Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1911-02-09
OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS


eve mothers were much intereste'
in your article in last weeks pape
On Mother help in school work. Man!
mothers, know, are anxious for ;
closer association with tie teachers
of our children. We earnestly hope
that the article will produce deep
er interest and result in more coop
GRAFTON. Could you suggest some oi
the things that might be discusses
by teachers and mothers with profit
TO both? We arc willing il we only
krew what to do and how"
That note has a hopeful ring. It
is somewhat difficult to answer the
query in specific way. Lei me
repeat in the first place that the
greatest need is genuine cooperation.
Ii the child is to be benefited,
there must be no cr3ss-purrose WORK
ing. The teacher is not necessarily
the one to always take the initiative
IN subjects to be discussed, because
it is sometimes the educated mother
who sees the situation rightly rath-
er than the teacher, and the teach
er is narrow indeed who reluses to
recognize this fact ard g We due COR
sideration to the mother suggestion.
1t matters not which side takes the
Initiative. Fortunate are the children
Of that community where teachers
,alk Of their problems in the moth
er's club and where the mother is
sometimes heard in teachers meet
ing.
There is one vital problem of the
present which educators will never
solve without the aid of the good
mothers of the community. 1t is the
question of the soc'al life of child
hood The school can no longer
ignore the problems of the social re-
lations of pupils in their WORK,
sports, parties, etc.
The training of young people in
social virtues is no insignificant ell
ement in education. The development |
in children of that fine, unobtrusive
power that dispels the vulgarity of
small and selfish aims, and com
Dels obedience to their best impulses
toward others is as important as the
development of the mathematical
mind.
Problems relating to the social
life of children at home, at school
and in the streets may well receive
thoughtful consideration. That all
of them will not be completely solv-
d goes without saying, but, how
yer disappointing the results, sym
)athy, the best tool for social work,
will surely have been sharpened by
his contact between teacher and
mother.
Some of the questions which may
,rofitably be discussed are the fol-
owing: "a How shall we promote
democracy in the social training of
,hildren? (2) Idling on the public
streets. (3) Why do children lie?
Why are they sometimes deceitful?
S it not a fact that by our attitude
oward them and by our manner of
lealing with them, we teach them
o lie? Could we not change our
Methods of dealing with children
10 as to beget honesty and truth
illness? Are the children to blame
II are we older ones responsible?
A Clubs for young people. be-
ieye in them, do you? (5) The
ocial side of athletics and how to
make the visits of other athletic
nd debating teams contribute to :
he social culture of the pupils. (6)
simplicity in commencement func-
ions. q shall have something to
ay later about the superfluity of !,
toggery.)
Other questions may be more i'm !,
crtant than these, but these are :
ffered as mere suggestions in an
wer to the above query.
But, someone asks, what will be :
he practical outcome? That de- :
ends.
There is no law against dreaming
nd the vision and the dream have
heir place in life along with the
citing and the spending, the toiling :
nd the striving Dream that all
yer the United States the mothers =
hould unite with the teachers of =
heir children to study the social i
fe of childhood. Would it not go :
lr toward securing a universal an II
wer to that prayer of Robert Louis It
tephenson's, which so completely c
Expresses the ideal of human society, q
the prayer that "our mutual kind Il
ess may make bright the house of r
ur habitation."
j. E. T. u