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6A ♦ WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2007 Holding a child back a grade can be helpful QUESTION: Is reten tion in the same grade ever advisable for a child who is not a late bloom er? How about the slow learner? DR. DOBSON: There are some students who can prof- it from a second year at the same grade level and many who will not. The best guideline is this: Retain only the child for Dr. James Dobson Focus on the Family www.family.org whom something will be dif ferent next year. A young ster who is sick for seven months in an academic year might profit from another run-through when he or she is healthy. And as I’ve indicated, a late-developing child should be held back in kindergarten (or the first grade at the latest) to place him or her with youngsters of comparable development. For the slow learner, how ever - the child who has below-average ability - a second journey through the same grade will not help. If he was failing the fourth grade in June, he will con tinue to fail the fourth grade in September. The findings from research on this issue are crystal clear. It is not often realized that the curricular content of each grade level is very similar to the year before and the year after. There is considerable redundancy in the concepts taught; the students in each grade are taken a little far ther in their studies, but much of the time is spent in review. The arithmeti cal methods of addition and subtraction, for example, are taught in the primary years, but considerable work is done on these tasks in the sixth grade, too. Thus, the most unjusti fiable reason for retention is to give the slow learner another year of exposure to CNAs and LPNs needed Pine Hill Nursing Cen ter, located in Byrom ville, Georgia, cur rently has excellent opportunities for LPNs and CNAs to join our dedicated team, 7p 7a. We provide a sup portive environment in which to work and grow. To learn more, please apply in per son to: 712 Patterson Street, Byromville, GA 31007. EOE. Perry Family Medical Associates • Announces the addition of Board Eligible, American Board of Family Medicine Specializing in Women’s & Children’s Health 938 Carroll Street • Perry 987-2212 Most Major Insurance Plans Accepted. easier concepts. He will not do better the second time around! Nor is there much magic in summer school. Some parents hope that a six-week program in July and August will accom plish what was impossible in the 10 months between September and June. They are often disappointed. QUESTION: I have observed that elemen tary and junior high school students - even high schoolers - tend to admire the more strict teachers. Common sense would tell us that they would like those who were easier on them. Why do you think they are drawn to the discipli narians? DOBSON: You are right; teachers who maintain order and demand the most from their students are often the most respected members of the faculty, provided they aren’t mean and grouchy. One who can control a class without being unpleasant is almost always esteemed by her students. That is true because there is safety in order. When a class is out of control, par ticularly at the elementary school level, the children are afraid of each other. If the teacher can’t make the class behave, how can she prevent a bully from doing his thing? How can she keep the stu dents from laughing at one of its less able members? Children can be vicious to each other, so they feel good about having a teacher who is strong but kind. Second, children love jus tice. When someone has violated a rule, they want "Have Cameras, Will Travel" CX x TURNED W PUOTCGRADUy Aerial Ilirtufrapliv J Grad Turner•47B-M2-IHI or 475-4f4-f«6l We make your business insurance our business. TCHjewant to he your business partner when it TMjopLcomes to your contracting insurance protection. Contact us today for quality business protection from mm Auto-Owners Insurance Company. We’ll rake care of your business J/ insurance, while you rake care of business! \sluto- Owners Insurance Lrt* Horn* Car Bufitfws.l | 0 Tkites Pr«s&*n'Recti’* \ \ McNeal Insurance Agency 1717 Russell Pkwy • Warner Robins, GA 31088 immediate retribution. They admire the teacher who can enforce an equitable legal system, and they find great comfort in reasonable social expectations. By contrast, the teacher who does not control her class inevitably allows crime to pay, violating something basic in the value system of children. Third, children admire strict teachers because chaos is nerve-wracking. Screaming and hitting and wiggling are fun for about 10 minutes; then the confu sion begins to get tiresome and irritating. I have smiled in amuse ment many times as sec ond- and third-grade chil dren astutely evaluated the relative disciplinary skills of their teachers. They know how a class should be con ducted. I only wish all of their teachers were equal ly aware of this important attribute. Dobson is founder and chairman of the board of the nonprofit organization Focus on the Family, P.O. Box 444, Colorado Springs, CO. 80903; or www.family.org. Questions and answers are excerpted from The Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide and Bringing Up Boys, both pub lished by Tyndale House. ij CLASSIFIEDS Call Us Today To Place Your Ad In The Classifieds 987-1823 1-866-873-2172 OPINION Cushhm tags: Bptag on the SWHT team My wife’s timing is impec cable, unless, of course, we’re gqing somewhere I want to go. Then, it’s some times peccable. Recently, I was in the midst of watching a Georgia football game when she had the audacity to phone me. Somebody better be dead, I muttered. “Len, there’s this patio furniture that’s on sale, and At that point, I zoned out. Minutes later, the phone still held to my ear, I noticed she had never stopped talking, “... you know, I don’t know if we’ll get the opportunity for this type of deal again, and - ” “Yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead and buy it,” I said as the Dawgs dropped another pass. She hung up quickly and happily. Normally, I would inquire about such things as, oh, I don’t know, the price. But she knows if she catches me in the middle of a Dawgs’ game, or a nap, I will agree to most anything - which is how I ended up singing the national anthem at her fam ily reunion. % . li* n #*a W On October 27 th our annual I Mtei MsOg) Pap debutes! jftifind out alt about the latest Safety measures to take to make sure your wSvL child has a fun time! 10 MEG* M HIGHEST INTERNET SPEED $19.95* [ LOWEST INTERNET PRICE SELECT ANY SPEED AND SWITCH TODAY! ' >■> ' ww™?, isfssfi •■ % fffM * ] iZ wm weft 4 mesa 88s« 1 Mbps |519.95* | First 3 months (Then $29.95 per month) j * J 4 Mbps |519.95* | First 3 months (Then $49.95 per month) j noMbpsl $19.95* j First 3 months (Then $69,95 per month) j 53093 SAVE EVEN MORE IN BUNDLES! TRY ANY BUNDLE s#"* if% ft IT ! FOR THE FIRST ’MI M 3 MONTHS w# * *# . ASK FOR DETAILS! 1 Wmuu. * Offer applies to new customers with 24-month term agreement 10 • Mbps top speed; speech may vary at any time. Service not available at all locations. Subject to credit approval, Early termination penalties apply Comparisons based on per meg rates in bundles as of 8/22/07. 53685 S o , we get this set of patio furniture and it’s very nice. The only problem we’ve encoun ter e d is that when it rains, the seat cushions get soggy. When presented with the soggy cushion conundrum, I deduced that perhaps turn ing over the cushion would alleviate the problem. To my astonishment, I found two things when I turned over the cushion: 1. the other side was soggy too; and B. a tag was connected to the cush ion. The tag stated, in bold, very serious letters: “DO NOT REMOVE UNDER PENALTY OF LAW.” Now, we’ve all heard about mattress tags, which, like the aforementioned cushion tag, promise dire legal rami fications if removed. In recent years, the warn ing on the mattress tag has changed to: “This tag may not be removed except by M ... a. HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL the consumer.” This altera tion was apparently made so as not to further pet rify consumers that a SWAT team was going to raid their residence at any moment. It only took 100 years to fix that little bureaucratic glitch. And while the mat tress tag has been altered after a century of befuddle ment, we buy a brand-new set of patio furniture seat cushions and this same chilling notice appears. Is this still a problem in 2007? How does putting a warning on a tag that it’s unlawful to remove it really protect the consumer? In an effort to answer my questions, and end this col umn, I called the manufac turer. After going through a bevy of choices on their automated system - none of which addressed my particu lar query, and being discon nected twice -1 finally spoke to a gentleman in New Delhi. He was equally clueless. So, if we’ve learned anything here (and we haven’t), it’s this: It’s okay to tear the tags off your mattress. Patio furniture seat cushions? Do so at your own peril. I am. Len Robbins Columnist alrpub@plaiittel.net NOBO °l!^f ots £sssz~ EXISTING CUSTOMERS: No need to call or take any action - just watch your speed automatically INCREASE in September. • 512 k INCREASES TO IMb • 3Mb INCREASES TO 4Mb • 5Mb INCREASES TO 10Mb It's our way of saying... "THANKS FOR YOUR BUSINESS!" 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