet with linked characters, one page or one line of each letter, shall not be promoted until they have written them for at least six months, one page of each letter for four months and then a line of each letter for two months.

Those who write the alphabet entirely in linked characters on each line shall not be promoted until they have done this for three months. Those who write lines of large commercial characters shall not be promoted until they have done this for at least three months.

Those in the seventh level, who write in financial characters, shall not be promoted to writing small hand and rapid script until they have written at the sixth level for at least six months.

Those in the first and second levels of arithmetic, who are doing addition and subtraction, shall not be promoted until they have mastered both over a period of at least two months.

Article 4:
Requirements for Promotion in Reading

Students who are learning the alphabet should not be set to reading a new line of letters until they know the first line very well. They must be able to pronounce the letters immediately, in any order, and without hesitation, as soon as the letter is pointed out to them. They shall not be assigned to reading the syllable chart until they can name all the letters of the alphabet, whatever they may be, promptly, and without hesitation.

Those who read from the syllable chart shall not go on to the spelling book until they can spell perfectly and fluently all the syllables found on the chart. The children who are spelling and reading, both in the syllable book and in other books of whatever kind, should be promoted from the first to the second level of spelling and reading only when they make very few mistakes, that is, one or two.

Those who are in the second level of spelling or reading in each book shall be promoted to the third level only when they ordinarily make no mistakes when reading, or when the mistakes they do make, if any, are very rare and occur only by surprise and not out of ignorance.

The students in the third level of spelling or reading, from whatever book it may be, shall be moved up to a higher level only if they can read the current lesson perfectly. Those who spell, for example, should not be promoted until they spell perfectly, without ever having to search for or to guess at the right syllable. Similarly, if they are reading syllables, they must not make two syllables sound like a single one. For two or three weeks, they should be accustomed to pronounce all of the syllables correctly, distinctly, and confidently. Finding no difficulty in so doing, they may begin to learn how to read with proper pauses.

Those who read in phrases, making the proper pauses, should not be advanced from the first to the second level until they no longer make any mistakes in punctuation, that is, they must pause where necessary, and not when they should not, and pause for the proper length of time. To be promoted out of the third level and so begin to read Latin, they must be able to read perfectly, distinctly, and intelligibly, and to know how to pronounce the words correctly.

Students who read Latin should usually be promoted from the first to the second level when they can distinguish and read the syllables correctly, usually without making any frequent mistakes. They should be advanced from the second to the third level when they are able to read in phrases without usually making any mistakes either with words or pauses. To be promoted from this lesson and to start writing, they must read perfectly and fluently.

Those who are reading from Règles de la Bienséance et de la Civilité chrétienne should be promoted to the second level when they ordinarily make no mistakes. Those who read from the account books must not be changed from one lesson to another unless they can read fluently from the account book they are using, without hesitation and without making any mistakes.

Article 5
Requirements for Promotion in Writing

Section 1: From First to Second and Second to Third Levels

Those who are starting to learn to write and who are concentrating on assuming a correct posture, on holding the pen properly, and on making both the straight and circular strokes, shall not be promoted until they have the correct body posture, can hold their pen correctly, and can make these two movements easily. The Inspector of Schools, therefore, shall make them perform these movements, taking care that they sit properly and hold their pens correctly. Those who are beginning to write the letters c, o, i, f, and m shall not be promoted until they know how to give these letters their proper shape. The Inspector shall, for this purpose, go over their written work to see whether these letters usually have their correct shape and whether they do not show any of the faults mentioned below.

The o should lean neither to the left nor to the right. The strokes should be heavy or fine as required. The letter should neither be too wide nor too narrow, too round nor too flat, too long nor too short. It should not appear humpbacked. The fine strokes are not to be on the side and the heavy strokes underneath, but the heavy strokes are to be at the side and the light strokes at the top and at the bottom. The fine strokes should not be pointed at the top or bottom. The letter should be very slightly inclined to the left, and the upper part should be firmly closed and not left open.

The i should be inclined neither to the right nor to the left, but should be straight. The upper part should be made with a fine stroke, not crooked or stretched upward. This upstroke should be two pen tips wide. Its heel must be rounded and not crushed down, and not too high, only as long as one pen tip. The connecting stroke should be two pen tips wide and not rise too high, as though one wished to link the i with some other letter, as when joining i and s. The upstroke should be neither pointed nor too open, and be only one pen tip wide.

The f should neither lean too much to the right nor to the left, but should be inclined a little to the left, about the width of one pen tip. The head of the letter should not be flat, but rounded, and not wider than four pen tips. The f should begin with a square, heavy downstroke and not by a filled in loop. This full stroke should curve toward the inside of the f on the right where the body of the letter is, and should not flatten out as it goes to the left. The letter should be six pen tips wide and three pen tips high.

There should be two light upstrokes in the f, one at the top and the other at the bottom as it turns to the left. The crossbar should not be drawn vertically. It must neither cut the f in two nor be made with a heavy stroke of the pen. It should be a light stroke about two pen tips long.

With the m, the three legs or downstrokes should not be drawn one to the right and another to the left. They must all be drawn straight down, parallel to one another, of equal height, and from the same base. The upstrokes should not begin in the middle of the legs, but begin from the bottom. They should not join the middle of the following leg; rather, they should start from the bottom and immediately go up to the top of the next hump. The connecting links should not be rounded from right to left. They should neither be wavy nor concave, but rather, slightly convex. They should not be thick, but light, and the heel of the letter should not be crooked.

To deserve promotion from the third level of penmanship, where the students write one page of each letter of the alphabet, linked one to the other, to the fourth level, where they make a line of each letter, linked one to the other, the students should know how to give all the letters in the alphabet their proper form and how to link all the letters to one another in the proper manner. The first part of the a, which is round, should not be too wide and should have the same form as the o.

The first part should flow into the downstroke of the o and should begin by an upstroke, as if one were about to make and e or a c. The upstroke and the downstroke of the second part should be separated by the width of a single pen tip, both at the top and at the bottom. This second part of the a should neither rise higher nor descend lower than the first part.

The head of the b should be like that of the f. It should be made straight and rounded out at the bottom, as if to make an o. The back stroke should rise as if one wanted to draw the straight part of the b, leaving a pen tip and a half between the upright stroke and the backstroke of the b. In the center, a space of three pen tips should separate the head and the bottom. The bottom round stroke should neither be too wide nor too pointed. It should not rise straight up, but should curve from right to left.

The head or top of the c should be like that of the f, and the light upstroke should be the same. It should be rounded off toward the left and must not be quite straight, ending with a fine connecting line.

The bottom of the d should be like an o in height and width. The upstroke should rise the distance of the full width of the letter, that is, the height of an o, and should not be completely straight, curving a little from left to right.

The e should be made like the c, except for the head. Its top should be like the first part of a broken r, beginning and ending with a light stroke. The letter should be round and not straight, leaning to the left by the width of a single pen tip, and not bent toward the right. The f should be made in the manner indicated in Section 1 above.

The first part of the g should be made like an o. The second part is the loop or tail. When making this loop and joining it with the first part, the heavy downstroke of the first part should blend in with the downstroke of the second part. This second part should begin about one forth the way up the body of the letter. Its point should protrude about the width of half a pen tip.

The first part of the h should be like an l, except the lower part, which should be made straight, without any hook or link, and finish in a square, heavy dot. The second part should begin in the middle of the first part. Its upstroke should begin a fourth of the way up the letter and move from bottom to top. It should be curved, as if one were trying to form a p. It should not be too flat, and its bulge should not extend more than its head. The extremity of the loop should reach the level of the first part, and it should descend some four pen tips below the body of the letter.

The i should be made in the manner indicated in Section 1 above.

The l should be like the first part of the h, except rounded at the bottom. This round part should be one pen tip wide and have a linking stroke, whose loop should be neither too wide, too inclined to the right, nor too flattened out.

The m should be made in the manner indicated in Section 1 above.

At the beginning of a word, an n should be made like an m, except that the n has only two down strokes, whereas the m has three. The first part of a terminal n should be made like an i, except that the final stroke should end in a square dot with no fine connecting line. The second part should begin at the middle of the i, finish like the second part of the h, and be equal in height to the first part.

The o should be made in the manner indicated in Section 1 above.

The p should begin by a back stroke of the pen, drawn downward and leaning to the left side. The bottom loop should be rounded like that of an f. The head should not be too flattened out, and it should begin by a light upstroke moving from right to left and returning from left to right. The second part should begin where the upper part touches the line as on the bottom of an o, not by a light upstroke, but by a heavy downstroke blended into the heavy stroke of the loop. It should end by a downstroke next to the head. It should be as tall as the head, neither higher nor lower. Between the top of the two parts, there should be no more than the space of one and a half pen tips. The tail should neither be too inclined to the left, nor too short. As a rule, it should not usually go beyond the head when it is very wide. The downstroke should not be over six pen tips wide, no matter how wide or how narrow the head is.

The first part of the q should be made like an o. The second part begins with a small dot. The downstroke should merge into the heavy downstroke of the o, like the second part of a g. It should extend below the body of the letter about one and a half times the height of the body. The tail should be drawn to the right, with the last part of the stroke thickened somewhat. There should not be any hook at the bottom.

The round r should be like the lower part of a b or v, and should have neither more nor less of an opening in its upper part. The connecting stroke should be like the upper part of the i or v. The top of the split r should begin by a light upstroke from left to right. At the end of this stroke, there should be a small loop, as found in the e. This is to be made without lifting pen from paper. The line should extend the width of one pen tip behind the second part, which should begin like the second part of a c. It should connect with the second upstroke at the head, curving toward the left and ending with an upward rising, connecting stroke, as when making a c.

The head of an initial s should be like the head of the f. Its body should be drawn a little to the right, and its second part curved toward the left. Its height should be twice that of normal letters, and its tail should be like that of the f. Its head should extend forward the width of two pen tips. It should neither be inclined to the right nor too much to the left. The bulge should neither stick out, compared with the head, nor should it lean like an f. The s found in the middle of a word should begin by an upstroke that rises from left to right. Its bulge should be drawn to the right, and its tail should curve to the left and be well rounded out. It should not be wider than an o, nor should it extend more than the width of one pen tip above the normal height of the letter.

The two parts of the s at the end of a word should be made like an e. At the top between the two parts, there should be a little loop, as on an a. The first part should extend below the second part by the width of half a pen tip. The second part should rise above the first by no more than the width of one pen tip. The little loop should be placed between the two parts. Its upstroke should join the upstroke of the second part at about the width of one pen tip higher than the top, and it should rise as high as the first part.

An initial t or one in the body of a word should be drawn straight and with no upstroke at the top. It should have a connecting stroke at the bottom like that of an i. Its upright shaft should be like that of an f, half again as high as the normal letters. This should extend just above the letter o. In this way, the t stands the width of two pen tips higher than the other letters. A final t should be made like a j, except that at the bottom one should make a small, straight upstroke.

The u should be formed like two i’s joined together and about as far apart from each other as the two down strokes of an n, that is, the width of two pen tips apart. The connecting stroke that joins the two downstrokes should extend from the bottom of the first downstroke to a third of the height of the second downstroke. An initial u should be made like the broken r, except that one must add the reverse of an o.

It should be five pen tips wide and four pen tips high.

The x should be made like two c’s, one on the right and the other on the left; however, the head of the one which is reversed should be at the bottom; and the two downstrokes should blend into each other so that there seems to be only one downstroke. These downstrokes should not overlap each other. Neither of the two parts is to protrude beyond the other, either at the top or at the bottom.

The upper part of the y should be curved. It begins by an upstroke, going from left to right. Then it continues by a downstroke from left to right and terminates on the right with a rounded line, which then goes down to a square dot, something like the tail of a small d, which has only two high points. The first part of the y extends downward a little more to the left about the width of two pen tips. The second part begins by an upstroke like the tail of an j, but it is a little more inclined and thinner. It begins at about the middle of the first part and joins it at the bottom. In this manner, the two parts are joined together as far as the tail should be, only as high as one ordinary letter and as wide as an m. The y should not be too straight. Its width should be that of an o. The second part should neither extend higher nor descend lower than the first part. There should be an open space, the width of two pen tips, between the two parts. The line from top to bottom of this letter should not be too straight. Its tail should not go lower than two pen tips below the head. The tail of the letters o, v, and y extend below the body less than one and a half the body heights.

An initial z should begin like a broken r, by making a little line from top to bottom and from right to left, with a tail as wide as an m resembling an incomplete o. A z at the end or in the middle of a word begins with an e written backward but unfinished, about two pen tips from the top. It should finish like an s in the middle of the body of a word, and should have none of the faults indicated above concerning such an s. The top loop should neither be too long nor separated from the first part. It should not be closed. The two parts should not be separated from each other. There should be only the space of one pen tip between the downstrokes both at the top and at the bottom.

Concerning the strokes, the Inspector of Schools shall not promote students in the third level unless they make these strokes neatly and not too heavily.

The Inspector shall also take care that the connections are properly placed. These linkings normally extend from the foot of one letter to the head of the next, except between i and o, and also the e, because its upper loop is linked from head to head with all sorts of adjoining letters. The o should not really be linked and is always connected to the next letter about two thirds of the way up, so that the link stroke joins only the beginning of the letter. One should make a preliminary link stroke that only lightly touches the o.

Section 3: From Fourth and Upper Levels

The students in the fourth level of writing, who write a line of linked letters, shall not be promoted unless they know how to give the letters the required position and evenness. Thus, a student to be promoted should make the round hand characters precisely four pen tips wide.

The tails of the f, h, the capital s, and z should only extend the distance of the body of a letter below the line.

The heads of the b, f, h, l, and the capital s should rise only one body width over the body of the other letters.

The bodies of all the letters should rest on the same line, and all lines should be straight. Except for the tails, no part of any letter should rise above or fall below the others.

The letters should neither be crooked nor leaning to the right, but should be straight. All of their bodies should be equal in height and width.

The students in the fifth level of writing, those who write all the different kinds of letters and make, as it were, only one word on the same line shall not be promoted to the sixth level where they write connected texts until they space their lines properly, not too spread, in such a way that the bodies of their letters are one and a half pen tips apart, except for split letters and the one immediately preceding them.

Between a downstroke and a curve, there should be the space of one and a half pen tips; however, between the e, c, o, and y, the space should be only one pen tip wide.

Words should be separated from each other by the width of an m, that is, eight pen tips. The distance between lines should be four times the height of ordinary letters.

Students in this level shall not be promoted as long as their lettering lacks firmness, confidence, and freedom. For this reason, the Inspector of Schools shall demand the following before students can enter the sixth level. They must make the downstrokes straight, leaning neither to right nor to left. Their o’s must neither be open nor split at the top. Their letters can be neither humpbacked nor pointed at either the top or the bottom. None of the letters may be slovenly, shaky, or cramped. The students should show that they can form the letters unhesitatingly and with freedom. They must give their letters a certain space and gracefulness, and each letter must flow easily on to the next.

Students in the sixth level of writing, who are writing passages in large commercial characters, should not be promoted to writing with financial characters until they can make the commercial letters with the same facility, boldness, and elegance required of students for promotion in the lower levels. They should show the same proficiency required of students in the preceding levels.

The Inspector of Schools shall prudently decide when the students who write with facility in a given level should be promoted. Those in the seventh level should go on to write with financial characters. Those in the eighth level should learn to write small hand.

Section 4: Promotion of Students Writing Inclined Hand

After they have learned how to write round hand, the students in the first level of inclined hand writing shall not be promoted to the second level until they know how to give all the letters their proper form. Their letters must not incline to the left more or less than required, that is, a distance of three pen tips. Students must know how to give them their proper placement, so that all the bodies of the letters stay on the same line, and all the lines remain straight, as in this example: You do not know what we have prescribed.

They must give the body of their letters the proper height and width: seven pen tips high and five pen tips wide. They must know how to make the connecting strokes properly, from the foot of the preceding letter to the middle of the following one, except in the case of a few letters like x, y, and z. The connecting strokes are made from the foot of the previous letter to the top of each of these.

What follows is how the characters in inclined hand should be formed, and what should be observed about each letter in deciding whether to promote those who are learning this type of writing.

All the curved lines should be ovals, not circles. The letters a, c, and g, and the head of the f and of the g, begin by a downstroke and not with an upstroke. The second part is to be made like a t, square at the top and rounded on the bottom.

The e begins with an upstroke and a loop.

The d, o, and final f also begin by an upstroke. The o by itself and the u end with a downstroke.

The body of the h should be a reverse c, beginning with an upstroke and finishing with a loop.

The m’s and n’s should be round on top and square on the bottom. All the upstrokes should lie between the two downstrokes. The four letters i, l, t, and u should be round on the bottom and square on top. The upright r should be square at the top and on the bottom. Its second stroke should start in the middle of the first, beginning with a light upstroke and ending with a downstroke which is curved on top.

The tails of these letters should be kept straight. The tails of p and y can be made either straight or curved.

The body of the y should be like a v, except that the first part should begin by a curving upstroke going from left to right.

Other details concerning the shape of the various letters in inclined hand writing, which are not mentioned here, are the same as those presented for writing round hand; however, the letters should be inclined and not straight.

To promote the students from the second to the third level, the Inspector of Schools should follow the same procedure mentioned with regard to promoting students from the fifth to the sixth levels of writing round hand; however, in inclined hand writing, the lines should be separated from each other by the height of the writing only.

To promote students from the third to the fourth level, the same things should be observed as when moving them from the sixth to the seventh levels in round hand. Those in the fourth level shall be promoted to the fifth, just as the ones in the seventh level of round hand are promoted to the eighth, for there is not as much difference in the size of the characters in inclined hand writing as there is in round hand writing.

Article 6:
Requirements for Promotion in Arithmetic

Students shall not be promoted out of the first level of arithmetic, where they learn addition, and put in the second level unless they know thoroughly and can solve without any help all sorts of additions, no matter how difficult.

Those in the second level, where they learn subtraction, shall not be promoted unless they know how to make all kinds of subtractions very readily and without help and unless they know how to prove the additions by subtraction.

Those in the third level, where they learn multiplication, shall not be promoted to the fourth level until they can multiply all sorts of numbers without any help.

Those in the fourth level, where they learn simple division, shall not be promoted to the fifth unless they can solve without help and with ease problems in simple division of whatever difficulty and unless they can prove their divisions by multiplication and their multiplications by division.

Article 7:
How to Promote Advantageously

Students in all the lessons, except those who are learning the alphabet, shall not be promoted during the month, but only at the end of the month.

If it happens, however, that a student has learned the whole alphabet chart at the beginning of a month, that student should be promoted to the syllable chart as soon as the alphabet chart is known perfectly. If the student knows the syllable chart at the end of the month, the student shall again be promoted.

The promotions from one lesson to another shall take place on the last two days of the month and on the first days of the following month, as designated by the Director and made known in each school by the Inspector.

Students in any lesson who have not been promoted at the end of the month shall be accepted for promotion at the end of the following month, if they are ready then. Those who have one line of the alphabet per lesson and who do not know all the letters of that line at the end of the week shall be accepted for promotion at the end of the following week, provided they know the line well by then.

On the designated day, the Inspector will test those who have been presented for promotion from the alphabet chart to reading by syllables. Each in turn will be required to read virtually the whole alphabet, the letters indicated at random. The Inspector will especially select the most difficult letters, those which resemble each other somewhat, in their shape, like d, b, q, n, and u or in their pronunciation, like g and j, and those which are linked together, like et, fs, hf, and fb.

To promote students who are reading the syllable chart, the Inspector will make them read the syllables, not in the order printed on the chart, but at random, especially focusing on the most difficult ones. The Inspector shall make the students read about half of the syllables on their chart and shall examine if they can read them all promptly and without hesitation. These children, in order to merit promotion, should all read separately, one after another.

In the classes where both spelling and reading take place, the Inspector of Schools shall make the students in each lesson and in each level of the lesson, read. Each will read individually something from the book being used, one after another, in a low voice, and from a part of the book they have not yet reached in case they have not finished reading it. The Inspector shall also make them read from a section of the book which they read a long time past and in which the reading and spelling are difficult. For instance, in the syllable book, the Inspector shall make them read syllables or words more difficult than those which they have already read. The Inspector shall require them to read these on the spot, without a chance to study them.

Students in each level of the lesson should read separately from those in another level. For instance, those in the first level, the beginners, should read separately from those in the second level, the average students, and so on.

Students, in whatever level they are, should all read one after another according to the order of the benches. When they are reading for promotion, neither the Inspector nor the teacher shall correct any mistakes that the students make.

After all have been examined the Inspector shall write on the promotion list after the name of each to be promoted, the day in the fourth column and the month in the fifth column on which this student was promoted to a given lesson or level. New assignments will not be made until all have been examined.

The Inspector shall then call out the names of all of those to be promoted, and instruct them to bring on the next day the book they need, if they have been promoted from one lesson to another and not moved to a different class. They shall not be allowed to read in the lesson to which they are being promoted unless they themselves can bring everything needed.

The Inspector shall then distribute rewards to those who read the most fluently and who were found to be the most proficient. The Inspector will reward one in each level, if there are only a few students. The Inspector will reward two, if there are many students in this level.

Students of any lesson or level who have been examined three times for promotion and have not been promoted because of lack of ability, shall be assigned to a particular bench called the “Dunce’s Bench” and placed in a conspicuous location in the classroom. On the wall behind it, there shall hang a sign reading: “Dunce’s Bench.” Students will remain seated there until capable of being promoted from this lesson or this level.

The Inspector of Schools shall promote the writing students from one lesson to a higher lesson. The Inspector shall examine them for this promotion during the regular writing lesson. The Inspector shall, first of all, have them all write during the first half-hour, during which period the Inspector shall examine their posture, the way in which they hold their pens, and the manner in which they make their movements, easy, awkward, relaxed, or careful.

For this purpose, the Inspector shall visit all of the writing students who are approaching the time for promotion and study them all, even write on a little slip of paper the faults that are noticed in their work regarding the points given above.

The Inspector shall examine all their writing, both what they have just written and all their papers from beginning to end. The Inspector shall examine whether what they have just written conforms to what they have written during the preceding fifteen days. If there is little conformity, they shall not be promoted. Then the Inspector will examine whether what they have just written and what they have written during the past fifteen days shows the proper qualifications to justify a promotion, as explained in the Article on the requirements for promotion. The Inspector of Schools shall promote only those whose work over the past fifteen days shows that they usually display what they should know and that they form the letters well enough to be promoted from the level of writing in which they are.

The Inspector shall make sure that no student lacks the capacity for promotion, as discussed above in Article 5.

The Inspector shall also inform the teachers about the faults observed in each student and the reasons why each student was not promoted. The teacher shall take note and be careful that the student correct these faults prior to being presented for promotion at the end of the following month.

The Inspector shall give to each newly promoted student a writing model for the level to which the student is being promoted. The Inspector shall take back from the student the model they used in the previous level.

When promoting students from any level in arithmetic, the Inspector shall examine in each copybook the problems they worked on by themselves and shall make them explain the reasons for the solutions to some of the more difficult problems. The Inspector shall write on the blackboard a problem from among the most difficult ones belonging to this level. The Inspector shall have the problem done publicly at the board by the student, and the student shall be required to give the proof that the solution is correct.

Electronic Format and Graphics Copyright © by The Kolbe Foundation August 14, 1999
Represented by The Ewing Law Center and Guardian Angel Legal Services