La Junta tribune., 1911-11-25
HAND TRAINING
ov }. ?. raGAsuRs

chanical turn does not leave school.
play truant In order to 20 into n
shop or factory to see how things are
made. 1t means that the boy or girl
gets a broader. more practical no.
tton OF the value OF personal service.
II means the awakening OF the boy
to possibilities OF technical eiuca-
ton. and Of the girl to the posi-
buities of. and completest meaning
OF domestic science and household
arts. II means physical exercise
accompanied by hard thinking and
reasoning with concrete things. II
means that the recipient becomes a
former OF things. Horace Mann says
that 'nr all that grows. one former
u wor,h one hundred reformers. II
manual training were Systematically
tAugh, In all public schools through
cut the country. We would see the
number OF reform institutions for
boys and girls reduced. truancy would
very largely disappear. and We would
observe both moral and intellcctu-
al uplift" These words | deem most
significant coming from man who
has made the subject a special study
and is therefore. an authority. He is
further distins uish.d as our national
eDnmi ssioner Of education. and has
nssigned only u short time ago to
accept the presidency OF New York
University. in which position he
1as duly installed last week.
There Ia another authority person
~ known to the writer. who has
d9de the subject special study.
0osefore let us hear from DR.. Geo.
prbert Belts. Of Cornell College.
wa. who. In his new hook. The
)nd and lts Education" has this 10
relAa1uas1A1s1i-expsresapa and
~ pigment In schoo' work: ~
''From the fail Of Athens on Down
to the time Of Fr0ebel the schools
we're constituted on the theory that
pupils were 10 receive education. that
they were to drink In knowledge, that
their minds were 10 be stored with
facts. Children were to be- seen and
not heard. Education WAS largely n
process Of eorgins the memory with
information.
Now II In evident that II Is far
easier to provide for this passive
side OF education than for the active
side. All that Is needed In the for
mer case Is to have teacher and book
reasonably full OF Information and pu
pills sufficiently docilc to receive II.
But In the latter case. the equipment
must be more extensive. II the child
is to be- allowed to carry out his
Impressions into expressions. " he
is actually to do something himself,
then he must be supplied with ade'
Quate equipment
So far a. the home life IL concern.
ed. the child Of several generations
ago was at y decided disadvantage
over the child OF today on the ex.
preston side Of his education. The
homes Of that day were bcehives Of
industry In which = dozen handicrafts
were taught and practiced. The build.
inxn. the farm implements. and much
Of the furniture Of the house were
made from the native timber. The
material for the clothing Of the fam.
lily was produced on the farm. made
into cloth. and finally into garments
In the home. Nearly all the supplies
for the table came likewise from the
farm. These industries demanded tho
combined efforts Of the family. and
each child did his Or her part.
Hut that day 10 past One third of
our people live In cities. and even In
the village and on the farm the hand.
icrafts u the home have bcen rclcga.
ted 70 the factory. and everything
comes iato the home ready Tor use.
The telephone. the mail carrier and
the dsliverymsn do all the errands
even. and the child In the home IL
deprived Of responsibility and Of near
ly all opportunity for manual expires.
sion. This v no ones fault for II il
just one phase Of . great Industrial
readjustment In society. Yet the
fact remains that the home has Io~t
an Important element In education.
which the school must supply n We
arc not 10 b. the losers cducationaliy
BY the change.
And modern educational method n
insisting precisely on this point. A
few year, ago the boy caught whit.