Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by bei

ng corrected all the time: if corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the differences between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people' s. In the same way, children learning to do all the other things they learn to do without being taught——to walk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle——compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes for himself, let alone correct them. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Soon he becomes dependent on the teacher. Let him do it him self. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer to that problem is, whether or not this is a good way of saying or doing this or not.

If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine work？ Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can' t find the way to get the right answer. Let' s end all this nonsense of grades, exams, and marks. Let us throw them all out, let the children learn what all educated persons must some day learn and how to measure their own understanding, and how to know what they know or do not know. Let them get on with this job in the way that seems most sensible to them, with our help as school teachers if they ask for it. The idea that there is a body of knowledge to be learned at school and used for the rest of one' s life is nonsense in a world as complicated and rapidly changing as ours. Anxious parents and teachers say, "But suppose they fail to learn something essential, something they will need to get on in the world？" Don't worry! If it is essential, They will go out into the world and learn it.

What does the author think is the best way for children to learn things？

A．By copying what other people do.

B．By making mistakes and having them corrected.

C．By listening to explanations from skilled people.

D．By asking a great many questions.