The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1912-08-29
Education That Educates
BY j. e. Calfee


Arithmetic have ever thought cf
this subject as anything more than
plain Arithmetic, by which children
are taught to be apt in figures and
perhaps able to solve few jaw brea1-
ers in Percentage, Compound Pro-
portion and of course Longitude and
Time comes In for a turn. We have
been so absorbed in processes and
stereotype forms Of analysis that the
content or subject matter has been
lost sight Of to large extent. The
great fact that arithmetic may be
so made and taught as that the
school and home will be drawn to-
gether has never been fully appre-
ciated and made use of in our schools.
We have all witnessed the exodus
from the country 10 the city Of
the boys and girls who are fit to
become farmers or farmers wives
Owning a farm or making money IS
doubtless the first condition for keep
ing the boys on the farm. This, how
ever. is not the only condition nee
essay for keeping the farmers child
on the old place. Life is lived but
once and the human soul Graves 70
get all out of life there is in IL. In
many sections of our own and other
states. with bad roads, poor schools.
poor struggling churches and with
no uplifting social life, farm life is
monotonous and net worth living.
Proof Of this is seen in the fact
that farm boys and girls are rest
less and anxious 20 leave the farm,
and the farmer himself. as soon as
he is able moves off to town.
A great social and Industrial awak-
ening is beginning to be felt thru
cut our country. The farmer is be-
ginning to realize that the best
farming possible is to be done from
the neck up and not the old sort
which is done from the neck down.
People are thinking and acting more
for themselves. They are gradually
coming to the place where they are
insisting that their children be
taught things that have some rela.
ton to the life of the farmer.
We have all heard spasmodical adj
vocating of good roads and scienti-
fic farming for these many years.
Are the good roads here? Not yet.
In the meantime. the ruts have
grown deeper with age, the soil has
been washed away and bitches are
left as the finger prints of brutal
farming. Advocating has not been
in vain, but unproductive in results.
Too bad that all of this silvery Or
atory has been wasted upon listless
ears when it might have been saw
ed had some of the old time peda-
gogues fully realized the power Of
the teacher over the taught. Teaching
is the greatest lever of progress. This
being true without a doubt, why
not teach in the direction of our
needs and wants? If it be good roads
and certainly it is, then teach their
Importance; If scientific farming,
then teach that.
Good roads will never be built by
men who do not feel they are BUSH
ness necessities and they will never
believe they are able to build them
until they are convinced in business
sense; dollars and cents. The freight
of one county in this state for last
year was $4,000 in excess of what
1t would have been on good pike
roads. Don't you believe the 17,7S9
farmers of this county would think
seriously If they realize this vast
sum was paid by them to their mer-
chants in the extra price for goods
as a tax straight from their pockets
to pay for bad roads for a single
year? Don't you believe that If each
farmer was convinced that by proper
selection and testing of his seed corn
he could put 10 bushels more corn
that he would select his seed next
year? Ii we expect improved methods
in farming. we should teach the farm
er's children in terms of our ex-
pectation. The school children should
be given problems to solve involv-
ing the value of selecting seed corn,
the Importance of good roads. the
cost of bad roads, carelessness, soil