Monroe City Democrat. (Monroe City, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-04-28

had the inclination to go inside 1 should
have found something like this: window
lights missing, plastering in patches, water
pail on the floor or on chunk Of wood
benches carved with all the wierdness of the
Aztecs, and most significant Of all, number
of boys and girls so full of energy and ami
NAL spirits as to make 1t necessary for the
teacher to sit on the safety valve all the
while to keep them in the room. / have
often tried to conjure up the transformation
that might take place in that district II the
board would but eXpend, say fifteen or
twenty dollars in tools and materials. and
turn them over to a teacher who might not
be mechanic, but who might have enough
gumption to see when a boy or girl is spoil
ing for some good hard work, and who
might get them to fix up one thing after
another about that old schoolhouse, to build
some kind of desks IL there was no other
way to procure them, to build a bench for
the water pail, build some boxes for the
window gardens, shelves for the books, cab
inets for the nature study specimens, and
countless other little conveniences chiefly
valuable for the training which the children
would get from the planning and execution.
Just as much might be said in favor Of
the cooking equipment, although the visible
evidences of its work may not be seen by
the outsider. But the little social teas and
the soups and desserts, planned and parta-
ken Of by the children at their luncheon,
are all real methods of developing harmoni-
ously the whole nature of the child, and in
cidentally a great deal of real practical in
struction might be given.
HANDwoRK WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF
DISCIPLINE.
what about discipline?" is asked and
Where can these equipments be putt" AS
to the first query, / may say that in my
opinion we have altogether too much "disci.
pine" as 1t is commonly understood, I. e.
Control by the force or power of the
teacher" and all too little of the discipline
Of self control, as induced in the pupil by
the judicious selection Of his employments.
If you have bad boy in your school who
will not study (and what school has not?),
give him the task Of fixing up that fence out
there, or give him a paint brush and the
back side of the house to start with and let
him paint If you can not hound or pound
into him the principles of mensuration, let
him do 1t with the saw, square and carpen-
ters hammer, or the paint brush Did
say give him the task? No, do not mean
task mean privilege That is the keynote
of the discipline question. You should make
the handwork privilege to be obtained by
the child only upon the completion Of the
other work assigned.
GRASSES AND CORN HUsKs MAY BE UTILIZED
IN EDUCATION.
Now should all the efforts 1 might put
forth in the attempt to obtain the necessary
materials to carry out the foregoing plans
fail should still have recourse for some va
rieties of handwork, to materials which
might be procured in the neighborhood for
the simple going after them. refer to clays
for clay modelling, grasses, stray 8, willows,
buck brush, corn husks, and the like, for
basketry and weaving twines, strings for
No Inc oVnd 1xynrl nlnnsn
etc., for paper and cardboard work. All
these varieties Of handwork have a very
high value Internationally and the cost for
material and equipment is mere nothing,
and the teaching does not present any In.
surmountable obstacles If too much is not
attempted.
THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO LABOR Is TIE
PROBLEM.
In conclusion, wish to use an extract
from an article In the March "Philistine"
by Prof. Oscar L.vell Triggs. In speaking
of the present day educational methods, he
refers to the educational tests as having
to do simply with the ability to read and
write, and says: what now II the test were
reversed? What If suddenly we were called
upon to do something-to plant and cult.
vate field of corn, to construct and operate
an electric motor, or to make the furniture
OF house, before permission were granted
us to land on some foreign shore or cast q
ballot in our own town-how many of us
could stand the test? Yet, for the purposes
of democracy, the ability to do is more I'm
portant than the ability to read.
"The question of work, then, is a very
necessary concern of the schools, and the re-
lation of education to labor Is the problem
that we in our spheres are called upon to
solve"
We must incorporate into our schools in
some way more training of the faculties con.
cerned with doing as we'll as thinking and
less mere parrot-like practice. The ideal IA
attainable. The means, have merely suR-
gested. W. H CooK
Instructor IN MGnuGI Tratnimo and Shoo.
york, o. Of N.