Although the school curriculum today is enriched with many experiences for the student, the foundation of all instruction is the "Three R's" - so familiar to the pupil of 100 years ago.

In the Mason City Public School system the emphasis for the last few years has been placed on the reading program - a program that embraces 15 years - beginning in kindergarten and continuing through junior college.

An impetus was given to the program several years ago when all teachers in the system participaged in a pre-school reading conference that touched all levels of instruction. Professor Guy Bond* of the University of Minnesota acted as consultant for the conference.

The teaching of reading today is far differnt from that of a century ago. A hundred years ago the student was involved in identifying and memorizing words - paying little attention to the meaning. Reading as taught now in the Mason City Public Schools consists of many processes that center about the meaning of words.

* Professor Guy Loraine Bond (1904 - 1980) made significant contributions to research in reading and literarcy, his most famous work being "The First Grade Studies" which was conducted with Robert Dykstra. From 1942 to 1971, Prof. Bond was a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Minnesota, where an endowed faculty chair was established in his name. ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Bond

The reading program begins in kindergarten with reading readiness. Here the youngster undergoes experiences to give meaning to the printed words. In the first and second grades the student learns the formal techniques of reading.

A different approach to reading comes in the third grade and continues through the sixth year of school. Here the student reads for a purpose - to get information. The program is based around the interests of the youngster.

In junior high school special classes are held for those who need help on particular reading skills. This assistance also is available in the senior high school and the junior college. Many junior college students also are anxious to improve their reading rate in preparation for professional activities.

A summer program for children in the elementary schools also is carried on.

Changing conceptions of the nature and function of education have been clearly reflected during the past several years, both in curricula and in teaching methods.

The teaching of arithmetic begins with the selection of facts, skills and understandings from among those most universally required by the pupils for the satisfaction of their immediate needs. The more pressing the need, the more valid the item in the curriculum.P>In choosing curriculum maerials for all grades, emphasis is placed on the selection of materials of a lasting value for acquiring further knowledge. Learning gained by a child in the quest for the solution of a life problem is much more vivid and important to him than if gained merely in the logical course of the curriculum.

In general, it may be said of the modern school, the chief concern of mathematics teachers is to provide worthwhile interesting experiences for all pupils, and through these experiences, taught systematically as early as can be comprehended by the pupils, develop the understandings, concepts, skills and arithmetical knowledge necessary to the solution of complicated problems of life.