Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1894-12-13
SCHOOL ROOM GYMNASTICS.
A Paper Read Before the Wayne
County Teachers Association by
Miss Mariana Cobb.


County Teachers Association by
Miss Mariana Cobb.
If the aim and end of child's
school training is the harmoni-
Gus development of his whole
being, physical exercises must
have place in our daily pro
gramme. We have all felt the
necessity of change of position
after long sitting.
The reason is simple and not
far to seek. Muscular life, as
all other life, depends upon ac-
tivity. The nutrition of muscle
is furnished by the chemical
change wrought in it by motion.
Hence, to maintain constant
position amounts to the same
thing or working the muscles
without feeding them.
1t is far more firing to hold d
position than to exercise. Try
this for yourselves and see. How
long can you hold out your arm
without moving it? Yet it can
be exercised vigorously for a
much longer time without fa-
tigue.
Frequent change Of position is
essential to comfort and to good
health. In children, the neces-
sity for motion and change of
position is greater than in
grown people, because their del
icate bodies and unhardened,
boney, frame work are more sus-
cept BILE 10 the bad influences Of
improper physical condi; ions.
Then, too, they are growing,
and there is need for more fire.
quent motion because activity is
not only essential to muscular
health, but is the first condition
of growth.
In the school room the teacher
rarely suffers from the tired
feeling which comes after pro-
longed sitting, her work being
such as to keep her physically
as we'll as mentally active, and
she often fails to appreciate the
cause of .yhe annoying restless
ness among her pnpils. This rest
lessness may be easily dissipated
Change of position will bring
rest and relief. Let the children
stand and sing verse or two of
some bright song. They will be
much less wrigglesome when
they take their seats. and much
more attentive to their work, for
their minds will no longer be
distracted by fdgety feelings
and aching muscles.
Every teacher who has tried
it recognizes the value Of such
rest movement.
If the bad effects Of continued
sitting were the only ills with
which we had to contend. the
child might be kept comfortable
and in a healthy physical state
with very little trouble or con-
sideration on the part of the
teacher. But this is not so.
There are other and more ser
ious evils resulting from poor
ventilation and injurious posi-
tions- which it is Of the
gravest importance that we at
| tempt to cOunteract.
Ordinarily, at its desk, a Child's
chest is contracted. I The heart
and lungs are compressed and
lack room in which to perform
their proper functions, the cir
culation becomes sluggish, and
the brain grows clouded. In
study. and in recitation, constant
demands are made upon the
brain, which requires a greater
amount Of blood. This blood the
retarded circulation fails to carry
off rapidly enough. and the brain
becomes over-filled. The result
is congestion-usually too sligh1
for immediate i'll effects beyond {
clouded mind and a probable
headache; but if recurring day
after day, surely resulting il
permanent injury to health ant
| intellect.
To counteract these bad effects
vigorous exercise is necessary
Exercise that will correct fault,
positions, quicken the resplra
ton and circulation, and '.brusl
the cobwebs" out of the child
brain by drawing off some of tn
unnecessary blood accumulate,
there.
Five or ten minutes will be
sufficient length of time to deYot
to such exercises.
With little children. it is bette
not to have a stated period 70
exercises, but to. have the res
movements as frequent and VI
ried as possible, relying largel
upon their 11tuy impulse.
| find the following very happ
{ in it's effects when it is not desil
able to have the children ris
from their seats. We call it q
ing to sleep. The children stretc
their hands over head, and Il
!. their fingers and hands, arm:
: eyes, heads, and their bodie;
: '.go to Sleep After a secon
or two of rest on the desk, the
aoake atp, first the body, then tn
head, then the eyes, and finall
their hands, shaking them vigol
ously overhead, in front, and {
sides.
Rest movements should /
{ given to children of all size
: whenever their. restlessness il
!. dicates the necessity for then
These movements should be Yer