The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1906-05-31
COOPERATION OF
HOME AND SCHOOL

(BY Mas G. l.. PowELL.)

| (BY MRS u. II. FOWELk.)
A more practical and opportune sub.
ject than the caption of this paper could
scarcely be imagined. How full Of
thought! What food Of ideas come
surging through our minds ct the very
mention-almost overwhelming in its
sweep and intensity!
| The home is the center Of the universe
to every true parent! The home is the
conservator Of everything that is good.
Home-life, with the generous, the
unselish love Of kindred, is sunshine
whic h awakens into growth all the
truest impulses Of ones being. The
American home that is true to its herit.
age, in this Republic is the proudest
fortress Of modern civilization. Home
is the place Of sanctity, the place where
mutual confidence and love and y M
patty abound, and the place where chill
dren are safaguarded and grow up into
pure and healthy manhood and wom-
anhood. In word, home is the place
Of safety, purity, sympathy, confidence,
peace and love.
The main-springs of the home-t use
q mechanical metaphor-are the par
ents. The father, no matter what his
educational attainments or limitations
may be, should take an interest in the
affairs of his children. Not only should
be partner in their amusements, but he
should watch their course at school, and
know the books which they are reading
out of school. He must be careful Of his
example, for his children are not likely
to live on higher plane than that on
which he himself moves. He b gu d
take an interest in the companions Of
his children, and should know " Q
his children spend their time when out
of school. The wise father will have
no favorites in his family. He. will not
expect his children to love advanced
reading in which he delights or to know
as much as he knows. He will inva-
riably consider the welfare OF his child
rem of more Importance than his bust
ness.
Every father ought to have the conf
dence of his Children, for it is a SAD fact
that without their confidence his autho-
rity and influence will be insignificant.
A wise father will do all he can to cult
vate and stimulate that confidence, and
will do we'll never to ENOANGER it.
When Henry Ward Beecher vas boy,
it is said he desired to enter the navy;
his father, however. was opposed to the
plan. The father did not lose the con-
fidence OF his son by harsh treatment,
but wise man that he was, sent the boy
to school to study mathematics neces-
sary for the entrance to the navy. Not
liking mathematics, the boy soon re-
turned to his fathers home and entered
upon that profession in which the father
desired to see him. When John Adams
thought he would like ditching better
than Latin, his father retained his con-
tidence by permitting him to go ditch:
ing. John spent half day at that
toll, which he thought would be easier
than Latin, and then, as his father de-
sired, returned to his studies.
If father desires toexercise authority
over his children and to make them
good citizens, honoring the State and
fearing God, he will not in their pres
ence, MAKE LIGHT OF AUTHORITY.
He will be careful in regard to his opin-
ions when he expresses them before his
children. and will say nothing, either
expressly or implicitly, that would tend
to weaken the influence of any person
in authority, especially the teacher. tits
sad to relate, but nevertheless true,
that many good teachers authority
and influence undermined and painfully
limitedby injudicious and indiscriminate
table talk. Backbiting teachers and
others is, in my judgment, an almost un-
pardonable offence against the best in
terests of the home and school.
The second factor in the home-sec-
ond in order of thought or time but not
in Importance or infuence-is the moth
er. She, ever ambitious for their vel
fare, willingly sacrifices herself that the
children may have all that is necessary
to develop and train their minds and
hearts for future usefulness. BY USE
FULNESS, do not mean merely the
unitarian OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES for
making living or a masslng for
tune-but the usefulness that is OF the
higher and nobler order, that which
makes life benediction in its usefulness
and power, by lettering human condi-
tons and ennobling mankind. While
the mother has greater responsibility,
she posses also more and greater oppor-
tunities for exerting an untold influence
upon the members of her household.
In infancy and childhood, her influence
is greater than that Of any other person;
as MOTHER, her influence is we'll -nigh
SUPREME. s o m 9 b Q r Q to-day
mother is training young lad who is to
DeCOIQe u0ECuduI pIAuCo' "A 10y WILL
surely come when it will be necessary
for him only to touch the bell upon his
Office table to send merchant fleet out
to sea. With one stroke of his pen
wave of excitement will pass over the
Stock Exchange. He will be a power in
the world ard will owe his influence to
the mother under whose training he is
being reared. During the whole period
of adolescence, broadly speaking, the
sympathetic and religious faculties are
touched more by the mother than any
other person, the teacher not excepted.
Having briefly referred to the home,
the father and the mother, question of
perennial interest naturally arises here,
namely: When should the educational
process or training begin? One of
Americas greatest and best thinkers has
answered that question by saying: Gone
hundred years before the child is born"
Oliver Wendell Holmes answer is too
abstract or ideal for our purpose, how
ever, for We need one more practical and
concrete. Generally speaking, we may
say that child's education begins, or
IL. I'LL -